Last week, when news broke regarding the U.S. government's confiscation of hard drives containing Death Cab for Cutie shredder Chris Walla's forthcoming solo album, scores of fans called foul, pointing fingers at Washington State border officials and criticizing their apparently irrational use of power. But now, following countless news stories connecting the politically critical solo debut to the government's motivations, U.S. Customs officials have come forward to quell the rampant reports. "I want to point out very emphatically that the U.S. government, this administration, the Department of Homeland Security and specifically [USCBP] does not censor musical content coming into the United States. Period. That's not the reason this hard drive was kept," U.S. Customs and Border Protection rep Mike Milne told MTV.com. "We followed standard operating procedure... and when you start talking about... Guantánamo Bay [as cited in Walla's blog post], you get my ire up. I go on Google News, and I see 125 different news stories out there with the headline 'Homeland Security Seizes Musician's Music,' and it strikes me as unfair. And I will be spending the rest of the day trying to contact those people -- The Associated Press, the record company [Barsuk] and Mr. Walla -- to ask them if they can set the record straight."

So why were the hard drives containing Walla's record, titled Field Manual and slated for a Jan. 29 release date, confiscated? Well, according to Milne, because they were deemed "commercial merchandise" and evidently brought through the wrong crossing station sans proper documentation. Furthermore, according to Milne, U.S. Customs officials have been attempting to return the hard drives to Hippowest studio engineer Brandon Brown for some time now, though, speaking with MTV.com, Brown refuted Milne's claim: "Obviously, I would've gotten the drive if I would've heard from them," he said.

You decide: is Walla and label guilty of hype 101, or is the U.S. government playing a calculated game of PR cleanup?

 

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Kid Rock Arrested on Battery Charges

Though his latest album, Rock 'N' Roll Jesus, may be reaching divine levels of success by hitting the No. 1 slot on the Billboard Charts, it appears Kid Rock, a.k.a. Robert James Ritchie, isn't acting like a saint: the Detroit-based rocker was arrested on charges of misdemeanor battery early Sunday morning (Oct. 21) in DeKalb County, Georgia after he and his entourage allegedly beat up a man at a Waffle House restaurant, Billboard.com reports. Rock, who spent about 12 hours in jail, was released around 5 P.M. Sunday after posting a $1,000 bond. According to reports, the incident began when Rock and crew were eating and another restaurant patron, one Harlem DeJon Akins, recognized a woman in Rock's entourage and engaged her in conversation. When Rock butted in, a fight soon ignited, and, of course, five men also in Rock's entourage immediately became involved. The fight then moved to the parking lot and when all was said and done, Akins suffered minor cuts and bruises after punching through a window at the Waffle House. Rock and Co. fled in his tour bus and were stopped by police just miles away.

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Ministry Bassist Paul Raven R.I.P.

 

Paul Raven, low-ender for seminal punks Killing Joke and alt-rockers Prong, as well as metal outfit Ministry, died in Geneva Saturday (Oct. 20) due to what initial reports cite as a heart attack. He was 46 years old. Raven, who was in the Swiss city working with French industrial rockers Treponem Pal on their new release alongside Marco Neves, Ted Parsons (Prong), and members of the Young Gods, was born in Wolverhampton U.K. on Jan. 16, 1961 and, most recently, was nominated for a 2006 Grammy for Best Metal Performance due to his work alongside Ministry's Al Jourgensen. ''We are all deeply stricken with grief at the unannounced departure of possibly the funniest man on planet Earth and a brother to us all," Killing Joke's frontman Jaz Coleman and guitarist Geordie Walker both said in a statement.