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Recap of top stories for the first half of this week

Top 5 stories for first half this week

R. Kelly Had Three Way With Teen?

antiMusic reports: Apparently R.Kelly not only likes em' young, he likes em' in quantity. TMZ has the story: The platinum pisser may be the one getting screwed this time.

A woman is set to testify at R. Kelly's upcoming child pornography trial, revealing that she had a threesome with Kelly and the allegedly underage girl shown in the infamous video.

Sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times that the new witness will not only testify that she was underage when she had the threesome with Kelly -- but that the other girl involved is the exact same person who is now identified as the alleged victim. - more on this story

Madonna's Lesbian Controversy

Gigwise reports: Madonna caused controversy during a gig in France last night (May 7th) when she kissed one of her female dancers.

Performing a private concert in Paris, the singer declared that she "loves frenching French people" before she kissed the dancer.

"Viva La France," Madonna said afterwards, according to the Sun. It isn't the first time the singer has kissed a woman on stage - more on this story

Desperately Stalking McCartney

antiMusic reports: Bena Warren has been street-teaming music sites on the net telling editors about a movie trailer she "found" online about a new Beatles related mockumentary called "Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney". But this one has a stalker angle to it. Think "My Date With Drew" meets "Single White Female". OK, it's not that bad.

Given this email street-teaming, we're still not 100% sure this is a real film, and not just a trailer, as all we could find "official" was a Myspace page. But we did find a press release about a screening coming up at a film festival and it looks legit. Here is part of the PR with some background on the film: "Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney" will have its Los Angeles Debut at the 2008 Mockfest film festival on Sunday, May 18 at 5pm. The film will screen at the Vine Theatre, 6321 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA, 90028.

The comedy documentary is the story of Ruth Anson, who in 1965 was a teenage reporter for KABC-TV in Los Angeles. While doing an interview with The Beatles at Capitol Records, Ruth asked Paul McCartney if he had any plans for marriage. His on camera response was…"Only if you'll marry me." More than forty years later, now married, a mother and a college professor, Ruth contemplates, "What if I had said, yes?" With photo in hand, Ruth goes to a pitch session on screenwriting and tells her story to a panel of professionals. Their response is initially mixed, until an opportunist director/producer, Marc Cushman, decides to take on the project. In the spirit of reality TV, he has a camera crew follow Ruth. She goes to her old haunts and tracks down previous interviewees, but no one will allow her in the door or grant her an on camera interview.
- The Myspace page with the trailer

Sebastian Bach Discusses Joining Velvet Revolver

Blabbermouth reports: Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach was interviewed yesterday (Tuesday, May 6) on "The Buckethead Show" on Tampa's 98 Rock radio station. During the interview, Bach was asked if there is any truth to the rumors that he is being considered for the lead-singer position in Velvet Revolver following that group's recent split with Scott Weiland.

"I've talked to Slash [Velvet Revolver/ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist] recently," Sebastian revealed. "I think it'd be really awkward for me to join that band. Number one, my new record, 'Angel Down', I like it more than Velvet Revolver records. That's just being totally honest. I love Guns N' Roses material, but I've got my own old songs — Skid Row — so for me, it would all depend on music.

"I wouldn't just join the band just to join the band. If we came up with some incredible new songs, then maybe I'd think about it, but honestly, I'm very close friends with Axl [Rose, Guns N' Roses singer], and he sings three songs on my new record. I think Dr. Pepper owes me a case of free soda. [Laughs] [Referring to the Dr. Pepper soft drink company's announcement that it will offer a free can of its signature soda to 'everyone in America' if GN'R releases its long-delayed new album, 'Chinese Democracy', in 2008 — Ed.] Axl's been so nice to me — he's helped me out my whole career. - More on the story plus a link to audio of the full interview

FBI Probe Scorpions For Child Porn

antiMusic reports: These are strange times we live in. Apparently the FBI has nothing better to do than investigate 32 year-old album covers for child porn claims. Maybe they should be out tracking down real child pornographers?

Blabbermouth has the story: Chelsea Schilling of WorldNetDaily reports that the FBI is now reviewing a Wikipedia photo of a nude adolescent that could violate federal child-pornography laws.

The image in question, titled "Virgin Killer" from RCA's 1976 SCORPIONS rock album, depicts a naked pre-pubescent girl (appearing about 10 years of age) in a provocative pose. Her chest is completely exposed and a small crack is placed over her vagina.

The album's cover was banned in the United States due to its extremely controversial nature and was later replaced with a photo of the band. - more on this story

Monday

Weiland Defends Axl

antiMusic reports: Evan Serpick from Rolling Stone sat down with Stone Temple Pilot's frontman Scott Weiland for an in-depth interview. They of course discussed the STP reunion and the bad ending to Weiland's run in Velvet Revolver, but Scott also stuck up for Axl Rose, saying he might be getting more of the blame than he deserves.

Here is what he had to say: I was in a band where at the end, it was pretty much three against one. And so I'm pretty sure that it felt that way to Axl as well. I have to say this, and I'm not just saying this now because of my situation I went through, but I heard a lot of great Guns N' Roses stories you guys in the press will never hear. Everyone has made Axl out to be this horrendously crazy person, this bad guy, and I don't know him very well at all. He and I for whatever reason got almost tricked into this little media spat for a moment because one of our band members happened to run into him and said that he said something.

So, my point being that having been in a band with Velvet Revolver now for five and a half years, I'm not quite so sure that it was all Axl's fault. It's like, why does it always have to be the lead singer. Matt Sorum in front of my face, he was the sweetest guy in the world. But there were some times, out of the blue, the guy just randomly hated me. We all carried our own baggage in that band. In a sense, that's why people were intrigued, you know, especially for the first couple of years. Because they were kind of waiting on the trainwreck to happen. They just thought it would happen a lot sooner. - Read the interview at Rolling Stone

Ace Embarrassed By KISS

antiMusic reports: Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is rocking the faithful with his solo shows. He made a true believer out of our very own Tony Kuzminski (read his review in the review section). Part of any tour includes talking to the press to let people know about the tour. Ace recently sat down with Chris Riemenschneider of the Star Tribune for a chat. In the midst of the discussion Ace revealed that he is a bit embarrassed by what his former bandmates KISS are doing as well as the difficulties of staying sober on the road. Here are those exchanges:

Star Tribune: Was it harder to stay sober when you toured with KISS? * Ace: Not really. If I was having a good time and everybody was doing the right thing, I might've stayed. It just turned into the same nonsense that led to me leaving in '82. It all started happening again. For me, rock 'n' roll should always be fun. That's the reason I got into the business. When it's not fun anymore, it's time to move on. I just had to leave because it wasn't fun anymore and I wanted to move on with my solo career, which I left on the back burner when I rejoined the group in '96. It was time. It was billed as the farewell tour, and then the reunion tour. They're still doing shows in Europe now. That wasn't the whole concept of the way it was presented to me when I jumped on board again.

Star Tribune: How do you feel about [KISS] touring with [former roadie] Tommy Thayer in your place, with the same makeup? Ace: I really don't think about it [laughs], or I'd rather not think about it. I have no control over that. The fans don't seem too happy, though. What KISS is doing right now reminds me of like what some great fighters have done in the past when they come out of retirement, when they should have just rolled up the towel. That's the way it seems to me now. It's getting embarrassing. - Read the full interview here

Kanye Shows His Arse Again

antiMusic reports: Kanye West is his very own punch line. There is no need to make up jokes about this jokester as he does a good enough job of doing it all by himself. The word narcissist immediately comes to mind anytime we here Kanye's opinion about anything. This tradition continues with Kayne's immature and self-undulant review of Entertainment Weekly's review of his tour-opening show in Seattle. The review was actually pretty generous and they gave him a B+, but Kanye went off in a tissy like a little three-year-old over the write up. A foulmouthed three-year-old that is. Here is what he had to say on his ego-blog:

"Yo, anybody that's not a fan; don't come to my show. For what?! To try and throw ya'll two cents in? Ya'll rated my album shitty and now ya'll come to the show and give it a B+. What's a B+ mean? I'm an extremist. It's either pass or fail! A+ or F-! You know what, f**k you and the whole f**king staff!!! I know I shouldn't dignify this with a comment, but the reviewer threw a jab at all the artists. I just wanna know when was the last time you enjoyed yourself. If you can't have fun and lose yourself at this tour it's a good chance you're a very miserable person. I actually feel sorry for you guys. Your job forces you to not have fun anymore. Grab a drink, holla at some nice girls, and party bitch!! You don't know shit about passion and art. You'll never gain credibility at this rate. You're f**king trash! I make art. You can't rate this. I'm a real person. I'm not a pop star. I don't care about anything but making great art. Never come 2 one of my shows ever again, you're not invited and if you see me...BOW!! This is not pop, it's pop art!"

He reportedly added "Chris Willman, kill yourself!" But that is now edited out of this tirade. But Art? Damn standards sure have dropped this century. Then again, feces tossed against the wall is called art by some people these days. Pop art is also an oxymoron. Do they teach that word at - Kon-ya University?

Pearl Jamming Out New CD

FMQB reports: Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready revealed to the BJ Shea Morning Experience on Active Rock KISW/Seattle yesterday that the band has begun work on the follow-up to 2006's self-titled album.

McCready said, "We are working on a new record right now, so we are in the process of writing a bunch of new songs, and we have our producer Brendan O'Brien - who worked on some of our earlier records - Vs. and Vitalogy.

"He is back with us right now so we are working on songs with him. We will try to do a record sometime this year, but that's about all we got. We've got about four or five tunes ready to go right now. " - more on this story

Metallica To Preview CD Online

antiMusic reports: Remember back a week or so ago when Lars gave an interview and said he has finally seen the light about the web? He really meant it and the fans will benefit from it. Blabbermouth has the story: Metallica's recently announced web site, MissionMetallica.com, where the band says it will offer fans a chance to "experience the [group's] new album before it's done," is scheduled to go "live" on May 12.

As previously reported, Metallicadrummer Lars Ulrich told RollingStone.com that the band intends to explore "everything" in terms of selling its music once its current recording contract expires. But although the group's upcoming ninth studio album is its last with Warner Bros. Music, Ulrich said they would be hesitant to follow in the footsteps of U2 and MADONNA and sign a comprehensive "360 deal" with Live Nation.

Ulrich explained, "We've never sold ourselves that way. No disrespect. We want to be as free a player as possible. We've been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor and in 27 years or however long it takes for the next record, we'll be looking forward to everything in terms of possibilities with the Internet." - more on this story

Miley's Pornographic Concert Attire?

antiMusic reports: We don't know what to make of this Hecklerspray report, aside from being amused. Seems that Miley has reportedly continued her decline down risque' avenue with her latest public appearance with her choice of "revealing" clothing. Here is the report: Miley Cyrus rocked the stage last night at the Disney Channel Games Concert, sporting another piece of pornographic attire.

As she thanked fans for their support, singing some old hits and some new, she strutted about the stage in skin-tight, virginal-white jeans and top to match, which left very little to the imagination.

The outfit made a clear definition of the shape of her breasts and bottom. One source who attended the gig told hecklerspray: It was disgusting. I was standing there, wanting to have an innocent boogie to some of the finest pop-music this millennium has had to offer when, all of a sudden, 15-year-old Miley appears, looking beautiful and slightly sexually arousing, and now I feel like a paedophile. This has got to stop. This would never have happened if Al-Qaeda were in control; either get the girl a hijab and let me boogie in unaroused peace, or burn her. - more on this story

Avril Silenced

antiMusic reports: This is the rare case where we have to give Avril Lavigne some credit. Most poptarts would resort to lip-synching if they came down with an illness that a couple of Advil couldn't cure. Not Avril, she's pulled the plug on a series of shows because she lost her voice.

Avril took to her blog to explain that she has acute laryngitis and still has no voice after straining her vocals last week. She had already axed two shows because of the illness, one in San Diego and one in Phoenix. Avril was also forced to cancel appearances on Jay Leno and an appearance with Ryan Seacrest. She had hoped to return to the stage Saturday night in Anaheim, but during soundcheck her voice told her it had other ideas on the matter.

As a result, Avril has cancelled six more dates on her current U.S. tour, four in California and two in Washington. No word at press time if these stops would be rescheduled but they did say that refunds would be available "at point of purchase on Monday." - what she, like, had to say

more stories including: 05/04: NIN Announcement Expected- Podcast for Cutie- Tripp Joye RIP- Duff Reloaded- Rev Theory Hire Operator- Cinderella Dates with Warrant - more

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Tuesday

Hide Your Drugs, Pete Doherty Is Out of Jail

BBC reports: Singer Pete Doherty has been released from prison after serving 29 days of a 14 week sentence for breaching the terms of his probation.

The Babyshambles frontman, who was freed from Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London, told reporters that he was glad to be out.

Doherty was sent to prison last month after missing appointments with his probation officers. - more on this story

Metallica Officially Weenies- Aiken's Not Cool- The Noose For Vegoose- Spill Canvas Doing OK with EP- Stone Temple Black Francis

antiMusic reports: Forget Corn Flakes, the only way to start your day is with morning quicks! Fruit Loops are good though. So here is today's dose of music news you can't use: We start off with the quote of the week from Clay Aiken: "I'm not cool, you know what I mean? I'm not gonna lie," the good-humored singer told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I'm not trying to be Justin Timberlake. Thank God we have him, but I'm not him. ... I'm not gonna bring anybody's sexy back." Hats off to Clay for saying that. (Except that part about thanking God we have Timberlake.)Read the article the quote came from

We printed a rumor about this recently, now it looks like it is official that Vegoose has gone kaput. Las Vegas music festival Vegoose will not take place in 2008, one of its producers told Billboard.com. "We're not saying it's killed, it's just not going to happen in 2008," said Jonathan Mayers.

The Spill Canvas is set to release the digital EP Honestly, I'm Doing Okay, on May 13th. The EP features acoustic versions of No Really, I'm Fine standout tracks "All Over You" and "Saved" as well as a previously unreleased b-side "Lay It On Me." Fans can purchase Honestly, I'm Doing Okay exclusively through Amazon on May 13th.
tracks: Lay It On Me - All Over You - Saved (acoustic) - Gold Dust Woman - All Over You (acoustic)

What was a rumor yesterday is a official today! Metallica are weenies! Wait, sorry we got that wrong. They are confirmed to headline KROQ's Weenie Roast, which will take place on May 17 at Irvine Meadows (sorry we won't print their new corp name, unless that corp wants to pay us for the advertising.)

Having Metallica headline continues (the self proclaimed "world famous") KROQ's tradition of booking headliners that you normally will not find on their airwaves. KISS anyone? What a crock, or is it kroq?. Aside from Lars and co, the Offspring will co-headline and the show will also include the Raconteurs, Rise Against, Bad Religion, Pennywise, the Bravery, Flogging Molly, Seether, Scars on Broadway and more. A Kroq full of info

Black Francis is back with a new seven song, mini-LP entitled Svn Fngrs, available now from Cooking Vinyl Records. What you CAN'T find on the album is a remix of "The Seus," done by the Infadels. But because we're generous like that, you can download here. This remix, along with two others, will be released digitally on an EP called The Seus. Black Francis will be also playing a handful of shows this summer with the one and only Stone Temple Pilots. - dates

Donnie Vie Launches New Band As Enuff Z'nuff Regroups

antiMusic reports: We caught up with Donnie Vie last week to get the latest on the new Enuff Z'nuff album and ended up learning a lot more. Not only is the new Z'nuff album almost complete, but the band has undergone a major lineup change with a new lead guitarist and Donnie returning to fronting the band full time. Donnie has also started a new group called LA Smogg, which is already hard at work on their debut. And as if that wasn't enough on his plate, he's also auditioning for a major rock band that recently lost their singer.

We asked him about progress on the new Enuff Z'nuff album, "Lost in Vegas" and he let out some surprising details, "At the last moment we totally turned the whole Enuff Z'nuff record around and it's amazing. The reason it's been delayed is that I didn't want to put out another record that wasn't up to z'snuff. It started out with me having to tweak songs I wrote for my solo projects to fit the Z'nuff sound. But we tossed all of that out and wrote new ones in traditional Enuff Z'nuff form. It's in the process of being mixed. And a limited collectors edition will be available at Rocklahoma. We're also planning on filming that performance for a DVD."

Donnie has also been hard at work with his new band L.A. Smogg, a band he started with CJ Szuter (Szuters, Magna-Fi] so he could create music that doesn't have to conform to the Z'nuff sound. "I'm CJ's biggest fan. In Smogg he's the McCartney to my Lennon; we're sharing lead vocal duties and complementing each other perfectly. We also got our Ringo Bonham, he goes by the name of Vic Alfaro," he said. - more on this story

Hendrix's Brother Weighs In On Sex Tape

Blabbermouth reports: Jimi Hendrix's younger brother, Leon Hendrix, has issued a statement claiming that a purported sex tape of the musician being sold on the Internet was not authentic.

"The person in that film is not Jimi from what I have heard," said Leon. "Yes, he had many female fans during that time and some may have been filmed. But this one is not Jimi Hendrix."

Experience Hendrix, the company that controls rights to Jimi Hendrix's music and likeness also questioned the tape's authenticity, stating, "We view the release as nothing more than a callous attempt to trade on the image and reputation of a deceased artist who is unable to defend himself against such an outrageous and baseless assertion." - more on this story

Disturbed Prevents Suicides

antiMusic reports: When it comes time for Disturbed to release a video, it can't just be a regular video. Not when the song carries a personal heavy meaning for David Draiman. So the band's new video has a good cause behind it. Here is what their PR firm sent over: Disturbed have just unveiled their video for "Inside the Fire," the first single from the forthcoming, Indestructible, which hits stores June 3rd.

The video was directed by Nathan "Karma" Cox who has also helmed videos for Bleeding Through and HIM among others. Both the lyrics of "Inside the Fire" as well as the video's storyline tell the real life tale of a suicide that personally affected Disturbed vocalist, David Draiman.

Knowing the pain and sensitive nature of the subject Draiman precedes the video with a public service announcement for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The video can be seen - - here

Free NIN Album

antiMusic reports: Nine Inch Nails promised a big announcement today and it's a big announcement for fans. The band is offering up a absolutely free download of their new album entitled "the slip". All you have to do is submit your email and it's all yours. Here is what they had to say about it, followed by the link:

"as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com. the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits.

"for those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon." Tracks include: 999,999 - 1,000,000 - letting you - discipline - echoplex - head down - lights in the sky -
corona radiata - the four of us are dying - demon seed - grab it here

more stories including: 05/05: Court To Keep R. Kelly's Secrets- Sweet Tour Coming- Lamb Of God Vinyl Debut- BamaJam Lineup- The Doughboys Reopen the Garage- more

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Top Reviews of the Week

. Louis XIV - Slick Dogs and Ponies

Fans of true rock and roll, like the Rolling Stones, Kinks, and T-Rex, will no doubt enjoy this CD, despite its faults. Louis XIV have a way of deconstructing rock, distilling it down to its true ingredients, its raw power - and then building it back up and unleashing it (2.5 stars) - Read the full Louis XIV - Slick Dogs and Ponies review

. Def Leppard - Rock of Ages

Tony concludes his week long look at Def Leppard with a career retrospective aided by an study of their comprehensive greatest hits release, "Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection" - Read the full Def Leppard - Rock of Ages review

. North Mississippi Allstars - Hernando

Even the big Southern Rock bands in their heyday of the mid-'70's couldn't tear it up the way the North Mississippi Allstars are doing right now. Some say 'the South's gonna do it again' but I say the North Mississippi Allstars have been doing already (4 stars) - Read the full North Mississippi Allstars - Hernando review

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