August 26, 2005

On the heels of a live solo disc last year, pianist Brad Mehldau returns to a group setting on “Day Is Done,” due Sept. 27 via Nonesuch. The 10-track set finds the artist backed by bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard and features interpretations of Radiohead’s “Knives Out,” Nick Drake’s “Day Is Done” and the Beatles chestnuts “She’s Leaving Home” and “Martha My Dear.”

Rounding out the album is the Nat King Cole-popularized “No Moon at All,” a cover of Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” and the Mehldau originals “Turtle Town” and “Artis.”

“Day Is Done” follows the pianist’s Nonesuch debut, “Live in Tokyo,” which debuted at No. 11 on Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums chart. Look for the trio on tour this fall, highlighted by a Nov. 22-27 stand at New York’s Village Vanguard.

Source billboard.com.

Although Broken Social Scene was mulling the bare minimum of fall touring in support of its upcoming self-titled Arts & Crafts album, the Canadian collective has opted to hit the road after all. Shows will begin Oct. 19 in Kingston, Ont., and are on tap through Nov. 18 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

BSS contributor Leslie Feist will open most shows, performing material from her recent Cherry Tree album “Let It Die” (on which she was billed simply as Feist). The artist can be heard vocalizing on the new Broken Social Scene album track “7/4 (Shoreline),” which was recently made available for free download via Arts & Craft’s Gallery AC download site.

As previously reported, the band is already working on the follow-up to “Broken Social Scene,” which will be released Oct. 4. “We are not going to over-think it too much,” group member Brendan Canning recently told Billboard.com about the work-in-progress. “It’s not going to be as great of a deconstruction process. The songs are bit more laid-back.”

Here are Broken Social Scene’s tour dates:

Oct. 19: Kingston, Ontario (Grant Hall)
Oct. 20: Ottawa, Ontario (Capitol Music Theatre)
Oct. 22: Boston (Avalon Ballroom)
Oct. 24: Philadelphia (TLA)
Oct. 26: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Oct. 27: Detroit (Majestic Theatre)
Oct. 28: Chicago (Metro)
Oct. 29: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
Oct. 31: Lawrence, Kan. (Granada)
Nov. 1: Boulder, Colo. (Boulder Theatre)
Nov. 3: Austin, Texas (Stubb’s BBQ)
Nov. 4: Dallas (Gypsy Ballroom)
Nov. 8: Los Angeles (Fonda Theatre)
Nov. 9: San Francisco (Grand Ballroom)
Nov. 11: Portland, Ore. (Roseland Ballroom)
Nov. 12: Seattle (Showbox)
Nov. 13: Vancouver (Commodore Ballroom)
Nov. 15: Calgary, Alberta (MacEwan Hall)
Nov. 16: Edmonton, Alberta (Red’s)
Nov. 18: Winnipeg, Manitoba (Rendezvous)

Source billboard.com.

Kicking off Aug 23rd, mtvU ‘s “The Leak” will be streaming the new Death Cab For Cutie album online for a full week prior to album release! Be first to hear “Plans” in it’s entirety before it hits stores on Aug 30th on Atlantic Records – only on mtvU.com.

Also every day this week you can watch a special sneak preview of the band’s “Unveil” session – an intimate in-studio live performance of six of their new songs, plus “A Movie Script Ending” and “Lightness” – filmed in LA exclusively for mtvU. Just what the Death Cab doctor ordered – a video a day, every day until release!

Then on Aug 29th we’ll all be tuning into mtvU.com for the feature premiere of “mtvU Unveil” Death Cab For Cutie’s live performance, starting noon (EDT). So set the dates in your calendar and be first to catch DCFC and their new album “Plans”, exclusively on mtvU.com

plus… Virgin Mobile Phone users can also access the wireless “The Leak” audio clips via “MTV on your Virgin Mobile”.

www.mtvu.com
www.deathcabforcutie.com

The Black Crowes have often seemed more comfortable on stage than anywhere else, so it makes sense that the first fruit of the band’s successful reunion tour will be four concert albums via Instant Live.

All the shows were taped during a stint earlier this month at San Francisco’s Fillmore and feature a total of 85 songs. They are expected to begin shipping early next week and can be ordered via Instant Live’s Web site.

Beyond nuggets from their sizable back catalog, the Crowes have been sprinkling in such covers as the Otis Redding-popularized “You Don’t Miss You Water,” the Beatles’ “Yer Blues,” Ry Cooder’s “Boomer’s Story” and Neil Young’s “Pardon My Heart” into their sets.

The group is winding down its stint of support dates with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and will begin a fall headlining tour Sept. 4 in George, Wash. Dates are on tap through an Oct. 30-31 stint at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre.

And although Kate Hudson (wife of Crowes vocalist Chris Robinson) recently told a Dutch magazine that the band is planning to return to the studio in the near future, no details have been confirmed. The Crowes have been absent from the studio since 2001’s “Lions,” their lone set for V2.

Source billboard.com.