Search Results for: AVOID

Back in the dark ages of May 2004, most people could only dream of having a personal radio show and beaming their thoughts out to thousands of people across the globe. Now, if you want to tell the world how you feel, all you need is a little piece of software, a microphone and something to say and you’re an instant international DJ. Thanks to the hot medium called “podcasting,” thousands of budding radio personalities are spouting off on everything from music and movies to technology, pagan spells, food, fishing, art, beer and the local farm report. Podcasting – a… Read more »

In what may be an attempt to avoid Canada’s cold winter, Victoria indie-rock quartet Hot Hot Heat are heading to the land of beer and Beatles, to perform a one-off gig in London, England. According to nme.com, Canada’s garage rockers will perform at the Borderline on January 26, previewing some fresh tracks from their upcoming album Elevator, which is due for release in April. The British gig will show off their newly acquired guitarist Luke Paquin, who replaced former axeman Dante DeCaro, who left the band shortly after the completion of the latest album. Originating from San Francisco, Paquin was… Read more »

Los Angeles – Bright Eyes principal Conor Oberst delivered a finished album to his label last February with an eye on a summer release, but then he had other ideas. He went back into the studio and recorded enough songs for a second set. Unwilling to scrap or combine any of the material, Oberst told his label, Omaha, Neb.-based Saddle Creek Records, that he wanted to release two separate albums – on the same day. “We felt like, ‘Why not kill two birds with one stone and put it all out there?”‘ Oberst says. On Jan. 25, Saddle Creek will… Read more »

New York – Dreams of world domination must be hard for MTV executives to avoid when they host a party at the Kremlin, with a Russian diva and Queen dueting on “We Will Rock You” and Russian soldiers performing a hip-hop dance routine. MTV Networks will reach a milestone in February when the turn of a switch starts an MTV outlet in Africa, the company’s 100th channel worldwide and first based on that continent. Most of its American audience is probably unaware of the extent to which MTV and its sister networks have blanketed the world in an aggressive expansion… Read more »

New York – The year began with the Super Bowl halftime show fiasco and ended with aftershocks from Howard Stern flipping his detractors the bird and taunting the Federal Communications Commission with a just-try-and-get-me-now move to satellite radio. Between those two seismic events, the FCC levied a record number of indecency fines, responding to an avalanche of complaints carefully orchestrated by conservative zealots and election year political pressure. The results from the government crackdown were widespread. Top-rated personalities were fired. Zero-tolerance edicts were issued. On-air delays and indecency tutorials became commonplace. Warhorses like Pink Floyd’s “Money,” Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer”… Read more »

MARYSVILLE, Ohio – In a small town where people greet you by name at Maggie’s Restaurant and where the guy who runs the local pawn shop will do what he can with your wife’s wedding ring because he knows you need the cash for Christmas, Nathan Gale was a stranger in plain view. His apartment at 111 1/2 E. Fifth St., half a block from the downtown shopping district’s single stoplight, put him right in the heart of this close-knit community of 16,000 residents. But even though he spent hours every day hanging out at the restaurant and tattoo parlor… Read more »

Los Angeles – Shawn Fanning, once reviled by record labels as the creator of renegade song-swap service Napster, on Thursday launched a new service designed to turn the threat of still popular peer-to-peer services into an opportunity for music companies and artists. The original Napster was eventually shut down in 2001 by copyright litigation and then sold to Roxio Inc, which re-launched it as a paid online service. But despite the proliferation of commercial services like the new Napster, RealNetworks Inc’s Rhapsody and even Apple Computer Inc’s iTunes, Fanning said unauthorized file-sharing was as rampant as ever. In launching the… Read more »

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Paul McCartney will headline the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 6 as the NFL goes mainstream after the controversy over last February’s show. “There’s nothing bigger then being asked to perform at the Super Bowl,” McCartney said. “We’re looking forward to rocking the millions at home and in the stadium.” Last Feb. 1 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium, singer Justin Timberlake ripped off part of singer Janet Jackson’s outfit, exposing her right breast to a TV audience of some 90 million people. CBS is protesting an FCC fine of $550,000 for the halftime show. Clearly, the league… Read more »

Rome – Goth rockers The Cure are enjoying an unexpected revival, but frontman Robert Smith isn’t letting it go to his head. “It’s very flattering,” Smith told Reuters Television late on Thursday after performing at the MTV Europe Music Awards, his first MTV event in 15 years. “But I’m not stupid enough to think it’s an Indian summer. “We realize that this upsurge in media attention is almost entirely due to very good young bands picking up on The Cure,” added Smith, who wore his trademark red lipstick and heavy eyeliner under an unruly mop of hair. When asked whether… Read more »

New York – The bookkeeper for rap label Murder Inc. was indicted on money laundering charges by federal prosecutors who are probing ties between drug dealers and the recording home of such platinum-selling acts as Ja Rule and Ashanti. Cynthia Brent, 39, was arrested at her New Jersey home Monday and was charged with laundering drug proceeds and structuring cash deposits to avoid federal reporting requirements. The laundering charges involve more than $1 million in drug money, according to the indictment against her. Brent pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Monday afternoon and was released on $200,000 bond. Her lawyer… Read more »