'Dark Knight' new Imax king

Batman overtakes 'Polar Express' as top first-run release




The Imax-format button of Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight" has blown past "The Polar Express" as the giant-screen exhibitor's top first-run release.

Imax too touted the Batman sequel's passing an average agree of $400,000 per screen on its 139 worldwide screens.

"The Dark Knight has shown the power of the Imax experience when partnered with a filmmaker and a studio that get it," Imax Filmed Entertainment headman Greg Foster said.

Directed by Christopher Nolan and stellar Christian Bale, "Dark Knight" has rung up more than $925 million world-wide including $55 million in Imax grosses. That compares to the $45 one thousand thousand fetched by Imax 3-D version of Warners/Imax's seasonal worker favorite "The Polar Express," which was distributed both in conventional and Imax 3-D formats in 2004.

That first world theatrical run for "Polar" capped sour at well-nigh $285 gazillion, but the Tom Hanks starrer has been re-released in Imax 3-D every holiday season. Helmed by Robert Zemeckis, "Polar" testament unspool in about two dozen Imax 3-D venues over Thanksgiving, with its four-year cume in Imax 3-D approaching $70 million.

"Dark Knight" was released in July at the same time in conventional theaters and Imax 2-D venues global and continues to play on ci Imax screens in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in 38 international venues. Foster said he would welcome whatever Imax re-release of the Batman blockbuster in next years, should Warners see merit in such a plan.

"That sounds like a really great idea," the Imax white House said. "Ultimately, it's a decision that Warner Bros. has to make. We'd certainly support that."

Warners distribution president Dan Fellman said there was "a real possibility" of such a re-release. Imax's imminent conversion of many of its venues to digital distribution would lay down cost considerations of such a move more negligible, though Fellman stressed nil regarding an eventual "Dark Knight" re-release has been decided.


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Metallica To Play O2 Arena Charity Show

Metallica will play deuce shows following month in aid of charity, including a performance in London.

The rockers testament first play a gig at O2 World in Berlin on September twelfth, to be followed by a concert at the O2 Arena in London three days later, on September 15th.

Both of these shows ar only available to the band's fan club members, and those people wHO subscribe to MissionMetallica.com.

Tickets will be sold at the loud price of �5 and all just the ticket proceeds will be donated to diverse charities, which the lot will be revealing all over the next two weeks.

Metallica have also proclaimed that 'The Day That Never Comes' will be the first single from new album 'Death Magnetic' and volition be sold online as a download on August 22nd, then as a physical release in September.

The group are also preparation themselves for a headline appearance at the Reading and Leeds festivals this weekend.

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Mp3 music: Killing Joke

Artist: Killing Joke: mp3 download    Genre(s):  Rock: Punk-Rock Pop: Pop-Rock Alternative Other Trance: Psychedelic Rock Electronic     Killing Joke's discography:      Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell    Year: 2006    Tracks: 9      For Beginners    Year: 2004    Tracks: 16      Seeing Red    Year: 2003    Tracks: 4      Killing Joke (Special Uk Edition)    Year: 2003    Tracks: 11      Killing Joke    Year: 2003    Tracks: 11      Wardance - The Remixes    Year: 1999    Tracks: 9      Democrazy    Year: 1996    Tracks: 10      Wilful Days    Year: 1995    Tracks: 13      Pandemonium    Year: 1994    Tracks: 10      Joking Apart    Year: 1994    Tracks: 13      Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!    Year: 1992    Tracks: 17      Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions EP    Year: 1990    Tracks: 11      Outside The Gate    Year: 1988    Tracks: 10      Brighter Than A Thousand Suns    Year: 1986    Tracks: 11      Brighter Than A 1000 Suns    Year: 1986    Tracks: 11      What's This For...!    Year: 1981    Tracks: 8      4 Stations Of The Sun (Demos and Unreleased)    Year:     Tracks: 13 Heavy and slow, Killing Joke (at least early in their life history) was a quasi-metal band dance to a tune of fate and gloom. They eventually became less wakeless and more arty (the latter seems nigh impossible) -- more than danceable even -- only early on they made some pressing slabs of liquefied dynamite that oozed with the power of dense guitars, thudding drums, and sinful vocalizing. The origins of Killing Joke lie in the Matt Stagger Band. Paul Ferguson was drumming for the chemical group when he met Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards) in the late '70s. Coleman coupled the Matt Stagger Band in brief, just before long he and Ferguson split to strain Killing Joke in late 1978. The couplet recruited bassist Youth (born Martin Glover Youth), world Health Organization had antecedently played with the punk rocker grouping the Rage, and guitarist Geordie (born Kevin Walker) to complete the band's batting order. Killing Joke moved to Notting Hill Gate and recorded their debut EP, About Red, with money borrowed from Coleman's girlfriend of the clip. BBC disc jockey John Peel was impressed by the EP and offered the group a session on his show, which became one of the to the highest degree popular shows he spread in the late '70s. By the end of 1979, the mathematical group had signed with Island Records, world Health Organization allowed them to pose up their own label, Malicious Damage. Killing Joke released "Wardance," their debut single on Malicious Damage, in February of 1980. Following its outlet, Killing Joke and Malicious Damage switched from Island Records to EG and released their eponymous debut record album. The group began playing shows regularly passim England and gained a reputation for being controversial. Their artwork often featured hideous or seditious images, and after unitary of their concert posters envisioned the Pope blessing legions of Nazis, the group was prohibited from performing a concert in Glasgow. Despite the controversy, the mathematical group began amassing a undermentioned of both strong-armer and disco fans with hard-edged merely danceable singles like "Psyche" and "Follow the Leader." The band released its second record album, What's THIS For...!, in 1981. After recording and releasing the group's third base album, 1982's Revelations, Jaz Coleman -- world Health Organization had developed an obsession with the occult -- decided that the revelation was near, so he left the group and ran away to Iceland with Geordie. While in Iceland, Coleman and Geordie worked with a number of Icelandic bands, about notably Theyr, which would later develop into the Sugarcubes. Youth followed Coleman to Iceland shortly afterward his difference. After a few months with no mark of the end of the world, Youth returned to England and formed Brilliant with Ferguson. However, Ferguson left shortly afterward the group's formation and touched to Iceland with Killing Joke's new bassist, Paul Raven. Youth continued playing with Brilliant, while Killing Joke's new batting order -- featuring Coleman, Geordie, Ferguson, and Raven -- worked in Iceland for a abbreviated catamenia. Soon, the group returned to England and recorded Fervour Dances, which was released in 1983. Fire Dances demonstrated a calmer, more than straightforward band than the one showcased on the group's earlier records. For the rest of the '80s, Killing Joke continued to release albums, all of which failed to find the interview they had in the early '80s. After 1988's Outside the Gate, the group stone-broke up, only to reunify two eld later for Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions. Extremities featured a new drummer, Martin Atkins, and returned the band to the noisy dance experiments of their earlier records. Following its outlet, the mathematical group took a four-year break. In 1994, Killing Joke re-formed as a trine with Coleman, Geordie, and Youth and the group released Topsy-turvydom, a harder-edged, heavier record album than their previous records. Democracy (1996), a second self-titled album (2003), and the live solemnization 25 Gathering! followed. After opening for the reunited Mötley Crüe on a 2004 duty tour of the U.K., the band colonized in Prague to record its future record album, Hosannas from the Basement of Hell, which appeared in 2006.

Seasons Of The Wolf | Download mp3

Reveille

   
Artist: Reveille

   Genre(s): 
Rock
   Other
   

---

Discography:


   
 Bleed the Sky

   Year: 2002   
Tracks: 13


   
 Laced

   Year: 1999   
Tracks: 12

---

Hybrid toilsome rockers Reveille formed in the slight town of Harvard, MA. The set rose out of the ashes of singer/songwriter Drew Simollardes' and guitarist Steve Miloszewski's early groups, keeping Simollardes' drummer, Justin Wilson, and Milosznewski's guitar player, Greg Sullivan. After recruiting bassist Carl Randolph, the five-piece ring recorded a six-song demo that caught the attention of a music agent, world Health Organization brought Reveille to the attendance of major labels. A show window at CBGB created farther interest in the band and earned Reveille a deal with Elektra Records, wHO released their debut album Laced in 1999.

Stone Temple Pilots beef up North American tour

Stone Temple Pilots have added a string of dates to their forthcoming reunion tour, kicking off this Saturday (May 17) in Columbus, OH.

As previously reported, they played an intimate show in Los Angeles last month, during which they performed seven of their biggest hits and expressed excitement at their forthcoming stint on the road.

The band�??s reunion comes in the wake of Scott Weiland�??s acrimonious split with former band Velvet Revolver.

The newly added dates are:

Wallingford, CT Chevrolet Theatre (May 25)
Detroit, MI The Fillmore Detroit (June 4)
Indianola, IA KAZR Radio Event @ National Balloon Classic Field (July 5)
Montreal, Quebec Bell Centre (July 11)
Canandaigua, NY Constellation Performing Arts Center (15)
Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre (July 29)
Oklahoma City, OK KATT Radio Festival @ Zoo Amphitheatre (August 2)
Southaven, MS DeSoto Civic Center (3)
Elisabeth, IN Caesar�??s Casino (16)
Spokane, WA Radio Event @ Greyhound Park (September 1)
Sacramento, CA Raley Field (5)
Santa Barbara, CA County Bowl (7)
New Orleans, LA Voodoo Festival (October 24)
Dallas, TX Edgefest @ Pizza Hut Park (25)
Corpus Christi, TX Concrete Street Amphitheatre (26)

--By our New York staff.
Find out more about NME.

Coldplay - Coldplay Sit Atop Uk Chart After Sales Storm

British rockers COLDPLAY have stormed to the top of the U.K. charts - despite their new album VIVA LA VIDA only being on sale for three days.

The Yellow hitmakers' latest LP knocked veteran rocker Paul Weller's 22 Dreams from the number one spot, and is set to be one of the fastest selling albums in history after selling 302, 000 copies since its release on Thursday (12Jun08).

Weller moved into fourth place in the chart, behind legendary crooner Neil Diamond's Home Before Dark at number two and Welsh soul Duffy's Rockferry which has made its way back into the top three albums.

The Fratellis' Here We Stand sits at number five.

In the U.K. single chart, dance group Mint Royale's remix of classic musical tune Singin' In The Rain stays at number one for a second week, with Rihanna and Take A Bow also sitting the same at number two.

R+B hunk Ne-Yo takes the number three spot, after entering the chart last week (Beg09Jun08) at number five.

British duo Ting Tings move back up the chart from number four to the third position, as does U.S singer Sara Bareilles, whose Love Song track also moves up a spot to sit at number 5.

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Children's singer Justin Roberts is loved by grown-ups, too

PARK RIDGE, Ill. - The people who inhabit Justin Roberts' songs stand up for themselves and rat out their brothers. They comfort those in need and prey on the weak. Some are sleepy and one guy's wired on coffee.

That sounds like pretty grown-up stuff, especially since his biggest fans know him as Justin "Woberts." The 38-year-old Roberts is a rising star in kids' music.

In less than a decade he's gone from playing for a few people in a maternity shop to a few thousand in big-city pavilions and concert halls. And he's done it in a way that's increasingly popular: entertaining children without dressing like a purple dinosaur or singing songs that drive parents crazy.

"It's not like a lot of kid music that's almost unbearable for an adult to listen to," said Lee Berger, sitting at a recent show in suburban Chicago with his wife and two small children. "It's actually good music and then they like it as well."

As for the kids, they flock to his shows. In their concert T-shirts, they look like their parents might have at a rock concert - only shorter and without lighters. They act a lot like them, too, darting to the front of the stage, jumping up and down, spinning and singing along with song after song.

"I get to dance to them," said Berger's six-year-old daughter, Emily.

Roberts is among a growing group of musicians who have shifted their focus from nightclubs to daycare centres. From Dan Zanes, best known as one of the Del Fuegos, to Elizabeth Mitchell, who made a name for herself with the indie rock band Ida, musicians who gained fame playing for adults are enjoying success entertaining children.

They're not selling nearly as many CDs as Disney's "High School Musical" and "Hanna Montana," but sales are picking up.

Zanes' 2006 CD, "Catch That Train," sold 85,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Roberts has sold a total of 50,000, Nielsen SoundScan reports, but Missi Callazzo of MRI Associated Labels, which distributes Roberts' label, Carpet Square Records, said that when sales from such non-traditional spots as clothing stores and toy stores are factored in, the number is closer to 100,000. And Roberts' recently released "Pop Fly" climbed into the top 50 on Amazon.com's list of children's music CDs.

The new children's performers don't need a lot of gimmicks - they just walk on stage and start playing.

Though their styles differ, their songs are evidence that they've discovered that kids can listen to and enjoy music that is more sophisticated than "Wheels on the Bus."

For Roberts, it happened when he took a job as a preschool teacher in Minneapolis to supplement the not-so-great money he was making in a band.

"I was listening to this really saccharine-style children's music with the preschoolers that they liked a lot but I didn't want to listen to myself," he said.

He discovered they also liked the Sam Cooke songs and Irish jigs he played for them, and the songs he wrote himself. After he left the school, he kept writing kids' songs, though he didn't have any kids of his own.

Three years later, he'd written enough to make a tape and send it to friends. Among them was fellow musician, Liam Davis, who suggested Roberts go to a studio.

That became "Big Yellow Sun," a self-released CD that came out in 1997.

Though he started graduate school, a few years later he released "Yellow Bus" and went on tour, playing in thrift shops, church basements and that maternity shop in Soho.

Today he plays with a five-piece band - the Not Ready for Naptime Players - or just with Davis, who plays keyboards, guitar, bongo drums and kazoo.

The songs are a mix of rock, folk, rockabilly and punk, influenced by Elvis Costello, Paul Simon and the "Schoolhouse Rock" he listened to as a kid and still admires.

Most of the songs are upbeat, about temper tantrums and tickling, messy rooms and monsters, with titles like "My Brother Did It" and "Brontosaurus Has a Sweet Tooth." He also touches on kids' fears and sorrows, whether they come from the dark, bullies or their parents' divorce.

Roberts still doesn't have children and, except for the 38-kilogram dog that looks and moves like it might be two kids in a dog suit, there is little in his suburban Chicago home to suggest he has any particular insight into their lives.

Instead, he has his own memories and the memories of those around him.

The song "Giant-Sized Butterflies" was inspired by the moment during his own childhood, when "I realized my mom was going to leave and I was going to be alone in school." His wife's experience of moving over and over as her dad's job took him around the world became "Moving."

Tammy La Gorce, who has written about children's music and reviewed Roberts' work, said his songs resonate with kids because they are written from a kids-eye view.

"He knows where kids are coming from; he gets it," she said.

And La Gorce, who in one review praised Roberts for "some of the most inspired and intelligent kids' lyrics ever," said the music reminds parents of their own childhood.

Roberts is careful not to preach to kids. In "Billy the Bully," for example, a little girl stands up to bullies, but it's not completely clear how things turned out.

Nor does he want to give them too much information.

In "Mama is Sad," divorce is handled with the simple line, "She's taking off her ring," and her profound sadness with phrases like: "Give her my Lego blocks to play/ Blocks won't fit together today."

That's enough, said Roberts. "They get the concept of a parent being sad and that being OK," he said.

He also turns the sometimes painful experiences of childhood on their ear, as in "Get Me Some Glasses," which he portrays as something to be savoured.

"It's the whole thing of you are in a cool club with glasses," he said. "It's really the opposite of reality."

There is plenty for adults and, say critics, his music resonates with them because there is something universal about themes like overcoming fears that nobody outgrows.

Roberts agrees, and says he's come to understand that by writing something about children, he's writing about grown-ups too.

"Some of the ways that I'm reaching both audiences is we have these really common experiences that I think you experience as a child and you experience as an adult," he said. "And it's the same kind of thing and you have to go through it over and over."

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