July 2004

The White Stripes have gone on the offensive against a filmmaker they say has released an unauthorized documentary about the duo. “Nobody Knows How To Talk to Children,” which was recently screened at the Seattle Film Festival, was shot by George Roca over the White Stripes’ four-night stand in 2002 at New York’s Bowery Ballroom.

“He wanted to videotape the entire event, stage performance and backstage goings on for his demo reel,” the band writes on its official Web site. “We said yes to his request provided he and his crew agreed to the following conditions: 1) it had to be all shot in black and white 2) the cameramen had to wear uniforms (white lab coats in fact), 3) no camera people were allowed to talk to anyone (this was to present a sense of easiness around the building so that people would be more themselves instead of being intimidated with a camcorder taping them the whole time) and 4) the White Stripes own the footage 100%.

“George Roca agreed to all of these terms. He signed a contract along with his co-workers stating that the White Stripes completely own the footage, and nothing could be done with this without our permission.”

When a rough cut of the film was later sent to Jack and Meg White, they felt it needed additional work and asked to give their input as to its content. “He said OK,” the site says. “With the last three years of intense touring and work schedule, this did not happen. And in fact the White Stripes pretty much saw this project — when done properly — as something we would probably release 10 years from now, not a month after it happened.”

In May, Roca requested permission from the Stripes and their management to screen the film. “For many reasons, we said no,” the band says. “We told him no formally, had lawyers tell him no. We sent him a very nice E-mail telling him no. So despite being told no, George Roca decided to take it upon himself to simply release it to festivals with no approval or permission from the White Stripes, no releases and no licenses, not in keeping with the contract that he signed.”

Roca has been sent a cease-and-desist order to block further screenings of the film. Meanwhile, the Stripes say they have their own concert DVD, shot earlier this year in Blackpool, England, ready for release at the end of the year.

The band will return to the live stage with several August festival appearances, beginning Aug. 1 at Japan’s Fuji Rock festival and wrapping Aug. 28-29 at the U.K.’s Reading and Leeds event.

Source billboard.com.

With only frontman Bryan Ferry absent, “6PM” is the closest thing to a new Roxy Music album fans are likely to hear. It will be released July 19 in the United Kingdom on Expression Records through Ryko/Hannibal. North American release plans are not finalized.

Other guests include Robert Wyatt and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. The dozen songs include “Wish You Well,” a tribute to music writer/author Ian MacDonald, who committed suicide in August 2003. The track features Chrissie Hynde on harmonica.

“Everyone on [the album] knew Ian,” Manzanera tells Billboard. “He gave Chrissie her first job on [British weekly music magazine] NME in the mid-’70s, and I’d known him since we were at school together in the early ’60s. I even used some old lyrics he wrote.”

Manzanera is working on two other albums, according to his official Web site. The first is dubbed “Coroncho,” a collaboration with Colombian artist Lucho Brieva. Of the concept, the site says it stems from “two Latino males, their trials and tribulations, good and bad points, loves and hates, political correctness and incorrectness but ultimately, their good humour, good heart and ability to dance.”

Also in the pipeline is a collection of four unused songs from “6PM” in tandem with other previously unreleased material. This as-yet-untitled album should see the light of day by the end of the year.

Source billboard.com.

Blues Traveler fans in several U.S. cities have a unique opportunity this summer to see the group for free and possibly win a trip to the band’s concert in Prague, Czech Republic.

As part of the “Picture Yourself in Prague” contest, the band will perform free club shows in Denver, New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Atlanta. Tickets will be distributed to adults of legal drinking age on a first-come, first-served basis except in NYC, where they’ll be given out at noon the day of the show.

The concerts take place between July 3 and August 5 and are sponsored by Czech brewer Pilsner Urquell. The company will provide special disposable cameras for fans to take “original, creative” photos featuring Blues Traveler or the beer.

The cameras will be collected after the shows and the pictures judged. One finalist from each city will be chosen to compete for the grand prize: a five-day, four-night trip to Prague for the winner and three guests.

The spring 2005 vacation will include a tour of the company’s brewery and, of course, tickets to Blues Traveler’s Prague concert.

Blues Traveler’s new album, Live On The Rocks, comes out July 13, the day of the NYC stop. In addition to the free shows, they’ll play a number of regular-price gigs this summer, culminating in an August 6 headlining performance for Atlanta’s On The Bricks concert series.

Source pollstar.com.

Joe’s Corsage, the first in a series of unreleased Frank Zappa recordings, is available at zappa.com. The album consists of demos from 1965 — the year before Zappa’s Mothers of Invention released their debut album, Freak Out! — with bits of interviews interspersed throughout.

“We wanted to stay as close to the bone as we could,” says Gail Zappa, Frank’s widow. “Frank Zappa was a composer, and he had a bad habit, which was writing music. To support that habit, he became a bandleader and began playing other things that he liked to hear in different context, and you can hear that throughout his music.”

Joe’s Corsage (the title a play on Zappa’s 1979 multi-part concept album, Joe’s Garage) is the beginning of an avalanche of unreleased material, which will include complete albums like the guitar-solo-based Trance-fusion and the synth-heavy Dance Me This, as well as live recordings and “other little nuggets the fans know about and have been waiting for.” Zappa died of cancer in 1993.

“We’re sitting on forty album projects in various stages of completion,” says Gail Zappa, who adds that the material was put on ice due to a ten-year deal with Rykodisc. “That period ends in October, so we’ll open the doors to the vault.”

Source rollingstone.com.

In a show of consummate solidarity, The Walkmen and Modest Mouse, two bands that were scheduled to be on the entire Lollapalooza tour, have confirmed a Summer tour together. Touring on the strength of their second studio album, Bows And Arrows, and its powerful first single, “The Rat”, The Walkmen have also confirmed headline dates on the days they will not be playing with Modest Mouse.

The dates for the tour are below:

7/13: NEUMOS, SEATTLE
7/14: BERBATIS PAN, PORTLAND
7/16: SENATOR THEATER, CHICO (W/ MODEST MOUSE)
7/17: THE WARFIELD, SAN FRANCISCO (W/ MODEST MOUSE)
7/18: AVALON, LOS ANGELES (W/ MODEST MOUSE)
7/19: THE WILTERN, LOS ANGELES (W/ MODEST MOUSE)
7/20: GALAXY THEATER, SANTA ANA
7/21: CASBAH, SAN DIEGO
7/23: CELEBRIY THEATER, PHOENIX (W/ MODEST MOUSE)
7/25: EMOS OUTSIDE, AUSTIN
7/28: FIRST AVENUE, MINNEAPOLIS (W/ MODEST MOUSE)
7/30: AXIS, BLOOMINGTON W/ MODEST MOUSE (NOT CONFIRMED YET)
7/31: EAGLES BALLROOM, MILWAUKEE (W/ MODEST MOUSE)
8/01: HIGH NOON SALOON, MADISON
8/02: BLUEBERRY HILLS DUCK ROOM, ST LOUIS
8/03: THE INTERSECTION, GRAND RAPIDS
8/04: BLIND PIG, ANN ARBOR
8/05: LEES PALACE, TORONTO
8/06: LITTLE BROTHERS, COLUMBUS
8/07: BEACHLAND BALLROOM, CLEVELAND (this is in the ballroom)
8/08: SOUTHGATE HOUSE, NEWPORT, KY
8/10: ICE GARDEN, ROSTRAVER, PA (W/ MODEST MOUSE)
8/11-14: pending w/ Modest Mouse