Music News Net

KIMBRA Set for Foster the People Tour

MUSIC NEWS - Warner Bros. Records artist Kimbra has been picked to support Foster the People on the group;s upcoming summer USA concert tour. The shows kick off May 29th with two nights at Rumsey Playfield in New York City's Central Park, and run through July 7th in Las Vegas, NV. The Kooks, Tokyo Police Club and Mayer Hawthorne will also be supporting on selected dates throughout the tour.

This year is likely to be a busy one for the 21 year-old New Zealand singer and songwriter. Prior to heading out with Foster the People, Kimbra will be performing at the SXSW Music Conference in Austin, TX March 13-17, after which she will be opening for Gotye on his nationwide run. That string of shows begins March 22nd in Washington, DC and will continue through April 12th in San Francisco, CA.

JACK WHITE Adds Concert Dates

MUSIC NEWS- Today, Jack White released March concert info as he's on the road to promote his solo debut album, BLUNDERBUSS .  The shows fill in his itinerary which already had him on the bill at the Sasquatch and Hangout festivals. The shows kick off at a Chattanooga, TN gig at Track 2n on March 10 and wrap up with White’s May 26 appearance at Sasquatch!

Tickets for the non-festival dates will go on sale February 17.  White's also booked to appear at Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend in London.

PATTERSON HOOD to Fight Downtown Athens, GA Walmart

MUSIC NEWS - Some of the greatest songs were written to give voice to anxiety, despair and unwanted change. “After it’s Gone”, a new single just released by Patterson Hood and the Downtown 13, was inspired by the threat of a Walmart in the heart of downtown Athens, GA.  The city that nurtured the band’s career. Hood, singer, writer and guitarist for the band Drive-By Truckers assembled The Downtown 13, a musical collective made up of some of Athens, GA's finest musicians to celebrate Athens, GA's beauty and vibrant musical heritage and to protest a developer's proposed building of a massive mixed use development in downtown Athens, anchored by a 94,000 sq. foot Walmart.

The small and eclectic university town of Athens is a hotbed for national musical acts and many of these local luminaries, including R.E.M.’s Mike Mills and Widespread Panic’s John Bell and Todd Nance.  They all came together on the new track to express their opposition to a proposed development by Atlanta-based Selig Enterprises. The back wall of the anchor tenant, Walmart, would be within stone’s throw of Hood’s home and it would tower over the greenway trail along the Oconee River, and is the very embodiment of inappropriate development.

JACK WHITE Reveals Blunderbuss News

MUSIC NEWS - White Stripes frontman Jack White has announced the April 24 elease of his first solo album, Blunderbuss, out on Third Man/ Columbia Records. White also premiered the first tune from the album called “Love Interruption,” (listen below) via his JackWhiteIII.com. 

Blunderbuss will be White’s first solo release since the breakup of The White Stripes, which was revealed nearly one year ago, February 2, 2011 to be exact. Since 2005, White has been busy with misc production work and collaborations; The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and worked with Alicia Keys on the theme song to the 22nd James Bond film, A Quantum of Solace, and contributed vocals to Danger Mouse’s 2011 Rome project.

HEARTLESS BASTARDS on the Road for "ARROW" Release

MUSIC NEWS - Heartless Bastards have let us know that they'll be back on the road, confirming a second leg of their North American tour. The band is touring in support of their new album, Arrow, releasing February 14. 

 

The tour begins at Club Congress in Tucson on March 30 and culminates on April 20 at La Zona Rosa in the band's hometown of Austin, TX.  The tour will stop in major cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Seattle on this twelve date run. 

Andrew Bird Readies "Break It Yourself" Release and Tour

MUSIC NEWS - Andrew Bird’s much-anticipated twelfth album, Break It Yourself, is confirmed for a March 6 release on Mom + Pop Records; (track listing below).  Produced by the Chicago-based film score composer, multi-instrumentalist and lyricist Bird, the album was recorded at his barn in Western IL, near the banks of the Mississippi River.  Break It Yourself follows Bird’s 2009 full length release Noble Beast, which was hailed as his “most instantly inviting album by far” by the Los Angeles Times.

Bird will celebrate the release of Break It Yourself with a North American tour that will kick off in Texas in mid-March (full itinerary below). Concert tickets are now available via major ticket outlets. All concert tickets are bundled with a unique musical package including a redemption code to download Break It Yourself upon release date. Ticket purchasers will also receive a download of Fake Conversations, a live EP culled from Bird’s fall 2011 tour, and a second souvenir live EP from the 2012 tour this coming spring.

BUILT TO SPILL's Winter 2012 Tour Plans

MUSIC NEWS -  Built to Spill have confirmed their first tour dates for the New Year tp support of the current release, THERE IS NO ENEMY (Warner Bros Records).  The Boise, ID rockers' tour begins Feb 23 in San Francisco (full itinerary is listed below).

There Is No Enemy is the band's first album since 2006's You In Reverse. Previous studio albums include 2001's Ancient Melodies of the Future, 1999's Keep It Like A Secret, and their major-label debut, 1997's Perfect From Now On. In 2012 Built to Spill, Doug Martsch - guitars, vocals, Brett Nelson - bass, Scott Plouf - drums, Jim Roth - guitars and Brett Netson - guitars, still remain an influential force in compositionally intelligent, lyrically thoughtful, melodic, guitar-centric rock music.

TENNIS’ "YOUNG AND OLD" Releasing February 2012 and Tour Dates Announced

MUSIC NEWS- The much anticipated second album from Denver, CO -based Tennis is set for release February 14, 2012 on Fat Possum Records. Following their widely praised debut Cape Dory, Young and Old had the band working with The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney in Nashville, TN. 

Guitarist Patrick Riley, vocalist Aliana Moore and drummer James Barone travelled to Music City for the sessions and have now released the first single “Origins”, out now on limited edition on blue 7” vinyl via Forest Family Records. Over the last few months, Tennis has also released a series of covers as free downloads including “Is It True” by Brenda Lee and their take of “Tell Her No” by The Zombies. 

HEARTLESS BASTARDS Ink Partisan Records Deal, Announce "Arrow"

MUSIC NEWS - Partisan Records came to us with news that they have signed Austin's Heartless Bastards. Partisian already has indie luminaries Deer Tick, Dolorean and Middle Brother, among many others, so Heartless Bastards is a great addition to the artist-friendly, Brooklyn-based label.

 

The band's new record, Arrow, is due to be released on February 14, 2012. Arrow was produced by Spoon drummer and co-producer Jim Eno at his Public Hi-Fi home studio in Austin. Said to be filled with confidence and creativity, Arrow sees Heartless Bastards pushing their distinctive sound forward with their most eclectic, energetic collection thus far.  Marked as ever by singer/guitarist/songwriter Erika Wennerstrom's voice; at turns primal and pleading, heartfelt and heroi, it expertly captures the Austin, Texas-based band's multi-dimensional rock in all its strength and spirit.

Update on DECEMBERISTS' Jenny Conlee

MUSIC NEWS- Word from The Decemberists camp is that Jenny Conlee is winning her battle against breast cancer with news that thedisease is in remission.  The keyboard player took a break from the group when she was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.  She's since undergone five months of treatment.

Bandmate Colin Meloy went puplic with the news and shared via Twitter - "For those of you wondering, saw Jenny this week; our girl's officially in remission!"  Reports are that Conlee, 39, will be back on stage in November as a member of John Wesley Harding's backing band, King Charles Trio.

LEMONHEADS Add Fifty Dates to USA Tour

MUSIC NEWS - THE LEMONHEADS have announced an additional fifty USA tour dates for early 2012. The Evan Dando-led three piece will be performing their classic 1992 album, IT’S A SHAME ABOUT RAY, from start to finish. Joining Dando on this tour will be guitarist Josh Lattanzi (The Candles) and drummer Brian Nolan (American Hi-Fi). 

It’s A Shame About Ray was released in 1992 and was The Lemonheads’ second release for Atlantic Records. The album featured the trio of Evan Dando (guitar, vocals), David Ryan (drums) and Juliana Hatfield (bass, backing vocals) as they breezed through twelve songs in just under 30 minutes, including the title track, “My Drug Buddy,” “The Turnpike Down” and the cultural touchstone, “Alison’s Starting To Happen.”

the dB's Set to Release New Tune

MUSIC NEWS - The dB's will release a new song, "Revolution of the Mind," for free download at their web site. The high-energy rock track was recorded by Peter Holsapple, Gene Holder, Will Rigby, and Chris Stamey during sessions for the band's new album, Falling Off the Sky, which is due in spring of 2012, and includes additional "revolutionary" guitar by Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) and background vocals by Django Haskins (The Old Ceremony).

“The MC5 played in our hometown of Winston-Salem, NC, in 1971,” Stamey related, acknowledging the timely track’s sonic and political inspiration, “and none of us were ever the same again.”

ALL TIME LOW On Conan on Eve of "Rise and Fall..." Tour

MUSIC NEWS - ALL TIME LOW are ready to start up their “The Rise and Fall of My Pants” headline tour on October 25 in Huntington, NY (Long Island), performing twenty-two dates in the USA and wrapping November 19 in Poughkeepsie, NY.

"We're really stoked to be touring with some bands that we haven't toured with before and playing some cities that we haven't played in a while. There's nothing we enjoy more than playing live shows and this tour should be a blast" says front man Alex Garskath.  You can get a taste of the bands’ incredible live show as they hit the small screen October 19 when they'll perform their new single “Time Bomb” on Conan! 

SONIC YOUTH Founding Members Split Up

MUSIC NEWS- The co-founders of Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon have announced that, after 27 years of marriage they're splitting up. No word on the future of the noise-rock band said theirs label's parent company today.

Sonic Youth will perform its upcoming South American tour next said Catherine Herrick, a spokesperson for Beggars Group, the owner of the band's Matador label, in a written statement.  The couple, "married in 1984, are announcing they have separated," the statement read. "Plans beyond that (November) tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment."

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB Gives Us "A Differenct Kind of Fix"

MUSIC NEWS- UK indie folk rock outfit, Bombay Bicycle Club have always had youth on their side. Through touring they have built a fiercely loyal, tattooing-lyrics-on-their-arm kind of fanbase. But A Different Kind of Fix, their latest album out now digitally with a physical release in January 2012 on A&M/Octone, is said to be a big step into adulthood for the group with diverse inspirations in the warmth and dynamism of vocalist/guitarist Jack Steadman’s songwriting.  The album draws the strands of their debut album I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose, and the folk-influenced follow-up Flaws into a panoramic picture of what this band is capable of.  In support of the album, Bombay Bicycle Club will be playing select USA dates in February and March 2012, check back with MNN for details.