
Somebody’s Miracle isn
Common recorded a podcast with DJ Gilles Peterson, whom he met up with at New York’s Hudson Hotel. During their hour-long session, they play and discuss tracks by A Tribe Called Quest, Gil Scott-Heron and Tiombe Lockhart. Also featured are two other podcasts, featuring a discussion/tour of musically significant New York and London landmarks.
The podcasts will be available for 30 days starting tomorrow, Wednesday on MOTO ROKR and the iTunes Podcast Directory. These podcasts are also some of the first to use licensed music.
Los Lobos will perform its adventurous 1992 album “Kiko,” its entirety at the band’s annual holiday shows. The run includes performances Dec. 16-17 in San Francisco, Dec. 27 in Los Angeles, Dec. 29 in Anaheim, Calif., and Dec. 30 in Las Vegas.
“We knew it would be hard work, but the fans have always said ‘Kiko’ was special, so we’re doing it in part as a present to them,” Los Lobos’ Louie Perez says of the upcoming shows.
Meanwhile, the band will begin working on a new studio album next month. Perez and playwright Luis Torres have also been commissioned to adapt “Kiko” for a theatrical production slated for a spring 2008 debut.
Source billboard.com.
Two live Jack Johnson DVDs will be released together Nov. 22 via his own Brushfire Records label. “Live in Japan” was shot in August 2004, while “A Weekend at the Greek Theatre” was lensed during an Aug. 19-20, 2005, stand at the Berkeley, Calif., venue. Both DVDs were directed by Brendan and Emmett Malloy.
“Live in Japan” spotlights Johnson’s band in a trio setting, with bassist Merlo Podlewski and drummer Adam Topol focusing on songs from the albums “Brushfire Fairytales” and “On and On.” Also featured is an early version of “Banana Pancakes,” which turned up on this year’s album “In Between Dreams,” plus guest shots from Donavon Frankenreiter and Money Mark.
“A Weekend at the Greek Theatre” finds Johnson’s band expanded to a quartet with pianist/accordionist Zach Gill of the Animal Liberation Orchestra. The group is joined again by Money Mark and fellow Brushfire signees G. Love, Animal Liberation Orchestra and Matt Costa.
Beyond an Oct. 29 appearance at Las Vegas’ Vegoose Festival and a Nov. 20 show in Kahului, Hawaii, Johnson has begun lining up 2006 tour dates, beginning Feb. 22 in Dublin.
He is also at work on new music for the upcoming animated film “Curious George,” the soundtrack for which is due in February via Brushfire. The movie will boast the voice talents of Will Ferrell, David Cross, Drew Barrymore, Eugene Levy and Dick Van Dyke.
Source billboard.com.
In the latest entry of mistakes made by the number-crunching boys upstairs just looking out for the bottom line, Warner Brothers Records has released what they claim is the world
Halloween Alaska’s latest Too Tall To Hide, delivers a unique sound. It is tough to elicit a “warm” feeling from electronic music, but Halloween, Alaska has mastered that difficult task. There are flashes of the eighties, and peeks of bands like The Postal Service here and there, but ultimately this CD reaches out and seeps into the cracks with far more mood and substance.
As the flooding continues across the eastern seaboard, so does the music. On Wednesday night at the Mercury Lounge in Manhattan a twin bill of bare bones rock and rollers took the stage. The Detroit Cobras with openers Reigning Sound hit the Big Apple only a few shows into their national tour. While the rains fell outside, the brew and tunes swam inside.
Without a drum set or a light show, Yonder Mountain String Band never fails to entertain.
The Ray Charles train just keeps on rollin
The Eames Era and C-Student Records are sad to announce the cancellation of the band’s upcoming tour following a violent car accident with a National Guard military truck. The accident occurred as the band was about to embark on a tour of the Midwest and Northeast to support the release of their debut album, Double Dutch, which comes out today on C-Student Records. “It was definitely an experience we’ll never forget,” said lead singer Ashlin Phillips, who has several stitches in her face as a result of the trauma. “In hindsight, it could have been much worse, and I just feel lucky that we escaped the accident with relatively minor injuries.” All five band members received varying degrees of injury, the worst being guitarist Ted Joyner’s broken arm, on which he had surgery yesterday afternoon.
Although times have been tough for The Eames Era in 2005, the band has proven resilient in the face of so many difficult challenges. Having survived two hurricanes, a population boom of epic proportions in their hometown, and now this major accident, the band is handling the adversity with grace and determination. To that end, The Eames Era are planning on touring in support of their album as soon as their bruises are healed. Look out for a fresh set of tour dates by the year’s end.