Nickelback – The Concordian

Blu-Ray Way

The Beatles’ 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour will be receiving the DVD/Blu ray treatment come Oct. 9, when it will be reissued by the same folks who handled the Yellow Submarine reissue earlier this year. The film includes a wealth of bonus features, including a making-of documentary, interviews with the band, deleted scenes and director commentary by Paul McCartney himself. In celebration of this re-release, the film will receive a limited theatrical release on Sept. 27. If that’s still not enough, consider the Boxed Edition, which includes a 60 page booklet and a 7 inch vinyl as well as the film in both digital formats.

More Faith No More?

In an interview with News.com, Mike Patton, the man behind such acts as Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, and Faith No More, said that the band considered writing new material, but ultimately decided against it. “We’re pretty happy with just touring. There was talk, ‘Should we write new stuff?’ and we all looked at each other and said ‘Nahhh, fuck it.’ We did work up one new little thing and that was really energizing.” That “new little thing” is a song called “Matador,” which the band has played in live shows over the last few months, footage of which can be found on YouTube.

Do we hear wedding bells?

Canadian pop music has a new couple to contend with, as Avril Lavigne and Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger have announced their engagement after keeping their relationship under wraps for six months. The pair met in February when they collaborated on a song for Lavigne’s upcoming fifth studio album. “A romantic relationship blossomed as they spent time writing together,” a friend of Lavigne’s told People magazine. Kroeger popped the question on Aug. 8 with a 14K diamond ring, and the couple’s families “couldn’t be happier.” Sharing in the joy were the pairs many detractors, who used the opportunity to alight the twittersphere in sarcasm. Said comedian Morgan Murphy on her twitter: “Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger have requested that in lieu of wedding gifts, everyone stop laughing uncontrollably at them.”

Bad Iver

Indie darling Bon Iver topped LA Weekly’s Worst Hipster Bands of All Time list, beating out groups like Arcade fire and the Black Keys for the top spot. Said the LA Weekly of the group: “Bon Iver coos the celebratory ballads of hip poseurs who refuse to get their hands dirty, that is, unless that filth is quaint and photogenic.” They were also decried as the “sonic equivalent of an empty canvas tote bag.” I’m sure wherever Justin Vernon is, he is crying all about it over his Grammys.

Because Deamau5+1 sounds stupid

In a post on his Tumblr account, dance music artist Deadmau5 revealed he’s not too keen on collaborations with other artists, and that he has refused many requests from big artists in the past. “All too often, there’s an influx of ‘big names’ that would get thrown around the label from time to time and of course, they fly off the table and out the fuckin’ door faster than they hit my desk,” wrote Deadmau5. “Do you want to do a track with big name X, remix huge pop act Y, etc. etc. No. I fucking don’t. I really REALLY don’t.”
He says his biggest problem with these artists is that, more often than not, the lyrics are too vapid for his taste and that he has no interest in songs that “have some fucking dipshit blab about lookin’ sexy, poppin’ bottles, ‘dropping bass,’ or ANYTHING club related.” The electronic music star did mention that his previous collaborations with bands like Cypress Hill and the Foo Fighters were “the results of stuff [I’m] totally into” and were not the target of his rant.

Black Keys sorry for shooting fish in a barrel

Those of you with long memories may recall the tiff between The Black Keys and Nickelback that occurred a while back. For those who don’t, the Keys’ Patrick Carney trashed Nickelback saying that rock music was dying because “people became OK with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world, so they became OK with the idea that the biggest rock band in the world is always going to be shit.” Now he’s recanted his previous statement, sort of: “I didn’t mean to single them out,” the drummer said in an interview with MTV News Canada. “It just came out. There are much worse bands than Nickelback, maybe.”

Don’t send in the clowns

This year’s inductees to the rock and roll hall of fame include Guns N’ Roses, the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It does not, however, include KISS, and they’re not happy about the snub. “It’s become a joke,” said bassist Gene Simmons of the Hall of Fame. “We’ve been thinking about it and the answer is simply ‘We’ll just buy it and fire everybody’.” Simmons said the fact that Madonna and Blondie were inductees showed how far off the mark of ‘Rock and Roll’ the institution had gone. “They’re legitimate dance, disco artists. They don’t belong in rock and roll.” Simmons’ bandmate, Paul Stanley, added that “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has reached a point where they’re really scrounging and scratching to find someone left that they consider viable. With all due respect, when you get to Patti Smith you’re about two steps away from Pete Seeger.” KISS have been eligible for induction since 1999.

What will Meg do now?

Jack White has come out and said there is “absolutely no chance” that he will ever bring back The White Stripes. “I’m not the kind of person that would retire from baseball and come out of retirement the next year,” said White in an interview with NME magazine. “I mean, if we went to all the trouble of telling people we’re done, we meant it, you know?” He says the only reason he could possibly foresee a reunion would be if he “went bankrupt or really needed the cash, which would be a really sad thing.”