News
East coast rap legends A Tribe Called Quest – aka Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – are to reunite this summer for appearances at touring hip-hop festival Rock the Bells. Along with Nas, Mos Def, Ghostface, Raekwon, Spank Rock, De La Soul, The Pharcyde (another reunion) and many others, the trio will play eight major US cities as well as Toronto and Vancouver before crossing the pond to play a series of European dates, kicking off in London on September 20th, before continuing on to Japan.
Well, it looks like the release of 'Chinese Democracy' might now finally see the light of day (deja-vu anyone?). According to the Guns N' Roses website, the band – with a new management team in place – are in final negotiations for the release of the LP which is now fourteen years in the making. Meanwhile, guitarist Robin Finke has parted ways with the band (throwing another spanner in the works) to rejoin his old pals Nine Inch Nails and tour with them this summer. As Axl Rose explained on his blog "Robin's plans caught everyone in Guns, as well as our fans, a bit off-guard. Neither we nor management know any more in this regard and we prefer not to speculate or offer opinions at this time. When we begin to put tour plans together, we'll see where things are. Until then, Robin's touring with NIN and we're working with management on our game plans."
The words 'rock/rap hybid' have been known to make the most hardy of music lovers tremble with fear and foreboding but intrepid Wu-Tang Clan founder The Rza has thrown caution to the wind by joining forces with System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian and rappers Kinetic 9 and Reverend William Burke to form the new hip-hop/rock crossover act Achozen. A self-titled debut album is set to be released this summer through Odadjian's own digital label, urSESSION and will feature various guest spots from the likes of George Clinton, John Frusciante, GZA and Killah Priest. With Jay Z and Linkin Park putting the final nail into this coffin a few years back, let's hope RZA can work some of his magic and breathe new life into the genre.
Glastonbury festival organiser Emily Eavis, has hit out at the strange and groundless reaction from the press, public and Noel Gallagher concerning Jay Z's headline slot this year. Highlighting the festival's long history of booking hip-hop acts. Eavis rubbished the speculation that Jay Z was booked in order to attract younger fans to the festival. Noel Gallagher has claimed that the booking of Jay Z is a 'betrayal of the festival's core audience". Speaking to The Independent, Eavis explained her concern at "the suggestion that a black, US hip-hop artist shouldn't be playing in front of what many perceive to be a white, middle-class audience. I'm not sure what to call it, at least not in public, but this is something that causes me some disquiet."
Royal Artist Club blogger Lightspeed Champion has been forced to cut his epic tour short due to a serious illness. Lightspeed, aka singer/songwriter (and former Test Icicles member) Dev Hynes explained yesterday "I got taken to hospital in Switzerland as I couldn't walk. We all thought it was torn ligaments in both my ankles... but it turned out an infection that had started in my tooth had slowly spread throughout my body and made it's way down to my ankles, rendering them useless except for the art of excruciating pain." Recovering at home, Dev will have to miss his Camden Crawl appearances this weekend but other forthcoming shows are hoped to go ahead.
Adam Yauch, aka MCA of Beastie Boys, has turned his hand to documentary making with 'Gunnin' For That No.1 Spot'. Due out on June 27th, the film chronicles the lives of eight of America's top high-school basketball players as they compete in tournaments that will define their future careers. Yauch previously honed his skills under the pseudonym Nathaniel Hörnblower, with various music videos for Beastie Boys and their 2006 concert movie 'Awesome, I F**kin' Shot That!'
Under Brian Eno's sure-handed guidance, Coldplay have been encouraged down a more experimental path for their fourth album Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends – due on June 17th via EMI/Parlophone. Speaking to industry magazine Billboard, singer Chris Martin explained "We're still obsessed with making songs that can be sung to the rafters, we just wanted to present them differently." If the band are to be believed we can expect jarring synth instrumentals, tabla-led rockers, shoegazing breakdowns and funk influenced grooves – as well as the good old fashioned, emotive Coldplay that we've come to expect. Full tracklisting:
'Life in Technicolour'
Cemeteries of London'
'Lost!'
'42'
'Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love'
'Yes'
'Viva La Vida'
'Violet Hill'
'Strawberry Swing'
'Death and All His Friends'
Troubled Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty has been jailed for 14 weeks for breaching the terms of his probation. The sentence, handed down yesterday at West London Magistrates Court, is the result of Doherty's continued drug use and numerous failings to turn up to probation hearings. A Parlophone Records spokesperson has confirmed that the singer's scheduled Royal Albert Hall show on April 26th will be postponed and that his planned appearances at Glastonbury and the Love Music Hate Racism event are now very unlikely.
Musical icon Bob Dylan has been awarded an honorary Pulitzer Prize (the Special Citation In Music award), signalling the award panel's overdue recognition of Rock music as a legitimate modern artform. Previously only favouring Classical and Jazz for the music Pulitzer, judges cited Dylan as having "a profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."
After last year's stand against the mainstream music industry with their self-released LP In Rainbows, Thom Yorke and co are stickin' it to the man once again (well, sort of). Going up against the likes of Facebook, MySpace and other online giants, the band have set up their own social networking website entitled W.A.S.T.E. Central. The free service allows fans to upload profile pictures, post photos and videos, build up an friend list and receive up to the minute info on all things Radiohead related.