Rage Against The Machine played a gig in the Denver Coliseum yesterday (August 28) - deliberately near the Democratic National Convention. The show was designed to put pressure on US authorities to end the war in Iraq and took place in the same city as the Convention, which took place in the Mile High Stadium at the same time. As well as playng a live show, the band led the 8,000 concert-goers in a “march for peace” to the Pepsi Center in the city after their gig. According to Denverpost.com, Vietnam war veteran Ron Kovic (subject of the Academy Award-winning 1989 movie ‘Born On The Fourth Of July’) was invited onstage to make a speech. “We will bring the troops home,” he said, “and we will do this non-violently, in the spirit of Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.” The event passed peacefully after those onstage repeatedly reminded attendees not to give police reason to start a “police riot”.

Katy Perry is apparently working on finding a female celeb to kiss during this year's live telecast of the awards show on Sept. 7. Who does MTV want to match her up with? Read on to find out… Lindsay Lohan! "Producers are really working hard on it," a source exclusively reveals to me. "They'd love it to be Lindsay, and they're actually going to ask." Like that will ever happen. Even if Ms. Lohan has signed on to be a presenter, I highly doubt she's gonna be lockin' lips with the "I Kissed a Girl" hitmaker anytime soon. But if Ms. Perry can't find anyone, there's always Tila Tequila! Reps for Perry and MTV did not comment. Now, let's hear from you: Who do you think Perry should kiss on the big night? Leave your comments below.

Ice Cube is a fascinating figure in hip-hop. The modern day Cube is surrounded by a lot of younger cats and he often comes off looking more like an actor than a legendary rapper. At 39-years-old, his focus on acting may be the thing most people relate with his career but his gangsta rap bloodline will always be the foundation on which Cube built his fortune. In many ways, no matter how many Are We There Yet? moments Cube has, he’ll always be The Predator. With Raw Footage, he proves, without a shadow of a doubt, that the West Coast Icon can still throw down with the best of the best. His eighth studio album surprised the hell out of me, blasting out of my speakers with taut production, a light and cool guest line-up, and Cube’s trademark delivery as the lawful showpiece. This is pure Ice Cube for pure Ice Cube fans. There’s nothing trivial about his approach here, as he is succinct and shrewd when he rips through the “I do gangster rap” speech at the beginning of “Thank God” that pins the origin of rap music on a system that failed the poor. “I’m blamin’ them motherfuckers for gangsta rap because if they didn’t create these kinda conditions, I wouldn’t have shit to rap about,” he spits. And he doesn’t hold back on the corporate tip either, shouting “Fuck Viacom!” on the Public Enemy-inspired “It Takes a Nation.” At 70 minutes, this is a stripped-down and clear-cut hip-hop record. Like The Game’s record, this is light on skits and sketches and focuses on the album’s star as the hinge by which everything else swings. Following the pattern set by Laugh Now, Cry Later, this album is slim on guest footage and heavy on Raw Footage. Young Jeezy joins Cube for the vivacious “I Got My Locs On,” a track which showcases his ability to outshine young rappers with his enchanting flow and poetic command. And Musiq Soulchild provides a silky backcloth for poignant “Why Me?” “Get Use to It” adds The Game and long-time collaborator WC to the mix for a strident game of upping the lyrical ante backed by a killer thump. The lead single, “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It,” is a classic track in the making accented by Cube’s lyrics gliding effortlessly over the throwback synth environment. Shady and antagonistic, he spits some of his best lines in years over the Maestro production. All in all, Raw Footage surprised me like a bolt from the blue. Ice Cube’s voice remains as one of my favourites in hip-hop and his flow is flawless here. There are very few misses, if any, and the production is polished and never domineering. Ice Cube’s Raw Footage may be one of his best records in years and marks another must-have in the career of a true hip-hop legend.

Superclub brand Gatecrasher are offering free taxi rides for all female groups visiting their soon to be launched club Gatecrasher Birmingham. Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, operations director Adrian Swain said they’ve been collaborating closely with local police to protect visitors to the Broad Street venue, with additional taxi services available at the club, ‘to deter patrons from using unmarked vehicles.’ The move is likely to impress safety campaigners, with unlicenced minicabs continuing to pose serious risks for passengers throughout the UK. London’s Metropolitan police report that 140 people were sexually assaulted in illegal minicabs in the capital last year. Reporting on the long standing threat in 2002 the Sunday Mirror interviewed Bryan Roland, of the National Association of Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Enforcement Officers, who conceded �?as in any profession, there will be rogue individuals who commit appalling crimes’, throughout the UK. “There are 451 clubs in the city and you have 120,000 people wanting to get home at the same time on a Friday or Saturday night,” he pointed out, speaking about Manchester. “If someone wants to pass themselves off as a minicab driver with a view to committing a rape, the amount of resources needed to prevent that would be so massive as to be impossible. It is up to the passengers to make sure their cab is licensed,” he added. Manchester police chief Superintendent Garry Shewan issued a similar warning two years later, to clubbers taking risks when licenced cabs were unavailable. “Bogus drivers sometimes just want to make money by ferrying people around without getting insurance or a licence,” he told the BBC. “But a small number deliberately set out to attack lone travellers.” (BBC). Gatecrasher Birmingham opens on September 8, promising �?Music. Glamour. Flashing Lights’ and a music policy that ranges from �?house to rock to hip hop to trance to drum and bass to indie to pop.’ RSS del.ici.ous Digg Facebook

"Dr. Dre is mourning the loss of his son Andre Young Jr. Please respect his family's grief and privacy at this time," rep Lori Earl tells E! News. The 20-year-old Andre was found unresponsive by his mother Saturday morning, after a night out with friends, authories say. "Police arrived and declared him [deceased]," says Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County coroner's office, adding there was "no visible trauma or the like." The precise cause of death won't be known for up to eight weeks, when toxicology tests are completed. An award-winning producer and musician, Dre has worked with many in the music industry, from his days with NWA to protégés Snoop Dogg and Eminem to Burt Bacharach.

According to a statement, the song is an "anthemic call-to-action and evocation of human potential." It includes such lines as "We're the generation / We can't afford to wait / The future started yesterday and we're already late." "If You're Out There" features the Agape Choir. It will be available via the Web site my.barackobama.com/johnlegend after the performance but can be purchased beforehand via iTunes. The song will also be found on Legend's next album, "Evolver," due October 28 via Columbia. Reuters/Billboard

A few weeks ago a young British artist updated his MySpace blog and added a photo. No big deal I hear you cry, and ordinarily you'd be quite right. But on this occasion the details in question belonged to the spectral figure at the pinnacle of Britain’s ferociously underground dubstep movement, who beforehand had preferred the blanket anonymity of being known only as Burial. And in finally revealing his real identity, a man with the public profile of a spy became national news. Since materialising in 2005 with the South London Boroughs EP, by shunning the mainstream press and becoming locked at the centre of a burgeoning scene, Burial rapidly became an anti figurehead swathed in a backlight of rumour and speculation. Frequently this kind of misdirection is created by PR’s and managers in lieu of talent, but any doubts about musical integrity were quickly dispelled by a stunning eponymous debut album. Rated by Metacritic as the second best work of 2007 - ahead of In Rainbows, Neon Bible and Boxer - it was an intricate hybrid that deftly blended the peculiarly minimalist inspiration of its urban roots with a startlingly evocative quality. Drawing less heavily than much of the rest of the genre on dub reggae and instead using the chattering percussion of two step melded to the lush timbre-soaked electronica of Boards of Canada, it was both of dubstep but apart, work bathed in the almost surrealist light of a chilly English dawn. Almost immediately speculation began to proliferate about who could've been capable of moulding these largely nascent ingredients into something so fully formed. For a long period of time Richard D. James (AKA Aphex Twin) was the popular favourite, whilst wilder gossip threw Fatboy Slimmer Norman Cook's name into the melee. Given that dubstep is still largely rooted in the metropolitan districts of places like South London and Bristol but in terms of sales, has displayed little capacity to crossover, the story may have remained something of an obscure cause celebre for years to come. All this changed however in July of this year, when Burial's second album Untrue received a nomination for the Mercury Prize, one of the most prestigious - and profile building - awards bestowed by the UK music industry. It's also a gong with a history of controversy; since first being awarded to Primal Scream's post acid rave opus Screamadelica in 1992, the judges have not been shy of nominations and winners from the more avant garde fringes of musical performance. This willingness to confront popular taste reached it's apex in 2005, when little known transgender chanteuse Anthony Hegarty shocked the assembled glitterati by triumphing with his album I Am a Bird Now. Recently the victors have been from more mainstream indiedom - Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons - and now the wise money is on the judge’s taste this year boomeranging back out into the eclectic hinterland of razor-thin niches and word-of-mouth credibility. page 1 | 2

Ida Maria played an energetic set on the Festival Republic stage at Leeds Festival today (August 23). Performing tracks from debut album ‘Fortress Round My Heart’, the Swedish singer was in an exuberant mood during songs such as ‘Forgive Me’ and ‘Morning Light’ During the set she doused herself with water, collapsed on the drum riser and even tossed away her pork-pie hat. Then while performing her Number Two hit and crowd-favourite ‘I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked’, she pulled her pink top down to reveal her cleavage. “What we give to you, we get it back,” she explained to the ecstatic crowd. Ida Maria played: ‘Morning Light’ ‘Drive Away My Heart’ ‘Louie’ huge clapalong ‘Forgive Me’ ‘Stella’ ‘Oh My God’ ‘I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked’ NME.COM is bringing you live coverage straight from both sites of the Reading And Leeds Festivals 2008. For the latest news, blogs, pictures and video interviews head to the Reading And Leeds Festivals index now. Plus make sure you get next week’s issue of NME - on newsstands nationwide from Wednesday August 27 - for the ultimate Reading And Leeds Festivals review. For more Reading And Leeds Festivals coverage including live footage and more, visit fellow official media partner bbc.co.uk/readingandleeds

I have yet to see the theatrical release of Sex and the City. However, I loved the cable television show, which, along with relationship and friendship drama, also featured great clothes and music. So it’s no surprise that the film’s soundtrack offers a diverse mix of music, including songs written expressly for the film, as well as some great remakes of oldies but goodies. Fergie’s "Labels or Love" kicks off the album, and anyone who has watched SATC over the years knows that a major running theme of the show is shopping and fashion. This song encapsulates the main character’s love affair with fashion and is an anthem for shopahlics everywhere. With the lyrics “Shopping for labels, shopping for love / Manolo and Louis, it's all I'm thinking of… / I shop for purses while love walks out the door / Don't cry, buy a bag and get over it”, it’s no wonder Carrie Bradshaw has had her share of relationship problems. Former American Idol contestant and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson contributes another original, "All Dressed in Love", and while the song lacks the snap and sizzle of Fergie’s contribution, Hudson’s smoky voice is nice to hear. Four of the reworked/remade songs include Nina Simone’s Madison Park vs Lenny B Remix of “The Look of Love” (which is infused with electronics giving off a dance vibe), The Bird & The Bee’s “How Deep Is Your Love” (originally by the Bee Gees), India.Arie’s hauntingly beautiful “The Heart of the Matter” (originally by Don Henley), and the Al Green/Joss Stone collaboration “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”. It’s hard to choose which revamp is best, but to me it's a tiebetween “The Heart of the Matter” and “How Deep is Your Love”. Three songs that seem the most random on the soundtrack but likely make sense in the film itself include “Auld Lang Syne” by Mairi Campbell & Dave Francis, the always-fun “Walk This Way” by Run-D.M.C. featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, and, of course, the “Sex and the City Movie Theme” by The Pfeifer Broz. Orchestra (although I much prefer the sharper sound of the theme used on the television show to this big-band version). On the hip side, Jem's "It's Amazing" and Bliss' "Kissing" are two great tunes that are chill yet upbeat. The electronic dance track "I Like the Way" by Kaskade, the punk-y "New York Girls" by Morningwood and the indie-pop “All This Beauty” by The Weepies round out this eclectic soundtrack. Despite a couple of misses, Sex And The City: Music From the Original Motion Picture is a good collection of songs that can be enjoyed, whether you're a SATC fan or not.

For over ten years, Netherlands-based electronica/big beat musician/producer Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) has been making a name for himself as a genre-crossing artist, often mixing dance music with rock elements, starting with 1997’s Saturday Teenage Kick, which contained the hit electronic rocker “Billy Club.” Not quite as well-known as Fatboy Slim and Chemical Brothers, or American artists like BT and Crystal Method, Junkie XL is mostly famous as the “mastermind” behind the #1 hit remix of Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation” (2002). He now has five records to his name, the latest being Booming Back At You (out now on the Artwerk label). Leadoff track “Booming Right At You” starts things off on a mixed note, as the lyrics (by Tommy Vext) get a little too repetitive, while JXL does an admirable job of modernizing ‘80s-style synths and working in a sample of a song (“DBC Let The Music Play”) from Stetasonic’s twenty-year-old classic and groundbreaking rap LP In Full Gear. On JXL’s cover of the Siouxsie and the Banshees goth-pop classic “Cities In Dust,” this otherwise superb dance-rock version has guest singer Lauren Rocket singing an ill-considered exclamatory “Yeah” after the chorus, “All your cities lie in dust.” If anything, she should be singing and emphatic “NO,” as the song is about the ancient Roman city of Pompeii being destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Musically, it’s nothing like the original, but the tune’s breakdown half-way through features keys/synths that feel familiar. “You Make Me Feel So Good” has videogame-ish sounds, which are complimented by a seductive, New York City-sounding female’s sampled vocal that every now and then references the track’s title: “You make me feel so good.” It’s an OK tune – more like good background music. Similar Nintendo-like melodies carry the progressive dance-rocker “Stratosphere” as well. The dance-lounge number “Mad Pursuit” is another highlight, with it’s finger-snapping beats and airy, tremolo-aided guitars, as is the dirty, heavy and kick-ass big-beats of “More,” where Rocket emphatically (and weirdly, unless purposely continuing the videogame theme) refrains: “Rock more/roll more/fuck more/pac-man is loving it.” Elsewhere, there is a little more diversity to the record, with final cut “Not Enough,” as its low-key vocals and bright keyboard work make the track reminiscent of New Order. But the record has more of those dance floor-ready videogame rave-ups like “No Way,” another Lauren Rocket-sung track; it is a bit overproduced, as her urgent, high-pitched vocals didn’t need to be doubled. Overall, Booming Back At You is a mixed bag, with slightly more repeat-worthy jams than skipable tracks (or ones that are more suited for amusing background music). I give Junkie XL credit for branching out and trying something different, at least from his excellent (and underrated) 2006 release Today. That record was was chock full of dreamy alterna-dance-pop, while this new one has JXL digging up some beats/blips from the ‘80s/Kraftwerk era with the intent on modernizing them. What Junkie XL needed to do though is coalesce his newfound and nostalgic influences into a more memorable record.