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Download Lineup Expands Again

antiMusic reports: The Download Festival line-up has expanded yet again, with over twenty bands joining the roster for three day event that will take place at the Donington Park in Leicestershire, England the weekend of Friday, June 13th.

According to BW&BK the latest acts confirmed for festival include: Army Of Freshman, Beat Union, Between The Buried And Me, Big Linda, Black Hole, Caimbo, Cry For Silence, Fall Of Troy, Fighting With Wire, Finger Eleven, From First To Last, The Galvatrons, Glamour Of The Kill, The Haze, Last Supper, Malefice, Mexicolas, Sons Of Albion, Stone Gods, Rolo Tomassi and Voodoo Six - full lineup

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Emmanuel Jal Joins All Star Mandela Bday Bash

HER reports: Former child soldier turned hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal has been invited to perform at the concert event, "46664 Concert Honoring Nelson Mandela at 90," which will play to a gathering of 46,664 friends and supporters at London's Hyde Park on June 27. The concert is one event in a three-day period of celebrations that will pay tribute to one of the world's most loved leaders, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and icon of freedom, Nelson Mandela, who turns 90 later this year.

With Mr. Mandela in attendance, Jal will perform songs from his brand new album, "Warchild," due out in the U.S. on May 13. The 13 songs on "Warchild" are rooted in Jal's extraordinary life as a Sudanese child soldier. "Nelson Mandela is one of my biggest inspirations," said Jal. "It's a great honor for me to be given this chance to celebrate his birthday on the stage and then to attend his dinner birthday party. I cannot wait for the day."

Jal will join Royalty and politicians from both sides of the Atlantic, leading names from business, sports, film and entertainment - and some of the most successful musicians of the past twenty years. Queen + Paul Rodgers, Annie Lennox, Simple Minds, Leona Lewis, as well as South African and African artists such as Johnny Clegg, Sipho Mabuse, and the legendary Papa Wemba will perform at the concert. The concert will also feature numerous surprise appearances by major artists. In addition, President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, actor Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Robert de Niro and Forest Whitaker are among those who will attend some of the celebrations over the three-day period. - more on this story

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What in the Sam Hill Is CD 2.0?

idolator reports: "[National Assn. of Recording Merchandisers president Jim] Donio cited statistics about piracy, pointing out that 42% of all music acquisition is paid, and that despite a recent rebound in the first quarter of this year, CD sales continue to drop.

He then suggested that a new version of 'CD 2.0,' a sort of hybrid compact disc, might be a solution." Unfortunately, the Billboard piece that mentions this bit of nomenclature doesn't really get into what "CD 2.0" will consist of.

Perhaps it means that it'll be more advanced than the DualDisc, which was apparently version 1.92 of the CD? Maybe they'll all be bundled with a social-networking component! [One Idolator reader suggested, "I think 2.0 stands for 'Let's forget the lesson Sony learned and just put rootkits on all the CDs again.'" - more on this story

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Paula Judged As A Fake

antiMusic reports: John Rich of the multiplatinum country duo Big & Rich isn't cutting American Idol's Paula Abdul any slack after she made a major blunder last week on the show when she "judged" a performance before it happened. Rich will be a judge on Nashville Star when it makes the move to NBC in June, and he had some strong words for Abdul and Idol, calling their credibility into question.

Here are some quotes from an MSNBC report: "'American Idol' infuriates me as an artist," Rich said at an NBC press event for Nashville Star. "They're being fake about it. When you can't make a cognizant comment about someone's performance and you're commenting on something that happened the day before, why don't you just walk up onstage and slap them right across the face while you're at it? As an artist, I would just flip them the bird and walk off the stage. ... She wasn't even paying attention to what was going on."

"The reason their ratings are going into the toilet right now is because the American public cannot stand when it comes to reality," Rich said. "You can tell when somebody's comment was scripted. You can tell when they told an artist, 'Wear this, and sing that, and do that.' That's not the way it's going to work on this show," he said of "Nashville Star." - Read the MSNBC report

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Animated Radiohead Semifinalists

PR reports: Aniboom has announced today the top ten semifinalists in the In Rainbows Animated Music Video Competition which asks all creators and Radiohead fans from across the globe to create an animated music video for any one of the songs from the band's latest album.

More than 900 entries from 47 countries have been submitted and posted to the site since the first stage of the competition launched five weeks ago inviting all artists, animators, writers, character designers and more to submit storyboards using the song of their choice from In Rainbows.

409 submissions came from the United States, with 135 coming from the UK and 95 from France. The cities represented most were Paris (45 submissions), London (40 submissions) and New York City (35 submissions.) More information on the contest can be found - here

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Superjam Band Featuring Members of the Dead, Allman Bros and Max Creek

PR reports: Legendary drummer Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead), bassist Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band) and guitarist Scott Murawski (Max Creek) have joined together to form a POWER trio sure to capture the interest of music lovers of many genres of music.

Kruetzmann and Murawski were introduced in Costa Rica at a meeting facilitated by none other than PHISH bassist Mike Gordon. Their musical chemistry was limitless and compelling. Shortly after, Burbridge joined the band and it became obvious that the trio should pursue further musical adventures.

The trio is currently working on a debut release slated for the fall of 2008. In the meantime, KBM is hitting the road this summer where fans can capture the MAGIC of this electrifying combination. - more on this story

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Damiera Set Soph Release

PR reports: Equal Vision Records And Damiera Announce A June 24, 2008 Release Date For Their Sophomore Record, Quiet Mouth, Loud Hands. The Four-Piece Self-Recorded & Produced The Eleven-Track Set Over A Four Month Period Which Began November 1, 2007 At A Studio They Built In Niagara Falls, NY.

Founding member and vocalist, Dave Raymond, described the four months recording as "a day and night process; sleep when you need to." Raymond continues, "Writing this album was unique, only because I can't imagine any other bands choosing to do it the way we did." Homeless and couch surfing in Buffalo, NY, the band did all of the writing and recording simultaneously in the studio they built inside of an abandoned school they used as a rehearsal space. "I'd spend days at the studio writing material and Jayson [DeZuzio] would help me sort through it deciding what we should develop and what should pass.

In 2007, the band went through a member overhaul which brought the producer, Jayson DeZuzio (Coheed And Cambria, My Chemical Romance), of the band's first album, M(US)IC, into the band on four-string. The lineup change has had some fans skeptical of how the new members would effect the sound they fell in love with, but Raymond reassures us that the old sounds is still there. - more on this story

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Go Postal With Sinatra

PR reports: Rhino Entertainment presents the CD release of Frank Sinatra's Nothing but the Best in stores May 13th. As the first initiative under the newly established Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE), a partnership between the Sinatra Family and Warner Music Group, FSE has partnered with Reprise, Warner Home Video, MGM Home Entertainment, Turner Classic Movies, and the United States Postal Service to commemorate the Chairman of the Board, whose music and movies have an everlasting impact on popular culture. The month-long celebration will include the release of all-new CD and DVD collections, a television film festival and specials and a commemorative stamp.

On May 13, Reprise will release "NOTHING BUT THE BEST," a single-disc collection from Sinatra's Reprise Years that features 22 classic cuts remixed and remastered from the original master tapes, plus a previously unreleased recording of "Body And Soul" featuring a new arrangement.

The compilation will be available in physical and digital formats, online at www.franksinatra.com, and in more than 7,000 Post Offices across the country. For a limited time, each CD will contain a collectible, commemorative Sinatra stamp with official USPS first-day issue cancellation. The stamp was unveiled in December 2007 by the U.S. Postal Service and will go on sale May 13. - Listening Party

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Ed Harcourt Making US TV Debut on Leno

PR reports: Not long since wreaking havoc on Austin, Texas during SXSW, the illustrious Ed Harcourt will return to the States from his native England to perform on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Friday, June 6.

Timed perfectly with the release of his fourth full-length album, THE BEAUTIFUL LIE, due June 3 on Dovecote Records, Harcourt will celebrate the arrival of this much-awaited LP with a national television debut. This visit is a precursor to additional U.S. tour dates this summer, to be announced soon.

The Mercury Prize-nominated Harcourt has been keeping extraordinarily busy on tour with the Gutter Twins overseas, where he has been joining Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan and co. on stage following his own opening set. - more on this story

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Melissa Manchester Battling Cancer With Single

PR reports: Melissa Manchester was inspired to write "Power Of Ribbons" by watching her friend, Nancy Colton, battle breast cancer, raise a family and, all the while, raise money for breast cancer research.

Melissa has been invited to debut "Power Of Ribbons" at the opening of this year's Revlon Run/Walk For Women, in front of a crowd of 50,000 on Saturday, May 10 at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA.

She will follow up with an encore performance of the song at Dodger Stadium on Mother's Day, May 11, to highlight the L.A. Dodgers' on-going fundraising for a cure. An MP3 of "Power Of Ribbons" can be downloaded from Amazon.com. Melissa will be donating her proceeds to breast cancer research. - Buy it here

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