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Music News You Can Use: DepMod Gets Apple Savvy, T-Pain Gets Threats

Friday, February 27th, 2009

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DepMod and Apple in business love … Depeche Mode are debuting their comeback album Sounds of the Universe with an Apple twist – they’ll be testing out the new iTunes Pass, which allows buyers to receive “extended singles, remixes, videos, and more,” in addition to the regular album. What’s the cost? While the actual album is priced at the regular $9.99, the deluxe iTunes Pass edition will be bumped up to $18.99. However, the perks, which extend until June 16, are never explained in detail, nor does it guarantee any exclusive material. Ha, there is a catch! Sounds of the Universe is expected to be released April 21.

The Beastie Boys and “weird” sound about right … In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last weekend, Beastie Boy rapper Adam Yauch (MCA) described their upcoming album as a “pretty weird record.” Unlike their 2007 record The Mix-Up, their upcoming and eighth release will feature rhymes, among other aspects like “playing” and sampling. The rappers will also be performing at this year’s Bonnaroo festival.

No Doubtamore dates … As promised, No Doubt will be headlining a summer reunion tour, releasing dates that begin May 3 at the Bamboozle Festival and ending August 1 in their native area of Southern California (Irvine). Other acts supporting them throughout the tour include Paramore, Janelle Monae, Bedouin Soundclash, and the Sounds. While fan club pre-sales begin today, tickets will be available to the public on March 7 through Live Nation.

Nappy Boy cancels gig (gulp) … Everyone’s favorite Autotune/Vocoder user, T-Pain, has canceled a South American show due to what his promoter says are “credible death and kidnapping threats.” The performance, which was part of a festival celebrating Guyana’s independence from Great Britain, was called when the singer received unidentified phone and e-mail messages. The threats are currently being investigated by the local authorities of Guyana.

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Music News You Can Use: New Year, Same Ol’ Hype

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Who’s performing at the Grammys? No surprise here… As if the ‘08 hype wasn’t enough for them, the headlining acts for this year’s Grammy Awards include the Jonas Brothers, Lil’ Wayne, Coldplay, and Kenny Chesney. The ceremony, which has been bitterly dissed in the past in Kanye-esque fashion, will be airing live from Los Angeles on CBS February 8th.

Speaking of which, West in the nude, anyone?… In an effort to pull another empty publicity stunt, Kanye wants to decrease his fan base by posing naked but only after working out for two months. West says in a Vibe interview that having less fans provides more “freedom,” and by revealing his all, he will be breaking “every rule and mentality of hip-hop, of black culture, of American culture.” Just like every (sampled) hit you’ve had, Kanye?

Your iTunes gift cards may be worth more, maybe… Apple Inc. has announced that most songs available on iTunes will go for 69 cents a track, 30 cents cheaper than years past. But the new price comes with more than one catch: songs that are deemed “popular” will be marked up for $1.29, while other songs will be bundled with exclusives and videos, resulted in a hiked price overall. Hmm, your mind games aren’t fooling us, Mr. Jobs (we still send you our best).

Something smells a little Phishy… After an accidental leakage through concert promoter Live Nation, popular jam band Phish have confirmed that they are reuniting for a summer tour, their first in five years. The tour starts June 4 at Wantagh, NY, and ends June 21 at East Troy, WI. Tickets go on sale to the public January 30 at 10 a.m. ET.

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Daily News Roundup: And We All Fall Down!

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Now that’s what I call a snow bunny! Or a snow . . . Honey! Stop scaring the wildlife! One unlucky skier hopped on a chairlift at Colorado’s Vail Resort and fell overboard. His ski got caught in the lift, leaving him dangling with his pants down for seven excruciatingly cold and embarrassing minutes. (Psst . . . Be thorough. Click through all of the photos for the full story.)

Time-outs? In war? The fighting in Gaza is still underway (12 days later!) . . . minus a three hour ”time-out” period from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. this afternoon when Israel hit the sidelines so Gaza could catch its breath. Israel has agreed to cease fire every other day during the same three-hour time period to give humanitarian aid an opportunity to clean up the opposition. It’s all in the name of sportsmanlike conduct. You know.

Obama will address our economic woe, woe, woes! tomorrow. The president-elect will give a “major speech” tomorrow at 11 a.m. (EST) to call for quick action on his “American Recovery and Investment Plan,” which is anticipated to save or create over three million jobs. Obama announced today that he has appointed Nancy Killefer as his chief performance officer, which he claims is “one of the most important” appointments he’s made yet. Killefer will be responsible for kicking budgetary ass and taking names up in Washington—to which my inner Gwen Stefani says: “Get it, girl. Get it, get it, girl. To the front, to the side, to the back” and don’t let ‘em hide!

iTunes will no longer compete with the 99 cents store. Beginning in April, iTunes will begin pricing its music according to popularity. The latest and greatest songs will be priced at $1.29, and oldies but goodies will go on clearance at 69 cents a pop. In addition, Apple will remove anticopying restrictions from its music so listeners don’t have to use an iPod to move and groove to their fave downloads. Could this be an end to the iMonopoly?

Uh, the Wicked Witch ain’t dead. When NBC’s “Today Show” cut Ann Coulter out of its lineup yesterday, the woman hopped on her broom and had a hissy all over town. When she returned to get her mug on the show this morning, Matt Lauer explained that they shot her down yesterday because Tony Blair suddenly made himself available. “And I think that’s a good switch,” he added. And I think Matt Lauer is my new favorite person.

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Daily News Roundup: The Internets are in Troubles (and So Is Everything Else)

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

When Apple starts to suffer, we know times are bad … November sales of Mac computers declined one percent in retail stores compared to the same month last year, due mainly to a 35 percent decline in desktop computers. Analysts are preparing for a tough 2009 for the company. Apple also has a more immediate problem on its hands. Users are reporting problems after installing the latest update to its operating system. The Blue Screen of Death returns!

But Microsoft has it worse … Despite notifying users about a security flaw in Internet Explorer six days ago, the company still doesn’t have a reliable patch to fix the problem—which opens the browser up to spyware after it visits an infected page. PC World has the details. Microsoft’s advice to the more than 60 percent of Web users who surf with Explorer? Switch browsers. We say: download Firefox.

The steady drumbeat of depressing consumer news grows louder … Retail prices were 1.7 percent lower in November than they were in October, a record decrease. The New York Times article summarizing this madness has some choice quotes from experts: “I’ve never seen the economy slam on the brakes as much as it has in the last three months” …. and “This is mind-bogglingly awful.” The entire housing economy, from construction to home sales, is completely imploding. New home construction is at its lowest level in 50 years.

OPEC is feeling the pinch, too … The oil cartel announced Tuesday it would cut production by two million barrels a day, representing 2.5 percent of global production, to stop the decline in prices. Russia may also cut production by 600,000 barrels a day. This chart depicting the last year in prices says it all. While the drop in prices might have detrimental long-range effects, I wasn’t complaining on Sunday when it cost me $16 to fill up my gas tank.

Superstar Toyota suffers just like Apple … And the News Roundup circle is complete. Can Toyota be called the Apple of car manufacturers? The Prius is certainly the hottest car, but Toyota is postponing opening its first Prius plant in the United States because of the economic downturn. The factory in Mississippi was originally going to build the Tundra pickup truck, then the Highlander crossover vehicle. It will still build the Prius, but it’s going to sit empty until at least 2011—that’s the earliest Toyota can get the almost-finished plant on-line.

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