2005

Idaho-based rock act Built To Spill is eyeing a spring 2006 release date for its fourth Warner Bros. studio album. The as-yet-untitled project was originally expected in the fall but has been pushed back to allow for mixing and potential additional recording at a new studio in Portland, Ore.

“We recorded maybe 15 or 16 songs and I thought I knew which 10 were going to be on the record,” BTS vocalist/guitarist Doug Martsch tells Billboard.com. “But now, we have time to revisit a few of those other songs to see if there might be something worth working with. It is kind of open-ended right now.”

To read more, please visit billboard.com.

Modern rock act 311 will release its next studio album, “Don’t Tread on Me,” July 26 via Volcano. According to a post from vocalist Nick Hexum on the band’s official Web site, songs tipped to make the final cut are “Solar Flair” (“a super slow and heavy rap rocker”) and “It’s Getting OK Now” (“a fast punk song”), as well as “a handful of reggae-influenced tracks.”

311 has begun lining up dates for a summer tour, which will run from July 27 to Sept. 18. A handful of shows will feature Papa Roach and/or Unwritten Law, and 311 is also confirmed to appear July 30 at San Diego’s Street Scene festival.

Here are 311’s tour dates:

July 30: San Diego (Street Scene Festival)
Aug, 2: Tucson, Ariz. (Anselmo Valencia Amphitheatre)
Aug. 5: Las Vegas (Skin Pool Lounge)
Aug. 6: Salt Lake City (USANA Amphitheatre
Aug. 7: Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks)

Source billboard.com.

Circus Maximus in Rome, London’s Hyde Park and the Eiffel Tower in Paris are among the venues that will host Live 8, a series of concerts being organized by Bob Geldof, the driving force behind the Band Aid and Live Aid campaigns for African famine relief.

The July 2 concerts, which will be free, also will be held at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and in Philadelphia, organizers said.

Performers include Coldplay, Madonna, Paul McCartney, R.E.M. and U2 in London; Will Smith, Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder and P. Diddy in Philadelphia; Crosby, Stills and Nash, Lauren Hill and Brian Wilson in Berlin; Jamiroquai, Youssou N’Dour, Yannick Noah and Placebo in Paris; and Duran Duran in Rome.

The events are aimed at raising awareness of poverty in developing countries just days before G8 leaders meet in Britain. Organizers didn’t immediately announce the full lineup for the concerts or where the Philadelphia incarnation would take place.

They said there were plans for concerts in other cities in G8 countries, but didn’t give further details. Japan, Canada and Russia are the three other nations in the G8.

Source billboard.com.

Two members of the Cure have exited the veteran U.K. rock act, which has long featured a revolving door of musicians backing up leader Robert Smith. Keyboardist Roger O’Donnell announced his departure today (May 27) on his official Web site, while a fan site dedicated to guitarist Perry Bamonte conveyed the same news about his fate.

“As of Tuesday this week I am no longer a member of the Cure,” O’Donnell wrote. “It was sad to find out after nearly 20 years the way I did but then I should have expected no less or more.” He added that he was looking forward to touring in support of an upcoming solo album “in a more relaxed and happy atmosphere than has surrounded the Cure these last couple of years.”

It is unclear how these moves will affect the band’s recently confirmed first shows of 2005, including stops Aug. 5 at Spain’s Benicassim Festival and Sept. 3 at the Rock N’ Coke Festival in Istanbul.

Rumors have circulated that Siouxie and the Banshees principal Steve Severin will fill in at these shows in some capacity. Severin and Smith are longtime friends who recorded a 1983 side-project album, “Blue Sunshine,” under the moniker the Glove.

Source billboard.com.

As noted in the message posted below on the zoomatour.com website, this year’s travelling festival featuring Trey Anastasio and Ben Harper has been cancelled.

“The producers of the ZOOMA Tour regret to announce that this summer’s Tour has been canceled. Ticket refunds for all dates will be given through the outlets where the tickets were purchased.

The Zooma Tour was conceived to provide fans with an exceptional musical and entertainment experience. Due to unforeseen circumstances, it has become clear that it would not be possible to provide that experience at the level initially envisioned. Rather than go forward with a tour that falls short of what was conceived, everyone involved has mutually agreed that it is best to cancel the tour altogether.

We want to thank all of the fans for their support and the tour’s staff for their dedication and hard work on this project. We look forward to exploring new and exciting opportunities in the future.

If you purchased your tickets through Trey Anastasio or Ben Harper ticketing pre-sales, the card you placed your order with will automatically be refunded for ticket face value plus all other service and shipping charges. Refunds will begin Friday May 27 and continue until June 2nd. Once the refund is processed you will automatically receive an email confirmation. Please note: it can take up to 2 business days for the refund to show up on your account. If you have any questions, please e-mail tix@musictoday.com”

Production is underway for a new feature-length documentary about the Who, tentatively titled “My Generation: Who’s Still Who.” Scheduled to hit theaters in early 2006 via Spitfire Pictures, the film is being overseen by Oscar-winning director Murray Lerner and is being produced with the assistance of surviving Who members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey.

The film will follow the band’s influential career through archival footage, clips from performances at Woodstock and the Isle of Wight, interviews and “never-before-seen private materials” from the Who’s archives.

Lerner is calling on fans to provide amateur footage of the band, or anecdotes that could be relevant to the project, via the film’s official Web site.

The DVD of “Who’s Still Who” will contain two supplementary films, one comprising segments devoted to each band member and the other boasting previously unreleased footage from a 1969 show at the London Coliseum.

Source billboard.com.