Extras goes to Series Two
It's sad that the BBC/HBO series Extras can't be brought up without a call to Ricky Gervais' work on The Office. D'oh, I just did it. But Extras can stand on its own, and its second and final season will hit DVD soon from HBO Home Video.
Andy Millman is a 40-something actor who gave up his day job to pursue movie fame – only to find he couldn't land the substantial parts. Undaunted by failure and convinced of his star potential, Andy’s success finally turns the corner when a comedy pilot he wrote gets picked up by a British TV network. Despite his many gaffs and foibles, Andy may well be on his way to fame and fortune...if only he can survive meddling network executives, questionable fans, and the gross ineptitude of his clueless agent, Darren Lamb. Throughout Andy's latest misadventures there is one reassuring constant: his ongoing friendship with Maggie Jacobs, the perky if none-too-bright actress who continues to slog away as an extra on various big-budget movie sets, all the while searching for a man with two even legs.
The DVD contains all the episodes and some featurettes including Art of Corpsing, Extras Backstage and Taping Nigel: The Gimpening plus outtakes and bloopers.
The set arrives on July 10th with a suggested retail price of $29.98. Hopefully one day we'll get the talked about final episode, but until then, this is all for Andy Millman.
Apple's iTunes begins selling unlocked songs
Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store started selling thousands of songs without copy protection Wednesday, marking the trendsetting company's latest coup and providing a model for what analysts say will likely become a pattern for online music sales.
Launching initially with songs from music company EMI Group PLC, iTunes Plus features tracks that are free of digital rights management, or DRM, technology — copy-protection software that limits where songs or movies can be played and distributed.
The unrestricted content means some songs purchased from iTunes will work for the first time directly on portable players other than Apple's iPod, including Microsoft Corp.'s Zune.
The inaugural batch of iTunes Plus songs includes music from Coldplay, the Rolling Stones, Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Pink Floyd and more than a dozen of Paul McCartney's classic albums.
The DRM-free tracks feature a higher sound quality and cost $1.29 US apiece — 30 cents more than the usual 99-cent price of other, copy-protected songs at the market-leading online music store.
If available, users could upgrade existing purchases to DRM-free versions for 30 cents a song or $3 US for most albums, Apple said.
London-based EMI, the world's third-largest music company by sales, and Cupertino-based Apple announced their partnership in April to deliver the industry's first major offering of DRM-free songs, sharing a vision of what both companies say their consumers want: flexibility and CD-audio quality.
Other smaller online music vendors, such as EMusic.com, already offer songs without DRM, but the selections have been limited to mostly content from independent labels.
Barney Wragg, the global head of digital music at EMI, said the iTunes Plus launch capped six months of work to convert almost all of the company's digital catalogue into a DRM-free format.
"Our customers told us two things deterred them from buying digital," Wragg said. "They weren't 100 per cent confident that the songs they'd purchase could play on their devices, and they wanted something closer to CD quality."
Earlier this year, Apple CEO Steve Jobs called on the world's four major record companies to start selling songs online without copy-protection software.
Rolling Stones' 'Bang' tour to hit Best Buy shelves on DVD
Just a few months after finishing up the US leg of what their publicist claims is the best-selling tour of all time, The Rolling Stones return with a concert DVD documenting the band's "A Bigger Bang" tour.
The Stones will partner with electronics and entertainment retailer Best Buy for the four-DVD set, titled "The Biggest Bang." The seven-hour collection, which features two complete concerts along with two documentaries, will be available at all Best Buy stores starting June 12.
The package, which will retail in the US for $29.99, can be pre-ordered through Best Buy's website starting today (5/30). The set will also be available in Canada at Best Buy outlets as well as Future Shop stores, and an international release is planned later this summer.
"'The Biggest Bang' DVD set lets fans join us as we traveled around the world," the band said in a press release. "They will go behind the scenes at the Super Bowl, see us play an intimate club show in Toronto and for 2 million people on the beach in Rio, as well as gigs in Shanghai, Buenos Aires and Japan. It features classics but also rarities--songs we've never released before on DVD."
"The Biggest Bang" marks the second time that the legendary rockers have worked with retailing giant Best Buy on a concert DVD. In 2003, the band and the company teamed up on "Four Flicks," an exclusive, four-DVD concert set that became the highest-selling long form concert DVD in US history, according to the retailer.
"'Four Flicks' was great, but practice makes perfect and 'The Biggest Bang' is even better--it's got all the right stuff," said "A Bigger Bang" tour promoter Michael Cohl in a press statement. "It's great to be back with Best Buy, and we're pleased that they have decided to offer fans the same low price as they did with Four Flicks three years ago."
Approaching two years since the band launched its record-breaking outing, the Stones continue to tour behind their latest studio album, 2005's "A Bigger Bang." The group is currently gearing up for a fresh European leg, which kicks off June 5 in Werchter, Belgium. The full European itinerary is included below.
June 2007
5 - Werchter, Belgium - Werchter Park
8 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Goffert Park
10 - Isle of Wight, United Kingdom - Isle of Wight Festival
13 - Frankfurt, Germany - Commerzbank
16 - Paris, France - Stade de France
18 - Lyon, France - Stade Gerland
21 - Barcelona, Spain - Olympic Stadium
23 - San Sebastian, Spain - Estadio de Anoeta
25 - Lisbon, Portugal - Alvalade Stadium
28 - Madrid, Spain - Estadio Vicente Calderon
30 - Almeria, Spain - Estadio Santo Domingo
July 2007
6 - Rome, Italy - Olimpico Stadium
9 - Budva, Montenegro - Jaze Beach
14 - Belgrade, Serbia - Hippodrome
17 - Bucharest, Romania - National Lia Manoliu
20 - Budapest, Hungary - Puskas Ferenc Stadium
22 - Brno, Czech Republic - Outdoor Exhibition Centre
25 - Kiev, Russia - Olympic Stadium
28 - Saint Petersburg, Russia - Palace Square
August 2007
1 - Helsinki, Finland - Olympic Stadium
3 - Goteborg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium
5 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Parken Stadium
8 - Oslo, Norway - Vallehovin Stadium
11 - Lausanne, Switzerland - La Pontaise
13 - Düsseldorf, Germany - LTU Arena
15 - Hamburg, Germany - AOL Arena
18 - Dublin, Ireland - Slane Castle
21, 23, 26 - London, United Kingdom - O2 Arena
New Kanye Album Coming Sooner Than Expected
Kanye West's forthcoming album, "Graduation," is coming sooner than expected. The album, originally due in September, has been pushed slightly ahead to a late August release, according to Def Jam.
West leaked the news through a recently released, 25-track Internet mixtape called "Can't Tell Me Nothing," which features him rapping over such intriguing samples as Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and Peter Bjorn & John's indie hit "Young Folks."
"Can't Tell Me Nothing," the first single from "Graduation," was co-produced by West and DJ Toomp. A Hype Williams-directed video for the song debuted last Friday on West's Web site.
As previously reported, the new album will also include a collaboration with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin on the song "Graduation."
Toronto's iconic Sam the Record Man flagship to close
Sam the Record Man, the one-time cross-Canada music store chain, will close its iconic downtown Toronto flagship location next month.
Jason and Bobby Sniderman, sons of founder Sam Sniderman, announced Tuesday evening that the venerable Yonge Street location will close its doors for good on June 30.
"Culture and society are changing. Our decision is a reflection on the state of the industry. We can't compete with what's happening in technology," Bobby Sniderman told CBC Wednesday morning.
He cited declining traditional CD sales and the vast availability of CDs and digital music from online retailers for the decision to close — one his family has "agonized" over.
"It was an inevitable decision. The role of the record retailer is being phased out," Sniderman said. "The store's been a labour of love for us. It's just different now than what it used to be."
Over the past decade, the doors have closed on most of the Sam the Record Man locations, stores that were often touted for their devotion to Canadian artists, cache of hard-to-find titles and knowledgeable staffers.
"The greatest asset we have are this wealth of employees that have worked with us, that are like our family and who have an encyclopedic knowledge of music," Sniderman said.
The Sniderman family originally operated a shop selling appliances and car radios, but Sam Sniderman decided to break away and get into the record business in 1937 — in order to impress a girl who was interested in music, Bobby Sniderman said.
"That story of love has turned into this overall labour of love we all have for this store," he said.
The first Sam the Record Man location was on College Street, but around 1960, the operation moved to its now famed location on Yonge Street, where the four-storey store sits emblazoned with the fabled spinning records neon signage.
Though the chain was once one of Canada's top music retailers, with 130 stores across the nation, it has suffered from fierce competition from multinational chains and the advent of online music sharing and purchasing.
In 2001, the firm filed for bankruptcy, but the flagship shop in Toronto was able to reopen in 2002.
As one of Canada's most vocal proponents of domestic artists and a major supporter of the establishment of Canadian content regulations for radio, Sam Sniderman has won a host of honours, including being named a member of the Order of Canada and winning the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts. He retired in 2000.
Following the upcoming shuttering of the Toronto flagship, two franchise locations in Ontario will remain open: Belleville and Sarnia.