2004

On the mounting success of their full-length debut, Funeral, eccentric Montreal pop sextet the Arcade Fire are readying for a second, more extensive tour of the States, kicking off January 13th in San Francisco and wrapping up on February 3rd in Boston.
But the band members are hoping that their newfound popularity won’t force them to behave like rock stars. “If it’s going to be, like, us wanking our little guitars in the spotlight, not seeing anyone — no, that’s not the point,” says multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Regine Chassagne. “It’s a human thing. I like to meet people after a show, and sometimes I recognize them from another show.”

The Arcade Fire (named for the fire department where a family member worked) include frontman Win Butler and wife Chassagne, Win’s younger brother Will, guitarist Richard Parry, bassist Tim Kingsbury and touring violinist Sarah Neufeld. And their eclectic sound stems from the wide-ranging tastes of their members. “I was listening to classical music and Mary Poppins and weird voodoo Haitian records,” explains Chassagne, who plays piano, accordion, drums and xylophone. “I sang in choirs, and played for a long time in a medieval band — I wore a costume, sang in old languages, played the recorder and mandolin and tambourine. I was singing jazz when I met Win.”

“There’s a bunch of Eastern European bands that my brother turned me on to,” adds Butler. “He was just in the Czech Republic doing a big thing on Czech rock & roll in the Eighties.” Butler, however, is convinced that the sum of all these parts is pretty simple: “For all its eccentricities, the band is a pop band.”

For new fans, the Arcade Fire’s self-titled debut EP is only available at their shows. But one track from that record, “No Cars Go,” can now be downloaded at the iTunes music store. And for those across the pond, the group has signed a deal to distribute Funeral in the U.K. through Rough Trade Records, set to hit stores there on February 28th.

Meanwhile, the Arcade Fire have begun work on new songs at their studio in Butler’s family barn in Maine, and they’ve recently completed their first video, for the track “Rebellion (Lies).” “It’s a real video,” says Butler. “We got a grant from the Canadian government to make it!”

The Arcade Fire tour dates:

1/13-14: San Francisco, Great American Music Hall
1/15-16: Los Angeles, Troubadour
1/17: San Diego, Casbah
1/18: Tucson, AZ, Solar Culture
1/21: Austin, Emo’s
1/23: Houston, Fat Cat’s
1/24: New Orleans, House of Blues
1/26: Atlanta, Variety Playhouse
1/27: Asheville, NC, The Orange Peel
1/30: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
1/31: Philadelphia, Theatre of Living Arts
2/1: New York, Bowery Ballroom
2/2: Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
2/3: Boston, Roxy

Source rollingstone.com.

Josh Rouse will release his fifth album, Nashville, next March. Named for Nebraska-born Rouse’s adopted hometown (where the set was crafted), the upcoming disc was recorded by Brad Jones, who also produced the singer-songwriter’s acclaimed 2003 disc, 1972.
Rouse is proud of the simplicity of the record’s sound. “It’s the sound of a band in a room, and it’s quite nice, actually,” he says. And while other artists are clamoring to claim new territory, Rouse is happy to mine the same terrain, acknowledging similarities between the new record and its predecessor. “It’s exactly the same,” he says with perfect confidence. “Why would we change anything?”

Tracks will include “It’s the Nighttime,” which Rouse calls “a hooky tune with pedal steel and Fleetwood Mac keyboards,” and “Winter in the Hamptons,” which Rouse cites as “Smiths-ish, with more hooks.” But the artist counts “My Love Has Gone” as his pick of the new set. “It’s my favorite,” he confesses. “It just has a great swing.”

Rouse will launch a stateside tour in support of Nashville next spring, before heading to Europe.

Source rollingstone.com.

An autopsy of rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard reveals his death by heart attack was due to “intoxication by the combined effects of cocaine and [the painkiller] Tramadol,” according to Grace Burgess, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner’s office.
Born Russell Jones, O.D.B. died on November 13th after collapsing suddenly in a New York recording studio just days short of his thirty-sixth birthday.

The wild card of the nine-man Wu-Tang Clan, at the time of his death, O.D.B. had completed a two-year prison sentence for a drug possesion and had been working towards his fourth solo album and Roc-A-Fella Records debut. Osirus, an album recorded during the rapper’s last six months, will be released January 4th on JC Records, a label recently formed by his mother Cherry Jones and manager Jarred Weisfeld. A reality TV show, Stuck On Dirty, which wrapped filming in the weeks before O.D.B.’s death, will debut on Spike TV in early 2005.

Source: RollingStone.com

The soulful New York-bred trio the Holmes Brothers lead the nominees for the 2005 W.C. Handy Blues Awards, presented annually by the nonprofit Memphis-based Blues Foundation. Singer/guitarist B.B. King, Southern soul-bluesman Bobby Rush, harmonica ace Kim Wilson, pianist Pinetop Perkins and vocalist Solomon Burke are in the running for blues entertainer of the year.

The awards — the most prestigious in the blues business — will be presented May 5 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis. Blues Foundation members vote on the winners.

The Holmes Brothers’ Alligator Records album “Simple Truths” was nominated for blues album of the year and contemporary blues album of the year, and the group will compete for blues band of the year. Additionally, Wendell Holmes’ composition “Run Myself Out of Town” received a blues song of the year nomination; his brother Sherman was cited for instrumentalist/bass, while bandmate Popsy Dixon was tagged in the instrumentalist/drums category.

Released in January, “Simple Truths” peaked at No. 5 on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums tally.

Harmonica player Paul Oscher, a veteran of Muddy Waters’ band, received four nominations. Rush, Wilson, Perkins, singer-guitarist W.C. Clark, harp players Rod Piazza, James Harman and Charlie Musselwhite and vocalist Mavis Staples received three nominations each.

Source billboard.com.

Advance ticket sales have been announced for a Ben Fold’s peformance at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on May 31st, 2005. Fans can buy tickets on Ben’s website starting Wednesday, December 15th — at 10:00am london time (that’s 5:00am new york time).

So far 13 dates have been confirmed through June 17, 2005 including shows in Germany and Scotland.

Tour Dates

6/04/05 berlin, germany columbia halle
6/05/05 koln, germany live music hall
6/07/05 glasgow, scotland royal concert hall
6/08/05 dublin, ireland vicar street
6/10/05 southampton, england guild hall
6/11/05 manchester, england lowry
6/13/05 sheffield, england octagon
6/14/05 leicester, england de montford hall
6/16/05 cambridge, england corn exchange
6/17/05 warwick, england arts centre

Beth Orton, Fatboy Slim, Mavis Staples, Billy Idol and, as previously reported, Aimee Mann, are among the first confirmed acts for the 2005 South by Southwest music festival. The event will be held in mid-March in Austin, Texas.

As previously reported, Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant will deliver the keynote address and perform his first show in the United States since the summer of 2002. Staples will sit for a one-on-one interview in addition her performance. R&B vocalist Erykah Badu is also confirmed to speak.

Among the first discussions set for the conference portion of the festival are panels on digital rights collection, ringtones and satellite radio.

Source billboard.com.

Sonic Youth will head to Japan for a five-date swing in March, beginning March 16-17 in Tokyo. Tickets go on sale Dec. 25. The group is also working on a host of projects for hopeful 2005 release, including a double-disc reissue of its 1990 major label debut for DGC, “Goo,” loaded with previously unreleased tracks.

Additional releases on tap include an expanded edition of the group’s 1982 self-titled EP, the next installment in its experimental releases for its SYR label and the first DVD appearance of the 1992 film “1991: The Year Punk Broke,” which chronicles Sonic Youth’s 1991 European tour with Nirvana.

Source billboard.com.

After nearly waiting four year between their last set of albums, 2003