MUSICBLOGR – Music Video Blog

Pete Wentz is reportedly being sued by a guy who claims the Fall Out Boy beat him down for no reason last year.

 

The man filing suit, Andy Kallas, claims he was watching the boys perform at Schubas Tavern in Chicago when Wentz attacked, along with about 10 other people, according to TMZ. (LOL … “When Wentz Attacks” would be a hilar TV show, no?)

Anyway, shortly after it happened, Pete reportedly issued a statement alleging it was in self-defense because Kallas grabbed him. Reported witnesses who were at the show say that Kallas was being downright obnoxious during the show, “calling Pete a sellout, asking him ‘Where’s [fiancée] Ashlee [Simpson]?’ and making fun of his hoodie,” according to TMZ.

ON NOEZ NOT THE HOODIE! THEMS FIGHTIN’ WORDS!

“This lawsuit is entirely without merit and will be vigorously
defended,” Wentz told MTV News. “This is another in a long line of
frivolous lawsuits that are filed against celebrities each year from
individuals seeking a quick payoff when there is absolutely no
justification for the claim.”

This obviously communicates that cutting off your own finger and putting it in your chili = outdated way to get cash money. Suing rockstars = HIP.

Those unlucky (or lucky, depending on your tolerance for a band that made an album with their grandma) enough to miss the Furnaces on tour will have a couple of opportunities to remedy that this summer.

Radiohead made music history last year when they offered their new album, In Rainbows, online for — whatever you wanted to pay! Singer Thom Yorke recently revealed that fans shouldn’t expect a similar scheme in the future.

“I think it was a one-off response to a particular situation,” Yorke told Billboard. “It was a one-off in terms of a story. It was one of those things where we were in the position of everyone asking us what we were going to do. I don’t think it would have the same significance now anyway, if we chose to give something away again. It was a moment in time.”

The trend of giving away free music has caught on to other big names including Nine Inch Nails, Prince and even Coldplay.

Radiohead have teamed up with MTV through their EXIT (end exploitation and trafficking) campaign to create a  video for the song “All I Need” from In Rainbows. The serious video, which will premiere on all MTV outlets Thursday, deals with major social issues, including child slavery, enforced servitude and sex trafficking.

Yorke had much to say to Billboard about the video and MTV’s involvement:

“All power to MTV for taking this on because it’s obviously going to be difficult for them in terms of the advertisers. If you talk about slave labour, then the issue of cheap goods from the East is all about that. With the ['All I Need'] video their lawyers had to beg to make sure there wasn’t a single white [sneaker] with a logo on it because the implication would be a little too close. But the implication is still there. If [MTV] are able to break the taboo of enslavement and put it onto the agenda, then it’s a good thing. If they get people to think in terms of the profits we make in the West because of cheap labor, then that’s a good thing.”

Do you think Radiohead’s new video will fit well with the MTV audience? Discuss in the comments below!

By the indie-rock timetable, summer officially began at Coachella this weekend. And with the announcement of the Monolith Festival, we know it’ll last at least until mid-September. Held at Red Rocks Park and Ampitheatre on September 13-14, Monolith will draw on Vampire Weekend, Silversun Pickups, Band of Horses and more to round out its lineup.

This will be the second year for Monolith, after a succesful run last year with headliners The Flaming Lips and The Decemberists. Red Rocks is famous for its outdoor stages, which are sunken into the breathtaking Colorado Mountains. Inevitably, the music and setting will draw comparisons to another mountain festival this summer — Pemberton.

Unlike most major festivals this summer that mix legends and newbies, Monolith is relying almost exclusively on newer bands for its roster, such as TV on the Radio, Justice, The Airborne Toxic Event, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Tokyo Police Club.

The concert is co-produced by Monolith founders Matt Fecher and Josh Baker, and AEG Live. For more info, check out the festival’s Web site. Tickets go on sale Friday through Ticketmaster.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on these pics of Vampire Weekend and Sharon Jones at Coachella — click on the images above and below to check out the full galleries.

-Soikatron

Boris’ unique brand of experimental doom rock has risen to new heights with Smile, their 14th full-length record. Matching chaos with pop sensibilities, the Japanese musicians seem willing to push every boundary when it comes to their music.

Smile opens with a decidedly odd track: “Flower, Sun, Rain,” a cover from Japan’s super rock band Pyg. It’s a country-twinged folk-rock song and hardly as heavy as their previous efforts. But it’s a great summary of how weird this record is and how well Boris pull it all off.

Known for creating epic, heavy, and lyric-less doom tracks, Smile finds the band courting with psychedelic pop melodies and contrasting this against hyper-kinetic rock, metal, and even a bit of thrash.

“Buzz” sounds a bit more like traditional Boris, with its distorted punk riffs and trippy guitar freakouts during the final bridge. “Shoot!” finds the band at their fastest and most thrash, as the song turns into a somber, reverb-filled rock jam near the end.

“Next Saturn” is immense and reminds me of the shoegaze-turned-chaos styles of The Smashing Pumpkins. Where Boris transcends the Pumpkins, though, is their ability to meld these disparate styles together without any bland results.

The album closes with the mesmerizing combo of “Untitled” and “You Were Holding an Umbrella.” Perhaps the best songs of the band’s entire catalog, they showcase what this band does best: craft larger-than-life rock songs that combine so many genres and create songs that are so distinctly their own.

The electro-rockers crossed the pond for Coachella on Sunday. Look at these pics.

Miley Cyrus
is all apologies for the scandalous pics of her that have been floating
around online recently and the ones that will be in the coming days,
weeks and, likely, months.

Scandalous pictures of the girl otherwise known as Hannah Montana
have been circulating online, and the series has cultminated in a batch
of overly revealing photos to be featured in the next issue of Vanity Fair.

But
on Sunda, Cryus backtracked and issued the following statement: “My
goal in my music and my acting is always to make people happy. For Vanity Fair,
I was so honored and thrilled to work with [photographer] Annie
[Leibovitz]. I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be
‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I
feel so embarrassed.”

The Vanity Fair ish hits stands May 6.

As
for those other recently circulated pics, Cyrus said: “The pictures of
me on the Internet were silly, inappropriate shots. I appreciate all
the support of my fans, and hope they understand that along the way I
am going to make mistakes and I am not perfect. I never intended for
any of this to happen and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed
anyone.

“Most of all, I have let myself down,” she added. “I will
learn from my mistakes and trust my support team. My family and my
faith will guide me through my life’s journey.”

Flogging Molly punked up this year’s Coachella festival with an intense and lively performance Saturday night. Check out images of the show right here.