In 1999, a company named Alexander Global promotions distributed a Willie Mays Bobblehead as part of a San Francisco Giants promotion. In 2002, the company was making 1.2 million bobbleheads a day and their client list included the majority of professional baseball, basketball and football teams. It’s now 2007 and the bobblehead craze still isn’t slowing down. In fact, new groups outside of professional sports have continue to see their faces adorned on these wobbly creatures. Next up - Hip Hop Artists.
In coming months, you could be seeing the likes of Kanye West, Ludacris, 50 Cent, Eminem, Fat Joe and Little Wayne bobbleheads thanks to a joint effort by Grapevine Star Entertainment and Hip Hop Properties (TM). The two have formed a new brand, Hip Hop Bobbleheads (TM), which will work with rap and hip hop labels to release brand new bobbleheads of celebrity artists.
The hip hop genre has quickly grown into a cultural phenomenon and multi-billion dollar industry. The fusion with bobbleheads is a seemingly obvious merchandising effort that will likely set registers on fire.
But these new bobbleheads will have a new twist… they’ll shake at both the head and the waist, allowing them to replicate dance moves seen in clubs across America. Not only do they bobble… they bobble. The first round of characters will be the Original Hip Hop Bobbleheads, modeled after industry icons and legends such as Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z and Russell Simmons. They’ll be available in various sizes and colors and the limited availability is sure to make them a red hot commodity. They’ll also be taking custom orders.
Currently on their website (hiphopbobbleheads.com) they offer only a generic hip hop bobblehead, BBoy style. However, a headline does mention “custom designs available” and states that “music industry, celebrities and sports” are also offered. These will likely be offered through the various record companies working with Grapevine and although you can’t get them directly through the company, you should definitely keep your eyes out for the bobblin and wobblin Hip Hop Bobbleheads to be flooding the streets near you.
February 19th, 2007
Nine Inch Nails have made available 2 new songs for listen, not download, on their MySpace page. ‘Survivalism’ and ‘My Violent Heart’ are two tracks that will be on their new album.
The new album entitled ‘Year Zero’ will be available on April 6th in the UK and April 17 in the US.
The 17 track titles for ‘Year Zero’ can be seen here, on the NIN site.
February 19th, 2007
Smashing Pumpkins have scheduled the release of their new album ‘Zeitgeist’ for July 7, 2007. It is the band’s first album since 2000’s ‘Machina/The Machines Of God’.
The news came off the band’s myspace page in early February.
So far, the only original members officially working on ‘Zeitgeist’ are vocalist Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Neither James Iha ro D’arcy Wretzky have announced whether they will be a part of the new album.
The Pumpkins have also announced a tour, starting in June. Tour dates can be seen on the smashing pumpkins website.
February 18th, 2007
Before reading further, you should know
1. Wolfmother is extremely young (everyone is around 19 years old).
2. The band only consists of 3 members.
While some bands can pull off great things with only three members, Wolfmother falls short of creating a solid, concrete album. The main problem is that it all sounds the same. They come through with a quality sound (catchy too) in each song, but there is just not enough variation, in every aspect of the songs.
My biggest complaint is that the rhyme scheme is almost identical throughout the entire cd - after a few songs, you feel like you have been listening to the same thing over and over. While listening, you can pick out several influences; everything from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Queens of the Stone Age. While resembling other bands, they definitely have their own unique sound - if you heard Wolfmother on the radio, you would know it instantly.
Unlike almost all other bands, their album art is representative in their music, and should be noted. A lot of their songs are story-like and give off a “mystic†sense.
I would not recommend buying this album, but just bits of it (I’ve never given this advice before..)
If you download these songs, you will probably be compelled to buy the entire CD but i warn you: you will probably be disappointed. Since there is so much repetition you couldn’t even believe, here are the songs you should buy individually (iTunes, here we come):
1. Joker and the Thief
Stands out by far. Great style, and creative: just a flat out awesome song.
2. Mind’s Eye
A slower song, but arguably the most musically creative/inventive.
3. Dimension
This is a good example of the sound that gets repeated. Good but not great.
4. Colossal
Quality old-fashion hard rock. Yeeeeaaahhh.
The Verdict: B-
February 16th, 2007
Chris Cornell announced publicly that he is releasing a new solo album May 1st (entitled Carry On), and therefore ending his career with Audioslave. “Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave,†Cornell said. “I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors.â€
The only question now is what are their future endeavors? Since Chris Cornell was a crucial member of Audioslave, the ex-Rage trio needs to find a new singer. We now know Chris Cornell will probably go solo for a while, until he finds another band (he stated that a Soundgarden reunion was highly doubtful). As for the other three, who knows. Rage Against the Machine is playing at Coachella later this year, and maybe, oh maybe they’ll reunite(just thinking about it is satisfying.)
So who’s going to step up to be the new singer?
February 16th, 2007
Tool, the White Stripes, and Widespread Panic will join the reunited Police at the 2007 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival to be held June 14-17 in Manchester, Tenn. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon through BonnarooTickets.com.
Past Bonnaroo festivals have been well received, featuring artists such as Dave Matthews Band and Cypress Hill. This year, it seems to be more unique than ever, with over 75 bands scheduled to play over four days. For six years, Bonnaroo has brought together some of the best performers in rock and roll, along with dozens of artists in complementary styles such as jazz, Americana, hip-hop, electronica, and just about any contemporary music you can think of. The multi-stage festival is held on a beautiful 700-acre farm in Coffee County, Tennesee, near Manchester.
Playing at Bonnaroo will be Wilco, the Nightwatchman (Tom Morello’s solo project), the Flaming Lips, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Manu Chao, String Cheese Incident, Franz Ferdinand, the Roots, Kings Of Leon, the Black Keys, Wolfmother, Bob Weir & Ratdog, Ziggy Marley, the Decemberists, Spoon, the Hold Steady, Feist, Tortoise, Cold War Kids, the National, Annuals and Apollo Sunshine, DJ Shadow, Sasha & Digweed, Hot Chip, Girl Talk, Damien Rice, Dierks Bentley, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Regina Spektor, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Keller Williams, Fountains of Wayne, Hot Tuna, STS9, Galactic, North Mississippi Allstars, Ralph Stanley, Richard Thompson, Mavis Staples, T-Bone Burnett, Brazilian Girls, the Slip, and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
February 13th, 2007
Rage Against the Machine, after a seven year absence, is finally back for one more show, headlining at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Coachella ‘07 will be a 3-day event on April 27-29 in Indio, California. Rage Against The Machine co-headlined the first Coachella with Tool in 1999. The 2007 festival also features bands Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bjork, Willie Nelson, the Roots, and Arctic Monkeys. Tickets are on sale now on ticketmaster.
The band consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk. Rage Against the Machine’s original break-up was because of creative differences between de la Rocha and his bandmates. After Rage Against the Machine’s breakup, the band formed Audioslave by replacing Zack de la Rocha with ex-Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell. Audioslave’s latest album Revelations was released September 5. 2006, but there are rumors that it will be their last.
The bigger acts of the show will be Arcade Fire, Interpol, Manu Chao, the Decemberists, Ghostface Killah, Fountains of Wayne, Sonic Youth, Crowded House, Air, Tiësto, Kings of Leon, Jarvis Cocker, the Good, the Bad and the Queen, Hot Chip, El-P, Peeping Tom, the Happy Mondays, Travis, Placebo, Kaiser Chiefs, Faithless and LCD Soundsystem.
Also playing will be DJ Shadow, Satellite Party, Stephen Marley featuring Jr. Gong, Konono No. 1, Nickel Creek, the Black Keys, the New Pornographers, Rufus Wainwright, the Rapture, !!!, Richie Hawtin, Explosions In The Sky, Junior Boys, Sparklehorse, Soulwax, the Kooks, Felix Da Housecat, Blonde Redhead, Damien Rice, Lupe Fiasco, Jose Gonzales, Brazilian Girls, Regina Spektor, Ozomatli, Peaches, Cornelius, We Are Scientists, Amy Winehouse, the Comedians of Comedy, Spank Rock, Tapes ‘n Tapes, the Klaxons, Girl Talk, CSS, the Coup, Against Me, Teddybears, Andrew Bird and Peter, Bjorn, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Lily Allen, Roky Erickson, Paul Van Dyk, Gotan Project, and Silversun Pickups.
Simply because of Rage Against the Machine, the upcoming Coachella Music Festival should mark one of the best concerts of 2007. Buy your tickets now, because they are goin’ fast!!
January 22nd, 2007
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