Emily Haines is a talented musician and songwriter as her work with the band Metric proves. But her Metric output — literate, straight-out rock — is markedly different from the material on her debut solo release, Knives Don’t Have Your Back, which she recorded with The Soft Skeleton, a group of some of Haines’ favorite musicians.Haines’ songwriting is top form here, yet musically she leaves Metric behind for something with a sound closer to Death Cab for Cutie. There’s a subdued quality here, with prominent, moody piano present on most of the 11 tracks on Knives. The overcast tone to these songs — and, indeed, Haines’ lyrics — especially prominent on “Dr. Blind,” “Crowd Surf Off a Cliff,” and “Winning” recall the gloom of Death Cab. By the end of the album, though, Haines morphs her style away from the Seattle doom-and-gloom indie favorite and towards something sounding like a tentative Fiona Apple. The herky-jerky piano and drum beat on “Mostly Waving” is the turning point, and, thankfully, she never looks back.There is a bit of culture shock listening to Knives after being so used to Haines’ work on Metric’s albums Old World Underground and Live It Out. The singer-songwriter laments that make up a great deal of this album don’t suit her. At least, they don’t at first. After a few listens, it’s still difficult to divorce the sound of Haines’ voice from Metric, but the beautiful musicianship becomes more prominent and it’s easier to forgive Haines from moving away from rock and roll.

I'm put my music collection on shuffle mode and talking about the songs that come up. I'm less interested in giving a simple review of each song than I am in the personal emotions and memories these songs conjure. I prefer to talk about music as an experience rather than something to be measured scientifically. “Many Rivers To Cross” – Jimmy CliffFrom 12/17/01There is a line in High Fidelity where John Cusack runs down his top five songs to play at his funeral. “Many Rivers To Cross” makes the cut. Listen to any version of the song and it is easy to see why. Listen to this live version and you might just add it to your own list. This idea is a strange thing to me. I mean who wants to think about their own death, let alone own cut the songs that will play at their funeral?I’ve always felt that funerals are for the living and not the dead. In a great many ways I don’t really care what music is playing at my own funeral, or what casket I have, or where I am buried. As my grandfather used to say “You can roll me up in a sheet and throw me in a ditch for all I care.” Once I am gone, what you do with my mortal coil so to speak, and how you mourn me is your choice, not mine.Yet as I think about it, I kind of like the idea of choosing the songs that will play at my demise. I like to think of my life as one long soundtrack, and which songs to choose for the closing credits is an interesting concept. Maybe I should do a full Random Shuffle of just funeral songs.For now we’ll come back to Jimmy Cliff. “Many Rivers to Cross” is a great freaking song. It has a wonderful mix of reggae and gospel. This live version starts out with a buoyant Jimmy Cliff asking the crowd “how ya feeling?” but quickly moves into a mournful spiritual. It is accompanied by a single acoustic guitar and some chilling piano. But it is Cliff’s own vocals that make the song so beautiful.His voice is plaintive and introspective. You can hear the weariness of a man old enough to have fought many battles, yet young enough to know there really are more rivers up ahead. When he begins to improvise the lyrics into something like “trouble is my manna/sorrow is my companion/love is my foundation” you know he sings for truth.“Judy Is A Punk” – The RamonesFrom County JailI’m not sure anyone would ever pick a Ramones song for their funeral, but in a weird way it wouldn’t be a bad way to go out.Many years ago my cousin scored some Pearl Jam tickets in Texas with the Ramones as the opening act. I had planned to attend, but for reasons that now escape me I didn’t make it. My brother took my tickets instead.Later when I asked him about the set, he was excited about Pearl Jam, but less so about the Ramones. It was an outdoor venue and their seats were far away from the stage, out on the lawn.“We were way in the back,” he said, “and still they were way too freaking loud.”At the time I thought “right on.” That’s the way it ought to be. These days I’d probably secretly agree with my brother. I tend to shy away from music that’s too loud and too fast and too noisy. I like my tunes a little more subtle, a little quieter.Listening to this song from a bootleg from 1977 though, and I get a sense of something amazing. The sound quality is pretty much crap. It is a wall of muddled, distorted sound. At a minute and twenty-five seconds it is hardly a song, but it is something crazy, and powerful, and awesome. I can barely make out any of the word both due to the rotten sound and the sort of shout-mumble the singer is doing. There is something like “I don’t know why”, and then something else about a second verse being same as the first. Mostly though it is loud and violent – a full on assault of my ears. I’m a pretty low key guy, but this stuff makes me want to start slamming into walls and breaking stuff. Maybe I wouldn’t mind even if I did. Not even a little. “Angel Falling To Close To The Ground” – Willie NelsonFrom Honeysuckle RoseI went to a fairly reserved and conservative college. I had a great time there, but there were a lot of stiff shirt types around. I say this to introduce a girl I once knew named Wendy. She was wild and free. A cool breeze. A rainbow of color in a sometimes pretty drab place.She went through a number of troubles there, and anther good friend of mine helped her through some pretty rough times. This song always reminds me of them as she was very much the angel who had crashed landed, and he was the man who healed her and had to watch her fly away.As these things happen, they formed a close relationship that often teased into romance and other things. They were never officially anything and only once unofficially something.This one time happened late one night. Me and this friend were hanging out in his dorm room in the wee hours. I forget what we were doing, probably listening to music and talking about whatever college boys talk about late into the evening. At any rate about the time I started to drift off he got a phone call from this Wendy. They talked for a long while in hushed tones and I fell asleep. Sometime later he got up and walked out the door, mentioning something about needing to go get a Coke.Hours later, in the creeping moments of the morning light he came traipsing back into the room. “That must have been some Coke,” I said. With a big sheepish grin he said “yes, yes it was.”I have never known exactly what took place in those midnight hours. Both friends remained quite quiet on the subject over the years. But to this day I can make him turned a number of bright shades by simply asking him to get me a Coke.

Although the French electronic duo Justice had been doing remixes for a while, many probably did not hear of them until they heard about Kanye West's tantrum at the 2007 MTV Europe Music Awards. Justice's video with group Simian beat Kanye's video at the show which led to one of Kanye's rants. Often compared to fellow French electronic artists Daft Punk, Justice make a big splash with their debut album † (a.k.a. Cross). While the Daft Punk comparison isn't inappropriate, Justice is far from a Daft Punk clone. † is an unapologetic dance album that will have you moving along before you know it.The best-known track on † is the infectious “D.A.N.C.E.,” whose cool, simple video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award this year (and inspired Kanye West to use the same director for his “Good Life” video). Featuring the vocals of a children's choir, “D.A.N.C.E.” is cute but funky. It's a crowd-pleaser that will delight dance fans and non-dance fans alike. However, it's the only song on the album like that.Most of † is instrumental and filled with great, unlikely electronic grooves. The best example of Justice's approach is “Newjack.” Samples of the Brothers Johnson's “You Make Me Wanna Wiggle” are chopped and mixed to the point that you can't believe what you're hearing actually came from a song. Somehow, some way, the duo creates a beat out of the bits and pieces that works quite well. “Stress” sounds like an intense piece of 1970's film score that's stuck just before the crescendo put to a beat. The excellent “Phantom” hits at electronic and dance fans in two distinct parts. The original “Phantom” is more heavily electronic and has some glitchy moments. “Phantom Pt. II,” on the other hand, is a bit more stable and palatable, complete with some disco-esque strings. The relaxed “Valentine” sounds like the music of a circus from space.If there's a misstep on †, it's “Tthhee Ppaarrttyy.” As you listen, you'll hope that this song is meant to be a parody of hip-hop clichés. Guest star Uffie raps on the song and both the lyrics and her rapping are pretty bad. When the chorus features the word “freaky-fied,” it's not good. This song isn't necessarily as terrible as the worst hip-hop, but it stands out for all the wrong reasons because it's worse than the rest of the album.Despite the title being a symbol (something that usually screams pretentiousness), Justice's debut album is fun and worthy of repeat listens. The music on † doesn't try to be serious or complex. It's only concerned with trying to make you move a bit as you listen to it. It's often big and bold and a bit less polished than work by other artists. Time will tell if Justice will be able to held in the same regard as Daft Punk or Air but they are certainly off to a good start.

This week I am focusing on the latest batch of “pretty frock metal” releases filling the shelves of your local good metal store. It’s a bit of a change; one band sounding like a better version of previous fallen one, while another band has released a CD that sounds like a sequel to that last band’s epic release. Confused? Well you won’t be, Just hang on as I guide you through the changes in genre. CD Reviews Nightwish: Dark Passion Play Tarja, their previous frontwoman, was unceremoniously fired after their triumphant end of the tour in their homeland (found on End of an Era). She is now a solo artist with a new album coming out this winter. The woman with the task of taking over is Anette Olsen, who was last scene fronting an Abba tribute band… oh dear. What is instantly recognizable is the fact Olsen does not have the power or range of her predecessor. At least on this CD, she also seems to lack the passion of her predecessors. At times she almost sounds like she barely knows the songs. The musical side of it has not changed; it has the same passion, power and musicality we have come to expect from Nightwish. The combination of Anette and Nightwish first made me think of Evanescence; if all the instruments were actually played and not programmed. Anette has a better voice than Ms Lee as well. There are probably some who welcome the lack of operatic histrionics on this release. I prefer it quite frankly to the pop-like Abba meets goth metal of some of the tracks. Why they included “Meadows of Heaven” on here is beyond me, as its dire in extremis. The singles “Eva” and “Amaranth” are typical of the fare on here. There are some interesting side-turns including them doing Jethro Tull on “The Islander”. It’s probably the most interesting song on the whole album, with Marco (bass) taking lead vocals. That said this is not a bad album by any means at all. It’s just not the Nightwish we have gotten used to. They have moved even closer to the pop world. Considering how many countries they are number 1 or near number 1 in; probably not a bad idea financially. I just miss Tarja’s abject vocal power. It will be interesting to hear what Olsen sounds like live. She certainly uses a hell of a lot of help on CD. Visions of Atlantis: Trinity This lot seem to have taken up the gauntlet of Nightwish losing Tarja and are runnig with it. Think light Therion mixed with Nightwish of old. Melissa has the operatic pipes to deliver the power and passion needed for this sort of music. There is a great interplay with the male vocalist Mario as well. A great deal of effort is made to meld the two voices to great effect. As in keeping with the genre, the musicianship here is excellent. Just check out the soaring solo on “Passing Dead End”. This is just what you expect from this sort of music. “Poem” is just a great emotional tour de force with vocals and music matching perfectly. Yeah, it’s a power ballad but it’s done right. This could be a huge bloody single. Must be absolutely amazing live. VoA have released an easy accessible symphonic metal tour de force. Epica: The Divine Prophecy This is a concept album broken into individual parts with the epic 13 minute stormer title track. Unlike most concept albums, this is not a trudge to get to the end. That said they obviously took the Queensryche lesson to hand and some of the parts stand brilliantly on their own. For instance, there’s the Evanescence-like “Never Enough” that does all that band’s good stuff without the rap. Instead, you have some excellent grunt vocals in the background providing a great deal of menace. Epica, despite its epic storyline is probably more poppy than some of the output in this genre. Check out “Santa Terra” for oodles of epic heaviness, a wonderful mix of chugging guitar, strings, and soaring voices. There are grunty male vocals there but they are way back in the midst. Front and definitely center are the tender female vocals. Musically this lot are no slouch either. They are well aware one needs to have the chops to make the grade. After Forever: s/t The hardest of the recent batch of goth metal releases, this lot go for a huge sound that just fills you speakers with their efforts. She made be called Floor and wear chaps, but she can certainly blow you head off with her silk smooth but power vocals. While maybe not as operatic as others, there is more than enough power and passion to make up for it. You want passion; check out “Energize Me” with its soaring vocal lines and heartfelt delivery. And even the title “Cry with a Smile” tells it all. It ain’t called symphonic goth metal for nothing. You want huge wall of sound then “De-energized” will work wonders for you. Heavy vocals let you know that you are in for it. My copy is the special edition and contains the excellent bonus track “Lonely” with its stunning piano intro. Yeah, like she is ever lonely. On the bonus DVD you get videos for three tracks on the CD as well as the normal photo gallery. Nuclear Blast has found a great band. This lot sure blast, but from within a silken glove. If you haven’t guessed by now I am a big fan of this genre. Epic female or female co-lead vocals backed by uber-symphonic metal has always got me in the right bits. All four of these bands have something to offer fans of the genre. They come from different angles granted but they all get it right in their own special ways. Ignore those who like trashing the genre for whatever reason. There is enough variety that you are bound to find something you like. I shall be back later this week with another column. The reason I am doing them so close together is I am heading off to have an operation for colon cancer a week from this Monday. I am not sure when I will be able to write at a desk after the operation. Rest assured however I will be listening to the pile of review music and getting ready for my next column. As always, stay safe and check out live music as often as possible. Oh yes and one more thing… if you are over 35 get a regular colonoscopy. I can tell that it probably saved a hell of a lot of pain, suffering, worry, and maybe even death.

(London, UK) - In celebration of the contribution that Canvas & The Key have made to the London club scene, the boys from secretsundaze and Faith have joined together for a multi-genre, multi-room extravaganza; with a host of guests from clubland’s past and present .To say goodbye to Canvas and The Key, the secretsundaze crew and their old friends from Faith are opening up both clubs on Saturday 3 November, with a line-up that’s part secretsundaze, part Faith, part (East London cosmic disco crew) Laser Magnetic and part London legends - yes, the whole of The Key will be dedicated to legendary London DJs from throughout the acid house years… but more on that later.Canvas’ Room 1 hosts the cream of the secretsundaze crew’s best guests: D’Julz from Josh Wink’s Ovum Records; his fellow Frenchman Chateau Flight; Tobias playing live; plus of course the ace promoters, party-starters and compilation dons James Priestley and Giles Smilth.In Canvas’ Room 2, Faith have the NYC legend that is Timmy Regisford, playing soulfully alongside Tomoki Tamura of Holic at the AKA, and Faith mainstay Stuart Patterson.In the Foyer, another New York alumnus comes a-calling for Laser Magnetic - Daniel Wang keeps it thoroughly cosmic disco, alongside fellow cult legend Maurice Fulton, Faith man Dave Jarvis keeps it disco for tonight, and the Laser Magnetic residents Neil Thornton and Johnny Hiller throw in some wonderful Balerica too.Finally over in The Key, it’s a chance to see some real London DJ faces: Norman Jay; Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson; Colin Favor; Trevor Fung and Terry Farley of Faith. Between them these guys ran the first big underground dance parties (even before the house explosion) and the chance to see them playing together is truly one to be savoured.

Artist: Taylor SwiftSong: ‘Our Song’Why You Should Watch: The 17-year-old country singer searches for her lover’s song in this colorful video from her self-titled debut album.

Written by El ConquistadorkoWhen it comes to writing music to accompany a dour film about an overprivileged kid who rejects materialism and wanders the vacant expanses of America only to die, starving and freezing, in the Alaska Wilderness, it's hard to think of a better match than Eddie Vedder. The Pearl Jam front man wrote and performed all the songs but two on the new Into the Wild soundtrack, a pensive mix of electrified ballads and solo acoustic instrumentals with earnest titles like “Setting Forth,” “Far Behind,” “Society,” and “End of the Road.”If you haven't seen the movie or read the fantastic, similarly-titled Jon Krakauer book, the film concerns the misadventures of Chris McCandless, an east coast child of quarreling rich parents who like his hero Leo Tolstoy (one of McCandless' few possessions was a vintage copy of War and Peace) gives up all his worldly possessions and dedicates his life to a peripatetic search for isolation and harmony with nature. He even changes his name to Supertramp. Having read the book and reviews of the film—although not having seen the movie itself—it appears that Sean Penn has taken McCandless far more seriously than Krakauer (a veteran mountaineer) did.In trailers for the film, Penn shows Supertramp kayaking alone down the Grand Canyon rapids of the Colorado River, a rip-roaring good time, except it never happened. In fact, McCandless never had a kayak, he had a canoe, and he didn't run the rapids, he put in south of the canyon and tried to paddle from the Colorado River to the Sea of Cortez, which turned out to be impossible and ended, as Krakauer noted, in a pointless disaster that didn't bode well for his future trip to Alaska.Anyways, the music is solid stuff and if you're a fan of Vedder then it's a good buy. Just don't waste your time reading the pretentious lyrics, which are helpfully included in the CD, along with stills from the movie. If you have half a brain, or if you know anything about the real Chris McCandless, Vedder's attempt to turn a misguided kid's purposeless death in an abandoned school bus 30 miles from the nearest road — probably from eating poisonous berries because he intentionally didn't bring enough food with him — will only piss you off. Here, in the song “Far Behind,” is a typical example of Vedder's poetic hagiography, which rhymes. “Empty Pockets will/ allow a greater sense of wealth/ Why contain yourself/ Like any other/ Book on the shelf?” But that's subtle wordsmithery compared Jerry Hannan's lyrics of “Society,” by far the most direct and outright silly song on the soundtrack. “It's a mystery to me/ We have a Greed/ With which we have agreed/ And you think you have to/ Want more than you need/ Until you have it all/ You won't be Free.” Yikes, those lyrics sound like the kind of crap that works if you were a singer for a straight edge punk band 25 years ago and then, only because the music was so angry and you were yelling so loud about society to a bunch of slamdancing morons that nobody could understand you anyway.By the way, what song could possibly be more appropriate for this movie than Temple of the Dog's 1992 single “Hunger Strike,” which featured Vedder on backing vocals? “I don't mind stealing bread/ From the mouths of decadence/ But I cant feed on the powerless/ When my cups already overfilled/ But it's on the table/ The fire is cooking/ And they're farming babies/ While the slaves are working/ The blood is on the table/ And their mouths are choking/ But I'm growing hungry.”It's hard to blame Vedder. He had a job to do. The problem is that the best song on the album, “Tuolumne,” is the best song precisely because it has no lyrics, just Vedder plucking away at a guitar, the kind of tune you could imagine a kid like McCandless playing as he camped out in the desert or sat in that abandoned bus in Alaska waiting for death.

After a couple of rather slow weeks, it is our happy duty to report that all is once again well in new release land. In fact, the menu of new releases arriving in stores this week has something for virtually every musical palette.Leading the pack is the new (or maybe not so new) album from Neil Young. Chrome Dreams II is actually something of a sequel to a never released album that was originally supposed to come out in 1976 called Chrome Dreams. Some of you may recall my own displeasure over Neil's concert ticket prices for his current tour. As it turns out, I attended the Seattle show of that very tour just last night, and can happily report the show was pretty amazing. Based on that, as well as Neil's Chrome Dreams II album, I'm actually almost ready to forgive Neil. Almost.You can read more about the Chrome Dreams II album in my review published earlier this week right here on Blogcritics. In a nutshell though, anybody who has ever loved Neil Young in full-on guitar opus mode will love at least two of the tracks on Chrome Dreams II — the eighteen minute "Ordinary People," and the eleven minute "No Hidden Path." I'll have more on Neil in my concert review later this week. Some of the other new release highlights this week include a new EP from the ever prolific Ryan Adams & The Cardinals. Follow The Lights comes on the heels of the amazing full length Easy Tiger album released earlier this year, and includes the concert highlight, a cover of Alice In Chains "Down In The Hole."American Idol's country sweetheart Carrie Underwood releases her second solo record this week in the form of Carnival Ride. Speaking of sophomore solo albums, Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan has Hourglass, which is said to combine elements of darkness with the uptempo electronic dance beats Depeche Mode fans have come to know and love.In one of the week's more unusual pairings, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant teams with bluegrass stalwart Alison Krauss for Raising Sand. If old school metal makes your hair stand on end, you can't go wrong with Rob Zombie's Live or Motley Crue's Carnival of Sins Live 1 & 2.Here are all of this week's new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:Coheed & Cambria Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 2: No World for Tomorrow Columbia Progressive Metal, Album Rock, Hard Rock, Alternative Metal, Emo Dave Gahan Hourglass Virgin/Mute Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Dance, Alternative Pop/Rock Robert Plant/Alison Krauss Raising Sand Rounder Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Americana, Contemporary Folk, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Modern Delta Blues, Folk-Rock, Modern Acoustic Blues Serj Tankian Elect the Dead Warner Bros. Neo-Prog, Progressive Metal, Industrial Metal, Hard Rock Carrie Underwood Carnival Ride Arista Pop Idol, Contemporary Country Ween La Cucaracha Rounder Comedy Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock Neil Young Chrome Dreams II Reprise Album Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Folk-Rock, Hard Rock, Country-Rock Ryan Adams & the Cardinals Follow the Lights Lost HighwayAmericana, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Country-Rock, Singer/Songwriter Gary Allan Living Hard MCA NashvilleContemporary Country Babyshambles Shotter's Nation EMI/ParlophoneIndie Rock Bobby Bare Drunk and Crazy [Bonus Tracks] RavenOutlaw Country, Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan, Progressive Country, Traditional Country Bizarre Blue Cheese 'N' Coney Island KR UrbanHardcore Rap, Underground Rap Bush Tetras Very Very Happy RoirNo Wave, Post-Punk Cassius 15 Again EMI/VirginProgressive House, House, Club/Dance Castanets In the Vines Asthmatic KittyIndie Rock Coke Na Na: A Funk Anthology Essential Media GroupLatin Rock, Funk, Latin Soul Justin Currie What Is Love For Wea/RykodiscAdult Alternative Pop/Rock Bo Diddley I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958 Hip-O SelectRock & Roll, R&B, Electric Chicago Blues Jermaine Dupri Ya'll Know What This Is…The Hits IslandPop-Rap, Urban, Hip-Hop Enthroned Tetra Karcist NapalmHeavy Metal, Death Metal/Black Metal Ghost Overture: Live in Nippon Yusen Soko Drag CityImprovisation, Free Improvisation, Experimental Rock, Experimental, Psychedelic, Avant-Garde Everette Harp My Inspiration ShanachieCrossover Jazz, Jazz-Pop, Instrumental Pop, Smooth Jazz, Contemporary Jazz Heart Dreamboat Annie Live Shout! FactoryAlbum Rock, Pop/Rock, Hard Rock, Arena Rock Hurricane Chris 51/50 Ratchet Polo Grounds/J-RecordsSouthern Rap, Hardcore Rap Shooter Jennings The Wolf Universal SouthAlternative Country, Contemporary Country, Outlaw Country, Southern Rock, Country-Rock Paavo Järvi Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 "Pathètique"; Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy [Hybrid SACD] TelarcRomantic Orchestral Music Roman Kofman Liszt: Christus MDGRomantic Oratorio Ulrich Krieger The Marvellous Aphorisms of Gavin Bryars: The Early Years ModeContemporary Chamber Music Julie London All Through the Night [Bonus Track] CapitolTraditional Pop, Cool Taj Mahal Oooh So Good N'Blues/Recycling the Blues RavenFolk-Blues, Electric Country Blues, Modern Acoustic Blues Mötley Crüe Carnival of Sins: Live, Vols. 1-2 Eleven Seven MusicHair Metal, Heavy Metal Susan Narucki Kernis: Simple Songs; Valentines; Songs of Innocents Koch International ClassicsContemporary Vocal Music Lisa O'Kane It Don't Hurt New Light/UniversalContemporary Country Of Montreal If He Is Protecting Our Nation… Who Is Protecting Big Oil, Our Children? Track And FieldIndie Pop, Neo-Psychedelia Original Video Game Soundtrack Guitar Hero 3 InterscopeVideo Game Music, Soundtracks Phosphorescent Pride Dead OceansIndie Rock, Alternative Folk, Lo-Fi Prefuse 73 Preparations [Bonus CD] WarpLeft-Field Hip-Hop, IDM Relient K Let It Snow Baby… Let It Reindeer CapitolChristian Punk, Alternative CCM, Punk-Pop, Holiday, Alternative Pop/Rock, Christmas Emmy Rossum Inside Out GeffenAdult Alternative Pop/Rock Saturday Looks Good to Me Fill Up the Room KIndie Pop, Alternative Singer/Songwriter Say Anything In Defense of the Genre J-RecordsPunk-Pop, Punk Revival, Emo The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir BloodshotIndie Pop Seether Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces Wind-upPost-Grunge, Alternative Metal Ringo Starr Live at Soundstage KochPop/Rock Two Lone Swordsmen Wrong Meetings Rotter's Golf ClubIDM, Electro-Techno, Techno, Ambient Techno, Experimental Electro Various Artists Nick Didkovsky: Ice Cream Time New WorldContemporary Chamber Music Jerry Wallace The Best of Jerry Wallace: The Country Years Varese SarabandeNashville Sound/Countrypolitan, Country-Pop The Weakerthans Reunion Tour Epitaph/AntiIndie Rock Joe Williams/Count Basie Every Day I Have the Blues [Bonus Tracks] CapitolTraditional Pop, Standards, Swing, Vocal Jazz Nancy Wilson The Nancy Wilson Show! EMI/Capitol JazzTraditional Pop, Standards Dwight Yoakam Dwight Sings Buck New WestNew Traditionalist, Bakersfield Sound, Neo-Traditionalist Country Rob Zombie Live GeffenAlternative Metal, Heavy Metal

Apparently Rock N Roll Jesus needs to learn a lesson in loving thy neighbor. Kid Rock (real name: Robert James Ritchie) was arrested on charges of misdemeanor battery early Sunday morning (October 21) in DeKalb County, Georgia, after he and his entourage allegedly beat up a man at a Waffle House, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Rock was released later Sunday after posting a $1,000 bond. The Associated Press reports that he spent 12 hours in jail, posting the bond around 5 p.m. Rock was reportedly eating a meal when Harlem DeJon Akins recognized a woman in Rock’s crew and started speaking with her. Rock intervened in the conversation and a fight subsequently broke out between him and Akins, spurring five men who were with Rock to get involved. “He and five members of his entourage were involved in a fight with a male customer inside the Waffle House,” DeKalb County Police Department spokeswoman Mekka Parish told AP. “It escalated to a physical altercation between Kid Rock and that male customer, and moved outside to the parking lot.” Akins suffered minor cuts and bruises after punching and breaking a window at the Waffle House. When the fight ended, Rock and his crew apparently left in their tour bus and were stopped a mile away from the restaurant. They were taken into custody and charged with battery. The other men in Rock’s crew were George P. Vourvoulias, James W. Murphy, Brian O. Lang, Jason E. Krause and Aaron Julison. Akins faces a felony charge of second-degree criminal damage to property for breaking the window, which was valued at more than $500. Rock and his group were in town for his Saturday night show at the Tabernacle to hype his new release, Rock N Roll Jesus. While the LP is at the top of the Billboard albums chart, Rock’s public outbursts have been stealing some of the attention. Beyond the Sunday incident, Rock also made headlines when he scuffled with ex-Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in September. Rock later told MTV News that a lingering “level of disrespect” between he and Lee had provoked the incident.

Songwriter Fran Healy explained how he found that a promising chord sequence he'd written was identical to the chords from the Oasis classic, but decided that Noel Gallagher would approve of the borrowing. Talking to Britain's XFM, Healy said: "I remember trying to play a song by a band, I can't remember their name, but it was a song called ''74-'75' [by the Connells ]. I was trying to play the tune and it went [wrong], I quickly swapped it to E minor and I added this [sings guitar riff] and I thought, 'Oh, that's good.' "Then I realized they were actually the chords to 'Wonderwall' and I was like, 'Damn!' And then I thought, you know, Noel's always talking about nicking chords from people, so I figured just using the chords was acceptable–but I doff my cap to the writer!"