April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
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NEW YORK - In a move meant to get fans into premium seats and bypass ticket brokers and scalpers, industrial-rock band Nine Inch Nails has reserved tickets to each of its upcoming summer tour dates for registered users of its website,… |
April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
NZ Music Month
LOS ANGELES - Kiwi comedy duo Flight of the Conchords’ first full length album has scored a stunning debut on the US Pop charts. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who play struggling musicians on a cult hit television show, have officially graduated to stardom in the US, with their debut album opening at No. 3 on the US pop chart. The self-titled album from Flight of the Conchords, whose show is broadcast in the US on cable channel HBO, sold 52,000 copies in the week ended April 27, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. In the process, they outsold pop idol Ashlee Simpson, whose new album opened at No. 4 with 47,000 copies. Bittersweet World marks her first release that did not go to No. 1. Mariah Carey outpaced everyone with sales of 182,000 copies for her reigning chart-topper E=MC2. Flight of the Conchords’ quirky comedy series has won a devoted following in the US. The show is set in New York, where their bumbling bid for stardom is met with apathy by club owners and the public. Along the way, they recount their experiences in witty folk ditties. HBO has renewed the show for a second season. Earlier this year, Flight of the Conchords won the comedy Grammy for their EP The Distant Future, which reached No. 116 on the Billboard 200 chart. Both albums were released by Seattle-based Sub Pop Records, which is perhaps best known for its success with grunge-rock trio Nirvana. The label is owned by Warner Music Group Corp. The new album’s chart performance easily sets a new record for a New Zealand act, surpassing the No. 12 peak for pop-rock trio Crowded House’s self-titled 1986 debut. - REUTERS See Also |
April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
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LOS ANGELES - A giant inflatable pig that went missing from a Southern California music festival at the weekend has been found in tatters in a desert town. The pig, which has been a signature Pink Floyd stage prop since its appearance… |
April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
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Surely its not May already? Alas it is. Those of you anticipating the onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder as the days get chillier, cheer up, there is some good news. New Zealand Music Month begins today and there is a… |
April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
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James Blunt has wowed fans when he played Auckland’s Vector Arena. |
April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
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“It’s a pleasure to be here,” the doomed trumpet man Freddie Hubbard said on a night not long ago when he celebrated his 70th birthday. “Glad I’m alive,” he said with a furtive smile. |
April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
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Until now, Geoff Sewell was best known for his role in Amici Forever, the pop/opera crossover group that soared to stardom in 2004 with their first album The Opera Band. Sewell quit the group in 2006 to spend more time with his daughter Sienna, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at the age of two. Now, his first solo album Believe has gone gold in the first week of sales, a remarkable achievement given that the album was released by his own record label, Sewell Music, without the backing of a multi-national record giant. What makes the album special is Sewell’s commitment to raising awareness and money for children and families affected by autism. One of the songs on the album, Sienna’s Song, was written by his wife Simone, and all the proceeds from the song will go towards helping families affected by the disorder. In a special event to raise public awareness of the condition, Sewell teamed up with Temepara George, the winner of TVNZ’s Dancing With The Stars, to perform at Westfield Albany on Tuesday. George, a former Silver Fern who now plays for the Northern Mystics, had chosen Autism New Zealand as her charity when she competed on the popular show. She too has a special connection with the disorder - her first netball coach had an autistic nephew, and the CEO of the Mystics, Mark Cameron, has an autistic son. “Autism New Zealand is not only for the children but for the parents. You don’t realise what the families have to take on,” she said. Sewell’s message is that there is hope for children with autism - there is treatment available and they can lead normal lives. It’s a message which seems to have resonated with the public. Sienna’s autism specialist received over a hundred inquiries from worried parents in a single day after the album was released. - NZ HERALD STAFF See Also |
April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
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There was no faulting the musicianship or artistry of Alexa Still, Roger Chase and Yolanda Kondonassis when they took the Town Hall stage on Saturday night for Chamber Music New Zealand. Yet it was a frustrating evening. The venue… |
April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
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Would many people remember Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) were it not for that slanderous story of the Italian composer poisoning his supposed rival Mozart? This over-heated urban legend sparked the literary imaginations of Pushkin… |
April 30th, 2008 by emp3 download
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There were reports this week that James Blunt wouldn’t be playing piano during his New Zealand shows because he’d broken a finger while stage diving at a concert in North Carolina last month. British tabloid newspaper the Sun quoted the singer-songwriter as saying the incident occurred after he jumped off the stage at the end of a gig and was “chased by women - and even some men - in the crowd”. You’d think that claim would make hardened Kiwi blokes blush, but casting a quick eye over the four-deep crush of fans standing in front of the stage at Vector Arena before last night’s concert even began, the men appeared to outnumber the women. That’s not to say the female fans weren’t out in force. Many of them started singing before Blunt had even played a note. He opened with the popular ballad Give Me Some Love from his All the Lost Souls album and it didn’t take long before the audience was swept up into the performance and singing along to his early hit High. Refuting the reports of a troublesome pinky, Blunt tinkled the ivories himself in Goodbye My Lover, I’ll Take Everything and a raw and passionate rendition of My Bravery, a song he wrote about Kosovo, where he spent time as a member of a NATO peacekeeping force. Blunt’s time in the army had earlier been mentioned by the lead singer of support act Lucid 3, who dedicated the group’s song The Soldier to him. Showing a refreshing ability to poke fun at himself, Blunt joked that two of his songs are currently the most popular choices for wedding and funeral services in Britain. “I’ve got life and death pretty much covered in the charts,” he said, adding he might try for a bar mitzvah record next. Highlights of the 90-minute performance included old favourites You’re Beautiful, Wisemen and Annie. And though in a couple of places his voice sounded a little strained - most likely the result of a gruelling performance schedule - Blunt is that rare thing, a musician who sounds exactly the same in concert as he does on the stereo. By the time he and his band returned to the stage for their encore - a three-song set of One of the Brightest Stars, Same Mistake and 1973 - the audience was hyped … and if Blunt had decided to engage in another spot of crowd diving, he may well have found himself with several more broken fingers. See Also |