'Satanist' Madonna Condemned

"Madonna specializes in offending religious feelings... It is possible to suspect her of being a crypto-Satanist," Marian Baranski, deputy head of the "Faith and National Tradition Defense Committee 'Pro Polonia,'" told a news conference.
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Michael Jackson's Final Concert Coming To Theaters

Sony reports: Beginning October 30th, the world will have a front-row seat for Michael Jackson's final concert, as Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment release Michael Jackson's This Is It.

This Is It is being produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and will be drawn from hundreds of hours of rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage, captured in high definition with state of the art digital sound as the late singer was preparing for his concert series in London. The film, which will also offer select sequences in 3-D, will provide a unique career retrospective and feature interviews with some of Jackson's closest friends and creative collaborators.

The announcement was made by Michael Lynton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of the studio, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, Chief Executive Officer of Sony Music Entertainment, and Rob Stringer, Chairman of Columbia/Epic Label Group, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. The companies serve as the principal entertainment divisions of Sony Corporation. - more on this story

Mariah Carey Album Delayed Again

Billboard reports: Originally scheduled for an August 25th release date and then September 15th, Mariah Carey's upcoming 12th studio album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," has been delayed yet again. "Memoirs" will now arrive two weeks later on September 29th.

The singer has also pulled out of a string of appearances surrounding the album's release, including "VH1 Storytellers," the "Today" Show concert series, 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and her Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony. [Miley Cyrus replaces her on the Today Show]

This afternoon, Carey's website was updated with this message: "Mariah is putting the finishing touches on her newest album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," and we have shifted all of our TV and promo appearances to coincide with the new release date of September 29th. We can't wait for the fans to hear the new album!!" - more on this story

Black Eyed Peas, Jason Mraz Tie Chart Records

Reuters reports: The Black Eyed Peas have tied a Hot 100 singles chart record set five years ago by Usher, logging a 19th consecutive week at No. 1 on Wednesday.

The hip-hop band led the field with "I Gotta Feeling," whose seven-week reign followed a 12-week run by "Boom Boom Pow." Both tunes come from its recent No. 1 album "The E.N.D."

Meanwhile, singer/songwriter Jason Mraz also tied a record: The longest Hot 100 chart run. His tune "I'm Yours" jumped 12 places to No. 23 in its 69th week, tying LeAnn Rimes' 1997 hit "How Do I Live." - more on this story

Queen Latifah Returning With New Album

PR reports: Queen Latifah is releasing her new album Persona on August 25, 2009. With her undeniable talent, this album brings together the two worlds of Hip Hop and Pop creating a new sound for the Queen. Persona is executive produced by Cool and Dre and features a song produced by renowned music producer and artist Pharrell Williams.

Queen Latifah: musician; television and film actress; a label president; an author and entrepreneur. Blessed with style and talent, Queen Latifah has blossomed into a one-woman entertainment conglomerate. Heralded by the industry as a force to be reckoned with, Latifah has quite simply done it all and shows no sign of slowing down.

Queen Latifah is one of music's most well respected singers and rappers. From her ground breaking 1989 debut All Hail the Queen, which set the visual and contextual standard for female rappers, to her bold foray into R&B, Latifah continues to define what a woman in the music industry should be. She has earned four Grammy nominations as well as a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance in 1994. - more on this story

The Bled on The Rise

ESM reports: Rise Records is beyond excited to announce the signing of The Bled. The band is currently in their home state of Arizona recording their new album which will be released in early 2010.

The Bled has been a fixture in the scene for years and has no plans of slowing down. Probably one of the most respected bands around, The Bled continue to push the envelope with their song writing.

With this new album, the band is going back to their roots. Having a sound reminiscent of their debut album Pass the Flask, but with a modern twist and far superior musicianship. Look for them on tour with Alesana in Sept/Oct. - more on this story

Idol Alums Brooke White and Michael Johns Team Up

MSO reports: On the heels of the release of her acclaimed debut full-length album High Hopes & Heartbreak, singer/songwriter/musician Brooke White has announced her first-ever nationwide tour. She will team-up with fellow "American Idol" alum Michael Johns for a co-headlining run beginning September 17 in Pomona, CA.

High Hopes & Heartbreak--released July 21 via June Baby Records, a new indie label formed by Brooke, Randy Jackson and Carl Stubner (head of Sanctuary Artist Management)—debuted as an iTunes pre-release at #47 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, #7 on the Independent Albums chart and #6 on the Digital albums chart. The disc has initially sold over 20,000 copies and spawned 130,000 in single sales.

"I don't have any barriers," explains Brooke of the songwriting process on her first full-length since she was a Top 5 finalist on "American Idol" in 2008. "It's important I remain unguarded, open and vulnerable as an artist; it's the only way I know how to be." - more on this story

Liam Finn Touring With Wilco

PR reports: Liam Finn and his perpetual musical muse Eliza-Jane Barnes will tour with Wilco this fall on a ten show tour this October, beginning 10/1 in Iowa City, IA. The tour immediately follows the September 1st release of the pair's new EP Champagne in Seashells.

After forming a friendship with Jeff Tweedy and John Stirratt during the recording of the 7 Worlds Collide project at Finn's father's studio in New Zealand early this year, Wilco has decided to bring the young kiwi on the road back in the United States during an October tour of the Midwest.

Finn picks up where he left off with his debut I'll Be Lighting reinvigorating his studio-as- laboratory DIY ethos for Champagne in Seashells, again recording and producing all tracks himself. - more on this story

Wax Tailor Hitting The Road

PR reports: Wax Tailor's first album "Tales of the Forgotten Melodies" drew comparisons to the likes of RJD2, Portishead and DJ Shadow, while his second "Hope & Sorrow" (80,000 sold worldwide) landed him a nomination at the prestigious Victoires de la Musique, as well as the US Indie Awards. France's Wax Tailor is currently coming off a year which saw him tour relentlessly (over 200 concerts) and score the title track for the movie "Paris" by Cedric Klapisch.

Fueled by the energy of relentless touring he has written his third and best album to date "In the Mood for Life". Written in both Paris and New York City, this necromancer of forgotten melodies is able to blend Soul, Funk, Hip-Hop, and 60's Pop Music into a 52 minute journey. You can join in on his journey when he comes to the US for 12 live dates around the country this October

Wax Tailor masters the art of reinventing oneself, and although his signature sound is immediately identifiable, a style oft compared to melancholic melodies reminiscent of The Cocteau Twins blended with a delicate balance of Hip-Hop seldom seen these days, this new album establishes a true evolution both in terms of production and song writing. String instruments, which were once just extras, now assume a more prominent role ("Dry Your Eyes"," Go Without Me"), and where genres once crossed path from one track to another, they now collide within a track ("This Train", "Fireflies"). The resulting sound is denser, more organic and the song writing more finely chiseled. - more on this story

Wynonna Judd Takes Over ABC

PR reports: Wynonna Judd has found a home on ABC in August! ABC.com will feature Wynonna Judd in support of their primetime special, "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night To Rock".

ABC.com is showcasing the country music superstar in a short-form series captured in Nashville during the CMA Music Festival, giving a behind-the-scenes look from the fan's perspective.

Wynonna's 4-part web series "I'm With Wy" launches Thursday August 20th. Lisa Graystone from Morro Bay, CA won the VIP fan experience of a lifetime. Upon her arrival in Nashville, Wy's official fan videographer was armed with a Flip cam and got the chance to document Wy's on and 'off-camera' antics during the 2009 CMA Music Festival. - more on this story

V V Brown Debut Hyped

Hype reports: Trailing glowing reviews, unforgettable original songs and fresh, pulsating retro-flavored rhythms behind her every live and televised appearance in her U.K. home base, British singer-songwriter V V Brown is scheduled to release her exuberantly creative debut album, Travelling Like The Light, on Capitol Records in January, 2010.

Instantly greeted by fans and cognoscenti as a new artist, composer and self-producer of true substance, effortless charisma and delicious musicianly caprice, Brown is busily playing summertime festivals, promoting the recent European release of the album and posting a series of videos, vlogs and acoustic performances online that confirm the most elaborate praises of the press, which greeted her album as "a perfect pop cocktail" (The Sun) and "Spector-ish pop as slick as her black pompadour, and her vocal shines through every track" (Elle).

The 25-year-old Brown, born in Northampton, England and based in London, wrote her first melody on the piano at age 5, with training in church, weekend jazz and classical piano lessons, and, of course, in her parents' record collection, which included Ruth Brown, The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Queen and Elvis Presley. Accordingly, the video clips populating her various websites and her special on-line unplugged performances display both the emotional honesty and the high musical standard of her songs: for example, an impressive surf-flavored performance of "Crying Blood" from the stage of Later With Jools Holland, launchpad for so many notable young UK talents; the perfectly-crafted yet boldly unconventional "LEAVE!"; the insanely hooky "Shark in the Water," and a moving, beautifully-arranged cover of the Killers' "Human." (Not to mention the irresistibly charming "Bottles," which manages to suggest, at once, "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall," "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and "Children, Go Where I Send Thee.") - more on this story

Ticketmaster Selling Michael Jackson Book

PR reports: Ticketmaster, a Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. company, and luxury publishing and media company Kraken Opus today kicked-off a strategic partnership to exclusively market and sell the Official Michael Jackson Opus to fans around the world through Ticketmaster.com. Unveiled for the first time on NBC's TODAY show on Wednesday, August 12, 2009, fans can log on now to pre-order the ultimate anthology of the icon.

The Official Michael Jackson Opus is the only new licensed book that is endorsed and approved by the Michael Jackson estate and marks the first publication to be marketed and sold exclusively by Ticketmaster (no word if they will add a bunch of service fees). The Opus features a moving 400+ page definitive photographic record of the man and his music -- including new, never-before-seen contents.

Accompanying this definitive anthology is an epic collection of stories, essays and comments from some of the most well-known names in the entertainment industry. Each page in the Opus will measure 13" wide x 18" high, will be hand bound in leather and packaged in an elegant silk clamshell case and weighs an astonishing 38 pounds. - more on this story

Bad Veins Team Up With Division Day

PR reports: Bad Veins, has stayed blissfully busy this summer as they've trekked across the States in support of their just-released debut LP (July 21 on Dangerbird Records). They will continue to ride the wave of momentum as they team up with label mates Division Day for a co-headlining alliance.

Once this tour begins September 1 in San Diego, each band will take turns at headlining duties, with Bad Veins assuming top billing on the East Coast and Midwest dates and supporting Division Day on the West Coast shows. In the midst of the run, Bad Veins will make an appearance at The Monolith Festival, September 13 at the legendary Red Rock Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo.

The kaleidoscopic, fuzz-filled melodies that burst out of Bad Veins' debut have caught the attention of listeners and critics alike. MTV.com exclaimed that the band's hooks "creep into your brain and won't let go." - more on this story

Soja Go Digital

PR reports: Washington D.C. based reggae band Soja announced today that their third full-length album "Born in Babylon" will be released digitally worldwide, exclusively on iTunes on August 25, 2009.

The album follows up their successful 2006 release "Get Wiser" which debuted in the Top 10 Reggae albums on iTunes, and has remained in the top 100 since its release. Since 2000, the quintet has issued two full-length albums and two EPs on their label DMV Records.

Now, SOJA is ready to release 14 new tracks on "Born in Babylon." SOJA shares about their new album, "This is the album we've been wanting to make for ten years. At first we were hard-core old school, then we got new school and inventive. This is what we've learned from all that. 'Born in Babylon' is hard roots drum and bass, big wide guitar and vocal melodies, and two and three sided lyrics, with two and three sided messages." - more on this story

Movits Give Comedy Central Records A minor Hit

Comedy Central reports: Movits!, the Swedish hip-hop jazz band that first appeared on "The Colbert Report" on Monday, July 27, has just reached #2 on the iTunes hip-hop chart and #18 overall.

Comedy Central Records released the band's "Appelknyckarjazz" album digitally in the US on July 29 and it has seen one of the most explosive releases in history.

The album, sung entirely in Swedish, is influenced as much by legendary hip hop artists as it is by Cab Calloway. Their single, "Fel Del Av Gården," has seen its five-star rated YouTube video viewings jump from 100,000 to almost a quarter of a million in a matter of a few days. - more on this story

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