Webzik

NIN posts free album download

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:49:19 +0100

On the heels of the innovative release of Ghosts I-IV, Trent Reznor says of new 10-track album, "This one's on me."

The Cure preps single run, 13th album

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:43:25 +0100

Rock vets will release long-delayed, as-yet-untitled album on Sept. 13, putting out one new single on the 13th day of each month until then.

Pete Wentz sued for alleged beatdown

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:40:00 +0100

Fall Out Boy bassist is accused of assaulting a heckler after a private show at a bar in the band's native Chicago in June 2007.

Mariah Carey's E=MC(2) stays at No. 1

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:14:28 +0100

Carey tops Leona Lewis and the self-titled debut from Kiwi music parody duo Flight of the Conchords.

Monolith fest keeps its indie, intimate

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:11:11 +0100

Two-day event, set for Sept. 13-14 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside Denver, tabs Justice, Devotchka, Silversun Pickups, TV on the Radio, and many more.

Ministry takes a bow

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:28:32 +0100

In their final tour ever, Al Jourgensen and company roll through a blistering set of classics and, oddly, close it off with a batch of covers.

SAN FRANCISCO--They simply don't make 'em like Al Jourgensen anymore.
Al Jourgensen Al Jourgensen

Over a couple of bottles of wine, a pack of cigarettes, and lots of laughs, the 49-year-old firebrand talked about the importance of his two dogs (Lemmy and Ozzy) in his life, his feeling that the impending direction of the country leaves him with less of a mission, his forthcoming retirement, and his current tour--his last ever.

Five hours later, admittedly feeling the effects of the countless bottles of red wine he consumed in that span, he was leading his incredible band through a devastatingly precise set at the Fillmore that will serve as the frosting on one brilliantly rebellious cake.

The nearly two-hour set featured tracks scattered throughout the band's 11 studio albums. Most featured Jourgensen's trademark: frenetic and bombastic industrial tracks over which he launches into diatribes about the current commander-in-chief, his father, the Catholic Church, and oil-incited wars.

Jourgensen stood behind a waist-high chain-link fence, a prop that hasn't graced a Ministry stage since the band's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour in 1989. In typical fashion, he gave blunt intros for most of the songs: "This is a song about the Patriot Act / It's a bunch of s***."

For both longtime fans and recent converts, it was the perfect way to say good-bye to one of the most undeniably inimitable characters in the history of rock music.

Almost.

The band is currently touring behind Cover Up, a collection of cover songs, and Jourgensen decided to conclude the show--his last-ever at the legendary Fillmore--with a bunch of covers: "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors, "Just Got Paid Today," by ZZ Top, and the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb." All good songs, given the Ministry treatment, but a peculiar way to say good-bye.

Purported Hendrix sex tape for sale

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:20:00 +0100

Vivid Entertainment claims 11-minute flick depicting guitar god having sex with two women is authentic.

What's next, a Rat Pack orgy on reel-to-reel?
Jimi Hendrix the Sex Tape Jimi Hendrix the Sex Tape

In the wake of the reported sale of a sex tape that allegedly featured Marilyn Monroe, a porn film distributor today started selling purported footage of deceased icon Jimi Hendrix having sex with two women in the late 1960s.

Porn giant Vivid Entertainment, which has also released tapes of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, Kim Kardashian, and many others, is selling the Jimi Hendrix the Sex Tape DVD on its Web site for $39.95, and will distribute the tape to adult retailers starting May 6.

The 45-minute DVD combines 11 minutes of sex footage with a career retrospective and interviews with rock groupies Pamela Des Barres, the author of I'm With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie, and Cynthia "Plaster Caster" Albritton, best known for her plaster casts of the genitals of rock stars, including Hendrix.

The trailer for the film, available on the DVD's Web site, shows a naked man who resembles Hendrix having sex with two brunettes in a dimly lighted bedroom. His full face appears on screen for only a few seconds, with his eyes closed. The film has no audio.

But the footage has circulated among Hendrix fans for years, and the identity of the man in the film has been widely disputed. But Vivid insists the tape is authentic, claiming it acquired the film from a collector of rock-and-roll memorabilia for an undisclosed sum.

"This new movie shows that Jimi Hendrix could have been as great a porn star as he was a rock star," Vivid cochairman Steven Hirsch said in a statement. "He could clearly play more than just his guitar. It's easy to see that he turned women on with his music and his passion."

Both Des Barres and Plaster Caster confirm Hendrix's identity on the DVD, and both were paid an undisclosed sum for their participation.

"No doubt about it," Plaster Caster says in the film's trailer. "That's Jimi Hendrix' d*** and I should know."

Voodoo fest nabs R.E.M., NIN, STP

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:19:54 +0100

Rockers will join Neville Brothers, who are also headlining this weekend's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Made your pre-Halloween plans yet?
R.E.M. R.E.M.

The Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans has, nailing down R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, and the reunited Stone Temple Pilots as headliners. The three-day event, set for Oct. 24-26 at New Orleans' City Park, will also feature a performance from local legends the Neville Brothers, who are playing the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival this weekend, their first set at the event since Hurricane Katrina.

The 10th annual Voodoo Experience--dubbed The Tenth Ritual this year--will also feature local favorites Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Irving Mayfield's New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and the New Orleans Bingo! Show, with plenty of additional acts to be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets for Voodoo go on sale May 2 on the Voodoo Web site.

News Breakers: Miley Cyrus, Winehouse, Weiland, McCready, Ting Tings

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:12:42 +0100

Apologies abound; singer released; rocker gets jail time; troubled country star confirms Clemens relationship; duo gets iPod ad.

She might be old enough to write a memoir, but 15-year-old Miley Cyrus continues to deal with the aftermath of her decision to pose semi-topless for Vanity Fair magazine and legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The photo spread, which appears in the magazine's June issue and on its cover, includes a photo of Cyrus clad in just a bed sheet. The photo has sparked widespread outcry among religious groups, and Cyrus herself issued a statement on Sunday to apologize for the decision.

"My goal in my music and my acting is always to make people happy," Cyrus said. "For Vanity Fair, I was so honored and thrilled to work with [photographer] Annie [Leibovitz]. I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed."

Now Leibovitz has done the same, albeit for the reaction to the photo if not the photo itself. "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted," she said in a statement. "Miley and I looked at fashion photographs together, and we discussed the picture in that context before we shot it. The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little make-up, and I think it is very beautiful."

The Christian Coalition of America has asked The Disney Channel, which broadcasts Cyrus' hit show Hannah Montana, to reprimand Cyrus for agreeing to the provocative shots. "Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines," Disney said in a statement.

Winehouse released after arrest

Amy Winehouse at the Grammy Awards, via satellite. Amy Winehouse at the Grammy Awards, via satellite.

She may have nabbed five Grammy Awards in February and showed signs of ending her very public downward spiral, but Amy Winehouse continues to run afoul of the law. The British soul singer was released from police custody Saturday morning after being arrested on suspicion of assault late Friday. Winehouse was accused of slapping a man outside a north London pub, and was released with a warning after she admitted doing so.

The singer, 24, voluntarily walked into London's Holborn Police Station Friday to face interrogation about an incident in the north London neighborhood of Camden early Wednesday morning. A 38-year-old man alleged that she hit him when he got in her way while she was playing pool at a bar. According to tabloid reports, the man said she also head-butted another patron, who was trying to hail her a cab.

The incident will remain on Winehouse's record, the Associated Press reports, and it could count against her if she's ever charged with a similar offense.

Scott Weiland gets eight-day jail sentence
Eight days a week. Eight days a week.

In the past few weeks, he has left Velvet Revolver and reunited with Stone Temple Pilots, which has become a central figure on the 2008 music festival circuit. But before Scott Weiland can tour the globe with his old bandmates, he'll have to serve 192 hours in county jail for his November DUI arrest.

Weiland was sentenced to jail on Monday, and has until May 28 to begin the term. The DUI arrest was Weiland's second. He entered a no contest plea but was not present in the court room. The former Velvet Revolver singer was also ordered to complete an 18-month alcohol program and pay almost $2,000 in fines. He will be put on a four-year summary probation.

McCready confirms Clemens relationship
One of Mindy McCready's mugshots. One of Mindy McCready's mugshots.

The credibility of Roger Clemens just took a shot to the gut. Country singer Mindy McCready has confirmed reports she had a long-term affair with the baseball star, who has spent much of the year defending himself from accusations that he took performance enhancing drugs during his career.

McCready read a prepared statement to the New York Daily News, which broke the story about her alleged 10-year affair with Clemens beginning when the singer was just 15 years old and Clemens was a married father of two.

"I cannot refute anything in the story," McCready said. "Yes, I have known Roger Clemens for a long time. He's a kind and caring man. He's also a legendary athlete. The central topic in the debate, however, regards his professional life, not his personal life. There are legal matters working their way through the system that have nothing to do with me. From my point of view, that is where the focus should remain."

McCready, who has been in and out of trouble with the law in recent years, did not address claims that Clemens has made large cash payments to her over the years, as the News claimed.

Ting Tings land new iPod ad
Ting Tings Ting Tings

If history is a guide, life is about to get demonstratively better for British dance-rock band the Ting Tings. Two duo of Jules De Martino and Katie White, whose debut album, We Started Nothing, will hit stores May 20, have been selected for the latest iPod + iTunes television ad.

The ad, which premiered this week during Desperate Housewives and Family Guy, features the typical silhouetted iPod dancers rocking out to the duo's "Shut Up and Let Me Go." Watch the ad here.

webzik.com Live: The GZA disappoints

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:12:23 +0100

SAN FRANCISCO--The scene was set for an earth-shattering night.

The GZA, aka The Genius and the head when the Wu-Tang Clan forms like Voltron, was at the Independent to perform his classic album Liquid Swords in its entirety, in front of 500-plus fans primed for a tour of the streets of Shaolin with one of hip-hop's most acclaimed lyricists as their guide.

But a funny thing happened along the way: The GZA largely phoned it in.