The News Review:

- Eurovision Song Contest Serbia 2008 | News – Lordi confirm: “We…
- Rahav Segev for The New York Times
- Sundance Film Festival: Triumph of the sundance kids
- Noe Valley Music Series: Manring Castro and Carbonne
- Quiksilver Revolution 2.0 band lineup all set for Sunway

Eurovision Song Contest Serbia 2008 | News – Lordi confirm: “We…
esctoday.com – Jan 26, 2008
fi Summer festival in Smederevo Castle Lordi confirm: “We are coming to Serbia” The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 Finnish controversial hard rock and heavy metal band “Lordi” have confirmed their participation at the Summer festival in Smederevo Castle in Serbia that will take place from 1st – 5th of July 2008. This will be their first appearance on Serbian soil at the biggest review of heavy metal music in the Balkans. This announcement will definitely bring joy to the local fans and admirers of the band whose victory on Eurovision Song Contest smashed the existing formula. At the Castle Fest this summer they will be joined by more than 40 other performers and artists. Among them the legendary band Judas Priest and less known bands such are Sodom Ensiferum At the gates Sybreed Helloween and the heavy metal opera Avantasia. The town of Smederevo where the Festival will take place is located 45 kilometers southeast of Serbia's capital Belgrade which makes it easily accessible by bus and train.

Rahav Segev for The New York Times
New York Times – Jan 26, 2008
Its music was a slanted plywood hutch. Now it makes monument music: slow and graceful determined balanced imperious. The band’s show on Thursday night took place in the Brooklyn Masonic Temple a 99-year-old columned cube in Fort Greene which is just now presenting music on a regular basis. (The show repeated Friday night. ) Neurosis has its Masonic tendencies… ” Mastodon whose metal genealogy is easier to discern doesn’t need to play opening slots at 1000-seat halls; it’s more popular than that. But its members are full Neurosis supplicants so such a thing happened. Hearing a metal band operate on Mastodon’s level — all its breakdowns and reconstitutions suite form and odd time signatures — was nice; hearing it with some houselights on and at lower volume in full opening-band mode was even sweeter. It reminded you that even the highly accomplished still have heroes.

Sundance Film Festival: Triumph of the sundance kids
Telegraph.co.uk – Jan 26, 2008
But there is a reason that Hollywood is now such a tangible presence at Sundance a reason why the major studios are so keen to snap up the best of the independent talent on offer. The mainstream movie industry is about to undergo a huge change brought on as it has been in the music industry by the internet. Just as the downloading of music has rendered obsolete the business model that for 50 years has underpinned the music industry so the downloading of movies is about to do the same for film. The international sale of DVDs has been propping up the big studios for some time. And just as the era of the CD is surely coming to an end so too the DVD’s days are numbered. I went to Utah last weekend for the opening of the festival to follow the fortunes of an old friend a British director trying to sell his self-financed debut feature film. The upheaval in the music world has tipped the balance of power away from the big corporations and towards the artist: the small-scale is thriving… Now 41 and father to ex-girlfriend Geri Halliwell’s baby Gervasi decided two years ago to make his own movie using the money he had accumulated from writing for Hollywood. This is a classic example of “defensive directing”: the best way to retain artistic control over a script you’ve written is to direct it yourself. For his subject he went back to his teens and to Anvil a heavy metal band he had adored and eventually worked for as a roadie. Briefly big news in the ’80s the band had long faded into obscurity but when Gervasi discovered that they were still gigging and recording 25 years on he sensed that there was a story to tell. And so his documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil was born. In Australian Rebecca Yeldham whose two most recent films are the acclaimed The Kite Runner and The Motorcycle Diaries Gervasi found himself an outstanding independent producer and put together a team who were prepared to work for nothing on a project that inspired them. He entered the film for Sundance and out of 3000 applicants it was chosen to be one of the seven films in the festival’s prestigious Spectrum strand for documentaries judged to have the broadest appeal.

Noe Valley Music Series: Manring Castro and Carbonne
Jazz-Quad – Jan 26, 2008
All three are accomplished composers arrangers as well as innovative bassists – moving the use of the instrument far beyond it’s usual role as an ensemble rhythm addition. His long-term collaboration and close friendship with the late acoustic guitar genius Michael Hedges led to a lengthy stint as house bassist for Windham Hill Records; a label for whom he also worked as a solo artist releasing four recordings under his own name: Unusual Weather (1986) Toward the Center of the Night (1989) Drastic Measures (1991) and Thonk (1994). These along with his 1998 release The Book of Flame on the Alchemy record label earned him an international reputation as “a master of the fretless bass without rival. ” (Guitar Club Magazine Italy). He has garnered two gold records Grammy and Bammie nominations a Berklee School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award two Just Plain Folks Awards and numerous Bass Player Magazine Reader’s Poll awards including 1994 Bassist of the Year.

Quiksilver Revolution 2.0 band lineup all set for Sunway
Global Surf News – Jan 26, 2008
Currently supporting My Chemical Romance on their Asian tour Pop Shuvit are making a special trip back to KL to rock their home crowd. Pop Shuvit began making waves in the local Malaysian music scene in late 2001. Comprising of Moots (vocals) JD (guitars) AJ (bass) Rudy (drums) and UN (turntables) the band has four successful releases under their belt and rocked fans throughout Asia notably in Japan Thailand and Singapore. Known for their adrenaline packed live shows and eclectic blend of hip hop and rock Pop Shuvit are being touted as Asia’s leading Hip Hop Rock band. Joe Flizzow is one half of the internationally known Hip Hop act of Too Phat. The talented writer lyricist and producer who has carved out a giant reputation in his home country of Malaysia has performed with the likes of the Black Eyed Peas and Kanye West… The reputation of Quiksilver’s brands is based on different outdoor sports. The Company’s Quiksilver Roxy DC Shoes and Hawk brands are synonymous with the heritage and culture of surfing skateboarding and snowboarding and its beach and water oriented swimwear brands include Raisins Radio Fiji and Leilani. The Rossignol Dynastar Lange Look and Kerma brands are leaders in the alpine ski market and the Company makes snowboarding equipment under its Rossignol Dynastar DC Shoes Roxy Lib Technologies Gnu and Bent Metal labels. The Company’s golf business includes Cleveland Golf as well as Never Compromise putters and Fidra apparel. Gotcha is the Company’s surf-based European brand addressing street fashion. The Company’s products are sold in over 90 countries in a wide range of distribution including surf shops ski shops skateboard shops snowboard shops proprietary Boardriders Club shops other specialty stores and select department stores. Quiksilver’s corporate and Americas’ headquarters are in Huntington Beach California while its European headquarters are in St.