Yorke: No more Radiohead albums
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has ruled out releasing any more Radiohead albums - because to do so would "kill" the band.
The Creep hitmakers are contemplating selling individual songs one at a time rather than full-length efforts, which Yorke insists requires a concerted effort to complete.
The rocker explains that their 2007 album In Rainbows was only made because the group had a clear vision to keep them on track in the recording studio.
He says, "None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha (commotion) of a long-play record again. Not straight off. I mean, it's just become a real drag. It worked with In Rainbows because we had a real fixed idea about where we were going. But we've all said that we can't possibly dive into that again. It'll kill us."
The star went on to clarify the band isn't necessarily against the concept of an album, adding, "Obviously, there's still something great about the album. It's just, for us, right now, we need to get away from it a bit. In Rainbows was a particular aesthetic and I can't bear the idea of doing that again."
Radiohead's latest song, written in honour of the late World War I veteran Harry Patch, is only available via internet download.
Morrissey tells fans to boycott new box set reissues
Morrissey has requested that fans don't buy any of the forthcoming box set reissues from his back catalogue.
The former Smiths singer claimed in a statement issued to fan site True-to-you.net, which he often communicates through, that he wouldn't receive any money from the reissues, released on November 2, and that he was not asked for approval for their release.
The Morrissey reissues will see singles and B-sides re-packaged as new seven-inch vinyl releases.
"Morrissey would like it to be known that he has not been consulted by EMI/HMV/Parlophone [record labels, and not the retailer] with regards to two forthcoming boxed sets of Morrissey singles," the message read.
It continued: "Morrissey does not approve such releases and would ask people not to bother buying them. Morrissey receives no royalty payments from EMI for any back catalogue, and has not received a royalty from EMI since 1992.
"Morrissey also does not approve of, and was not consulted on, the [past release] Rhino box of Smiths CDs, or the Warner releases of Smiths LPs on 180 gramme vinyl.
"Morrissey last received a royalty payment from Warners ten years ago and, once again, he would ask people not to bother buying the reissued LPs or CDs."
The singer made a similar move in August 2008, asking fans not to buy a DVD of one of his live shows, 'Live At The Hollywood Bowl', describing the sleeve art as "appalling".
John Hughes doc finds distributor
Until a few days ago, "Don't You Forget About Me" was just another Canuck feature documentary with no distributor and an uncertain future.
But that changed Thursday, with the death of its subject -- John Hughes.
When Toronto helmer Matt Austin-Sadowski woke up Friday morning, the first email in his inbox was from CNN requesting an interview. By noon, world rights to the low-budget doc had been snapped up by Alliance Films of Montreal with a U.S. deal in the offing.
The doc looks at the life and work of the filmmaker behind teen hits "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles."
But "Don't You Forget About Me" -- a nod to the Simple Minds pop song featured in "The Breakfast Club" -- is hardly a standard biopic.
Rather it's a 75-minute, "Roger and Me"-like road trip in which Austin-Sadowski and his producers Kari Hollend, Mike Facciolo and Lenny Panzer head to suburban Illinois in their van to try to find the reclusive Hughes.
It was made without public funding, something extremely rare in Canadian cinema.
Austin-Sadowski, an actor best known for his role in the "Power Rangers: S.P.D." TV series, is thrilled his film is getting so much attention, but it's a bittersweet feeling given it took Hughes' death to spark the interest.
Austin-Sadowski, 31, said Hughes' films had a huge impact on him when he was in high school.
"He inspired me as a person, going through an awkward adolescence, as many people do," Austin-Sadowski said. "He took affairs of the heart very seriously, and no other director gave teenagers that sort of treatment at that time."
Thesps interviewed in the doc include Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Mia Sara, Kelly LeBrock and Andrew McCarthy. Molly Ringwald, perhaps the actress most associated with Hughes' hits, refused to take part in the project.
Austin-Sadowski said he hopes the buzz translates into renewed interest in Hughes' films. "That's what's important to us. It's not the deal. It's not more exposure for us."
Alice in Chains gets Elton John for tribute song
NEW YORK – Alice in Chains thought it would take a miracle to get Elton John to play on the band's tribute record to their late lead singer, Layne Staley. But it only took a listen to the song to get the rock legend on board.
"He's a really warm person," said Alice in Chains co-founder Jerry Cantrell of John. "He got up and gave us a couple of hugs, and said, `Well Jerry, I just wanted to tell you that I think it's a beautiful song. ... I really dig the sentiment of what it's about and who it's for and I just want to tell you that I'm going to play on the song.'"
John plays piano on "Black Gives Way to Blue," a short but poignant ode to Staley, who died of a drug overdose in 2002. The song is the title track for their upcoming CD, the grunge rock band's first studio album in 14 years.
Cantrell, who wrote the tune, had already made a demo of the song when someone heard it and suggested John as the perfect person to play the piano part. Although the band knew people connected to the 62-year-old singer, they thought it was a long shot that he would even consider it.
"I didn't think that would happen. He's a pretty busy guy doing his own thing," Cantrell said.
But they sent the song to him, and as fate would have it, both acts were slated to record at a studio complex at the same time.
It wasn't until Alice in Chains left the studio for a break that they got word that John wanted to meet with them.
"We got a call from our studio manager saying that Elton wanted to talk to us," said Cantrell, laughing. "We jumped in the car, left our lunches on the table, and cruised back to the studio and walked into the studio where he was recording."
After John confirmed he would play on the song, the band flew to Las Vegas, where John was performing, to finish the recording.
"One of the most nerve-racking moments I had was actually making a suggestion to him. What do you say to Elton John?" he joked. "But he was really open to the process. ... He fit into the song, and he really brought something that was really necessary and took the song to another level."
The CD, set for release Sept. 29, is Alice in Chains' first with singer-guitarist William DuVall, who joined the band — which also includes drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Inez — a few years ago. While DuVall has a different sound than Staley, Cantrell says the music is still Alice in Chains.
"It never gets too far out that you can't figure out who it is after a couple of notes, and that's always one of my main goals," he said. "To find that musical fingerprint I think is the goal of every band and musician, and we're very grateful that we found ours pretty early, and it's still intact, although evolved."