Search Results for: Japanese

Japanese electronic and entertainment giant Sony Corp. will close its Indonesian audio-equipment plant in March and lay off all 1,000 workers, a company official said Tuesday. “The move is part of Sony’s overall effort to reorganize global production,” said Sony spokeswoman Ayako Hashimoto. The production at P.T. Sony Electronics Indonesia will be moved to Sony plants in Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, China and elsewhere, although details are still being worked out, she said. The Indonesian plant in Jakarta produced stereos and other audio equipment valued at about 15 billion yen ($123 million) a year. Since 1999, Sony has been restructuring its… Read more »

Veteran U.K. rock outfit Primal Scream has set a Nov. 26 North American release date for its domestic Epic debut, “Evil Heat.” The album, which features contributions from Robert Plant, Kate Moss, My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields, and the Jesus And Mary Chain’s Jim Reid, was released in August in the group’s homeland. The North American release of “Evil Heat” will be accompanied by a DVD featuring 45 minutes of bonus material. The video clips for “Miss Lucifer” and “Autobahn 66” are included, alongside videos of four songs performed live at August’s V2002 festival: “Rocks,” “Moving on Up,” “Swastika Eyes,”… Read more »

EMI Group emerged on Tuesday from a dismal year of slumping profits confident that things could only get better, but the music giant’s shares spun lower as a glum industry outlook rattled already jangled nerves. EMI, home to artists such as Radiohead and Kylie Minogue, posted a sharp but expected 40 percent fall in adjusted pre-tax profit and said its radical overhaul was going to plan despite an industry ravaged by an economic slowdown and piracy. The world’s third biggest music company saw its battered stock slide almost seven percent as analysts took fright after a post-results meeting, shrugging off… Read more »

England soccer captain David Beckham and his pop singer wife Victoria, also known as “Posh Spice,” threw a celebrity-studded party Sunday to raise money for a children’s charity. Dozens of stars attended the lavish Japanese-themed garden party at the couple’s mansion, nicknamed Beckingham Palace. Guests – asked to dress in “white tie and diamonds” – included many of England’s World Cup soccer squad, Sir Elton John, tennis star Greg Rusedski, designer Vivienne Westwood, actress Joan Collins and Virgin empire billionaire Sir Richard Branson. Harrods owner Mohammad al-Fayed arrived at the mansion north of London in a helicopter. The bash included… Read more »

Local management and a Japanese investment firm have bought the Japanese arm of Tower Records Inc., the country’s third-biggest music retailer, from its U.S.-based parent company for $122 million. The deal signs over Tower Records’ 51 outlets in Japan, including its multi-floor flagship store in downtown Tokyo, to Tower Records’ local management team and to Nikko Principal Investments Japan Ltd., a unit of Nikko Cordial Corp. Nikko spokesman Joichi Ito said his company finalized the buyout Thursday with San Francisco-based MTS Inc., parent company of Tower Records. MTS will retain ownership of its Tower Records stores in seven other countries.… Read more »

A few clarifications on the spelling of Box Car Racer: Tom DeLonge’s and Travis Barker’s side project is three words, not two. And it absolutely does not spell the end of Blink-182. “Blink will never break up,” DeLonge said Wednesday before a Box Car Racer show at West Hollywood’s legendary Whisky A Go-Go. “We love what we do way too much for anything ever to happen to Blink, and we are so blessed by the man upstairs to even have that in our lives. That’s our passion. This is just part two of that.” Box Car Racer are a sequel… Read more »

Many bands take lengthy vacations after a worldwide tour. Others head right back into the studio to get crackin’ on their next album. Aerosmith are combining the best of both worlds. Following their Japanese tour last month, the group flew to Maui, Hawaii, for three weeks with Just Push Play producer and songwriter Marti Frederiksen to scuba dive, catch some rays and begin working on new tunes. “We’d like to put some new music out by this spring,” Joe Perry said on the band’s official fan club Web site. “So we felt we would take the momentum of playing, of… Read more »

After an extended rivalry and a couple of physical challenges, Creed’s Scott Stapp and Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst will finally get in the ring. No, they’re not gonna come to blows on pay-per-view, but their songs will play over the PA while WWF superstars beat the testosterone out of one another. Creed’s “Young Grow Old,” which was previously available only as a bonus track on the Australian and Japanese pressings of Human Clay, and a new remix of Limp Bizkit’s “Rollin’ ” will coexist on the next WWF album, WWF Forced Entry, which comes out March 26. A Kid Rock… Read more »

“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Michael Stipe asked the crowd soon after R.E.M. took the stage Thursday night at the venerable venue. “Practice,” the crowd blurted in unison. “Well, we didn’t,” Stipe responded. “So if you hear a bum note or something that doesn’t sound right, I urge you to sing louder in your head.” The tour-shy Athens rockers and granola-pop folkie Jewel were among those on hand for an evening of spirited entertainment at “You Gotta Have Friends: Partners in the Fight Against AIDS,” a benefit for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. ( from the event.) Judging… Read more »

Madonna’s Drowned World Tour 2001 concert DVD has been deemed “too explicit” for Singapore and banned from release there, Billboard reports. The Singapore Board Of Film Censors took issue with two scenes in particular-Japanese-inspired animation sequences that depicted a monster fondling and raping an Asian-looking girl. Madonna’s management is reportedly debating whether to release an edited version of the DVD in that country. The Drowned DVD captures the Material Girl in concert in Detroit last August. Meanwhile, other visual images of Madonna are currently receiving accolades back home in the States. The Jean-Baptiste Mondino-directed video for the song “Don’t Tell… Read more »