Police in Greece are giving away free folk music CDs in a attempt to calm motorists before the annual Orthodox Easter exodus.

"I think you can say that I am trendy. That's why so many young people call me 'Auntie Cool.'"

Millions of people still get their music online from a file-sharing service or site -- and in the process, put up with an often dubious selection, spyware-ridden software and the unpleasant reality that the artists who made that music won't make a cent off each such download. After two years of progress, what's still missing with the legit online stores?

Pitbull, who will sign artists, handle the marketing and help run the label, said that Combs’ involvement can only help Latino artists. ... "I see it as someone with vision who sees where music is going," Pitbull told the Miami Herald.

"It’s got a light citrus taste and no after-taste like so many other energy drinks," says Darin Ezra, the director of the company. "You get the power of Kabbalah water, incredible energy and a great taste," adds Ezra.

Rob Thomas makes Billboard 200 history this week as the first male artist from a pop or rock group to bow at No. 1 with his debut solo effort since the chart's realization in 1955.

On the monotonous "Point of No Return", it's not enough to repeat the title over and over (and over), he even goes on to explain it, in case you were confused: "You can't go back even if you wanted to." There's reinforcing the humorless German stereotype and then, it seems, there's Alec Empire.

hugh masakela - the boys doin' it (carl craig mix)
dub pistols - six million ways to live (paul daley mix)
prince - sign o the times
ciara - 1, 2 step (dub)
deep purple - hush
the beastie boys rub n' tug macho mix
ying yang twins - wait
amerie - one thing (dub)
the meters - oh calcutta! (loop)
scorpio loop / eric b and rakim loop
kenny dope presents the mad racket - supa
krs 1 - sound of da police (loop)
dillinger - punky reggae party
roxanne shante - have a nice day / country joe and the fish live @ woodstock intro
led zeppelin - trampled underfoot / schoolly d loop
the fall - how i wrote elasticman (loop)
ian dury and the blockheads - hit me with your rhythm stick

The station's producers will screen submitted content to ensure it meets quality standards and does not violate FCC broadcast guidelines. Approved podcasts will be simultaneously broadcast over the AM airwaves and streamed online at KYOURadio.com.

Highlights include the Extended Overhaul edit of "Organ Door" which Shadow created for Mo' Wax founder James Lavelle to use in his DJ sets, Cut Chemist's Party Mix of "The Number Song," Peshay's previously unreleased remix of "What Does Your Soul Look Like" and demos or alternate versions of "Building Steam With a Grain of Salt," "Best Foot Forward," "Changeling," "Why Hip-Hop Sucks In '96," "Mutual Slump" and "Napalm Brain."

The plot: Lucas becomes interested in a graphic novel written by Seth (Adam Brody) and invites him to dinner to offer some sage advice. Seth is forced to choose between taking Summer to the prom or hanging with George.

"We still are people who get drunk or stoned and lie on the couch all day and play video games," says writer John Krewson, who wears a sweat shirt with a drawing of a rifle that reads: "Defend Brooklyn."

Welcome to the disturbing world of the "happy slappers" - a youth craze in which groups of teenagers armed with camera phones slap or mug unsuspecting children or passersby while capturing the attacks on 3g technology.

With CD sales slumping in the last four years and record stores losing customers to file-sharing and video games, Starbucks is an unusual retail success story.

The term circuit bending refers to the act of modifying the circuitry of battery-powered children’s toys to create strange, new, and unintended sounds for creative purposes

Fans of the band can seize this unique opportunity to own their piece of the Slint legacy including guitars played by David Pajo and Brian McMahan. While none of the items are currently autographed, the band member who used each specific item is willing to sign it upon the request of the winning bidder.

"The problem I’m referring to is Dave Mays’ troubling association with Boston criminal Raymond Scott a.k.a. Ray Dogg the Jackal a.k.a. Ray Benzino."

What galled Ethan Kreitzer about Flowers’s diss was the implication that the Bravery are ripping off the Killers. "We were sound-checking [the Bravery’s current hit] ‘An Honest Mistake’ at Jewish summer camps in July 2003," he says — that is, before the Killers were even a blip on the radar.

The fact that one of the most popular programs in America among young adult viewers regularly skewers the Left is of enormous cultural significance. It would not have been possible in an old media era.

“'There’s a danger of the internet just becoming loud, ugly and boring with a thousand voices screaming for attention.' He is no fan of the blogging phenomenon (weblogs linking sites): 'I don’t read them. I like to create waves and not surf them. And who are these influential bloggers? You can’t name one because they don’t exist.'”

A spokesman for Reebok said: "The Reebok 'I Am What I Am' advertising campaign is intended to be a positive and empowering celebration of this right of freedom of self expression, individuality and authenticity. ... The advert shows the rapper counting up to nine - seen as a reference to him having been shot nine times.

30 years after the [Pepsi Challenge] commercials debuted, neuroscientist Read Montague was still thinking about them. Something didn't make sense. If people preferred the taste of Pepsi, the drink should have dominated the market. It didn't. So in the summer of 2003, Montague gave himself a 'Pepsi Challenge' of a different sort: to figure out why people would buy a product they didn't particularly like.

We talk about Wilco because its captain, Jeff Tweedy, is the kind of guy who would talk about Wilco even if he weren't in the band. But because he's in the band, he probably ends up talking about Wilco more than any of us.

John Kerry's former running mate John Edwards is a total hesher as well. He knows every word of every song on "Ride the Lightning." His favorite track: "Trapped Under Ice."

According to Robert Holt, BookSurge's managing director, the company has created proprietary software programs that automate the printing process to the point where even single-copy print orders are profitable, even though the book's final price is comparable to that of books produced through traditional means.

"The lyrics are stories no-one would take as fact/They're an exaggeration of a childish act," circuit judge Deborah Servitto said at the time.

[But] there's more on Austin's plate than just Korn. His resurrected record label, Rowdy, will release ... the latest from Dropsonic, a trio of rockers from Atlanta described as a cross between Zeppelin and Radiohead.

After arguing for years that its brand would be devalued if it sold shoes in discount chains, Nike Inc. has arrived at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. But you won't see the swoosh.

Wal-Mart customers at more than 400 stores nationwide can buy a $37 pair of Starter sneakers engineered by Nike and introduced last month. The world's largest maker of athletic apparel bought the Starter brand last year with the aim of entering the value end of retail.

the new dp album seems to be a mix of good and not-so-good songs, but "robot rock" sums up what's good about life and the video has a good vibe too.

Alternative rock musician 500 Won Project is hardly well known in his native South Korea, let alone the rest of the world. Yet some of his songs are being widely downloaded and shared online, generating the kind of exposure that newcomers only dream of. But fans are buzzing over the wrong band. They think they're getting unreleased songs by popular groups Sigur Ros and Mogwai because 500 Won Project's MP3s list their names as the artists.

The piano and tambourine accents on "My Doorbell" gave off a Motown vibe, while on the acoustic guitar and piano-tinged "Forever for Her (Is Over for Me)," Jack's singing nodded to the impassioned style of Prince a la "Purple Rain."

Imagine if fate had been kinder and Ian Curtis was still with us and recording with Money Mark, producing lo-fi paeans to the everyday struggles of life and love writ through with a wry irony. A crooner for our times, Baby Dayliner's monotone voice and cranky instrumentation belies a hopeless romantic who would make Serge Gainsbourg and Leonard Cohen smile.

Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks and Sony BMG Entertainment have settled a lawsuit over OutKast's use of her name in the group's work. As part of the settlement, a tribute CD and a TV broadcast special will be produced, her guardian said Thursday.

Lyrically, the heartland MC puts too much stock in tired axioms like keeping it real and knowing your history. "I'm givin' you my life, not a pack of lies," he says on "Crack the Whip". Turns out the life of a Nebraska rapper just isn't that exciting.

Open-source software development is already well-known. Less so is the fact that Bell, an American bicycle-helmet maker, has collected hundreds of ideas for new products from its customers, and is putting several of them into production. Or that Electronic Arts (EA), a maker of computer games, ships programming tools to its customers, posts their modifications online and works their creations into new games. And so on.

Think Junior Mafia, D-12 or Funkdoobiest. These guys are classic examples of weed carriers.

In the old days, Star 100.7 would focus on about 200 songs at a time, with hits such as Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" getting 50 spins a week. Now, the 100.7 Jack FM playlist is at 1,200 songs and counting, with old Steely Dan and newish No Doubt tunes sharing airspace with U2's "Beautiful Day" and vintage disco from KC and the Sunshine Band. The most popular songs get just five spins a week.

Coldplay is releasing the first track from its Capitol album "X&Y" as a 30-second master ringtone a full week before the entire song can be heard on the radio. "Speed of Sound," the lead single from the new album, is being offered exclusively to Cingular Wireless subscribers.

Viewers also can opt to assemble their own playlists from any program or video offered on MTV Overdrive, allowing them to bypass content they're not interested in but retaining the advertising.

WHEREAS, the friendship between Napoleon and Pedro has furthered multiethnic relationships; and
WHEREAS, Uncle Rico's football skills are a testament to Idaho athletics; and
WHEREAS, Napoleon's bicycle and Kip's skateboard promote better air quality and carpooling as alternatives to fuel-dependent methods of transportation

The weird surprise with artist blogs is that so few of them are surprising at all-- apart from those seemingly highbrow musicians who turn out to be terrible writers, most of them relate to their audiences the same way they do on record.

The premise behind Joke-e-oke is that, at some level, everyone wants to be a comedian. It's a form of entertainment software that allows people, momentarily, to realize this ambition while emulating the classic comedy routines of their favorite comedians.

Is it the dumbest test-marketing scheme in Sony history? Is it a silly corporate ploy to gauge fan interest two years after the album should have been released?

“I feel like there has been created, in the past two to three years, an indie-yuppie establishment. Bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Iron and Wine, the Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, they are great bands, really great bands, with great albums, great songs, high quality. And to me, it’s just so fucking boring."

The president also has an eclectic mix of songs downloaded into his iPod from Mark McKinnon, a biking buddy and his chief media strategist during the 2004 campaign. Among them are "Circle Back" by John Hiatt, "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care" by Joni Mitchell and "My Sharona," the 1979 song by the Knack that Joe Levy, a deputy managing editor at Rolling Stone in charge of music coverage, cheerfully branded "suggestive if not outright filthy" in an interview last week.

Encyclopedic knowledge made Pilmer a natural choice as Web master for the band's fan site.

Josh Rosenfeld, co-owner of Seattle-based Barsuk Records, says one Texas record store initially refused to stock one of his releases, Travis Morrison's 2004 release "Travistan," because it received a 0.0 review from Pitchfork. ...

"A Rolling Stone review doesn't necessarily sell a single record for us," he says. "But with Pitchfork, you get a review, and you can see the impact on sales."

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"People hear the name C-Murder and they don't realize that the name simply means that I have seen many murders in my native Calliope projects neighborhood."

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