Radiohead’s free release may have been a one-time thing but that’s not the case for Nine Inch Nails. Front man Trent Reznor hassurprisingly posted the new full length album ‘The Slip’ online as a DRM-free digital download. A physical product will be available in July. On the band’s official site, Trent says “thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one’s on me.” This is their second surprise album released by Trent since his band’s contract with Interscope expired last fall. He has been a vocal opponent of corporate music’s so-called traditional practices. He has been quoted in the past saying “As a reward for being a ‘true fan’ you get ripped off.”
Smashing Pumpkins are taking their former label, Virgin Records, to court over their use of the Pumpkins brand. The label, with whom the band split in 2000, allegedly, used the band’s name for promotional activities linked to Pepsi without their permission.
Virgin were allowed rights to sell digital downloads of the Chicago alt-indie rockers, but should not have compromised the band’s artistic integrity by using their name for promotional activities.
Oh dear – they are in trouble…
The Pussycat Dolls recently got back front woman Nicole Scherzinger but then lost the redhead… Carmit something. Who would have thought that the first time that the new lineup would perform would be at the 30th birthday bash of celebrity blogger Perez Hilton? And when you have such a gossip around, you can tend to get some details out. Nicole says that her album has been put on hold indefinitely but that the new PCD record will come out before her solo album does. Considering that Nicole has been featured in not-so-flattering articles on PH, I’m surprised that she actually agreed to perform. What do you know? She’s not a complete diva after all.
Paramore has just cancelled the remainder of their European tour and after posting an ominous message on their official blog, rumors are circulating that they may be breaking up. Let’s hope not!
Here’s what they had to say: “There are a lot of internal issues that have been going on in this band for quite a while now. A lot of it started right around the time we were gearing up for the RIOT Tour in the US. We were able to fight through all of it for this long but unfortunately we weren’t able to keep it together long enough to make it through ’til the end of this tour. We really feel that taking this time is going to give us a chance to get away and work out our personal issues at home and on our own terms. We just aren’t willing to risk the life of our band over one tour.”
John Mayer is very well known for being a douche bag on the internet but very few knew that it can translate in real life. The singer was spotted at LAX airport on Monday. Before he went through airport security for a flight out, a photographer asked him just how he found LA. His smartass answer was funnier than him dating Jessica Simpson. He said that a friend told him that it’s somewhere between Santa Monica and Anaheim. Right. And some people still wonder why he’s being called a douche bag. And by some people, I mean John Mayer himself.
It’s the era of reunions and all you former teenyboppers can now go back to those wonder years. The wait is over! According to People, the boy band that spawned all boy bands is reportedly reuniting and going to hit the stage one more time. The New Kids on the Block website has been down for years but was recently redesigned and is up and running once again. A source said that an official tour announcement should be made in a few days.
In the early 90s, the band melted hearts of teen girls all over the world and sold 50 million albums before disbanding in 1994. Now, the thirty-something men have the chance to do it all over again – they hope.
John Mayer has been quite a talked-about blogger but the singer has since deleted all of the entries from his blog on his official website JohnMayer.com. He left a message for his fans saying “DONE & DUSTED & SELF-CONSCIOUS & BACK TO WORK.” He also left a little quote below that saying “There is danger in theoretical speculation of battle, in prejudice, in false reasoning, in pride, in braggadocio. There is one safe resource, the return to nature…”
However, he did link the ‘n’ in speculation to a time travel forum with the topic title of ‘Positive, Negative and O Vortexes’.
John Mayer is off on another one of his now infamous rants on his blog. He has entitled his most recent one ‘Death to Douchebag’ and hints to more rants of the same subject with a subtitle of ‘1 of a 129-part series’. Shoot me, we actually have lots more to look forward to. It’s an interesting read really.
Here’s the part I really thought funny: “Trouble is, I’m not really clear on what it means, and I don’t know that anyone does. I know that I get called one. Pete Wentz from Fallout Boy, by measure of a google search, is a douchebag 11,100 times over, or the number of results that the search engine says exist. Zach Braff, who himself wrote one of the better films I’ve seen in the last decade is also frequently ‘bagged’, as is some guy named Brody Jenner. In fact, if you want to go big, so is Michael Stipe, Bono (”supreme douchebag”), Thom Yorke, Will Smith and Brad Pitt”.
South Florida is about to get rocked. The Y100’s Jingle Ball is hitting the town on Saturday, December 15 at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise.
Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton will serve as one of the hosts while the hottest stars of today will take the stage. Artists that are on the bill include Timbaland, Good Charlotte, Natasha Bedingfield, Ashley Tisdale, One Republic, Plain White Ts, Sean Kingston, Elliot Yamin and even more.
Perez will also be joining Elvis Duran for the Z100 Jingle Ball in New York City on December 14. That’s one very busy celebrity blogger. I wish I was Perez.
Pop band Maroon 5’s first album in four years opened at No. 1 on the U.S. charts Wednesday, while veteran rocker Ozzy Osbourne scored a personal best with his first release in six years.
Maroon 5’s “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” sold 429,000 copies in the week ended May 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan data. The group’s prior best sales week came in December 2004, when its 2003 debut, “Songs About Jane” sold 138,000.
Maroon 5 currently also rules Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart with “Makes Me Wonder”.
The group sold 102,000 copies of its new album digitally, breaking a record set last week when rock band Linkin Park’s “Minutes to Midnight” moved 84,000 via that format to debut at No. 1. The latter album fell to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 198,000, a hefty 68 percent sales slide.
Osbourne flew in at No. 3 with “Black Rain”, which sold 152,000 copies. That’s only 1,000 fewer than the opening week for 2001’s “Down to Earth”, which entered at No. 4. Nearly a quarter of sales for “Black Rain” came from digital retailers, which offered early ticketing to this summer’s Ozzfest with pre-orders for the limited edition of the album.
Hip-hop trio U.S.D.A., Young Jeezy’s collaboration with Slick Pulla and Blood Raw, started at No. 4 with “Cold Summer”, which sold 95,000 units.
Rock troupe the Used’s “Lies for the Liars” bowed at No. 5 with 92,000, a chart high-water mark. The quartet’s last effort, 2004’s “In Love and Death” opened at No. 6 with 93,000.
Other debuts included the soundtrack to box office champ “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” at No. 14; Lil Boosie, Webbie & Foxx’s “Survival of the Fittest” at No. 17; the Bravery’s “The Sun and the Moon” at No. 24; and the Beach Boys compilation “Warmth of the Sun” at No. 40.