Axl Rose ain’t no Guitar Hero, sues videogame publishers for $20 million
By Kid Midnight on Dec 3 2010
Axl Rose, who must be running low on money or is looking for a serious wad of cash to put toward Chinese Democracy 2: This Time It’ll Never Come Out, has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, the publishers of the Guitar Hero series of videogames, for $20 million. What Axl is taking issue with is how the classic Guns N’ Roses track “Welcome to the Jungle” was presented in Guitar Hero III, as stated in the paperwork:
‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is a highly-renowned rock song of immense popularity…[and] is regarded by fans and critics alike as one of the greatest hard rock songs of all time….Guitar Hero has generated well over a billion dollars in revenue for Activision….Activision understood the extraordinary value Guns N’ Roses and ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ could add to the Guitar Hero platform…[and] began spinning a web of lies and deception to conceal its true intentions.
What Axl means to say is this: he was assured that Slash, and all past members of Guns N’ Roses, as well as Slash’s then band (Velvet Revolver), would not appear in the game at all. As those of us who played Guitar Hero III know, both Slash and Velvet Revolver were in the game and Axl is just pissed that when people think of Guns N’ Roses they only remember the period of time when G N’ R were good and that, besides a good lead singer, the band also had a really good guitar player. Sorry, Axl, the credit can’t all be yours. Good luck with the trial though!
• Guns ‘N Roses: http://www.gunsnroses.com
It’s the end of the road for LimeWire’s legal store
By Liz Louche on Dec 3 2010
Although we’ve come to the end of the road/ Still I can’t let you go
—Boyz II Men
Although the Boyz most likely did not write these lyrics about LimeWire (considering the song is like 19 years old), they might as well have. Billboard is reporting that LimeWire is now suspending its legal music service. LimeWire had already been ordered to stop illegal file-sharing, and the site recently sent an email to vendors notifying them that the store will close on December 31. According to the website, the “LimeWire Store is no longer accepting new customers. Existing subscribers will not be renewed or charged but can still sign in to redeem any remaining song credits.”
• LimeWire: http://www.limewire.com
Ducktails and Panda Bear representin’ for the animal kingdom via collaborative track on new Ducktails album
By Harold Shueberg on Dec 3 2010
What sort of sounds occur when you combine two of the most notoriously gentile and majestic creatures in the animal kingdom? I’m not really sure, but I suppose we’ll all get an idea when Ducktails (a.k.a. Matthew Mondanile, also of Real Estate and Predator Vision fame) releases his collaborative track with co-sound landscaper Panda Bear. On January 10, Ducktails will be releasing a fresh new full-length titled Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics via Woodsist. This release will include a bonus track featuring good ol’ PB titled “Killin the Vibe”. Not only will this bonus track be featured on the album but the release will also contain the original non-Panda Bear version of the song!! Word from Pitchfork is that both tracks also feature some guest help from Dent May and Woods’ Travis Taveniere.
If you don’t want to wade through all those pesky non-Panda-Bear-featuring songs, come February Mondanile will release a 12-inch prominently featuring the Panda Bear version as the debut release on his own New Images label. Got the tracklist for that right down below:
A1. Killin the Vibe [ft. Panda Bear]
A2. Couch Surfer
B1. Sit Around with Ya
B2. Killin the Vibe [ft. Spectrals]
• Ducktails: http://www.myspace.com/ducktailss
• Woodsist: http://www.woodsist.com
Amazing Einstürzende Neubauten anniversary tour canceled
By Liz Louche on Dec 3 2010
Einstürzende Neubauten 30th anniversary tour, we hardly knew ye. For those of us overseas fans in good old North America, the industrial music legends’ December dates — what with their grand promises of performances, films, Q&As, goat sacrifices, etc. — seemed the materialization of a great and wonderful dream. Now that dream is gone. For Neubauten’s tour stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, and New York shall be no more, thanks to the band’s US travel visa approvals coming just a wee bit too late.
The band is bummed. According to a press release, the tour was “a time-sensitive production,” and therefore will not be rescheduled. If you bought tickets, you can get a refund from the point of purchase.
Canceled dates:
12.01.10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Music Box
12.02.10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echoplex
12.03.10 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
12.04.10 - San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
12.08.10 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
12.09.10 - Chicago, IL - Metro
12.11.10 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
12.12.10 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace
12.14.10 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
12.15.10 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
• Einstürzende Neubauten: http://www.neubauten.org
Bright Eyes announce new album for February — truly their last?
By Erika H on Dec 2 2010
Conor Oberst is a dirty liar. Well, sort of. In 2009, he made the brash announcement that he would retire the name Bright Eyes after one more record in 2010. It’s December, and we’re only now getting the news: Bright Eyes’ seventh studio album (no mention of it being the last one this time), The People’s Key, will be released February 15, 2011 on Saddle Creek. The album was produced and engineered by Mike Mogis, whom you may remember as part of Monsters of Folk and the producer of Cursive, The Faint, and other Saddle Creek big-shots.
If Oberst truly does retire the tear-saturated name that has resonated with forlorn teens for over a decade, that’ll make another loss in the coterie of sad, sappy suckers in the music scene. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s Owen Ashworth also killed his beloved title this year. If Bright Eyes is truly no more after The People’s Key, where will people turn to find music that shouts out its downtrodden nature on the cover of each record?
But hey, maybe the actual news of this anticipated album (without the last-of caveat) means a new leaf — a revival, if you will — for Bright Eyes all together. If there’s no word soon (or by next spring), you can always try to ask Oberst at one of the two special shows next year: Radio City Music Hall in New York (March 9) and Royal Albert Hall in London (June 23).
The People’s Key tracklisting:
01. Firewall
02. Shell Games
03. Jejune Stars
04. Approximate Sunlight
05. Haile Selassie
06. A Machine Spiritual (In the People’s Key)
07. Triple Spiral
08. Beginner’s Mind
09. Ladder Song
10. One For You, One For Me
Here’s those two dates:
03.09.11 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
06.23.11 - London, UK - Royal Albert Hall
• Bright Eyes: http://www.myspace.com/brighteyes
• Saddle Creek: http://www.saddle-creek.com
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