2005

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have dubbed their ninth studio album Stadium Arcadium, according to Flea, and they plan to release it in April.

“It’s very honest music, and I feel like we improved as craftsmen,” said the bassist Friday at the Spike TV Video Game Awards in Los Angeles, where he and lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis were presenters. “We gave all we had to this album.”

The follow-up to 2002’s By the Way has been a long time in the making, as the Chili Peppers — Kiedis, Flea, guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith — wrote and rehearsed for seven months before entering the studio with producer Rick Rubin.

The band is now in the mixing stage, but Flea said there’s quite a lot to mix. “We recorded a huge quantity of music,” he said. “We’re so in the middle of it, so it’s hard to step back and look at it, but we think it’s the best stuff we’ve ever done.”

Source rollingstone.com.

Angus Young, lead singer-guitarist of AC/DC, tops Maxim’s list of the “25 greatest short dudes of all time,” standing tall at 5 feet 2 inches.

NBA guard Spud Webb, at 5 feet 7 inches, is No. 2, followed by Napoleon Bonaparte (5 feet 4 inches), Naim Suleymangolu (4 feet 11 inches) and Yuri Gagarin (5 feet 2 inches).

The magazine, in its December issue, claims to be helping women “begin a long overdue fight against their genetically determined shallowness when choosing a partner.”

Yoda, at No. 6, is the shortest on the list. His height is calculated at 2 feet 2 inches.

Other great short dudes: Martin Scorsese, Jon Stewart, Prince, Kurt Cobain and two of the Hobbits from “The Lord of the Rings” films Elijah Wood and Sean Astin.

The tallest “short dude”? Pro football player Doug Flutie, at 5 feet 10 inches, who is ranked at No. 24.

Source yahoo.com.

Touring behind their new Barsuk Records release, The Weight Is a Gift, Nada Surf will bring their signature vocal harmonies and stunningly catchy melodies to venues across the US and Canada. Additionally they will be the featured musical guests on the December 13th episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and the December 21st episode of Last Call with Carson Daly.

Nada Surf also has the honor of being the only band on an independent label scheduled to perform at the 2005 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas event. Nada Surf will be joining Depeche Mode, Coldplay, The White Stripes, Jack Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie, The Bravery and Hot Hot Heat at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles on December 11th. Tickets for this event go on sale Friday November 18th at 6pm. Night Two proceeds will benefit Para Los Ninos and other local Los Angeles charities. Complete details can be found at KROQ.com

Nada Surf Winter / Spring 2006 tour dates:

2/8 Baltimore, MD – 8X10
2/9 Charlottesville, VA – Starr Hill Music Hall
2/10 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
2/11 Atlanta, GA – The Loft
2/12 Nashville, TN – Exit In
2/14 Columbia, MO – Blue Note
2/15 Lawrence, KS – Granada Theatre
2/17 Dallas, TX – Tree’s
2/18 Austin, TX – Emo’s
2/20 Tempe, AZ – Clubhouse
2/21 San Diego, CA – House of Blues
2/22 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theater
2/23 San Francisco, CA – Fillmore
2/24 Portland, OR – Aladdin Theatre
2/25 Vancouver, BC – Richards on Richards
2/26 Seattle, WA – Showbox
3/1 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theatre
3/2 Omaha, NE – Sokol Underground
3/3 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Cafe
3/4 Madison, WI – Annex
3/5 Chicago, IL – Metro
3/6 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
3/8 New York, NY – Webster Hall
3/9 Boston, MA – Paradise
3/10 Montreal, QC – Cabaret Music Hall
3/11 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace

Veteran Scottish rock act Belle & Sebastian will release its new album, “The Life Pursuit,” Feb. 6 via Rough Trade in the United Kingdom and Europe. The set will arrive the next day in the United States via Matador. B&S recorded its first five studio albums for the New York-based label before inking with Rough Trade for the release of 2003’s “Dear Catastrophe Waitress.”

“The Life Pursuit” was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Tony Hoffer (Air, Beck). First single “Funny Little Frog” will be commercially released Jan. 16 internationally.

The group will tour the United Kingdom early next year, beginning with a Jan. 15-17 stand in Glasgow. North American dates are being eyed for March.

As previously reported, former member Isobel Campbell will release a collaborative album with Mark Lanegan, “Ballad of the Broken Seas,” next year via V2. The project will be preceded Dec. 13 with the EP “Ramblin’ Man.”

Here is the track list for “The Life Pursuit”:

“Act of the Apostle Part 1”
“Another Sunny Day”
“White Collar Boy”
“The Blues Are Still Blue”
“Dress Up in You”
“Sukie in the Graveyard”
“We Are the Sleepyheads”
“Song for Sunshine”
“Funny Little Frog”
“To Be Myself Completely”
“Act of the Apostle Part 2”
“For the Price of a Cup of a Tea”
“Mornington Crescent”

Source billboard.com.

Yo La Tengo is once again doing Hanukkah just right, here’s the scoop in their own words:

“We’re writing to let you know that once again we’ll be performing all 8 nights of Hanukkah at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. This year, just to make it extra crazy, Hanukkah begins on December 25 and continues through January 1. If you’ve never attended one of our Hanukkah shows before, you’ll surely want to blow off your families and rectify that situation. Each night there will be a band and a comedian and a set by us, and maybe more.

“Tickets will go on sale Wednesday November 9. Tickets can be purchased by going to Tunes in Hoboken (225 Washington St.) or Other Music in New York (15. E. 4th St.). Or you can purchase tickets on line here.

Tickets will be $20 per night, with the exception of New Year’s Eve, which will be $30. All shows will be all-ages, with the exception of New Year’s Eve, which will be 21+. As usual, we’ll be donating the proceeds to charity, and no, we don’t know which ones yet.