Archive: 2003

Ween has lined up a three-week European tour, kicking off Nov. 27 in Stockholm and wrapping Dec. 16 in Dublin. The group’s North American trek in support of its latest Sanctuary album, “Quebec,” will run through a Nov. 7-9 stand at Chicago’s Vic Theatre. While in the Windy City, Ween will also make an in-store appearance Nov. 8 at Tower Records on Clark Street.
“There is a very good chance that all three nights in Chicago will be professionally filmed and recorded for a DVD to be released on Sanctuary,” guitarist Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo writes on the band’s official Web site. “The Chicago shows are selling unlike any other concerts we’ve ever done, so please follow the crowd and be a part of the first ever official live Ween concert movie.”
With “Quebec” having debuted at a career-best No. 81 on The Billboard 200 in August, Ween is also getting a lift thanks to the usage of an older song, “Ocean Man,” in a commercial for the Honda Civic.
Source Billboard.com.

Veteran singer/songwriter Rickie Lee Jones has set a month-long U.S. tour for November, in support of her latest album, “The Evening of My Best Day.” The album was released Oct. 7 in the U.S. by V2.
Jones will kick off the outing Nov. 2 in Rochester, N.H., and will hit 18 cities across the country, performing new and old songs with her touring band. The dates will wrap Nov. 25 at Los Angeles’ Wilshire Theater.
Here are Rickie Lee Jones’ tour dates:
Nov. 2: Rochester, N.H. (Rochester Music Hall)Nov. 3: Sommerville, Mass. (Sommerville Theatre)Nov. 5: Pittsburgh (Palace Theatre)Nov. 6: Philadelphia (Keswick Theatre)Nov. 7: New York (Town Hall)Nov. 9: Washington, D.C. (Lisner Auditorium)Nov. 10: Columbus, Ohio (Southern Theatre)Nov. 12: Toronto (Phoenix Concert Theatre)Nov. 13: Chicago (Chicago Theatre)Nov. 14: Madison, Wis. (Barrymore Theatre)Nov. 15: St. Paul, Minn. (Fitzgerald Theatre)Nov. 17: Denver (Gates Concert Hall)Nov. 19: Boise, Idaho (Egyptian Theatre)Nov. 20: Seattle (Moore Theatre)Nov. 21: Portland, Ore. (Aladdin Theatre)Nov. 22: Vancouver (Vogue Theatre)Nov. 24: Sam Francisco (Palace of Fine Arts)Nov. 25: Los Angeles (Wiltshire Theatre
Source Billboard.com.

Always one up for a good public display

With The Black Crowes on hiatus, the band

Metallica regrettably announced today that they are canceling their South American tour, which was set to begin on October 25th. All shows have been cancelled, and no dates have been rescheduled at this time.
The band cited physical injury and mental exhaustion as the reason for the cancellations. Stated Metallica

Napster is back for real this time. The lauded and formerly illegal online music service has been bought by Roxio and is a legit source of downloadable music.
To celebrate, the people of Napster and Roxio are throwing a little party October 29. The House of Blues in Los Angeles is the site. Ahmet Zappa will emcee the evening, with Ludacris leading the pack of artists expected to perform. Others on the bill include Dashboard Confessional, Interpol, Metric, and DJ Melo-D.
Hundreds of tickets will be given away through local radio stations and fan site giveaways. It’s not yet clear if there will be any available for purchase, though.
“Napster has always been synonymous with music. October 29 is a cause for celebration for music fans everywhere as Napster comes back,” Chris Gorog of Roxio said. “This great concert is a way for us to bring the cutting edge artists of the day to the fans that make it all happen.”
The new and improved – and might we also mention legal – Napster will feature songs available for 99 cents per track or $9.95 per album. And with more than 500,000 tracks to choose from, there’s bound to be something out there for everyone’s musical taste.
With the exception of paying for tracks or albums, the “basic” Napster service is free. There is also a premium service that offers unlimited listening and downloading, 40 commercial-free radio stations, and a whole bunch of other goodies, and it’s available for $9.95 per month.
Source Pollstar.com.

Rhino Records is releasing a four-CD, 100-song punk retrospective on October 28, titled “No Thanks!: The ’70s Punk Rebellion.”
But that wasn’t its original name.
The company wanted to call the box, “Ever Get the Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?” For music trivia buffs, those were the words spoken into the microphone by Johnny Rotten as the Sex Pistols left the stage after their final concert before breaking up in 1978.
Then Rotten, born John Lydon, found out about Rhino’s plans when he was interviewed this summer by a reporter from The Washington Post.
“It’s a (expletive) insult to be using my quote to back up product that I have nothing to do with,” he told the Post. “To my mind, that’s fraudulent marketing, plain and simple. I don’t care how much homage they pay to me in the liner notes. They want to use me from a distance and I find that just unacceptable.”
Lydon conveyed the same message to Rhino, said Marc Salata, product manager of the box set.
Rhino was already disappointed because the Sex Pistols wouldn’t license any of their songs for the project. The box includes the Clash, Ramones, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, the Jam and Patti Smith — with the Pistols a major hole.
The title, “No Thanks!,” has dual meanings, Salata explained. At the time, the punk bands were saying, “no thanks” to the popular music of the day. And although many of the musicians are revered today, they received relatively little public support at the time.
Left unspoken is a “no thanks” to the Sex Pistols.
Rhino has launched an ad campaign that lists all the bands appearing on their box, and “bands that just said, `no thanks:’ the Sex Pistols.
“Here are 100 tracks to tell 99 percent of the story,” Rhino says. “For the rest, dust off your copy of `Never Mind the Bollocks,”‘ the first Sex Pistols album.
Even Salata admits that Lydon showed a certain punk rock spirit in telling Rhino to get lost.
“We didn’t want to pick a fight with John Lydon,” he said. “But it doesn’t seem too difficult to pick a fight with John Lydon.”
Source cnn.com.

Next month Johnny Cash not only becomes the focus of an all-star concert, but also a just-announced five-CD box set featuring Cash’s music and memories.
Cash Unearthed is due out November 25 from American Recordings/Lost Highway, and contains 79 tracks recorded over the past 10 years, including 64 never-before-heard recordings from the singer who died last month at age 71 of diabetes complications.
Produced by Rick Rubin, who launched Cash’s comeback effort in 1994, the music was culled from recording sessions for 1994’s American Recordings, 1996’s Unchained, 2000’s American III: Solitary Man and last year’s American IV: The Man Comes Around.
The first three discs, respectively subtitled Who’s Gonna Cry, Trouble in Mind and Redemption Songs, include Cash’s rendition of Steve Earle’s “Devil’s Right Hand,” Roy Orbison’s “Down the Line” and Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” and “Pocahontas.”
Disc four, titled My Mother’s Hymn Book, has a more spiritual bent. The 15 solo acoustic songs performed stem from Cash’s mother Carrie’s book of hymns she taught him as a child.
The fifth CD features a variety of hits from Cash’s Grammy-winning collaborations with Rubin, including “Solitary Man,” and his recent remake of Nine Inch Nail’s “Hurt,” a winner at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards.
Other material unearthed includes some of Cash’s unreleased duets, including Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” with Joe Strummer, Cat Steven’s “Father and Son” with Fiona Apple, Chuck Berry’s “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man” with Carl Perkins, “Cindy” with Nick Cave, and “Like a Soldier” with Willie Nelson.
Unearthed also contains a hefty clothbound book featuring one of the singer’s final interviews, in which he and Rubin discuss creating such a monumental body of work with a track-by-track discussion of each song. (Rubin and Cash had been working on his next release, tentatively titled American V, just before Cash’s death.) The interview also includes comments from daughter Roseanne Cash, son John Carter Cash, Tom Petty and more.
Source eonline.com.

A fatal sniping spree by two teenage Tennessee boys who said they were mimicking the video game “Grand Theft Auto III” has triggered a $246 million damage lawsuit against the game’s creator and others.
One person was killed and another wounded in the incident last June.
The case, filed Monday in Cocke County Circuit at Newport, Tennessee, named Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., a unit of Sony Corp. (SNE: Research, Estimates), Rockstar Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO: Research, Estimates), and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT: Research, Estimates), which sold the game, the parents of the two boys involved, and the boys themselves.
The lawsuit alleges that the parties being challenged should have known the game would lead to “copycat violence.”
The boys in a court appearance in August admitted they traded off firing a rifle from a wooded hilltop overlooking a highway, killing Canadian Aaron Hamel, 45, and wounding a woman motorist. A passenger riding with Hamel was also injured when his car ran off the road.
Prosecutor Al Schmutzer said the boys told authorities they were mimicking the video game by trying to hit the sides of passing trucks.
Joshua and William Buckner, 14 and 16 years old, respectively, have been ordered held until they reach age 19 after pleading guilty to reckless homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
The suit was filed on behalf of Hamel’s parents, the wounded motorist and two people who were passengers in each of their vehicles. It seeks $200 million in punitive damages and $46 million in actual damages.
Take-Two said it would seek a dismissal of the suit.
“The Company believes that the claims against it are without merit and are similar to lawsuits brought and uniformly dismissed by courts in other jurisdictions where the plaintiffs’ sought to hold entertainment companies responsible for the violent behavior of individuals who used those company’s products,” Take-Two said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for SCEA, declined to comment, and Wal-Mart had no immediate comment.
Source cnn.com.

A semi-autobiographical story about a would be comic writer, his paranoid mentor, and his sexually stunted girlfriend, Anything Else unfolds like Annie Hall

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