The Mighty MASTODON are "Best Metal Band," says to Rolling Stone Magazine. Check out the BEST OF ROCK 2008 issue dated May 1, 2008 - on stands now.

The New CD + DVD release from Finland's HIM, DIGITAL VERSATILE DOOM: LIVE AT THE ORPHEUM THEATER XXXVII A.S. , will be released tomorrow - Tues April 29th. Check out the live cut of "Bleed Well" here.

Tegan and Sara finally return to Coachella, this time to play on the Main Stage as the sun was setting. Truly one of the highlights of this year's festival. Here's a clip from this past weekend of T&S perfroming "I Bet It Stung," (one of my fave T&S songs) from their last album, SO JEALOUS.

TEGAN AND SARA perform THE CON, live on THE TONIGHT SHOW with Jay Leno from Wed April 23rd.
Sweet!

Brent & Brann of MASTODON meet The Boss in Atlanta last weekend to audition for new E Street band members as he's been talking about "thickening up his sound, downtuning to a fat, low E-tuning (no pun) and working with some fresh Terks."
No, not really. Jeez...

REM - Hollowman

“Hollow Man,” the second single from R.E.M.’s new album Accelerate, premiered exclusively on MySpace TV on Wednesday, April 23rd. The video for “Hollow Man” was created by Crush Inc. — a cutting edge graphic-design and production studio based in Toronto.

R.E.M front man Michael Stipe had this to say about the innovative clip...

"I wanted Hollow Man to be a piece that creates a chaotic universe that only really occurs on a desktop, backlit and made of light, and to allow within that universe varying levels of, and glimpses into, intimacy and distance, abstraction and distraction, focus and avoidance. All the things that flash across the conscious mind when you're trying to work your way through something. The Pixelman became the kind of unconscious; direct, calm and absolute, but ultimately unclear in his direction.

I had the idea that Crush could provide a completely made up universe that references our world but flattens it out and mixes in the turmoil and tumult of emotion; in essence, like the character in the song, overwhelmed, incomplete, emptied out, on repeat.

Crush delivered brilliant ideas which became several roughs, and we worked closely on the ideas, bouncing them off of Chris Bilheimer and a few trusted allies and artists. I was inspired by Douglas Coupland (http://www.coupland.com), various websites that invite web experimentation that I discovered with Jacknife Lee (http://www.jacknifelee.com), and Eliot's "The Hollow Men". It was great fun working with Crush (http://www.crushinc.com). I think the result is staggering. We are already at work on our next project together."

- Michael Stipe

Check out Against Me!'s Rock The Vote PSA. Get out and vote!

Jessi Malay attended 2008 Asian Excellence Awards and joined many others to celebrate achievements of Asians/Asian Americans in film, television, music, and the performing arts. This year’s show will premiere on E! Entertainment on May 1 at 6 p.m. ET/PT. Check out these "Cinematic" photos of Jessi !!!

(left: Apple from Black Eyed Peas, Lindsey Price from Lipstick Jungle, and Jessi Malay. Right: Geoffrey, Roscoe Umali, and Jessi Malay)

Against Me! is named Best Punk Band by Rolling Stone!

Two weeks after his WBR debut, Sunset Man, debuted at #3 on the Top 200 chart, Otto stopped by LP Field (Home of the Titans) to rehearse for his upcoming performance there on Sunday, June 8th. Two weeks ago he played a nightclub in Nashville -- now, the arena.