Search Results for: pop will eat itself

Ozzy crooned, mooned and squirted his water guns, Disturbed bellowed, and Marilyn Manson vamped it up, but Ozzfest has always been just as much about the lesser-known acts, and Sunday’s show was no exception. Though bands like Kilgore, Pushmonkey and the perhaps aptly named No One have proven that Ozzfest exposure alone won’t make you famous, second-stage alumni System of a Down and Slipknot can attest that it certainly doesn’t hurt. Killswitch Engage’s potential spot in the Slipknot category seemed all but assured even before they appeared at Dallas’ Smirnoff Music Centre. Even though it was only the second show… Read more »

These days, try putting on a CD by your favorite rapper without hearing an endless series of plugs for Burberry, Air Force Ones, Alizé, Maybach, you name it. But are hip-hop’s ubiquitous product mentions just about artists chronicling their high-rollin’ lifestyles, or have the forces of marketing worked their way into your favorite rapper’s tunes? What’s next, a hit track written about Hummers paid for by the car’s manufacturer? Well, maybe. “Unless someone is paying me a billion dollars or offering equity, we don’t play that,” Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash said of writing products into a song on request.… Read more »

Dirk Lance, it was nice to know you, but Incubus fans have reason to welcome new bassist Ben Kenney with open arms. “He’s been very inspiring for all of us,” guitarist Mike Einziger said at the recent ASCAP Pop Music Awards of the onetime Roots member. “He’s a very different musician than Dirk, so it adds a very different dynamic to what we’re doing. It’s just like a big fresh breath of air.” Incubus aren’t recording yet, but they’ve set up their instruments in a rented house and are writing new material they’ll take to a studio after finishing Lollapalooza.… Read more »

Pearl Jam is walking the long road…away from their longtime label. The grunge-rock survivors have served notice that they’re exiting the Sony-owned Epic Records after fulfilling the terms of its contract. The Seattle quintet quietly announced the split in the Q&A section of its Sony-run Rumour Pit Website. Sandwiched between questions about where the band is playing concerts and whether it will ever play the controversial anti-White House song “Bu$hleaguer” (answer: “Ya never know…”) is the query: “Have Pearl Jam left their record company yet?” The answer is simply “yes.” Pearl Jam has been in the Epic fold since the… Read more »

EMusic today announced it has signed a distribution agreement with the Beggars Group, which will provide subscribers access to hundreds of titles from nine high-profile UK labels. Today’s agreement builds on EMusic’s extensive catalog of more than 250,000 MP3s from over 900 leading independent labels. EMusic allows its 70,000 members unlimited access to its catalog of high- quality MP3s for one low monthly price. Unlike other subscription services that offer only streaming and significant restrictions, EMusic uses the popular MP3 format and allows members the flexibility to easily burn their music to CDs and transfer it to portable MP3 audio… Read more »

Talented kids living in the middle of nowhere Canada get bored, learn some instruments and write some songs. Throw in several accomplished producers (Linda Perry, Phillip Stier and The Matrix) overseeing some of the latest in North American pop, and thus is born Lillix – a quartet of teenage and young twentysomethings who sing about angst and life with eternal girl-powered optimism. “Falling Uphill” is a solid but not groundbreaking debut, and one that will please the teen set – even those looking for some edgier bubblegum. A blend of tight harmonies (the track “Quicksand” is a great example) and… Read more »

Due to popular demand, international superstars Bon Jovi have added more dates to their current sold-out tour in support of their acclaimed CD Bounce (Island Records). This summer, the band returns from their European stadium tour to play arenas, ampitheatres and stadiums (in Philadelphia, Detroit and Boston), returning to many markets where they have already played to capacity-filled crowds. The additional tour dates begin in July and conclude with a hometown, multi-night stand at Giants Stadium in New Jersey on August 7th and 8th. (See below for a full listing of additional tour dates). Tickets for the additional dates will… Read more »

Zomba Music Group, home to teen-pop powerhouse Jive Records, will be saying “bye, bye, bye” to as many as 350 employees out of its 1,800-strong global staff over the next nine months as part of its long-awaited integration into parent company Bertelsmann Music Group. The layoffs, which will be spread out evenly over the course of the year, are part of a larger effort to bring Zomba’s stable of imprints – including Jive, Verity, Silvertone and Volcano – into the major-label group’s worldwide infrastructure. From a brand standpoint, Zomba will remain very much independent from BMG, with major imprints and… Read more »

Tower Records, the storied 1960s music chain that launched the music megastore and became a cultural retailing icon, strolls into its 43rd holiday shopping season this weekend struggling with debt and on the ropes. The West Sacramento, Calif.-based Tower hopes four weeks of strong sales will reverse a new image as the tottering giant inside a stumbling music industry. Among the chain’s troubles: deep-discounting rivals, changing consumer habits, lack of hits and its own missteps in the 1990s as the music business began a dramatic shift. Tower exemplifies the even deeper woes in a recording industry beset by piracy, computer… Read more »

Eddie Vedder has found plenty of material in mortality over the years. His band, Pearl Jam, was born of a heroin overdose more than a decade ago. Rival songwriter Kurt Cobain of Nirvana committed suicide while at the height of popularity. Two of Pearl Jam’s biggest hits, “Jeremy” and “Last Kiss,” deal with teen death. Now comes renewal, an appropriate topic as the lead singer and his bandmates re-emerge from their most proximate shock: the deaths of nine fans trampled during the 2000 Roskilde festival in Denmark. “Riot Act,” released Nov. 12, is Pearl Jam’s first studio album since the… Read more »