2005

Z-Trip, UNKLE and Everything But The Girl’s Ben Watt have been added to the lineup for the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, to be held April 30-May 1 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif.

After making his Coachella debut in 2002 with a near-legendary set featuring a surprise appearance by Beck, Z-Trip acknowledges the difficulty in topping it this time around.

To read more visit billboard.com.

More than a year-and-a-half after first revealing plans for the project to Billboard.com, Ry Cooder’s musical portrait of a lost Los Angeles Mexican neighborhood will finally see release in late spring. Across the 15 tracks of “Chavez Ravine,” the artist brings back to life the hillside community that was destroyed by developers in the 1950s and since 1962 has been home to Dodger Stadium.

“It’s a story/concept record about Chavez Ravine,” Cooder told Billboard.com in November 2003, “our L.A. classic Hispanic Pachuco tale of woe, corruption, politics, the Red Scare, the little and the big, neighborhood vs. corporate, all rolled into one.”

The songs on “Chavez Ravine,” due June 7 on his own Perro Verde Records imprint through Nonesuch, are sung in Spanish and English. Helping Cooder weave the pastiche of conjunto, corrido, R&B, Latin pop and jazz are Chicano music great Lalo Guerrero, late Pachuco legend Don Tosti, singer Little Willie G. (Thee Midniters), Ersi Arvizu (The Sisters) and veteran East L.A. band El Chicano.

“I think we did a pretty good job at using this music to demonstrate a lot of things about daily life and good ways,

G. Love & Special Sauce and Particle are among the artists who will perform on the inaugural Xingolati Groove Cruise. The three-day, three-night charter will depart Los Angeles Oct. 14 en route to Ensenada, Mexico, on board the Carnival Cruise Lines’ ship Paradise.

The event will feature sets by the John Popper Project featuring DJ Logic, the Everyone Orchestra, DJ Greyboy, the Mutaytor, DJ Laird, Perpetual Groove, Lowpro Lounge, Soul Rebels Brass Band and Delta Nove. Organizer Guy Grand Productions (GGP) is also promising performance art and circus theatrics to amuse 2,000 fans.

For more Xingolati information or to reserve a space, visit Xingolati.com.

Piano man Ben Folds has set down a run of spring dates to support the release of his upcoming album, Songs For Silverman.

Tour Dates –

5/03/05 Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
5/04/05 Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
5/05/05 Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room In Murat Center
5/08/05 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club All Ages On Sale TBA
5/09/05 Durham, NH @ Univ. Of New Hampshire – UNH Fieldhouse
5/10/05 New York, NY @ Town Hall Theatre
5/13/05 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
5/14/05 Boston, MA @ Avalon Ages

In other Ben Folds news, Ben’s cover of Dr. Dre

Moby kicks off his North American tour in support of his new album,

Speculation has it that the Black Crowes are doing a stealth six night club run as Mr. Crowes Garden. These shows will precede the band

Weezer is eyeing a May release for its fifth studio album, “Make Believe.” As previously reported, the Geffen set will be preceded in the coming weeks by the single “Beverly Hills,” a video for which was shot two weekends ago at the Playboy mansion in Los Angeles.

According to the band’s official Web site, the Marcos Siega-directed clip should “start shaping up” by “the end of the weekend.”

“The song speculates about living the life of movers and shakers, but concludes that there’s no way to cross over from the ‘real world’ to the ‘fantasy world’ (even if one who is ‘normal’ has indeed become ‘famous’),” the site says. “But for a few minutes the idea is tossed about, taken to the level of longing for a life of extreme celebrity.”

At deadline, Weezer’s only confirmed U.S. show is April 30 at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Seven European dates are on tap in June.

Here are Weezer’s tour dates:

April 30: Indio, Calif. (Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival)
June 3: Nurburgring, Germany (Rock am Ring Festival)
June 4: Nuremberg, Germany (Rock im Park Festival)
June 5: Hamburg (Grosse Freheit)
June 10: Nickelsdorf, Austria (Nova Rock Festival)
June 13: Birmingham, England (Academy)
June 14: London (Brixton Academy)
June 17: Glasgow (Carling Academy)

Source billboard.com.