Search Results for: MAX

Long known for their relatively epic waits between studio releases, the Beastie Boys surprised fans this spring with the announcement that their new record would arrive a scant three years after 2004’s “To the 5 Boroughs.” But the Beastie Boys are also long known for sudden stylistic left turns, and shortly thereafter, they revealed that the album would consist solely of instrumentals. As promised, “The Mix-Up,” due June 26 via Capitol, goes heavy on the groove, especially the splashing, crashing Meters-inflected funk the band has been consistently serving up since 1992’s “Check Your Head.” But there’s not a rhyme to… Read more »

On Wednesday night, as dark clouds hovered over the city, Avril Lavigne was all wet. High above Times Square, the Canadian singer was playing a secret outdoor show for soaked fans gathered more than 50 feet below. Dressed in a black hoodie that didn’t quite shield her from the raindrops, Lavigne performed a three-song set that featured “Girlfriend,” “When You’re Gone” and “Sk8r Boi.” Lavigne has certainly come a long way since her innocent days as punk princess of the mall. In recent months, she’s been known to spit on and flip off paparazzi. She’s also bragged about booze-soaked nights… Read more »

Imagine a “dream machine” on wheels. It’s easy if you try. But the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is no dream. A state-of-the-art multimedia studio packed in a bus, it’s a vehicle for opening the minds of aspiring young musicians. “Swing open the door, step inside, take three short steps into the main cabin and look around,” writes Mark Garvey in “Come Together: The Official John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Guide to Music and Video,” a recently published history of the bus by Garvey and Yoko Ono Lennon. “You’ve entered a different world. And whether you’re young or old, if… Read more »

Up-and-coming rock outfit Say Anything has channeled teen angst into a clever video for its new single, “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too,” which premieres Monday (March 12) on MTV’s “TRL.” The song’s key lyric is “I called her on the phone and she touched herself,” and in the clip, frontman Max Bemis places said calls to various females from a mansion, as his butler wheels by a gourmet meal. Later, the Fonz himself, Henry Winkler, makes a cameo. “He’s a very good family friend,” Bemis told Billboard.com of Winkler during a break from recording Say Anything’s next album at… Read more »

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire – Fellow marchers in The Black Parade : If you are like me, after being blown away last fall by the astounding musical achievement that is My Chemical Romance’s latest album, you thought to yourself, ‘How are they ever gonna do this live?’ The record – art rock meets glam rock meets punk, with a dash of vaudeville – is chock-full of death and hospitals and cancer and soldiers and scary teenagers, and it begs for an over-the-top live show. At long last, the boys have delivered. After months of teasing us with holiday radio sets and… Read more »

Jadakiss, the rapper who wrote controversial lyrics about U.S. President George W. Bush and the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York, has been indicted on gun and drug charges. Using his real name of Jason Phillips, Jadakiss entered a not guilty plea yesterday (Feb. 8) to charges of possessing a loaded handgun and marijuana in White Plains, N.Y. He was arrested Oct. 7 with three other men in his native Yonkers, N.Y. Police said they stopped the car he was in after smelling marijuana and then found the gun. The rapper’s lawyer, Clement Patti, said, “I have yet to… Read more »

Around the time Brett Gurewitz was launching Epitaph Records in 1981, his father was lecturing him to take guitar lessons. The Bad Religion guitarist and punk-rock entrepreneur never sat down for courses with a guitar instructor, although he did go to school to learn to be a recording engineer. However, no amount of schooling could have prepared Gurewitz for the next 25 years of his life. Epitaph Records brought a new era of punk rock to the masses in 1994 when the Offspring’s “Smash” turned into one of the biggest rock records of the decade. The success of the label’s… Read more »

2007 is off to a great start for Pepper! Once again these Island boys are gearing up for a two month national tour which kicks off February 14th in San Diego with the Mad Caddies. Pepper has been celebrating the attention from their latest album release No Shame on Atlantic/East West Records. Pepper mixes influences like Nirvana with the likes of Bad Brains and Black Sabbath, creating some of the best “kick back, sunny side, back side, grinding mellow guitar picking, cool wave riding sounds” around. The first single “No Control” continues to climb the Alternative Rock charts. Since its… Read more »

With the decade fast approaching it’s musical climax, 2006 proved to be a big winner for an industry hit by piracy. The live music scene proved to be the biggest release for most acts, with top grossing tours for some of the world’s biggest bands, and an explosion in music festivals across the globe. Firstly, let’s recap on albums were still waiting on from last year; OutKast’s first studio album since 2004’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” (which was one of the year’s biggest releases) is rumoured now for the spring, and Guns N’ Roses failed to deliver on their promise of… Read more »

If there’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in the musical landscape of the year, it’s the way the Virgin debut band THE SUMMER OBSESSION is coming into its own, with its crunchy pop-rock combination of guitar, electronics, and faultless songwriting, during the dog days of 2006. The Florida-based quartet — Luke, on keyboards and vocals; Chris, formerly of Good Charlotte, on drums and “shenanigans”; Fin, on guitar and vocals; and Christ, on bass, with Josh Abraham (Velvet Revolver, P!nk) producing and Ryan Williams engineering (OutKast, Rage Against the Machine) — will release the album “THIS IS WHERE YOU BELONG” on Virgin Records… Read more »