Search Results for: Death Cab For Cutie

He had one of the biggest opening sales weeks of 2008, and now, Lil Wayne is the year’s most-nominated Grammy contender. Wayne and his latest LP, “Tha Carter III,” lead the pack with a total of eight nominations, while one of the year’s other biggest sellers, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends,” garnered seven nods. Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West each earned six nods, while Alison Krauss, John Mayer, Robert Plant, Radiohead and Jazmine Sullivan received five each. Adele is up for four – including Best New Artist – as are Lupe Fiasco and T.I. The… Read more »

Since MP3s first became popular a decade ago, music industry executives have obsessed over this question: when would digital music revenue finally surpass compact disc sales? For Atlantic Records, the label that in years past has delivered artists like Ray Charles, John Coltrane and Led Zeppelin, that time, apparently, is now. Atlantic, a unit of Warner Music Group, says it has reached a milestone that no other major record label has hit: more than half of its music sales in the United States are now from digital products, like downloads on iTunes and ring tones for cellphones. “We’re like a… Read more »

Backstage notes from the 25th annual MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. 1. After winning three Moonmen, including video of the year, Britney Spears got cold feet before she met the press. She peeked into the media room with personal assistants and camera crew in tow, then promptly turned around and left. A few moments later, Chris Brown hurried in to take her place — prompting a round of disappointed “Awwwww!” from disappointed Britney-wannabe paparazzi (a reaction that seemed to miff Brown, who maybe didn’t understand that he wasn’t being booed personally.) Never fear, Britney returned after Brown; she said… Read more »

A year after vowing never to perform on the MTV Video Music Awards again, hip-hop star Kanye West will close the show’s 25th annual ceremony in Hollywood on Sunday, joining a lineup that includes Christina Aguilera and the Jonas Brothers, organizers said. The outspoken rapper was upset by his treatment at last year’s show, when his performance was relegated to a small stage in the Las Vegas venue. West also failed to win any prizes, and accused the music cable network of exploiting Britney Spears, who inadvertently stole the show by badly lip-synching and dancing to her new tune. The… Read more »

The first time Arcade Fire performed in Paris, Mathieu Saura stood outside the venue with his girlfriend, holding up a sign that read, “Please, we want to come to the show.” The band’s bassist, Richard Reed Perry, got them in, and ever since, Saura might as well have not left. Under the name Vincent Moon, he’s gone from a fan begging for tickets to an in-demand filmmaker who has revolutionized music video. His films are stripped down, intimate videotaped performances – shot in one take, often of an act simply strolling down a street or playing in a parking lot.… Read more »

One hundred acts on 700 acres can mean only one thing. It’s time for Bonnaroo, dude. The four-day festival of music, art, movies and comedy kicks off on Thursday in Manchester, Tenn., and promises a musical experience designed to please, well, almost everyone who likes music, laughter and $7 showers. Launched in 2002, the festival was largely a gathering of jam bands in the beginning, but has expanded its reach over the years to include performances by Radiohead, the Police and a diverse mix of artists spanning a range of genres. And since the word “bonnaroo” is said to be… Read more »

Prince will headline the ninth annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, festival promoters announced Wednesday. The Purple One will be the featured act on day two of the giant summer music festival, a three-day affair that runs April 25-27 in Indio, Calif. He joins a lineup that includes Jack Johnson and Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd singer-songwriter who will close the festival. Also slated to perform: the Raconteurs, Kraftwerk, Portishead, My Morning Jacket, M.I.A., Death Cab for Cutie and the Verve, among others.

Coachella’s indie roots will be watered down with classic rock this year. Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has been tapped for the festival’s closing slot, performing the band’s 1973 opus, Dark Side of the Moon, in its entirety, organizers announced. The full lineup for the 2008 edition of the music festival was revealed Monday at a news conference in Mexico, with mellow rocker Jack Johnson and trip-hop trio Portishead set to hold down the other two headlining slots. Other highlights at this year’s Coachella include Kraftwerk, the Breeders, the Verve, Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, Rilo Kiley, the… Read more »

Like it or not, major record companies are expected to continue drafting their artist contracts so that labels share a piece of most — if not all — of the artists’ rights in all types of revenue streams, not just record sales, but also concert tickets and t-shirts. Artist lawyers say that their responses are as varied as the rights and terms in each label’s “360-degree” deal. Some labels want to be the merchandiser, while others want rights only in certain types of merchandise connected to album cover artwork. And when it comes to artist royalties, some labels pay a… Read more »

F. Scott Fitzgerald may have depressingly opined that “there are no second acts in American lives,” but Nada Surf is certainly making the case for second acts in indie rock. The band had an accidental alt-rock radio hit in 1996 with “Popular,” only to be signed and then summarily dropped by Elektra. This sort of rise and fall would spell the end for many bands, but Nada Surf kept on going, buying back and reissuing its shelved major-label album, “The Proximity Effect,” in 1998. Since then, the band released two records on Seattle-based indie Barsuk: 2003’s “Let Go,” which has… Read more »