+44 Not Breaking Up, Recording New LP; OiNK Founder Ellis Sounds Off

Mark Hoppus, the rabble-rousing former frontman of blink-182 and current principal of SoCal rockers +44, has refuted rumors of the band's split with a recent post to his blog himynameismark.com. And what's more is the quartet, also featuring drum savant Travis Barker, is returning to the studio to record the follow up to 2006's debut When Your Heart Stops Beating. "Here's a photo from yesterday of me signing on the contract with Interscope records for us to record the next +44 album," Hoppus writes, accompanied by an evidential photo of his hand holding a pen to a thick contract. "Now everyone else is signing it, and it'll be all set and going. Hopefully this will put any 'band break up' rumors to rest." Though further details have yet-to-be revealed, the contemporary punk icon confirms, "We're in the process of writing and recording songs that will develop into an album. We're not rushing it, and we're not lagging. We're making an album."

OiNK Founder Ellis Sounds Off

Despite his arrest Tuesday (Oct. 23) on charges of suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and copyright infringement, OiNK founder Alan Ellis, 24, maintains his innocence, claiming his download service is no more illegal than Google. "I haven't done anything wrong. I don't believe my website breaks the law. They [police] don't understand how it works," he told the U.K.'sThe Daily Telegraph. "The website is very different from how the police are making it out to be. I don't sell music to people, I just direct them to it… if Google directed someone to a site they can illegally download music they are doing the same as what I have been accused of. I am not making any Oink users break the law." He continues, "If somebody wants to illegally download music they are going to do it whether my site is there or not." The arrest and ensuing closure of the site is just the latest in a series of events marking a directionless, yet imminent sea change in music consumption and the business model of label heavyweights, exemplified by Radiohead's recent breakthrough digital release, and on the other end of the spectrum, the guilty verdict and ensuing, exponential fines implemented on the first successfully prosecuted peer-to-peer file sharer.

Men's Clothing Co. Varvatos CBGB Bound

In an development blatantly illustrating the death of downtown New York City's once raucous and dilapidated punk scene, Gothamist.com reports men's clothing giant John Varvatos has purchased the 13,000 square foot former locale of legendary venue CBGB at 315 Bowery -- discussed by the Big Apple's punk founders in Spin's special issue on 1977, the year punk exploded. The venue, founded by now deceased icon Hilly Kristal, has laid empty since fall of last year, when a series of concerts celebrated its closure. And although Varvatos is a purveyor of expensive rags, the company's namesake is an avid music fan, utilizing CBGB graduate Iggy Pop, as well as rockers Slash and Alice Cooper in his ad campaigns, and has even designed his own line of Converse shoes. Details regarding the installation, renovation, or preservation of the venue's legendary bathrooms are have yet-to-be announced.

Noose Placed on Tupac Statue, Man Arrested for Hate Crime

An unidentified man has been arrested in De Kalb County, GA on hate crime charges stemming from a series of racial attacks at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, after a noose was tied around the neck of a statue of the seminal rapper and memorial namesake, AllHipHop.com reports. The incident, which occurred early Saturday morning (Oct. 20) in the center's Peace Garden, has been under police investigation, as has a second attack, in which vandals penned rants about Hurricane Katrina and various, unidentified record labels.

"We thank everyone for their prayers and support," Tupac's mother Afeni Shakur said. "Although our hearts are temporarily in pain, our spirits have already forgiven the perpetrators. Hate comes in all colors and genders therefore we will use this act of hate and ignorance to bring our community together and to pray for the healing of those who harbor such feelings."

In response to the racially charged vandalism, Afeni Shakur is raising money to install a fence around the memorial. "With God's guidance, the work of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts and Peace Garden will continue to positively impact and transform our community," she added.