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Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero who gained fame in the 1970s with routines about drugs and dirty words, said on Monday he was voluntarily entering a drug and alcohol treatment program.

“I’m going into rehab because I use too much wine and Vicodin,” Carlin, 67, whose latest book “When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?” is a national bestseller, said in a statement. “No one told me I needed this; I recognized the problem and took the step myself.”

The announcement came weeks after the veteran stand-up comic caused a stir at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with a performance that questioned the intellect of people who visit the resort city.

According to media accounts of the incident, Carlin’s bit about “moronic” Vegas tourists touched off a bitter, profane exchange with members of the audience, including one woman who shouted “Stop degrading us.”

Carlin has acknowledged having battled cocaine addiction in the 1980s but said he quit on his own by tapering off the drug. He also has suffered three heart attacks.

Speaking of his current problem, he said: “My levels of use are nowhere near the worst you hear about these days; I could easily have continued functioning at a good level … for awhile. But my use would have progressed, I would have been in deeper trouble, and I didn’t want to tolerate that.”

Carlin’s spokesman, Jeff Abraham, said the comedian entered rehab on Monday but did not know how long he would remain in treatment. He said Carlin was currently scheduled to begin a new engagement at Stardust Hotel in Vegas in February.

Source yahoo.com.

Icelandic rock outfit Sigur Ros has finished principal recording for its next studio album. “The foundations for all the album’s songs have now been recorded,” reads a post on the group’s official Web site. “The boys are adding layers to the songs and will be joined by the girls of [longtime collaborators] Amina later this week to start recording strings for most of these songs.”

As of last month, Sigur Ros had put down nine songs on tape. “Most of these songs will appear on the new album but some may end up on an EP, or even released online, though this hasn’t been decided quite yet,” the site says.

The as-yet-untitled set is expected in late spring/early summer via Geffen. It will be the follow-up to 2002’s “( ),” which debuted at No. 51 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 220,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Source billboard.com.

PIXIES are set to release a DVD while chronicles their sensational comeback year.

The band have completed an eight-month tour in New York on Saturday night (December 18), and during the jaunt they have been followed by a film crew. The footage will be used for a documentary on the band and possibly an in-concert DVD, according to Billboard.

The group’s manager Ken Goes said: “I have collected film from about six or seven full concerts which we plan to edit for a compilation concert DVD.

“There is a possibility that these two DVDs will be combined into one double-disc set, but that is not yet confirmed.”

Pixies reformed earlier this year, and the subsequent live shows were the band’s first since 1992.

Source NME.com.

Queen will headline a second Aids benefit concert in South Africa, which is being backed by former president Nelson Mandela. The 46664 South Africa show will raise awareness of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s continued fight against the disease.

The full line-up of international and South African artists will be unveiled early next year. The first concert, in November 2003, starred Bono and Beyonce Knowles.

The 2005 concert will focus on the plight of women in sub-Saharan Africa, who are most affected by Aids.

Last year’s five-hour gig took place at the Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town and featured appearances by the Eurythmics, Ms Dynamite, Peter Gabriel, The Corrs and Queen. It attracted more than 30,000 people.

Next year’s event will take place at the Fancourt Hotel and Country Club Estate on 19 March.

Source: bbc

Kings of Leon have announced a short tour of the US. The band wrapped up a club tour on the East coast this autumn, and now will take their set out to the West Coast beginning on January 25 in Seattle.

The band will be supporting their second album A Ha Shake Heartbreak, which is released in North America on February 22.

Kings Of Leon

Grammy Award winner Freddie Perren, who produced records for Gloria Gaynor, the Jackson Five and the “Saturday Night Fever” album, has died. He was 61.

Perren, who lived in Chatsworth, died December 16 after a long illness, said his wife, Christine Yarian Perren. He suffered a major stroke 11 years ago, she said. Perren shared an Album of the Year Grammy in 1978 for producing two songs on the “Saturday Night Fever” album.

With Dino Fekaris, Perren produced “I Will Survive,” sung by Gaynor, which won the Grammy for best disco recording in 1979.

Source: cnn.com

The Office’s Ricky Gervais is writing an episode of hit US cartoon The Simpsons, following an invitation from its creator Matt Groening. Gervais has already begun writing the script but is keeping its subject matter a closely guarded secret. He will also write a part for himself in the episode.

“I’ve got the rough idea but this is the most intimidating project of my career. The Simpsons is the greatest TV show of all time,” he said.

Groening recently heaped praise on The Office, saying: “Everybody on The Simpsons is a fan of The Office – it’s one of the best shows on TV in the last decade.”

Gervais has already said he would not guest star in the show as his Office character David, having left him behind for good in the Christmas specials.

The Office became a surprise US success when it was screened on cable channel BBC America.

The first series won two Golden Globes in 2004 for best comedy and best TV actor for Gervais.

Source: bbc

Rapper Young Buck has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon after a stabbing at the Vibe hip-hop awards ceremony in California in November. The 22-year-old, whose real name is David Darnell Brown, is accused of stabbing a man who allegedly punched fellow rap star Dr Dre.

The incident sparked a crowd brawl as the show was being recorded.
Mr Brown, a member of 50 Cent’s G-Unit crew, is free on $500,000 bail until a hearing on 14 January. If convicted, he faces up to eight years in prison. The victim, Jimmy James Johnson, has been charged with assault relating to the incident.

Source: bbc

On Friday, December 10th, The Slip played a set at the SIRIUS Satellite Radio studios in NYC. This exclusive, one hour long, in-studio set will first be aired on Christmas Eve (12/24) at noon and 9pm on SIRUS Channel 17. Following these airings, songs from the set will be in rotation on a number of channels, only on SIRIUS.

In more band news, The Slip’s NYE show at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River has Sold Out. Tickets are still available, however, for Lupo’s @ the Strand on December 29th in Providence with John Brown’s Body. This show is a food/coat drive. The RI Food Bank is taking donations, so the band encourages fans to bring 3 cans of food and/or a jacket to get a free signed poster. On Tuesday, December 28th, The Slip will be at Southpaw in Brooklyn with local rockers Dirty on Purpose.

The Slip won The 2004 Heineken USA / ASCAP Foundation Grant for Best Pop/Rock Song in Boston for “Children of December” – more info can be found at ascap.com.

The Slip has launched a download portal with DiscLogic. The Slip’s two-CD set “Instant Live: The Paradise, Boston, MA 10/2/04” (which was made available the night of the show) is now available in Newbury Comics stores and through their online store newburycomics.com.

Finally, The Slip’s Brad Barr will be performing solo at the NYC Knitting Factory on January 13th in the Tap Bar.

Work on the hugely anticipated new season of Dave Chappelle’s sketch show is behind schedule due to its 31-year-old ringleader’s illness and lack of new material from his writing staff, according to the New York Post.

The new season was supposed to premiere Feb. 16. It will now begin airing sometime in late April or May, per the Post.

Chappelle has reportedly been laid up with a nasty flu bug, adding to delays brought on by the lack of written material so far for season three. The Emmy-nominated comedy is currently on hiatus for the holidays and will resume production in January.

Last week, Paramount pushed back the season 2 DVD release–which had been slated to hit stores Feb. 8 to coincide with the new TV season–presumably due to the production slowdown. No new release date for the DVD has been set yet.

Source: yahoo.com