This week we saw the new Guitar Hero 5 featuring the late Kurt Cobain. Who approved this? Who knows, but no one is willing to take credit for the avatar, which once unlocked can move beyond the Nirvana catalog and plays tunes by Bush, Bon Jovi and other bands Mr. Cobain would have likely never covered without a slight ironic half-smile on his face. Stereogum aggregates the fallout, which pitted Courtney Love against Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Activision. "Courtney Love very calmly took to Twitter to call out Activision and threaten filing suit. In her words: 'FOR THE RECORD I DID NOT APPROVE KURTS AVATAR FOR GUYITARHERO5. i think Kurt would despise this game alone let alone this avatar ... WE are going to sue the shit out of ACtivision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises'." Once the internet got a hold of all this, a statement from Grohl and Novoselic landed in our inbox, stating in part, "We want people to know that we are dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game. The name and likeness of Kurt Cobain are the sole property of his estate—we have no control whatsoever in that area. It's hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists' music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better." more ›

Also this Week: more ›

Out of all the choices last Friday night for Halloween, The Cardinals (don't call them Ryan Adams and the Cardinals anymore, that's his new peeve) provided perhaps the most low-key option. The audience was only partially costumed up at the historic theater in Harlem, and were, for the most part, politely restrained when it came to showing their love for the band. The audience stayed in their seats and behaved, and the Cards kept the drama to a minimum, with barely any of Ryan's infamous chatter. They played through almost the entirety of their latest album, as well as plenty from the whole back catalogue. Perhaps taking advantage of the break before returning to tour with Oasis, they even threw in his classic cover of "Wonderwall" to a stone quiet crowd. The band will be back in December with Noel and Liam and the rest at MSG. more ›

The Hollywood Reporter has news that Beastie Boy Adam Yauch will be expanding his music and film production operation, Oscilloscope Laboratories, into indie film distribution. Under the nom de plume Nathanial Hörnblowér, Yauch has orchestrated many of the Beastie Boys videos, as well as the hip hop group’s inventive full-length concert doc Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That! Oscilloscope also shot and produced live concert videos for Beck and Ryan Adams. more ›

Jens Lekman is one of our favorite songwriters, so any opportunity to see the funnyman crooner play is a treat, no matter the circumstances. The set at Webster Hall was generally excellent. Bordering on Magical, in fact, a perfect mix of his old and new -- mixing in Swedish deadpan quips and stories the whole time through. The only knock we had came from the venue, which we usually enjoy. The sound was fine, the site lines were good, the bands came out on time, but on this night, they started opening up the night club a little bit earlier. Around 30 minutes into his set, the thumping dance beats could be felt through the floor loud and strong enough that you could actually make out the song at times. It was distracting, to say the least, especially during the quieter songs. It even forced a puzzled Jens to ask what was going on during his encore, before attempting to play along to the beat. Webster Hall has taken giant strides over the last few years to become a perfectly good rock venue, but an extra layer of soundproofing would go a long way to remove the cheesy dance club stigma for the concert attendees. (pic via Ryan Dombal's flickr) more ›

Last week demolition was underway at the former CBGB. At the time Racked put their money on a Duane Reade taking over the space, but today The Post reports that John Varvados will be opening a chic boutique in the old punk rock palace. With his eye on a Spring opening, it's unclear how much of the 13,000 square feet will be taken over by the designer. more ›

We never realized exactly what a force Manu Chao was live until experiencing him ourselves at Sasquatch several weeks ago. The man has the power to move people. To incite hysteria and completely dominate his entire audience. It is something any music fan should experience at least once in their life, because there is really nobody else like him performing today. Earlier this week, He did two nights at the Prospect Park Bandshell to a crowd that more resembled a soccer stadium than a rock concert. There was chanting and singing and air horns and flags, but none of that could beat back the rain, which poured down in buckets towards the end of the second night, drenching the fans and creating a lovely mess. Few would argue that after a hot night of dancing, there could have been no perfect release. Check out some more incredible pics (like the one to the left) over at Brooklyn Vegan. more ›

A few days ago they gave us a list of romantic NYC movies, and now The Daily News delivers a list of romantic songs. One hundred of them, to be exact, so if you wanted a last minute gift for your valentine, you could make them a mix cd for just 99 bucks and change (if you used iTunes). more ›

MOVIE: Beware to those heading over to Pioneer Theater tonight, that Jackass Steve-O will be there promoting his new movie TV: The Movie. "A celebration of the ever increasing depravity of television in our society-- it's a channel surfing adventure through the most utterly ridiculous spoofed television programming and commercials." And we bet he'll totally staple something to his face. more ›

THEATER: The Gershwin Hotel hosts a reading of History of Man, “an irreverent look at the past, the fear of aging and the meaning of plastic surgery.” It’s the second collaboration between award-winning director Esther Bell, whose feature films Exist and Godass (starring TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe) made a big splash, and Bruce Mason, who describes himself as a “freelance publicist/consultant/drifter.” (The Times dubbed him a “swarthy Noel Coward”.) - John Del Signore more ›

FILM: The Picture Start Film Festival is bringing us 2 nights of indie shorts this week. Both tonight and tomorrow night eight films will be screened, awards will be given out, and afterparties will be attended. Full schedule here. more ›

A whole bunch of bands just came together to pay tribute to Bob Dylan. Here's some video from that tribute show, of Phil Lesh and Warren Haynes singing "Thunder on the Mountain". Also on hand were Patti Smith, Ryan Adams, Philip Glass, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cat Power, and many more. more ›

A Benefit for Music for Youth will bring us The Music of Bob Dylan this fall. Will Bob be there? We're hoping so. Those who are on the bill to play a song by Dylan include: Philip Glass, Rosanne Cash, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, Bob Mould, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Patti Smith, Phil Lesh, Cat Power, Seal, Lee Ranaldo Project, Medeski Martin & Wood and plenty of others. Including Sandra Bernhard, we hear she does an amazing cover of "Like a Rolling Stone" (not kidding). more ›

Shanghaiist probably knows a little more about China than the Chicago Sun-Times. Giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. The city does to have a music scenei. Don't even front like they don't. They also have Dorrito bananas and white guys shopping for wives. What they don't have is any more tolerance for jaywalkers. more ›

"When Mawangu Mingiedi, 72, a musician and truck driver from Kinshasa in Congo, built a sound system for his street band, Konono No. 1, years ago, he wasn't aiming for sonic innovation." [NY TIMES] All the way from Africa, Konono No. 1 make their NYC debut at Joe's Pub on Wednesday. The dance party continues Thursday at S.O.B.'s with an early and late show. Joe's Pub is way sold out, but tickets for the other shows are still available. more ›

As we all know, CMJ is about to take over...however, non-CMJ events will also be taking place that week, unphased by the marathon. One that caught our eye is this Housing Works event starring Bright Eyes. Tickets are on sale now for $40. From the website: more ›

Hello, music fans! My name is Ben Chappel and I've taken over the reins of Coolfer's legendary music picks column. Please know, before going any further, that Coolfer has enormously large feet for which he orders specially-made size 17 Reebok's Pumps, and I have absolutely no hope of fitting my little Campers into his elephantitic footsteps. I'll do the best I can, though, weekly, in my average-sized eleven-and-a-halfs. more ›

For a change, the best shows aren't in the smallest clubs. Let's start with the larger rooms: more ›

Of course, wins and losses often signify little more than one team�s third team is better than the other�s, but the season�s first certainty is that Offensive Coordinator Paul Hackett remains every Jet fan�s favorite target for second-guessing this season, as the suddenly young Jet unit continued its struggles in the red zone. Offensively, the Jets walked away with two field goals and a touchdown in three trips inside the Saints� 20-yard line on the evening. more ›

Scratchy voiced Alan Light and John Rollins (Gothamist doesn't know anything about Rollins' voice, only Light's because he'dcomment on ANYTHING on VH1) bring a new music magazine offering with Tracks, oriented to more adult readers. The Times' David Carr looks at this venture, which seems to follow the music industry's realization that older consumers will buy, versus download, music, but the older consumers are simply not being spoken to. One doubtful industry expert, wondering if there are adults obsessive enough to shell out some change for a magazine about the music they like, says, "My experience has been that the people who like to listen to Bonnie Raitt and Phil Collins do not have music as a primary interest." Well, duh. If any magazine had a editorial mission to simply cover Phil Collins, it would only be good as a money laundering scheme. But this sounds just like the original business plan for VH1, so expect a couple issues down the road for it to be all about the 80s. Or the Fabulous Life of Sharon Osbourne. more ›

It's good to know that Winona Ryder is basically like the Welcome Wagon for any semi-cute up-and-coming would-be rocker - at least someone is looking out for the lads. That's why she was the focus of a VH1 All Access:Winona Rules! Truly, it makes sense for Winona to be featured, because as Courtney Love says, as quoted on the show's site, "You�re no one in music until you have feuded with me or until you sleep with Winona!� more ›

Performing at Battery Park this afternoon is alt-country-rocker Ryan Adams. Adams, besides being an alt-whatever darling with his bedhead hair, is also an ex of Winona Ryder (the requirement of any up-and-coming musician) and well-known for filming a video for "New York, New York" with the World Trade Center in the backdrop a few days before September 11. More about Ryan Adams at Rolling Stone. more ›