Search Results for: dr dre

If Fu Manchu were hoping to find a few friendly faces when unveiling new material Tuesday night at the Troubadour, the stoner rock outfit was undoubtedly stoked by the warm welcome it found. By the time the band hit the stage at 11 p.m. to kick off its U.S. tour, the club was packed and the crowd was by all indications “into it,” if otherwise meditatively subdued in their devotion. Those in attendance, including former Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, were clearly devotees of the Fu, nodding their heads along to the band’s low-end celebrations of surfing, skating, B-movies… Read more »

The guitar pop of Weezer has been interpreted by a cast of underground rock bands for the collection, Rock Music-A Tribute To Weezer, due February 5 from Dead Droid Records. Songs featured include, “Say It Ain’t So,” by Further Seems Forever; “Susanne,” by Midtown; and the Weezer rarity “Jaime,” as interpreted by Dashboard Confessional. A vinyl version includes two extra tracks. The complete track listing is: “My Name Is Jonas” (Affinity), “No One Else” (Piebald), “Holiday” (Glasseater), “Surf Wax America” (Grade), “Say It Ain’t So” (Further Seems Forever), “The World Has Turned” (Christopher John a.k.a. Elliott), “Susanne,” (Midtown), “Jamie” (Dashboard… Read more »

Beck is currently spending time in San Francisco working on new material with producer Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, perhaps best known for his role as a behind-the-scenes member of the Gorillaz. The material is for the follow-up to Beck’s 1999 release, Midnite Vultures, according to the artist’s official website (beck.com). Prior to the Gorillaz, Nakamura built a reputation among the hip-hop underground for his work on such projects as Dr. Octagon and Handsome Boy Modeling School. Meanwhile, Beck is also putting his efforts toward the Recording Arts Coalition (RAC), a star-studded lobbying arm that is encouraging politicians to readdress the… Read more »

Beck, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, and Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness have been added to an already impressive list of top-shelf acts that will perform in Los Angeles on February 26 to help raise funds for the Recording Artists Coalition (RAC). However, LAUNCH has learned that Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, and Rob Zombie are no longer participating in the potentially historic night of music. Beck, Vedder, and Ness will co-headline a show at the Wiltern Theater. Playing elsewhere on the same night, for the same cause, will be the Eagles, Billy Joel, Sheryl Crow, and Stevie Nicks at the… Read more »

Chris Blackwell knew he wanted to be a part of the documentary 1 Giant Leap as soon as musicians Jamie Catto (Faithless) and Duncan Bridgeman played him the rough demos of songs they’d written for the program. The same man whose gut feeling led him to sign Bob Marley and U2 to his Island Records imprint heard what the two musicians had to offer and gave them the green light. “I loved the music of it,” says Blackwell of the documentary due out in March. “I loved the way the music was put together. I loved the different influences of… Read more »

Can bad-boy rapper Eminem succeed where Mariah Carey spectacularly failed last year – score a hit record to revive the down-and-out music industry? That is the burning question on the lips of music business honchos converging on Midem, the industry’s annual get-together on the French Riviera this weekend. Executives will be praying for fortune to smile on a line-up of superstar releases including Eminem, Christina Aguilera and the King, Elvis Presley, to resuscitate an industry reeling from 2001, the worst year on record. Depending on their success, the $40 billion global music industry could shrink another three percent this year… Read more »

Midem kicked off with more flash than usual Saturday with a touch of Britneymania, a surprise appearance from Virgin mogul Richard Branson and the NRJ awards, France’s answer to the Grammys. Pop icon Britney Spears, braving the chill at the 36th installment of the annual music market in a skimpy floral dress, was on hand to promote her upcoming feature film, “Crossroads,” scheduled for Valentine’s Day release in the United States, as well as her third album, “Britney,” already approaching 8 million units worldwide At a packed Carlton hotel press conference, Spears expressed her hopes for her first foray onto… Read more »

Chart-topping singer/songwriter Dido added two top awards to her growing list of music accomplishments on Saturday, but sexy singer-actress Jennifer Lopez stole the show as best female artist. Pop princess Britney Spears also got pulses racing at the music industry’s NRJ awards on the French Riviera with a raunchy performance of her latest single “I’m a Slave 4 U,” before crowning her “king of pop” Michael Jackson as best male star. Dido, who shot to fame in 1999 when bad-boy rapper Eminem sampled her song “Thank You” for his hit tune “Stan,” landed best album and best newcomer. The nods… Read more »

Online music company MP3.com said Friday it filed a malpractice lawsuit against its former legal counsel, Cooley Godward LLP, seeking several hundred million of dollars in damages and compensation over a slew of copyright lawsuits that it faced. In the suit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, MP3.com said it launched its “My.MP3.com” service in January 2000 based on allegedly inaccurate and incomplete legal advice from the Palo Alto, California-based law firm. The service, which enabled users to store recordings contained on their CDs and listen to them from any available Internet connection, provoked several copyright lawsuits by major… Read more »

A Los Angeles judge has tentatively approved a deal requiring record giant Universal Music to pay $4.75 million in back royalties to as many as 300 performers to settle a class-action lawsuit led by torch singer Peggy Lee, court papers showed Wednesday. Lee, 81, was the lead plaintiff in the two-year court case that claimed that Universal, a unit of Vivendi Universal, failed to pay her and other artists – many of whom are now dead – millions of dollars by underreporting sales figures and overcharging for services. Legal experts said this was the first class-action lawsuit on behalf of… Read more »