2005

Three previously unreleased Nirvana songs will surface November 1st when Geffen/Universal issue Sliver, a compilation of Nirvana rarities and demos. The twenty-two-track CD will be rounded out with material from With the Lights Out, the Nirvana box set released last November.

Sliver marks the first time Frances Bean Cobain, the thirteen-year-old daughter of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and rocker Courtney Love, has taken an active role in her father’s legacy. “We’re pulling Frances into the family business,” Love told Rolling Stone.

In addition to helping select the title, Frances Bean also played a role in choosing the cover image. “Courtney and I involve Frances in Nirvana/Kurt decisions whenever we can,” says Peter Asher, who manages Love and the Cobain estate. “She’s very perceptive and has cool ideas.”

With the Lights Out was delayed for several years due to legal battles between Love and surviving Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, but there were no such troubles with Sliver.

Source rollingstone.com.

As first reported in billboard last November, Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis will release her solo debut in January. “Rabbit Fur Coat” will be issued by Team Love, the label run by Bright Eyes leader Conor Oberst. Rilo Kiley was formerly labelmates with Bright Eyes on Saddle Creek before establishing its own Brute/Beaute imprint via Warner Bros.

“Rabbit Fur Coat” sports host of top-shelf guest artists, including Oberst, Death Cab For Cutie vocalist Ben Gibbard, Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine, and singer/songwriter M. Ward, who co-produced with Saddle Creek veteran Mike Mogis. Among the songs set for inclusion are “Melt Your Heart,” “Happy,” “Rise Up With Fists” and the title track.

Rilo Kiley is finishing its stint opening for Coldplay’s North American tour, which hits Minneapolis tonight (Sept. 20). Lewis will then hit the road with a cast of backing musicians to be announced around the release date of “Rabbit Fur Coat.”

Meanwhile, fellow Rilo Kiley principal Blake Sennet is planning to release an album early next year with his side band the Elected, which also features Rilo Kiley’s Jason Boesel.

Source billboard.com.

California rock act Grandaddy is putting the final touches this week on the follow-up to its 2003 V2 release, “Sumday.” Titled “Just Like the Fambly Cat,” the album will be a departure from the band’s previous work, according to lead singer Jason Lytle.

The band has spent a year-and-a-half recording in Lytle’s home studio in Modesto, Calif. Over this time, the decision was made to release an EP before the full-length. “It just seemed like a good idea,” Lytle says. “I mean, it has been so long since the last album, so rather than barge in on someone’s house unannounced [with the album] we thought we’d rather call on the phone, and say, ‘We’re coming over.’ That’s what the EP does.”

On Sept. 27, “The Excerpts From the Diary of Todd Zilla EP” hits the shelves. The title is not an ode to a band friend, fan or foe, but rather a name seen on a truck’s vanity plate. “I’ve probably met Toddzilla a bunch of times throughout my life,” Lytle says. “He’s a guy who is not very intelligent, and just kind of there. But I didn’t meet the actual Toddzilla.”

No tour plans are in the works and according to Lytle, “they are very much up in the air. It will be much different this time, in what comes with the album.”

Source: billboard

Performances by such acts as U2, Neil Young, Green Day, Big & Rich, Trent Reznor and the Red Hot Chili Peppers from last week’s “ReAct Now: Music and Relief” telethon will soon be available as downloads to benefit hurricane relief and rebuilding efforts. A total of 26 songs taken from the live MTV Networks broadcast will be sold for a limited time through various online retailers with proceeds tabbed for the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.

The Sept. 10 commercial free broadcast was seen across all of MTV Networks’ various channels, including MTV, MTV2, VH1 and CMT in the United States, and in several global markets. Since it aired, the company says more than 1 million streams of content from the telethon have been served online via its broadband networks, MTV Overdrive and VH1 Spot, as well as CMT.com.

Among the selections are U2’s “Love & Peace or Else,” Young’s “Walking In New Orleans,” Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” Reznor’s “Hurt” and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge,” as well as Melissa Etheridge’s “Four Days,” a song written specifically for the “ReAct Now” broadcast.

Most tracks will be available for 60 days, although some will be pulled after 30, according to an MTV Networks spokesperson.

Retailers selling the tracks are CDIGIX, MSN Music, Real Networks, Rhapsody, Sony Connect and MusicNet-powered download stores FYE and Virgin Digital.

The spokesperson says MTV also approached Apple’s iTunes Music Store, but the popular online retailer declined participation as it already has its own Katrina-related fundraising activities in place.

Here are the individual “ReAct Now” downloads available:

“Here By Me,” 3 Doors Down
“Rainy Day in June,” Alan Jackson
“Side of the Road,” Beck
“Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometimes,” Beck
“I Pray for You,” Big & Rich
“Ghost of a Good Thing,” Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional)
“American Baby,” Dave Matthews Band
“Cadillacs on 22s,” David Banner
“Give a Little Bit,” Goo Goo Dolls
“Wake Me Up When September Ends,” Green Day
“Home,” Mark Broussard
“Don’t Let Me Down,” Maroon 5
“Four Days,” Melissa Etheridge
“Walking In New Orleans,” Neil Young
“Given To Fly,” Pearl Jam
“Under the Bridge,” Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Ever The Same,” Rob Thomas
“Time After Time,” Rob Thomas
“Good as Good,” Sheryl Crow
“Right Here,” Staind
“Stand Back Up,” Sugarland
“Last Getaway,” the Radiators
“Hurt,” Trent Reznor
“Non-Entity,” Trent Reznor
“Love & Peace or Else,” U2
“Home Sweet Home,” Motley Crue

Source billboard.com.

The last two years have been simultaneously glorious and tumultuous for lo-fi indie rockers dios (malos). Following a summer of recording and preparation the band is excited to announce their first ever, nationwide headlining tour. Kicking off October 14th in San Francisco, CA, the tour includes stops in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. They will be touring in support of their highly anticipated self-titled sophomore release, due out October 11th on Star Time International Records.

Moving from the comforts of their home garage-studio, where they recorded their critically acclaimed first album, dios (malos) headed up to Seattle with legendary producer Phil Ek (Shins, Modest Mouse, Built To Spill) to try their hand at making an album in a proper studio. The resulting product retains the pop songwriting and experimental qualities that dios (malos) is known for, yet adds a sense of urgency acquired from spending two stressful years on the road. Moreover, Phil Ek’s knack for the experimental pushed the boundaries even further on songs like “So Do I” and “Tokyo Sunrise”, where psychedelic loops hover over drowsy acoustic guitars and spacey keyboards.

After honing their live sound on the road with bands like Granddaddy, The Shins and The Decemberists, dios (malos) are ready to begin an odyssey of their own. Armed with a new album the upcoming tour is sure to be one of the highlights of the fall touring season.

Confirmed dios (malos) tour dates below:

OCTOBER
14 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
15 Dantes Portland, OR
16 Chop Suey Seattle, WA
18 Fat Tuesday’s Spokane, WA
20 Halo Salt Lake City, UT
21 Larimer Lounge Denver, CO
22 O’Leavers Omaha, NE
23 Replay Lawrence, KS
24 Maintenance Shop Ames, IA
25 Blue Note St. Louis, MO
27 Varsity Minneapolis, MN
28 Subterranean Chicago, IL
29 Magic Stick Detroit, MI
30 Grog Shop Cleveland, OH

NOVEMBER
1 Club Caf