Vinyl Notes

Seems like everyone is being sued these days. Folks are litigious about getting there money for song samples, undelivered books and dilution of the value of their names.

Courtney Love was sued earlier this week, for breaking an oral agreement with management firm, London Co. The firm claims that Love owes them 5% of her reported $19.5 million profits from the sale of Love’s portion of the Nirvana catalogue.

Lil Wayne may have had three weeks as king of the Billboard but now he’s being sued for copyright infringement. According to Rolling Stone, music publisher, Abkco filed suit against Wayne claiming that “playing with Fire” from Tha Carter III poses unfair competition with the Rolling Stones song “Play With Fire.” If Abkco is successful, Lil Wayne might be paying them some royalties from Tha Carter III.

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As predicted, Nas’ Untitled hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week. On that very day - today - he joined protesters from Move On and Color of Change, in dissent regarding Fox’s portrayal of African Americans. Nas and Fox News have been at odds since Fox aired a story painting the rapper as a violence glorifying thug. While Nas does have some gritty songs, he has always tried to include positive messages in most of his music. The Fox News spot was pretty slanted; check it out.

Sorry folks, the video is no longer available

Well, sure add that Nas is not the worst after you’ve made it seem like he’s the spawn of Satan. Nas is a pretty savvy businessman, so there is no doubt he would choose songs appropriate for the occasion. He has plenty of songs about brotherhood, unity and love.

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Nas released his 10th studio album last week, after much controversy and anticipation. At first the LP was entitled “N**ger,” however Nas opted for a title self-titled untitled release after much criticism from the NAACP.

“Everybody is trying to stop the title…. Record stores are gonna have a problem in this day and time selling a record with that title. Who knows what’s gonna turn out and be on that title? Who knows what that title will be?” [source]

Nas did not shy from the controversy altogether,choosing an image of his bare back with whip lacerations in the shape of an “N”. He also airing several unappologetic videos including “Sly Fox” in which he lamblasts Fox Corp. for it’s biased reporting and encouraging the people to restore and rebuild the media.

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I can’t imagine what it must have felt like for Gym Class Heros frontman Travis McCoy, to be standing on stage and have an audience member hurl racial slurs at you. What I can say is that I certainly sympathize with his plight.

Gym Class Heroes lead singer Travis McCoy was arrested last night in St. Louis on one charge of third-degree assault. The punk-hop group had just finished the first song of their Warped Tour set, “Peace Sign,” when a black audience member near the front row called the New York-based singer a “fucking ignorant nigger.”

McCoy calmly asked the man, “What did you just call me?” As security was removing him from the crowd, the frontman reached down and broke his microphone over the man’s head. McCoy immediately apologized for his reaction and said it wasn’t representative of him as a person. “I’m sorry. But when someone calls you something that ignorant and that offensive, you have to bash their head in with a microphone,” said McCoy. The audience cheered as the man in question was carried away by security. Local police are not releasing the victim’s name at this time.

McCoy was subsequently arrested and released on bail for assaulting the heckler. Tisk, tisk McCoy, but I’m glad you immediately realized the error of your ways. Next time, think before you act.

Hat tip: Rolling Stone

Many, many people had high expectations for Coldplay’s most recent release, hoping that it will be bigger and better than the last. While some make appropos comparisons to U2, I like to examine Coldplay at it own merit of melody, soundscape and rhythm (even though I haven’t heard the album yet, hehe). The reviews are lukewarm to raving and buzz abounds.

Speaking of which, over the last couple of weeks the buzz about Coldplay’s latest LP has reached a deafening level climaxing with the news that Coldplay was being accused of stealing the melody for “Viva La Vida” from New York band Creeky Boards. According to numerous reports, Creeky Boards front man, Andrew Hoepfner, claims that the melody originated from his song “The Songs I Didn’t Write” and he even asserts that Coldplay’s front man, Chris Martin, was at one of his shows in October. Hoepfner, cleverly, posted a video on YouTube for us to compare the songs for ourselves. What do you think?

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Apparently Radiohead are fans of Portishead. Check out this video of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood playing “The Rip” - Portishead’s latest single from Third.

Find more videos like this on w.a.s.t.e. central

Hat tip: NME.com

Looks like Lollapalooza 2008 is on track for success this year. What with the buzz in both the blogosphere and the mainstream music news, and the announcement with some of the hottest acts in music today on the line-up; the festival is sure to be a winner. Since the line-up is probably what you’re looking for, here are some highlights:

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Nine Inch Nails is now a big time rouge band - since its contract with Interscope expired in October - with a cult following and in what many have likened to a Radiohead-esque move, has released their latest ablum Ghosts I-IV, on their official website only. Ghosts is an instrumental collection of “almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period” and Trent Reznor called it “a soundtrack for daydreams.”

While there are certainly parallels to Radiohead’s In Rainbows release, how quickly people forget that just under a year ago, NIN made a revolutionary move by making Year Zero available for streaming on their website as well as allowing fans the opportunity to “listen. Change the tempo. Add new loops. Chop up the vocals. Turn me into a woman. Replay the guitar. Anything you’d like.” Make no mistake, NIN is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of the music distribution.

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