News

While it reaps in critical acclaim for its collaborative album and tour with Iron & Wine, veteran rock act Calexico has put the finishing touches on its next studio set. Due April 11 via Quarterstick, the 11-track “Garden Ruin” was produced by J.D. Foster, who has worked with everyone from Dwight Yoakam and Marc Ribot to Nancy Sinatra and Alejandro Escovedo.

“The songs have that moodiness and ambience, but there’s also some more electric, rockin’ numbers,” group member Joey Burns told Billboard.com this summer of the new material.

Indeed, there are a few more overt rock moments on “Garden Ruin” than usual, particularly on the sprightly “Letter to Bowie Knife” and the Crazy Horse-tinged second half of the six-minute album closer “All Systems Red.”

But for the most part, the album boasts another helping of the group’s signature desert rock sound, from the hushed, largely acoustic “Yours and Mine” to the soulful, string-flecked “Bisbee Blue.”

“Garden Ruin” is the follow-up to 2003’s “Feast of Wire,” which debuted at a career-best No. 23 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart. The Calexico/Iron & Wine album, “In the Reins” (Overcoat) was even more successful, opening at No. 2 on the Heatseekers tally and No. 12 on Top Independent Albums.

The two acts’ supporting tour will wrap tomorrow (Dec. 16) in Atlanta and will resume in Europe next spring. To close out the year, Calexico will play two shows with Mariachi Luz de Luna and Nick Luca on Dec. 22 in Los Angeles and Dec. 30 in Tucson. Three showcase gigs are also on tap for Jan. 24 in New York, Jan. 26 in Los Angeles and Jan. 29 in San Francisco.

As previously reported, Burns and Calexico mate John Convertino guest on Neko Case’s upcoming Anti- album, “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood,” due March 7.

Here is the track list for “Garden Ruin”:

“Cruel”
“Yours and Mine”
“Bisbee Blue”
“Panic Open String”
“Letter to Bowie Knife”
“Roka”
“Lucky Dime”
“Smash
“Deep Down”
“Nom De Plume”
“All Systems Red”

Source billboard.com.

Dr. Dog has been creating music in various incarnations in their hometown of Philadelphia for nearly four years now. The five musicians making up Dr. Dog are all from various musical backgrounds. Imagine The Beach Boys, Beatles, Tom Waits, David Bowie and Neil Young as acknowledged influences that have been interpreted through the eyes of Pavement, Palace Brothers, R. Stevie Moore or Roy Wood.

Along with Rolling Stone, Spin, Alternative Press, Fader and many others, The Philadelphia Inquirer raved Easy Beat, the band’s current album, is an” infectious debut album … Beach Boys-style three part harmonies layered over skewed bouncy rock songs.” The New York Times went on to call Easy Beat an “extraordinary catalog of off kilter ballads and light-headed riff rock … All nine songs, filled with breezy vocal harmonies and unexpected digressions.”

Dr. Dog will be producing the record themselves and are currently recording in Philadelphia in their own studio / rehearsal space. Dr. Dog are looking at a June / July 2006 release.

The King Of France, consisting of vocalist Steve Salad and drummer Michael Azerrad, are gearing up to take to the road in February with Nada Surf and recently announced tourmates, Rogue Wave.

TOUR DATES

Thu 1/12/06 Spaceland Los Angeles CA w/Helio Sequence & The Can’t See
Sat 2/4/06 Mercury Lounge New York NY w/Say Hi To Your Mom
Sun 2/5/06 The Khyber Philadelphia PA
Mon 2/6/06 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland OH
Tue 2/7/06 Garfield Artworks Pittsburgh PA
Wed 2/8/06 Eight By Ten Baltimore MD w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Thu 2/9/06 Starr Hill Charlottesville VA w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Fri 2/10/06 Cats Cradle Carrboro NC w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Sat 2/11/06 The Loft Atlanta GA w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Sun 2/12/06 Exit / In Nashville TN w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Tue 2/14/06 Blue Note Columbia MO w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Wed 2/15/06 Granada Lawrence, KS w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Fri 2/17/06 Trees Dallas TX w/Nada Surf & Rogue Wave
Sat 2/18/06 Emo

ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) will be taking off in 2006, with a new version of their album Fly Between Falls slated for release on Brushfire Records February 21, 2006.
The Bay Area-based quartet specializes in eclectic, groove-based rock

Carole King and Rockingdale / Concord Records are hosting a charity auction on eBay to benefit Mercy Corps.

Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. The agency’s programs currently reach 7 million people in more than 35 countries. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided over $1 billion in assistance to people in 81 nations. Mercy Corps is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Portland, Seattle, Cambridge, Washington, D.C. and Edinburgh, Scotland.

For more information about Mercy Corps visit their website at: mercycorps.org

Carole King / Mercy Corps ebay Auction

ITEMS IN THE AUCTION

Carole King autographed 11″ x 17″ mini poster from “The Living Room Tour”
Full-color tour program from The Living Room Tour
Latte mug with lyrics to Carole’s classic song from Tapestry, “Beautiful” printed on mug with Carole’s handwriting and signature
“You’ve Got a Friend” wristband
The Living Room Tour double CD
Love Makes the World CD
In Concert CD
Colour of Your Dreams CD
Pearls – Songs of Goffin and King CD

Also available are the following Carole King audio streams from her Living Room Tour CD for one month.

Quicktime

Windows Media

Sufjan Stevens, the Magic Numbers and Engineers lead the lineup for the upcoming tribute album “Dream Brother: The Songs of Jeff & Tim Buckley.” Due Jan. 31 via Rykodisc, the 13-track set also features contributions from the Earlies, Adem, Kathryn Williams, King Creosote and Micah P. Hinson.

Covering Tim Buckley tracks are Stevens (“She Is”), the Magic Numbers (“Sing a Song for You”), Engineers (“Song to the Siren”), Williams (“Buzzin’ Fly”) and Tungg (“No Man Can Find the War”), among others.

Jeff Buckley material receiving the interpretative treatment includes “Mojo Pin” (Adem), “Grace” (King Creosote) and “Everybody Here Wants You” (Matthew Herbert and Dani Siciliano).

“‘Dream Brother’ is a model tribute,” writes Buckleys biographer David Browne in the liner notes. “It’s clear that the British and American bands and singer-songwriters who’ve contributed to this unique, joint salute to the Buckleys love their music, but they’re happy (not sad) to shake things up as much as they can.”

Here is the track list for “Dream Brother”:

“Sing a Song for You,” the Magic Numbers
“Yard of Blonde Girls,” Micah P. Hinson
“She Is,” Sufjan Stevens
“Grace,” King Creosote
“I Must Have Been Blind,” the Earlies
“Dream Brother,” Bitmap
“Song to the Siren,” Engineers
“Mojo Pin,” Adem
“No Man Can Find the War,” Tunng
“Morning Theft,” Stephen Fretwell
“Buzzin’ Fly,” Kathryn Williams
“Everybody Here Wants You,” Matthew Herbert and Dani Siciliano
“The River,” Clayhill

Source billboard.com.

Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and bassist Andy Rourke will perform together for the first time since the legendary U.K. act split up in 1987 at th U.K. act split up in 1987 at the benefit Manchester v. Cancer, to be held Jan. 28 at the English city’s Evening News Arena.

Rourke is overseeing the lineup for the show, which will also feature New Order, Doves, Badly Drawn Boy, Primal Scream’s Mani, Stephen Fretwell and other acts to be announced. Rumors have circulated that former Smiths frontman Morrissey will be involved in the show but at present there’s no indication he will participate.

“Andy told me about this project he was involved in and of course I literally stood up and applauded,” Marr says in an audio interview posted on the event’s official Web site. “I said I’d get involved if he needed any help. Absolutely glad to do it. It’s a privilege to do it. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to get something like this together, because it has to be on a fairly big scale for it to be significant.”

The Smiths’ unhappy breakup has of late been back in the news, after former drummer Mike Joyce attempted to sell unreleased Smiths material on eBay. Morrissey responded by posting a detailed account of the lawsuits Joyce has filed for back royalties in recent years on the fan site True to You.

“Somehow, he appears to believe that he should have equal financial status to both myself and to Johnny Marr, even though Joyce has done dramatically less than Johnny and I to attain the positions we now have,” Morrissey wrote.

Tickets for Manchester v. Cancer go on sale Saturday (Dec. 17) via Ticketmaster. “It will bring together people and bands that have made Manchester famous,” Rourke says. “The idea is that this will be the start of an annual event to raise money for charity whether it is helping cancer or arthritis.”

Source billboard.com.

Legendary folk rocker Bob Dylan will start a new career as a radio DJ when he launches a new weekly music show on XM Satellite Radio next March.

The station said on Tuesday the show would feature music hand-picked by Dylan, writer of some of the enduring classics of popular music since the 1960s such as “Mr Tambourine Man,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”

“Dylan will offer regular commentary on music and other topics, host and interview special guests including other artists and will take emails from XM subscribers,” XM said.

Now 64, Dylan’s anti-establishment folk songs were the anthems of a generation and he has released over 44 albums in a career spanning more than four decades.

“Songs and music have always inspired me. A lot of my own songs have been played on the radio, but this is the first time I’ve ever been on the other side of the mic,” Dylan said in a statement.

His memoir “Chronicles Vol. 1,” published in October 2004, was a huge best-seller in the United States.

XM Satellite and its main rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. are battling for supremacy in the nascent market for subscription radio and both have been luring high profile names to their stables to boost their profiles.

XM says it has more than 5 million subscribers.

Source CNN.com.

Toronto four-piece Metric are excited to announce that they will open for The Rolling Stones on January 18th and 20th at Madison Square Garden. Following these dates, Metric will return to the US with a North American tour, kicking off March 7th at the Roxy in Boston and ending on April 15th at Detroit’s St. Andrew’s Hall, in support of
their new album, LIVE IT OUT, which was called “one of the year’s best” by Under The Radar. These dates, which include two shows for the South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX, follow an enormously successful 48-day tour this fall, where Metric sold out nearly all of their shows, including New York’s Bowery Ballroom, Los Angeles’ El Rey Theater, The Social in Orlando and Slim’s in San Francisco.

As posted on discobiscuits.com:

After several months of auditions and many weeks of deliberation, the Disco Biscuits are once again a four piece band.

It is with great pleasure and excitement that we would like to welcome to the band our new drummer, Allen Aucoin.

After many weeks of rehearsal with several drummers, Allen emerged at the head of the pack with an undeniable energy and a youthful exuberance that, in the end, was absolutely unparalleled. Simply put, Allen brought the heat, and the heat was HOT.

While we did find that there were many incredible drummers out there, there was only one that made us feel like we were truly dealing with that indescribable feeling called BISCO. When Allen Aucoin was beating the skins, bisco was in the air. You could close your eyes and it just felt right, and in the end, that was the biggest factor in our decision to take Allen. We like to call it the X-Factor.

So help us all in welcoming our incredible new drummer to the band, Allen “X-Factor” Aucoin. Come on out to the Tower Theatre on December 28th and help us to usher in a new era of The Disco Biscuits. Celebrate with us as we play Allen’s first full show. We have been practicing for it for weeks now and will be fully charged and ready to go.

For more info see: discobiscuits.com