Archive: June 2009 (141-148 of 148)

Jun 2 2009 03:33 PM ET

Exene Cervenka of legendary punk band X: 'I have multiple sclerosis'

Tags: News

Exene Cervenka, the 53-year-old writer, musician and artist best known as the co-lead vocalist of L.A.'s iconic punk outfit X (currently on tour), announced today that she has been diagnosed with MS.

In a statement released today, she said, "After some months of not feeling 100% healthy, I recently had some medical tests run and the prognosis is that I am suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. Apparently, it has been affecting me for quite some time. 

Although this is obviously unfortunate news, I am choosing to see the positive in it. I, and X as a band, have supported the Sweet Relief charity since the mid-1990’s; the irony of this is not lost on any of us.  Sweet Relief was started as an aide to uninsured artists by musician Victoria Williams when she herself was diagnosed with MS in 1992.

While this diagnosis will most certainly mean some changes for me, personally, it will not affect my commitments to the current X U.S. tour, nor will it affect my solo album that is slated for release this fall on Bloodshot Records."

To learn more about Sweet Relief or to donate, click here. In the meantime, enjoy this bananas trip down memory lane — X appearing on David Letterman back in 1984:
 


More from EW's Music Mix:
Pearl Jam to release new album via Target partnership
What 'grown up' songs do your kids love?
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Elektra Records rises again: The return of an iconic record label

Jun 2 2009 02:58 PM ET

Pink to Kanye West: 'You're an idiot!'

Tags: , , News

Pink-kanye_l Lesson of the day: If you're hanging with a bunch of noted animal-rights advocates at a fashion show, maybe that's not the ideal time to start thinking aloud about how much you love fur. This reminder goes out to Kanye West, based on the following anecdote shared by Pink in the new issue of FHM Australia (spotted, where else, at Perez Hilton). Take it away, Pink!

"Kanye West is the person pissing me off right now. I was at Stella McCartney's Paris fashion show with the vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Paul McCartney and Kanye West. The entire time Kanye is going, 'They need more fur in this show.' He just wouldn't shut up about how he loved fur. I mean, he's saying this to me, the PETA guy and Paul McCartney! I was just so grossed out by him. I'm like, 'You're an idiot!' There are so many people who I think are a waste of skin and he's up there. I should wear him. Go on, donate yourself Kanye. People can wear your fur."

Ouch. No doubt this was a total faux pas on Kanye's part, assuming this all went down the way Pink remembers it, but that's one harsh response. (Really, Pink, a Kanye skin-suit? Paging Clarice Starling!) Do you share Pink's outrage at Kanye's alleged fur fandom? Or do you think her comeback went too far?

More from EW's Music Mix:
Pearl Jam to release new album via Target partnership
What 'grown up' songs do your kids love?
Eminem meets Travis Barker at '3 a.m.'

addCredit("Pink: Paul Smith/Featureflash/Retna Ltd; West: Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com")

Jun 2 2009 02:28 PM ET

Pearl Jam debuts 'Got Some' on Conan: Watch it here

Musical star power is a key part of any good late-night chat show, and Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show premiere last night was no exception. Pearl Jam dropped by Conan's new digs to play "Got Some," a song from their upcoming album Backspacer, for the first time ever. Check it out below (note: clip mislabeled as "The Fixer") and let us know: How do you like "Got Some"? Are you looking forward to a new PJ album?

More from EW's Music Mix:
Pearl Jam to release new album via Target partnership
What 'grown up' songs do your kids love?
LiveNation announces 'No Service Fee Wednesdays,' making both LiveNation and Wednesdays less hateable

Jun 1 2009 10:16 PM ET

Pearl Jam to release new album via partnership with Target

Tags: , News

PearlJam_l

Rumors started over the weekend on sites like Antiquiet and Stereogum that Pearl Jam had staged a secret show at Seattle’s Showbox theater Thursday night, where they shot a Target commercial with longtime buddy and filmmaker Cameron Crowe. After an interview with Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis, EW can confirm that the band has established a partnership with Target for the release of their next record, currently titled Backspacer, which is tentatively slated to drop September 22.

Curtis, who is in Los Angeles preparing for the band’s appearance on the premiere of Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show this evening, says he wishes this information could have stayed in the can a bit longer: "We wanted to announce this when we could talk about everything, who our partners are," he tells Music Mix. "It’s not just via Target. They’re obviously the big retail chain that we love and adore that’s going to release this record. We’re also going to release it through our fan club, and Target was cool enough to allow us to pick up little indie [stores], too. They’re taking care of the little guy. The little guy is not their competition."

More after the jump…

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Jun 1 2009 10:00 PM ET

Paul and Ringo unveil 'The Beatles: Rock Band.' Are you ready?

Tags: , News

The new Beatles: Rock Band game launched earlier today at the E3 expo in Los Angeles — with both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr there to lend a hand. The highlight of the unveiling? When ten of the 45 songs that will be featured on the game were revealed — including "I Saw Her Standing There," "I Am the Walrus," "Get Back," "Taxman," "Octopus’s Garden," and "Day Tripper," among others. It was also announced that "All You Need Is Love" will be released exclusively as a download on XBox, with profits to benefit Doctors Without Borders.

You can find out more details about the game, which comes out September 9, at thebeatlesrockband.com, and to whet your appetite for its new release, you can check out the Fab Four performing that last little ditty below. But will you be getting blisters on your fingers come September 9? What musical outfits do you think should get the solo Rock Band treatment next? And do you think they put "Octopus’s Garden" on the game just to keep Ringo happy?

 

More on The Beatles:
Will you buy the new Beatles remasters?
Coachella ’09 Friday: Paul McCartney burns slow, Morrissey smells burning flesh
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunite onstage for David Lynch’s ‘Change Begins Within’ concert
Paul McCartney: Q&A

More from EW’s Music Mix:
Grizzly Bear takes a victory lap in New York City
What ‘grown up’ songs do your kids love?
LiveNation announces ‘No Service Fee Wednesdays,’ making both LiveNation and Wednesdays less hateable

Jun 1 2009 08:28 PM ET

Elektra Records rises again: The return of an iconic record label

Tags: , News

Elektra Records had a pretty solid run in between being founded in 1950 by soon-to-be-legendary record man Jac Holzman and being shuttered in 2004 as part of a merger with Atlantic Records. Now that story is getting another chapter: Atlantic announced today that effective immediately, Elektra is once again a functioning label under its corporate umbrella. Signees to the reincarnated Elektra, which is being run by Fueled By Ramen founder John Janick and Atlantic A&R exec Mike Caren, include Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo, French electro mavens Justice, and U.K. dance-pop sensation Little Boots. That’s a fairly eclectic lineup, but it’s nothing compared to the label’s wide-ranging history. Over the years Elektra has been home to everyone from folkies like Phil Ochs and Judy Collins to cutting-edge rockers like the Doors, Love, and the Stooges, to hip-hop innovators like Missy Elliott — and that’s just a small sampling.

So what do you hope the new Elektra will do with the name? Personally, I’m hoping they can reissue the unconscionably out-of-print Phil Ochs In Concert, though I’m not sure what the rights situation is there. Check out a vintage clip of Ochs playing that album’s "There But For Fortune" below, then weigh in.

More on Elektra:
EW review: Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra Records — 1963-1973

More from EW’s Music Mix:
Grizzly Bear takes a victory lap in New York City
What ‘grown up’ songs do your kids love?
LiveNation announces ‘No Service Fee Wednesdays,’ making both LiveNation and Wednesdays less hateable

Jun 1 2009 06:23 PM ET

What we (and Albert Hammond Jr.) are listening to: the Postelles

Postelles_l_2If MySpace updates are to be believed, the Strokes are currently working on the followup to 2006′s First Impressions of Earth; in the meantime, some members are staying plenty busy with their own stuff (we’ll mention drummer Fabrizio Moretti anytime, just to practice rolling our "R"s like a Spanish conquistador).

And now, guitarist Albert Hammond has a new pet project, other than his own solo career: A scrappy young New York foursome named the Postelles.

According to frontman Daniel Balk, the coming-together of his then-unsigned band and the erstwhile Stroke was pure fate — and a little hustle: "We met him on the street outside of [East Village institution] the Sidewalk Cafe, where we had a gig. We were in 10th grade. We asked him to come in to see us play a show and he did. A year later he heard ’123 Stop’ and liked it a lot and let us record it in his bedroom!"

Now, Hammond Jr. has produced a number of tracks on their upcoming debut for Capitol, which will likely be out this fall, and not surprisingly, a pretty strong Strokes-ian vibe pervades the band’s sunny garage-bop sound; think Julian Casablancas & co., minus the louche "we smoke a lot and wear ladies’ leather jackets" poses, and plus a jangly, early-Kinks-y sort of That Thing You Do innocence.

But you tell me, readers — did you see them perform last year at Lollapalooza or Bonaroo festivals, or will you be catching them at the All Points West fest this August? Tri-staters can also see them in NYC this Thursday. Stream to "123 Stop" below, and tell us if you’re feeling it:

More from EW’s Music Mix:
Grizzly Bear takes a victory lap in New York City
What ‘grown up’ songs do your kids love?
LiveNation announces ‘No Service Fee Wednesdays,’ making both LiveNation and Wednesdays less hateable

Jun 1 2009 03:33 PM ET

LiveNation announces 'No Service Fee Wednesdays,' making both LiveNation and Wednesdays less hateable

Coldplay_lBeginning this Wednesday, June 3rd, LiveNation will offer, for the first time, no-fee concert tickets for hundreds of shows (bands included in the special are Coldplay, blink-182, the Killers, Dave Matthews Band, Kid Rock, No Doubt, Toby Keith, the Allman Brothers Band, and New Kids on the Block, among others). As service fees are the bane of any avid concert-goer’s existence (that and people who wear shirts of the band whose concert they’re at. Really, guy?) it’s nice to finally catch a break. LiveNation.com will be selling 5 million tickets starting this Wednesday (the special goes the full 24 hours), but there’s a catch: all non-fee tickets are for lawn seating only. While other no-fee deals will continue on Wednesdays throughout the summer on LiveNation’s site, it’s a pretty safe bet this week’s deal will spark an all-out frenzy for tickets on the cheap (I’m looking at you Phish fans!). What do you think, Music Mixers? Are you excited about this news, too? Or bummed that you already bought most of your summer concert tickets?

More from EW’s Music Mix:
Grizzly Bear takes a victory lap in New York City
What ‘grown up’ songs do your kids love?
Eminem meets Travis Barker at ’3 a.m.’

Photo Credit: Stephan Craneanscki

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