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AJ McLean remembers the conversation well. Kevin Richardson was having doubts about his future in the Backstreet Boys, and one night in the dressing room after a 2005 show, he told his friends in the mega-selling boy band how he was feeling. “There’s some things I need to do first, for me,” McLean recalled Richardson saying. The group had been discussing “when we wanted to start recording again,” McLean said. “Everyone was ready, but that was the first time Kevin put it out in the atmosphere that he wasn’t.” The Boys needed some time to digest Richardson’s news. In June… Read more »

They’ve been called weirdoes, freaks and Satanists. Animal Collective’s otherworldly song structures, deconstructed harmonies and tribal rhythms aren’t always met with receptive ears, but there might not be a more progressive band in indie music. With two of the best-reviewed albums of the year – the band’s new “Strawberry Jam” and the solo disc by keyboardist Panda Bear, “Person Pitch” – Animal Collective has established itself as an act wildly separate from the many retro-oriented bands that populate today’s scene. The sound of the future, the psychedelic band acknowledges, is something they seek. “That’s kind of always been a goal,… Read more »

After a year-plus hiatus during which Rilo Kiley’s two principal members pursued solo careers, the Los Angeles-based indie pop quartet is returning to business August 21 with its major-label debut, “Under the Blacklight.” Well, sort of. “People keep calling it our ‘major-label debut,’ but I think (2004’s) ‘More Adventurous’ was that,” frontwoman Jenny Lewis says. And in some respects, she’s right. “Blacklight” marks Rilo Kiley’s first effort on Warner Bros. proper, whereas “More Adventurous” was released on the band’s own Brute/Beaute imprint before the major “upstreamed” it. However you tag it, “More Adventurous,” the band’s third full-length release, is its… Read more »

Some of the world’s biggest names in music were all about Saving Our Selves this weekend. SOS, of course, referring to the campaign being touted Saturday across the globe at the seven-continent, 24-hour Live Earth concert extravaganza, a worldwide shout-out to individuals, political leaders, corporations and every other entity capable of helping put a stop to the environmental scourge that is global warming. In a partnership with Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection and other U.S.-based and international organizations, Live 8 executive producer Kevin Wall put together a bill that included the Police, Madonna, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica,… Read more »

Michael Jackson is (a) bedridden; (b) convinced his brother Randy has been stealing from him; (c) getting evicted from his Las Vegas residence; (d) readying a European tour, or (e) none of the above. The answer, according to the reclusive entertainer’s hardworking spokeswoman, is “e.” Raymone Bain issued a statement Thursday in response to a spate of recent published reports about Jackson that she called “untrue, defamatory and malicious in nature.” Among the assertions denied by Bain was that Jackson was confined to his bed, or relying on any sort of medication, “including painkillers.” “In fact, Mr. Jackson is doing… Read more »

Iggy Pop marked his 60th birthday on Saturday just like any other respectable senior citizen would. The eerily athletic “Godfather of Punk” stripped down to a tight pair of blue jeans and dived off the stage into the arms of his adoring fans during a concert in San Francisco with his reunited band the Stooges. Towards the end of the 80-minute show, the crowd at the Warfield theater sang along as his bandmates struck up “Happy Birthday,” and Pop was surprised as balloons bearing his image dropped from the ceiling. A fan also handed him a white T-shirt inscribed “Birthday… Read more »

There are actors who sing and singers who act, but throughout pop history few entertainers have successfully balanced those twin careers. Neither could Hilary Duff, though not due to lack of effort. While her career as a pop diva skyrocketed – she released two platinum albums and a best-selling greatest-hits disc in just three years – the former Disney child star found her acting career stalling. Despite her considerable star wattage, Hollywood had difficulty seeing Duff beyond her past sugary sweet roles and good girl persona (no rehab or pantyless partying here). “It always shocks me the lack of openness,… Read more »

A Dublin High Court judge on Wednesday formally requested that Eminem provide testimony under oath explaining why he scrapped a sold-out gig at Slane Castle in 2005. The rap superstar’s answers are considered a potentially critical part of a civil lawsuit brought by the promoter against three insurance companies that declined to cover the costs of the cancellation. Eminem had been slated to headline the Sept. 17, 2005 concert as part of the European leg of his Anger Management Tour, but the rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, backed out just weeks before the show, citing exhaustion stemming… Read more »