Search Results for: NeX GEn

Even though it came out in Australia a year ago, the self-titled debut by the Dissociatives just hit U.S. record stores last week. The duo features former angsty teenage frontman Daniel Johns of Silverchair and dance-music maven Paul Mac – but the result isn’t what you might think. “Because of Paul’s background and my background, a lot of people expected it to be a dance-rock collaboration, which we’re trying desperately to dispel,” Johns said. “We’re not really fans of that genre.” Instead, they set out to make the perfect pop record. “Some people jokingly referred to it as a ‘happy… Read more »

Los Angeles – Starbucks Corp. said on Monday it will start selling music by unknown artists in a move that strays from the chain’s reliance on big-name stars to sell CDs at its popular coffee shops. Starbucks – whose success selling music by well-known artists including Ray Charles and Alanis Morissette has made it a thorn in the side of traditional music retailers – next month will begin marketing and selling a CD by up-and-coming rock group Antigone Rising at its more than 4,400 U.S. stores. The CD, called “From the Ground Up,” will cost $12.95. It was produced by… Read more »

Los Angeles – Recording industry executive Andy Gershon sees opportunity in the online file-sharing networks that most of his rivals decry as havens for music pirates. As president of V2 Records, home to such established acts as The White Stripes and Moby, Gershon mines such Internet distribution channels for new fans and revenues. “The cat is so far out of the bag and so far gone that it’s pointless to keep fighting it,” Gershon said. “I might as well make as many people fans of our music, whether they illegally download it or not.” A number of mostly independent recording… Read more »

It seems that everyone has something to say about “American Idol” and MTVNews.com is no different. Here’s the first edition of our new weekly performance-night roundup: March 16 Surprise performance : Singing a Motown classic (“You’ve Made Me So Very Happy”) rather than a rock song, Constantine delivered his best performance to date, showing versatility and vocal range. Fashion hits and misses : Teen firecracker Mikalah took the judges’ advice and looked her age, but her pants were so low-cut she couldn’t even sit down next to Ryan. There was too much chest from the usually classy Anwar. Leather pants… Read more »

New York – Irish rockers U2 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, led by their charismatic singer Bono, whose work on behalf of Africa’s poor have also earned him status as a political statesman. The 20th annual ceremony on Monday night at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel also honored The Pretenders, led by singer-guitarist Chrissie Hynde, soul veterans Percy Sledge and The O’Jays as well as blues-guitar great Buddy Guy as members of rock’s elite. “(U2) are the keepers of some of the most beautiful sonic architecture in the rock-and-roll world,” said rocker Bruce Springsteen while… Read more »

“SYNERGY AND OTHER LIES” would be a good first reading assignment for Sir Howard Stringer, Sony’s new chief executive, to be followed by “The Synergy Myth.” Then Sir Howard should recognize that the Sony he inherits is constitutionally incapable of making one (electronics) plus one (entertainment) equal three. Both books were written by Harold Geneen, the number cruncher who directed International Telephone and Telegraph during its heyday in the 1960’s. He engineered 350 mergers and acquisitions, which brought such names as Hartford, Avis, Sheraton and Madison Square Garden under one roof. Mr. Geneen, however, harbored no illusions that ITT’s individual… Read more »

For the past year, Hot Hot Heat frontman Steve Bays’ life has been an endless stream of numbers: one departed guitarist, two epiphanies, 30 scrapped songs, 42 hectic studio days, 168 hours of tape, 365 nights between shows and 4,000 used T-shirts. And out of all that came one herky-jerky new record called Elevator, which, according to Bays, is about as appropriate a handle as any. “There were so many ups and downs that went into making this record. It was a manic period, and it was extremely stressful,” he said. “It was a year of tripping hard, a year… Read more »

Gwen Stefani – still glowing from “The Aviator” ‘s Oscar wins – is turning her attention away from movie cameos and back to promoting her solo album, Love, Angel, Music, Baby. She’s just shot a video for the next single, the B-girlish anthem “Hollaback Girl,” which she calls her “attitude song.” Like most of the songs on her solo debut, this was a collaboration – but one borne out of a bit of jealousy instead of pure camaraderie. When Stefani originally booked time with Pharrell Williams, it was at the end of the project, when she figured her sessions were… Read more »

You can’t get the question right. You’re fumbling for the right words but all you can hear are the lyrics to “Age of Consent” over and over and over again in your brain… It’s almost too easy to toss the word “influential” in front of a band to hype up its place in the pop-music pantheon. Few acts deserve it, and the word is so damn relative. But the culture mill spits out thousands of new bands each year and inevitably even the most wanly creative gets the “influential” stamp if it can hang in there long enough. So, then… Read more »

SANTA MONICA, California – Just days after Paris Hilton’s T-Mobile Sidekick was hacked, unleashing her topless photos and celeb-packed phonebook across the Internet, a sex video featuring Fred Durst hit the Web along with reports that it was the work of the same hacker. Though the explicit clip features the words “T-Mobile Terrorist” on it, the Limp Bizkit singer said the footage was definitely not stolen from his PDA. “If you look on Paris’ thing, I don’t use T-Mobile,” Durst said with a laugh on Friday (February 25), referring to the list of Hilton’s phone numbers that also leaked and… Read more »