"It's all over but the shouting; I've come to take what's mine..."

There's nothing in this article that isn't totally awesome. Nothing.


Van Halen To Sign With Interscope | Billboard.biz

Iconic rock band Van Halen are set to sign with Interscope Records, says a source familiar with the negotiations. The deal is expected to be finalized next week, marking the first time in 35 years that the band will not release music through Warner Music, its longtime label home.

It had been rumored -- and reported -- that the band was joining the Columbia Records roster. In fact, an insider tells The Hollywood Reporter that the contract for the Sony deal was drawn up and approved but hadn't been signed when Universal Music stepped into the picture.

The signing was a group effort involving UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge, UMG International COO Max Hole, Interscope Geffen A&M vice chairman Steve Berman and Interscope's Jimmy Iovine, who, says a source, "heard the band was available and wanted to work with them. It was decided at the 11th hour." What came next was a series of meetings that presented the band with a global plan that included extensive marketing, merchandising, touring and, of course, recordings.

So what derailed the Columbia deal? The usual rock band complications, says an insider. While the group reunited with original singer David Lee Roth in 2006, the Sony label could not come to terms with Roth, who has a separate management, legal and accounting team than the other three members, guitarist Eddie Van Halen and his son Wolfgang (who replaced bassist Michael Anthony) and drummer Alex Van Halen. The main issue for Roth? He was apparently adamant about being on a west coast label. "He was never on board [with Columbia]," says the source. "It was as complicated as anyone would imagine, when one side says black, the other says white. The label was pretty skeptical that things would work out."

It's expected that as frontman, Roth will have to carry much of the marketing burden and it seems the band members ultimately want their singer to be happy with the deal which is why they went with Universal's west coast-based Interscope.

A new album, their first studio effort since 1984, is believed to be nearly finished with the hope that it can be released in 2012. The band is expected to make a "special announcement" on Nov. 30 at the Grammy Awards nominations concert, which will air live on CBS from Los Angeles' Nokia Theater.

An Interscope rep had no comment.

Good for me.

Above & Beyond score yet again with today's release of the "You Got To Go" remixes. Phenomenal.

I did something I hadn't done before, which was pre-order an album on iTunes. You buy it and then the day it's released, as soon as you launch iTunes it immediately hits your computer.

The best part of the story is that I had totally forgotten about the purchase. Which is to say I remembered I'd done a pre-order, but couldn't remember exactly what it was. Making any kind of financial decision late at night is rarely the best idea in the world, so as it started to download today I had to trust my own impeccable taste in music and assume that what was about to come soaring through the speakers was, in fact, a glaring exception to the Tired Eyes Purchase rule. I was right.

Such a purchase warranted going back in and shopping around for some other tracks I may have missed along the way. As expected, the search revealed more than a few choice nuggets. For example...

One day, I'm gonna have a reason to dedicate this song to someone. I have no idea who you are, young lady, but what I do know is this: I'm going to sit back and enjoy watching you melt like wax down a candle.

In the meantime, friends, we have this track. Which is more than enough to hold us over:

Greatest. Tour Poster. Ever.

Moz wins again.

Thanks, Mom.

There's a lot of noise in my life. Ambient textures, natural sounds, the white static of concrete and steel, all kinds of shit. I am not good at sitting in silence. As a result, the sonic overload I either create or can't ignore will build to such a distracting volume that will, inevitably, make the thorns in my side seem too painful to deal with.

If you're like me, when the burden is too heavy to carry alone you go to The Almighty. You ask - in the most humble way you can muster - for relief. Many times it doesn't come. He seems disinterested. Distant. Unwilling to help.

I called my mom this morning. Mostly out of a desire to be a good son, but also because I was struggling with the unknown. Which I hate. Out of nowhere, a realization hit us: the answer from God, out of His inability to do anything but furiously love us, is always yes - I've just been asking the wrong question.

We say, "Take this from me. It's too heavy to carry."

He says, "No. You need to hand it over to me."


They are, as Judith very eloquently told me, "two very, very different things."


Chew on that one for a bit. I know I am.

Fuzzy Math.

How is it that Toy Story 3 gets nominated for best Picture but The Town doesn't?

Hello, Park City.

Although I can't say I'm remotely surprised, I'm still very proud to announce that Little Birds - written and directed by my big brother Elgin James - has been selected for competition in the U.S. Dramatic Feature category at this year's Sundance Film Festival. I had a chance to see segments of it while I was in Los Angeles this past June and without a hint of exaggeration, I'll freely admit that it's the first film in a very, very long time that's had me on the edge of my seat, laughing out loud and in tears in a single sitting. You will be hearing an awful lot about both Elgin and the film in the coming months. Trust me.

Here's the "for immediate release" synopsis:

Starring Kay Panabaker and Juno Temple in the lead with a supporting cast of Kyle Gallner, Kate Bosworth and Leslie Mann, this is a semi-autobiographical drama set amidst the stark landscape of the Salton Sea, and sees two 15-year-old girls (Temple and Panabaker) test the limits of their friendship when one follows the other in an escape to Los Angeles. There they discover that the boredom of home may be better than learning to survive in the big city. There they hook up with skaters and street kids.

My take? Kate Bosworth is her usual amazing, Juno Temple is going to be the next Big Thing, Leslie Mann's performance made me cry and Kyle Gallner redefines the concept of Fragile Anti-Hero Hero. For me, Kay Panabaker was the most pleasant surprise - her character is the most effective, accurate and moving Christ Metaphor I've ever seen on celluloid.

Simply put, it's an absolutely remarkable film. This all sounds like hyperbole now. Once it hits theaters later this year it'll be a different story.

I'll be at Sundance for a few days working on a few things related to the film that I'm ecstatic over but can't (and don't) really want to talk about just yet. Suffice it to say that if you told me last January that I'd be at the Sundance Film Festival in a professional capacity - especially after the rollercoaster year I've had - I would have been skeptical. At this point, it would be unwise to put a roof on 2011.

Congrats to Elgin and the entire cast and crew of Little Birds. It's refreshing to know that there's still blood pumping in Hollywood's veins.