July 2005

After reuniting last year for the first time in decades, seminal underground rock act the New York Dolls has signed a new deal with Roadrunner. The group is at work on its first new studio album since 1974’s “Too Much Too Soon,” expected to be released next spring.

Surviving original members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain will be backed on the set by guitarist Steve Conte, bassist Sami Yaffa, drummer Brian Delaney and keyboardist Brian Koonin. That same lineup is on the road this summer for a handful of dates, beginning Saturday (July 16) at the Cisco Systems Bluesfest in Ottawa, Ontario.

“Since word has spread of the band getting back into the studio to record new material, I’ve been inundated with calls from various high-profile producers and artists wanting to get involved,” Roadrunner A&R executive David Bason tells Billboard.com. “I can’t reveal any names yet but it’s nice to have such a vote of confidence from the artistic community out of the gate.”

“The sound of this record will be true to form New York Dolls — down and dirty rock’n’roll,” he continues. “I’ve heard sketches of the material and if it’s any indication, the record will blow you away.”

The Dolls regrouped in 2004 at the urging of Morrissey, who was the president of the group’s fan club during its heyday. An early comeback show yielded the CD/DVD “The Return of the New York Dolls: Live From Royal Festival Hall 2004,” which Morrissey released on his Attack imprint via Sanctuary. Original bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane died suddenly of leukemia shortly thereafter.

As previously reported, Kane is the subject of the new film “New York Doll,” which chronicles the ups-and-downs of his post-Dolls life. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters in October.

Here are the New York Dolls’ tour dates:

July 16: Ottawa, Ontario (Cisco Systems Bluesfest)
July 17: Montreal (Les Franco Folies De Montreal)
July 23: Amagansett, N.Y. (Stephen Talkhouse)
Aug. 6: Notodden, Norway (City of Notodden)
Aug. 12: Sayreville, N.J. (Starland Ballroom)
Aug. 13: Atlantic City, N.J. (House of Blues)
Aug. 31: Anaheim, Calif. (House of Blues)

Source billboard.com.

Common, Devo, Trey Anastasio, Ani DiFranco, the New York Dolls, Dashboard Confessional and Talib Kweli are among the top acts confirmed for Seattle’s 35th annual Bumbershoot arts festival. The four-day event will unfold over the U.S. Labor Day weekend (Sept. 2-5) and feature more than 2,500 artists performing poetry, theater, standup comedy, live music and appearing in film and visual arts exhibitions.

Other notable acts gracing the extensive music lineup include Garbage, the Donnas, the Bill Frisell Trio, Citizen Cope, the Decemberists, the Posies, M. Ward, Digable Planets, Flogging Molly and Brazilian Girls.

As previously reported, John Wesley Harding will utilize the Bumbershoot stage for a musically accompanied reading of his recent novel, “Misunderstood.”

Single- and multiple-day passes ranging from $18 and $55 are available through Aug. 25, with prices set to increase afterward.

The complete artist roster and performance schedule will be available tomorrow (July 15) on Bumbershoot’s official Web site.

Source billboard.com.

It was 10 years ago today that researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits in Germany decided to use “.mp3” as the file name extension for their new audio coding technology. The innovative compression technology applied scientific advances of various fields: mathematics, psychology, acoustics, human anatomy, etc. and yielded significant size reduction for storing and digitally distributing audio.

Source: BillBoard

Rock act Blind Melon will be the subject of a “Best of” CD and a live DVD this fall via Capitol/EMI Music Catalog Marketing, and will also issue a previously unreleased concert recording to digital download services. The projects will be available Sept. 27, less than a month shy of the 10-year-anniversary of Blind Melon vocalist Shannon Hoon’s death from a drug overdose.

The 19-track “Tones of Home: The Best of Blind Melon” will also be available in a limited-edition with a DVD featuring six music videos and a live performance of the group’s biggest hit, “No Rain.” According to guitarist Roger Stevens, its release was inspired by higher-than-expected sales for the 2002 compilation “Classic Masters.”

“That exceeded [the label’s] expectations of what they thought it was going to do,” he tells Billboard.com. “They sold through [the pressing] — it’s not that widely available anymore, so they’re going to re-do it and make it better.”

After the 1996 documentary “Letters From a Porcupine” earned a Grammy for best long form music video, Blind Melon’s surviving members were anxious to release a follow-up. But the group found it difficult to secure live performances that met their quality standards.

“There’s so much out there, in terms of what’s being passed around by fans,” explains bassist Brad Smith. “If we’re going to put our name on it and get behind a release, it has to sound really good — the playing has to be really good. It’s live, [so] it’s unpredictable. We fished through a lot of stuff that was just like everybody playing different songs basically [laughs].”

Ultimately, the group settled on a Sept. 27, 1995, show at the Metro in Chicago, from which a smattering of tracks can be previewed on “Porcupine.” The DVD will be bolstered with three acoustic songs from a performance on MuchMusic.

A Los Angeles show recorded at the Hollywood Palace three weeks after the Metro gig, and just two weeks before Hoon died, will be the digital-only release. The material was mixed by Smith and Blind Melon guitarist Christopher Thorn at their Los Angeles studio, Wishbone. “This is the only one that’s been broken up onto 24-track tape,” Smith says, “[so it’s of] really good quality.”

Of late, Smith and Thorn have immersed themselves in producing and songwriting. “Anna Nalick — we found her and produced demos, and once she got signed, she came back and we did the record [‘Wreck of the Day’ on Columbia] in our studio,” Smith says. The pair also recorded demos with the group American Minor, helping it get signed to Jive, and produced its self-titled debut for the label, due Aug. 16.

Meanwhile, Stevens is playing in the group the Tender Trio, which features former Spacehog member Royston Langdon. The act is in the midst of a North American tour that hits Los Angeles tomorrow (July 15). “We’ll hopefully make a record this year,” he says.

Source billboard.com.

Although Roger Waters dabbled with operatic themes in Pink Floyd’s The Wall, he’s never written a traditional opera – until now.

Waters will debut “Ca Ira (There Is Hope),” his opera about the French Revolution, September 27 with a double-CD and DVD project from Sony Music.

Though the production includes baritone Bryn Terfel and other classical music veterans, Waters believes “Ca Ira” might spark some skepticism from
the classical music world.

“I’m in some state of trepidation because I feel that I’m putting my head on the chopping block,” he told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

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