UYRL

Death were just another African–American R&B act from Detroit before the Stooges and the MC5 changed their lives. After recording seven blistering rock tracks in the early seventies, the power trio passed on a deal with Clive Davis at Columbia Records because they refused to change the band name. Lost in the dustbins until now was "Freakin Out," which sounds like a primal version of the Buzzcocks. "Rock–N–Roll Victim" is the kind of chunky cock rock Kiss would refine for arenas...

EMI Music has announced a restructure that’ll see its digital unit merged back into the main company. Former Googler Douglas Merrill is stepping down from his role as president of digital and chief operating officer of EMI’s New Music unit, while senior VP of digital strategy Cory Ondrejka is being promoted to the new post of executive vice president of digital marketing.

EMI says digital now accounts for 20% of its recorded music revenues, and also says that Ondrejka will continue working on the company’s digital marketing strategy, heading up the label’s experimentation with new models - for example its D2C website, which launched just before Christmas.

What this means for the team Ondrejka was building in the digital unit remains to be seen, though. When he spoke to Music Ally at MidemNet this year, he talked about recruiting developers from the Bay area and fostering a startup mentality within the digital unit.

“Cory is a highly talented executive with a passion for music and a unique technology-based skillset,” says EMI Music CEO Elio Leoni-Sceti. “He will help us deliver our goal of leveraging the power of digital across our business, particularly in the key areas of consumer understanding and analytics, content creation and digital marketing in order to strengthen the relationship and interaction between our artists and their fans.”

No news on why Merrill is leaving the company. When he joined from Google, his appointment was hailed as a brave move for EMI in its desire to think outside the traditional major label mindset. His departure begs the question of whether that proved to be a culture clash. “I would like to thank Douglas for his contribution to the company and to wish him well for the future,” is Leoni-Sceti’s comment in the announcement.

Aerosmith’s upcoming album is to be delayed because of health issues and touring commitments, says guitarist Joe Perry. Recording sessions were cut short when Perry had to have surgery to eliminate an infection in his knee replacement.

Also adding to studio delays was Steven Tyler, who caught a bought of pneumonia last month – which was right around the time that reality hit, and the band realized that they wouldn’t be able to wrap up the album before they were scheduled to be on tour.

The band’s current plans are to return to the studio after their tour with ZZ Top is complete. Both bands will be touring North America and possibly South America, Europe, and Japan. About forty dates have been scheduled for the tour in North America.

Is it me or are these guys too old to be making rock albums? Pneumonia and knee replacements are so not rock and roll. It’s hard to imagine these sickly old guys onstage – Steven Tyler looks more and more like a mummy all the time…

Japanese company Genkii has revealed that it’s developing a 3D virtual world for iPhone called Sparkle 3D. It’ll have customisable avatars and personal spaces, social networking elements, virtual items, games, streaming audio support and its own virtual economy.

Oh, and it’ll link to other virtual worlds like PlayStation Home and Second Life so people can communicate between the different worlds. The company, which certainly sounds ambitious, plans to make money from virtual item sales but also music downloads.

However, it’s unclear whether Genkii is mainly targeting the Japanese market with Sparkle 3D, or if it hopes it’ll become big in the West too. Japanese mobile users are certainly more used to the idea of mobile virtual worlds, so it may make sense to build a community there first.

This double CD-DVD is culled from some homey 2007 showcases conceived by singer-songwriter Rachel Fuller, Pete Townshend's longtime partner. It's a mixed bag. Ben Harper and Amos Lee are predictably fine; a singing Jimmy Fallon, not so much. Naturally, Townshend is the main attraction: The Lou Reed duets are scrappy and essential. And when Tenacious D play an awesomely ridiculous Tommy medley for the Who composer, you can hear Jack Black loving his life mighty hard.

Was it Bubblegum? Glam? Hard rock? A singles band in an album era, Sweet played pop melodies throughout the Seventies with such joy and malevolence that the English quartet typically confounded critics in the U.S., where much of their catalog went unreleased: For every glam–tastic American hit like "Ballroom Blitz" there were equally catchy U.K. protopunk smashes like "Teenage Rampage" that suggested the Who covering the Archies via a phalanx of violent guitars, vicious drums and castrato&...

American R & B star Akon has announced that he would love to perform at this summers Glastonbury Festival.

The ever-modest Akon told sources that he feels he is up to the job and feels he would even outshine last years headliner, rapper Jay-Z.

He said: “I would love to do Glastonbury. I could put on a show to rival Jay-Z. I’ve been there before - but not as a performer. I love festivals.”

Already confirmed acts for this years festival include Bruce Springsteen, Blur and Neil Young.

Glastonbury organisers have revealed that they have been inundated with requests from performers, particularly from the US , wanting to take part in the 2009 Glastonbury action. Seems Jay-Z had quite an impact on the credibility of the festival.

There's something about a voice that's personal, not unlike the particular odor or shape of a given human body. Summoned through belly, hammered into form by the throat, given propulsion by bellows of lungs, teased into final form by tongue and lips, a vocal is a kind of audible kiss, a blurted confession, a soul-burp you really can't keep from issuing as you make your way through the material world. How helplessly candid! How appalling!

« Older Entries

Newer Entries »