News

After 33 years in New York City’s East Village, legendary punk club C.B.G.B. is expected to move to Las Vegas – commodes and all.
Club owner Hilly Kristal, who lost his lease last year, plans to relocate the venue to downtown Sin City after closing in October. He said he plans to take the bars, doors, toilets and urinals along to recreate the club’s atmosphere.
“We’re going to take it all,” he told Pollstar.
Kristal said he has several potential locations and is in discussions with a number of developers and brokers.
“Everybody gets a little greedy when they see dollar signs in front of them and they start wanting more and more and more, so I don’t know,” Kristal said. “I’m going to tell them it’s either this or nothing, ’cause you’d be surprised how they’re not just investors, they want the whole brand. Or most of it.
“The brand is very important to them, because it’s been making more and more money every year, especially in the clothing thing.”
Kristal was planning to fly to Las Vegas August 26 and hoped to be close to a deal by early September.
A team of “experts” will remove the bars, toilets, etc. in late October after a final gig with Patti Smith, Kristal said.
“It’s going to cost a lot of money. Maybe the stuff we’re not going to take, I’ll put on eBay. We’ll see if anybody wants some tables and chairs. I’ll sign them,” he said, laughing.
Kristal said he doesn’t know who will be booking the club, but emphasized that C.B.G.B. built its reputation by working to get new bands signed and will continue that tradition.
“We want to be able to go further on the Internet and further in a lot of ways. I’m looking to not only move but to expand,” he said.

Source pollstar.com.

Park the Van Records and Dr. Dog are proud to offer 1000 very special handmade CDs of their upcoming EP, “Takers And Leavers” before the official street date of September 12th. Dr. Dog hand-made 1000 original one of a kind CD covers using exacto-knives, paint, stickers, old photos, ink pens, books, markers and other parts.

“Takers And Leavers” will contain 4 exclusive EP tracks and two songs – “Ain’t It Strange” & “Goner” – from the band’s upcoming fourth full-length album, still untitled, slated for a February 2007 release.

Both “Takers And Leavers” and the upcoming LP, follow up the critically acclaimed “Easy Beat.” Like “Easy Beat,” both releases maintain the psychedelic guitar interplay, shimmering harmonies and dynamic songwriting that captured fans and critics nationwide. Unlike their previous three releases, which were recorded on an 8 track, the band’s new songs were recorded on a 24 track. Having an opportunity to leave their basement studio in favor of a slightly larger rehearsal / warehouse space in North Philadelphia, Dr. Dog remained true to their lo-fidelity atmospherics. The band, in-between headlining dates and a European tour with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, produced both releases
Rolling Stone, Spin, The New York Times, Alternative Press and many others agree, the band’s three part harmonies, poignant lyrics, soulful ballads and classic psychedelic rock, are simply undeniable.

Dr. Dog will hit the road beginning September 7th, co-headlining dates with The Cold War Kids before heading to Houston, TX on September 14th, to begin a tour as the main support for The Raconteurs.

Beginning August 29th, the hand made EP will be available on parkthevan.com, insound.com, ampcamp.com and at the following stores:

Athens, GA – School Kids
Atlanta, GA – Criminal Records
Austin, TX – Waterloo
Baltimore, MD – Record & Tape Trader
Bangor/Portland, ME – Bull Moose
Berkeley, CA – Rasputin
Boise, ID – Record Exchange
Boston, MA – Newbury Comics
Chicago, IL – Reckless Records
Dallas, TX – Good Records
Denver, CO – Twist & Shout
Long Beach, CA – Fingerprints
Los Angeles, CA – Amoeba LA
Los Angeles, CA – Rhino
Minneapolis, MN – Electric Fetus
NY, NY- Kim’s Mediapolis
NYC, NY – Mondo Kims
NYC, NY – Other Music
Omaha, NE – Homers
Orlando, FL – Park Avenue
Philadelphia, PA – AKA Music (the unofficial Takers & Leavers HQ!)
Portland, OR – Jackpot
Portland, OR – Music Millennium
Raleigh, NC- School Kids
Richmond, VA – Plan 9
Sacramento, CA – Dimple
San Diego, CA – Lou’s
San Francisco, CA – Amoeba SF
Seattle, WA – Easy Street
Seattle, WA – Sonic Boom

Los Angeles-based indie pop duo The Submarines will join French new wave sensation Nouvelle Vague on a North American tour this fall, beginning in Vancouver on September 5 and wrapping in Miami on September 23.

In other news, The Submarines recorded an iTunes session with famed indie rock producer Adam Lassus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo), which will be available this Fall. In addition to alternative version of songs from Declare a New State!. The Submarines recorded covers of Galaxie 500’s “Tugboat” and Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset.”

Also, the band recently completed “The Submarines Remix Project.” They sent out songs from the album to friends and favorite musicians/remixers for prospective collaboration. Artists like Styrofoam (collaborator with Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard and American Analog Set’s Andrew Kenny), Nobody (remixer of the Postal Service), Console of the Notwist, Morgan Page (Coldplay, Imogen Heep) and Dutch indie rocker Solex all loved what they heard and offered to put their unique stamps on new reinterpretations on the songs. These remixes will be available digitally in the Fall.

A sonically exhilarating parallel journey of two songwriters going through the same heartbreaking experience, Declare A New State resulted from Hazard and Dragonetti’s break-up; the split triggered a prolific period of songwriting and recording for both-a process that would eventually bring them back to each other again.

Tour dates are as follows:
Tuesday, 9/05/06 Vancouver, BC @ Plaza Club
Wednesday, 09/06/06 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Thursday, 09/07/06 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Friday, 09/08/06 Los Angeles, CA @ Music Box @ Fonda
Monday, 09/11/06 Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
Wednesday, 09/13/06 Chicago, IL @ Metro / Smart Bar
Friday, 09/15/06 Montreal, QB @ Club Soda
Saturday, 09/16/06 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
Sunday, 09/17/06 Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
Tuesday, 09/19/06 New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Thursday, 09/21/06 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Friday, 09/22/06 Orlando, FL
Saturday, 09/23/06 Miami, FL @ Studio A

Nonesuch Records will release Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest, a performance DVD by Wilcos Jeff Tweedy, on October 24. The disc includes performances and conversations gathered over five nights on Tweedys February 2006 solo acoustic tour, with footage from concerts at Seattles Moore Theater, Portlands Crystal Ballroom, Eugene

Rose Hill Drive have announced a fall tour that will see them traveling around the world in support of their debut studio album.

After spending the last couple years building an enormous underground buzz with thrilling live shows, the Boulder-based trio released their self-titled debut on August 22, 2006 via Megaforce Records/Sci Fidelity.

TOUR DATES:
8-27-06 — Belly Up, Aspen CO
8-30-06

Nickel Creek will begin an indefinite hiatus in late 2007, Billboard.com has learned. The bluegrass-leaning trio will remain active on the road up until that point, but will amicably part ways afterward to pursue solo projects.

“After seven years straight of touring and three records behind us, it’s in our best interest to suspend Nickel Creek by the end of next year,” says group member Chris Thile, noting that he and Sara Watkins have been in Nickel Creek since they were eight years old.

Source billboard.com[/url[].

Rapper Talib Kweli’s next solo album, “Ear Drum,” will be the first release under his newly formed Blacksmith Music/Warner Bros. imprint. Due later this year, the set features guest appearances from rhyming partner Hi-Tek, UGK’s Bun B and Pimp C and Raheem DeVaughn, among others.

The first single is “Listen”; other album cuts include “More Or Less” featuring Hi-Tek and “Country Cousins” featuring UGK and Raheem DeVaughn.

The rapper says the new offering is an extension of his typically revolutionary rhymes. “The vast majority of my subject matter focuses on black self-love, black self esteem, black self=worth,” he says. “That translates to other communities because if you’re a human being, it doesn’t matter what color you’re talking about. You’ve been through some sort of struggle and you can apply it to your own life.”

Also in the works from Kweli’s Blacksmith artists are projects by rappers Jean Grae and Strong Arm Steady, whose members include Xzibit, Phil the Agony, Krondon and Mitchy Slick. “With Blacksmith, I want it to be a flag that everyone can wave,” says Kweli.

Kweli will be on the road for the majority of September, including shows in Hamburg (Sept. 11), Paris (Sept. 13) and London (Sept. 14).

Source billboard.com.

Argentinean singer/songwriter Juana Molina is beloved for her visionary artistry, drawling a line between traditional and modern music, through an electro-acoustic hybrid that finds inspiration in nature. Juana breaks away from the traditional Latin sound by eschewing convention and opting for a more experimental sound and outlook. Ms. Molina’s mesmerizing performances add a visual element to her “process”-real-time compositions unfold live as she layers and loops acoustic guitars, traditional percussion touches, electronic textures and her disarming vocals.

In support of her latest album, Molina has been globe-trekking, touring Japan, S. America and, currently, the UK. For her recent N. American jaunt, she joined Swedish crooner, Jose Gonzalez and label-mates, Psapp for a sold-out run. She’s bringing her impressive live show back to the states with label-mate Adem, for an evening of music not to be missed.

ADEM
London-based singer/folktronic songwriter Adem will release his sophomore album, Love and Other Planets, on September 26th on Domino Recordings. Prior to launching a solo career, Adem Ilhan was a member of Fridge alongside Sam Jeffers and Four Tet’s Kieran Hebdan. When that group went on hiatus, Adem released his celebrated debut, Homesongs, in 2004. Shortly thereafter, he hit the road in the U.S. with Badly Drawn Boy (with whom Fridge have both toured and served as the backing band) and Explosions In The Sky.

Juana Molina/Adem North American Tour Dates:
SUN 10/08 ARLINGTON, VA IOTA
TUE 10/10 NEW YORK, NY Bowery Ballroom
WED 10/11 MONTREAL, QUE La Sala Rossa
THU 10/12 TORONTO, ON Supermarket
FRI 10/13 CLEVELAND, OH Grog Shop
SAT 10/14 CHICAGO, IL Lakeshore Theater
SUN 10/15 MADISON, WI Caf

Seattle

Modern rock outfit Modest Mouse will return Dec. 19 with its highly anticipated new Epic album, “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.”

It’s the follow-up to the band’s 2004 mainstream breakthrough, “Good News for People Who Love Bad News,” which has sold 1.5 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The new album was recorded at Sweet Tea Studios in Oxford, Miss., and, as previously tipped here, features the contributions of former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Marr has since become an official member of Modest Mouse and will tour with the band in the future.

For now, the lone confirmed date on Modest Mouse’s schedule is a Nov. 11 appearance at the Bang! Festival in Miami, alongside Duran Duran, Daft Punk, Gnarls Barkley and Tiesto.

Source billboard.com.

Vegoose at Night is a series of nighttime concerts presenting a variety of artists at marquee venues throughout the city starting on Friday, October 27th and running through Halloween night, Tuesday, October 31st. An initial listing of the Vegoose at Night Concert Series is below. Check vegoose.com for updates in the coming weeks.

Ticket availability for these shows will be limited. Those who have purchased tickets to VEGOOSE will be given the first opportunity to purchase tickets to late-night shows in a special pre-sale. The first round of VIP ticket holder pre-sales will start on Wednesday, September 6th. The first round of regular ticket holder pre-sales will start on Saturday, September 9th. Visit vegoose.com for more ticketing info.

Friday Oct. 27th, 2006
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds MGM Grand Garden

Damian “Jr. Gong” MarleyThe Joint – Hard Rock

Keller WilliamsHouse of Blues

Trey Anastasio w/ Robert Randolph & The Family BandOrleans Arena

Saturday Oct. 28th, 2006
Maceo Parker House of Blues

STS9The Joint – Hard Rock

Phil & Trey…Orleans Arena

Sunday Oct. 29th, 2006

The String Cheese IncidentOrleans Arena

Monday Oct. 30th, 2006

Widespread Panic MGM Grand Garden

More shows to be announced

“Everyone Stare: The Police Inside Out,” the directorial debut of five-time Grammy Award-winning composer and drummer Stewart Copeland, will be released on DVD exclusively by Universal Music Enterprises in September 12, 2006.

The film is a first-person account of The Police

Celebrating the release of his new studio album “Bar 17,” Trey Anastasio will embark on a fourteen date fall tour across the U.S. The Trey Anastasio Band line up will include Tony Hall, Raymond Weber, Ray Paczkowski, Christina Durfee and Jennifer Hartswick.

The tour will include three two-nighters in some very intimate rooms including The Vic in Chicago, Boulder’s Fox Theater and New York City’s Webster Hall. The Webster Hall shows, on October 8th and 9th, will mark the release of “Bar 17” and the launch of Trey’s new arts initiative as part of his Seven Below Fund. The fund’s purpose is to further arts education in Vermont and will include an artists-in-residence component using The Barn and will also feature outreach to support arts education for children. Trey will end the tour on Halloween at the venerable Stubb’s in Austin.

Tickets for all of these shows will be available through a real time preorder beginning Thursday, August 24th at 5PM EST at treytickets.rlc.net Public ticket on-sales start Wednesday, September 6th. Please be sure to check the Tourdates Page at Trey.com for specific pre-sale and public on-sale information.

A limited number of VIP tickets will be made available for the Webster Hall shows, proceeds from the sale of the VIP tickets will benefit the Seven Below Arts Initiative. The VIP package will include access to a special balcony viewing area, copies of “Bar 17” and the bonus album “18 Steps,” show poster and an invitation to a special Seven Below Fund post-show reception with Trey in attendance.

For a full list of dates, complete ticketing and show information, visit the official Tourdates Page.

Universal Republic Records will release new music from the legendary rock band The Who, it was announced today by Mel Lewinter, Chairman and CEO of the Universal Motown Records Group, and Monte Lipman, President of Universal Republic Records. The historic signing with Universal Republic will include the first studio album by the band in 25 years, Endless Wire, scheduled to hit stores October 31, 2006.

“We are thrilled beyond words to welcome The Who to Universal Republic,” stated Mr. Lewinter. “They are truly one of the quintessential rock bands of all time. Larger than life, never compromising – The Who’s profound insight and willingness to push the musical envelope embodies everything vital about the indispensable music culture they helped spawn.”

Universal Republic will inaugurate the new pact with the release of the first new Who studio album since 1982. The disc will include all new songs, as well as music culled from a 29 minute operatic work, described by The Who’s co-founder Pete Townshend as “A Mini-Opera inspired by his Novella The Boy Who Heard Music.” Townshend has made the book available online at petetownshend.co.uk/projects/tbwhim.

Beck wants to have a little fun with the artwork for his upcoming album, “The Information,” and he wants his fans to contribute. The set, due Oct. 3 via Interscope, will feature blank packaging and one of four sets of sticker sheets designed by artists from the U.S. and Europe, allowing consumers to customize the cover however they wish.

Although details have yet to be announced, a contest is in the works to select the best album cover creation, with final approval coming from Beck himself. Plans also call for displaying the sticker designs at select art galleries.

In addition, “The Information” will include a video for each of its 15 tracks, led by a Michel Gondry-directed clip for “Cell Phone’s Dead.” A video for the thumping first single “Nausea” that incorporates footage from the Beck-scored skateboarding documentary “1st and Hope” is already making the rounds on YouTube, but it appears a different video will appear on the DVD.

“Nausea” and album track “Strange Apparition” are now streaming on Beck’s Web site. The project also features such tracks as the echo-laden, psychedelic “Movie Theme,” the bass-heavy, “Midnite Vultures”-esque “1000 BPM,” the strummy “No Complaints.”

Beck plays the first of two shows with Radiohead tonight (Aug. 22) in Edinburgh. His lone upcoming U.S. show is Sept. 30 at the San Francisco-area edition of the Download Festival, although a fall tour is in the works.

Source billboard.com.

Eight years in the making, Club d’Elf’s long awaited studio debut entitled, Now I Understand, will finally be released on Accurate Records.

Club d’Elf is the brainchild of bassist Mike Rivard, one of the most respected musicians on the Boston music scene, having played with a startling variety of artists, including The Either/Orchestra, Natraj (Indo-jazz), Hypnosonics (with members of Morphine), The Story, Aimee Mann and Paula Cole to name but a few. In 1998, Rivard seized the opportunity to play a residency at Cambridge’s ultra-hip Lizard Lounge by creating a rhythm section-oriented band with a floating cast of guitar, keyboard and horn players. Playing his tunes, which draw on influences ranging from Miles Davis and The Meters to electronica and Moroccan music, Rivard created a distinctly personal style from the bottom up, a sound which varies depending on the sidemen, but is always fascinatingly broad and a mile deep.

Club d’Elf’s existence as an ever-changing live band made it logical that its first seven CDs were live albums. However, d’Elf’s first studio recording reflects another side of leader Mike Rivard’s musical personality. Now I Understand takes fearless improvisations recorded “live in the studio” and weaves them into tight, layered compositions, perfectly paced and meticulously detailed. Primarily occupied with creating virtually a new edition of the band for every show (which would amount to dozens of personnel combinations throughout the collective’s history), it would take Rivard years to construct the studio tracks thereby documenting the composer/bandleader/ensemble’s journey through time.

Collaborators include d’Elf live show regulars John Medeski on Hammond organ, Wurlitzer piano, Mellotron and analog synthesizer, Billy Martin on drums, Mat Maneri on viola, Dave Tronzo, Reeves Gabrels, Duke Levine, Gerry Leonard (aka Spooky Ghost) on guitar, Alain Mallet on keyboards and DJ Logic on turntables. The core of the band, its rhythm section, remains consistent: Rivard on bass and a Moroccan three-stringed bass lute called the Sintir, Brahim Fribgane on oud, dumbek and percussion, Mister Rourke on turntables and Erik Kerr on drums.

“In total, the whole process of making this CD spanned almost 8 years. It became a sort of journey for me, encompassing experiences both personal, such as going through a divorce and the deaths of loved ones, and universal, such as Columbine, 9/11 and Katrina,” notes Rivard. “I remember driving while listening to reports of Columbine on the radio. Later that night while recording I felt such a level of sadness and mourning, which I can still hear in the bass tracks from that session. Though we don’t really speak of such things, after 9/11 especially, I think there was a tacit understanding that what we were doing in the band was perhaps part of some larger global effort at cooperation and mutual love and respect with Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Pagans and what have you playing together and putting aside cultural and religious differences in service of ‘The Music.’ To some extent I think that comes across on this record.”

See clubdelf.com for more info

Joseph Hill, lead vocalist and songwriter for traditional roots reggae group Culture, died Saturday. He was 57. Hill abruptly fell ill and died in Berlin while the group were in the middle of a European tour, according to his daughter Andrea. She did not know the cause of death.

Culture will continue its summer concert tour as a tribute to the smooth-voiced tenor, with Hill’s son Kenyatta taking on lead vocals. Funeral arrangements are pending.

One of reggae’s most enduring bands, Culture was led by Hill for three decades. He penned the group’s best-known songs, including “Two Sevens Clash,” “Natty Never Get Weary” and “I’m Not Ashamed.”

Born in the rural Jamaican parish of St. Catherine in 1949, Hill began his musical career in the late 1960s as a percussionist. As the Rastafarian influence on reggae grew in the 1970s, he formed Culture and remained its driving force through more than 30 albums.

Hill said “Two Sevens Clash,” Culture’s most influential record, was based on a prediction by Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey, who said there would be chaos on July 7, 1977, when the “sevens” met. With its apocalyptic message, the song created a stir in his Caribbean homeland and many Jamaican businesses and schools shuttered their doors for the day.

In 2005, the singer, a devout Rastafarian, was honored by the Jamaican government for his contribution to the island nation’s culture.

Source billboard.com.

As noted on the official Keane website, Following last week’s announcement that singer Tom Chaplin has been diagnosed with exhaustion, he has admitted himself into a private clinic.

Tom said, “I’ve been having to deal with an increasing problem with drink and drugs, and the time has come to get the professional help I need to sort myself out. I feel desperately disappointed to be letting down our fans, but I want to get myself right now so that I can be back on the road for the rest of the year.”

As a result, the band will be taking a break from touring and some US dates will be postponed.

The 12th Annual BayFest Music Festival will be held October 6, 7, & 8, 2006 in the streets of Downtown Mobile. BayFest will host over 100 national, regional and local artists to perform on nine stages over the three-day weekend. This year

Husband-and-wife duo Mates Of State will be on the road for the latter half of September, traversing the East Coast and upper Midwest with Starlight Mints.
The tour launches September 13 at the Middle East Club in Cambridge, Mass., hitting two Canadian cities and 15 more in the U.S.
They’ll finish up at Irving Plaza in New York City September 30.
The two bands both released new albums on Barsuk Records this spring: Mates Of State with Bring It Back in March and Starlight Mints following in April with Drowaton.
Before heading out with the Mints, Mates Of State will play Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival September 3.