Martin Scorsese finally took home his first ever Oscar last night after a winless record during his four decade long career. Having previously been nominated 7 times (5 for direction, 2 for screenplay), Scorsese surprisingly never produced work that was deemed worthy of the trophy despite the commercial success of his last movie, The Aviator (2004). Best known for Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and Raging Bull , it’s perplexing as to how this award had eluded him...

The Bowery Presents are importing Uruguayan singer/song composer Jorge Drexler to perform at Town Hall , NYC on Tuesday, March 6th. Best known for his spectacular "Al Otro Lado Del Rio (In The Other Side Of The River)," the theme song to The Motorcycle Diaries , Jorge won an Academy Award in 2004 for it, setting a precedent for the first foreign language song to achieve the distinction. His music, fitting somewhere between traditional latin, acoustic folk,...

Modern soul virtuoso Raphael Saadiq embarks on a solo expedition the next few months, a quest to top his previous works Instant Vintage and Ray Ray . After manning the production helm for soulster Lionel Richie and soulstresses Kelis, Joss Stone and Angie Stone , Saadiq notified Billboard.com of his plans to take "three or four months" to create "a record that you can clap your hands to -- that simple. It's gonna be Raphael." His...

Last week, Ozomati announced a competition entitled "Make Your Own Ozomatli Video Contest." Due by the 15th of March, the winning video for their new single "City Of Angels" off of Don’t Mess With The Dragon (released April 3rd) will score $2000 and a screening at a USC symposium featuring the band. Surely the band name (Aztec for monkey), album...

Cornelius is back in business in America. Two months ago the man behind Cornelius, Keigo Oyamada , sought out a US label to put out his newest LP Sensuous (out April 24), and he found EverLoving , an imprint which has had success with several soundtracks like Donnie Darko and Dogtown and Z-Boys as well as with multi-platinum artist Jack Johnson . Already scheduled to perform Saturday, April...

Anthony Wilson (better known as Tony) of Manchester’s Hacienda club and Factory Records fame recently had his right kidney removed when an excessive deleterious growth was discovered in the organ. Best known for managing and spotlighting seminal bands the Happy Mondays, New Order, and Joy Division , the 56 year old legend will begin supplementing his current cancer drug treatment with chemotherapy next week at Withington’s Christie Hospital. Glorified on...

Coachella's practically sold out. With well over 2 months before the actual festival's scheduled to take place, the event has been reported to be completely booked – all 3-day passes are gone and only Friday has limited tickets still available . Headline acts Rage Against The Machine, Bjork, Red Hot Chili Peppers , and Jesus And Mary Chain will be performing...

Ken Batie (1960 - 2007), best known for his contemporary jazz show on Atlanta’s WCLK Jazz 91.9 FM called "Hot Ice In The Afternoon," passed away Monday, February 12th. He will be remembered for turning the next generation of listeners onto jazz and soul music, having broken many Giant Step-family artists like India Arie, Omar, Donnie, Incognito, Brand New Heavies, and Jiva , while pushing the boundaries of WCLK’s strict jazz repertoire by playing George...

Talib Kweli , a truly independent artist in 2007 so far, has not only self-released a collaborative record with Madlib but also just finished the video for his second single "More or Less." The track features Talib's right-hand producer Hi-Tek , and the video, which was funded by his indie label Blacksmith records, is said to have used green-screen technology in spite of its smaller budget. Kweli declared,...

The Rapture's new label, Throne of Blood , will spill February 16th at hipster club Studio B in Brooklyn. The night kicks off the debut of not only their new label but also the re-incarnation of the band, who will perform their first-ever live electronic set. The celebration will be broadcast live via Viva-Radio.com so those who can't be in the NYC area can still check in and catch their new sound. Riding high on 2006's...