Search Results for: DJs

The second annual Center of the Universe on Hollywood Boulevard will feature three stages showcasing those DJs and others, including Sander Kleinenberg, DJ Sneak and Marques Wyatt. BT, whose profile rose this year after producing ‘NSYNC’s “Pop”, will be performing a rare live set, according to organizers. This year’s event will be held on seven city blocks between Vine Street and Whitley Avenue and is expected to draw 20,000 people, twice the number who turned out for last year’s Paul van Dyk-headlined festival. Dance music promoters Spundae are hosting the event, and profits will be donated to local youth charities.… Read more »

In the downtime between their recently wrapped Pledge of Allegiance tour with Slipknot and a series of December radio festivals, System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian has recorded a full-length collaboration with noted Armenian multi-instrumentalist Arto Tuncboyaciyan. The tentatively titled “Serart” is slated for release next year on Tankian’s own Serjical Strike Records. Fans who dug Tuncboyaciyan’s curious noisemaking on System’s newly platinum Toxicity will surely enjoy “Serart,” a collection Tankian says is a marked departure from that band’s prog-metal barrage. “It’s really crazy world, jazz and experimental,” he says. “With some rock and hip-hop, beats, dance beats, electronic… Read more »

Radio One, Inc. today announced it is bringing Urban programming, much of it formerly unavailable in thousands of U.S. cities, to every corner of the contiguous 48 states, with the national launch of XM Satellite Radio. Radio One, as a third party XM Radio partner, is providing five channels of programming targeted at the African-American and Urban listener. These formats include African- American Talk, Gospel, Urban Mixes, Hip-Hop and Mainstream Urban. In many places of the country, especially outside of large metropolitan areas, African-American targeted programming is limited or non-existent. Radio One is committed to providing a totally unique radio… Read more »

Irish boy-band Westlife on Sunday scored their ninth UK number one hit with “Queen of my Heart,” the chart’s compiler said. The quintet’s rousing ballad ended hip-hopper Afroman’s three-week stay at the top with his homage to cannabis, “Because I Got High,” according to figures released by The Official UK Charts Company. All but one of Westlife’s ten singles have reached number one since their first release, “Sweat It Again” in April 1999. “We are grateful to all our fans for their continued support,” the band said in a statement on their website. “Queen of My Heart” is described by… Read more »

Maverick Recording Co. announces the signing of worldwide DJ phenomenon Paul Oakenfold to make his debut album as a solo recording artist. “We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with Paul,” said Guy Oseary, Maverick co-partner and CEO. “As a DJ, he’s the best at what he does, and we’re determined to help him reach the widest audience possible as an electronic artist.” While Maverick is best known as the label founded by Madonna, Oseary says Oakenfold’s signing fits the label’s history of bringing electronic music to a larger audience. He cites Madonna’s own work with electronic producers like William Orbit… Read more »

From a chair that looked as if it belongs on the starship Enterprise, Hugh Panero flipped a switch Tuesday and formally launched XM, the first of the nationwide satellite radio services to go on the air. While the ceremony marked XM’s official start, it will not be a national service for some months because the signal is being beamed from the company’s two satellites – “Rock” and “Roll” – to San Diego and Dallas. The company plans to roll out service to the southern half of the United States within a month and to the rest of the nation in… Read more »

Evan and Jaron Lowenstein are sitting in a restaurant talking about the boy-band thing – an image they say has been pinned on them by teen magazines and their promotional pairings with teen pop singers. The good-looking, clean-cut twins – known simply as Evan and Jaron – say they don’t want that kind of attention. Then two women come up to their table and interrupt to ask if they are the singing twin brothers – the ones who sing THAT song on the radio all the time. “My daughter just loves you…. She’s 12,” says one woman. Afterward, Jaron sighs.… Read more »

“What’s beef?” the Notorious B.I.G. asked on his song of the same title. “Beef is when your moms ain’t safe up in the streets.” There’s no need for rappers’ mothers to put on the Kevlar just yet, but their MC sons are spewing a lot of venom at each other these days. Jadakiss has been beefing with Beanie Sigel. Sigel has made it clear he’s not feeling DMX. DMX may have it in for Jay-Z; Nas definitely does. Nas is also going at it with Sigel, Cormega, Freeway and Memphis Bleek. Jadakiss swears it’s mostly hype. “The industry ain’t like… Read more »

If anything, the Moby-spearheaded Area:One package, which wrapped up its tour at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion on Sunday, suffered from an embarrassment of riches. With nearly 20 bands and DJs arrayed on three stages over nine hours, there was something worth checking out at given moment, and often two or three. This meant that choices had to be made: to see the Orb in an automaker-sponsored DJ tent meant missing the reunited New Order on the main stage, or forgoing one of the impressive collection of turntablists and MCs holding court on the small urban stage. With the eclectic… Read more »

It is a visual overload, this PopOdyssey tour starring the reigning champs of the pop music marketplace, ‘N Sync. There are films and explosions and dancers and mechanical bulls and more costumes than songs – it looks exhausting for performer and young viewer alike. It’s a feast of production values, a sign that every dime went into something the audience can see and, taken collectively, the show is a better marketing tool than a dozen videos. PopOdyssey is flat-out a vehicle to expose new songs to their hard-core audience and give a dynamic and visceral association to the bulk of… Read more »