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Leland Cobain spreads a few yellowing pieces of art across his dining room table. The Aberdeen Museum of History, in the next town over, has asked him to contribute to an exhibit about his grandson, late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. One adorable Christmas card Kurt made for his grandparents at age 13 shows a hapless toddler, fishing, who has hooked the back of his shirt. There are radiant watercolor seascapes and depictions of Disney characters. Then there are the other paintings, in an apartment 55 miles northeast of Leland’s trailer. They are surrealistic, stark and powerful, revealing skeletons, aliens and… Read more »

“At the end of every show we’d grab handfuls of these stickers we made at Kinko’s with our name and website,” says Steriogram frontman Brad Carter. “We’d toss ’em to our fans from the stage, 300 or 400 stickers every night.” Carter laughs at the band’s ultra-humble approach to building fan loyalty. But it’s working. Steriogram’s homemade stickers, website and music videos, together with its enthusiastic courting of street teams and high school kids, helped launch the rock-hiphop group from obscurity in Auckland, NZ, to a major deal with Capitol Records. “Our goal was to play in America because our… Read more »

Internet music piracy has no negative effect on legitimate music sales, according to a study released today by two university researchers that contradicts the music industry’s assertion that the illegal downloading of music online is taking a big bite out of its bottom line. Songs that were heavily downloaded showed no measurable drop in sales, the researchers found after tracking sales of 680 albums over the course of 17 weeks in the second half of 2002. Matching that data with activity on the OpenNap file-sharing network, they concluded that file sharing actually increases CD sales for hot albums that sell… Read more »

The pop diva’s Maverick Records filed a $200 million lawsuit against Warner Music Group and Time Warner Inc. on Thursday, accusing the record label and its former parent company of breaching its contract through poor management and deceitful accounting which cost Madonna and her partners millions. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims Warner Music execs and other defendants “failed to abide by their contractual and fiduciary duty” by “engaging in acts of self-dealing and secret profit-taking, falsely accounting for receipts and expenses of the partnership [and] sacrificing the interests of the partnership and its partners for defendants… Read more »

Of all the things N.E.R.D. and Black Eyed Peas have in common – a progressive hip-hop sound, a talented live band, a vibrant catalog of songs – what most impressed Thursday’s crowd was a mutual friend. That’s what happens when you’re homies with Justin Timberlake… or, to his friends, J.T. The crowd at the sold-out Wiltern LG Theater went into an uproar midway through the Peas’ encore of “Where Is the Love?” when Timberlake casually strolled onstage to sing the song’s classic “People living, people dying…” hook. At that point, the promoters might as well have added Justin’s name to… Read more »

Columbia Records will issue Prince’s “Musicology” album April 20 in the United States through a new worldwide manufacturing and distribution deal the artist signed with Sony. The deal allows for future collaborations between Prince and Sony. In 2001, Prince released “The Rainbow Children” through Sony’s RED Distribution. Prince’s last liaison with a major label was 1999’s “Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic,” released by Arista. In other Prince news, Regal Entertainment Theaters will broadcast the artist’s March 29 Los Angeles concert in 43 U.S. markets. Fans attending the screenings and the Staples Center show will receive “Musicology” as part of the… Read more »

After it caused the cancellation of 10 shows earlier this month, Davey Havok’s voice will have plenty of time to get back in shape. AFI have no plans to make up the canceled dates or to follow up their current hit single, “Silver and Cold.” Instead, they’ll hole up to work on their next album. “We’re on our third single now,” guitarist Jade Puget said. “A lot of bands only have one. Having four would be like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or something, and I don’t think we’re quite there. We’re more than happy that we had three that… Read more »

After tracking drum parts in Los Angeles, then shifting operations to their hometown of Toronto, Sum 41 have at least one more trip scheduled before they release the follow-up to 2002’s Does This Look Infected? And this one’s sure to give their frequent-flyer miles a boost. The pop-punk quartet will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo in mid-May to film a documentary on the war-torn African country, according to an Island Def Jam spokesperson. “From the Front Lines,” produced by the Canadian charity organization War Child, will detail Sum 41’s two-week trip to the Congo, where they will examine… Read more »

“American Idol” fans who cringed when contestant Jon Peter Lewis appeared in a banana suit as part of a promotional segment for Ford during a recent episode can take comfort in knowing they are not alone. “I’ll be honest with you, on a personal basis, I hate the damn things,” Ken Warwick, co-executive producer of the show, admitted. “I come from a whole television system in England that absolutely forbids any interference within the program by any sponsor, by any advertising, or any product placement whatsoever. It’s just completely forbidden. So in truth, yes, I find a lot of them… Read more »

Courtney Love’s solo show in New York on Wednesday night ended with the singer in police custody after she allegedly struck an audience member with her microphone stand. Love was arrested Thursday morning (March 18) at 2:30 a.m. after allegedly throwing a blunt object into the audience, hitting a 24-year-old man in the head, according to a New York police spokesperson. The victim, who was bleeding profusely, was taken to Cabrini Medical Center and is now in stable condition, police said. Love faces reckless-endangerment and third-degree assault charges. Love was performing a surprise show at the downtown club Plaid with… Read more »