Archive: 2004

Geffen has rounded up 16 of Joni Mitchell’s more issue-minded tracks for the compilation “The Beginning of Survival,” due July 27. The songs are drawn from the Mitchell album “Dog Eat Dog,” “Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm,” “Night Ride Home,” Turbulent Indigo” and “Taming the Tiger.” Among the guests sprinkled throughout are Don Henley, James Taylor, Willie Nelson and Michael McDonald.

The album’s self-described “commentaries on the world in which we live” find Mitchell addressing such as topics as greed and corruption (“No Apologies,” “Dog Eat Dog” and “Passion Play (The Story of Jesus and Zachius … The Little Tax Collector),” featuring actor Rod Steiger), Western culture (“The Three Great Stimulants”) and environmental responsibility (“Cool Water,” “Lakota”).

Also featured are “Slouching Toward Bethlehem” (adapted from a poem by W.B. Yeats), “The Beat of Black Wings,” “The Reoccuring Dream,” “Impossible Dreamer” and “The Windfall (Everything for Nothing).”

Mitchell co-produced the album and contributes an essay plus original artwork. The liner notes include a reproduction of an environmentally themed letter to the President of the United States, thought to have been penned by Susquamish Indian Chief Seattle in 1852.

“The Beginning of Survival” is Geffen’s second recent archival Mitchell release, following last September’s four-disc boxed set “The Complete Geffen Recordings.” The artist has not issued a new studio album since 2002’s Nonesuch set “Travelogue,” which she has said will be her last.

Source billboard.com.

Guided By Voices will release its final studio album, “Half Smiles of the Decomposed,” Aug. 24 via Matador. The 14-track set was produced by Todd Tobias, who was behind the boards for the group’s 2003 album “Earthquake Glue.” GBV frontman Robert Pollard recently confirmed the group will split at year’s end.

“Half Smiles” is musically of a piece with GBV’s past few albums, blending upbeat rockers like “Gonna Never Have To Die” and “Asphyxiated Circle” with more meditative fare such as “Window of My World” and “A Second Spurt of Growth.” A snippet from what sounds like a television evangelist can be heard at the beginning of “Sons of Apollo,” while keyboards and acoustic guitars underscore the penultimate cut “(S)mothering and Coaching.”

Album opener “Everybody Thinks I’m a Raincloud (When I’m Not Looking)” seems to reflect Pollard’s decision to dissolve GBV in lines like “This is not my day / nobody really cares anymore anyhow / nobody called again / ’cause they said that I’m too lazy to stay alive.”

GBV only has six tour dates on its schedule at present, beginning with a June 4 show in its Dayton, Ohio, hometown. The itinerary is open between mid-June and Aug. 19, when the group will play a free concert on Manhattan’s Hudson River Pier. Pollard previously said GBV’s final gig would be on New Year’s Eve in New York.

Here is the track list for “Half Smiles of the Decomposed”:

“Everybody Thinks I’m a Raincloud (When I’m Not Looking)”
“Sleep Over Jack”
“Girls of Wild Strawberries”
“Gonna Never Have To Die”
“Window of My World”
“The Closets of Henry”
“Tour Guide at the Winston Churchill Memorial”
“Asia Minor”
“Sons of Apollo”
“Sing for Your Meat”
“Asphyxiated Circle”
“A Second Spurt of Growth”
“(S)mothering and Coaching”
“Huffman Prairie Flying Field”

Source billboard.com.

Longtime Phish lyricst Tom Marshall, currently leading his own band, Amfibian, issued a statement today reacting to the sudden announcement that Phish was breaking up after 21 years.

Marshall, who has been co-writing Phish

Cyro Baptista and his Beat the Donkey take an art form that can easily grow tired from weeks on the road, and continually transform the stage into a lively circus atmosphere each night.

Three red wines from California’s 2001 Sonoma County vintage make up the second issuing on the J. Garcia label, produced under an agreement between Clos du Bois and the estate of late Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia. Like last year’s inaugural bottling, the labels of the Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel wines are based on paintings by Garcia.

Production of the Cabernet and Merlot was limited to 12,000 cases, while only 8,400 cases of the Zinfandel have been released. Each carries a retail price of $15. More information can be found at jgarciawine.com.

Source billboard.com.

In the past few years, fans leaving some concerts have discovered a souvenir far better than a T-shirt: a live recording of the show they just attended. Bands including the Allman Brothers, moe. and Billy Idol have sold instant concert discs, and the Pixies and the Doors plan to launch similar programs this summer. The recording-and-burning company DiscLive estimated on April 12th that it would gross $500,000 selling live discs this spring alone.

But in a move expected to severely limit the industry, Clear Channel Entertainment has bought the patent from the technology’s inventors and now claims to own the exclusive right to sell concert CDs after shows. The company, which is the biggest concert promoter in the world, says the patent covers its 130 venues along with every other venue in the country.

“We want to be artist-friendly,” says Steve Simon, a Clear Channel executive vice president and the director of Instant Live. “But it is a business, and it’s not going to be ‘we have the patent, now everybody can use it for free.'”

Artists net about ten dollars for every twenty- to twenty-five-dollar concert CD that’s sold, no matter which company they use. But with Clear Channel pushing to eliminate competition, many fear there will be less money and fewer opportunities to sell live discs. “It’s one more step toward massive control and consolidation of Clear Channel’s corporate agenda,” says String Cheese Incident manager Mike Luba, who feuded with Clear Channel last year after promoters blocked the band from using CD-burning equipment.

The Pixies, who are booking a fall reunion tour with several probable Clear Channel venues, say Clear Channel has already told them DiscLive can’t burn and sell CDs on-site. “Presuming Clear Channel’s service and product are of equal quality, it may be best to feed the dragon rather than draw swords,” says Pixies manager Ken Goes. “Still, I’m not fond of doing business with my arm twisted behind my back.”

Clear Channel doesn’t plan to stop Phish, Pearl Jam, the Who or other bands that make live recordings available days after the show. It has also granted one-dollar licenses to a few up-and-coming bands to record and sell instant CDs of their own shows. But Clear Channel executives maintain that they have the right to stop anyone who tries to infringe on the patent. Many say this strategy prevents inventors from jumping into a marketplace and creating further innovation. “We’d like to see this industry opened up to everybody,” says Erik Stubblebine, founder and vice president of Hyburn, a Phoenix company that has sold instant CDs for dozens of concerts in the past three years. “They’re trying to squeeze us.”

Source rollingstone.com.

Dave Matthews Band will add to its already bountiful live album catalog with the June 29th release of The Gorge, a six-CD box set recorded in 2002.

The set features unedited recordings from each show of a three-night stand at the scenic Gorge amphitheater in George, Washington. For fans who find the $49.99 price tag too hefty, the DMB is also releasing a $19.99 version that condenses the concerts down to a pair of CDs and a DVD. The track list for the shorter The Gorge set was picked by the band’s Warehouse fan club.

The larger box is a limited-edition set and will only be available through davematthewsband.com, which is currently taking pre-orders. The smaller set will be available through the site and also through retail. In addition to concert footage, the DVD also includes the short documentary A Look Inside the Gorge, the “Grace Is Gone” video and a short about the making of the video.

The Gorge (shorter version) track list:

Disc One

Panta Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
Song that Jane Likes
Fool to Think
You Never Know
Granny
Gravedigger
Everyday (#36)
Two Step

Disc Two:

Drive In, Drive Out
The Space Between
Kit Kat Jam
Lie in Our Graves
Proudest Monkey
Warehouse

DVD track list:

Grey Street
Ants Marching
Don’t Burn the Pig
What Would You Say
Loving Wings
Where Are You Going?
Seek Up
Halloween
Tripping Billies

Source rollingstone.com.

In a message posted on Phish’s website, band leader Trey Anastasio has announced with the below letter that the band will cease to exist after 21 amazing years together.

Last Friday night, I got together with Mike, Page and Fish to talk openly about the strong feelings I’ve been having that Phish has run its course and that we should end it now while it’s still on a high note. Once we started talking, it quickly became apparent that the other guys’ feelings, while not all the same as mine, were similar in many ways — most importantly, that we all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don’t want to become caricatures of ourselves, or worse yet, a nostalgia act. By the end of the meeting, we realized that after almost twenty-one years together we were faced with the opportunity to graciously step away in unison, as a group, united in our friendship and our feelings of gratitude.

So Coventry will be the final Phish show. We are proud and thrilled that it will be in our home state of Vermont. We’re also excited for the June and August shows, our last tour together. For the sake of clarity, I should say that this is not like the hiatus, which was our last attempt to revitalize ourselves. We’re done. It’s been an amazing and incredible journey. We thank you all for the love and support that you’ve shown us.

Source phish.com.

Drunk & Furious make George Carlin uneasy, Howard Stern appear very hirable in today

Hints of lyrical depth, that jumble with catchy, yet dire musicianship, summate Buddahead’s debut CD release. The first single, “When I Fall,” is so sugar coated, that images of a noisy food court and the Gap prevail.

With This Magnificent Distance, Chris Robinson continues to stake his claim as one of the most imaginative and inventive singers and songwriters of our time.

Blues fans at a small Connecticut club were treated to a surprise performance by Rolling Stones legend Keith Richards. The guitarist jumped on stage at The BoxCar on Friday night for some off-the-cuff music with 89-year-old David Honeyboy Edwards and Rocky Lawrence.

“That’s right, this is my neighborhood, too. At least part of the time,” Richards, who owns a home in nearby Weston, told the crowd.

Lawrence, of West Haven, was ecstatic.

“When the three of us were up there, I was having so much fun I forgot there was even an audience there,” he said.

Richards signed a Telecaster guitar for the bar’s owner, Kevin Kiekel. It is displayed in a case behind the bar.

Source Launch.com.

Veteran singer/songwriter Rickie Lee Jones will return to U.S. stages this summer as she continues to support her latest album, The Evening Of My Best Day.

The two-week stretch begins June 6 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden and includes stops at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom and the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J. The last show on the schedule is June 20 in Albany, N.Y., although additional U.S. dates are reportedly forthcoming.

The Evening Of My Best Day, Jones’ 13th album, was released last October. The disc is her first collection of original material since 1997’s Ghostyhead, but she hasn’t been on vacation. She released a covers record, It’s Like This, in 2000 and a live album, Live At Red Rocks, in 2001.

Jones toured the U.S. this past winter and did two shows in Japan in March.

Source pollstar.com.

Hip-hop veterans the Beastie Boys are back with their first album in six years, To The 5 Boroughs, and they’re planning a series of concerts this summer to celebrate.

So far, they have several June appearances scheduled, starting with a Las Vegas appearance at the Huntridge June 9, which will air several days later on MTV2. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, most tickets for that show will be given away through radio station contests, with a select amount being sold the day of the show for $2.

They’re also scheduled to appear at the Live 105 BFD in Mountain View, Calif., the KROQ Weenie Roast in Irvine, Calif., the Y100 FEZtival in Camden, N.J., and the KROCK Dysfunctional Family Picnic in Wantagh, N.Y.

In August, they’ll head to Japan for two Summer Sonic shows in Tokyo and Osaka. The Beasties largely shunned live instruments for To The 5 Boroughs, which includes few traces of the instrumental jams and full-band efforts of their last several albums. No word on whether their live performances will be similar back-to-basic affairs.

Source pollstar.com.

Is it the last day of the winter season, or the first day of the summer season? Maybe a little bit of both.

Stowe Resort has announced The Memorial Weekend Rail Jam set for this Saturday, May 29, on their lower North Slope (directly uphill from Mansfield Base Lodge).

That’s right – there’s still snow left over from the halfpipe and they’re going to make good use of it with a sunny rail session. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the mountain will have rails set up, good tunes playing and some of Stowe’s best skiers and riders tearing it up.

There is no registration fee – just show up and jam. At the end, they plan on giving away some great prizes.

For more info see Stowe.com

The Queens of the Stone Age have nailed the sound of California groove with their cryptic metal boogie. Now frontman, Josh Homme, has struck out on a side project

Picking up where 2001

The Hiss is more Stonehenge than Stone Mountain, and if you like your post-punk delivered with the piss and vinegar lo-fi, fish and chips holler- these guys will never disappoint.

Nick Drake, the late English artist whose seminal influence is invoked by countless contemporary singer/songwriters, will be the subject of an album of rarities, remixes and unreleased material released due May 24 in the U.K. by Universal/Island.

“Made To Love Magic” spans Drake’s early recordings with fellow student and future arranger Robert Kirby at Cambridge University in 1968, through to tracks cut in 1974 that have been remixed by original engineer John Wood as they were meant to be heard. The 13-track set will arrive June 22 in North America.

The album’s true rarity is “Tow the Line,” a never-before-released track that has not been heard since it was recorded in 1974. Drake died in November of that year at the age of 26 from an overdose of antidepressant medication. Also featured is “Magic,” a reworking of one of his earliest songs with a new arrangement by Kirby. This song was released as Drake’s first-ever U.K. single on Monday, backed by “Northern Sky,” from his second album “Bryter Layter.”

“Made To Love Magic” sports an alternate version of “Three Hours” featuring the late “Reebop” Kwaakhu Baah on congas and an unknown musician on flute, recorded two months before the version released on the album “Five Leaves Left.” The version of “Hanging on a Guitar” stems from an alternate take with a different vocal. It was while letting this tape run that engineers discovered “Tow the Line.”

On Saturday (May 22), BBC Radio 2 will broadcast “Lost Boy — In Search of Nick Drake,” a new documentary hosted by Hollywood star Brad Pitt, who describes himself as a “huge admirer” of his records. “When Radio 2 approached me to get involved in this project, I was delighted to be asked and pleased that I was able to fit it into my schedule,” he says.

Drake’s profile was raised exponentially in recent years by the use of “Pink Moon” in a 2000 Volkswagen commercial. The album of the same name experienced a huge sales spike afterward, moving more than 73,000 copies in the United States in 2000, according to Nielsen SoundScan, versus the 18,000 copies it sold the previous year. Overall, “Pink Moon” has sold more than 141,000 units since 2001.

Here is the track list for “Made To Love Magic”:

“Rider on the Wheel”
“Magic”
“River Man”
“Joey”
“Thoughts of Mary Jane”
“Mayfair”
“Hanging on a Star”
“Three Hours”
“Clothes of Sand”
“Voices”
“Time of No Reply”
“Black Eyed Dog”
“Tow the Line”

Source billboard.com.

Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has shifted his solo deal from Warner Bros. to its affiliated Record Collection label. The artist has six releases on tap, all of which he hopes will appear by the end of 2004. First up is “The Will of Death,” due June 22 under Frusciante’s own name.

Other albums in the pipeline include the Aug. 10 debut from Ataxia, featuring Frusciante, Fugazi bassist Joe Lally and multi-instrumentalist Josh Klinghoffer. The other four releases are described as solo recordings, save for one “equal collaboration” with Klinghoffer. Frusciante says all the albums will be released on vinyl as well as CD.

Last month, the guitarist made available a host of demos for tracks that appeared on his latest Warner Bros. solo set, “Shadows Collide With People.” The Chili Peppers begin an international tour June 5 at Germany’s Rock am Ring festival.

Source billboard.com.