Known for his groundbreaking video work in the metal world, Director Thomas Mignone told E.S. Day of Abort Magazine recently that the members of SLIPKNOT have many times gone before their audience without their trademark adornments and remained virtually unrecognized.
Says Mignone, "I can't tell you how many shows, at least a hundred shows where I shot at or attended, where the band set up their own gear (unmasked) right in front of their fans and nobody had a clue that that was the band.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
iTunes roll out premium service
iTunes roll out premium service
 EMI - home of Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue and Lily Allen - is the first record company to make its catalogue available free of Digital Right Management (DRM), the anti-piracy technology which currently restricts the copying of downloaded tracks. The new downloads will sell for 99p and will be of higher sound quality than the standard 79p versions. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs and EMI boss Eric Nicoli unveiled the deal at the record company's London headquarters. Speculation that the announcement would relate to the Beatles' back catalogue being made available through iTunes proved groundless. The 99p tracks will be available from next month and Apple predicts other record labels will follow EMI's lead. Users will be able to upgrade existing EMI downloads to the DRM-free version for 20p each. Complete EMI albums will automatically be sold DRM-free with no change in price. The standard 79p versions will remain available but EMI said its research showed music fans are prepared to pay extra for higher quality, interoperable tracks. Currently, a track bought on iTunes can only be played on an iPod unless a user burns it onto a CD. Mr Jobs called the announcement: "The next big step forward in the digital music revolution." He added: "This is a landmark event and the beginning of a major shift taking place this year, resulting in users being able to buy from any music site and play the track on any player." Damon Albarn's band The Good, The Bad and The Queen, played at the launch. |
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Panic! At The Disco Planning 'Love Story' — And Dr. Dre Hookup? (taken from MTV.com)
Bassist says band's second LP will feature 'romantic, poetic fantasies'; calls hip-hop producer 'genius.'
You'd think the guys in Panic! at the Disco would have a whole buncha goals in mind for the follow-up to their platinum debut, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. But, no — they have just one.
"Actually, our whole goal for this CD is to create a close relationship with Dr. Dre. You know, getting some sort of business plan worked out," bassist Jon Walker laughed. "I mean, the guy's a genius."
Of course he's joking (we think), because there's clearly more on the line for them this time around. Which is probably why, earlier this month, they announced they were moving into a cabin in the hills of Nevada to begin work on the yet-untitled disc (see "Panic! At The Cabin: Rockers Go Into Hibernation To Work On Sophomore Disc"). And it's probably why, when MTV News caught up with them in Atlanta last week — where they took a break from the recording process to play a free show at Centennial Olympic Park — they were fully sporting the "studio look": grizzled, patchy beards; bags under the eyes; and pale(r than usual) complexions.
"We're all sort of getting cabin fever. We'd go four to five days without leaving the house sometimes, and it's been nice to be outside for even a day," guitarist Ryan Ross sighed. "And I got sick of wearing sweatpants every day."
Ross added that Panic have four songs finished already and that they'll remain in the cabin — located around Nevada's Mount Charleston — for another month before heading to Los Angeles to continue work on the album. The new songs, he said, will follow his earlier idea of a "modern fairy tale" (see "Panic's Vacation Plan: Shoot A Video, Write Songs, Find Spot For Moonmen") but with a romantic twist.
"After bands become successful, they always make that choice to do the record about how cool or how hard it is to be in a successful band," he said. "So we wanted to do something more universal, something that pretty much anyone can relate to ... something that you wouldn't be able to place in a certain time period. And it's been really challenging [to write] lyrics for something like that, especially when our last record had so many references to pop culture. ... This one is pretty much a love story."
Walker chimed in to add that it's not just Ross who's spinning that love story. The whole band is getting involved, collaborating on a story line that one might even call — gasp! — a "concept."
"We all got together and created this — I guess you could call it a concept — that we all wrote and we were all involved with and pretty interested in," Walker added. "Most people who listen to our music can't relate to what it's like to tour and play shows and live on the road. That's the last thing we want to write about, because we do it all the time anyway. Ryan said it best. It's kind of a love story. It's a timeless age of romantic, poetic fantasies."
The guys have apparently scrapped their original plans to recruit songwriter/composer Danny Elfman to work on their sophomore album (see "Panic! At The Disco Promise Vulgar Video, Want Movie Music For New LP"), instead choosing producer Rob Mathes, who worked with Panic on the re-release of the "Nightmare Before Christmas" soundtrack (see "Fall Out Boy, Panic, Marilyn Manson Add To New 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Soundtrack"). The band's management, however, said Mathes has not been confirmed as the producer for the album.
And though Elfman might be out of the question, that doesn't mean things aren't still gonna be theatrical, fantastical and/or cinematic on Panic's new album. Quite the opposite, in fact.
You'd think the guys in Panic! at the Disco would have a whole buncha goals in mind for the follow-up to their platinum debut, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. But, no — they have just one.
"Actually, our whole goal for this CD is to create a close relationship with Dr. Dre. You know, getting some sort of business plan worked out," bassist Jon Walker laughed. "I mean, the guy's a genius."
Of course he's joking (we think), because there's clearly more on the line for them this time around. Which is probably why, earlier this month, they announced they were moving into a cabin in the hills of Nevada to begin work on the yet-untitled disc (see "Panic! At The Cabin: Rockers Go Into Hibernation To Work On Sophomore Disc"). And it's probably why, when MTV News caught up with them in Atlanta last week — where they took a break from the recording process to play a free show at Centennial Olympic Park — they were fully sporting the "studio look": grizzled, patchy beards; bags under the eyes; and pale(r than usual) complexions.
"We're all sort of getting cabin fever. We'd go four to five days without leaving the house sometimes, and it's been nice to be outside for even a day," guitarist Ryan Ross sighed. "And I got sick of wearing sweatpants every day."
Ross added that Panic have four songs finished already and that they'll remain in the cabin — located around Nevada's Mount Charleston — for another month before heading to Los Angeles to continue work on the album. The new songs, he said, will follow his earlier idea of a "modern fairy tale" (see "Panic's Vacation Plan: Shoot A Video, Write Songs, Find Spot For Moonmen") but with a romantic twist.
"After bands become successful, they always make that choice to do the record about how cool or how hard it is to be in a successful band," he said. "So we wanted to do something more universal, something that pretty much anyone can relate to ... something that you wouldn't be able to place in a certain time period. And it's been really challenging [to write] lyrics for something like that, especially when our last record had so many references to pop culture. ... This one is pretty much a love story."
Walker chimed in to add that it's not just Ross who's spinning that love story. The whole band is getting involved, collaborating on a story line that one might even call — gasp! — a "concept."
"We all got together and created this — I guess you could call it a concept — that we all wrote and we were all involved with and pretty interested in," Walker added. "Most people who listen to our music can't relate to what it's like to tour and play shows and live on the road. That's the last thing we want to write about, because we do it all the time anyway. Ryan said it best. It's kind of a love story. It's a timeless age of romantic, poetic fantasies."
The guys have apparently scrapped their original plans to recruit songwriter/composer Danny Elfman to work on their sophomore album (see "Panic! At The Disco Promise Vulgar Video, Want Movie Music For New LP"), instead choosing producer Rob Mathes, who worked with Panic on the re-release of the "Nightmare Before Christmas" soundtrack (see "Fall Out Boy, Panic, Marilyn Manson Add To New 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Soundtrack"). The band's management, however, said Mathes has not been confirmed as the producer for the album.
And though Elfman might be out of the question, that doesn't mean things aren't still gonna be theatrical, fantastical and/or cinematic on Panic's new album. Quite the opposite, in fact.
First Blog
Hi, all... i've just moved from my friendster blog to this one... my other one's kinda limited.. soo... yeah...
I'll be updating this blog from 2 days a week to once or twice a day.. yeah.. that's a big gap... so be sure to check the blog out everyday, k?
I'll be updating this blog from 2 days a week to once or twice a day.. yeah.. that's a big gap... so be sure to check the blog out everyday, k?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
