May 2005

As it prepares to launch a European tour Saturday (May 28) in Barcelona, Sonic Youth is also prepping a series of upcoming releases. According to its official Web site, the group is “putting the finishing touches” on a double-disc reissue of its 1990 major-label debut, “Goo.” No release date is yet confirmed for the album, which will be bolstered with eight-track demos, B-sides and previously unreleased tracks.

“I always kind of discounted ‘Goo’ and thought [1992’s] ‘Dirty’ represented more what we were going for at that point,” Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore told Billboard.com in 2004. “In retrospect, listening to ‘Dirty,’ especially in reissue form, it leaves me a bit spent. But I have a completely renewed interest in ‘Goo’ now and I’m really excited.”

Also on tap in the coming months is a CD chronicling an April, 12, 2003, performance at New York’s Anthology Film Archives, plus a double-vinyl album that captures four instrumental tracks recorded in Melbourne by Moore, drummer Steve Shelley, guitarist Lee Ranaldo and bassist Jim O’Rourke.

Source billboard.com.

Joe Strummer often spoke of reissuing the lone album from his mid-Seventies pre-Clash band, the 101ers. But the punk legend’s untimely death of a heart attack in 2002 gave the project a new urgency that will finally land it in shops again on June 14th, almost twenty-five years after its original release.

Richard Dudanski, Strummer’s longtime friend and former 101ers drummer, is overseeing the release of Elgin Avenue Breakdown (Revisited) (Astralwerks), which features newly unearthed live tracks that showcase Strummer’s raw, R&B beginnings.

To read more, visit rollingstone.com.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Grateful Dead’s founding in San Francisco, as well as the 10th anniversary of the death of the band’s reluctant leader, Jerry Garcia. Monterey Video will commemorate the milestones with concert and documentary DVDs, due July 5.

“Truckin’ Up to Buffalo” captures the band on July 4, 1989, at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, N.Y., in the midst of a tour that was arguably the peak of the band’s latter era career. The nearly three-hour Independence Day show is preserved in its entirety, and includes a host of classics, including “Deal,” “Ship of Fools,” “Bertha,” and an apropos encore performance of “U.S. Blues.”

One song from the show was previously officially released; “Man Smart, Woman Smarter” appeared on guitarist Bob Weir’s 2004 retrospective “Weir Here” (Hybrid Recordings).

The video portion of “Truckin'” utilizes the original master tape from a six-camera shoot at the venue, while the DVD’s audio includes 5.1 Surround and stereo mixes taken from multi-track soundboard tapes. A two-disc CD version of the show due from Grateful Dead Records was mastered in HDCD.

Monterey’s second offering, “The End of the Road,” is a documentary about the Grateful Dead’s final tour. Begun three months before Garcia’s death, the filmmakers planned to capture life on the road with the enduring act but ended up witnessing the outpouring of grief and celebration of his life at the public memorial held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

The film includes appearances by late Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji, organist and frequent Garcia collaborator Merl Saunders and 1960s counter-culture figure Wavy Gravy. Bonus features include uncut footage of the memorial and extended interviews.

Source billboard.com.

In support of their new live album, Live In Japan, The Bad Plus will be touring the world. The jazz trio will kick things off in Norway, with dates planned through early 2006.

Tour Dates

Wed 05/25/05

Snoop Dogg, the White Stripes, 311, the Black Eyed Peas and the Pixies are among the acts confirmed for the 2005 edition of the San Diego Street Scene festival. Set for July 29-30 at an area adjacent to the city’s Qualcomm Stadium, the event will feature more than 30 artists.

Others on the bill are Garbage, the Used, Flaming Lips, Method Man, Unwritten Law, Flogging Molly, Dashboard Confessional, Social Distortion, Death Cab For Cutie, Kasabian, Hot Hot Heat, Rise Against, Louis XIV, the Adolescents, (International) Noise Conspiracy, Autolux, Von Bondies, Swollen Members, Morningwood, the Locust, West Indian Girl, Mixmaster Mike and Hard-Fi. More artists are expected.

Source billboard.com.