Welcome to CraveOnline's weekly music news roundup! Covering all the latest in the hits, the bombs and the trainwrecks, we sift through the headlines and bring you just what you need to know about musical current events.
Metallica held on for a second week at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. The band's 9th studio album, Death Magnetic, has sold 337,000 copies in the United States during the week ended September 21, according to Nielsen SoundScan. They've also hit No. 1 in the following countries: Australia, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark - second week at No.1, France, Finland, Ireland, India, Holland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Mexico, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, New Zealand, UK - second week, USA, Canada and Turkey. Because you need to know these things.
Metallica will kick off their U.S. tour on 21st October in Glendale , Arizona, and stay on the road through the end of January.
Kanye West and Comedy Central are teaming up for a project described as hip-hop meets the Muppets. A half-hour pilot has been shot for the project, tentatively titled "Alligator Boots." Kanye personally hosts the pilot episode for the series, which is under consideration for 2009,. The show, if picked up, would feature music produced and performed by West and fellow rapper Rhymefest.
Jay-Z and Norwegian songwriting/production duo Stargate have teamed up to form StarRoc, which will consist of its own record label and publishing company under Jay-Z's Roc Nation venture with Live Nation.
"The focus is to find new talent and develop artists through mutually beneficial global partnerships which include music distribution, publishing, touring and merchandising," said a statement.
Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel S. Eriksen, better known as Stargate, have been behind several big hits for artists Jay-Z nurtured while president of Def Jam, including Rihanna and Ne-Yo. The duo is currently represented on the Hot 100 by Ne-Yo's "Closer" (No. 7), Rihanna's "Take a Bow" (No. 27) and Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight" (No. 41). You can hear their work on upcoming albums from Lindsay Lohan, Beyonce, Monica, R. Kelly and Keyshia Cole.
MySpace Music has finally launched, after reaching an agreement with EMI. With all four major labels on board, MySpace unveiled their remodeled music pages, offering new music players that allow artists to upload their entire discography (instead of the six song maximum) and allow fans to purchase music through a deal with the Amazon MP3 store. Ad revenues are the driving force here, with all labels and artists getting a share of the ad money based on the number of times their music is played. Other new features include the ability of the average user to post 10 songs on their personal sites and create a playlist of up to 100 tracks. Too little too late? We'll see.
Busta Rhymes has joined Universal Motown after walking away from Interscope earlier this year. His upcoming album, now titled B.O.M.B., is slated for Dec. 9, a label spokesperson confirms.
Rhymes went on New York's Hot 97 radio show to explain that "B.O.M.B" stands for "Back on my Bullsh*t" and his newly leaked single is called "Arab Money." "I just want the world to know it's official," said Rhymes.
Let's get one thing straight: AC/DC are a classic, awesome band. That being said, they've also completely bought into their own hype and believe that none of their songs should be singles, because the album should only be heard in its entirety. They're set to release their new album Black Ice on October 20th exclusively through Wal-Mart, joining the Beatles catalog and Kid Rock’s Rock N Roll Jesus in the dwindling “Not Available on iTunes” club.
Even if the Wal-Mart deal didn't exist, AC/DC’s Angus Young said Black Ice wouldn’t show up on Apple’s digital store anyway because “We don’t make singles, we make albums.” iTunes allows buyers to choose between single song or full album purchases. “Way back in the Seventies, we drew these figures on the back of an envelope for our record company. We showed them how much they earned from us if we sold 1 million singles and how much they earned if we sold 1 million albums,” Young said. “The difference was staggering. That was to get them off our back because we only very grudgingly release singles. Our real reason is that we honestly believe the songs on any of our albums belong together.” Right.
Chris Cornell is scaring the shit out of his fans. And by 'fans' I don't mean the middle-aged American Idol moms who squeal with delight that a legitimate "rocker" has shifted his sonic compass to more mainstream, generic balladry. I mean fans like me, who have heard five or so of the new songs from his upcoming Timbaland-produced Scream solo record. They're unfathomably bad - a pathetically distant echo of his Soundgarden/Audioslave roots. The songs are a true testament to Cornell's desperation for a mid-forties revival. To hell with legitimacy, we're talking about a midlife crisis here. Some middle-aged guys will buy a red sports car or start banging their 20 year old secretary. Others break up both their wildly popular bands to make really terrible solo albums that are widely perceived as artistic death.
The Flaming Lips' forever-promised film Christmas on Mars will arrive Oct. 28 on DVD via Warner Bros. A separate edition features the Lips' original score on CD with the DVD. Among the bonus features are band interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, an outtake and, of course, Russian subtitles.
"Christmas on Mars," which stars the Lips and revolves around the first holiday season on the freshly colonized Red Planet. The plot is stupid and you don't care, but Coyne plays a friendly Martian who offers his assistance to the film's main problem.
Groundbreaking hip-hop festival Rock the Bells will make its way over to European shores this fall with performances by Nas, Mos Def, De La Soul, the Pharcyde, EPMD, Supernatural and Scratch, among others. The European tour launches Oct. 31 at the T-Mobile Arena in Prague, with a handful of dates scheduled through mid-November.
"We are continually trying to push the envelope so we can continue to support these artists and their careers globally," Rock the Bells founder and organizer Chang Weisberg of Guerilla Union told Billboard.com in April.
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