Guns n Roses Ex-drummer Jailed!

Ex-Guns N' Roses drummer arrested in Los Angeles


Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler has been arrested in Hollywood for alleged drug possession.

Los Angeles police spokesman Richard French says the 43-year-old Adler was arrested around 4 a.m. Friday by officers called to a home where a man reportedly was creating a disturbance and refusing to leave.

Adler was booked for investigation of possessing narcotics, being under the influence and for an outstanding warrant.

He was jailed on $45,000 bail.

Adler has a long history of drug use. He performed on the early Guns N' Roses albums but was later fired.

Zack De La Rocha.. FINALLY!!!

The endless wait for Zack De La Rocha's solo album will finally come to a pseudo halt on July 22 with the release of One Day As a Lion's debut EP. A collaboration between De La Rocha and ex-Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore, the duo has completed five songs for their self-titled disc. None of which feature DJ Shadow, Trent Reznor, or ?uestlove of The Roots—artists that have been tied to De La Rocha's long-rumored solo recordings.

"It's a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask," the group explained in a statement.

In other De La Rocha news, Rage Against the Machine has seven festival dates lined up for this summer, including an appearance at Lollapalooza on August 2.

One Day As a Lion:

1. Wild International
2. Ocean View
3. Last Letter
4. If You Fear Dying
5. One Day As a Lion

—The ARTISTdirect Staff

Natasha Schneider -- R.I.P.

Natasha Schneider, musician extraordinaire, former actress, singer of the ground-breaking band ELEVEN, and one-time QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE keyboard player, died today at 11:11am of cancer. She was a brilliant, beautiful, and ballsy woman who will be missed deeply by all those who knew her and who knew her work. Send your loving thoughts her way in the universe.

You can leave condolences here: http://www.myspace.com/elevenesque

Please visit http://natashashneider.org/

Nickelback + Live Nation=Canadian Douchebags with MORE money!

Nickelback joins Live Nation in global deal

By Yinka AdegokeTue Jul 8, 11:13 AM ET

Canadian rock band Nickelback has signed a global recording, touring and merchandising deal with concert promoter Live Nation Inc that an industry source said was worth between $50 million and $70 million.

Live Nation announced the contract on Tuesday but did not give financial details.

The Nickelback deal is the latest in a string of high profile, multifaceted deals that the Los Angeles-based company has signed with major artists including Madonna, Jay-Z, U2 and Shakira.

Nickelback, whose last album sold 10 million copies, signed a three-album/three-tour deal with Live Nation, and will let the company to handle all merchandising, licensing, sponsorship, secondary ticketing, endorsements, DVD and broadcast rights, fan club, web site and literary rights.

But the band, fronted by Chad Kroeger, still has two albums and a greatest hits package left to deliver to its longtime label Road Runner Records before it records any albums for Live Nation.

This could make the Nickelback deal seem expensive for Live Nation if the band's subsequent album sales fail to come close to the numbers it has delivered to date.

"It's kind of tough to say if an artist's best years are behind them," said David Joyce, an analyst at Miller Tabak who has a "buy" rating on Live Nation.

Joyce said Live Nation will profit from the rights to the rest of Nickelback's business, while also distributing the band's music, which has become less expensive with the growth of digital music sales.

The deal between Nickelback and Live Nation could raise questions about the value of a deal Warner Music Group struck in December 2006 to buy a majority stake in Road Runner Records for $73.5 million.

Though Road Runner also has hard rock names like Slipknot, Megadeath and Stone Sour on its roster, Nickelback is easily its best known band, having sold more than 26 million albums.

Live Nation said Nickelback's last North American and Australian tour in 2006 and 2007 grossed more than $67 million.

The company hopes to benefit from more international growth for Nickelback, particularly in Europe, where it expects strong touring sales growth.

Nickelback's single "Rockstar" is the second-biggest selling song of the year so far in Britain.

Live Nation shares rose 11 cents, or 1 percent, to $10.00 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Talk about a FRIGGIN' MONOPOLY!!!!
Why isn't Pearl Jam upset about this???

Cool Music Toy! ---- Lastfm

Chek out the handy dandy music widget.

Boys Noize --- Oi Oi Oi

The first time Berlin’s own maximalist star Alex Ridha, a.k.a. Boys Noize, stopped by Montreal at the Hotel W's über-trendy but uptight bar, about twenty faithful fans (yours truly included) showed up. Unfazed by this apparent lack of interest in him from Canada, and determined to get the party, you know, started, Ridha took control of the decks, of his few devotees and of the otherwise apathetic execs-filled room by throwing down what he knows best: boisterous roof-raising, fist-pumping remixes of Bloc Party and Para One tracks followed by even more boisterous roof-raising, fist-pumping originals. In other words, Boys Noize makes absolute thunderous sense when you have the dance floor all to yourself.

See, before nü-rave, Justice and Digitalism, and definitely before blind followers such as Surkin and Goose, there was Boys Noize. His first single (on Gigolo Records) came out in 2004, but he has been making music under other aliases (Kid Alex, Einzeller, 900d1sco) for many labels (Datapunk, Kitsuné, Turbo) since 2000. Sure, last year’s Restless album as Kid Alex was nothing short of excruciating and dispersed, trying to mix silly lyrics and emo-indie aesthetics with synth-pop surroundings (only remixes by Les Visiteurs, Headman, Kaos, DJ Naughty and Boys Noize himself helped salvage the entire thing from being a total disaster), but ‘Oi Oi Oi’ is a different enterprise altogether.

On his first official album as Boys Noize, Ridha is sounding more focused and unremitting than he has ever been. Tracks such as the 'Robot Rock'-inspired 'Oh!' and 'Arcade Robot' might be heavily indebted to Daft Punk (seriously, though, who isn’t nowadays, eh? Even Will.I.Am’s crippled grandma now owes them a few tricks!), but his unstinting and relentless take on rowdy techno (as displayed, for example, on single '& Down', the festive – and very Digitalism-sounding if you ask me – 'Shine Shine', or his mammoth remix of Spacer’s 'Frau' that appropriately closes the album) are denoting panache and, most of all, personality, something rackety wannabes such as Teenage Bad Girl are mostly devoid of. Clearly, Ridha is using ‘Oi Oi Oi’ to pull all the histrionic tricks from the maximalist book (don’t pretend you don’t know them), but who cares, really, considering he invented most of them anyway, right?

Thus, ‘Oi Oi Oi’ feels like the genre’s very first coherent and satisfying (and probably only) long player. On a recent single and current album track, Ridha is asking us not to believe the hype. In this album’s case, though, hearing is definitely believing. For at least a few months.


Words /
Stéphane Girard

Bonaroo Festival 08

Pearl Jam, Kanye West, Metallica Top Bonnaroo Bill

February 6, 2008

My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, and the Raconteurs, among others, also set to hit Manchester, TN's farmlands June 12-15.


Eat it up, Bonnaroo fans! Alt-rock veterans Pearl Jam, Spin's 2007 Entertainer of the Year Kanye West, and revered hard rockers Metallica will headline the seventh annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, again slated to hit the lush 700-acre farmlands outside Manchester, TN June 12-15. And that's just the tip of the tent pole: Southern favorites My Morning Jacket will join Vampire Weekend, Death Cab for Cutie, Broken Social Scene, the Raconteurs, Jack Johnson, Against Me!, Sigur Rós, Ben Folds, M.I.A., Iron & Wine, Gogol Bordello, Rilo Kiley, Mastodon, Two Gallants, Talib Kweli, Nicole Atkins, Lupe Fiasco, Tegan & Sara, the Fiery Furnaces, Black Kids, Ladytron, Ghostland Observatory, Jose Gonzalez, Minus the Bear, the Sword, MGMT, and Battles, among others.

A hit at past festival installments, the Bonnaroo Comedy Tent will return in 2008 with an equally impressive lineup: Janeane Garofalo, Zach Galifianakis, Mike Birbiglia, Jim Norton, Brian Posehn, and David Cross will keep concertgoers cackling between sets.

Oh, and just in case you though that was suffice to pack four round-the-clock days of musical eclecticism, you were so wrong.

Here's a few other confirmed artists for 2008's Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival:

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Phil Lesh & Friends, the Allman Brothers Band, Willie Nelson, B.B. King, Levon Helm and the Ramble on the Road, O.A.R., the Bluegrass Allstars feat. Luke Bulla, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Bryan Sutton, Umphrey's McGee, Yonder Mountain String Band, Swell Season, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi's Soul Stew Revival, Robert Randolph's Revival, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Pat Green, Ozomatli, Solomon Burke, Drive-By Truckers, !!!, the Avett Brothers, Israel Vibration, Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet feat. Bela Fleck, Aimee Mann, Orchestra Baobab, Dark Star Orchestra, Donavon Frankenreiter, State Radio, Jakob Dylan, Little Feat, the Felice Brothers, Mason Jennings, the Lee Boys, Serena Ryder, Steel Train, Grupo Fantasma, and Back Door Slam.

And to scoff previous rumors, Lez Zeppelin, the all lesbian act covering, you know, rock giants Led Zeppelin, will perform.

Yowsa!

Tickets go on sale at 12 P.M. Feb. 16 exclusively via bonnaroo.com, and fans looking to relive the experience in the future, have the option of purchasing a commemorative DVD of the 2008 installment, which will be filmed on site and feature exclusive performances and backstage footage. The DVD, upon its completion, will be sent to buyers in December.

Now mark your calendars, rummage the tent from the garage, and check back to SPIN.com for further lineup additions and announcements in the near future -- the count down to Bonnaroo begins now!

LADYTRON! --- New Album & Tour Dates

February 8, 2008

The Liverpool-based quartet announce the June release of LP4, and gear up for a supporting U.S. tour.

Ladytron

Emerging from a lengthy stint in a Parisian studio, electro-pop mavens Ladytron are finally set to return with Velocifero, the follow-up to 2005's opus Witching Hour, slated to land stateside June 3 courtesy of their new label, Nettwerk Music Group. The new record was produced by Ladytron with additional production by Alessandro Cortini (NIN), and Vicarious Bliss of Ed Banger Records (Justice, DJ Mehdi, Busy P), and mixing courtesy of Michael Patterson (Beck, P. Diddy). Not coincidentally, Ladytron will hit the road this spring alongside sonically like-minded outfit Datarock, and also appear at this summer's Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

Ladytron tour dates:

5/20, Edmonton, AB (The Starlite Room)
5/21, Calgary, AB (The Warehouse)
5/23, Vancouver, BC (Commodore Ballroom)
5/24, Seattle, WA (Showbox)
5/25, Portland, OR (Wonder Ballroom)
5/27, San Francisco, CA (Fillmore)
5/29, Los Angeles, CA (Henry Fonda)
5/30, Los Angeles, CA (Henry Fonda)
5/31, San Diego, CA (The Belly Up)
6/2, Salt Lake City, UT (In the Venue)
6/3, Denver, CO (The Gothic)
6/5, Dallas, TX (Palladium Ballroom)
6/6, Austin, TX (Stubbs)
6/7, Houston, TX (Meridian)
6/8, New Orleans, LA (House of Blues)
6/10, Orlando, FL (Club Firestone)
6/11, Tampa, FL (Czar)
6/12, Miami, FL (Studio A)
6/13, Atlanta, GA (Variety Playhouse)
6/15, Manchester, TN (Bonnaroo Festival)
6/16, St. Louis, MO (The Pageant)
6/17, Chicago, IL (Vic Theater)
6/18, Detroit, MI (St. Andrews Hall)
6/25, New York, NY (Terminal 5)
6/26, Philadelphia, PA (Theater of Living Arts)
6/27, Baltimore, MD (Sonar)
6/28, Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
6/30, Boston, MA (Paradise)
7/2, Montreal, QC (Metropolis/Jazz Fest)
7/3, Quebec City, QC (Theatre Imperial de Quebec/Summer Fest)
7/4, Toronto, ON (Harbourfront Centre)

NEW cd releases for Jan - Feb 2008

January 29
Various Artists - Hannah Montana 2: Non-Stop Dance Party
Simple Plan - Simple Plan
The Mars Volta - The Bedlam In Goliath
Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire
Sarah Brightman - Symphony
Blind Boys of Alabama - Down In New Orleans
Chris Walla - Field Manual
Willie Nelson - A Moment Of Forever
Pat Metheny Trio - Day Trip
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Louis XIV - Slick Dogs and Ponies
Idina Menzel - I Stand
Motel - 17
Linda Eder - Greatest Hits
Sam Phillips - Don't Do Anything
Various Artists - Randy Jackson presents The American Music Club
Dub Trio - Another Sound Is Dying
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Airbourne - Runnin' Wild
Austins Bridge - Austins Bridge
Xiu Xie - Women As Lovers
Kate Walsh - Tim's House
Protest The Hero - Fortress
Joe Jackson - Rain

February 5
Lenny Kravitz - It Is Time For A Love Revolution
Santana - Multi-Dimensional Warrior [2 CDs]
Alan Jackson - Good Times
Sheryl Crow - Detours
Kenny G - Rhythm and Romance
Jack Johnson - Sleeping Through The Static
Foxy Brown - Brooklyn Don's Diva
AZ - Undeniable
k.d. lang - Watershed
Shelby Lynne - Just A Little Lovin'
They Might Be Giants - Here Come The 123s [Amazon.com exclusive]
Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
Sheek Louch - Silverback Gorilla
Taylor Dayne - Satisfied
Dolly Parton - Backwoods Barbie
Bob Mould - District Line
Soundtrack - My Blueberry Nights
Jason Collett - Here's To Being Here
De Novo Dahl - Move Every Muscle Make Every Sound
Nada Surf - Lucky

February 12
Michael Jackson - Thriller 25
Kylie Minogue - X
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Trina - Still Da Baddest
Peter Cincotti - East of Angel Town
Widespread Panic - Free Somehow
City & Colour - Bring Me Your Love
Dengue Fever - Venus On Earth
Nancy LaMott - Ask Me Again
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards - Spirit Of The Glen
Maceo Parker - Roots & Grooves [Live]

February 19
Rick Ross - Trilla
Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Allison Moorer - Mockingbird
Ashton Shepard - Sounds So Good
Keak da Sneak - Deify
Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool
Ray Davies - Working Man's Cafe
Jackson Browne - Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Bell X1 - Flock
Coolio - Steal Hear
KRS-One - Maximum Strength
Kula Shaker - StrangeFolk
Gary Louris - Vagabonds
The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
Genghis Tron - Board Up The House
Paint It Black - New Lexicon
Mike Doughty - Golden Delicious

February 26
Janet Jackson - Discipline
Erykah Badu - Nu AmErykah [2 CDs]
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree <--------- I CAN'T WAIT!!!
Trent Willmon - Broken In
Original Broadway Cast - The Little Mermaid
Stellar Kart - Expect The Impossible
The Afters - Never Going Back To Ok
Pillar - For The Love of the Game
Missy Higgins - On A Clear Night [International Release May 8, 2007]
Avalon - Another Time, Another Place: Timeless Christian Classics
Cheri Dennis - In And Out Of Love
The B-52's - Funplex
Lizz Wright - The Orchard
Tift Merritt - Another Country
Sam Phillips - Don't Do Anything
Richard Julian - Sunday Morning In Saturday's
Steve Winwood - 9 Lives

Streaming Music News: LAST FM

Last.fm announced on their blog that beginning today users would be able to stream full-length tracks. People from EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner are all on board, as well as "thousands of independent artists and labels." The service is available immediately in the US, UK, and Germany.

The CBS-owned site already has deals in place with various royalty collection agencies, but under their new program, unsigned artists can upload music and be paid directly for every stream.

In a bit of Facebook-esque hyperbole, Last.fm co-founder Richard Jones proclaimed on the company's blog that Last.fm was "redesigning the music economy."

Last.fm claims that their service is "the biggest legal collection of music available to play online for free." However, with Songza's 28 million songs, it may not be the biggest collection of music available for streaming (the legality of Songza's music might not always be clear since the site is a music search engine, rather than a host like Last.fm). So how do they stack up?

I first tried a search for a relatively obscure artist -- Lemon Jelly -- in Songza. 45 results. In Last.fm: "Lemon Jelly isn’t yet available to play on Last.fm." Next a more popular artist -- Radiohead. Songza yielded about 35 results with a lot of duplicates. Last.fm had 4 tracks, but only one was full-length. How about contemporary rap artist T.I.? 45 results on Songza, a handful of 30 second clips on Last.fm.

I'll leave you to do your own tests and draw your own conclusions.

Update: According to paid Content Last.fm's service will only allow tracks to be streamed 3 times under the current structure of the deal with the record labels. Also, see the comments for info on why my math above a little wonky.

U2 in 3D?

Check out the latest en devour by U2 . They are teaming up with National Geographic and Best Buy to bring a 3D show. Check out the info.

NEW CD releases for January

Here are all the releases for January,

January 8
Jim Brickman - Valentine [Re-Release]
Holly Cole - Holly Cole [International Release March 20, 2007]
Rhonda Vincent - Good Thing Going
Soundtrack - Juno
Medeski, Martin & Wood - Let's Go Everywhere
Soundtrack - Xanadu [Broadway Cast Recording]
Reverend Organdrum - Hi-Fi Stereo
Sia - Some People Have Real Problems
Amanda Shaw - Pretty Runs Out
Robin Trower & Jack Bruce - Seven Moons
Marah - Angels of Destruction

January 15
Van Hunt - Popular
Dave Koz - Double Feature [2 CDs]
Soundtrack - The Bucket List
Anne Murray - Duets, Friends & Legends
Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Ringo Starr - Liverpool 8

January 22
Natasha Bedingfield - Pocket Full Of Sunshine [International Release April 30]
Royce Da 5'9" - The Revival
Matt Costa - Unfamiliar Faces
Cat Power - Jukebox
Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
Lisa Loeb - The Purple Tape
Patty Larkin - Watch The Sky
Eric Matthews - The Imagination Stage
Liam Finn - I'll Be Lightning

January 29
Various Artists - Hannah Montana 2: Non-Stop Dance Party
Sarah Brightman - Symphony
Blind Boys of Alabama - Down In New Orleans
Simple Plan - Simple Plan
The Mars Volta - The Bedlam In Goliath
Chris Walla - Field Manual
Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire
Willie Nelson - A Moment Of Forever
Pat Metheny Trio - Day Trip
Motel - 17
Joe Cocker - Hymn For My Soul [International Release March 26, 2007]
Sam Phillips - Don't Do Anything
Various Artists - Randy Jackson presents The American Music Club
Edie Brickell - The Heavy Circles
Joe Jackson - Rain