Search Results for: run for cover records

Classic-rock fan George Petersen doesn’t need another copy of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” or Cream’s “Disraeli Gears.” He has spent the past four decades buying and re-buying his favorite music in a succession of new formats: vinyl, 8-track, cassette, compact disc, Super Audio CD, DVD-Audio. Enough is enough. The basement is full. “We as consumers have been trained by the music industry to go out and buy a new piece of plastic every few years,” said the 51-year-old Petersen, editorial director of Mix, a San Francisco-based magazine that covers professional sound recording. “Why do we keep buying… Read more »

In the grand scheme of things – or in the recording industry, for that matter – six years isn’t exactly a long time. But for the guys in Thrice, who just marked their sixth year as a band, the occasion meant only one thing: time for the career retrospective! So they’re releasing “If We Could Only See Us Now,” a DVD spanning their just-a-little-longer-than-half-a-decade-long career. It might seem like a bit of overkill for a band that just two years ago was still releasing albums on tiny indie labels, but lead singer Dustin Kensrue sees it a little differently. “We… Read more »

New York – On the day nominations for the music industry’s highest honors were announced, nobody could find Killswitch Engage. Most of the members were asleep after headlining a concert the night before, pumping out ear-shattering music and screeching lyrics for a tiny audience. At least it was tiny compared with audiences for previous metal Grammy nominees, like Metallica and Black Sabbath. “Everyone’s mouth was pretty much wide open” after the Grammy nods, lead singer Howard Jones recently told The Associated Press. “Everyone was like, ‘Did this really just happen. What sort of bizarro world is this?’” It’s the kind… Read more »

Record labels are embracing new technologies in search of music’s next big thing Joe Berman looks for new bands. Typically, that means hanging out in dive bars, enduring hours of unlistenable music by groups whose rock-and-roll dreams far exceed their talent, praying for the occasional act that shows promise. About 16 months ago, however, the Los Angeles-based talent-finder sat at home scouting the globe for groups. He typed “New Zealand indie rock bands” into his computer search engine and found Steriogram, five lads from the town of Whangarei in New Zealand. They had a song and a video posted on… Read more »

Seattle – Nirvana’s box set, delayed three years by litigation, was finally released Tuesday, introducing hundreds of thousands of fans to rare recordings and even living-room video of the grunge rockers. The four-disc set, “With the Lights Out,” includes 81 tracks, 68 of them previously unreleased. It was initially planned for release in 2001 – for the 10th anniversary of the album “Nevermind” – but a dispute between Courtney Love, the widow of frontman Kurt Cobain, and the surviving bandmates delayed the project. The sides settled their legal issues in September 2002, allowing work on the box set to resume.… Read more »

Like the song says, you’ve got to hide your love-or at least your priceless Beatles stash-away. Preferaby in a battered old suitcase. A British man on holiday Down Under took a gamble and ponied up $37 for a suitcase at a flea market in Melbourne, Australia, and made an Antiques Roadshow-worthy discovery. The case contained a virtually priceless collection of Beatles memorabilia, including signed photos, concert programs and unreleased recordings, according to the London Times. Fab Four aficionados are speculating that the treasure trove is the long-lost archive of Beatle crony Mal Evans, considered by many fans to be the… Read more »

Meiert Avis completely flipped the script for New Found Glory’s new video. Instead of portraying the band as larger than life, as he did in the effects-laden clip for “All Downhill From Here,” the visionary director shrunk the group way, way down for “Failure’s Not Flattering.” Shot in late June, the video for the second single from NFG’s Catalyst opens with the five bandmembers trapped under a drinking glass. Their muffled pleas for help are ignored by the two regular-size guys holding them hostage. Only when the band breaks into song are their captors interested enough to take a closer… 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 »

When a pop artist leaves the shelter of a major-label nest, the stark reality of being on one’s own can be a sobering experience. But learning to fly solo can also bring tremendous rewards. Although many rock artists have self-released their music after leaving the major-label fold, most pop artists are so dependent on radio play that they have often sought the deep pockets of another major or a large indie label to foot the bill. But several acts – including Evan & Jaron, Sophie B. Hawkins and Alana Davisare forging their own path. Former Columbia duo Evan & Jaron… Read more »

While being well-prepared is almost always advised for a young band in the studio, spontaneous strokes of creativity are usually the moments the musicians remember best. Of the 13 songs that comprise Yellowcard’s latest album, Ocean Avenue, the band had a dozen of them hashed out beforehand. But while knee-deep in recording, the group stumbled across the riff that became the foundation for “Only One,” which is slated to be the album’s third single. “We discovered a riff for it by accident,” singer Ryan Key said. “We were testing something else out and just tracked it right away. We then… Read more »