Archive: 2005

As it prepares for its maiden tour of South America, which begins Nov. 22 in Santiago, Chile, Pearl Jam continues to work on its new studio album, which is due next spring via J Records.

“It’s been a difficult record and it’s like sometimes the harder something is, then the more valuable it becomes,” frontman Eddie Vedder said earlier this week during a Brazilian radio interview. “It’s easily the best stuff we’ve done but also some of the hardest stuff. It’s very aggressive, because again, it’s kind of a product of what it’s like to be an American these days. It’s pretty aggressive, especially when you turn it loud.”

The band has been working on and off throughout the year on the as-yet-untitled set, but Vedder admitted, “It’s not quite done. I’m hoping to finish the last of the songs while I’m down [in South America]. I’m bringing my tape machines and all that down. If I can come back and finish the last few songs in January, then it will be out in April or something.”

For now, Pearl Jam is not planning to unveil any new songs in a live setting. “We want them to be heard for the first time when the record comes out,” Vedder said.

But he added he had been mulling an album title that was a play on Soundgarden’s “Superunknown”: “I was thinking of the word ‘un-owned’ — not owned by anybody,” he said. “The sky is un-owned. The moon is un-owned. We’re un-owned. We want to remain un-owned. The title was ‘Superun-owned.'”

Continuing a new initiative launched during Pearl Jam’s recent fall North American tour, the South American shows will be available for paid download from the band’s Web site within hours of their completion.

Source billboard.com.

If The Art of Virtue is any indication, Adrienne Young lives by Ben Franklin

With his next studio album not due until next year, Ray LaMontagne will tide fans over with a live EP and short run of tour dates. Due Dec. 6 via RCA, “Live From Bonnaroo 2005” features six tracks recorded at this summer’s incarnation of the Tennessee festival, including “Burn”, “Trouble” and the previously unreleased “Empty.”

The artist will hit the road beginning Nov. 30 in Portsmouth, N.H., with support from Brandi Carlile. As previously reported, LaMontagne will also appear at Warren Haynes’ 17th annual Xmas Jam, to be held Dec. 17 in Asheville, N.C.

Here are Lamontagne tour dates:

Nov. 30: Portsmouth, N.H. (Music Hall)
Dec. 1: Montreal, Quebec (Outremont Theater)
Dec. 2-3: Boston (Berklee College of Music)
Dec. 5: New York (Town Hall)
Dec. 7: Chicago (Park West)
Dec. 8: Minneapolis (Pantages Theater)
Dec. 10: Atlanta (Tabernacle)
Dec. 12: Keene, N.H. (Colonial Theater)
Dec. 17: Asheville, N.C. (Asheville Civic Center)

Source billboard.com.

Taking nods from My Bloody Valentine, Syd Barrett and Eno might be making for a monumental listen, but for Animal Collective, Feels is just another commitment to studio experimentation for an art rock band.

Blind Melon, the lost link that bridged the gap between the burgeoning jam scene of the early 1990

Initial reports had Charlie Hitchcock walking away from Particle, but apparently that wasn

Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu will release his studio debut, “Youth,” Jan. 31 via Epic/Or Music/J Dub. As previously reported, the majority of the project was overseen by noted producer Bill Laswell. Three other tracks were co-produced by Jimmy Douglass and ill factor.

Matisyahu has been touring all year in support of the concert set “Live at Stubb’s,” which reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Reggae Albums chart and No. 14 on the Top Heatseekers survey. The album has sold 87,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. “Youth” will feature two songs from “Stubb’s”: “King Without a Crown” and “Warrior.”

The artist’s busy touring schedule will continue through the end of the year, having just announced a six-show Hanukkah tour that begins Dec. 24 in Philadelphia.

Matisyahu is also tipped to appear on two songs from P.O.D.’s new album, “Testify,” due early next year via Atlantic.

Source billboard.com.

Hal Abramson, promoter of this summer’s Shakedown Festival in Oregon, has resurfaced and given Pollstar his side of the story. The jam band event was canceled just hours before gates were to open, leaving a lot of fans and concert insiders scratching their heads.

Lowell MacGregor, owner of festival site Columbia Meadows near the city of Saint Helens, has been fielding calls all summer, giving his side of the story. Abramson, on the other hand, left the area soon after the would-be August 26-28 concert collapsed and could not be reached. His side of things showed up online at the Shakedown’s Web site.

Abramson says he’s quit the music biz and is living at his mother’s house. The experience left him destitute and he’s now under the care of a psychiatric clinic. He recently fired off a screed to the Columbia County board of commissioners, detailing MacGregor’s alleged mishandling of the festival.

To read more, visit pollstar.com.

Unlike Christmas shopping, you can

Photos by Robert Massie of The String Cheese Incident at the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, PA on 10.14.05

For more of Robert’s work, please visit: jampics.com