Search Results for: foster the people

Last month, when the Dillinger Escape Plan revealed that founding drummer Chris Pennie had left the highly technical mathcore outfit to join progressive rockers Coheed and Cambria, no one wanted to believe it. The surprise move baffled the band’s allegiant fans almost as much as it confused the Dillinger dudes, who started to wonder if Pennie had been fostering some strange, secret obsession with unicorns and minotaurs.”We found out about him playing with Coheed on the Internet,” explained guitarist Ben Weinman. “[Frontman] Greg [Puciato] forwarded me a link to an announcement, and I’m like, ‘What?!?’ At that point, though, he… Read more »

Beverly Hills – Bono and Brad Pitt brought their star power to the kickoff of the One Campaign on Wednesday, calling on people to come together to fight the global crises of AIDS, hunger and poverty. Explaining that “it’s not a cause, it’s an emergency,” Bono said thousands of people die every day in Africa from preventable causes. He called upon the young people of today to make the fight for third-world relief their generation’s movement, much like the youth of the 1960s fought for civil rights in America. Pitt playfully blamed Bono for getting him involved in the effort,… Read more »

The great digital music giveaway is about to begin. In the new year, some of the world’s biggest brands will promote their products and services by doling out millions of free downloads through alliances with digital music services. “You’re going to see lots of free music given out via third-party companies,” buymusic.com founder Scott Blum says. “It’s not going to be Apple and iTunes driving the business. It’s going to be companies like Pepsi and other third parties that are promoting digital music on bottle caps and on labels.” Indeed, Apple Computer has inked a deal with Pepsi to give… Read more »

Universal Music Group’s strategy of lowering its CD prices is good news for music fans, but some traditional music retailers on Thursday worried the move may damage their business. A day after Universal announced a cut on the wholesale price of most of its CDs and an end to advertising discounts, retailers large and small began assessing how the new pricing plan would affect them. Large retailers such as Borders, BestBuy, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com generally reserved judgment Thursday on the change, although several noted it could be an effective consumer lure. Several of them declined to discuss how… Read more »

Bono closed out a two-hour AIDS awareness rally in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Sunday with a new song called “America’s Prayer.” Addressing more than 2,300 people on World AIDS Day, the singer discussed the AIDS epidemic in Africa and encouraged Americans to help halt the spread of the deadly disease. Lincoln was the first of seven cities Bono will visit as part of the Heart of America Tour, spearheaded by the nonprofit advocacy group Debt, AIDS, Trade for Africa, founded by the Irish political rocker earlier this year. “It’s not about charity,” the Associated Press quoted Bono as saying. “It’s about… Read more »

The tail end of last year wasn’t among the highlights of Slipknot’s seven-year career. Although the band’s third album, Iowa, dropped in late August, prompting maggots everywhere to rejoice, tragedy struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon a couple of weeks later, temporarily curbing fans’ elation and fostering an environment in which songs such as “Everything Ends” and “I Am Hated” weren’t among the most welcome. Factor in the bad news that percussionist Clown’s wife had taken ill, and that the band was touring in the midst of a slumping economy, and the bulb-nosed performer wasn’t the happiest of… Read more »

While many consider the Hives to be the answer to their rock and roll prayers, a single question remains at the fore: when can fans expect a new album? Their current LP, Veni Vidi Vicious, is two years old – although a major-label reissue in June fostered much wider exposure – and longtime Hives fans are jonesing for some new material. Despite feeling their fans’ pain, the Hives will serve no album before its time. “We hope to finish it when we’re done with it,” was guitarist Nicholaus Arson’s closeted response to the well-worn query. He’s reluctant to cite a… Read more »

Perhaps the most nebulous whine in fandom concerns a perceived dearth of good music. Roughly 27,000 titles are dumped into the marketplace annually, yet many consumers, particularly casual or older fans less prone to rooting out new sounds, grumble about a shortage and pine for the days of plenty. The complaint: Record labels sign only what they hope will sell, jumping on the latest bandwagon and flooding the market with sound-alikes. Everything radio and MTV plays sounds as if it fell off the same assembly line. Record companies focus on radio-friendly and videogenic acts to the exclusion of worthy mavericks… Read more »

Brad Arnold doesn’t like to sit still. After ending a marathon tour that kept him on the road for 16 of 19 months, the 3 Doors Down singer rested only a few weeks. Then he became consumed with following up the band’s multiplatinum debut, The Better Life (2000). Arnold has penned 12 songs since October, when the exhausting trek concluded and he had five tunes in the can. He and his bandmates – Matt Roberts (guitar), Todd Harrell (bass) and Chris Hendersonplan to hit a Seattle studio with producer Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam, Nickelback) and A Perfect Circle drummer Josh… Read more »

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake love each other very much and have not broken up. At least that’s still the “official” stance a spokesperson for the couple takes when asked of the status of their relationship. And if you believe that, some might think you were born yesterday. The official media statement is in direct opposition to a month’s worth of unconfirmed reports and anonymous eyewitness accounts that say the king and queen of the teen-pop prom have ended their reign. While public opinion favors the notion that the romance is kaput – gossip columnists citing Britney shakin’ it with… Read more »