Search Results for: 2003

For an album about a mute, the latest Mars Volta opus sure has a lot to say. It’s a concept album of sorts, but since nothing with the Mars Volta is ever simple, Frances the Mute isn’t a concept easily explained. Not that the band won’t try. Instead of looking at the upcoming album as an idea, they see it as a character, a resurrected body based on the thoughts of a stranger seeking to find his adopted parents, written in a diary found by former bandmember Jeremy Ward (who later died in 2003) while working as a repo man.… Read more »

Fred Durst did it all for the “Nookie”-and now the entire world must suffer his naked body thanks to a leaked sex tape currently making the Internet rounds. In the grand tradition of Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson, the Limp Bizkit frontman’s romp with an anonymous blonde has been on the Web since late Tuesday for anyone’s viewing pleasure…or displeasure, as several disappointed female fans have been dishing on message boards (“poor, poor man” mused one fan on LimpBizkit.com). Initial reports linked Durst’s caught-on-tape tryst with the recent hacking of Hilton’s Sidekick since many of the hardcore clips of Durst… Read more »

Patrice Pike, a true woman in rock behind the Rock/Alternative group Sister Seven (from Austin, TX, USA) has won the overall top prize of the 2004 Songwriting Competition. “My Three Wishes” was the winning song written by Patrice Pike, Wayne Sutton, Sean Phillips and Darrell Phillips. Winners came from United Kingdom, United States, Czech Republic, Australia, The Bahamas, Germany, Canada and Denmark. David Francey (of Ontario, CANADA) was a finalist in 2003, won first prize in the Folk category of the 2004 USA Songwriting Competition. Canadians have won the prize in this category three years in a row. In 2002… Read more »

Los Angeles – California pop-punk trio Blink-182, famed for its practical jokes and disdain for clothing, has gone on “indefinite hiatus,” with no plans to work together again, its Geffen Records label said Tuesday. Singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge, singer-bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker want to “spend some time enjoying the fruits of their labors with loved ones” after a decade of working together nonstop, the statement added. “While there is no set plan for the band to begin working together again, no one knows what tomorrow may bring,” it said. San Diego-based Blink-182, cast in the same mold as… Read more »

Bono might have faced Killers and Velvet Revolvers at the Grammys – but for his next challenge, the singer will take on Pope John Paul, former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko. Bono is among the 166 nominees for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, according to Reuters. This is the second time the singer has been nominated for his philanthropic efforts, with his last nod in 2003. The U2 frontman has been a longtime campaigner for AIDS awareness and the elimination of Third World debt. “We have received 166 nominations so far, of which 29… Read more »

Billy Joel is back home and resting comfortably after being discharged Saturday from a New York hospital where he had sought treatment last week for severe stomach pains. “He is home, and feeling good,” the Piano Man’s publicist said, adding that he sufferred from “gastro-intestinal tract distress with possible kidney stones.” The rep denied reports the entertainer had pancreatitis, which is typically brought on by the heavy consumption of alcohol. Joel decided to get the gut check after suffering extreme stomach cramps about 10 days ago, and was admitted to an undisclosed Long Island medical center not far from his… Read more »

Los Angeles – Rock band 3 Doors Down earned its first No. 1 on the U.S. pop albums chart Wednesday with its latest CD, “Seventeen Days.” The Republic/Universal release sold 231,000 copies in the week ended Feb. 13, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the best sales week of the band’s career. The Mississippi-bred combo’s previous high came with 2002’s “Away From the Sun,” which opened and peaked at No. 8 with 115,000 and has sold 3.3 million to date. 2000’s debut “The Better Life” has sold 5.2 million copies so far. Previous champ, rapper the Game’s “The Documentary” (Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope), slipped to… Read more »

Maybe you can blame it on some indie-minded guilt. On March 1, Death Cab for Cutie – longtime independent stalwarts recently inked to Atlantic Records – will drop The John Byrd EP, the final release for them on tiny Seattle label Barsuk Records. The EP will only be available in two places: on Barsuk’s Web site or in record stores who are members of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores. It could be the result of a guilty conscience. But it’s more than likely not. “We just wanted to have a properly recorded live record out there, because bootlegs show… Read more »

Los Angeles – Pop star Britney Spears won the first Grammy Award of her brief but colorful career on Sunday, taking the prize in the best dance recording category. Spears, 23, was honored for her chart-topping song “Toxic,” which appeared on her 2003 album “In the Zone.” The other nominated songs were “Good Luck,” by Basement Jaxx featuring Lisa Kekaula; “Get Yourself High,” by the Chemical Brothers; “Slow,” by Kylie Minogue ; and “Comfortably Numb,” by Scissor Sisters. Spears was previously nominated six times: twice each in 2000, 2001 and 2003. With her record sales tapering off in recent years,… Read more »

Classic-rock fan George Petersen doesn’t need another copy of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” or Cream’s “Disraeli Gears.” He has spent the past four decades buying and re-buying his favorite music in a succession of new formats: vinyl, 8-track, cassette, compact disc, Super Audio CD, DVD-Audio. Enough is enough. The basement is full. “We as consumers have been trained by the music industry to go out and buy a new piece of plastic every few years,” said the 51-year-old Petersen, editorial director of Mix, a San Francisco-based magazine that covers professional sound recording. “Why do we keep buying… Read more »