Archive: 2003

According to various sources, US singer-songwriter Elliott Smith has died. Websites and various radio stations are reporting that the singer passed away yesterday (October 21) at the age of 34. The official cause of death is currently unclear.
Born in 1969 in Nebraska, Smith started his music career as a member of Portland, Oregon band, Heatmiser, in the early 90s. He earned plaudits for his 1994 debut solo release Roman Candle, with critics comparing his stripped down, melancholic melodies to the likes of Nick Drake and Neil Young.
His 1997 album, Either/Or, brought him wider acclaim, though his greatest mainstream success followed the same year’s Oscar nomination for the song “Miss Misery” from his score for Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting. His music has since featured regularly on other movie soundtracks, including Wes Anderson’s New York disfunctional family drama, The Royal Tenenbaums.
see the Sweet Adeline fansite or UK arts magazine Guardian Unlimited for more information.

The New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA) announced today that they have taken title to 47 acres of open space in Milford, Massachusetts in an area known as the Upper Charles River Headwaters. This campaign marks the first time that a mountain bike advocacy organization will purchase, own, and manage its own trail system, and the project marks the largest single investment undertaken by mountain bikers to preserve open space. NEMBA successfully raised the $210,000 needed to purchase the popular riding area two months before the option that was purchased in the fall of 2002 would run out.
“We are thrilled to have raised the money ahead of schedule,” says Executive Director Philip Keyes. “When this historic project started a year ago, we had no idea of the ground swelling of support that we’d receive from mountain bikers and the cycling industry. We believe that outdoors organizations should not only help public efforts to conserve open space, but that they should also undertake private measures to protect our landscapes from development and provide more outdoor recreational opportunities. The notion that a relatively small group such as NEMBA has the ability to preserve land has captured the imagination of individuals who would not normally donate to a land conservation project.”

Now that the deed is transferred, NEMBA plans to place a conservation restriction on the land to protect it from development and will implement its trail management plan to allow all non-motorized users free access to this popular area. NEMBA hopes that the site will become a model for the an environmentally sound trail system, a laboratory for trail building techniques, and an inspiration to other non-profit groups to preserve open space for conservation and recreation and to build their own trail systems. NEMBA will install a bronze plaque on the property to acknowledge the support of major individual and industry supporters, to be unveiled next spring.
The New England Mountain Bike Association is the largest regional non-profit advocacy organization in the US, with over 4300 members and 17 chapters throughout the New England states. For more information, visit www.nemba.org.

The Dave Matthews Band’s recent free concert in Central Park is coming to CD and DVD. “The Central Park Concert” will be released as a triple-disc CD and double-disc DVD Nov. 18 by RCA. Fans who pre-order either item through DMB’s official Web site by Nov. 14 will receive an exclusive seven-track live disc drawn from the group’s summer North American tour.
The 20-song show goes a bit heavier on old favorites than usual, such as “So Much To Say,” “Dancing Nancies,” “Warehouse,” “Ants Marching,” “What Would You Say” and “Jimi Thing.” The latter cut, as well as a cover of Neil Young’s “Cortez the Killer,” feature Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes on guitar.
The “Central Park” DVD sports a documentary on the show and a photo gallery. The release is DMB’s fifth live album, and first since last November’s “Live at Folsom Field.” Matthews has also released “Live at Luther College” with frequent sideman Tim Reynolds.
Source Billboard.com.

U.K. funk/rock outfit Jamiroquai has chosen the tracks for the latest edition of Ultra Records’ “Late Night Tales” series. Due Nov. 4, the 15-track disc features vintage soul and R&B cuts from the Pointer Sisters (“Happiness”), the Commodores (“Girl, I Think the World About You”), Leon Ware (“What’s Your Name”) and Marvin Gaye (“Here, My Dear”), among others.
Also included are tracks by Johnny Hammond, Ashford & Simpson, Sister Sledge, Ramsey Lewis and Jose Feliciano. Previous entries in the “Late Night Tales” series include mixes by Groove Armada, Zero 7 and Sly & Robbie.
In other news, Epic will release the Jamiroquai concert DVD “Live in Verona” Nov. 10 internationally (a spokesperson says the DVD will not be issued in North America). It chronicles a June 2002 show in support of the Jay Kay-led group’s latest studio album, “A Funk Odyssey,” featuring such favorites as “Cosmic Girl,” “Virtual Insanity,” “Canned Heat” and “Deeper Underground.” Soul vocalist Beverly Knight guests on “Main Vein” and “Love Foolosophy.”
Source Billboard.com.

After performing a surprise set during Thursday’s opening-night concert, Don and Phil Everly, better known as the Everly Brothers have agreed to sing in Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s entire Old Friends tour.The Everly Brothers were introduced midway through the show and sang three of their hits – “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Dream” and “Let it Be Me” – before Simon and Garfunkel joined them on “Bye Bye Love.”
The sold-out concert at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, kicked off Simon and Garfunkel’s first tour in 20 years. The Grammy-winning duo performed hits including “Homeward Bound,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Mrs. Robinson” and “The Boxer.”
The North American tour ends Dec. 21 in Tampa, Florida.
Source Pollstar.com.

Kevin Spacey is at his best and Kate Winslet is superb, in the story of Austin University

Primus will make each concert from its upcoming tour available for purchase online. The outing, featuring the band’s original lineup, launched this week in California, and will keep Primus on the road through the end of November. Shows from October will be available for purchase on the newly created Web site PrimusLive.com beginning Nov.7.
Each performance will offered in MP3 and FLAC audio formats. Pricing for the downloads has not yet been set. After Nov. 7, new concerts will be posted online 48 hours after their completion. Fans will also be able to download artwork for use in CD jewel cases.
As previously reported, the trek, dubbed the Tour de Fromage, will feature two sets. Primus will play a different first set each night of tracks from its back catalog, followed by a second set replicating the album “Sailing the Seas of Cheese” in its entirety. It marks the first time leader Les Claypool and guitarist Larry Lalonde are performing with original drummer Tim Alexander since his 1996 departure.
Source Billboard.com.

Virgin Records will this winter reissue a number of David Bowie releases, including “Black Tie White Noise,” the 1989 box set “Sound + Vision” and remastered versions of “Scary Monsters,” “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” and “Let’s Dance.” Additionally, the label will re-release last year’s “Best of Bowie” with a bonus DVD. A DVD will also be added to the repackaged “Black Tie White Noise.”
“Black Tie White Noise,” which marked a return to Bowie’s solo career after having a go with ill-fated rock combo Tin Machine, was originally released in 1993. Due Jan. 13, the reissue will come with an added CD and DVD. The 12-track CD will contain remixes by Jack Dangers and Leftfield, as well as B-side “Lucy Can’t Dance” and the previously unreleased “Jump They Say,” among other rarities. The DVD will feature all of the album’s videos and selected live performances.
The DVD packaged with the “Best of Bowie” reissue, due Dec. 2, will contain videos for “Let’s Dance,” “Heroes” and “Black Tie White Noise.” The rest of the DVD will be filled out with six audio tracks, all of them remixes of Bowie hits.
Source Billboard.com.

After Phish wraps up their four-night New Years Eve run in Miami this December, keyboard player Page McConnell will begin a short tour up the East Coast with his side project, Vida Blue. And Phish fans will be pleased to hear that the Jazz Mandolin Project, featuring Jon Fishman on drums, will open all dates except the last date in Vermont.
Sat, Jan 3 / Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts / Miami Beach, FLSun, Jan 4 / Jannus Landing / St. Petersburg, FLMon, Jan 5 / The Tabernacle / Atlanta, GAWed, Jan 7 / The Orange Peel / Asheville, GAThu, Jan 8 / 9:30 Club / Washington, DCFri, Jan 9 / Electric Factory / Philadelphia, PASat, Jan 10 / Roseland Ballroom / New York, NYMon, Jan 12 / Higher Ground / Winooski, VT
Full ticketing information can be found at phish.com/tourdates

Roots rockers The Jayhawks will be featured on Austin City Limits January 3, 2004 on PBS. This particular performance will also feature Gillian Welch. Other acts to be featured this year on the series