2004

U2 has confirmed the full track list for its upcoming album, “How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” due Nov. 23 via Interscope. The set does not include the tracks “Tough” or “Full Metal Jacket,” which band members had previously mentioned as possible selections. Among the newly announced titles are “Miracle Drug,” “One Step Closer” and “Love and Peace or Else.”

The album’s first single, “Vertigo,” is already making a bomb-size impact at U.S. radio outlets. After just three days of airplay, the cut is expected to debut this week in the top 20 of Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart and the top 30 of the Mainstream Rock Tracks tally.

At present, “Vertigo” is exclusively available for download via Apple’s iTunes Music Store. According to a spokesperson, the track ascended into the service’s top 10 within 24 hours and is now No. 1 on the list of most downloaded selections.

U2’s official Web site is hosting clips of the band performing “Vertigo” in its Dublin recording studio plus other exclusive footage of a recent photo shoot.

And while the band is not expected to begin touring until next spring, tidbits have begun leaking out about specific stops. According to Ireland’s Sunday Business Report, U2 will play Dublin’s Croke Park on June 26-27, with the possibility of a third show depending on demand.

Here is the track list for “How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”:

“Vertigo”
“Miracle Drug”
“Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”
“Love and Peace or Else”
“City of Blinding Lights”
“All Because of You”
“A Man and a Woman”
“Crumbs From Your Table”
“One Step Closer”
“Original of the Species”
“Yahweh”

Source billboard.com.

Following a brief European tour, Tom Waits has scheduled a lone U.S. concert date this year. The Oct. 18 show at Seattle’s Paramount Theater will be one of only two North American shows the artist has planned in 2004, the other coming Oct. 15 in Vancouver.

Because Waits has rarely toured in recent years, word of his performances has been met with overwhelming response from fans. The Vancouver show sold out in just nine minutes, according to a representative for the artist, while requests for tickets greatly outpaced availability for European theater stops in London, Antwerp and Berlin. Tickets for a Nov. 19-21 stand in Amsterdam will to on sale Saturday (Oct. 2).

Along with Waits’ new Anti- studio album, “Real Gone,” tickets for the Seattle show will go on sale as the clock strikes midnight on Oct. 5 at the city’s two Tower Records locations. Remaining tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. that day via Ticketmaster and the 2,800-capacity venue’s box office.

Waits, who will make a rare television appearance tomorrow (Sept. 28) on CBS’ “The Late Show With David Letterman,” will be backed on the road by bassist Larry Taylor, guitarist Marc Ribot and percussionist Brain. All three appear on “Real Gone,” Waits’ 20th album and fourth for Epitaph Records imprint Anti-.

As previously reported, the album was recorded in an old Mississippi schoolhouse and boasts appearances by Primus founder Les Claypool, Shotgun Messiah’s Harry Cody (guitar, banjo), as well as Waits’ son, Casey. It was written and produced by Waits and his wife/longtime collaborator Kathleen Brennan.

A larger U.S. tour in support of the set is possible in 2005, although nothing is yet confirmed. Waits last toured the country in 1999 in support of his Anti- debut, “Mule Variations.”

Source billboard.com.

Record producer Phil Spector was charged in an indictment unsealed today (Sept. 27) with murder in the shooting death of a B-movie actress at his mansion last year.

Spector, 64, leaned on the arm of his attorney as the indictment in the slaying of 40-year-old Lana Clarkson was read, but showed no emotion. Outside the Los Angeles court, he railed at prosecutors, comparing District Attorney Steve Cooley to Adolf Hitler.

“The actions of the Hitler-like DA and his storm trooper henchmen are reprehensible, unconscionable and despicable,” said Spector, who remains free on $1 million bail.

He spoke only briefly in court, answering, “Yes, your honor,” to Judge David S. Wesley’s questions. Lesley set Dec. 16 as the earliest possible trial date.

Spector, creator of rock music’s “Wall of Sound” recording technique in the 1960s, suggested in an interview with Esquire magazine that Clarkson shot herself.

If he had been allowed a preliminary hearing, Spector said, his attorneys would have called to the witness stand three of the foremost forensic scientists and coroners in the world and each would have testified that Clarkson shot herself. Prosecutors avoided a preliminary hearing by taking the case directly to a grand jury, which returned the indictments.

District attorney spokesperson Sandi Gibbons said that was done in part to avoid any further delay in bringing Spector to trial for the Feb. 3, 2003, shooting. “It’s been almost two years since Ms. Clarkson was killed in Mr. Spector’s home and it’s time for a trial,” she said. “We believe there is a crime. We charged a crime. And that crime is murder. Nothing is politically motivated in this case.”

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. Spector could receive a life sentence with the possibility of parole if convicted.

The judge agreed to keep the trial in Los Angeles rather than move it to Pasadena, closer to Spector’s home in Alhambra. Attorneys for both sides expressed concern about the crush of reporters expected to attend it, and the courtrooms in Los Angeles are bigger.

Clarkson starred in Roger Corman’s cult film classic “Barbarian Queen.” She was working as a hostess at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip and went home from there with Spector the night she was killed.

Source billboard.com.

Perpetual Groove, which by all accounts is comprised of four movie geeks (insert “PG” joke here) will be performing selections from the soundtracks of two of their favorite Cohen Brother’s movies, “The Big Lebowski” and “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou,” for their annual Halloweekend Festivities. The band will be celebrating Halloween twice, once on Saturday in Jacksonville at The Freebird and then again the following night in Tampa, helping to close out the annual Guavaween celebration at The Masquerade. Both shows are featured stops on the band’s October Speed of Surround Tour, which is being presented in full 5.1 surround sound. Expect costumes galore, more musical bust outs, and of course, some crazy stage antics. We’ll see you in Florida!

Tickets for the Freebird show are $10 adv / $15 dos and can be purchased through Ticketmaster. The Freebird show is all ages.

Tickets for the Masquerade show are $12 adv and can be purchased through their website at www.masqueradetampa.com.

Sundance Channel will broadcast the Oct. 11 finale of the Vote for Change tour in Washington, D.C. Along with live concert footage of the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Dave Matthews Band and James Taylor, “National Anthem: Inside the ‘Vote for Change’ Concert Tour” will feature pre-taped behind-the-scenes segments lensed by veteran filmmakers Albert Maysles and D A Pennebaker.

Each of the dozen-plus artists are expected to perform for about 22 minutes at the Oct. 11 show, which wraps a 10-day Vote for Choice blitz through upcoming presidential election battleground states.

A Sundance spokesperson tells Billboard.com Maysles and Pennebaker will be on the road with the Vote for Choice tour in the days ahead to document rehearsals and off-stage interaction between the acts.

“From the Kennedys to Dylan, the Beatles, and Stones, Al Maysles and D A Pennebaker are the pre-eminent observers of politics and music in our time,” says Sundance founder Robert Redford. “Sundance is pleased to present these legendary filmmakers’ view of the collision between pop culture and politics at this fascinating moment in U.S. history.”

“This documentary presents a unique opportunity to extend the music from this amazing finale show beyond the walls of the arena to a broader audience, and provide viewers with an insider’s look at what the ‘Vote for Change’ tour is all about,” says Springsteen manager Jon Landau.

According to Pearl Jam’s official Web site, the show may also by Webcast, with details to be announced.

Source billboard.com.

Midwest-based Son Volt, with songwriter Jay Farrar at the helm, will begin recording their fourth full length album at the end of September. Following a five-year hiatus, with the exception of the April 2004 recording of “Sometimes” for the Alejandro Escovedo tribute album, multi-instrumentalist Dave Boquist, bassist Jim Boquist and drummer Mike Heidorn will reconvene at Farrar’s St. Louis studio. Speaking about the “Sometimes” session, Farrar says: “It felt like we hit the ground running when we recorded Al’s song for Por Vida. Five years seemed like five days at that point. It proved that more recording and performing as Son Volt is something that should happen.”

As this revered band reconnects, a unique glimpse inside the Son Volt sessions will be offered. Beginning October 1, a webcamera will be placed in the studio to capture a day of pre-production and 16 days of recording. The webcamera can be accessed at www.jayfarrar.net/webcam and will feature streaming photos that refresh every 5 seconds.

Farrar formed Son Volt in 1994 after the dissolution of Uncle Tupelo. With the release of Trace, Straightaways and Wide Swing Tremolo, the band was met with praise by the public and critics alike. From the plain-spoken chorus of “Windfall” to the gritty guitars of “Straightface”, Son Volt has always pushed the boundaries to blend traditional American music forms with poetic imagery and straight-ahead rock.

Son Volt is not currently affiliated with a label and plans to return to the road in early 2005.