The Thrills top criticism to date was they sounded too much like their idols: Neil Young, The Beach Boys, Beatles. Lets Bottle Bohemia sounds almost entirely familiar again, so the mix of these influences are now welcomed at the real Thrills, even with all the ooohs and ahhs.
With the third installment in the tech trilogy, Matters & Dunaway have finally risen to respected LP status, and deservedly so. A richly delivered work, Hightech is yet another instrumental album, full of textured soundscapes and patient breath.
Although it had been penciled in for an Oct. 26 release, Beck’s next Geffen album won’t see the light of day this year. The as-yet-untitled set, which is being produced by the Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer, is now being eyed for an early 2005 release.
A source tells Billboard.com the album was unlikely to be finished in time for a fall release, necessitating the schedule change. Geffen parent Interscope also has a host of other major releases on tap for the fall, including U2, No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani and a Nirvana boxed set.
Little is known about what Beck is cooking up, although producer Dan “The Automator” recently revealed to Billboard.com that he’d remixed intended first single “Gospel.” White Stripes vocalist/guitarist Jack White also collaborated with Beck on an as-yet-untitled track.
The new album will be the follow-up to 2002’s “Sea Change,” which debuted at No. 8 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 578,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Beck can be heard on the upcoming Daniel Johnston tribute “The Late, Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered,” due Sept. 21 via Gammon.
Source billboard.com.
Johnny Ramone, guitarist and co-founder of the seminal punk band the Ramones, has died at the age of 55. Ramone died in his sleep Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 15) at his Los Angeles home surrounded by friends and family, his publicist said. He had battled prostate cancer for five years, and was hospitalized in June at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Ramone, born John Cummings, was one of the original members of the Ramones, whose no-nonsense, three-chord rock’n’roll influenced a generation of future bands. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
Lead singer Joey Ramone (real name: Jeff Hyman) died in 2001 of lymphatic cancer. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone, who was born Douglas Colvin, died from a drug overdose in 2002.
Ramone was too ill to attend a tribute concert and cancer research fund-raiser held Sunday in Los Angeles to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary. It featured performances by Los Angeles punk band X, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Henry Rollins and Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder.
A similar event is on tap for Oct. 8 at New York’s Spirit club, featuring the Strokes and Blondie.
Along with his wife, Linda Cummings, Ramone was surrounded at his death by Vedder and Rob and Sherrie Zombie. Other friends who gathered at his Los Angeles home included Lisa Marie Presley, Pete Yorn, Vincent Gallo and Talia Shire.
Ramone was said to have been working on his memoirs with Washington Times reporter Steve Miller.
Source: Billboard.com
R.E.M. unveiled several songs from its upcoming Warner Bros. album, “Around the Sun” in London last night (Sept. 15) at a secret gig in a London church. Staged and recorded for broadcast by BBC Radio 2, the gig was held at St. James’ Church in Piccadilly, and featured a surprise guest appearance by Radiohead vocalist Thom Yorke of Radiohead.
The show opened with “Animal,” from R.E.M.’s 2003 best-of “In Time,” but thereafter was dominated by material from “Around the Sun,” due Oct. 4 internationally and a day later in North America. After lead singer Michael Stipe quipped to journalists that he didn’t want to see any reviews of the event headlined “Losing Their Religion,” the band performed such new songs as “Wanderlust,” “I Wanted To Be Wrong,” “Final Straw” and the album’s title track
Yorke joined the band for a guest vocal on the 1996 hit “E-Bow the Letter,” while the encore featured new single “Leaving New York” and 1992’s “Man on the Moon.” The show will air Oct. 23 on Radio 2.
R.E.M. has confirmed the U.K. and Irish leg of its 2005 European tour, which will see them play six shows from Feb. 19-26, with other European shows preceding them from Jan. 7-Feb. 11. The band will also play outdoor U.K. shows next summer, including a massive July 9 Hyde Park date.
Source billboard.com.
To coincide with its release on DVD, The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus will screen in fifty theaters nationwide on October 11th. This will be only the second screening of the performance film since its 1996 premiere at the New York Film Festival.
In December of 1968, the Rolling Stones rounded up some of rock’s biggest names (along with aerialists and fire-eaters) for a two-day shoot intended as a BBC TV special and limited theatrical release. Performances included the operetta “A Quick One While He’s Away” by the Who; songs by Yoko Ono, Jethro Tull and Marianne Faithfull; and John Lennon’s first solo material, backed by Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell and Eric Clapton (Cream had split the previous month). The rambling, free-form concert culminated in the Stones’ renditions of six songs, the highlight of which was a particularly intense “Sympathy for the Devil.”
But the hour-long film was shelved because co-producers the Stones were dissatisfied, feeling that the Who, fresh off their Magic Bus tour, had upstaged them. This was one of the Stones’ last performances with founding member Brian Jones, who was found dead in his swimming pool the following summer after exiting the band.
The Rock and Roll Circus DVD, which hits stores October 12th, has been remastered in surround sound and features new commentary from Mick Jagger and Richards and an interview with Who guitarist Pete Townshend.
Source rollingstone.com.
