2005

Icelandic rock act Sigur Ros is eyeing a September release for its as-yet-untitled new album. According to the band’s official Web site, the 11-track set is sung mostly in Sigur Ros’ native tongue; frontman Jonsi Thor Birgisson has previously sung in his own language, “Hopelandish.” It will be released internationally by EMI and in North America via Geffen.

The site says “Gong” and “Milano” are the lone tracks that have previously been performed live. The as-yet-unnamed first single from the album is expected to hit digital download retailers in August.

A one-off show in Hawaii is scheduled for Aug. 9, about a month before a North American tour opens Sept. 6 in Atlanta.

Here are Sigur Ros’ tour dates:

July 8: Glasgow (Academy)
July 9: Manchester, England (Lowry Theatre)
July 10: London (Somerset House)
July 12: Paris (Olympia)
July 13: Amsterdam (Paradiso)
July 14: Brussels (Cirque Royal)
July 16: Copenhagen (Vega)
July 17: Hamburg (Stadtpark)
July 19: Frankfurt (Jahrhunderthalle)
July 20: Berlin (Columbiahalle)
July 22: Munich (Circus Krone)
July 23: Nyon, Switzerland (Paleo Festival)
July 25: Rome (Cavea Auditorium)
July 26: Milan (Villa Arconati)
July 31: Naeba, Japan (Fuji Rock Festival)
Aug. 3: Melbourne (Hamer Hall)
Aug. 4: Sydney (the Enmore)
Aug. 5: Brisbane, Australia (Tivoli)
Aug. 9: Honolulu (Hawaii Theatre)
Sept. 6: Atlanta (Symphony Hall)
Sept. 7: Durham, N.C. (Carolina Theatre)
Sept. 9: Philadelphia (Tower Theatre)
Sept. 11: Strathmore, Md. (Music Center)
Sept. 12-13: New York (Beacon Theatre)
Sept. 15: Boston (Opera House)
Sept. 16: Montreal (Theatre Masionneeuve)
Sept. 18: Ottawa, Ont. (TBA)
Sept. 19: Toronto (Massey Hall)
Sept. 20: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Theatre)
Sept. 21: Chicago (Chicago Theatre)
Sept. 23: Madison, Wis. (Orpheum Theatre)
Sept. 24: Minneapolis (State Theatre)
Sept. 27: Vancouver (Orpheum Theatre)
Sept. 28: Seattle (Paramount Theatre)
Sept. 29: Portland, Ore. (Roseland Theatre)
Oct. 1: Oakland, Calif. (Paramount Theatre)
Oct. 3: San Diego (Copley Symphony Hall)
Oct. 5: Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl)
Oct. 6: Las Vegas (the Joint)

Source billboard.com.

After a successful run as the main support act for Hot Hot Heat, Robbers on High Street have confirmed a Summer tour with Detroit songwriter Brendan Benson, which will kick off July 26th at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre. The band also looks forward to being featured on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition on Sunday, July 17th (air times will vary in different regions). In addition, the band’s song “Love Underground” will be featured on THE WEDDING CRASHERS ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK.

Since the release of the band’s album TREE CITY in February 2005, the band has been hailed for their melodically inventive songwriting and their full, dynamic arrangements using strings and horns. Along with Alternative Press, Blender, The Washington Post, Nylon, Billboard and many others, Rolling Stone raved that TREE CITY is “A smart rock debut [with] wry, whip-smart lyrics and piano-driven melodies.”

Brendan Benson Tourdates are as follow. Many more to be announced shortly:

July 15: Mercury Lounge (Robbers headline, Not with BB)
July 21: Indianapolis, IN: Vogue Theatre/Midwest Music Summit (not with BB)

With Brendan Benson:
July 26: Los Angeles, CA: El Rey
July 27: San Diego, CA: The Casbah
July 28: Tempe, AZ: Clubhouse
July 30: Denver, CO: Larimer Lounge
August 1: Minneapolis, MN: 400 Bar
August 3: St. Louis, MO: Blueberry Hill
August 4: Indianapolis, IN: Birdy;s
August 5: Newport, KY (Cincinnati, OH): Southgate House
August 6: Chicago, IL: Metro

The Arcade Fire, !!!, Blackalicious, Nouvelle Vague, Annie, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Wrens, Kaki King and Atmosphere are among the first acts confirmed for the 25th annual CMJ Music Marathon, which will be held Sept. 14-17 throughout venues in New York.

Other artists who have signed on to perform are the Hold Steady, Dungen, John Vanderslice, Against Me!, the Constantines, Battles, Kinski, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Rogue Wave, Early Man, Channels, Dirty On Purpose, Walking Concert, Athlete, Acid Mothers Temple and Funeral For A Friend.

Day-time panel discussions, which will be held at Lincoln Center, will focus on everything from securing sponsorship deals and health insurance to the impact of blogging and podcasting on the music industry.

Source billboard.com.

Arizona-based rock act Calexico is at work on its next studio album, which should be out in the spring of 2006 via Touch & Go. “We did some work here in Tucson earlier this summer,” group member Joey Burns tells Billboard.com. “We’ll probably meet up again in August when we get back from doing European festivals.”

The group worked with producer J.D. Foster, who has worked with everyone from Dwight Yoakam and Marc Ribot to Nancy Sinatra and Alejandro Escovedo. Tracks being eyed for the set include “Bisbee Blue,” “All Systems Red,” “Deep Down” and “Lucky Dime.”

“The songs have that moodiness and ambience, but there’s also some more electric, rockin’ numbers,” Burns says of the new material, some of which Calexico will unveil during a spate of summer shows, which begin July 14 in New York.

The as-yet-untitled album will be the follow-up to 2003’s “Feast of Wire,” which debuted at a career-best No. 23 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart. An EP, “Convict Pool,” was issued last year, led by a cover of Love’s “Alone Again Or.”

“That cover worked out really well for us,” Burns says. “We were playing that song and covering it all last summer while [Love leader] Arthur [Lee] was touring with the Love reunion. We just kept missing each other, but we kept hearing reports of people who had seen him. We never ran into him. If he’s still living in Los Angeles, I’m sure we’ll cross paths at some point.”

In between the new Calexico album and a previously reported collaborative EP with Iron & Wine, Burns and drummer John Convertino have also contributed to singer/songwriter Neko Case’s upcoming Anti- album.

Here are Calexico’s tour dates:

July 14: New York (Castle Clinton/Battery Park)
July 16: Ottawa, Ontario (Cisco Systems Bluesfest)
July 17: Quebec City, Quebec (Festival D’Ete International)
July 20: Antwerp, Belgium (Rivierenhof)
July 21: Duisburg, Germany (World Games Plaza)
July 22: Lorrach, Germany (Marktplatz)
July 23: Jacetano, Spain (El Pireneus del Sur Festival)
July 27: Berlin (Popdeurope Festival)
July 28: Wien, Austria (Jazzfest)
July 29: Nurenberg, Germany (Bardentreffen)
July 30: Feldkirch, Austria (Poolbar Festival)
July 31: Roseto, Italy (Soundlab Festival)
Aug. 2: Alberobello, Italy (Experimenta Festival)
Aug. 3: Pula, Croatia (Open Air)
Aug. 5: Creete, Greece (Amphitheatre)

Source billboard.com.

Playing with its classic lineup for the first time in more than 20 years, Pink Floyd dazzled the crowd of approximately 200,000 people at the London edition of Live 8. The group performed “Breathe,” “Money,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb,” which was introduced to a new generation of U.K. listeners last year via the Scissor Sisters’ top 10 hit cover.

Pink Floyd hadn’t played live at all since the 1994 tour in support of the album “The Division Bell,” and hadn’t performed with bassist Roger Waters since 1981. The latter artist’s dealings with fellow Pink Floyd principal David Gilmour have been rancorous in the ensuing years; Waters even sued Gilmour, unsuccessfully, for touring under the Pink Floyd name without him following the band’s initial split after the album “The Final Cut.”

But on stage at London’s Hyde Park, the group (which also includes drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Rick Wright) was all smiles. Waters even dedicated “Wish You Were Here” to Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett, whose mental instability forced him to cede control of his band to Gilmour and Waters in the late ’60s.

Although no official statement has been made, the Live 8 reunion is expected to be a one-off affair for the members of Pink Floyd.

The group was followed on stage by Paul McCartney, who was joined by George Michael for the Beatles favorite “Drive My Car.”

Source billboard.com,

Blue Note Records has emerged the triumphant owner of a 1957 recording by the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane, trumping the interest of Sony BMG’s Legacy Recordings and Verve Records. The tentatively titled “Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane: 1957 Concert” is due Sept. 27.

Jazz specialist Larry Appelbaum uncovered the coveted musical relic in January at the Library of Congress. Negotiations for commercial release rights were completed June 13. “This is one of the most important discoveries in jazz ever,” Blue Note president/CEO Bruce Lundvall says. “We’re thrilled to have it.”

Source billboard.com.

In addition to a Grateful Dead live set already in the pipeline, Rhino is readying a live album and DVD, each chronicling side projects helmed by the band’s late leader, Jerry Garcia. Due Aug. 9, one is a two-disc audio collection of live tracks from his mid-1970s jazz-leaning rock quintet Legion Of Mary, while the other is a video record of a 1990 Jerry Garcia Band show near San Francisco.

In Legion Of Mary, Garcia surrounded himself with an eclectic group of sidemen: keyboardist/vocalist and longtime compatriot Merle Saunders, one-time Elvis Presley drummer Ron Tutt, Martin Fierro (Quicksilver Messenger Service, Zero) on sax and reed instruments and bassist John Kahn (John Lee Hooker, Al Kooper). The group played around 60 shows between December 1974 and July 1975.

Seven of those shows produced the never-before-released recordings on “The Jerry Garcia Collection, Volume 1: Legion Of Mary.” Like many Garcia projects, the song selection is heavy on covers, including Bob Dylan’s “Tough Mama,” Ray Charles’ “Talkin’ ‘Bout You” and Chuck Berry’s “Let It Rock.”

Meanwhile, the Jerry Garcia Band’s “Live at Shoreline,” captures a Sept. 1, 1990, show at the Bay Area amphitheatre that was originally meant to be a Dead performance, but was nixed due to keyboardist Brent Mydland’s death a few months earlier. The title is the first official JGB DVD release, and boasts two sets of music that includes covers of the Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” and Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue.”

As previously reported, Rhino will on July 12 release the two-disc Grateful Dead concert set “Truckin’ up to Buffalo, July 4, 1989.,” which is the soundtrack to the Monterey Video DVD of the same name.

Source billboard.com.

Pearl Jam will cap a slate of fall tour dates with a Sept. 30-Oct. 1 stand at the 3,700-capacity Borgata in Atlantic City, N.J. Sleater-Kinney, which previously toured with Pearl Jam in 2003, will open both shows, tickets for which go on sale July 9.

The Atlantic City stand will come at the end of Pearl Jam’s three-week tour of Canada, which kicks off Sept. 2 in Vancouver and will close Sept. 25 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The band will also open a Sept. 28 show for the Rolling Stones in Pittsburgh.

Source billboard.com.