When they weren’t teasing us with a Webcast that’s taking forever to play on our computers, Radiohead were very busy making other headlines today. For one, the band’s management attacked a widely cited report by comScore claiming that 62 percent of people who downloaded In Rainbows didn’t pay a cent. “In response to purely speculative figures announced in the press regarding the number of downloads and the price paid for the album, the group’s representatives would like to remind people that, as the album could only be downloaded from the band’s website, it is impossible for outside organisations to have accurate figures on sales,” the statement reads, adding that the band “confirm that the figures quoted by the company comScore Inc are wholly inaccurate and in no way reflect definitive market intelligence or, indeed, the true success of the project.” In other news, it’s been confirmed that the CD and vinyl release of In Rainbows will become available in non-North American music stores on December 31st. The album’s ninth track, “Jigsaw Falling Into Place,” will also serve as the first single, which will be released on January 14th. No details regarding the single’s B-sides or formats have been announced. The CD and vinyl In Rainbows will hit shelves a little more than three weeks after the discbox — which costs $80 and contains the CD, vinyl and a bonus disc — hits mailboxes on or around December 3rd.

Music, Recordings | No Comments »

• Britney Spears may have gotten schooled on the U.S. charts by the Eagles, but she has secured the number-one spot in Europe, Canada and Ireland and even set a new record for digital sales in the States. Spears has officially sold more digital albums in her first week of release than any other female artist, and Blackout is still at the top of the iTunes chart [UPDATE: She was just dethroned by Angels & Airwaves]. At least that’s something to keep her spirits up when Kevin Federline hauls her back to court.

• Nominees for November 29th’s first J.A.M. awards, where Jam Master Jay’s foundation will honor artists with “outstanding efforts in promoting social justice, arts and music,” have been revealed and include Nelly, Kanye West and Wyclef Jean.

• Festivals 2008 Update: Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park is hoping to curate a “multi-day, multi-stage outdoor concert festival for Summer 2008″ and is working with the producers of Austin City Limits to achieve that goal. The Stagecoach Country Music Festival will take place May 3-4th and feature the Judds’ first performance since 2000 in addition to Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw and Big & Rich. That weekend will also host emo extravaganza the Bamboozle, which will announce its first acts this afternoon at 5 PM. Next year’s Coachella will take place April 25th-27th with artist announcements expected next year, Billboard reports.

• Fans are calling the Sex Pistols‘ first reunion show in London last night “dire” and “shoddy” (and the band reportedly started their set thirty minutes late). The gigs are the band’s first in four years, excluding a small warm-up performance at an L.A. club last month.

• The Smoking Gun has unearthed another iconic rock star mugshot, this one of a vampire-esque David Bowie following his 1976 arrest for felony pot possession in upstate New York.

Music, Concerts, Recordings | No Comments »

Yesterday London police raided the home of Amy Winehouse, but not because of anything the troubled singer did. They were after her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who we often forget in lieu of all of Amy’s problems, is equally “troubled” if not a “singer.” Although the couple wasn’t at home at the time of the raid, police caught up to Fielder-Civil and arrested him on allegations that in British law are the equivalent of “obstruction of justice” here. Fielder-Civil is accused of attempting to bribe a bartender, James King, with $400,000 not to score more booze, but to withdraw a statement he made to police after Fielder-Civil and another friend assaulted King. The scuffle netted Winehouse’s hubby some “grievous bodily harm with intent” charges. According to her publicist, Winehouse was not arrested or charged, but the police were seen leaving her home with several boxes of evidence, which Amy better be praying was not paraphernalia, especially considering she finally got through the whole Norway pot ordeal and has been allowed back into the U.S. Hopefully this new development won’t prevent Amy from wowing audiences here with her woozy, slurred performances. Like any star-crossed lovers, or neo-Sids & Nancys, Winehouse told her husband/sparring partner Fielder-Civil, “Baby, I love you. I will be fine,” as the police ripped her man away.

Music, People | No Comments »

Those eager to snag the new Hives album off OiNK the other day came to a saddening realization: As we reported, the long running, invite-only BitTorrent Web site had been shut down in a combined effort by British and Dutch police. The operator of the site, a twenty-four-year-old man from Middlesborough, U.K., was arrested and will likely face so many charges, not even T.I. would want to switch places with him right now. Plus, users who went to the site were greeted with the ominous message, “A criminal investigation continues into the identities and activities of the site’s users.” Has the record industry and the Interpol that didn’t come out with Antics finally struck fear in the hearts of illegal downloaders after being on the brink of defeat? It’s like The Empire Strikes Back, but with the RIAA cast as Darth Vader. While many folks will miss OiNK and its album-leaking ways, a few points: First, to those squealing on the Internet about the injustice of the shut-down, keep in mind that the site was engaging in illegal activity so the bust shouldn’t come as a huge shock. Plus, this doesn’t mean people will actually have to pay for music or wait for release dates again. There are still dozens of torrents and P2Ps out there, each one eager to provide someone who’s down with the piracy trade with the new Hives album right now. So how are you reacting to OiNK’s last stand? Did you go and buy Ween’s La Cucharacha, or did you use alternate methods? Does the demise of this site mark the end of an illegal era?

Music | No Comments »

• At a press conference announcing his partnership with Ciroc vodka, Diddy said last week’s claims that he threw a punch in a New York club over a woman were “just totally overblown … I don’t fight over girls.” Diddy did admit, “I am a human being and I will get into an argument at times,” and said police have looked into the situation. NYPD sources told Reuters he could face a misdemeanor assault charge.

• Police responded to a profanity complaint at Missouri State University earlier this month when a student band covering Against Me!’s “Baby, I’m an Anarchist” delivered the line “I was burning that fucker and stringing my black flag high.” According to the school’s Expressive Activity Policy, the concert was held in a designated “free speech zone” that allows free expression for all, excluding those that are “obscene, defamatory or incites violence.”

• University of Kansas students were relieved when spray-painted graffiti declaring “10.23.07″ turned out to be promotion for Coheed and Cambria’s new album and not, as rumored, the date of a school shooting. Someone had shot out windows of a campus dorm during the school’s fall break, leading to a large scare when the graffiti appeared.

• Alan Ellis, the creator of BitTorrent site OiNK who was arrested earlier this week, said his site is “no different to something like Google,” explaining to U.K.’s The Daily Telegraph, “If Google directed someone to a site they can illegally download music they are doing the same as what I have been accused of. I am not making any OiNK users break the law. People don’t pay to use the site.”

• Portishead are close to finishing their third album, according to what keyboardist Geoff Barrow wrote in the band’s blog, Pitchfork reports. Barrow theorized “one more day should do it,” earlier this week, indicating the band was almost done completing artwork selection and “getting live stuff together.”

Music, Recordings | No Comments »

Kentuckian Maurice Foreman claims that Kid Rock’s “So Hott,” the first single from Rock N Roll Jesus, is a direct rip-off of Foreman’s “Slow Death,” which was supposedly copyrighted back in 1997. The evidence, according to Foreman, is that Rock sings “So Hott” three times in the chorus (just like in “Slow Death”!) and that the two songs have near-identical lead guitar riffs. We listened to both songs, and Foreman’s claims are just straight up ridiculous. First off, Foreman’s song sounds like it was recorded on some eight-track tape-era medium. The chances that Rock by some miracle heard this Kentucky mountain man’s basement tape and felt inspired is less likely than a Kid Rock/Tommy Lee VMA rematch. That is, unless Rock is a member of some BitTorrent site that specializes in southern rock wanna-bes. If you’re gonna sue Kid Rock, at least think of something more creative.

Music, Recordings | No Comments »