2006

Rock acts dominate the top two slots on The Billboard 200 again this week, with Tool’s “10,000 Days” taking the crown on more than double the sales of the latest from Pearl Jam.

The Tool Dissectional/Volcano set gave the band a career-best sales week, moving 564,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, to put it at No. 1. “10,000 Days” also takes over the lead from Godsmack’s “IV” (Universal) on the Top Rock Albums chart.

Tool’s last album, “Lateralus,” also opened at No. 1 on the big chart in 2001 with sales of 555,000 units. It has sold more than 2.3 million to date.

billboard.com.

David Bowie will curate the inaugural High Line Festival, to be held in May 2007 in neighborhoods underneath the High Line, a public park being created atop a long-abandoned elevated railway line on the west side of Manhattan.

As part of the programming, Bowie will play a large outdoor concert, his first show in New York since 2003. He will also select musicians and artists to appear throughout the festival. “I’ve been particularly excited about seeking out emerging artists and giving them a place in a festival that will also feature some very well-known names,” Bowie says.

As Bowie recently told New York magazine, he is planning to take 2006 off from touring and recording. “I’m fed up with the industry,” he said. “And I’ve been fed up for quite some time. I’m taking a year off — no touring, no albums. I go for a walk every morning and I watch a ton of movies. One day, I watched three Woody Allen movies in a row.”

Source billboard.com.

Michael Davis suffered a motorcycle accident on Monday, May 8th. He has been hospitalized.

Michael

The Long Winters will be releasing their third full length on July 25th on Barsuk Records, entitled Putting The Days To Bed.

Putting The Days To Bed, the third LP from Seattle

As posted on his myspace blog, Tom Marshall noted today that he has launched a new lyric and poster site.

“Stina [Marshall] in San Francisco, and I have teamed up to make some art around my lyrics. Check out MarshallLyrics.com for some cool musical (and yes) Phishy art. The current 4 songs we are featuring are: Theme from the Bottom, Grind, Rift and Farmhouse.

After that we have Lawn Boy, Cavern, Squirming Coil and Bouncing ‘Round the Room coming up.”

In addition, Marshall also announced that “at least two songs from [an Anastasio/Marshall] recent writing session”…’Let Me Lie’ and ‘Obstacle of Course’ will appear on an upcoming Trey Anastasio record.

Rock recluse Axl Rose made a surprise radio appearance to proclaim that Guns N’ Roses’ 10-years-in-the-making albue to proclaim that Guns N’ Roses’ 10-years-in-the-making album, “Chinese Democracy,” album will finally hit stores this fall.

The comments Saturday on Eddie Trunk’s syndicated radio show marked one of the first interviews Rose has given since his failed 2002 comeback tour, which was abruptly scrapped midway amid riots and canceled shows.

Rose’s impromptu appearance came when former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, who was co-hosting the show, called Rose’s cell phone and patched the call through the studio.

Quizzed on when the near-mythical album would come out, Rose said, “Sometime this fall or late fall.” His band could be heard rehearsing in the background. “It will be out this year.”

Trunk invited Rose to drop by the New York studio, and about an hour later he did. Asked about the aborted 2002 comeback tour, which ended when Rose failed to appear for a gig in Philadelphia, Rose told Trunk he felt pressured into doing it before he was ready. But he insisted he has no regrets, since the short-lived tour helped the new band members to gel.

Source billboard.com.