Music News Net

THE HUMANS Release "Sugar Rush"

MUSIC NEWS - THE HUMANS, brainchild of actress/singer Toyah Willcox (wife of Robert Fripp) are an innovative, three-piece, contemporary rock band comprising Toyah Willcox, Bill Rieflin (ex R.E.M.) and Chris Wong. The group brings together three lifetimes of musical experience, experimentation and craftsmanship.

THE HUMANS were formed in 2007 after Toyah was invited by the Estonian ambassador to tour Estonia. Highly experimental, the band reflects the distinctly different musical backgrounds and life experiences of its members. This creative formation marked a radical departure for Toyah who comments: “The songs are deconstructed down to the bones of raw experience, exposing human nature and irony”. Dispensing with the conventional rock band line-up, the DNA of The Humans consists of the voice (taking much more of a role as instrument) flanked by two bass players, with no designated drummer or guitarist. Although recorded and live work can include programmed drumming, beats or guest guitar, the intention is to allow space for the vocal to sit above and alongside the sound scape rather than compete with the noise of a rock band.

 

ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND To Wrap Up 2011 With Six Shows

MUSIC NEWS - After being forced to cancel some shows over health issues, the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND gave us some big news today with the announcement of six final shows for 2011.   The dates will include two nights scheduled in Philadelphia, well, Upper Darby, PA at the Tower Theatre on November 26 & 27 and four big nights in Boston, MA at the Orpheum Theatre on November 29/30, December 2/3.

These will be the last of a mere twenty shows this year for ABB;  Gregg Allman (vocals and keyboards), Butch Trucks (drums and tympani), JAIMOE (drums), Warren Haynes (vocals, lead and slide guitar), Derek Trucks (slide and lead guitar), Oteil Burbridge (bass) and Marc Quinones (congas and percussion) as the band members worked on other projects and Gregg recuperated.  In 2011, Mr Allman released Low Country Blues, Warren Haynes' band released Man In Motion and Derek Trucks and his wife,  Susan Tedeschi's group The Tedeschi Trucks Bands released their first album, the wonderful Revelator.  We hope for a more productive 2012 for ABB.

CHRIS CORNELL Back on Tour With "Songbook" Shows

MUSIC NEWS- After his 2011 sold-out spring tour, Grammy-award winning singer/songwriter, Chris Cornell, has unveiled plans for his fall and winter tour, for the second run of his acoustic Songbook tour. He'll make stops across the USA;  including the Jackie Gleason Theatre in Miami, FL, Carnegie Hall in New York City, Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and the Orpheum in Los Angeles.

These intimate shows highlight the songs Cornell has written throughout his career and are made up of entirely acoustic, solo performances. An album of live Songbook tour performances will be released on November 21 (via UME) featuring songs written by Cornell as well as a few covers. Full track listing is below. 

POMPLAMOOSE Lines Up West Coast Shows

MUSIC NEWS - San Francisco-based indie-pop band Pomplamoose happily announced a headlining tour of the West Coast. Pomplamoose's core duo of Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn will be joined by several of their friends and perform as a six-piece band. This tour marks the first time Pomplamoose have ever played headlining shows in Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, and Santa Barbara. The tour will kick off on October 21 at Hollywood's famous Troubadour venue, and the band will continue up the coast before coming back to their hometown to play a show as part of the San Francisco Jazz Festival at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on October 29.  Full tour itinerary is below.

SMITH WESTERNS "End of the Night" - Listen

If, light years from now, people ever want a snapshot of youth and young manhood in 2011, they need look no further than Chicago trio Smith Westerns, for to listen to their music is to experience vicariously the reckless thrills and irrepressible energy of a new generation, distilled to its purest and most vital essence. Hell, even the title of their lustrous sophomore album Dye it Blonde manages to capture its touchstone signifiers in three easy words, almost as much a playfully potent and authoritative slogan as it is a glorious statement of intent.

"Beatles" Photographer Robert Whitaker Dead at 71

MUSIC NEWS - Reknowed photographer Robert Whitaker, best known for this work with The Beatles back in the 1960s, has died. He was 71.  Whitaker took many pictures of the Fab Four, including a cover for the album Yesterday and Today featuring meat and dismembered dolls.  For the USA release, the controversial image was covered up with a considerably less graphic shot.

Whitaker also worked with other major music performers, such as Cream and Mick Jagger and covered the wars in Cambodia and Vietnam.  Whitaker first photographed the Beatles during their visit to Australia in 1964 where he was emplyed bythe Melbourne Jewish News.

More @ BBC.co.uk

The Devil Wears Prada Premieres Video for "Born to Lose"

MUSIC NEWS - The new video for The Devil Wears Prada's new single, "Born To Lose" had its video premiere on MTV's Buzzworthy Blog this week. The track is from the band's just-released album Dead Throne (out via Ferret Records).  Check out the video out below;

ELTON JOHN Film, Rocketman, Set for the Big Screen

MUSIC NEWS- An Elton John biopic is set to be made by Billy Elliot author Lee Hall.

The film is to be entitled Rocketman, with Sir Elton as  executive producer, is expected to use musical sequences that center on his hit songs in order  to tell the story of a child prodigy who became a global star, reports Deadline.   Steve Hamilton Shaw, who will produce the film, said it would be "as unique as Elton's life" and it would "transport people through the many intense experiences... that helped define Elton".   With a script now ready, producers ar on the hunt for a director and star (or perhaps stars) to play Elton, now 64.

The film will be the second collaboration between John and Hall. The singer also wrote the award-winning score for the musical adaptation of Billy Elliot with him.  No word yet on theatrical release dates,

Goodbye to R.E.M. - The Band Calls It a Day

 
MUSIC NEWS-  No surprise, with the word that former "indie rockers" R.E.M., known to many as "America's Best Rock & Roll Band", have announced today that they're ending their run and will "call it a day" after 30+ years of music making.  Members of the band posted the news on their website, thanking fans for the loyalty and said they have astonished even themselves with their musical accomplishments.

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. "We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening," the band wrote.

Guns N' Roses Announce Their First USA Tour in Five Years

MUSIC NEWS - Guns N’ Roses have today announced they’ll hit the road for their their first US tour in five years, starting off on October 28 in Orlando, FL. The group will play more than thirty concerts in the USA  from October to New Year’s Eve on the Monster Energy sponsored tour. Before the stateside run, GNR will tour Latin America, starting with a sold out, headline slot for the closing day of the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 2, in front of 75,000 concert-goers.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD Reveals "Buried Alive" Tour

MUSIC NEWS-  After wrapping up their fall dates on The Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival, Avenged Sevenfold will be back on the road for a headlining tour they've named "Buried Alive".  The run starts up in Ft. Meyers, FL, on November 23 with tickets for all shows going on sale this Friday, September 23 (except for shows in Minneapolis and Yakima, WA, which go on sale Saturday, September 24).  Hollywood Undead, Asking Alexandria, and Black Veil Brides are also on the bill, offering you an impressive value.

The tour takes its name from "Buried Alive," the fourth single from the Huntington Beach, CA, rock band's gold album Nightmare. 

Organizers of Michigan's MI Fest Forced to Downsize

MUSIC NEWS - The organizers of Michigan's MI Fest have decided it best to eliminate one stage and eight acts from their inaugural event this week due to slow ticket sales.  The outdoor music event kicks off with camping on Friday outside Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI.  The promoters informed performers and their management of the changes yesterday.  Current, revised schedule is below.

The event's national headliners; the Raconteurs, Sheryl Crow and Ronnie Dunn are still on the bill, as are key performers from Jack White's Third Man Records label.  Though the promoters had hyped the event as a celebration of Michigan music, the cancellation list has many of the MI area homegrown artists; Alto Reed, Hot Club of Detroit, the Ragbirds, Jill Jack, Howling Diablos, the Juliets, Bear Lake and the Thornbills among others.

THE DOOR PR Firm Looks to Expand Music Efforts

MUSIC NEWS- Ex-Island Def Jam publicist Karen Wiessen has joined New York City based indie PR firm The Door, where she's charged wtth developing the firm's music and entertainment division.  Started up just back in 2007 by experienced record company PR executive Lois Najarian O'Neill and Charlie Dougiello (longtime publicist for Rachael Ray), The Door has music performers Alicia Keys, Il Divo, Natasha Bedingfield, Sean Kingston, and J. Roddy Walston as clients in an interesting mix with food personalities such as Ms Ray and Iron Chef Marc Forgione.

Pink Floyd's DAVID GILMOUR Loses Court Battle Over Shed

MUSIC NEWS - Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has been ordered to pull down his bright yellow beach hut in East Sussex, England, because local government officials have said it's an eyesore.

The rocker uses the storage shed, which is at the end of his driveway at his seafront mansion in Hove, to store his bicycles.  Gilmour and his wife, writer Polly Samson, had appealed against the council's request to have the building destroyed, but officials are now demanding the musician take the hut down or face prosecution.

ARCTIC MONKEYS New "Suck It and See" Video - Watch

MUSIC NEWS - Suck It And See, the new single from Arctic Monkeys’ album of the same name will be released on November 1 with the single being backed with the brand new song ‘Evil Twin’. The band recently unveiled the music video for the single on their website. The Focus Creeps’ directed video for ‘Suck It And See’, starring multi-talented Monkeys' drummer Matt Helders, who last appeared in a cameo role in the ‘Scummy Man’ video. Here are some words from the directors themselves:

‘Inspired by past "lost weekends" in LA, from Lennon to Lemmy, the music video for the "Suck It And See" imagines: what if a rock and roller were lost altogether and never came back? The video is a behind the scenes fragments of Matt Helders' outlaw "lost weekend" out in the Wild West.’