Indie band Moccca to headline Japanese rock festival

JP/24/GUESS

Mocca to be in Japanese rock festival

JAKARTA: Retro-pop band Mocca is expected to stage a concert in Okinawa, Japan, in late November, sharing the bill with scores of hot Japanese indie acts.

The Bandung, West Java-based indie band will perform in a music festival titled Sound Rainbow: Living with People of Asia, a show that is expected to draw a crowd of 20,000 people, Astaga.com newsportal reported.

Going against their penchant for performing in small venues as their indie creeds dictate, Mocca -- also a headliner for one date in the festival -- is scheduled to stage their gigs at two baseball stadiums in Okinawa.

Mocca was among the first indie bands to achieve a huge commercial success. With their debut album, My Diary, Mocca shifted 70,000 copies, an indie band record.

The band's follow-up, Friends, hit the shelves earlier this year and received rave reviews.

Both albums were released by Fast Forward Records, an independent record label from Bandung. In Japan, Friends was released on local label Rosemary Records/Apple Crumble Records.

Mocca wrote all their lyrics in English but they penned some of their songs in Bahasa Indonesia for a soundtrack album to children's movie Untuk Rena (For Rena). -- JP

;AP; ANPA ..r.. US-People-Usher Usher gives U.S. magazine readers dating tips JP/20/GUESS

Usher gives magazine readers dating tips

NEW YORK: Need some dating tips? Ask Usher.

The R&B singer, who is starring in his first lead role in In the Mix, shared his secrets with Time magazine.

"Women love compliments, you know what I mean? Buy her a drink," he said. "Talk to her about whatever it is that she wants to talk about. As long as you keep her laughing, you got it."

The film features the 27-year-old musician as Darrell, a playboy New York City disc jockey who finds himself in an interracial relationship with co-star Emmanuelle Chriqui.

Usher, whose 2004 Confessions had huge critical and commercial success, isn't the only musician with a movie these days. Rapper 50 Cent has his own movie, too. Both show the stars baring some skin. But does Usher think he's the better man?

"I'm a smaller guy. 50's got the arms, I got the abs," he says. -- AP

GetAP 1.00 -- NOV 21, 2005 02:17:04