2005

Bob Moog, inventor of his namesake range of synthesizers and one of the most significant figures in the evolution of electronic music, died yesterday (Aug. 21) at his home in Asheville, N.C. He was 71. A native of N.Y., Moog was diagnosed with brain cancer in late April and had since undergone radiation treatment and chemotherapy.

After a decade of building theremins with his father, Moog created his prototype, the Moog Modular Synthesizer, in 1963 and unveiled it the following year before the Audio Engineering Society Convention.

Source: billboard.com

Akron, Ohio-based rock duo the Black Keys will release their first DVD Oct. 4 via Fat Possum. The appropriately titled

Ween played its first New York show in nearly two years Saturday (Aug. 20) at the Knitting Factory as part of a private party for the skateboarding magazine Thrasher. The 28-song, 135-minute set was open only to Thrasher guests and a select group of contest winners.

Having only recently returned to live duty after an extensive hiatus, Ween was in fine form as it rocked through early classics like “Dr. Rock,” “Fat Lenny,” “You F*cked Up” and “Touch My Tooter,” dipped into its signature psychedelica on “The Mollusk” and “Buckingham Green” and turned tender on “She’s Your Baby,” “Mutilated Lips” and closer “Someday.”

While it accumulates new material for its next studio album, the group is preparing for a short fall tour, beginning Oct. 25 in Albany, N.Y.

Source billboard.com.

Iconoclastic journalist Hunter S. Thompson would have loved the 153-foot tower built to blast his ashes into the sky, said one of his many friends and admirers gathered for an unsolemn farewell.

It’s a beautiful structure. Of course, he would not have been able to resist putting a few holes into it,” said Michael Cleverly, referring to his former neighbor’s love of shooting guns. “But it weighs several tons, so it could handle a few holes.”

The counterculture author killed himself six months ago at his home near Aspen. His ashes, intermingled with fireworks, were to be fired out of the tower Saturday evening in front of a star-studded crowd at his Owl Farm compound.

“He loved explosions,” his wife, Anita Thompson, explained during the planning of the fireworks sendoff.

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Having previewed her new album with a summer acoustic tour, Liz Phair will hit the road in the fall with a full band. The outing begins Oct. 6 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., two days after the release of the Capitol album “Somebody’s Miracle.”

The 24-date club tour include an Oct. 17-18 stand at New York’s Irving Plaza and will run through Nov. 16 in San Diego. Beforehand, the artist will shoot a video for the new album’s first single, “Everything to Me,” with director Phil Harder, who lensed such prior Phair clips as “Extraordinary” and “Why Can’t I?”

The artist performs acoustically tonight (Aug. 18) in San Francisco and will wrap the run with an Aug. 24-26 stand in her Chicago hometown.

Here are Liz Phair’s fall tour dates:

Oct. 6: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Revolution)
Oct. 7: Orlando, Fla. (House of Blues)
Oct. 8: Tampa, Fla. (Jannus Landing)
Oct. 10: Atlanta (Roxy Theatre)
Oct. 12: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
Oct. 14: Boston (Avalon)
Oct. 16: Philadelphia (TLA)
Oct. 17-18: New York (Irving Plaza)
Oct. 22: Montreal (Cafe Campus)
Oct. 23: Toronto (Phoenix)
Oct. 25: Chicago (Vic Theatre)
Oct. 26: Milwaukee (Pabst Theatre)
Oct. 27: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
Oct. 29: Denver (Gothic Theatre)
Oct. 31: Dallas (Gypsy Ballroom)
Nov. 1: Austin, Texas (La Zona Rosa)
Nov. 7: Los Angeles (House of Blues)
Nov. 8: San Francisco (Fillmore)
Nov. 11: Vancouver (Commodore Ballroom)
Nov. 12: Seattle (Neumo’s)
Nov. 13: Portland, Ore. (Crystal Ballroom)
Nov. 15: Anaheim, Calif. (House of Blues)
Nov. 16: San Diego (House of Blues)

Source billboard.com.