Search Results for: progressive

Ernest Hemingway once described courage as “grace under pressure.” Rush drummer Neil Peart liked the phrase so much that he used it as the title of the band’s 1984 album. Now, having experienced devastating family tragedy and a subsequent rebirth, Peart has become the living definition of courage. In 1997, the drummer’s 19-year-old daughter died in a car accident. The following year, his wife Jackie passed away from cancer. At that point, Rush had just released their third multi-disc live album, Different Stages, and the band took an extended hiatus to allow Peart time to heal. Now, five years after… Read more »

Air can do strange things to people. Not the air we breathe, but Air the band. And they’ve taken three imaginative musicians – singer/songwriter Jason Falkner, occasional Beck drummer Brian Reitzell and Moog Cookbook keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. – back to 1980. The guys, who spent much of the last two years contributing to Air’s 10,000 Hz Legend and touring to promote it, are moving ahead with their new wave trio, Softcore, now that the sounds of New Order and Gang of Four appear to be experiencing a renaissance. “Everything, in my opinion, is sort of in,” Reitzell said… Read more »

In the era of MP3s, CD-Rs, iPods and the ubiquitous mix-CD, everyone from Starbucks to your parents has tried their hand at the DJ game, often with perfectly positive results. But after four arduous days of hearing dance music permeate every sonic inch of the Winter Music Conference, this cultural development bolstered the status of every DJ – the real kind – that performed, laying plain the artistry of their craft. That said, the vast majority of WMC parties fell into the risk-free category of monochromatic, genre-based music, whether progressive house, tech-house or any other permutation in between. DJs who… Read more »

Ozzy Osbourne, System of a Down, P.O.D. and the new band featuring former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell and Rage Against the Machine members Tim Commerford, Tom Morello and Brad Wilk are among the groups slated to take the main stage when this summer’s Ozzfest kicks off on July 6, Ozzy’s manager/wife, Sharon Osbourne, told MTV News on Tuesday. They’ll be joined by Drowning Pool and mainstage openers Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society and Adema. Meanwhile, Rob Zombie, an Ozzfest main stage veteran, will headline the second stage, which this year promises to be larger, with a stripped-down set. A press… Read more »

Vivendi Universal Net USA, Vivendi Universal’s U.S.-based Internet/technology company, today announced that MP3.com president Derrick R. Oien has been upped to the post of President of Vivendi Universal Net USA Music Group. Appointed by CEO Robin D. Richards, Oien is responsible for overseeing all initiatives of VUNet USA’s popular music properties including MP3.com, RollingStone.com, GetMusic.com and EMusic.com. The appointment follows the creation last fall of VUNet USA and underscores the company’s mission to create more efficient business strategies through the consolidation of top entertainment and education properties under one cohesive management team. Oien’s role within the organization includes extensive involvement… Read more »

After finding their first bit of cross-country exposure on the second stage of Ozzfest in the summer of 1998, System of a Down have officially graduated. The progressive metal outfit has been tapped to co-headline this year’s edition of the rambling rockfest. While dates and additional acts for the festival have yet to be lined up, System announced that they will hit the stage just prior to the tour’s namesake, Ozzy Osbourne, when the trek kicks off in July. Spokespeople for Ozzfest were unavailable for comment. After its coming-out party on the Ozzfest second stage in 1998, the band returned… Read more »

Alien Ant Farm, Fenix TX and Glassjaw are among the bands on board for the seventh annual SnoCore festival. Like last year, SnoCore will once again be split into two factions: SnoCore Rock and SnoCore Icicle Ball, which adopts a more eclectic, avant-garde vibe. AAF and the like-minded rock lineup will kick things off February 15 in Providence, Rhode Island, according to the tour’s publicist. While 26 cities are confirmed thus far – through March 30 in Las Vegas – additions to the trek are expected, as is the announcement of another opening band. Icicle Ball will begin its cross-country… Read more »

Neil Young may be Canadian, but the veteran rock star was honored Tuesday for promoting freedom and justice in his adopted country. People for the American Way, a free-speech advocacy group formed 20 years ago to combat the so-called “religious right,” presented Young with its Spirit of Liberty lifetime achievement award during its annual fundraising dinner in Beverly Hills. Young, in turn, raised a few eyebrows among the liberal crowd by defending anti-terrorist measures that have angered civil rights groups. But he urged the audience to ensure the controversial measures were only temporary. “Never let America forget that these are… Read more »

Loud Records extends its reach into wireless networks through a groundbreaking new partnership with mobile entertainment portal Zingy (www.zingy.com). Fans of the digitally progressive Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep may now customize their cell phones with free ringtones and logos from their new albums. This marks the first time in the U.S. that music has premiered for mobile phones before an album release. “Technology is advancing so fast in this day and age, there’s no better way to get involved than through the wireless networks. Cell phones are so widely used that ringtones are one of the best ways to… Read more »

In the downtime between their recently wrapped Pledge of Allegiance tour with Slipknot and a series of December radio festivals, System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian has recorded a full-length collaboration with noted Armenian multi-instrumentalist Arto Tuncboyaciyan. The tentatively titled “Serart” is slated for release next year on Tankian’s own Serjical Strike Records. Fans who dug Tuncboyaciyan’s curious noisemaking on System’s newly platinum Toxicity will surely enjoy “Serart,” a collection Tankian says is a marked departure from that band’s prog-metal barrage. “It’s really crazy world, jazz and experimental,” he says. “With some rock and hip-hop, beats, dance beats, electronic… Read more »