"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (file)
Photo: Elektra

The weekly Dallas Observer alternative newspaper has an editor's note this week apologizing for running a cover image for its previous issue that appeared to be a photo of slain Damageplan/ Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in a casket. Managing Editor Patrick Williams explained that the paper got complaints from Abbott's friends and manager about the grim picture, which was a photo illustration based on file images of Abbott. While apologizing, Williams defiantly wrote that he would not have done things differently given another chance, as the paper's intent was to humanize the loss and "help the mass of Dallas Observer readers feel something of their loss and grief." ...

If his scathing portrayals of gun enthusiasts and President Bush are any indication of what Michael Moore is capable of, pharmaceutical companies have good reason to be telling employees to watch their backs. According to the Los Angeles Times, at least six drug companies have distributed internal memos to their employees warning them of Moore's potential presence outside their buildings as he does research for his new project, tentatively titled "Sicko." "We ran a story in our online newspaper saying Michael Moore is embarking on a documentary — and if you see a scruffy guy in a baseball cap, you'll know who it is," Pfizer spokesperson Stephen Lederer told the newspaper. The film, tentatively scheduled for release in the first half of 2006, will be an investigation into the health-care industry. ... Every red-blooded heterosexual American male has dreamed of partying at the Playboy Mansion at one time or another. And for a few lucky artists, that dream is about to come true. On January 11, Koch Records will release Playboy: The Mansion, a 12-track companion to the video game of the same name. The disc features contributions from Armand Van Helden and Felix Da Housecat, while the video game — which allows players to build their own Playboy Mansion — is packed with songs (and in-game appearances) by artists like Sum 41's Deryck Whibley and Elefant's Diego Garcia. ...

Miri Ben-Ari, who played violin on albums by Kanye West, Twista, Trick Daddy, Janet Jackson and Wyclef Jean, will release her next solo album on March 22. David Banner, Anthony Hamilton and Scarface are featured in the video for the first single, "Sunshine to the Rain." ... Just because she was serving time for drunk driving doesn't mean Diana Ross shouldn't be treated like the diva she is. At least that's what Police Chief James Walters thought when he allowed the former Supremes singer to have a cell phone and food delivery in her jail cell, and let her go home in the middle of her two-day sentence in Greenwich, Connecticut, according to a report given to the Greenwich Time. The singer had been arrested on December 30, 2002, in Arizona and pleaded no contest in February of this year. Walters reportedly admitted to making several "poor decisions" while handling Ross' incarceration. ...

Incubus bassist Ben Kenney is keeping busy while his band is between touring and recording a new album. He's just completed a solo record titled 26, which is available through his Web site (www.BenKenney.com), and he's lined up a few live shows with his side project, the Division Group, which features Incubus turntablist DJ Kilmore. The Division Group will play the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles on January 5, the Independent in San Francisco on January 7 and the Knitting Factory in New York on January 16. ... Icelandic avant-rockers Sigur Ros are putting the finishing touches on their fourth studio album. According to a post on the band's Web site, "the foundations for all the album's songs have now been recorded and the boys are adding layers to the songs." Like its previous records, the as-yet-untitled album is being recorded at the band's converted swimming pool/recording studio, and features contributions from all-girl Icelandic string quartet Amina. The record is tentatively scheduled for a May release. ...

12.23.2004

Looks like 50 Cent is at it again. The G-Unit honcho was on Funkmaster Flex's radio show in New York on Wednesday night, taking aim at Ja Rule, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, Nas and Kelis. 50 said he has a track titled "Piggyback" that addresses his beefs with all of the aforementioned artists, adding that he took particular offense to Fat Joe and Jadakiss' support of Ja Rule on the hit single "New York." "They co-signed that one," said 50. "Even people who were on the outskirts, like, 'Nah, I don't want no part of it' and 'Y'all need to just chill' — they have cameos [in the video,] saying, 'I'm from New York!' " He also accused Nas of making anti-G-Unit statements at his free show in New York's Central Park this summer. There's no word on whether the song will be on his forthcoming St. Valentine's Day Massacre, due March 8. ...

Meanwhile, reports are surfacing that 50 gave a deposition in September with regard to a $21 million suit filed in November 2003 against the rapper, Interscope Records and Shady/Aftermath Records by a New York Post photographer who claims the rapper's bodyguards assaulted him. James Alcorn says the men accompanying 50 assaulted him outside a store in Manhattan, causing "severe and serious injuries." According to Alcorn's attorney, the case is close to being put on the court calendar and should be given a trial date for early 2005. ... Q-Tip, D12's Kon Artis and Rockwilder are among the hip-hop producers who have created original 30-second ringtones for BlingTones, which is calling itself the first wireless record label. Salaam Remi (Nas) and Hi-Tek (Talib Kweli) are also signed on with BlingTones, and the company is talking with comedians about creating humorous ringtones. ...

Mudvayne have announced a U.S. club tour in support of their upcoming album, Lost and Found. The trek will kick off in Sacramento, California, on January 29 and continue through cities including Detroit, Cleveland, Boston and Philadelphia before concluding on February 17 when they play New York's legendary CBGB's. ... Three years after they released Discovery, French electronic duo Daft Punk will return with Human After All. The group's third album is due March 21 internationally, with a domestic due date expected later. ... New York rockers Ivy will release their next album, the 10-track In the Clear, on March 1. Collaborators on the album include A Perfect Circle/ former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and Girls Against Boys' Scott McCloud. The album was mixed by Steve Osborne, who has worked previously with New Order and Happy Mondays. ...

• Michael Moore
• Scarface
• Incubus
• Diana Ross
• Sum 41

Britney Spears will appear at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards, which are taping August 8 in Universal City, California, and will air August 11 on FOX. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are hosting the show, which will also feature appearances by Jennifer Garner, Jimmy Fallon, Mischa Barton, Christina Applegate, Anne Hathaway, Wilmer Valderrama, Chad Michael Murray, Tyra Banks and Shawn and Marlon Wayans. Teens can vote for the awards at www.teenpeople.com/teenchoice. ... Britney's little sister, Jamie Lynn, is starring in a new live-action comedy series on Nickelodeon called "Zoey 101," in which she'll play a 13-year-old attending a newly coed beachside boarding school. In the premiere episode, Jamie Lynn's character, Zoey Brooks, aims to make the basketball team, much to the chagrin of the boys already on the team. The show, shot on location in Malibu, California, will air on Sundays starting in early 2005. ...

Filmmaker Michael Moore's controversial "Fahrenheit 9/11," whose box-office receipts total more than $100 million, will be screened in the overwhelmingly pro-Bush Crawford, Texas, home of the president's vacation ranch. Via his Web site, Moore extended an invitation for Bush to join the expected 1,000 people at the screening. "The premiere will give us a chance to serve up some chips, salsa and a whole lot of truth," Moore wrote. "And let's face it, you've got some of the funniest lines in the film." ... Rapper Loon will appear in court on September 8 for a preliminary hearing on his charge of one count of assault with a deadly weapon. The MC missed a June 3 preliminary hearing at Beverly Hills Superior Court and a bench warrant was issued for June 30. Loon and co-defendant William Reyes turned themselves in that day. ...

Katy Rose is using the Chicks With Attitude Tour with Liz Phair and the Cardigans to promote her new single, "I Like." "It's a very powerful song," Rose said. "We usually open the show with it. It's basically saying that maybe I could like myself one day and maybe I could like you one day, because anything can happen, really." ... Rooney are returning to the studio next month with Keith Forsey, who produced the band's self-titled debut, to record the follow-up. In the meantime, the band has released separate exclusive live tracks to Napster and Rhapsody! and is encouraging radio stations to play "Pop Stars," although it will not be an official single. "It's about the candy-coated glossy poppy music," singer Robert Carmine said. "It was written like three or four years ago at the peak of all that Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys [stuff]." ...

Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic's first book, "Of Grunge & Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy!," will hit bookshelves on September 15. One part memoir, one part political platform, Novoselic tells the story of his musical and political coming-of-age. ... OK Go are giving bands the OK to go political. Lead singer Damian Kulash has written a how-to guide for bands interested in becoming politically active. His "How Your Band Can Fire Bush," a manifesto/resource guide, can be found at www.okgo.net, and provides tools for bands to talk to their fans and the press about politics. For your Bush-bashing convenience, Kulash has also included a two-page fact sheet of what President Bush has and has not accomplished while in office. ...

The Polyphonic Spree's two-week tour to promote the release of their second album, Together We're Heavy, will begin August 13 in Chicago. Seven East Coast dates stand between the kickoff and the trek's finale, August 25 in New York. ... Sorry, ladies — Reel Big Fish frontman Aaron Barrett has married his girlfriend of more than two years, Molly Terrence. The couple were wed during an impromptu ceremony in Las Vegas on July 21, in a ceremony that included Barrett's fellow bandmates and some friends. Reel Big Fish had been in town for a show at the House of Blues, and finish up their tour this week before they head off to Hawaii for another wedding — that of their bassist, Matt Wong. ... Following their departure from Geffen Records in March, Cold have inked a deal with Atlantic Records and have completed eight songs for their follow-up to 2003's Year of the Spider. Producer Dave Fortman is expected to join the band when Cold hit a Massachusetts studio to record the new material. ...

7.26.2004

First-time voters are up for grabs in the upcoming presidential election, according to a poll conducted by Pace University on behalf of Rock the Vote. The poll reveals that 33 percent of those who have registered to vote since the 2000 election consider themselves Republicans while 35 percent consider themselves Democrats. Half of these new voters say that they would vote for John Kerry, while 40 percent say they would vote for George W. Bush. ...

Missy Elliott lent a hand to Christina Aguilera as she recorded her remake of yet another disco classic, Rose Royce's "Car Wash," for the upcoming movie "Shark Tale," which hits theaters October 1. The dynamic duo's joint is joined by tracks from Ziggy Marley and Sean Paul; Mary J. Blige, and Will Smith. The soundtrack is due September 27. ...

U2 may consider rush-releasing their upcoming album, tentatively titled Vertigo, on Apple iTunes. In an interview with the U.K.'s The Daily Telegraph, Bono said that if the music stolen recently during a photo shoot appears on the Internet, they would "release it immediately as a legal download on iTunes, and get hard copies into the shops by the end of the month." The album was otherwise slated for a fall release. U2's label, Interscope, did not have a comment at press time. ... One of LL Cool J's trademarks is his affinity for hats, so it's only right that after 20 years in the game he now gets to design his own. New Era has announced that Cool J has just signed on for its 59Fiftyat50 celebrity campaign, where such artists as Spike Lee, Cam'ron and Fabolous get to conceptualize their own fitted ball caps. MTV's La La and DJ Green Lantern will also design hats for the company. ...

Dame Dash has the money, now he's got the time, too. The Roc-A-Fella boss is launching a collection of luxury watches called Tiret New York. Prices for the bejeweled timepieces will range from $18,000 to $175,000. ... Dry your eyes, Phishheads. Your hearts may be broken at the news of Phish's retirement and you may not be able to make their final shows in Vermont, but there's still hope. The Coventry festival, August 14-15, can be heard live on XM Satellite radio and seen in select Regal, Edwards and United Artists movie theaters. ...

In an encore of his Winter Music Conference performance in Miami this past March, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs will reteam with dance DJs Erick Morillo and Steve Lawler for a one-off show in Pacha, Ibiza, off the coast of Spain on August 9. "The show we did together in Miami at the Winter Music Conference was absolutely jaw-dropping," Morillo said. "I am sure this will be another one for the record books." ... The legacy of the Ramones lives on forever in the new documentary "End of the Century." Following its premiere at New York's Tribeca Film Festival in May, the film will screen at a half dozen theaters, including New York's Angelika Film Center and the Landmark Theatres in Berkeley, California; San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, in August and September, before showing in an expected 22 cities in October. For dates and locations visit the band's official site, www.ramones.com. ...

Guitarist Scott Ian said on his Web site that Anthrax's upcoming greatest-hits album is scheduled for release November 23. Anthrax fans chose which tracks would be re-recorded for the album. Favorites including "Among the Living," "Caught in a Mosh" and "Belly of the Beast" are expected to make the final cut. ... Ministry's Evil Doer North America Tour will kick off in Las Vegas on September 7. The band will be joined on the road by guests My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. There will be more featured guest artists announced throughout the tour and more dates added weekly. The tour will run through November 22. ...

All City, the second album from female rap trio Northern State, is slated to drop August 17. For the follow-up to 2002's Dying in Stereo, the New York group collaborated with hip-hop heavy-hitters the High & Mighty and the tightie-whitie-wearing Har Mar Superstar. The album will be prefaced by the first single, "Girl for All Seasons." ... Erudite singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen will release his eleventh studio album, Dear Heather, on September 28. His first album of new material since 2001's Ten New Songs includes 12 new compositions and one live track, a cover of the country-western standard "Tennessee Waltz." ...

• Britney Spears
• Loon
• Michael Moore
• Rooney
• Katy Rose