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Highlights from last year’s Austin City Limits festival are heading to CD late next month via Rhino. Due Aug. 30, the eponymous collection rounds up 16 tracks by acts ranging from the Pixies and Franz Ferdinand to the Blind Boys Of Alabama and the Neville Brothers.

Also featured are tracks from My Morning Jacket, Cake, Dashboard Confessional, Broken Social Scene, Calexico (covering Love’s classic “Alone Again Or”), Ben Harper and former Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio. Elsewhere, rootsy rock’n’roll is represented by Shelby Lynne, Los Lonely Boys, Josh Rouse and the Drive By Truckers.

As previously reported, the 2005 edition of Austin City Limits will be held Sept. 23-25 in Zilker Park. Headliners include Coldplay, Widespread Panic, Oasis, the Black Crowes, the Allman Brothers Band, Wilco and Jimmy Cliff.

Newly added to the bill are psychedelic rock legend Roky Erickson and his band the Explosives, Kaiser Chiefs, Blues Traveler and Jack Ingram.

Here is the track list for “Austin City Limits”:

“Debaser,” the Pixies
“Hands Down,” Dashboard Confessional
“Darts of Pleasure,” Franz Ferdinand
“Be Be Your Love,” Rachael Yamagata
“Crazy Dream,” Los Lonely Boys
“Walk in Jerusalem,” Blind Boys Of Alabama
“It’s the Nighttime,” Josh Rouse
“Anthems for a 17 Year Old Girl,” Broken Social Scene
“Streets Are Callin’,” the Neville Brothers
“Your Lies,” Shelby Lynne
“The Day John Henry Died,” Drive By Truckers
“Wheels,” Cake
“The Way That He Sings,” My Morning Jacket
“Alone Again Or,” Calexico
“Brown Eyed Blues,” Ben Harper
“First Tube,” Trey Anastasio

Source .

Primus’ classic lineup of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander will hit the studio later this year to record its first album together since 1995’s “Tales From the Punchbowl.” It will be Primus’ first new studio album since 1999’s “Antipop.” It is unknown if the new set will be released by Claypool’s Prawn Song imprint or via another label.

Claypool, LaLonde and Alexander regrouped in the fall of 2003 for a North American tour and the Interscope release of a DVD/CD, “Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People.”

On Saturday (July 23), the group will be the only performer at the revived Lollapalooza festival in Chicago that was a part of the event in its 1990s heyday. Claypool will also play a solo show the night before at the Vic Theatre.

Source billboard.com.

In one of the more intriguing pairings in recent memory, Chicago instrumental rock act Tortoise and famed Canadian producer/artist Daniel Lanois are teaming for a 13-city fall tour of North America. Tortoise will play its own set each night, then back Lanois for his performance. The tour will begin Oct. 6 in Boston.

Tortoise will be helping Lanois bring to life the material on his brand new instrumental Anti- album, “Belladonna.” As previously reported, the artist is playing select dates this summer, and will also make Sept. 30-Oct. 1 appearances at the Wall to Wall guitar festival at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

As for Tortoise, the group is at work on a covers album with fellow indie rock icon Will Oldham, its first to feature extensive use of vocals. The set is due in November. Tortoise also has a handful of live dates on tap through July 24 in Edmonton, Alberta.

Here are Tortoise/Daniel Lanois’ tour dates:

Oct. 6: Boston (Sommerville Theatre)
Oct. 7: New York (Irving Plaza)
Oct. 8: Philadelphia (TLA)
Oct. 10: Chicago (venue TBA)
Oct. 11: Madison, Wis. (Barrymore Theatre)
Oct. 12: Minneapolis (Fine Line)
Oct. 14: Boulder, Colo. (Fox Theatre)
Oct. 15: Salt Lake City (Suede)
Oct. 17: Vancouver (Commodore Ballroom)
Oct. 18: Seattle (Neumo’s)
Oct. 19: Portland, Ore. (Alladin Theatre)
Oct. 20-21: San Francisco (the Independent)
Oct. 22: Los Angeles (Avalon)

Source billboard.com.

Wilco has confirmed that it will be among the artists appearing at the 20th anniversary edition of Farm Aid. As previously reported, the Sept. 18 show in Tinley Park, Ill., will feature the organization’s founders, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, as well as Farm Aid board member Dave Matthews.

“I grew up in Southern Illinois and I’ve seen farms close and the effect that can have on families and communities,” Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy says. “I’ll take any opportunity I can to help address that problem. To get to share a stage with the likes of Neil Young and Willie Nelson, well, that

It

Details of the co-headlining Foo Fighters/Weezer tour are beginning to come together. The North American arena tour will open in early-September and run through late October.

For developing details see: Billboard

Superstar rapper Eminem will retire from touring and making solo albums this fall, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. The piece quotes sources close to Eminem as saying his final live performance will be Sept. 17 in Dublin, and that his 2004 album, “Encore,” will likely be his last.

Eminem exploded into the mainstream in the late 1990s, having honed his skills amid the Detroit rap underground. He has sold nearly 29 million albums to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan; “Encore” has shifted 4.68 million since its release last fall.

Eminem’s manager, Paul Rosenberg, told the Free Press that while “no official decision” has been made about the artist’s future plans, “Encore” is “certainly the cap on this part of his career.”

To read more, visit billboard.com.

Fans eager to hear a fresh episode of the Howard Stern Show following the cast

After reuniting last year for the first time in decades, seminal underground rock act the New York Dolls has signed a new deal with Roadrunner. The group is at work on its first new studio album since 1974’s “Too Much Too Soon,” expected to be released next spring.

Surviving original members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain will be backed on the set by guitarist Steve Conte, bassist Sami Yaffa, drummer Brian Delaney and keyboardist Brian Koonin. That same lineup is on the road this summer for a handful of dates, beginning Saturday (July 16) at the Cisco Systems Bluesfest in Ottawa, Ontario.

“Since word has spread of the band getting back into the studio to record new material, I’ve been inundated with calls from various high-profile producers and artists wanting to get involved,” Roadrunner A&R executive David Bason tells Billboard.com. “I can’t reveal any names yet but it’s nice to have such a vote of confidence from the artistic community out of the gate.”

“The sound of this record will be true to form New York Dolls — down and dirty rock’n’roll,” he continues. “I’ve heard sketches of the material and if it’s any indication, the record will blow you away.”

The Dolls regrouped in 2004 at the urging of Morrissey, who was the president of the group’s fan club during its heyday. An early comeback show yielded the CD/DVD “The Return of the New York Dolls: Live From Royal Festival Hall 2004,” which Morrissey released on his Attack imprint via Sanctuary. Original bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane died suddenly of leukemia shortly thereafter.

As previously reported, Kane is the subject of the new film “New York Doll,” which chronicles the ups-and-downs of his post-Dolls life. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters in October.

Here are the New York Dolls’ tour dates:

July 16: Ottawa, Ontario (Cisco Systems Bluesfest)
July 17: Montreal (Les Franco Folies De Montreal)
July 23: Amagansett, N.Y. (Stephen Talkhouse)
Aug. 6: Notodden, Norway (City of Notodden)
Aug. 12: Sayreville, N.J. (Starland Ballroom)
Aug. 13: Atlantic City, N.J. (House of Blues)
Aug. 31: Anaheim, Calif. (House of Blues)

Source billboard.com.