Search Results for: You Me At Six

The Streets, a.k.a. innovative English rapper Mike Skinner, have the U.K.’s No. 1 single and album, just days after being nominated for the country’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize. The one-man band’s album, “A Grand Don’t Come For Free,” moved up one place to No. 1 in its 11th week on the survey, while second single “Dry Your Eyes” entered the chart at No. 1. Last week’s No. 1 single, “Lola’s Theme” by Shapeshifters, fell to No. 2. The only other new entry in the top 10 was the remix of Lou Reed’s “Satellite of Love” by London outfit Dab Hands,… Read more »

After initial denials, Britney Spears’ reps have now confirmed that the singer is engaged to her dancer boyfriend, Kevin Federline. Rumors began circulating after Spears’ knee injury that the couple were talking marriage, but her spokespeople dismissed the rumors and said that the two were “serious” but “definitely not engaged.” However, the story changed Friday afternoon (June 25), and Spears’ camp confirmed what people had been speculating all along. No details are available on the impending nuptials just yet, and the couple has yet to set a date. The news comes just six months after Spears was married for a… Read more »

With the music industry looking to cut costs amid lower profit margins, record companies see fewer incentives to investing in artist-run label projects. Twelve years ago, Madonna decided to apply the business instincts that made her a superstar toward finding and developing new acts for her own music label. Maverick Records flourished early on. It generated hits by the likes of Alanis Morissette and Prodigy, validating the decision by Warner Music to form a partnership with its biggest star. But Maverick’s good fortunes started to turn during the industrywide sales slump that began in 2000. The label-parent relationship soured, landing… Read more »

Industrial vets’ “Houses” targets White House So claims Al Jourgensen, frontman for the legendary industrial-metal band Ministry. And he’s not lying. The group’s new record, Houses of the Molé (released today), is a nine-track assault on everything George W. Bush, from the straight-talking, thrashy opening track “No W” all the way through the brooding, artsy finale “Worm.” Even the album title is a slap at the Oval Office. “We like tipping our hits to classic rock, so why not [Led Zeppelin’s] Houses of the Holy?” says Jourgensen, laughing. “Besides, I live in Texas, and molé is a way of life… Read more »

Three weeks prior to kickoff, Lollapalooza has been canceled. Organizers cited poor ticket sales as the reason the 31-date, 16-city trek was called off. This year’s lineup was set to include Morrissey, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, the Flaming Lips and the String Cheese Incident. “My heart aches along with the bands and all of our employees, whose hard work developed one of the most exciting and important tours that this nation was to see,” read a statement from Lollapalooza co-founder Perry Farrell. “My heart is broken.” The decision to scrap Lollapalooza was made Monday evening (June 21), when organizers and… Read more »

JUST days after the European launch of Apple Computers’ online music store, a chorus of customers are voicing their complaints. The lack of songs from artists on independent record labels – which account for a quarter of the UK market – has left iTunes looking like a poorly-stocked American import store, lacking local talent such as Travis and Franz Ferdinand. “Most Scottish acts are on independent labels,” says Alison Wenham, chairman and chief executive of the Association of Independent Music (AIM), which represents the majority of the UK’s indie labels. “Celtic acts typically start off very strong in their home… Read more »

On this summer’s Warped Tour, Yellowcard guitarist Ben Harper and his label, Takeover Records, will be looking for a talented unsigned band to take under their wing. Not only will this band be guaranteed at least one spot opening for Yellowcard on their 2005 tour, but they’ll also score an album release from Takeover. Working in conjunction with PureVolume.com and AbsolutePunk.net, Takeover Records will be gathering demos for their nationwide “Sign My Band” contest at the tent they share with Yellowcard on the Warped Tour. “This contest is just a great way to directly connect with kids everywhere and show… Read more »

The unclassifiable rock band Coheed and Cambria has signed with Columbia Records, who, in conjunction with Equal Vision Records, will re-issue the group’s watershed album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, on Tuesday, June 29. One of the biggest indie band breakout stories of the year, Coheed and Cambria, already legendary for delivering incandescent live performances, will be among the headliners on this year’s Vans Warped Tour. Coheed and Cambria is: Claudio Sanchez (lead vocals, guitar), Michael Todd (bass, backing vocals), Travis Stever (lead guitar, backing vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, backing vocals). Officially christened Coheed and Cambria in 2001,… Read more »

Despite their hackneyed interchangeability, there’s a difference between a rock concert and rock show. Anyone thinking of challenging this should check out a stop on Blink-182 and No Doubt’s monthlong co-headlining trek. Even though they recorded a song called “The Rock Show,” Blink’s set Thursday night at the PNC Bank Arts Center definitely fell on the concert side of the spectrum. Bassist Mark Hoppus and guitarist Tom DeLonge stood dwarfed by the vast, mostly barren stage, save for five trapezoidal video screens positioned behind them. Were it not for a shirtless, mohawked Travis Barker peering down from a massive drum… Read more »

“It’s our most ambitious album to date,” says Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day’s forthcoming American Idiot, a concept record the trio has dubbed a “punk rock opera.” The sprawling thirteen-song album, due in September, tells the tales of such characters as “Saint Jimmy” and an unnamed female protagonist “Whatzhername” living in a heated political climate. “I wanted to try to find some human relationship throughout it,” Armstrong says. “A lot of it is coming from trying to have a relationship between different people and yourself, but being surrounded by total chaos… I didn’t want to make people feel like… Read more »