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Indie rock outfit Rilo Kiley just wrapped an extensive tour in support of its latest Brute/Beaute album, “More Adventurous,” but that hasn’t stopped frontwoman Jenny Lewis from keeping busy. The artist is at work on her as-yet-untitled solo debut, which will be released by Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst’s new Team Love label.

“Four days after we got back [from touring], I made this record in six days with [producer] Mike Mogis,” Lewis tells Billboard.com. “It’s a kind of soul record. I’m really excited about it.” According to a Team Love spokesperson, the set will likely arrive in the summer of 2005, as the fifth or sixth release on the imprint.

Until then, Lewis and Rilo Kiley have plenty on their plate. “We’re going to Europe with Bright Eyes in February, and I think to Japan with them as well,” she says. “We’ll come back and do another tour — we’re playing Coachella and Bonnaroo.”

“Then, hopefully my record will come out and I’ll tour with that before the year is over,” Lewis continues. “It’s a lot but it’s good. I get a little antsy when I have too much time off.”

As previously reported, guest spots by members of Rilo Kiley are sprinkled through Bright Eyes’ two new albums, “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” and “Digital Ash in a Digital Urn.” Both sets arrive Jan. 25 via Saddle Creek.

Lewis also appears on singer/songwriter Ben Lee’s New West debut, “Awake Is the New Sleep,” due Feb. 22.

Source billboard.com.

R.E.M. will reissue their entire Warner Bros. catalog on February 15th, with each two disc set including the original album and a bonus DVD featuring the record remixed in 5.1 surround sound, as well as unreleased documentary and video footage.
The reissues span from R.E.M.’s 1988 Warner debut Green to this fall’s Around the Sun, and mark the band’s transition from indie favorites to one of the world’s biggest bands.

“These days, there are R.E.M. fans who think ‘Stand’ or even ‘Losing My Religion’ is the first song the band ever wrote,” bassist Mike Mills told Rolling Stone in 1991. “The people who listen to Top Forty are generally not R.E.M. record buyers — or they weren’t until the last year or two. It’s kind of surprising to listen to the fourteen-year-old girls call up and go, ‘How long have you been together? I like your first record.’ And it’s like ‘No, no. See, the first record came out when you were about one year old.'”

Typical of the bonus material is the extra disc for Out of Time, which includes the unreleased documentary Time Piece, a blend of band member interviews and commentary on songs from the album that made R.E.M. a household name.

R.E.M. finish their U.S. tour Sunday with a show at Albuquerque’s Kive Auditorium, before heading to Europe in January.

Source rollingstone.com.

Ratdog has added a number of east coast shows to it’s previously announced pring tour. These show will take place April 7-8 at Turning Stone Casino in Verona NY, April 9 at Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Mashantucket CT, April 11 at Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick MD, April 17 at, Westbury Music Fair in Westbury NY, April 22 at Hampton Beach Casino, Ballroom in Hampton Beach NH, April 23 at Orpheum Theatre in Boston, MA, and April 25 at Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield CT.

For more information and full list of dates visit ratdog.com.

Designed specifically for women and girls so their first day on a snowboard turns into a lifetime of riding fun, Women’s Learn To Ride (LTR) provides first-time riders with learning-specific equipment, smaller classes, personal attention and knowledgeable instructors that cater to the way girls learn. The goal of Women’s LTR is to make learning fun so girls return to the mountain and join the snowboarding lifestyle.

“The Women’s LTR Program is a perfect opportunity for women to add the fun of snowboarding to their lives in a comfortable, safe environment,” says Burton Global Team rider Victoria Jealouse. “For me, I need things explained and I want to fully understand something before I try it, and I think this might be a common thing for us girls. So, smaller instructor groups and more attention make a big difference. The chances are very, very high that after a day with Women’s LTR, women will be linking turns and laughing.”

Burton LTR products and programs have brought new riders to the sport since 1998, but have never catered specifically to women until now. To create this groundbreaking new program, Burton gathered a group of experienced women riders and girls who had never snowboarded before to help design and develop Women’s LTR. This season, Women’s LTR is offered at three resorts that will work with Burton to make sure girls and women have the best experience from day one.

Each of the three participating resorts will offer various promotions and special programs that will encourage women to get involved with the new Women’s LTR program. Every participant in women’s LTR will receive a journal, stickers and an issue of SG magazine to take home after her first day on the hill.

More specifics to come on each resort’s special offerings and launch plans surrounding this breakthrough new program for women.

With a mixture of hardcore punk, synthesizers, metal riffs, and dance-y noise-rock, Canadian duo Death From Above 1979 have teamed up with some of their label-mates for the Vice Records Tour.

But, the question remains as to why the pair have elephant trunks for noses in a drawing on the eerie cover of their debut album, You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine.

Answer: “We wanted our band to be like an elephant in your living room,” Jesse F. Keeler, DFA 1979 bass/synths player said. “That’s why we gave ourselves trunks.

And with that profound statement, Keeler and his partner, drummer and vocalist Sebastien Grainger, are trekking through North America with label mates the Panthers and Vietnam with dates spanning into early December.

The triple-threat will make several stops in DFA 1979’s homeland including, Quebec, Montreal and Ontario.

Following a break, the band will split from the Vice tour and resume dates in the U.K. scheduled through early February. They’ll end their stay in Britain with two dates at London’s Camden Palace and The Garage.

From there, the deadly duo has some Japan gigs on the books.
During a Canadian stint in October, the two-piece, along with Billy Talent and Metric sold out 12 shows in cities like Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and others.

DFA 1979 factoid: Besides the rumor claiming the two friends met in prison and now live in a Toronto funeral parlor, the guys apparently had a small run-in with a record label that put a cease and desist on their original name, Death From Above.

After Death From Above Records (aka DFA) – home to Black Dice and LCD Soundsystem – approached the band to change its name, the duo was forced to tack on the

Electronica veteran Moby will release his fifth studio album, “Hotel,” on March 14 internationally via Mute and March 22 in North America via V2. The 14-track set will be preceded by an as-yet-untitled single at the end of February. Moby played all the instruments on “Hotel” except the drums, and is joined on vocals by Lucy Dawn.

Two cuts are duets with unnamed collaborators, while two others are instrumentals. Moby is expected to tour in support of “Hotel” but no details have yet been unveiled.

Source billboard.com.

The Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise is recognized as one of the top blues festivals on the planet. It is also the world’s only chartered blues cruise.

In its fourth year, this year’s cruise hits the high seas on January 22, 2005 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida destined for the Eastern Caribbean. The five star Holland America Zuiderdam boat will sail for seven days all the while hosting intimate and electrifying performances by the world’s best rhythm and blues talent: over 60 live
performances by sixteen acts! Cruisers have the option to temporarily get their feet back on the ground by indulging in the attractions and beaches in Grand Turk, Tortola and St. Maarten.

Cruisers will bask to the perpetual rhythms of Taj Mahal, Dr. John, Susan Tedeschi, Shemekia Copeland, Phantom Blues Band, The Derek Trucks Band, Anson Funderburgh with Sam Myers, Tommy Castro, Bernard Allison, Little Charlie & The Nightcats, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, Kenny Neal Band, Chubby Carrier, Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, Corey Harris and Zac Harmon.

Plus, nine special guests are confirmed to be on board, including Tito Jackson, guitarist of the Jackson 5. Tito, who learned blues guitar from his father and uncle in Gary, Indiana before the J-5 pop explosion, has returned to his blues roots and will celebrate the release of a blues-inspired album in February 2005. Tito Jackson will sit in on a Blues Guitar Hero workshop and sit in with other musicians who have similar influences.

Cruisers will witness many such rare combinations of talent sharing the same stage, and rub elbows with the stars by participating in artist workshops and autograph sessions. Regular Blues Cruise headliner Taj Mahal exclaims, “It’s a Blues Festival where everyone has a Backstage Pass!”

The testimonials are abundant: “Life-changing.” “Magical.” “The time of my life.”

An ever-growing family of dedicated fans are counting the days, hours, and minutes until the LRBC sets sail each year. The cruise’s menu of daily themes, contests, no-holds barred fun and sense of community are what really keep this ship afloat.

For more information visit bluescruise.com or call 1-888-BLUESIN (258-3746).

With Death Cab For Cutie having just inked a major-label deal with Atlantic, it may be some time before singer Ben Gibbard’s side project, the Postal Service, unveils a new album. To help tide fans over, Sub Pop will on Feb. 8 release a four-song single for the track “We Will Become Silhouettes,” bolstered by the new song “Be Still My Heart” and two remixes.

Styrofoam, the moniker for Belgian electronic artist Arne van Petegem, remixes “Nothing Better,” while Michigan-based act Matthew Dear reworks “Silhouettes.”

The Postal Service recently issued a vinyl edition of its Sub Pop debut “Give Up,” which featured bonus disc of B-sides and remixes, as well as Postal Service covers by the Shins and Iron & Wine. A Sub Pop spokesperson says the label has no plans at present to issuing the vinyl EP on CD.

With sales of more than 401,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, “Give Up” has improbably become Sub Pop’s second-best selling release ever, behind only Nirvana’s “Bleach.” The album has spent 91 weeks on Billboard’ Top Independent Albums chart, where it is currently No. 16.

In addition to traditional retail outlets, “Give Up” can now be purchased via the Web site of the United States Postal Service (USPS). A licensing deal between the parties was struck after the government agency sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sub Pop. The band was allowed to keep its name if it agreed to promote the USPS, and last week performed at the Postmaster General’s national executive conference in Washington, D.C.

Source billboard.com.

The National Football League (NFL) has drafted Paul McCartney as the headline performer for the Super Bowl XXXIX halftime show. The Feb. 6 performance will take place at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., and will be broadcast live on Fox.

“There’s nothing bigger then being asked to perform at the Super Bowl,” McCartney says. “We’re looking forward to rocking the millions at home and in the stadium.”

The Super Bowl qualifies as one of the world’s biggest stages, annually drawing the biggest U.S. viewership of any television broadcast. Last year’s game was seen by 144.4 million stateside viewers, according to the NFL, as well as in an additional 200 countries.

A large portion of that audience witnessed a little something extra during the last halftime show in Houston. The MTV-produced Feb. 1, 2004, performance ended with guest performer Justin Timberlake ripping away a piece of headliner Janet Jackson’s costume, revealing her breast.

Famously described as a “wardrobe malfunction,” the incident resulted in public outcry and an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). CBS, which broadcast the event, is protesting an FCC fine of $550,000.

The NFL is undoubtedly banking on McCartney’s performance in this year’s halftime show, which will be sponsored by Ameriquest Mortgage, to be less risqu

U2 will be performing live, Monday November 22 in DUMBO north of the the Brooklyn Bridge. The performance is being filmed by MTV for a feature on the release of “How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb”, and tickets are free through 1iota: www.1iota.com , click on MTV surprise performance (it doesn