NEW YORK, 5:00 AM, SUN SEP 7 | 0 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@idolator.com | SUBMIT A TIP | RSS

Posts Tagged “U2”

delays

U2 Album Coming Out In October, Or On New Year's Day, Or At Some Other Undetermined Date

Because I'm assisting our Idolators from a location far from the shmancy "Mac" computers at the Idolator flophouse, I don't have access to the macro that brings up the "the next album from [blank artist] has been delayed until [blank date]" template for quick-posting. So I guess I'll just have to write this up by hand: According to Bono, the next U2 album—previously scheduled for release later this year, and a major component of UMG's 2008Q4 business plan—has been delayed to some vague date in "early 2009". More »

2:00 PM on Thu Sep 4 2008
By Rob Murphy
314 views, 2 comments

Latest by Pete the Chop: Al's got a point. I think at this point, especially after what they feel happened with the release of "POP," the band is very keen on doing things at their own very comfortable, very drawn-out pace. more »

sorta-leak of the weekend

Bono Clearly Needs To Move Somewhere A Little More Remote

Over the weekend, some enterprising U2 fan decided to sit outside Bono's beach house in the south of France—not because he wanted to stalk the philanthropic frontman, but because dude was giving the immediate area near his house a listening party of sorts, blaring material from his band's new album for all neighbors to hear. In what could be seen as some of the best revenge on a bad neighbor ever, said snooper recorded the songs Bono was blasting and then put them up on the Internet. But was the taping as "illicit" as people thought? See, this whole "omg, I was just walking by and these new U2 songs happened to be playing" thing also happened back in 2006, although funnily enough, one of those "leaks" turned out to be a track by Albert Hammond Jr. Anyway, whether this is just a pre-pre-release publicity stunt for Bono (or Julian Casablancas?) or just the result of Bono thinking that he is, in fact, the lord of his domain, Vulture has kindly embedded all the "leaked" tracks for you to hear. Be warned: all the distortion and Dopplering were enough to induce vertigo. (And no, I'm not using that term as a clever reference.) [Vulture]

2:45 PM on Mon Aug 18 2008
By Maura Johnston
394 views, 6 comments

Latest by Silverfuture: @owenmeany: Not to mention the fact that he's standing next to a narcoleptic with flowers growing from her pits. more »

yay, activism!

Online Petitioners Still Haven't Found What They're Looking For

If you dislike Bono, it's probably for one or more of the following reasons: 1) he writes epic, yet somehow quite boring music; 2) that heinous iPod commercial; 3) he (allegedly) misrepresents Africa in his (allegedly) misguided attempts at AIDS relief. If you subscribe to the latter, there's now an online petition pledging "a ton of money to fight AIDS" if—and only if—Bono retires from public life. More »

1:30 PM on Fri Aug 1 2008
By Kate Richardson
337 views, 18 comments

nostalgia

Is There Anyone In Music Who Doesn't Wish It Was 1989?

Michael Jackson is collaborating with New Kids On The Block? Are they for real? Assuming he doesn't still think Donnie et al are still in their teens, the only reason he'd team up with a group he wouldn't have been caught dead with 20 years ago is that he really misses 20 years ago. And it seems he's not alone. We've got Sonic Youth filling most to all of their sets with Daydream Nation, Public Enemy taking a nation of millions back in time, Dinosaur Jr. reunited, R.E.M. showing off a drummer, My Bloody Valentine acting like ain't a damn thing changed, Lloyd and Lil' Wayne sampling "Ashley's Roachclip," and Pretty Ricky rocking giant shoulderpads. While it's no news that nostalgia can run in twenty-year loops, it's possible that no one who pushed product back in the day, and is still trying to do so now, wouldn't mind hearing it was 1989 again. Are any artists actually in a better state now than they were then? I could think of very, very few. More »

12:00 PM on Thu Jul 10 2008
By Anthony Miccio
801 views, 18 comments

Latest by DocStrange: In 1989, The Cure unleashed "Disintegration". In 2008, The Cure will release "The album we haven't bothered to name yet despite the fact we've already released two singles off of it and it comes out in two months". I'd rather have 1989. more »

311, we're ready to fight

311 Compare Themselves To Grateful Dead, U2, Phish, Your Mom

Chad Sexton, the diminutive drummer for 311, made sure to leave no sensibility unoffended when searching for the correct group to compare his stoner-friendly crap-metal ensemble to in a recent interview with MTV. "I think we have the same appeal as a band like the Grateful Dead. We have some Deadheads in the band, and when they stopped touring, Phish kind of took over for them, and maybe Dave Matthews Band has some of that same appeal as well. We can jam on our [songs] like those bands, but I'd say we're kind of a band between—and I'm not comparing us to these bands, but just in the level of status and accomplishment, and that they're still together—U2 and Phish. It's somewhere in the middle of that, and we're hoping to define that a little better over the next couple of years." While no one would call me a big U2 fan, I don't think its fair to bring them up when trying to explain what a concert draw your shitty band is. Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to place 311 between Phish and the Kottonmouth Kings? More »

12:00 PM on Mon Jul 7 2008
By Anthony Miccio
1,029 views, 13 comments

Latest by N/A: Thanks for pointing out how much they suck on so many different levels. I thought I was the only one who loathed their "funk rock". more »

alternate histories

Ten Artists Who Should Be Very Glad They're Not Axl Rose

The attention the media gives to Guns N' Roses and My Bloody Valentine may give young bands the idea that it'd actually be good for their legacy to record regularly for six years, then hold off for at least another 15 so that fan excitement can build and their myth can blossom. (Hey, if Sting and Joe Strummer had waited that long to record follow-ups to Synchronicity and Combat Rock, maybe people would have cared more about Brand New Day and Rock Art And The X-Ray Style!) So I looked at what would have happened to some of rock's most legendary figures if they, too, had waited 15 years to release new albums once their first six years of putting out records were done—and found that extended absences rarely make later projects look much better. More »

1:00 PM on Mon Jun 30 2008
By Anthony Miccio
1,642 views, 20 comments

Latest by DavidWatts: My favorite thing about this post was being reminded of BS 2000. That was back when I was duping CDs from my college radio station and trying to copy the CD art with a Sharpe. My BS 2000 was one more »

paul is dead (wrong!)

Bono Backs Away From Manager's Radiohead-Bashing Ways

Like U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, Bono firmly believes that all problems can be solved by haranguing people in power and pleading for charitable donations, rather than actually changing economic models. But one thing Bono won't do is dis Radiohead, one of the few successful bands with any critical cachet whatsoever. So when McGuinness decided to call the Internet release of In Rainbows a failure, Bono felt it necessary to send a letter to NME making clear that while their manager doesn't want the RIAA to consider these upstarts' hair-brained schemes, U2 thinks the band are "courageous and imaginative," etc., smooch smooch, let's photo op with Barack sometime. More »

9:30 AM on Mon Jun 30 2008
By Anthony Miccio
494 views, 3 comments

Latest by okiedoke: Those damned disintermediates. Darned damnable, I say. more »

maybe he can start a blog

U2's Manager Should Do More Managing, Less Talking

After starting up a firestorm of hot blogging commentary recently with his comments about the Internet and music, Paul McGuinness is at it again, this time pontificating about Radiohead's dramatic sales failure with In Rainbows. More »

11:30 AM on Tue Jun 10 2008
By Dan Gibson
983 views, 8 comments

videodrone

t.A.T.u. Plays It Straight


The video for t.A.T.u.'s new Russian single "220" features no heroic lesbianism, no tabloidy murders, and no firing squads—instead, Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova get their burlesque outfits out and, uh, just sort of dance for the camera. I realize it's hard to pull off Dancing With The Stars-worthy flips, and I'm sure the listless dance moves and bored affect Lena and Yulia have during the clip is some sort of metacommentary on sexuality and "hotness" in 2008, but this clip is making me long for their more outré days, particularly since the song is quite delectable. [YouTube]

9:00 AM on Fri Jun 6 2008
By Maura Johnston
350 views, 8 comments

Latest by mexiback: My favorite will always be the one where the brunette finds out that the redhead is fucking with this guy behind her back, so naturally, she blows up them up while they're in a carnival ride. Cuteness! more »

little royalties in big china

U2's Manager Hectors ISPs And China To Give Bands More Money

Though record companies have grudgingly begun learning how to utilize the Internet, U2 manager Paul McGuinness still thinks yelling about how Internet service providers should do more to fight piracy and give bands a bigger cut of the profits is the way to go. "Cable operators, ISPs, device manufacturers, P2P software companies—companies that have used music to drive vast revenues from broadband subscriptions and from advertising," he told an audience in Hong Kong. "They would argue that they have been neutral bystanders to the spectacular devaluation of music. I don't believe that is true." He revealed the extent of his belief by comparing them to "shoplifters" and accusing them of "rigging the market." And don't get him started on China! More »

2:20 PM on Thu Jun 5 2008
By Anthony Miccio
222 views, 5 comments

Latest by Anthony Miccio: @KikoJones: B-b-but what if there was a "red" wireless plan? more »

we still haven't found what we're looking for

The Top Ten Not-Bonos

The social conscience and strident voice of Bono has influenced many a singer over the last few decades. The U2 frontman successfully melded the earnest social conscience of Bruce Springsteen with the self-glorifying pomp of European arena acts, realizing that both the Common Man and King Dick were below Jesus on the food chain. Sure there was precedent, but Sting is handicapped by his ego (and jazz bass), while Ian McCullough wanted to be a romantic poet/sex object more than the messiah. Here are ten singers who, at their best (or worst), have aspired to the Almighty's throne. More »

2:30 PM on Wed May 28 2008
By Anthony Miccio
1,414 views, 19 comments

Latest by prolixrush: Why isn't Ryan Adams playing guitar in that Late Show clip? Bizarre. Also, man, did he look smokin-ass hot with more meat on his bones. more »

coming soon?

The t.A.T.u. Movie: It Exists!

You And I, previously known as Finding t.A.T.u., previously known as That Movie That Introduced The Phrase "They're Nihilists... Beautiful Nihilists" To The World, had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival (?!) last week, a fact that I only found out because some British tabloid ran a piece on her skipping the movie's debut out of embarrassment. The fact that there are no reviews yet of You And I, which follows two fans of the Russian pop act as they "are swept into a dangerous world of obsession, drug abuse and murder," makes me wonder if the movie's as bad as Barton claims, or if the premiere was just turning everyone away at the door to maximize buzz for its inevitable American release. In case you need a refresher of the movie's finer moments, or you just want to see a hairnetted Barton "working" in a slaughterhouse, there's a highlight reel after the jump. More »

10:30 AM on Mon May 19 2008
By Maura Johnston
773 views, 3 comments

Latest by Nicolars: I have a wonderful feeling that this will be the new Showgirls! I can't wait to see it. more »

upgrade u

Pete Wentz Hacked By Nicest Nerd In The World

No, really. Instead of using a bug lurking in the content-management system of the bassist/entrepreneur's newest blog to post e-graffiti like "LOL FOB SUX" or "Bittersweet World > Infinity On High," some anonymous hacker merely used said glitch to let Pete and the world know that maybe it was time for a system upgrade. And s/he fiddled with the site's RSS feed so that it actually works now, too! Whoever it is claims to be a member of the Scientology-baiting "void of human restraint, such as pity or mercy" Anonymous, which just goes to show you that Internet philanthropy can sometimes come from the weirdest places. [a boy's life / Photo: AP]

3:45 AM on Tue Apr 22 2008
By Maura Johnston
234 views, Comment

the new model

U2 Signs With Live Nation, Forces World To Imagine What Bono Will Look Like In 2021

U2 has signed a 12-year-deal with Live Nation, handing their worldwide merchandising, digital and branding rights over to the concert-promotion behemoth. The size of the payoff was not announced, but it should be considerably smaller than the $120 million the monolith shelled out to Madonna, as the band will continue recording for Universal Music Group. But with the majors rushing to sign their acts to all-encompassing "360" deals in the face of dwindling music sales, "merchandise and licensing rights, sponsorship and strategic alliances, digital rights, fan club/Web sites and other marketing and creative services" may be the sweeter plums. Which would you rather own, the copyright to Bono's mug or the sequel to How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb?[Reuters / Photo: AP]

9:15 AM on Mon Mar 31 2008
By Anthony Miccio
466 views, 1 comment

Latest by okiedoke: No comment. more »

get the popcorn

"Finding t.A.T.u.": The Excitement Continues!


Finding t.A.T.u.—the movie about the Russian pop duo starring Mischa Barton as a slaughterhouse worker obsessed with the "All The Things They Said" singers—is apparently opening somewhere in the world this year, and the above news report from Russian TV sheds a little bit more light on the project as it currently stands. Not only did the two ladies of t.A.T.u. have no idea who Barton was (and they get kinda bitchy about her "American TV" pedigree!), and not only does the director have two Oscar nominations under his belt, the report grimly notes that, thanks to one of the t.A.T.u.s being pregnant during filming, "the girls will have to say farewell to their myth of lesbian love." It's not exactly "Fuck everything but t.A.T.u.... they're nihilists, beautiful nihilists," but that line is definitely more poetic than anything I've heard come out of Wolf Blitzer's mouth lately. [YouTube / Earlier]

9:40 AM on Thu Feb 14 2008
By Maura Johnston
230 views, 4 comments

Latest by Dead Air ummm Dead Air: Dammit. I thought I'd linger longer and be oh-so-ironic and make a random "They're nihlests" joke, many monthes after the fact. And now? This ruined my hillarity. Cest la vie. more »

debunkings

U2 Will Not Be Pulling A Madonna Anytime Soon

U2's technologically averse manager, Paul McGuinness, rebuts earlier reports that his charges would be leaving Universal Music Group for a Live Nation payday: "This is untrue... As I said in my MIDEM speech, U2 has an excellent relationship with Universal. We have recently re-licensed both masters and copyrights to them." Rumor has it that the band is in with Doug Morris and Co. for four more albums. [Hits / Previously; Photo: AP]

9:30 AM on Mon Feb 4 2008
By Maura Johnston
94 views, 1 comment

rumors

Is U2 Going To Leave Universal Music Group Behind?

Maybe, according to Fox rumormonger Roger Friedman. Word is that U2 is one of two outfits currently in negotiations for a deal with Live Nation that would be similar tothe 360-degree payday that Madonna scored last fall. The Bono-led band, which started out its career on Island Records and has put out records in the U.S. on Interscope, went triple-platinum in the States with its 2004 album How To Build An Atomic Bomb; Friedman's tipster is claiming that the band's contract with its label was either fulfilled by Bomb or the recently released remaster of The Joshua Tree. More »

2:45 PM on Fri Feb 1 2008
By Maura Johnston
779 views, 13 comments

Latest by Big Gray.: @Cos: POP was a "failure" that would be a success to most bands, as Dennisobell has pointed out. American Life was an out-and-out turd. more »

lambastings

U2's Manager Wants To Violate Your Privacy For Violating His Bank Account

U2 may have happily whored themselves out as iPod silhouettes, but their manager, Paul McGuinness, is famously no great fan of modern musical technology and the ease with which it allows "fans" to siphon revenue away from bands (and of course that manager's 10 or 20 percent off the top). During a presentation at the International Managers Summit in France, where we assume he concluded by banging his shoe on the table and demanding the blood of the BitTorrenters, McGuinness furiously laid into record companies (you should have cut MP3s off at the pass!), the crazy scientists and their crazy innovations (you never should have let things progress past 400 lb. turntables and adding machines!), but most especially Internet service providers, who are turning a blind eye to piracy...but not to the cash they rake in thanks to piracy! And McGuinness isn't going to let them get away with it any longer, even if it means he has to publicly embarrass them. And himself! More »

9:30 AM on Tue Jan 29 2008
By Jess Harvell
798 views, 7 comments

Latest by Swankster: His analogies would work better if he said... "If you were a transportation agency that owned and advertised roads leading to chopshops filled with stolen cars, handling the money for tolls in and out of these roads and seeing to the more »