2004

The new Modest Mouse release, Good News For People Who Love Bad News, already delayed once from an expected September 2003 release, has been pushed back one more agonizing week. New date: Tuesday, April 6th.
The album was produced by Dennis Herring, whose credits include Camper Van Beethoven and Sparklehorse, among others. The new lineup includes the return of founding guitarist Dann Gallucci, whose only prior appearance was on the band’s shelved (but eventually released) K Records debut, Sad Sappy Sucker. And new drummer Benjamin Weikel, who took over following Jeremiah Green’s departure from the band last year, will apparently be sticking around. Good News also features appearances by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Tom Peloso of the Hackensaw Boys, as well as a remix of “The Good Times Are Killing Me,” by producer Dave Fridmann and The Flaming Lips. Tracklist:
01 Horn Intro02 World at Large03 Float On04 The Ocean Breathes Salty05 Dig Your Grave06 Bury Me With It07 Dance Hall08 Bukowski09 The Devil’s Work Day10 The View11 Satin In A Coffin12 Eric’s Interlude13 Blame It On The Tetons14 Black Cadillacs15 One Chance16 The Good Times Are Killing Me
The first single, “Float On,” will be released next Tuesday, February 10th via iTunes and other digital services. The single will also be available on a limited-edition seven-inch appearing in finer music stores around February 10th.
Source: Pitchfork

Indie-rock gods The Pixies have officially confirmed they are to reunite for a full tour this year.
The band, who split in 1993, had already been announced as one of the acts at this year’s Coachella festival in California, where they will appear on May 1.
The band are expected to play some warm-up shows in Canada before they appear at the Coachella bash. They will go on to visit Europe, with a host of festival appearances planned – slots at the UK’s V Festival, T In The Park and Glastonbury are strongly rumoured. The band are also thought to have a number of indooor shows pencilled in, including two nights at London Brixton Academy, as well as a support slot on Red Hot Chili Peppers’ summer European tour.
Full tourdates are expected to be announced shortly.
Source: NME.comUnofficial Official Site: FrankBlack.net

Wilco and the Flaming Lips are the latest bands to sign on for the fifth Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, according to the former’s official Web site and the latter’s official message board. The event will be held May 1-2 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif. An announcement of the full lineup is expected imminently; tickets go on sale Feb. 14.
As previously reported, the roster of acts also includes Radiohead, the first performance by the Pixies since 1993, Kraftwerk, the Cure, Air, Dizzee Rascal, the Thrills, LCD Soundsystem, Electric Six, Sahara Hotnights, Kinky, the (International) Noise Conspiracy, Prefuse 73, T. Raumschmiere, Sidestepper, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, !!!, Atmosphere and rap act Eyedea & Abilities.
For Wilco, the announcement comes just days after the departure of multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach for reasons that have not yet been revealed. The group is at work on the follow-up to its acclaimed 2002 disc “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” expected in late spring or early summer via Nonesuch. Coachella is the lone upcoming date on its schedule at present.
The Flaming Lips wrap their run on the Big Day Out tour of Australia and New Zealand tomorrow (Feb. 1) in Peth, Australia.
Source billboard.com.

Trey Anastasio will release “Seis de Mayo”, an album of all-instrumental compositions written and recorded over the past couple of years on April 6 on Elektra Records. The seven tracks are performed by a variety of ensembles — string quartets, brass quintets, small and full orchestras — and though some of the titles may be familiar to Phish fans, the settings are radically different. The orchestral version of “Guyute”, debuted by the Vermont Youth Orchestra two years ago, is performed on “Seis” by Seattlemusic, a 66-piece orchestra. “Prologue” — previously integrated into Phish’s “Pebbles and Marbles” — performed here as the orchestral miniature Anastasio originally scored in his basement. “The Inlaw Josie Wales”, a solo guitar piece from Farmhouse, has been reconfigured for guitar and string quartet. The introduction to “Discern” has been restored to its intended horn-based format. And “All Things Reconsidered,” first heard on Phish’s “Rift”, is at last a fugue for string quartet. In addition, “Andre the Giant” opens the album with Trey on guitar, Mike Gordon on bass, performing with musicians playing the djembe and balifon, an African gourd instrument that sounds something like a marimba. “Coming To” is an orchestral Dixieland fantasio for horns and strings.
The album will be available for pre-order the beginning of March.
Source: Phish.com

According to Guitar World magazine, the No. 1 metal guitarist is Tony Iommi, the God-fearing axeman with pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath.
Six musicians claimed the next four spots: Metallica (news – web sites)’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett tied at No. 2; AC/DC siblings Angus and Malcolm Young at No. 3; Randy Rhoads (news), the late sideman for Ozzy Osbourne, at No. 4; and Eddie Van Halen (news), of the foursome that bears his name, at No. 5. Hendrix was No. 12, six places behind Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page (news).
The list appears in the magazine’s March issue, which hits newsstands next week.
According to Guitar World editor-in-chief Brad Tolinski, the criteria for the list were purity and innovation. He said Iommi never strayed from a basic formula of B-tuned guitars played very loudly, plenty of power chords and slower rhythms.

“He’s essentially the guy that created most of the conventions for heavy metal,” Tolinski said. Iommi’s “shining moment” is the track “Warning” from the band’s self-titled 1970 debut album, according to the poll.
If Black Sabbath started the heavy metal ball rolling, then Metallica kept it alive, Tolinski said, pointing to the 1984 track “Creeping Death” as the band’s stand-out.
Page’s relatively low No. 6 ranking raised some eyebrows since Led Zeppelin also helped pave the way for heavy metal. But Tolinski said Page would be the first to admit that his playing also incorporates blues and folk. Similarly, Eddie Van Halen has always had a foot in the pop world, he added.
Hendrix, who died in 1970, introduced some of the genre’s conventions, but Tolinski termed him more of a “futuristic blues player” than a heavy metal guitarist.
Source yahoo.com.

As expected, a broken wrist has forced Ryan Adams to cancel the remainder of his European tour and upcoming North American trek. As previously reported, the artist fell from the stage during a Jan. 22 show in Liverpool, England.
Surgery on the wrist is scheduled for next week, with ensuing physical therapy expected to take several months. Adams has posted pictures of his injury and himself in the hospital on his official Web site, along with a video of his visit to the emergency room.
The European run was due to continue through a Feb. 10 gig in London. The North American tour was due to kick off March 2 in Columbia, Mo., and last through a March 26 show in Denver. It is unknown if expected tourmate Juliana Hatfield plans to set out on her own.
Adams has been out in support of his recent Lost Highway releases “Rock’n’Roll” and the two-part EP “Love Is Hell.” They have sold more than 243,000 copies in the U.S. combined, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Source billboard.com.

After wrapping a just-underway European tour with the Funk Brothers, Steve Winwood will be back on the road with his own band for an eight-date U.K. trek that runs from March 1-10. He will then head to New York to perform with his former band, Traffic, at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Winwood is expected to be joined by fellow founding members Jim Capaldi (drums) and Dave Mason (bass) for the one-song performance, which looks likely to be of “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” Later Traffic member Randall Bramblett will replace keyboardist Chris Wood, who died in 1983.

Meanwhile, an augmented version of Winwood’s latest album, “About Time,” will be released March 1 by Sanctuary internationally and his own Wincraft label in the U.S. The new version adds three bonus tracks: live versions of “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and “Why Can’t We Live Together” recorded in Northampton, Mass., on his 2003 tour, plus a new studio version of “Voodoo Chile,” associated with Winwood since he played keyboards on the Jimi Hendrix original in 1968.
Additionally, a live DVD from Traffic’s most recent tour, in 1994, is planned for the end of April, featuring a guest performance by Jerry Garcia, one of the last live outings by the Grateful Dead member before his death the following year.
Source billboard.com.

Chicago instrumental rock outfit Tortoise will release its fifth studio album, “It’s All Around You,” in April via Thrill Jockey.
On cuts like “Crest” and “Stretch (You Are All Right),” the group finds a happy medium between a live-band feel (“Five Too Many,” the off-kilter closer “Salt the Skies”) and more studio-heavy experimentation (“By Dawn,” “The Lithium Stiffs”). The latter cut features vocals from Kelly Hogan, the first Tortoise song with vocals in nearly a decade.
Tortoise will be on the road in North America in April and May, and will head to Europe in June and July. As previously reported, McEntire and Tortoise drummer Johnny Herndon can be heard on Savath & Savalas’ “Apropa’t,” released earlier this week via Warp. McEntire, Herndon and multi-instrumentalist Dan Bitney are also working on an album of original samples and breakbeats intended for use by DJs and producers.
Source billboard.com.