Hot News
Fleetwood Mac back
Doves celebrate Heavenly
Doherty must pay for smashed camera
Fiddy sues Taco Bell
Lawyer Seeks Dismissal Of Charges In MySpace Bullying Case Linked To Teen's Suicide
Top Stories: July 24, 2008
Top stories from the last three days:
• The New Issue: The Jonas Brothers
• Nas Delivers Petitions to “Racist” Fox
• Townshend E-Mails RS to Talk Rock Honors
• On the Charts: Nas Reigns Supreme
• Breaking Artist: Love as Laughter
• George Clinton Celebrates 67th Birthday
• Ozzfest Plans Dimebag Darrell Tribute
• Behind the Scenes With The Jonas Brothers
• Metallica Reveal “Death Magnetic” Track List
• Dr. Dre Says “Detox” Almost Done
• Slayer Think About the Future
• 10 People Who Escaped the Music Industry
• Britney Spears’ E! True Hollywood Story
• New Reviews: U2, Nas, CSS, Dr. Dog
• Exclusive Clip From “CSNY: Deja Vu”
• Kanye West Gives Back To War Vets
• Karen O Debuts Side Project
• New Music Report: CSS and Dr. Dog
Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.
50 Cent Sues Taco Bell For “Diluting the Value of His Good Name”
Rapper 50 Cent is suing Yum! Brands, and more specifically Taco Bell, after the fast food chain used his moniker in a hip-hop themed ad campaign without asking his permission or paying him a fee. In the lawsuit, Fiddy accuses the Bell of “diluting the value of his good name” when they encouraged the rapper to change his name to “79 Cent,” “89 Cent” or “99 Cent” in an open letter addressed to 50 and distributed to the press. It’s kind of like when Dr. Pepper penned that open letter to Axl Rose, offering free DP in exchange for Chinese Democracy, except that promotion seemed to make everybody happy. “As Taco Bell intended, many customers believed that 50 Cent had agreed to endorse Taco Bell’s products. Indeed, postings on numerous Internet ‘blogs’ castigated 50 Cent for ’selling out’ by his apparent endorsement of Taco Bell,” the suit states. Yum! Brands has yet to comment.
[Photo: Getty]
New Music: The Girls: "Transfer Station" [MP3/Stream]
The Girls are five Seattle boys who aren't San Francisco's Girls. They're the Girls who are boys who like their new wave to be old-wave new wave, who like their old-wave new wave to be punk. The Girls carefully applied Cars synths like so much eyeliner over spiky Voidoids guitars on 2004's fine self-titled affair, and they're revving the Revlon up again on this song from follow-up Yes No Yes No Yes No. Yes, yes, "Transfer Station" may share its name with the buildings where garbage collectors deposit their garbage, but compared to many of the bands rummaging through similar dumpsters, it's reasonably hot garbage-- though it probably won't still smell as sweet as former Dirtnap labelmates Exploding Hearts (sigh, R.I.P.). "Paranormal overdrive," the Girls' frontguy Shannon Brown twitches, jumbling up my chronology by reminding me to ask where Syd Barrett lives (sigh, lived). But this isn't a history lesson, and it isn't a makeover, either. Reminder: You could be swinging on a Stellastarr*.
MP3:> The Girls: "Transfer Station"
[from Yes No Yes No Yes No; due 09/16/08 on Dirtnap]
Nick Cave/Bad Seeds Catalog Gets Deluxe Reissues
Dapper don Nick Cave and his old friends the Bad Seeds must be used to the deluxe treatment by now; after all, they're rock royalty if anybody is. But the band's monstrous back catalog? It may have never been treated so good before.
Mute Records is set to reissue remastered, 5.1 surround sound-enhanced versions of the entirety of the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds discography, with the initial batch of four titles due later in 2008. Cave and the Seeds' first four discs-- 1984's From Her to Eternity, 1985's The Firstborn Is Dead, 1986's Kicking Against the Pricks, and 1986's Your Funeral... My Trial-- make up that initial batch, and boy, are they in for a treat. The collector's editions will be double disc sets containing both the remastered stereo album and the new surround mix, B-sides, and new liner notes. Each album will also contain one of a series of short films (collectively titled Do You Love Me Like I Love You?) made by the UK-based team of Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.
Indeed, Forsyth and Pollard are putting together Do You Love right now, and they need your help! "Have you been affected by the songs of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds?" they ask on their website. If the answer is yes, and you'd like to explain just how in front of a camera, you should probably click here pronto.
In other Cave rumblings, the theatrical production of Georg Büchner's Woyzeck-- for which Nick Cave and Bad Seed/Dirty Three dude Warren Ellis composed music a couple years back-- is coming to NYC. Woyzeck will play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House on October 15, 17, and 18 as part of BAM's Next Wave Festival.
"Midnight Man", the latest single from the latest Bad Seeds album, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, will be released by Mute in the UK on July 28. It will be available as a limited edition, etched 7" (with artwork by Cave himself) and as a download, featuring the B-side "Hey Little Firing Squad" and early versions of Lazarus tracks "More News From Nowhere" and "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!".
And for those wondering, Nick Cave is apparently still gunning to have a huge bronze statue of himself erected in his hometown of Warracknabeal, Australia, an idea he's floated around for a few years now. A recent report in Australia's Wimmera Mail-Times notes that the statue may go up as soon as the end of the year, and quotes Cave as saying, "I am looking for a wealthy benefactor who would be interested in investing in an historical monument." That said, certain of Cave's claims-- such as his having invited Russell Crowe, Kylie Minogue and Snoop Dogg to the statue's unveiling-- suggest he may still be pulling a fast one on us. But you never really know with this guy.
At least one thing's for sure: Cave and company have a bunch of European dates under the Grinderman name through the rest of the summer, with a Bad Seeds tour set to hit North America in the fall.
Bale asks for privacy over 'personal matter'
Mariah Carey Plans 'Elaborate' Tour; Hopes For End To VMA Losing Streak, Rocky-Marriage Rumors
Timbaland Working Up <i>Shock Value 2</i> With Rihanna, Beyonce, Jonas Brothers
Demi Lovato Isn't Interested In Copying Miley Cyrus' Career Path: 'I Am Who I Am'
Doherty to answer for damage charge
Metallica reveal "Death Magnetic"
Early bird Glasto
U2, Boy: Deluxe Edition
Nick Cave, Wire, Hot Chip, Deacon Play Pop Montreal
This year marks the seventh anniversary of the Québécois convergence known as Pop Montreal, once again bring together fan and band alike over five glorious days and nights at the beginning of October. Things will get on and, you know, Poppin' at many Montreal venues October 1-5.
And just who will be making their way to Montreal this time out? Well, that would be Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Wire, Hot Chip, Dan Deacon, Beach House, Silver Apples, Crystal Castles, Julie Doiron, reclusive psych legend Elyse Weinberg (under the guise of Cori Bishop), the Wedding Present, Vetiver, the Dodos, Black Kids, Jana Hunter, Cex, Evangelicals, Liam Finn, the Veils, Great Lake Swimmers, Jason Collett, You Say Party! We Say Die!, Irma Thomas, Chad VanGaalen, Dark Meat, Headlights, and Burt fucking Bacharach.
Per usual, there'll be panels and chats and the like, DIY stuff for sale, a kids section, a film festival-- including Vincent Moon of La Blogotheque's footage from All Tomorrow's Parties events-- and that sort of stuff.
Fashion Rocks Timberlake
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Hot News
- Fleetwood Mac back
- Doves celebrate Heavenly
- Doherty must pay for smashed camera
- Fiddy sues Taco Bell
- Lawyer Seeks Dismissal Of Charges In MySpace Bullying Case Linked To Teen's Suicide
- Top Stories: July 24, 2008
- 50 Cent Sues Taco Bell For “Diluting the Value of His Good Name”
- New Music: The Girls: "Transfer Station" [MP3/Stream]
- Nick Cave/Bad Seeds Catalog Gets Deluxe Reissues
- Returning hit still a show full of secrets
- Bale asks for privacy over 'personal matter'
- Mariah Carey Plans 'Elaborate' Tour; Hopes For End To VMA Losing Streak, Rocky-Marriage Rumors
- Timbaland Working Up <i>Shock Value 2</i> With Rihanna, Beyonce, Jonas Brothers
- Demi Lovato Isn't Interested In Copying Miley Cyrus' Career Path: 'I Am Who I Am'
- Doherty to answer for damage charge
- Metallica reveal "Death Magnetic"
- Early bird Glasto
- U2, Boy: Deluxe Edition
- Nick Cave, Wire, Hot Chip, Deacon Play Pop Montreal
- Fashion Rocks Timberlake