Alternative Music
Death on the Nile Keeps Armie Hammer on Board Despite Sexual Assault Allegations
Kenneth Branagh’s mystery drama Death on the Nile still has plans to set sail on February 11th. Today, Disney and 20th Century Studios have unveiled the latest trailer for the film, which has kept Armie Hammer on board despite allegations of sexual assault and abuse. In the adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name, Hammer plays a man named Simon Doyle whose idyllic river steamer honeymoon goes awry when it’s discovered that a murderer is on the ship. Hammer appears to have a fairly prominent role in the film, meaning Disney evidently isn’t doing much to keep him out of public view amid the controversy. As a refresher, Hammer first began raising eyebrows back in January, when an anonymous Instagram account posted explicit messages that appeared to show the actor fantasizing ab...
MESHUGGAH Postpones U.S. Tour, Reveals Bandmember Is Undergoing Treatment For ‘Skin Condition’
MESHUGGAH has postponed its previously announced U.S. tour, originally planned for early 2022, to September/October 2022. The new dates will kick off on September 16 in Worcester, Massachusetts and conclude on October 16 in Atlanta. The Swedish extreme tech-metal pioneers announced the postponement in a social media post earlier today. They wrote: “We regret to inform that MESHUGGAH will have to reschedule their U.S. headline tour. “While the ongoing pandemic has been throwing various curve balls on us all the past year, ultimately delaying the completion of the upcoming MESHUGGAH studio album – there are other concerns that have forced us to make this unfortunate decision. Determining factor is the need to prioritize the physical health of one of the band members who is ...
Viral Storm Photo Includes Doctored Image Of IRON MAIDEN’s EDDIE Mascot From ‘Brave New World’ Cover
According to USA Today, an image on social media purporting to show a skull face formed by clouds during the recent storms in Arkansas is actually a doctored image combining an IRON MAIDEN album cover with a photo of a 2019 storm in Pennsylvania. A December 10 Facebook post containing the altered photo was accompanied by a caption claiming: “my sister took a picture of this today in lake village Arkansas while I was fixing her roof. look at the detail of this picture. if u turn the picture upside down and zoom in on it you’ll see Jesus in the middle with his arms wide open.. people if this is not a good enough sign then y’all better get right with the lord… it’s so crazy how he gives us signs but we’re to blind to see…” The post was shared ne...
SCORPIONS Launch Documentary Series About Making Of ‘Rock Believer’ Album
SCORPIONS have released the first in a three-part series of short documentaries — directed by Thomas Noehre — focusing on the making of the band’s 19th studio album, “Rock Believer”. Says the band: “For our new album ‘Rock Believer’, we all came back together in the studio like in the old days and captured that journey on camera. Today we release the first part 1 of 3. Maybe you discover some unreleased music snippets from our new album in it…” Last month, SCORPIONS released the official music video for their new single, “Peacemaker”. The track, which features music courtesy of guitarist Rudolf Schenker and bassist Pawel Maciwoda and lyrics by singer Klaus Meine, is taken from “Rock Believer”, due on February 25, 2022. Asked...
WOLFGANG VAN HALEN Dismisses ‘Painfully Fake’ VAN HALEN 2019 Tour Shirt
Wolfgang Van Halen says that a widely circulated image on social media purporting to show a shirt for one of the concerts on VAN HALEN‘s proposed 2019 tour is “painfully fake.” In November 2020, Wolfgang, who became VAN HALEN‘s bassist in 2006 at the age of 15, revealed that his father, legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen, had contemplated a “kitchen-sink” VAN HALEN tour that would have included former bassist Michael Anthony, as well as vocal turns from both Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth. There was even talk about bringing back Gary Cherone, who sang with the band on one poorly received album, 1998’s “Van Halen III”. On Monday (December 20), Montreal radio personality Jeremy White shared a photo of a “local crew” shirt tha...
Bette Midler Faces Backlash for Calling West Virginia “Poor, Illiterate, and Strung Out”
Bette Midler isn’t exactly one to conceal her political beliefs, but this time, her outspokenness came back to bite her: The actress came under fire yesterday (December 20th) for referring to the entire state of West Virginia as “poor, illiterate, and strung out” in a rant aimed at somewhat infamous Senator Joe Manchin. As a recap, Manchin — a Democrat — recently announced that he wouldn’t support President Biden’s Build Back Better bill, which includes plans to establish some desperately-needed efforts to combat the climate crisis (an issue close to Midler’s heart). Manchin’s opposition basically means the bill is now impossible to pass, and Midler took to Twitter to air her frustrations. “What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America...
Overkill Announce 2022 US Tour with Prong
Thrash metal cult heroes Overkill have announced a March 2022 US tour with support from Prong. The 16-show outing will hit venues across the Midwest and East Coast, kicking off March 3rd in Poughkeepsie, New York, and running through a March 19th date in Stroudsburgh, Pennsylvania. Get tickets via Ticketmaster. The New Jersey-based Overkill are still touring in support of 2019’s The Wings of War, their latest studio album. However, the veteran band is also celebrating the recent release of a 6-LP box set, The Atlantic Years 1986-1996, collecting Overkill’s major-label studio albums from that time. Related Video Overkill are also hard at work on a new album, with bassist D.D. Verni telling Misplaced Straws in September, “We’re recording it right now, a good portion of it’s done. It keeps ge...
Kate Bush Backs NHS Worker Pay Raises in Christmas Message
Reclusive art-pop singer Kate Bush emerged today to share a Christmas message posted to her official website, in which she touched on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and advocated for UK National Health Service (NHS) workers to receive pay raises for their heroic efforts. “It’s been a terrible time of loss for so many. I want to say a big thank you to all the people on the front line and in the NHS,” she wrote. “I have such huge respect for all the nurses and doctors who’ve already been working flat out for nearly two years. These caring people are showing such extraordinary acts of kindness to others. Let’s hope they get the pay rises they rightly deserve.” Back in March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire for offering a puny 1% increase in wages to doctors and nurses....
Elton John Subjects Us to Horrible Flashbacks with “The Ultimate Zoom”: Watch
Winter… Zoom parties… new COVID-19 variant… Sounding familiar? Believe it or not, we’ve entered a disturbing era in which artists can say they’ve “reunited” with their lockdown collaborators, and Elton John certainly isn’t counting himself out from the quarantined festivities. The iconic musician has rounded up the cast of his recent album, The Lockdown Sessions, for a playful (albeit dismal) clip titled “The Ultimate Zoom Call.” John simply does not care that you’ve had enough Zoom gatherings, which is why he’s corralled the likes of Stevie Nicks, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, and many more to subject you to the harrowing reminder that we are coming up on the second anniversary of this shit. Eddie Vedder, Stevie Wonder, Young Thug, Damon Albarn, and Nicki Minaj were also among the est...
ORIANTHI To Film Concert DVD In Los Angeles
Australian musician, singer and songwriter Orianthi will film a concert DVD on January 8, 2022 at the Bourbon Room in Los Angeles. The set will be released at a later date via Frontiers Music Srl. Orianthi announced the DVD filming in a video message on social media. She said: “We’re shooting a live DVD at the Bourbon Room here in L.A. So if you guys are in town, come on by. You’ll be on the DVD, ’cause we’re shooting the crowd too. It’ll be so much fun playing brand new tracks with my band… Buy tickets now if you wanna be part of it. The Bourbon Room here in L.A. Shooting a DVD for Frontiers Records. So it’s gonna be fun.” Orianthi‘s first new studio album in seven years and her first new music as a solo artist in six years, “O&#...
Signed OZZY OSBOURNE Coat Among Items Added To JULIEN’S AUCTIONS’ ‘MusiCares Charity Relief Auction’
Julien’s Auctions has announced additional marquee items added to the celebrity lineup of instruments, memorabilia, wardrobe, artwork, and more to be sold at MusiCares Charity Relief Auction taking place live in Beverly Hills and online at juliensauctions.com on Sunday, January 30, 2022. This official Grammy Week event precedes the 64th annual Grammy Awards telecast. Proceeds will benefit MusiCares, the leading music industry charity, which provides the music community a support system of health and human services across a spectrum of need including physical and mental health, addiction recovery, unforeseen personal emergencies and disaster relief. Headed to the auction is a Keith Richards signed Gibson ES-335 in Ebony that includes a one-of-a-kind four second video authenticating hi...
KISS’s TOMMY THAYER: ‘My Legacy Will Be A Guy Who Came In, Worked Hard, And Was The Glue That Kept The Band Together’
In a new interview with Guitar World, KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer was asked what he thinks his legacy will be with KISS. He responded: “I don’t know if many people realize this, but I’ve been the lead guitarist in KISS longer than any other KISS guitar player. But I will always be known as ‘the new guy’ though — no matter what happens. I’m ‘the Ronnie Wood‘ of KISS. “My legacy will be a guy who came in, worked hard, and was the glue that kept the band together for a long period of time,” he continued. “I think the kind of character and personality that I have is that of a team player and somebody who can bring people together and bind things together. “And I think the reason that we’ve done so well and so consist...
