Search Results for: no cure

To hear No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani tell it, she’s just a girl from Orange County following a dream. “I’m just like you, except I write songs,” Stefani says. “I feel like I’m doing something right. And right now, I feel like I’m in a good place in my life.” Indeed. Stefani – rock star, pop culture icon, fashion entrepreneur (clothing line L.A.M.B.), actress (Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator,” due in December), wife of Bush vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale – is gearing up for the next chapter in a prolific career. Her solo debut album – or as she prefers to call… Read more »

Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley is generally a pretty easy-going guy. Interviewing him is usually like sitting through a comedy routine where any and all taboos are duly mocked. On this occasion, though, Bentley isn’t so laidback – and you can hardly blame him. He’s consumed by the problems within America’s political climate. Fearing the ever-looming November 2 U.S. Presidential Election date (which takes place the day Bad Religion play in Montreal), Bentley doesn’t really want to talk about anything else. “My job right now isn’t to play music,” he grunts. “It’s to get a new president in office. Half… Read more »

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Up until that point, my interview with two-fifths of Temecula, California’s Finch was going rather smoothly. That is, of course, until I mentioned the “E” word. Suddenly, I struck a nerve. “We’re not ‘emo’,” says guitarist Randy Strohmeyer wearily. “People can call us whatever they want to help them identify with the music because when it comes down to it, it’s just the music anyway.” He pauses for a moment, before adding: “But if you ask us, we don’t really care. We don’t call ourselves anything besides a rock band because our… Read more »

The success of the Black Eyed Peas flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that the music business sacrifices long-term artist development in favor of quick hits and short-term corporate profits. Signed to Interscope Records more than six years ago by chairman Jimmy Iovine, the progressive hip-hop group’s first two albums, “Behind the Front” in 1998 and “Bridging the Gap” in 2000 earned rave reviews but failed to go gold (shipments of 500,000 copies). The first album peaked at No. 139 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 197,000 units, according Nielsen SoundScan, while the sophomore set stalled at… Read more »

There’s something a little different about Black Sabbath’s performance at Ozzfest nowadays, and if you blink you might miss it. Two images of George W. Bush, shown during Sabbath’s performance of the metal classic “War Pigs,” have been removed from the video montage that accompanies the song, which usually kicks off the band’s headlining set. One image that juxtaposed Bush and Adolf Hitler was captioned “Same sh-, different a-hole,” while the second superimposed a round, red clown nose on the president, along with the words “White House Clown.” The edit comes days after Sabbath drummer Bill Ward, who claimed he… Read more »

Songs from Europe’s independent record labels will be available on Apple’s iTunes download service after a deal resolved a dispute between the sides. Songs by artists like The White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand – who are signed to indie labels – were not available at iTunes’ European launch in June. The labels complained they were being dictated unreasonable terms by Apple. But the Association of Indie Music (Aim) has secured terms it says are “on a par with those agreed by the majors”. Aim chairman Alison Wenham said: “The industry’s future is wedded to the success of iTunes and similar… Read more »

So the FCC wouldn’t let him be, wouldn’t let him be he…and now Eminem is making the move to satellite radio. On Monday, the Grammy-winning rapper announced his plans to team up with Sirius Satellite Radio to “deliver an uncut hip-hop radio station like never before” beginning this fall. “Once upon a time not too long ago, the feds wanted all my music off the air,” Eminem said in a statement. “Now we’ll be on Sirius 24 hours a day, playing the best hip-hop…not just from Shady Records, but from everywhere. “I can’t wait to start dropping new material, exclusive… Read more »

When Britney Spears fell down during a video shoot for “Outrageous” earlier this month, the impact was immediate. Her fall has set off a chain of events that’s resulted in the cancellation of her summer tour – something insiders are estimating will cost her as much as $1 million a week in lost revenue from ticket and merchandise sales. But what of the fall itself? Still pictures from paparazzi showed a play-by-play of the incident but failed to capture the essence of the moment – the onset of injury, the expression on the singer’s face, her puzzled dancers’ reactions as… 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 »

For the first time, the No. 1 album in the United States is loaded with anticopying protections, marking a clear step into the mainstream for the controversial technology. According to figures released by Nielsen SoundScan, Velvet Revolver’s “Contraband” was the top-selling album in America last week, despite being prominently labeled on its cover as being “protected against unauthorized duplication.” The success of the album is likely to prompt more experiments from BMG, the band’s label, and other record companies, industry watchers said. “It’s too soon to tell whether the rest of the industry is going to be heartened by this,”… Read more »