Search Results for: NeX GEn

The cameraman removed the digital video camera from the tripod and got ready for some hand-held shots of the X-ecutioners at Phat Beats record store in the West Village. A look of concern creased the face of the group’s publicist, who hurriedly approached the producer of the shoot. Her idea was to lead into the television news story with shots of the DJs scratching, but the X-ecutioners, whose new record, Built From Scratch, charted at #15 on this week’s Billboard 200 albums chart, don’t normally perform in retail outlets and their label rep was worried that without their precision equipment… Read more »

Now that their month-long U.S. tour is but a recent memory, animated supergroup Gorillaz are fading into the funny pages for a while, but the individual members will remain active. Vocalist Damon Albarn is releasing an album of West African music and focusing his attention on his longtime outfit Blur, producer Dan the Automator is working on a solo disc as well as producing records by Zack de la Rocha and Peeping Tom, and the remaining Gorillaz will be busying themselves with various other projects. But that doesn’t mean Gorillaz will remain locked up for an extended period of time.… Read more »

Late heroes Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur are among the icons of hip-hop culture who’ll be honored next week at the inaugural Hip-Hop Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Afrika Bambaataa, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Run-D.M.C., KRS-One, Salt-n-Pepa, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh also made the cut, along with legendary breakdancer Crazy Legs, DJs Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, rap mogul Russell Simmons, and graffiti artist Dondi. The honors will be bestowed at New York’s Puck Building on Wednesday, the opening day of the Hip-Hop Super Conference and Expo. The conference runs through Friday and will feature more than… Read more »

The boxes are stacked outside the Beverly Hills home, ready to be carried in. Each is neatly labeled: “pots and pans,” “linens,” “devil heads,” “dead things.” Plainly, Ozzie and Harriet aren’t moving in. This Ozzy is Ozzy Osbourne, the heavy metal rock star, and his family. Their arrival in the neighborhood heralds a hilarious new MTV series, “The Osbournes,” that premieres 10:30 p.m. EST Tuesday. MTV describes it as television’s first “reality sitcom,” a format that suggested itself naturally because nothing they could invent around the Osbournes would be as funny as their actual lives. Just the idea of the… Read more »

The last time System of a Down hit Las Vegas, it was on the Pledge of Allegiance Tour with Slipknot. System held their own on that outing, but now, back in Sin City as the headliner at a more intimate setting – the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s Joint – System had a lot more to prove. By the time the L.A. foursome of Armenian-American rockers strolled casually onto the stark stage, the crowd was already geared up for SOAD’s harsh and heavy sounds. Then the thunder hit. The opening riffs hammered across the venue – no introduction was needed… Read more »

When they finish the Projekt Revolution Tour, which also features Linkin Park, Cypress Hill and DJ Z-Trip, Adema will join Alien Ant Farm, Fenix TX, Glassjaw and others on the already-in-progress SnoCore Festival, which runs until March 30. After that, the band will likely tour on its own through the end of the year. Some bands in such a position long for all those seemingly endless months to pass so they can get home and work on new material. Adema, however, plan to write their next record while they’re on the road, and they’ve already got three complete songs and… Read more »

Madonna will perform a song for the next James Bond film but will not be acting in it, her publicist said on Friday. The pop superstar had been tipped by the British media to make a cameo appearance alongside Irish lead Pierce Brosnan in the latest 007 spy caper. “She is doing a song for the film but she won’t be acting,” Madonna’s spokeswoman in London said. “We don’t know if it will be the title song yet.” Madonna clinched the deal after holding talks this week with Eon Productions, the 007 film’s maker, at Pinewood Studios, the Mirror tabloid… Read more »

Brandy is all grown-up – the former teen star is a now married woman. The singer-actress revealed Tuesday that she wed music producer Robert Smith last year. “I’ve fallen in love with a very warm, gentle, understanding and focused person,” Brandy, who turns 23 on Feb. 11, said in a statement. “This summer we married quietly. A new experience, a new day for me – I couldn’t be happier!” Brandy was 16 when she released her self-titled debut album, which sold over 1 million copies. Her hits include “I Wanna Be Down” and the No. 1 hit “The Boy Is… Read more »

The best new sites on the internet will be revealed at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Web Awards on Sunday, March 10 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas. A list of finalists for these awards is now available online at http://www.sxsw.com/interactive/web_awards/finalists.php. Specifically geared towards sites that went live in the 2001 calendar year, the SXSW Website Competition recognizes the world’s most exciting, up-and-coming internet destinations in over 20 different categories. “The developers and designers who created the sites that win the SXSW Web Awards are the people who are going to be shaping the look and feel of… Read more »

Van Halen has “amicably parted company” with Warner Bros. Records, the only label it has ever recorded for. A spokesperson for the legendary hard-rock band confirmed to LAUNCH that the split happened about a month ago. As for what Van Halen has planned, the spokesperson told us, “Only they know at this point.” The group’s former representative at the label declined to comment on the situation. The band’s first release on Warner Bros. was 1978’s Van Halen. Over the next 20 years the band released 11 studio albums with three different lead singers (David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar, and Gary… Read more »