News

Wilco and the Flaming Lips are the latest bands to sign on for the fifth Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, according to the former’s official Web site and the latter’s official message board. The event will be held May 1-2 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif. An announcement of the full lineup is expected imminently; tickets go on sale Feb. 14.
As previously reported, the roster of acts also includes Radiohead, the first performance by the Pixies since 1993, Kraftwerk, the Cure, Air, Dizzee Rascal, the Thrills, LCD Soundsystem, Electric Six, Sahara Hotnights, Kinky, the (International) Noise Conspiracy, Prefuse 73, T. Raumschmiere, Sidestepper, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, !!!, Atmosphere and rap act Eyedea & Abilities.
For Wilco, the announcement comes just days after the departure of multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach for reasons that have not yet been revealed. The group is at work on the follow-up to its acclaimed 2002 disc “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” expected in late spring or early summer via Nonesuch. Coachella is the lone upcoming date on its schedule at present.
The Flaming Lips wrap their run on the Big Day Out tour of Australia and New Zealand tomorrow (Feb. 1) in Peth, Australia.
Source billboard.com.

Trey Anastasio will release “Seis de Mayo”, an album of all-instrumental compositions written and recorded over the past couple of years on April 6 on Elektra Records. The seven tracks are performed by a variety of ensembles — string quartets, brass quintets, small and full orchestras — and though some of the titles may be familiar to Phish fans, the settings are radically different. The orchestral version of “Guyute”, debuted by the Vermont Youth Orchestra two years ago, is performed on “Seis” by Seattlemusic, a 66-piece orchestra. “Prologue” — previously integrated into Phish’s “Pebbles and Marbles” — performed here as the orchestral miniature Anastasio originally scored in his basement. “The Inlaw Josie Wales”, a solo guitar piece from Farmhouse, has been reconfigured for guitar and string quartet. The introduction to “Discern” has been restored to its intended horn-based format. And “All Things Reconsidered,” first heard on Phish’s “Rift”, is at last a fugue for string quartet. In addition, “Andre the Giant” opens the album with Trey on guitar, Mike Gordon on bass, performing with musicians playing the djembe and balifon, an African gourd instrument that sounds something like a marimba. “Coming To” is an orchestral Dixieland fantasio for horns and strings.
The album will be available for pre-order the beginning of March.
Source: Phish.com

According to Guitar World magazine, the No. 1 metal guitarist is Tony Iommi, the God-fearing axeman with pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath.
Six musicians claimed the next four spots: Metallica (news – web sites)’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett tied at No. 2; AC/DC siblings Angus and Malcolm Young at No. 3; Randy Rhoads (news), the late sideman for Ozzy Osbourne, at No. 4; and Eddie Van Halen (news), of the foursome that bears his name, at No. 5. Hendrix was No. 12, six places behind Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page (news).
The list appears in the magazine’s March issue, which hits newsstands next week.
According to Guitar World editor-in-chief Brad Tolinski, the criteria for the list were purity and innovation. He said Iommi never strayed from a basic formula of B-tuned guitars played very loudly, plenty of power chords and slower rhythms.

“He’s essentially the guy that created most of the conventions for heavy metal,” Tolinski said. Iommi’s “shining moment” is the track “Warning” from the band’s self-titled 1970 debut album, according to the poll.
If Black Sabbath started the heavy metal ball rolling, then Metallica kept it alive, Tolinski said, pointing to the 1984 track “Creeping Death” as the band’s stand-out.
Page’s relatively low No. 6 ranking raised some eyebrows since Led Zeppelin also helped pave the way for heavy metal. But Tolinski said Page would be the first to admit that his playing also incorporates blues and folk. Similarly, Eddie Van Halen has always had a foot in the pop world, he added.
Hendrix, who died in 1970, introduced some of the genre’s conventions, but Tolinski termed him more of a “futuristic blues player” than a heavy metal guitarist.
Source yahoo.com.

As expected, a broken wrist has forced Ryan Adams to cancel the remainder of his European tour and upcoming North American trek. As previously reported, the artist fell from the stage during a Jan. 22 show in Liverpool, England.
Surgery on the wrist is scheduled for next week, with ensuing physical therapy expected to take several months. Adams has posted pictures of his injury and himself in the hospital on his official Web site, along with a video of his visit to the emergency room.
The European run was due to continue through a Feb. 10 gig in London. The North American tour was due to kick off March 2 in Columbia, Mo., and last through a March 26 show in Denver. It is unknown if expected tourmate Juliana Hatfield plans to set out on her own.
Adams has been out in support of his recent Lost Highway releases “Rock’n’Roll” and the two-part EP “Love Is Hell.” They have sold more than 243,000 copies in the U.S. combined, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Source billboard.com.

After wrapping a just-underway European tour with the Funk Brothers, Steve Winwood will be back on the road with his own band for an eight-date U.K. trek that runs from March 1-10. He will then head to New York to perform with his former band, Traffic, at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Winwood is expected to be joined by fellow founding members Jim Capaldi (drums) and Dave Mason (bass) for the one-song performance, which looks likely to be of “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” Later Traffic member Randall Bramblett will replace keyboardist Chris Wood, who died in 1983.

Meanwhile, an augmented version of Winwood’s latest album, “About Time,” will be released March 1 by Sanctuary internationally and his own Wincraft label in the U.S. The new version adds three bonus tracks: live versions of “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and “Why Can’t We Live Together” recorded in Northampton, Mass., on his 2003 tour, plus a new studio version of “Voodoo Chile,” associated with Winwood since he played keyboards on the Jimi Hendrix original in 1968.
Additionally, a live DVD from Traffic’s most recent tour, in 1994, is planned for the end of April, featuring a guest performance by Jerry Garcia, one of the last live outings by the Grateful Dead member before his death the following year.
Source billboard.com.

Chicago instrumental rock outfit Tortoise will release its fifth studio album, “It’s All Around You,” in April via Thrill Jockey.
On cuts like “Crest” and “Stretch (You Are All Right),” the group finds a happy medium between a live-band feel (“Five Too Many,” the off-kilter closer “Salt the Skies”) and more studio-heavy experimentation (“By Dawn,” “The Lithium Stiffs”). The latter cut features vocals from Kelly Hogan, the first Tortoise song with vocals in nearly a decade.
Tortoise will be on the road in North America in April and May, and will head to Europe in June and July. As previously reported, McEntire and Tortoise drummer Johnny Herndon can be heard on Savath & Savalas’ “Apropa’t,” released earlier this week via Warp. McEntire, Herndon and multi-instrumentalist Dan Bitney are also working on an album of original samples and breakbeats intended for use by DJs and producers.
Source billboard.com.

Sirius Satellite Radio has signed a deal with Phish, granting the service airplay rights to Phish’s extensive LivePhish.com archives of live music over their CD quality national satellite radio network.
Every note the band (and some of their assorted side projects) has played since LivePhish.com was launched on 12/31/02 (and every note they play in the future, as well as some old archival shows) will now be eligible for play on their jam channel, 17 Jam_ON. This includes full sets of music, which DJ Adam Foley plays every weekday at 6PM ET in a one-hour program called “Gone Phishin’.”
The LivePhish.com downloads make their debut on Gone Phishin’ next Friday, February 6th.
Listen online or subscribe to Sirius at Sirius.com. Purchase LivePhish downloads at LivePhish.com.

BADLY DRAWN BOY has completed his new album for release in April.
The Mancunian singer-songwriter, aka Damon Gough, went back to his roots for his third full-length album, to be called

In a message posted on the Wilco website – multi instrumentalist Leroy Bach has decided to leave the band.Amongst the departure of Wilco guitarist/keyboardist Jay Bennett in 2001, Bach began to play an important role in the band on rhythm guitar and various keyboards. Wilco is currently wrapping up work on their next record, their is no word on a replacement.

Soul singer James Brown was arrested Wednesday on domestic violence charges, authorities said.
Brown, 70, was booked into the county jail and was to appear at a bond hearing, said jail supervisor Nicholas Gallam.
Brown, who lives in South Carolina, served a 2 1/2-year prison term after a 1988 arrest on drug and assault charges and was convicted of a drug-related offense in 1998. He was granted a pardon by the state in May.
Known as the Godfather of Soul, Brown was honored last month at the Kennedy Center as “one of the most influential musicians of the past 50 years.”
Source CNN.com.

Keller Williams has added a simple way for fans to request specific tunesfor upcoming shows. By visiting kellerwilliams.net and fill out the little form, including date of the show you’ll be attending, and send it on through, you probably have as much control in setlist as Keller himself.

R.E.M.’s July 19, 2003, concert at Bowling Green in Weisbaden, Germany, is captured in its entirety on the DVD “Perfect Square,” due March 16 from Warner Bros. The 23-song set sports such performance rarities as “Maps and Legends” from the 1985 album “Fables of the Reconstruction” and the ancient non-album track “Permanent Vacation.” Prior to the 2003 tour, the former had not been played live since 1989, while the latter hadn’t been unearthed since 1984.
Also featured are “Bad Day” and “Animal,” the two new songs included on the recent best-of “In Time,” plus such R.E.M. favorites as “The One I Love,” “Orange Crush,” “Country Feedback” and the show-closing “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”
“Perfect Square” is bolstered by the documentary “A Stirling Performance,” which chronicles the set-up for R.E.M.’s summer 1999 three-night stand in the small Scottish town of Stirling. The film features performance footage, behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with the band.
Meanwhile, work continues in earnest on R.E.M.’s next studio album, extensive sessions for which have already taken place in Vancouver. According to a post on the band’s official Web site, group members are in Athens, Ga., writing songs and revisiting some of the previously recorded material. Working titles include “Around the Sun,” “Wanderlust,” “Magnetic North” and “I Wanted To Be Wrong.”
“The band will be heading into the studio in the next few weeks,” the post continues. “We’re hoping for a fall record and hopefully will be touring some of the places we didn’t on the ’03 tour (and some of the ones we did).”
Source billboard.com.

The legacy of Seattle rock act Alice In Chains will be celebrated on a two-disc retrospective, “The Essential,” due March 16 from Columbia/Legacy. The 29-track album features the most well-known hits from the Layne Staley-led group, a stalwart of rock radio in the 1990s and an undeniable influence on such recent acts as Staind and Godsmack, the latter of whom is named after an Alice In Chains song.
Beyond familiar songs such as “Them Bones,” “Rooster,” “No Excuses,” “Heaven Beside You,” “Would?” and “I Stay Away,” the set sports two contributions to the 1993 “Last Action Hero” soundtrack (“What the Hell Have I,” “A Little Bitter”) that have been remixed by producer Toby Wright. Also included are two cuts from the group’s 1996 “Unplugged” release and the 1999 boxed set “Music Bank.”
Staley’s struggles with drug abuse had derailed Alice In Chains by the release of its 1995 self-titled album, the last it would record. He was rarely seen in public in the ensuing years and was ultimately found dead of a drug overdose on April 19, 2002, in Seattle.
Here is the “Essential” track list:
Disc one:”We Die Young””Man in the Box””Bleed the Freak””Love, Hate, Love””Am I Inside””Brother””Got Me Wrong””Right Turn””Rain When I Die””Them Bones””Angry Chair””Dam That River””Dirt””God Smack””Hate To Feel””Rooster”
Disc two:”No Excuses””I Stay Away””What the Hell Have I” (remix)”A Little Bitter” (remix)”Grind””Heaven Beside You””Again””Shame in You””Over Now” (unplugged)”Nutshell” (unplugged)
Source billboard.com.

Former Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan leader Billy Corgan has begun work on his solo debut, according to posts by the artist on his official Web site. “I am excited to work on this music, because for the first time in my life it will be my tunes with no compromises to anyone or anything,” he writes. “It’s gonna be loud and beautiful and poetic and dumb. Just the way I like it.”
While Corgan will be guiding the project, he alluded to participation from other artists. “I come in with no songs but maybe one or two, no lyrics, no band (but a few Santa’s helpers lined up) and no dairy,” he said. Perhaps in reference to long-standing rumors that he erased the studio work of his Smashing Pumpkins bandmates in favor of re-recording their parts himself, he said, “some would argue that it’s not my first [solo album], and I wouldn’t argue with you there.”
Zwan broke up less than a year after the early 2003 release of its Warner Bros. debut, “Mary, Star of the Sea.” This time around, Corgan says he is looking forward to “starting over from such a fresh perspective that there is nothing to rely on but my good name. I am being honest when I say I am ready for that and love the challenge and relish the mustard.”
Source billboard.com.

With a nomination for best score and two nods in the song category, “Cold Mountain” dominates the musical contenders for the 76th annual Academy Awards. Composer Gabriel Yared earned his third nomination for his score for the Civil War epic, while Sting and the team of T-Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello each earned song nominations.
Sting’s nomination for “You Will Be My Ain True Love” is his third Oscar nod. Burnett and Costello’s collaboration, “Scarlet Tide,” gives each his first nomination. Both songs are performed by Alison Krauss on the film’s DMZ/Columbia soundtrack.
Also nominated in the song category is “Into the West,” written by first-time nominee Annie Lennox in tandem with veterans Fran Walsh and Howard Shore, who have been nominated seven and three times, respectively. The Lennox-performed theme of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” won the comparable honor at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards.
Rounding out the category is “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” from the folk music parody “A Mighty Wind.” The song was written by the film’s co-star and “Spinal Tap” alum Michael McKean and his wife, Annette O’Toole, and is the first nomination for each.
In the score field, Yared will go up against Shore’s formidable “Lord of the Rings” work, which won him the Golden Globe. Also nominated are Danny Elfman’s “Big Fish” score, Thomas Newman’s “Finding Nemo” work and James Horner’s music for the film “House of Sand and Fog.”
The final installment of director Peter Jackson’s trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” leads all films with 11 Oscar nominations, including best picture and director. The seafaring epic “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” is close behind with 10 nominations, also netting best picture and director nods.
The best picture category is rounded out by “Lost in Translation,” “Mystic River” and “Seabiscuit.”
ABC will broadcast the Academy Awards Feb. 29 live from Los Angeles. Actor/comedian Billy Crystal will take his eighth turn hosting the ceremony, which will be held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Kodak Theatre.
Source billboard.com.

With four nominations each, String Cheese Incident and Gov’t Mule lead the field for the fourth annual Jammy Awards. Set for March 16 at New York’s Roseland Ballroom, the event recognizes the best among the crop of jam bands, with a concentration on live performance.
SCI is up for live performance of the year for an Aug. 2, 2003, set in North Plains, Ore. The group also earned a nod for DVD of the year for “Live at the Fillmore Auditorium,” plus studio album and album cover of the year for “Untying the Not,” all on the band’s own Sci-Fidelity label.
Gov’t Mule is nominated in the live album and DVD of the year categories for “The Deepest End,” as well as for the May 3, 2003, performance in New Orleans that spawned the releases. The show boasted Les Claypool, Bela Fleck, Sonny Landreth, George Porter Jr., Dave Schools and Victor Wooten, among others, joining the band on stage. Gov’t Mule’s fall Rebirth of the Mule trek also netted the Warren Haynes-led band a nod for tour of the year.
A lifetime achievement award honoree will be announced closer to the event. Singer/guitarist Bob Weir was on hand at last year’s event to receive the honor on behalf of the Grateful Dead.
Produced by Relix Magazine, Jambands.com and concert promoter Peter Shapiro, the event largely consists of performances by nominees and other prominent members of the jam band community. “The improvisational music scene continues to expand, evolve and diversify,” Shapiro says. “And the Jammy’s is a night to celebrate that diversity.”
Source billboard.com.
To vote, please visit jammys.com.

Veteran rock artists Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno are launching a provocative new musicians’ alliance that would cut against the industry grain by letting artists sell their music online instead of only through record labels.
With the Internet transforming how people buy and listen to songs, musicians need to act now to claim digital music’s future, Gabriel and Eno argued Monday as they handed out a slim red manifesto at the Midem conference in Cannes, France.
They call the plan the “Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artists” – or MUDDA, which has a less lofty ring to it. “Unless artists quickly grasp the possibilities that are available to them, then the rules will get written, and they’ll get written without much input from artists,” said Eno, who has a long history of experimenting with technology.
By removing record labels from the equation, artists can set their own prices and set their own agendas, said the two independent musicians, who hope to launch the online alliance within a month.
Their pamphlet lists ideas for artists to explore once they’re freed from the confines of the CD format. One might decide to release a minute of music every day for a month. Another could post several recorded variations of the same song and ask fans what they like best.
Source billboard.com.

Soulive will do a string of dates in the Northeast featuring special guest Reggie Watts, best known as the frontman for the group Maktub. The shows will take place from February 6th-14th running from a date at Colby College in Maine to a date the Dowtown in Farmingdale, NY.
Source soulive.com.

8-string guitar maestro Charlie Hunter is now offering three albums for sale through digital downloads in either MP3 or FLAC format on his website, CharlieHunter.com. The three albums include his two latest: a duo album with Bobby Previte called Come In Red Dog, This Is Tango Leader, and TJ Kirk’s new album Talking Only Makes It Worse. The third album is out-of-print and very difficult to find a physical copy of: his 2000 release Solo Eight-String Guitar. This may mark a new trend in the distribution of out of print albums.

Particle will deliver their trademark high-energy funktronic sounds to the masses with their debut studio album, “LAUNCHPAD.” The release features a diverse selection of tracks from the Los Angeles based band’s extensive live repertoire. It showcases the unique, dynamic sound that has propelled Particle into the national spotlight. Produced by Tom Rothrock (Beck, Coldplay, Foo Fighters), “Launchpad” will be released nationally March 23, 2004 on the Or Music label (Los Lonely Boys).
Though “Launchpad” is Particle’s first studio effort, the band is nostranger to the road. Since forming in 2000, the group has touredrelentlessly, both nationally and internationally, performing almost500 shows since their inception. Particle’s upcoming three-month tourwill see them headlining large clubs and theatres in major marketsincluding Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta,Denver, and Chicago. Bass master Rob Wasserman will open the winterportion of the tour from February 2nd through the 23rd (complete listof dates follow below).