It was nearly a year ago when New York native Gavin DeGraw ventured into a well-known Chicago radio station armed with a keyboard and accessorized by his signature hat. After blowing away the staff at the Zone, DeGraw carved his mark on Chicago.
No one in The Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra served as keynote speaker at the recent RNC in the group
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The Pixies have added several additional dates to their extensive fall tour schedule, including the first shows near its one-time Boston homebase since November 1991. New dates include Oct. 22 in Phoenix, Oct. 23 in Irvine, Calif., Oct. 24 in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Nov. 22 in Dayton, Ohio.
The band will then return to the Boston area for shows Nov. 30 in Amherst and Dec. 1 in Lowell. The web site PixiesMusic.com is offering pre-sale ticket opportunities beginning tomorrow (Sept. 8); tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday.
The fall tour began over the weekend in Bend, Ore., and proceeds to Vancouver tonight. The group has also recorded a cover of Warren Zevon’s “Ain’t That Pretty at All” for the tribute album “Enjoy Every Sandwich,” due Oct. 19 via Artemis.
As for the possibility of a new Pixies studio album, the jury remains out. “I’m not saying we won’t record, but I don’t know if making an LP for a record company is the way to go, [considering] the way things are right now,” guitarist vocalist Frank Black told Billboard.com recently. “We’ve talked about that heavily. What can we do to keep recording and making music but not make an album, and see what opportunities come our way? It takes the pressure off of us to make our ‘next grand statement’ to the world.”
In related news, spinART will on Oct. 12 release the double-disc Black set “Frank Black Francis,” which sports early Pixies demos plus new versions of the band’s songs recorded with Two Pale Boys.
Source billboard.com.
Veteran rock artist Roger Waters is releasing a pair of new songs today (Sept. 7) via online download outlets. According to the former Pink Floyd leader, work on “To Kill the Child” and “Leaving Beirut” began “immediately after the invasion of Iraq.
“It seems apposite to throw them out there on the Net, before the [U.S. presidential] election,” the Cambridge, England-born artist says. “Historically, there have always been people within the artistic community who have spoken out about things they believe in and they should continue to do so. I shall certainly continue to do so, whether it has any effect or not, because I feel I have a responsibility to myself to do that.”
After naming a litany of corporations in one verse of “To Kill the Child,” Waters sings, “Our standard of living, could this be a reason / That we would choose to kill the child.” In the next verse, a list of religious texts and foods is followed by the refrain, “Is it dogma, doughnuts, ridicule faith / Fear of the dark, or shame or disgrace / That we would choose to kill the child.”
In the whispered verses of “Leaving Beirut,” the song’s narrator recounts the generosity of a desert stranger and his family. In the soaring choruses, Waters berates President Bush for spearheading a war, singing, “Oh George! Oh George! That Texas education must have f***ed you up when you were very small.”
Later in the song, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair is the target: “Not in my name, Tony, you great war leader you / Terror is still terror, whosoever gets to frame the rules.”
Waters co-produced the new cuts with longtime compatriot Nick Griffiths, who also engineered the tracks. Joining him in the studio were guitarist Andy Fairweather-Low, drummer Graham Broad and vocalists Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold and Carol Kenyon. In addition to vocals, Waters contributes guitar, bass and keyboards to the songs.
“To Kill The Child” and “Leaving Beirut” have been available for streaming on Waters’ official Web site, since Friday. Beginning today, they are on sale at through iTunes, SonyConnect, Napster, Walmart.com and other digital stores.
It has been more than a decade since Waters’ last solo album of original material, 1992’s Columbia set “Amused To Death.” In 2002, he contributed a demo of “Flickering Flame” and a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” to the internationally released compilation of his post-Floyd career, “Flickering Flame: The Solo Years, Vol. 1.”
Source billboard.com.
The New York Dolls will release their first-ever live album, Morrissey Presents: The Return of the New York Dolls — Live From Royal Festival Hall, 2004, on September 28th. The CD and accompanying DVD were recorded at the band’s June show at the London venue as part of the Meltdown Festival.
Rabid Dolls fan, and this year’s Meltdown curator, Morrissey urged the legendary Seventies glam rockers to reunite after twenty-four years apart, and his Attack Records will release the album.
“It was just a moment of weakness that I said yes,” says singer David Johansen. “And I’m glad I did.”
The CD will consist exclusively of Dolls songs, while the DVD will feature such covers as Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart,” the Shangri-Las’ “Out in the Streets” and Memphis Minnie’s “In My Girlish Days.”
Sadly, The Return of the New York Dolls will be the last appearance on record by bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane, who passed away unexpectedly from leukemia on July 13th. “He was such a genius guy — really loving, and he had this intelligence that was indescribable,” Johansen says. “I was really looking forward to spending more time with him.”
Lone surviving members Johansen and guitarist Syl Sylvain may even bring the Dolls back into the studio. “I’m feeling that we’ll try and bang out a record this winter,” Johansen says, “and then hit all the festivals next summer.”
Source rollingstone.com.
Paul McCartney, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tony Bennett, Sonic Youth, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Los Lonely Boys and Tegan & Sara will join event founder Neil Young on the bill for the 18th annual Bridge School Benefit. The shows will be held Oct. 23-24 at Shoreline Amphitheatre outside San Francisco.
Performing as part of Bridge School’s traditional acoustic format will be unfamiliar to a number of the artists, particularly McCartney. The former Beatle will be offering what is believed to be his first acoustic set since a 1991 taping for “MTV Unplugged,” which was later released on CD.
Harper will be making his second Bridge appearance. His guest turn on Pearl Jam’s “Indifference” at the 2001 event was released on a holiday single for members of the band’s Ten Club fan organization.
The Peppers, Tegan & Sara and Sonic Youth will also each be making their second Bridge School visits, while Bennett and Los Lonely Boys will be making their event debut.
As for Young, the shows will cap a brief run of performances that comprises a Sept. 15 show in Berkeley, Calif., the Sept. 17 Clean Air benefit in Duncan, British Columbia, and the annual Farm Aid benefit on Sept. 18 outside Seattle.
Tickets for this year’s Bridge School go on sale Sunday (Sept. 12) via Ticketmaster.
Source billboard.com.
Scottish alternative rock act Franz Ferdinand has won the 2004 Nationwide Mercury Prize with its eponymous debut album. The annual music-industry award, recognizing the U.K. or Irish album of the year, was presented last night (Sept. 7) at the Grosvenor House hotel in Central London.
“We didn’t expect to win this,” said lead vocalist Alex Kapranos upon accepting the honor. “The bands [nominated] this year reflect a trend in the U.K. toward fantastic music.”
Franz Ferdinand and U.K. garage act the Streets had been 3/1 joint favorites to win the award, according to bookmaker William Hill.
The winner was chosen from a shortlist of 12 albums by a 11-strong panel comprising media representatives and artists, headed by author Simon Frith. The shortlist was announced July 20, having been selected from a pool of 180 nominated albums.
The prize ceremony was broadcast live nationally by Top 40 station BBC Radio 1 and on digital TV channel BBC 4. The award was established as the Mercury Music Prize in 1992 by labels body the British Phonographic Industry and the British Association of Record Dealers. It is sponsored by the Nationwide Building Society.
The full shortlist was: Basement Jaxx, “Kish Kash”; Belle & Sebastian, “Dear Catastrophe Waitress” (Rough Trade); Franz Ferdinand “Franz Ferdinand” (Domino); Jamelia, “Thank You”; Keane, “Hopes and Fears” (Island); Snow Patrol, “Final Straw” (Fiction); The Streets, “A Grand Don’t Come for Free” (Locked On/679); Joss Stone, “The Soul Sessions” (Relentless); Ty, “Upwards” (Big Dada); Amy Winehouse, “Frank” (Island); Robert Wyatt, “Cuckooland”; the Zutons, “Who Killed … The Zutons” (Deltasonic).
Source billboard.com.
