Search Results for: NeX GEn

Air can do strange things to people. Not the air we breathe, but Air the band. And they’ve taken three imaginative musicians – singer/songwriter Jason Falkner, occasional Beck drummer Brian Reitzell and Moog Cookbook keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. – back to 1980. The guys, who spent much of the last two years contributing to Air’s 10,000 Hz Legend and touring to promote it, are moving ahead with their new wave trio, Softcore, now that the sounds of New Order and Gang of Four appear to be experiencing a renaissance. “Everything, in my opinion, is sort of in,” Reitzell said… Read more »

In the era of MP3s, CD-Rs, iPods and the ubiquitous mix-CD, everyone from Starbucks to your parents has tried their hand at the DJ game, often with perfectly positive results. But after four arduous days of hearing dance music permeate every sonic inch of the Winter Music Conference, this cultural development bolstered the status of every DJ – the real kind – that performed, laying plain the artistry of their craft. That said, the vast majority of WMC parties fell into the risk-free category of monochromatic, genre-based music, whether progressive house, tech-house or any other permutation in between. DJs who… Read more »

The train keeps a-rollin’ for Aerosmith, the bad boys of American rock ‘n’ roll, who are working on a slew of projects before returning to the concert circuit in the fall. The veteran quintet, which wrapped up an eight-month tour of North America and Japan in early February, said last week that it will be the subject of MTV’s second annual mtvICON tribute concert in Los Angeles next month. Kid Rock, rapper Nelly and pop singer Pink were the first to commit to the show, which will be taped at a Hollywood movie studio on April 14 and air on… Read more »

“One-man band”: when you hear that phrase you probably picture a dude on a street corner with a pair of cymbals between his knees, a drum on his back, some kazoos in his mouth and a guitar case full of quarters. Think again. While naming a band after yourself is fine and good for guys like Dave Matthews and Jon Spencer, some band names are actually just cryptic pseudonyms for a single, mad studio genius. The past year has seen an explosion of do-it-yourself-ers, including ex-Eels bassist Tommy Walter with his band Abandoned Pools, stone alone emo-ter Chris Carrabba of… Read more »

Are Britney Spears and *NSYNC singer Justin Timberlake still a couple? Well, it depends on who you ask these days. While on a European promotional tour for her Crossroads feature-film debut earlier this month, Spears publicly and repeatedly said that breakup rumors were not true, but rumblings about the status of her relationship continue to make headlines worldwide. Spears’s spokeswoman Lisa Kasteler released a statement on Wednesday (March 20) in an attempt to clarify the couple’s current status. “To set the record straight, both of them are very busy and focusing on their careers. They love each other very much… Read more »

The 16th annual South by Southwest music conference drew to a close Sunday, and the only thing that lasts longer than the seemingly perpetual hangover that results from four debauched days of a music industry on spring break is the buzz emanating from the bands and key moments that defined this year’s festival. Of the more than 1,000 bands showcasing their chops before press, radio programmers, managers, lawyers, label execs and promoters in 48 venues strewn throughout Austin, Texas, a handful traditionally rise above the chaff to become the targets of hype hucksters and topics of critical discussion for weeks… Read more »

Anticipation for the Talking Heads’ arrival backstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last night was high; reporters hung around waiting until well past midnight. And when David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison and Chris Frantz finally showed, there was only the briefest of silences before the question came up: “How did it feel to play together and are there plans for a reunion?” “One thing at a time,” Harrison said, diplomatically. “It was great tonight.” The band addressed the issues that had kept them from performing together for eighteen years, claiming that reports of acrimony… Read more »

“Pop Idol” winner Will Young notched up a third week at the top of the British pop charts on Sunday. The 23-year-old saw off spoof rapper Ali G and U.S. reggae star Shaggy whose duet “Me Julie” came straight in at No. 2, according to The Official UK Charts Company. Young has sold more than 1.5 million copies of the double-A side “Anything is Possible/Evergreen” in less than a month. It means Young will next week go head-to-head for the No. 1 spot with Gareth Gates, the 17-year-old singer he beat to win the “Pop Idol” television talent show. Gates… Read more »

There was no floor collapsing this time, and the only damage was the broken red guitar belonging to Mest’s lead singer, Tony Lovato. Mest and Unwritten Law played to a sold out crowd last Wednesday in Houston, Texas, and although entertaining, it is also a little frightening for an audience who didn’t exactly know what to expect when a musician expresses his temper on stage. During their fifty minute set, afraid that he was going to get hurt, Lovato warned crowd surfers to watch where they were landing and to not hit his microphone stand. As luck would have it,… Read more »

Fresh from his Grammy win for Best Short Form Music Video, Fatboy Slim – a.k.a. Norman Cook – is touring the U.S. looking for samples, prepping for the follow-up to 2000’s Halfway Between the Gutters and the Stars. “I just generally needed the turnover of new source material to work with, and L.A.’s a good place to do it,” Cook says. “I’m just looking for weird noises and little loops. I tend to go on the haircuts on the [album] sleeve. It’s got to be 1970 to 1976. Pre-1970s production wasn’t really too hot, and post-’76 everyone went disco. So… Read more »