2003

Albums by Interpol, Bright Eyes, Cat Power and the Black Keys are among the 10 finalists for the 2003 Shortlist Music Prize. The prize will be presented Oct. 5 as part of a concert/ceremony at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theater and taped for broadcast on MTV2 in mid-October. The finalists were chosen from a “long list” of 86 nominees.
Interpol’s “Turn on the Bright Lights” (Matador), Bright Eyes’ “Lifted or The Story Is In the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground” (Saddle Creek), Cat Power’s “You Are Free” (Matador) and Floetry’s “Floetic” (Dreamworks) join the Black Keys’ “Thickfreakness” (Fat Possum), Cody ChesnuTT’s “The Headphone Masterpiece” (Ready Set Go), Damien Rice’s “O” (Vector), Sigur Ros’ “( )” (MCA), the Streets’ “Original Pirate Material” (Vice/Atlantic) and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Fever To Tell” (Interscope) as finalists.
Interpol, Bright Eyes, Black Keys, Damien Rice and Cat Power will perform at the Shortlist concert, alongside potential surprise appearances from the “listmaker” judge panel. The panel — including Dave Matthews, Flea, Tori Amos, Tom Waits, Erykah Badu, Perry Farrell, Mos Def, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and directors Spike Jonze and Cameron Crowe — will select the winner at the end of the concert and present the $5,000 cash prize from sponsor Sirius Satellite Radio.
Source Pollstar.com.

The Jimi Hendrix clearing house continues as Experience Hendrix/UME has set an Oct. 14 release date for the CD and limited-edition double-LP “The Jimi Hendrix Experience — Live At Berkeley (The Second Set).” The recording stems from a 1970 performance that has long been partially available on VHS; a DVD version of the concert mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound will be released Sept. 16.
The hour-long DVD draws material from the two sets of a May 30, 1970, concert played by the Experience at Berkeley, Calif.’s Community Theater. Staged less than four months before Hendrix’s death, the show features the legendary guitarist augmented by longtime drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox. Original Experience bassist Noel Redding had quit the band in June 1969.
Highlights of the film include performances of “Purple Haze,” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and an extended take on Hendrix’s Vietnam war epic “Machine Gun.” Other cuts include a cover of “Johnny B. Goode,” “Hear My Train a Comin’,” “Star Spangled Banner,” “I Don’t Live Today,” “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)” and “Lover Man.”
The CD/LP release will feature the second set of the performance in its entirety, cutting “Johnny B. Goode” and “Hear My Train a Comin'” from the film version and adding performances of “Foxey Lady,” “Hey Joe,” “Pass It On (Straight Ahead)” and “Stone Free.”
Source Billboard.com.

Producer and American Recordings head Rick Rubin is compiling tracks for a Johnny Cash box set that will consist largely of unreleased material the two have recorded together over the last decade. Operating under the working title Unearthed, the set could included Cash

Cambridge, Mass., is going to be minus a venerable music venue come mid-September. House of Blues has announced the sale of their Cambridge location, throwing already scheduled concerts into a spin.
The venue will close on September 14, and thus the previously booked events will shut down with it. Although there is the possibility that some shows will be moved to other venues, nothing has been confirmed yet. Ticket holders can receive refunds at the point of purchase.
Affected shows include Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, The Bomb Squat Feat. Jen Durkin, Paranoid Social Club, Ari Hest, Dan Bern, Clumsy Lovers, Willie Porter, and Hot Tuna.
“The sale of our venue in Cambridge is a business decision that does not at all affect our commitment to the Boston area,” Dolf Berle of HoB said. “We have been in the Boston area for over 10 years and we will continue to have a very strong presence there.
“We are also actively looking for alternative creative spaces that will have the look, feel and scale that House of Blues fans have come to expect.”
Source Pollstar.com.

Ratdog has announced the initial dates for their forthcoming fall tour. Featuring Bob Weir, Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti, Mark Karan, Kenny Brooks and new comer

Primus has announced the dates of their fall tour, their first tour since winter of 2000. The tour begins October 15th in Las Vegas and runs through November 23rd in Toronto. This edition of Primus features Les Claypool, Larry LeLonde, and Tim Alexander.
For full fall tour date information visit Primussucks.com.

Beck is in the studio next month to begin working his eighth album, that is said to be a more aggressive follow up to his 2002 release

Rage Against The Machine’s final shows are the subject of the upcoming “Live at the Olympic Auditorium” CD and DVD, due Nov. 18 via Epic. The Sept. 12-13, 2000, gigs at the Los Angeles venue found Rage tearing through tracks from throughout its career, as well as covers of the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams,” Devo’s “Beautiful World,” Cypress Hill’s “How Could I Just Kill a Man,” EPMD’s “I’m Housin'” and Eric B & Rakim’s “Microphone Fiend.”
“Live at the Olympic Auditorium” was originally intended as a companion piece to the 2001 DVD “The Battle of Mexico City,” but never saw the light of day.
Just a month after the Olympic Auditorium gigs, Rage frontman Zach de la Rocha quit the group, citing a “decision-making process [that] has completely failed.” He has been working on his solo debut with numerous collaborators ever since, although no release date has been set. The remaining members of Rage (guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk) went on to join forces with Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell to form Audioslave.
The track list for the upcoming DVD is not yet finalized. A limited amount of CD/DVD combo packs will also be available.
Source Billboard.com.

The official Web sites of R.E.M. and Wilco will host a free Webcast of a concert by both bands Sunday (Aug. 31) in Missoula, Mont. The show is the first U.S. date on R.E.M.’s 2003 world tour, which kicks off its North American leg Friday (Aug. 29) in Vancouver.
The Webcast will begin at 9 p.m. ET and will be accessible to fans at Remhq.com and Wilcoweb.com.
Wilco is supporting R.E.M. through a Sept. 14 show at Morrison, Colo.’s Red Rocks Amphitheater. Other opening acts on the include Sparklehorse, Ed Harcourt and Pete Yorn.
Source Pollstar.com.