Friday, July 18, 2003

• Record Labels Send ISPs Subpoenas in Piracy Battle
  The R.I.A.A. on Wednesday sent out hundreds of subpoenas to Internet service providers as it prepares to sue individuals who offer songs for download over file trading networks. The R.I.A.A. also says that this is just the first wave-- hundreds more subpoenas are coming soon.
  
  
• Bertelsmann Seeking To Dismiss Suits Over Napster
  Bertelsmann says that U.S. law "does not permit recovery from a third-party lender for damages the plaintiffs failed to recover from Napster." The other big labels says Bertelsmann was much more than a third party lender and that the time has come to pay for their sins.
  
  
• KRS-One Clears Up Label Dispute; The Kristyle Due In August
  Though you can still pick up copies of Kristyles from retailers who didn't hear about the injunction (or willfully ignored it), the real version of KRS-One's new album The Kristyles is now due in stores on Aug. 26. Why the big deal about the album title? Acronyms, of course. The Kristyle stands for ""To have everything, keep radiating in sprit through your love everyday." Teh real version of the album will also feature an appearance by Ol' Dirty Bastard (now Dirt McGirt) and a tribute song to Jam Master Jay.
  
  
• The Onion A.V. Club Interviews Sir Mix-A-Lot
  This is one of the best interviews I've read in a while-- and it isn't because of the questions, either. Sir Mix-A-Lot gives up a lot of interesting details about the various moves he's made in his career. He starts off by acknowledging that the track he did with Metal Church was wack and gets more honest and revealing from there.
  
  
• Jackson Five to Reunite
  And tour. So says Jermaine Jackson. We'll see-- I remember in the late 90s there was talk of a reunion alnum/tour, but it never panned out. Michael might need the work now, though.
  
  
• Singer Jerry Lee Lewis Seeks 6th Divorce
  He must be mellowing in his old age, as he didn't just (allegedly) kill his wife like wife #4.
  
  
• Toronto Rapper D.O. Sets Guinness Book Freestyle Record
  Think you're a bad-ass rapper? Can you freestyle for 8 1/2 hours? That's what I thought. You can hear some D.O. (but not the freestyle) at this site.
  
  
• Nappy Roots Return From Persian Gulf
  "To be freestylin' in Baghdad in 130-degree weather was something that we will never forget." No doubt. But could they do it for 8 1/2 hours? The next album from Nappy Roots will be titled Wooden Leather and is scheduled to come out on Aug. 26. Pre-order Wooden Leather by clicking here.
  
  
• Magic Leaves No Limit, Plans To "Tell All"
  Magic next album, On My Own, is due in stores on August 26th. He plans on rapping a bit about his tenure on No Limit Records-- and seeing as he's no longer on the label, you can probably imagine he doesn't have a lot of nice things to say.
  
  
• Suede Accountant Accused of Stealing Half A Million
  The bigger story to me here is that (London) Suede had half-a-mil to steal, but so be it.
  
  
• Stars arrested over 'rigged' awards
  A payola scandal is rocking Hing Kong's music scene, as the 22 people were arrested on Wednesday by investigators from Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). The ICAC said it had arrested two senior executives and another employee from television station TVB and the president, vice-president and several singers from a record label, after allegations that chart positions and music awards had been rigged.
  
  
• Interview With Jane's Addiction Drummer Steven Perkins
  Lotsa interesting tid-bits in there. Check it out. My fave bits: Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, Foo Fightersand Bad Brains were among the artists who they wanted to get on this years edition of Lollapalooza and at some point they were thinking about getting the line-up of the original Lollapalooza (Jane's Addiction/Siouxsie & The Banshees/Living Colour/Ice T & Body Count/Butthole Surfers/Nine Inch Nails/Rollins Band) back on the road.
  

Thursday, July 17, 2003

• Bill Would Put Net Song Swappers in Jail
  Read the article and then contact your representatives to let them know that you don't think exposing people to new music and giving muysic consumers what they want should be a felony, for crying out loud.
  
  
• Salsa Queen Celia Cruz Dies
  R.I.P and thanks for the memories from all of us here at Rocktober.com. Not hip to Celia Cruz? What are you, an infidel? Start here and then move around the catalog.
  
  
• Rakim Splits With Dr. Dre, Aftermath Records
  God damn it! How many more years am I gonna have to wait for a new Rakim album? Epecially one that doesn't suck? With Dr. Dre behind the boards, there was at least a fighting chance. *Sigh*
  
  
• It's Ladies' Night: Girlz Garage Tour To Spin Off Warped Tour
  Lillix, The Peak Show, Northern State, Brassy and theSTART will cross the U.S. this fall during a tour of clubs inspired by the success of the Ladies Lounge on The Warped Tour. "The Girlz Garage Tour" kicks off Oct. 20 in Boston and then winds up Nov. 23 in Detroit. Why aren't The All Girl Summer Fun Band on this tour? Oh, yeah, it's taking place in the Fall. Bummer.
  
  Look for Brassy to blow all those other bitches off the stage. If you're a Brassy fan like me, you'll be super=psyched to hear they've got a new album coming out on Aug. 19. Pre-order Gettin' Wise by clicking here.
  
  
• Cake Bring Back Sunshine
  The Unlimited Sunshine Tour will be back for a second year. making the trek this year are Cake, Cheap Trick, The Detroit Cobras, The Hackensaw Boys and Charlie Louvin of The Louvin Brothers. (If The Louvin Brothers sound familair to you but you just can't place it, click on their name. it'll come to you real quick like.) Last year's tour featured Cake, The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Modest Mouse and Kinky. Why it was I didn't go last year, I can't exactly remember-- perhaps temporary insanity. Why I won't be going this year can be summed up in two words: Cheap Trick.
  
  
• Neptunes, Fatboy Slim Remix The Stones
  The Neptunes, Fatboy Slim and Full Phatt have remixed The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil" for a single that will be released commercially on Sept. 1-- though radio may begin playing it on July 21. The Neptunes were already half way there-- their "wooo-woos" on Fabolous' "Holla Back" were just like those on "Sympathy."
  
  
• Cablevision Launches Mysterious Plan
  Cablevision has just launched a satellite that will (probably) lead to a new service that will compete with DirecTV and Dish Network. The more the merrier-- it will keep prices down and if they can swing a deal with TiVo I won't have to give my money to Rupert Murdoch.
  

Wednesday, July 16, 2003

• Senators Move to Block New Media Ownership Rules
  Using some Rules-of-Order manuevering, thirty-five senators have Senators have put the wheels in motion towards stopping the F.C.C.'s recent changes to the media ownership rules. Please contact your Senators and ask them to vote for Sen. Byron L. Dorgan's (D-N.D.) "resolution of disapproval."
  
  
• White Stripes Postpone Summer Tour Dates
  The White Stripes have postponed their 18 North American tour dates through Aug. 10 in Detroit. Jack White broke his finger in a car accident and it isn't gonna heal up in time.
  
  
• New ZZ Top Set Finally Surfaces In September
  The 16-track album, produced by lead singer/guitarist Billy F. Gibbons, was originally set to come out in April but label restructuring and the associated politics pushed the date back. Mescalero will now come out in the U.S. on Sept. 9 and will feature a cover of the Otis Redding/Carla Thomas classic "Tramp" (which some of you folks my age may better recognize as the basis for Salt-N-Pepa's "Tramp"). You can pre-order Mescalero by clicking here
  
  
• Bowie Back With "Reality"
  Due in September is Reality, a new album from David Bowie. It will include a track produced by The Matrix and covers of The Modern Lovers'"Pablo Picasso" and Ronnie Spector's "Try Some, Buy Some."
  
  
• Hot spots elude RIAA dragnet
  If you want to trade files without Big Content threatening to thow you into bankruptcy court and/or prison, just mosey on over to a Wi-fi Hot Spot that doesn't require you to log in with a credit card. At least for the moment, i can't imagine this hole in the system will last for too long.
  
  
• Piano Tuner Blues (L.A. Times registration required)
  Is it better to tune a piano by hear or with a computer program? The debate in the piano tuning community is, apparently, quite fierce.
  
  
• Lollapalooza drops Vernon Downs concert
  That's the second cancellation due to "staging issues" and slow ticket sales this summer. The kids today, they have no respect!
  
  
• New Tarantino Film to Be Released in 2 Parts (N.Y. Times registration required)
  OKay, fine-- but the interesting part for me is this: "'There were no obstacles involved in splitting up `Kill Bill' at all because I've always designed the movie, thought about the film, as malleable in any number of versions," Mr. Tarantino said in his statement. That includes different versions for Asia, America and Europe." That's gonna be one heck of a special edition DVD.
  
  
• The Devil Highway's Number Is Finally Up (L.A. Times registration required)
  U.S. 666 is now U.S. 491. The Indian tribes who lived near the road long considered it an insult from the White Man that a highway with a nuber Christians considered evil ran right by their reservations. Hard to arue with that, actually.
  

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

• Rapper Held Without Bond Will Miss Tour
  If you were looking forward to seeing Beanie Sigel as part of the Jay-Z/50 Cent"Roc The Mic" Tour, you'd better re-adjust your expectations. On Monday, Sigel was ordered held without bond pending trial on a federal weapons charge. Read the above linked article, the boy is facing charges in other cases as well. It might be a while before you see him on stage again.
  
  
• James Iha Completes Circle
  Former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha has joined A Perfect Circle and will be on board for the band's upcoming U.S. tour but will not be on Thirteenth Step, which is due in stores on Sept. 16.
  
  Follow the musical chairs-- Iha is replacing Troy Van Leeuwen, who left APC to join Queens Of The Stone Age. Former APC bassist Paz Lenchantin is now in Zwan, which is led by former Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. Not to mention that APC singer Maynard James Keenan also belts it out for Tool.
  
  
• Metallica Averts Crew Meltdown In New York
  Metallica's "Summer Sanitarium" show almost didn't happen on Tuesday night (July 8) at New Jersey's Giants Stadium becuase of some drama with their road crew. They managed to squash the beef, but one can't help but be reminded of The Big Lebowski:
  
  "Yeah. Roadie for Metallica. Speed of Sound tour. Bunch of assholes." -- The Dude.
  
  
• One Music Label or Several? Pearl Jam Weighs Options (N.Y. Times registration required)
  Very interesting article about the different options Pearl Jam is weighing now that they've fulfilled their contractual obligations with Epic Records.
  
  
• MGM Tries to Speed Vivendi Sale With Increased Offer
  MGM wants all of Vivendi Universal's entertainment properties (excluding Music) for $11.5 billion, conditioned on MGM getting details on what film properties Universal Studios has sold from its library, the agreements between Vivendi's cable networks and the cable-TV providers that carry them and the contract terms between Vivendi and Blackstone Group, co-owner of the Universal Studios theme parks. Viacom is working on a deal to buy the same properties and then transfering the movie studio and theme parks to a private company controlled by media mogul Barry Diller.
  
  
• Soul legend was lost, but now he's found
  Interesting story about R&B/Soul singer Howard Tate, who dropped out of the biz in the 1970s and did the homless-drug-addict thing for a long while before becoming a minister and working on a come back album. The appropriately titled Rediscovered came
  out on the first of this month.
  
  
• Avril Plugs Into iTunes
  Avril Lavigne is offering a five-track live EP for paid download exclusively through Apple's iTunes Music Store, beginning today (July 15). Among the tracks is a cover of Green Day's "Basket Case." The songs can be bought individually for 99 cents or you can get the full EP for $4.95.
  
  Full Lineup Uncapped For Sprite Tour
  All tix 10 bucks, by the way.
  
  Main Stage:
  The Roots
  N*E*R*D*
  O.A.R.
  Talib Kweli
  Kelis
  Robert Randolph & the Family Band
  Skillz
  
  Second Stage (rotating, check the above link for who is playing where):
  Borialis
  Spymob
  High Speed Scene
  Wylde Bunch
  Jessy Moss
  Slightly Stoopid
  Red Wanting Blue
  
  
• Epic Preps Blondie Set For International Release
  The Curse of Blondie is due Sept. 18 in Australia and Japan and Oct. 6 in Europe. The U.S. date is still being hammered out. Remember: Blondie is a band!
  

Monday, July 14, 2003

• The Sex Pistols To Play Bagdhad?
  Johnny Rotten wants to. Says he: "If you are going to offer these people democracy, then offer it to them in their fullest extreme so they fully know what they're walking into. "Because democracy has a few problems, mate, and the The Sex Pistols know that, but at least we can shout out about it, and that might be of some use to them."
  
  
• Back In Black Studded Leather: Halford Rejoins Priest
  *Devil Horns Up!!* Judas Priest maaaannnnnnnnnnnnnn!! Heavy Fuckin Metal, duuuuuuuuuuuuuudde! In celebration of this reunion, I offer you a link to one of the greatest documentaries ever made-- "Heavy Metal Parking Lot". Also be sure to check out the official "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" site, where you can buy the video and t-shirts and all that.
  
  
• Clear Channel Must Cut Stations
  In the fine print of last week's new media ownership rules from the F.C.C. is a provisionthat will cause radio momolith Clear Channel to reduce the number of stations it owns or controls in the San Diego listening area over the next two years, either by cutting ties to some of its five affiliated Mexican stations or selling some of its seven U.S.-licensed stations. This is just the first shot in a long battle to bring back some diversity and localism to a consolidated industry which uses the public's resources (i.e. the airwaves.), but it still is good news.
  
  As I was falling asleep last night I watched the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation's recent round of hearings about consolidation in radio markets. Jon Mandel, Chief Executive Officer of MediaCom who had some interesting numbers to share. First off was the dramatic increase in ad prices in consolidated markets. Second was the lack of ability for local advertises to get on the radio. Third, and most interesting to me, were numbers showing that in many markets where ClearChannel took over a bulk of stations, they have not improved the ratings of the stations they bought by a signifigant amount. Just some more food for thought.
  
  
  
• Guster: Rock'n The Litterbox (N.Y. Times registration required)
  Say you wanted to download Guster's Keep It Together from KaZaA. Would you be upset you recieved songs from the album with all the lyrics were sung by a man meowing the lyrics and occasionally adding harmonies? According to the above linked brief N.Y. Times review, you wouldn't.
  
  
• Grateful Dead Begins Burning, Selling Own Concert CDs
  And yet, they are still allowing fans to tape shows on their own. So, if you don't want to hear "Friend of The Devil" with some acid damged looney singing along in the background (aside from the ones onstage), you can get a higher quality recording from the band for just @@ smakcaroos. Check out this site for more info.
  
  
• New program cuts down on campus downloads
  Students at the University of Florida can no longer engege in legal and authorized file trading of any kind (no to mention illegal), thanks to the school's paranoia about lawsuits.
  
  
• Cuban Musician Compay Segundo Dead at 95
  You probably know him best from The Buena Vista Social Club. R.I.P. and thanks for the music from all of us here at Rocktober.com.
  
  
• Legendary Sax Player Benny Carter Dies
  Also at the age of 95. Carter performed with or wrote music for most of the swing-era's biggest players, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. Read the obit, he was a very busy guy. R.I.P. and thanks for the music from all of us here at Rocktober.com.
  
  
• Groups Blast Beyonce's Grant's Tomb Dance
  You had to think someone was gonna get upset when Beyonce' got all bootylicious on the grave of President Ulysses S. Grant.
  
  
• Aretha Franklin, David Crosby, Phil Collins Talk Kid's Careers On TV Special
  On Sunday, July 27, Bravo will broadcast "Singing In The Shadows: Children Of Rock Royalty." It's a documentary that looks at the plusses and minusses of artists who attempt to follow in their famous parents' footsteps.