L.A. Times - Music News

Beatles catalog is temporarily banned from music website BlueBeat

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Capitol Records this week filed a suit against BlueBeat, which says that songs produced by digital regeneration are akin to songs performed by cover bands and do not run afoul of copyright law.

A federal court in Los Angeles this week issued a temporary restraining order against a music website that recently had been offering the entire Beatles catalog for downloading at 25 cents per song. The Santa Cruz-based BlueBeat earlier in the week was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit by EMI's Capitol Records, the group's U.S. label.

Outrage over wall blocking free U2 Berlin concert?

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Fans hoping to catch a glimpse Thursday of U2's free concert celebrating 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall will have to "scale these city walls" after organizers threw up a barrier to block the view for those without tickets.

The Pixies get in touch with their B-sides

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The seminal band kicks off a U.S. tour commemorating the 20th anniversary of its 1989 college-rock classic 'Doolittle' at the Palladium.

Wednesday night at the Hollywood Palladium, in the first of three concerts there, the Pixies kicked off a U.S. tour commemorating the 20th anniversary of their 1989 college-rock classic "Doolittle." So what did the band open with? A string of obscure B-sides that even bassist Kim Deal admitted she had trouble remembering.

No Doubt sues Activision over use in Band Hero game

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The rock group says the Santa Monica video game maker went far beyond agreed-upon uses of members' likenesses in Band Hero, including manipulating them to perform songs popularized by other acts.

Rock band No Doubt has filed a real-world lawsuit over its virtual role in the just-released Band Hero edition of the Guitar Hero video game series, contending that the game has "transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act," singing dozens of songs the group neither wrote, popularized nor approved for use in the game.

Here comes your man, Frank Black

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Pixies frontman ponders life, success and his band's reunion as the group prepares a 'Doolittle'-themed trio of shows at the Hollywood Palladium.

The man they called Black Francis sipped his morning coffee, munched on chopped fruit and chuckled at the strange odyssey of this thing called life. In the past, the singer for the Pixies was famous for sounding crazed, possessed or sinister onstage, but at this particular breakfast moment he seemed positively . . . sunny .

Backtracking: 'Nirvana Live at Reading'

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Kurt Cobain's ferocious performance at the 1992 Reading Festival is given full light on a new DVD.

Nirvana's performance at England's Reading Festival in summer 1992 is widely viewed as the most celebrated set in the spectacular band's brief history. Now, it's finally available on a DVD that captures Kurt Cobain at his most provocative and intense.

Live: Phish at Empire Polo Club in Indio

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The band's three-day Halloween weekend blowout leaves its loyal legion of fans heated up and happy.

Besides the Rolling Stones, U2 and Bruce Springsteen, it's hard to think of many rock acts that could crowd the Empire Polo Club in Indio for a three-day festival featuring no supporting acts or other live entertainment.

The viola sings out

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Reviews of recordings by Kim Kashkashian, Yuri Bashmet, David Aaron Carpenter, Eliesha Nelson and others.

Google "viola joke" and you'll be rewarded with thousands, an afternoon's worth of hilarity at the expense of one of the most expressive sound producing machines ever conjured up.

Dam-Funk: In with the new, out with the old

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The DJ and recording artist, whose 'Toeachizown' is his debut album, plans to use modern recording software in the future.

Sitting in the makeshift studio in the garage behind his Leimert Park home, Dam-Funk says he doesn't know who dubbed him "the Ambassador of Boogie Funk," but he wants to be clear that he didn't give himself that title. "Boogie is fun, but I don't want to be lumped into a hole," he says. "I'm not going to let anybody peg me."

Review: 'Michael Jackson's This Is It'

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The concert film beautifully shows what might have been.

There's a sweet personal exchange near the end of "Michael Jackson's This Is It," the new concert film assembled from footage of the rehearsals for the London performances nullified by his death in June. Jackson is working out a dance sequence with Kenny Ortega, the director of the ill-fated concerts and of this documentary. Ortega lovingly mimics Jackson, overplaying his signature big hand gestures, and the superstar laughs.