Search Results for: erra

In the late 1970s, Elvis Costello wore a punk snarl to go along with his sharp suits and horn-rimmed glasses. Twenty-five years later, the prolific troubadour has replaced it with something more subtly sinister. Cruel Smile, a companion LP to Costello’s latest studio album, When I Was Cruel, features B-sides, rare cuts and live versions from that album, as well as a handful of fan favorites. Due October 1, the 14-track enhanced CD also includes the video for When I Was Cruel’s “45,” according to an Island Records spokesperson. Costello selected the tracks himself, most of which were previously unavailable… Read more »

The girls still screamed every time former bar mitzvah singer Justin Guarini flashed his pearly whites, but it was soulful girl-next-door Kelly Clarkson who took home the title of “American Idol” Wednesday night. Coming off her bravura performance on Tuesday, the 20-year-old Burleson, Texas, cocktail waitress brought down the house moments after being crowned the champion of the talent contest. “I can’t believe it’s happening to me,” Clarkson sang, as fireworks rained down behind her during a performance of her soon-to-be-released first single, “A Moment Like This.” A choked-up Clarkson blew a line during her command performance (one of her… Read more »

If the Hives are the first offensive in a Swedish rock invasion, then In Flames were the early reconnaissance team, quietly spreading their supercharged melodic death metal in whatever North American clubs would take them. Reroute to Remain, In Flames’ fifth album, is their latest missive, an album that’s heavy and pummeling yet accessible enough to potentially crack the limiting ceiling of the extreme underground. And if that happens, in a way, they’ll have Slipknot to thank for it. “We met Slipknot in Italy a couple of years ago,” vocalist Anders Friden relayed from a Detroit dressing room. “We just… Read more »

Gus Dudgeon, a respected music producer who worked on many of Elton John’s hit recordings, died Sunday in a car crash in western England. He was 59. Dudgeon was killed when his car veered off a major highway and overturned near Reading, west of London. He and a woman traveling in the car, believed to be his wife, were pronounced dead at the scene. The woman’s identity could not immediately be confirmed. Dudgeon produced “Rocket Man,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Your Song,” “Daniel” and “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.” “He was an incredibly talented producer and a… Read more »

A group of Seattle singers organizing a series of worldwide performances of Mozart’s “Requiem” for Sept. 11 say they have gotten thousands of e-mails in support of the idea. “The heartfelt nature of their responses is remarkable,” said Madeline Johnson, chairwoman of the Rolling Requiem Committee and a member of the Seattle Symphony Chorale. “It shows there is a worldwide longing to give voice to healing, to hope, to love.” Thirty choirs from around the world have signed up to take part in the “Rolling Requiem” and many more are considering joining, Johnson said. A choir in Riga, Latvia, was… Read more »

The government seemed to side with Internet broadcasters when establishing a royalty rate Thursday, and although the new fees were lower than a proposal rejected last month, the costs may force several independent Net radio stations out of business. The U.S. Copyright Office settled on a rate of 0.07 cent per listener per song for both Internet-only stations and conventional stations that simulcast their programming on the Web, according to a government spokesperson. The rate is exactly half of what the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP), a three-member board appointed by the Copyright Office, suggested in February that Internet-only stations… Read more »

An international media horde gathered Thursday at a remote Irish castle hotel, where the owner announced that Paul McCartney and his fiancee, Heather Mills, would have their wedding reception next week. “We are told vaguely it is next Tuesday, but it is all secret. I have to keep it dead-secret,” said Sir John Leslie, owner of Castle Leslie, an offbeat luxury hotel in County Monaghan bordering Northern Ireland. “They might do something at the last minute or change it. You never know.” Leslie, 84, sporting a green beret with a peacock feather, added that McCartney had visited the hotel last… Read more »

England is gripped by a heady patriotic fervor these days – between the England team’s highly anticipated appearances in the 2002 World Cup and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, you can barely move without seeing a flag or banner. Yet the Brits still seem to have a little fervor left over for their American cousins, especially when those Americans happen to be the Red Hot Chili Peppers. When the Chilis took the stage for a “secret” club gig at the Garage in London on Friday (May 31), the primarily invite-only crowd erupted with an enthusiasm normally reserved for a winning goal… Read more »

In addition to the release of their new album, Murray Street, next month, Sonic Youth have begun work on a trio of reissues, the first of which, Dirty, is scheduled for release this summer. The band has been pouring through unreleased demos and songs for the series, which will see Dirty, Daydream Nation and Goo remastered and reissued with new liner notes and a bonus CD of new material. “It’s pretty much together,” singer-guitarist Thurston Moore says of the new Dirty. “We weren’t too interested in putting live stuff on there; it would take forever to go through it. But… Read more »

No Doubt will collaborate Vivendi Universal Games (a division of Vivendi Universal Publishing) and Interscope Records for a character-based, three-dimensional action-adventure videogame titled Malice, which will feature characters voiced by bandmembers as well as songs from their Rock Steady album. The partnership will also introduce No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani as the voice of unexpected hammer-wielding heroine Malice, and bassist Tony Kanal, guitarist Tom Dumont, and drummer Adrian Young as the voices of her counterparts within the game. No Doubt will provide three tracks for Malice’s game music and television-advertising campaign. Some of the tracks will be remixed to compliment… Read more »