2004

Lennon, the upcoming musical built around the songs of John Lennon, will feature a pair of his unreleased works. Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono granted the show’s writer and director Don Scardino permission to use “India India” and “I Don’t Want to Lose You” during a recent meeting.
“We were going over the calendar and talking about how the show was moving forward when suddenly out of the blue she said, ‘You know, I have these songs that might be perfect,'” Scardino says. “Of course I was jumping out of my skin with the possibility, but casually I said, ‘Oh sure, that sounds good.'”

“India India” was written during the Beatles’ famed 1968 trip to meet with the Maharishi. “It’s about coming to India and trying to follow his heart, but knowing that his heart was really back in England where his love waited,” Scardino says. “I guess he didn’t release it at the time because it would have blown the lid off his feelings for Yoko. His [first] wife [Cynthia] was with him. It’s a beautiful, lilting sort of melody — really pretty.”

Lennon recorded a piano-and-vocals demo of “I Don’t Want to Lose You” late in his solo career. “At one point, Yoko suggested it for the reconstituted Beatles’ Anthology stuff, along with ‘Real Love’ and ‘Free as a Bird,'” says Scardino, “but they couldn’t get a clean track out of it.”

Source: rollingstone.com

Pearl Jams Fan Club, The Ten Club is releasing a very special limited edition CD, titled “The Molo Sessions,” featuring Eddie Vedder singing with the Walmer High School choir from South Africa. The CD will have a number of tracks of the choir and a few tracks with Ed and the choir together. “The Molo Sessions” will be available for purchase December 15th on Pearl Jam’s website. Sales will benefit Molo Care, a Seattle non-profit that raises money for schools in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Track Listing

01. Long Road
02. Love Boat Captain
03. Mandela Siyakuthanda
04. Emarabini
05. Theledi
06. Nombayi
07. Ootsotsi Base Benoni
08. Betterman
09. Iyelele
10. Sana Iwami
11. Nora
12. Jabula Ntliziyo Yam
13. Izintombi Ezilishumi
14. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika (South African National Anthem)

Ray LaMontagne will kick off a brief slate of tour dates Jan. 14 in Portland, Maine. The 11-date tour will also accommodate at Jan. 19 performance on NBC’s “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.” The singer/songwriter’s debut album RCA album “Trouble” is No. 38 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart.

Here are LaMontagne’s tour dates:

Jan. 14: Portland, Maine (Asylum)
Jan. 15: Boston (Paradise Rock Club)
Jan. 16: Northhampton, Mass. (Iron Horse)
Jan. 18: Philadelphia (Theatre of the Living Arts)
Jan. 19: New York (Bowery Ballroom)
Jan. 20: Arlington, Va. (Iota)
Jan. 21: Carrboro, N.C. (Carrboro Arts Center)
Jan. 23: Nashville (3rd and Lindsay)
Jan. 25: Birmingham, Ala. (Workplay Theatre)
Jan. 26: Louisville, Ky. (Rudyard Kipling)
Jan. 29: Los Angeles (Troubador)

Source billboard.com.

After a five-year recording break, experimental rockers Mr. Bungle are officially done. “I’m at a point now where I crave healthy musical environments, where there is a genuine exchange of ideas without repressed envy or resentment, and where people in the band want to be there regardless of what public accolades may come their way,” says singer Mike Patton. “Unfortunately, Mr. Bungle was not one of those places.”

The multi-member band (whose core members included Patton, guitarist Trey Spruance, bassist Trevor Dunn, saxophonist Clinton “Bar” McKinnon and drummer Danny Heifetz) originally formed back in the mid-Eighties in Eureka, California, while its members were still in high school. Then Patton joined Faith No More before their commercial breakthrough, 1989’s The Real Thing. The boost in exposure landed Bungle a recording contract with Warner Bros., which released 1991’s Mr. Bungle, 1995’s Disco Volante and 1999’s California.

Although Bungle never matched Faith No More’s commercial success, they gained a large cult following and influenced recent funk/metal chart-toppers — most notably Korn, whose guitarists utilize what they’ve dubbed the “Mr. Bungle chord.” Also, long before Slipknot, Bungle donned masks onstage to hide their identities.

“We could have probably squeezed out a couple more records but the collective personality of this group became so dysfunctional,” Patton says. “This band was poisoned by one person’s petty jealousy and insecurity, and it led us to a slow, unnatural death. And I’m at peace with that, because I know I tried all I could.”

With Bungle now removed from his schedule planner, Patton will spend next year focusing on his myriad other bands. Peeping Tom, for which Patton plays all of the instruments himself, will finally release an oft-delayed debut, and there will be records by Fantomas and Tomahawk, as well as General Patton vs. the X-ecutioners, a collaboration with turntable specialists the X-ecutioners. The singer has also recently branched out beyond rock — into acting, in Steve Balderson’s Firecracker; and scoring, for the forthcoming video game, Bully.

And of course, Patton continues to run his label, Ipecac, which will release new material from the likes of Washington, D.C., noise-mongers Orthrelm, British prog-rock duo Guapo and ambient one-man band the Locust. “When something is important to you, you find a way to make the time,” the multi-tasking Patton says. “Or rather, the time makes itself.”

Source rollingstone.com.

Nominees of Interest for the Grammy Awards announced today (12/7) include:

Best Rock Album nominees that include – Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Green Day, Hoobastank, The Killers and Velvet Revolver.

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance that include – Ryan Adam, Steve Earle and Tom Waits.

Best Rock Instrumental Performance includes “Instrumental Illness,” The Allman Brothers Band; “Onda,” Los Lonely Boys; “O Baterista,” Rush; “Whispering a Prayer,” Steve Vai and “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow,” Brian Wilson. B

Best Alternative Music Album nominees include “Medulla,” Bjork; “Franz Ferdinand,” Franz Ferdinand”; Uh Huh Her,” PJ Harvey “Good News For People Who Love Bad News,” Modest Mouse and “A Ghost Is Born,” Wilco.

Best Contemporary Folk Album include “Educated Guess,” Ani DiFranco;
“The Revolution Starts … Now,” Steve Earle; “Impossible Dream,” Patty Griffin

General Listings:

Record of the Year
“Let’s Get It Started,” Black Eyed Peas
“Here We Go Again,” Ray Charles & Norah Jones
“American Idiot,” Green Day
“Heaven,” Los Lonely Boys
“Yeah!,” Usher featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris

Album of the Year
“Genius Loves Company,” Ray Charles & Various Artists
“American Idiot,” Green Day
“The Diary of Alicia Keys,” Alicia Keys
“Confessions,” Usher
“The College Dropout,” Kanye West

Song of the Year
“Daughters,” John Mayer, songwriter (John Mayer)
“If I Ain’t Got You,” Alicia Keys, songwriter (Alicia Keys)
“Jesus Walks,” C. Smith & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West)
“Live Like You Were Dying,” Tim Nichols & Craig Wiseman, songwriters (Tim McGraw)
“The Reason,” Daniel Estrin & Douglas Robb, songwriters (Hoobastank)

Best New Artist
Los Lonely Boys
Maroon 5
Joss Stone
Kanye West
Gretchen Wilson

POP

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
“Oceania,” Bjork
“The First Cut Is the Deepest,” Sheryl Crow
“Sunrise,” Norah Jones
“What You Waiting For?” Gwen Stefani
“You Had Me,” Joss Stone

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
“Let’s Misbehave,” Elvis Costello
“You Raise Me Up,” Josh Groban
“Daughters,” John Mayer
“Cinnamon Girl,” Prince
“Love’s Divine,” Seal

Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
“My Immortal,” Evanescence
“The Reason,” Hoobastank
“Heaven,” Los Lonely Boys
“She Will Be Loved,” Maroon 5
“It’s My Life,” No Doubt

Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
“Redemption Song,” Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer
“Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word,” Ray Charles & Elton John
“Here We Go Again,” Ray Charles & Norah Jones
“Something,” Paul McCartney & Eric Clapton
“Moon River,” Stevie Wonder & Take 6

Best Pop Instrumental Performance
“Chasing Shadows,” Herb Alpert, Russ Freeman, James Genus, Gene Lake and Jason Miles
“Take You Out,” George Benson
“11th Commandment,” Ben Harper
“Song F,” Bruce Hornsby
“Rat Pack Boogie,” Brian Setzer

Best Pop Instrumental Album
“Pure,” Boney James
“Saxophonic,” Dave Koz
“Forever, for Always, for Luther,” Various Artists
“Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar,” Various Artists
“EP 2003: Music for the Epicurean Harkener,” Mason Williams

Best Pop Vocal Album
“Genius Loves Company,” Ray Charles & Various Artists
“Feels Like Home,” Norah Jones
“Afterglow,” Sarah McLachlan
“Mind, Body & Soul,” Joss Stone
“Brian Wilson Presents Smile,” Brian Wilson

DANCE

Best Dance Recording
“Good Luck,” Basement Jaxx featuring Lisa Kekaula
“Get Yourself High,” Chemical Brothers
“Slow,” Kylie Minogue
“Comfortably Numb,” Scissor Sisters
“Toxic,” Britney Spears

Best Electronic/Dance Album
“Kish Kash,” Basement Jaxx
“Legion of Boom,” The Crystal Method
“Creamfields,” Paul Oakenfold
“Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned,” The Prodigy
“Reflections,” Paul Van Dyk

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
“Only You,” Harry Connick, Jr.
“Count Your Blessings,” Barbara Cook
“Ultimate Mancini,” Monica Mancini
“Just For a Thrill,” Ronnie Milsap
“Stardust … The Great American Songbook Volume III,” Rod Stewart

ROCK

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
“Wonderwall,” Ryan Adams
“The Revolution Starts Now,” Steve Earle
“Breathe,” Melissa Etheridge
“Code of Silence,” Bruce Springsteen
“Metropolitan Glide,” Tom Waits

Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
“Monkey To Man,” Elvis Costello & The Imposters
“Take Me Out,” Franz Ferdinand
“American Idiot,” Green Day
“Somebody Told Me,” The Killers
“Vertigo,” U2

Best Hard Rock Performance
“Megalomaniac,” Incubus
“Some Kind of Monster,” Metallica
“Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good,” Nickelback
“Duality,” Slipknot
“Slither,” Velvet Revolver

Best Metal Performance
“Nymphetamine,” Cradle of Filth
“Live for This,” Hatebreed
“The End of Heartache,” Killswitch Engage
“Whiplash,” Motorhead
“Vermilion,” Slipknot

Best Rock Instrumental Performance
“Instrumental Illness,” The Allman Brothers Band
“Onda,” Los Lonely Boys
“O Baterista,” Rush
“Whispering a Prayer,” Steve Vai
“Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow,” Brian Wilson

Best Rock Song
“American Idiot,” Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt & Tre Cool, songwriters (Green Day)
“Fall to Pieces,” Duff, Dave Kushner, Slash, Matt Sorum & Scott Weiland, songwriters (Velvet Revolver)
“Float On,” Isaac Brock, Dann Gallucci, Eric Judy & Benjamin Weikel, songwriters (Modest Mouse)
“Somebody Told Me,” Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer & Ronnie Vannucci, songwriters (The Killers)
“Vertigo,” Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge & Larry Mullen, songwriters (U2)

Best Rock Album
“The Delivery Man,” Elvis Costello & The Imposters
“American Idiot,” Green Day
“The Reason,” Hoobastank
“Hot Fuss,” The Killers
“Contraband,” Velvet Revolver

Best Alternative Music Album
“Medulla,” Bjork
“Franz Ferdinand,” Franz Ferdinand
“Uh Huh Her,” PJ Harvey
“Good News For People Who Love Bad News,” Modest Mouse
“A Ghost Is Born,” Wilco

R&B

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
“I Want You,” Janet Jackson
“If I Ain’t Got You,” Alicia Keys
“I’m Still In Love,” Teena Marie
“Whatever,” Jill Scott
“U-Haul,” Angie Stone

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
“Charlene,” Anthony Hamilton
“Happy People,” R. Kelly
“What We Do Here,” Brian McKnight
“Call My Name,” Prince
“Burn,” Usher

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
“Lose Your Breath,” Destiny’s Child
“Show Me the Way,” Earth, Wind & Fire featuring Raphael Saadiq
“Say Yes,” Floetry
“Diary,” Alicia Keys featuring Tony! Toni! Tone!
“My Boo,” Usher & Alicia Keys

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
“You’re My Everything,” Anita Baker
“Sinner’s Prayer,” Ray Charles & B.B. King
“I Can’t Stop,” Al Green
“New Day,” Patti LaBelle
“Musicology,” Prince

Best Urban/Alternative Performance
“Sex, Love & Money,” Mos Def
“Are You Experienced?” Musiq
“She Wants to Move, N.E.R.D
“Star,” The Roots
“Cross My Mind,” Jill Scott

Best R&B Song
“Burn,” Bryan Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri & Usher Raymond, songwriters (Usher)
“Call My Name,” Prince, songwriter (Prince)
“My Boo,” Jermaine Dupri, Alicia Keys, Usher Raymond, Manuel Seal & Adonis Shropshire, songwriters (Usher & Alicia Keys)
“Yeah!,” Chris Bridges, Sean Garrett, LaMarquis Jefferson, Robert McDowell, James Phillips, Jonathan Smith & Patrick J. Que Smith, songwriters (Usher featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris)
“You Don’t Know My Name,” Alicia Keys, Harold Lilly & Kanye West, songwriters (Alicia Keys)

Best R&B Album
“My Everything,” Anita Baker
“I Can’t Stop,” Al Green
“The Diary of Alicia Keys,” Alicia Keys
“Musicology,” Prince
“Beautifully Human: Words & Sounds Vol. 2,” Jill Scott

Best Contemporary R&B Album
“Afrodisiac,” Brandy
“Damita Jo,” Janet Jackson
“It’s About Time,” Christina Milian
“Confessions,” Usher
“Hurt No More,” Mario Winans

RAP

Best Rap Solo Performance
“On Fire,” Lloyd Banks
“Just Lose It,” Eminem
“99 Problems,” Jay-Z
“Overnight Celebrity,” Twista
“Through the Wire,” Kanye West

Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
“Ch-Check It Out,” Beastie Boys
“Let’s Get It Started,” Black Eyed Peas
“Don’t Say Nuthin’,” The Roots
“Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Snoop Dogg & Pharrell
“Lean Back,” Terror Squad

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
“Why,” Jadakiss featuring Anthony Hamilton
“Dip It Low,” Christina Milian featuring Fabolous
“Slow Jamz,” Twista featuring Kanye West & Jamie Foxx
“Yeah!,” Usher featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris
“All Falls Down,” Kanye West & Syleena Johnson

Best Rap Song
“Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Calvin Broadus, Chad Hugo, S. Thomas & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Snoop Dogg & Pharrell)
“Hey Mama,” Will Adams & Anthony Henry, songwriters (Black Eyed Peas)
“Jesus Walks,” C. Smith & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West)
“Let’s Get It Started,” Will Adams, Mike Fratantuno, Jaime Gomez, George Pajon, Jr., Allan Pineda & Terence Yoshiaki, songwriters (Black Eyed Peas)
“99 Problems,” Shawn Carter & Rick Rubin, songwriters (Jay-Z)

Best Rap Album
“To the 5 Boroughs,” Beastie Boys
“The Black Album,” Jay-Z
“The Definition,” LL Cool J
“Suit,” Nelly
“The College Dropout,” Kanye West

COUNTRY

Best Female Country Vocal Performance
“You Will Be My Ain True Love,” Alison Krauss
“Miss Being Mrs.,” Loretta Lynn
“In My Daughter’s Eyes,” Martina McBride
“She’s Not Just a Pretty Face,” Shania Twain
“Redneck Woman,” Gretchen Wilson

Best Male Country Vocal Performance
“Engine One-Forty-Three,” Johnny Cash
“In My Own Mind,” Lyle Lovett
“Live Like You Were Dying,” Tim McGraw
“You Are My Flower,” Willie Nelson
“You’ll Think Of Me,” Keith Urban

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
“New San Antonio Rose,” Asleep at the Wheel
“Save a Horse (Ride A Cowboy),” Big & Rich
“You Can’t Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl,” Brooks & Dunn
“Top of the World,” Dixie Chicks
“It’s Hard To Kiss the Lips at Night that Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long,” The Notorious Cherry Bombs

Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
“Hey Good Lookin’,” Jimmy Buffett, Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith & George Strait
“Creepin’ In,” Norah Jones & Dolly Parton
“Portland Oregon,” Loretta Lynn & Jack White
“Pancho & Lefty,” Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard & Toby Keith
“Coat of Many Colors,” Shania Twain with Alison Krauss & Union Station

Best Country Instrumental Performance
“Billy in the Low Ground,” Asleep at the Wheel
“Puppies ‘N Knapsacks,” Sam Bush
“Luxury Liner,” Albert Lee, Vince Gill & Brad Paisley
“Earl’s Breakdown,” Nitty Gritty Dirt Band featuring Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Vassar Clements & Jerry Douglas
“Bowtie,” Mark O’Connor, Chris Thile, Bryan Sutton & Byron House

Best Country Song
“It’s Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long,” Rodney Crowell & Vince Gill, songwriters (The Notorious Cherry Bombs)
“Live Like You Were Dying,” Tim Nichols & Craig Wiseman, songwriters (Tim McGraw)
“Miss Being Mrs.,” Loretta Lynn, songwriter (Loretta Lynn)
“Portland Oregon,” Loretta Lynn, songwriter (Loretta Lynn & Jack White)
“Redneck Woman,” John Rich & Gretchen Wilson, songwriters (Gretchen Wilson)

Best Country Album
“Van Lear Rose,” Loretta Lynn
“Live Like You Were Dying,” Tim McGraw
“Tambourine,” Tift Merritt
“Be Here,” Keith Urban
“Here for the Party,” Gretchen Wilson

Best Bluegrass Album
“The Bluegrass Sessions,” Lynn Anderson
“Twenty Year Blues,” Nashville Bluegrass Band
“Brand New Strings,” Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
“Carrying On,” Ralph Stanley II
“A Tribute to Jimmy Martin ‘The King Of Bluegrass,'” Various Artists

NEW AGE

Best New Age Album
“Returning,” Will Ackerman
“Atlantis,” David Arkenstone
“Two Horizons,” Moya Brennan
“American River,” Jonathan Elias
“Piano,” Peter Kater

JAZZ

Best Contemporary Jazz Album
“Journey,” Fourplay
“Unspeakable,” Bill Frisell
“In Praise of Dreams,” Jan Garbarek
“The Hang,” Don Grusin
“Strength,” Roy Hargrove

Best Jazz Vocal Album
“American Song,” Andy Bey
“Twentysomething,” Jamie Cullum
“Accentuate the Positive,” Al Jarreau
“The Dana Owens Album,” Queen Latifah
“R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal),” Nancy Wilson

Best Jazz Instrumental Solo
“What’s New,” Alan Broadbent, soloist
“I Want to Be Happy,” Don Byron, soloist
“Speak Like a Child,” Herbie Hancock, soloist
“Buler

Shawn Fanning’s Napster software enabled countless music fans to swap songs on the Internet for free, turning him into the recording industry’s enemy No. 1 in the process.
Five years later, now heading San Francisco-based Snocap Inc., Fanning is touting a new technology designed to help the music companies who once sued him into submission cash in on file-sharing between computer users, also known as peer-to-peer.
Rough details of the venture, in the works the past four years, surfaced in recent weeks, but Fanning spoke publicly about it for the first time Thursday, hailing it as a means to create a licensed online music service with the nearly unlimited selection of music now available on file-sharing networks.

Snocap’s system would allow record labels to manage whether computer users could swap their recordings over file-sharing software that has been equipped with the technology. Computer users would also be given the option to pay to download songs.
This would purportedly afford some manner of assurance to record labels that unauthorized versions of their music, specifically the tracks they register with Snocap, would not be shared, while also allowing the freewheeling exchange of other files, Fanning said.
The technology employs an acoustic fingerprinting system to identify tracks and compare them to a database of licensed songs submitted by record labels. The program also would filter out spoofed, damaged or unlicensed versions of songs in the database, Fanning said.
Record companies would also be able to specify an array of restrictions, including how many times a track can be played on a computer before the user is required to buy it, or whether it can be burned to CD, or shared, Fanning said.

Source: pollstar.com