It’s Official: The Raconteurs Releasing Album Next Week

Looks like the rumors making their way around the Internet earlier today were true: The Raconteurs have confirmed they will release their second album next Tuesday, March 25th. The record, titled Consolers of the Lonely, will contain fourteen new tracks and be available in three formats: vinyl, CD and digital (with fans also having the option to buy a 320kb version of Consolers from the band’s official site). “We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the EXACT SAME TIME so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding its availability, reception or perception,” the band said in a statement. [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-03-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Mick Jagger Says Stones Will Keep Rocking, Radiohead Still in Talks With Former Label, Zeppelin Ticket Passwords Hit eBay

“I’m sure the Rolling Stones will do more things and more records and more tours. We’ve got no plans to stop any of that really,” Mick Jagger said when answering fan-submitted questions for BBC News. Many assumed the band would stop touring after the recent completion of their two-year Guinness-record-setting Bigger Bang outing. Radiohead’s former label EMI confirms it’s still in talks with the band, who will independently release In Rainbows next week. An EMI rep told Music Week, “Radiohead have always looked to experiment with new ways of working and we continue to discuss with them future plans.” The band’s guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, apologized to fans experiencing difficulties with the online pre-order system for the album: “It’s getting busy in there — busier than they expected.” Boy-band mogul Lou Pearlman’s former assistant reveals he “would absolutely say [Pearlman] was a sexual predator. All the talent knew what Lou’s game was,” in the new issue of Vanity Fair. Pearlman was most recently indicted on five counts of fraud earlier this summer. Eve’s next album has been bumped back again — to next year. Hear I Am will be the MC’s first LP since 2002’s Eve-olution. Led Zeppelin fans locked out of the ticket lottery to November 26th’s reunion show can still get tickets — if they’re willing to pay big bucks. Tickets have already appeared on re-selling sites, and passwords are popping up for sale on eBay.

Published: 2007-10-03 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Morning News Roundup

Hawthorne Heights Prep for Bamboozle Without Casey Calvert, Talk New LP

Hawthorne Heights’ performance at next weekend’s Bamboozle Left festival will be their first show since the untimely passing of guitarist/screamer Casey Calvert last November, and the band still isn’t sure how it will go down. “There is one song that we’re playing especially for Casey. It’s a new song,” says drummer Eron Bucciarelli. “Once we’re out there, we’ll announce it and let people know what it is. It’s going to be on our next album, but the song is still a work in progress and we’re changing it day by day.” The band — Bucciarelli, frontman JT Woodruff, guitarist Micah Carli and bassist Matt Ridenour — have been sorting through material from 2004’s The Silence in Black and White and 2006’s If Only You Were Lonely to see what will work best for next Sunday’s show in Irvine, California. “We have to relearn these songs and figure out how we’re going to play them with just the four of us,” explains Bucciarelli. Calvert, who accidentally overdosed from a mixture of prescribed anti-depressants, anti-anxiety medication and a painkiller for a root canal, was an integral part of Hawthorne Heights. “We played around with the idea of sampling his screaming parts from our records and just playing this through the PA, but we decided that that wasn’t really real and that it would be better to just let the fans scream along to those parts if they want,” Bucciarelli says. Hawthorne Heights have learned several hard lessons in the past year. Prior to Calvert’s death, the band filed a lawsuit against Victory Records for breach of contract and has also had to defend the counterclaims. Last March, a judge ruled in Hawthorne’s Heights’ favor, saying that the label does not hold exclusive rights to the band’s recordings, but the matter is far from over. “We want to be able to release a record however we want. We had sort of been misguided a little bit at the beginning of that whole process. I think if we knew then what we know now, we may not

Published: 2008-03-27 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Rewind: The Week in Rock Daily

Rolling Stone went in the studio to get the exclusive scoop on the next Coldplay album, plus a first listen to Mariah Carey’s E=MC² and http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/02/25/in-the-studio-the-black-keys/" target="blank">the early word on the Black Keys’ Danger Mouse-produced new work. Dave Clark Five singer Mike Smith passed away, as did Band of Gypsys drummer Buddy Miles. Panic at the Disco’s fans demanded to know the group’s favorite Beatles and shower songs. The band answered these questions in more in our Ask a Rock Star video feature. Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood teamed up in New York and broke out Hendrix covers, Blind Faith songs and more. Rock Daily pondered whether Perez Hilton could ever become the next Clive Davis. [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-02-29 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Green Day Cut Secret New Album

Fans waiting for a new Green Day record are about to get one. Sort of: The Bay Area punks have just revealed that the rowdy garage-rock band called Foxboro Hot Tubs — who posted six tunes online in December — is in fact the rock superstars working under a pseudonym. And just as two of the new tracks are gaining traction on rock radio, Green Day have announced that the Foxboro Hot Tubs’ full-length album, Stop Drop and Roll, will be out “any day.” Billie Joe Armstrong and Co. say they consider the FHT album, recorded with perennial Green Day sidemen Jason White and Jason Freese, to be “the next Green Day record.” “We record live to an eight-track reel-to-reel machine,” they say in an e-mail to Rolling Stone. “We write songs as we go, on the fly, fast and spontaneous.” From the design of the Foxboro Hot Tubs’ Website — which includes Sixties clips of girls dancing the Swim and the Jerk — to the style of music, Green Day are riffing on the aesthetic of classic garage bands like the Animals and the Kinks on this project. Specifically, their inspirations were “red wine and the Troggs,” they say. The upbeat FHT tunes are presumably very different from the material the trio have been working on for the follow-up to their ambitious megahit, American Idiot, which sources expect out this year. “I want to dig into who I am and what I’m feeling at this moment — which is middle-aged,” Armstrong told Rolling Stone late last year. “We’ve been doing this for almost twenty years.” The project gives Green Day a chance to blow off steam before forging ahead with their next official album. “This is them having fun,” says a source close to the band. And it’s not the first time they’ve used a pseudonym: In 2003, while working on American Idiot, Green Day released a spiky New Wave LP as the Network. Of course, fans did

Published: 2008-04-17 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

News Ticker: Counting Crows, Fall Out Boy, Elton John, ABBA

Counting Crows will go on a mini-tour of Apple stores to promote next week’s release of Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings. The tour kicks off March 27th at New York’s SoHo location, continues at to Los Angeles on April 3rd and San Francisco on April 6th before ending in Chicago on April 9th. Fall Out Boy will become the first band ever to perform on all seven continents after their March 25th show at a scientific colony in Antarctica. Elton John will give his first solo concert in eight years at Radio City Music Hall on April 9th. The gig, called “Elton and Hillary: One Night Only” will benefit Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. The death of ABBA drummer Ola Brunkert was ruled an accident that occurred when Brunkert fatally cut his neck after smashing his head on a glass door in his dining room. [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-03-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Morning News Roundup

Rolling Stones “Shine a Light” on Universal, Tenure With EMI Likely Over

The Rolling Stones have signed a one-album deal with Universal Music Group for the release of their next album, the live soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s concert film Shine a Light. The Universal deal likely spells the end of the Stones’ sixteen-year partnership with EMI, as the band’s record contract with that label expires next month. If they do sign a long-term deal with another label, the Stones would join Paul McCartney and Radiohead as the latest big-name artist to exit EMI in the wake of their tumultuous takeover by private equity firm Terra Firma. Earlier this week, EMI head Guy Hands announced that the label would allow for the corporating sponsoring of bands, as well as cut 1,500-2,000 jobs in order to free up $400 million. Still-contracted EMI artists like Robbie Williams, the Verve and Coldplay hinted at withholding new albums until EMI proved they were capable of appropriately promoting and distributing those releases. Scorsese filmed Shine A Light during two Stones gigs at New York City’s relatively intimate Beacon Theatre in 2006. Among the special guests who joined the band on stage were Jack White and Christina Aguilera. The film will debut at the Berlin Film Festival next month before hitting American cinemas on April 4th. Related Stories: EMI Chairman Confirms Cutbacks, Says Bands May Be Sponsored Like Football Teams Rolling Stones Doc Set to Drop Trailer for Scorsese’s Rolling Stones Documentary [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-01-17 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Rolling Stones, The Industry

Beck’s “Odelay” Goes Deluxe, Lily Allen and Jamie Lynn Spears Announce Pregnancies, The Band and Burt Bacharach Score Lifetime Achievement Grammys and More

On January 29th, Beck will release a double-disc deluxe version of his 1996 album Odelay that includes sixteen B-sides and compilation tracks that haven’t seen U.S. release before, as well as two never-before-released songs from the album’s original sessions produced by the Dust Brothers: “Inferno” and “Gold Chains.” The second disc also includes remixes by Aphex Twin, Mario Caldato Jr. and U.N.K.L.E., plus “Burro,” a Spanish-language rendition of “Jackass” recorded with a mariachi band. Lily Allen and her boyfriend, Chemical Brothers’ Ed Simons, have confirmed they are expecting their first child. Allen’s rep told Us Weekly, “As the pregnancy is at such an early stage, the couple will be making no further comment, but they are obviously thrilled by the news,” and added that Allen’s follow-up to this year’s Alright, Still, “will be released as planned next year.” ‘Tis the season for pregnancy announcements: Sixteen-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney’s little sis and star of Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101, is reportedly expecting her first child with boyfriend Casey Aldridge. In a statement, Nickelodeon said, “We respect Jamie Lynn’s decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation.” After the news became public, the Christian publisher planning to release a parenting-themed title penned by mom Lynne Spears next year said the book is “delayed indefinitely … delayed, not canceled.” But at least one person doesn’t think the baby news is true: Britney told paparazzi, “My sister’s not pregnant!” while out shopping last night. Metallica are adding more international festival dates to their early summer itinerary, fueling speculation that the follow-up to 2003’s St. Anger will be released around then. The band has scheduled dates in Poland and the Netherlands at th

Published: 2007-12-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Morning News Roundup

Pink Floyd to Challenge Led Zeppelin to “More Significant Reunion” Battle?

The battle of the rock reunions might be on. While Led Zeppelin figures out what their next move is following their triumphant performance at London’s O2 Arena, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason has opened the door to future Floyd shows. Literally. Mason told XFM that 2005’s Live 8 event “showed that the door can be opened” for future Floyd reunions. It took an event as large as Live 8 (and Hell freezing over) for Pink Floyd to reunite for the first time in twenty-one years back in 2005, and it’ll likely take an event of equal or greater magnitude to get the band together a second time. “If there was a suitable reason or things change a bit in the next year or two and everybody suddenly thinks, ‘Well, actually, I really would like to do that’ then I think it’ll happen,” Mason explained, but “the only thing that would generate it would be something the equivalent of Live 8.” As for the band’s aborted reunion at last year’s Syd Barrett tribute, Mason, who moonlights as a rock fantasy-camp counselor, blames bad timing, and not ill will, for that failed get-together. “Roger [Waters] was on at Earls Court the next day and so he’d arranged to go on early [at the tribute gig] and Dave [Gilmour] couldn’t get there ’til late … so everything conspired against us but it wasn’t a case of ‘We’re not going to play together,’” Mason explained. So will a reunited Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin exist in the same universe? When pigs fly, maybe. Related Stories: Pink Floyd Reunites (Almost) Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Smiths: The Vegas Odds on the Next Big Reunion Video: The Simpsons Bring Pink Floyd to Life [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2007-12-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Wilco to Play Their “Complete” Catalog Over Five Nights, Quiet Riot Singer’s Death Ruled Overdose, More

Wilco will “attempt the complete Wilco” during a five-night stint in their Chicago hometown, frontman Jeff Tweedy told Billboard. “We’ll try to clear out the dusty corners of the catalog that we haven’t attended to in a while,” he added. The band will play the Riviera Theatre February 15-16 and 18-20 before heading out on a short spring tour in the Northeast and Southern states. The death of Quiet Riot singer Kevin Dubrow has been ruled an accidental cocaine overdose by Nevada’s Clark County Coroner based on toxicology results that arrived yesterday. Dubrow was found dead in his Las Vegas home last month. The Mars Volta will hit the road in January to promote their fourth album, The Bedlam in Goliath, out January 29th. Marilyn Manson has also announced additional dates on his Eat Me, Drink Me tour for early next year. Dates for both bands after the jump. A new study by RZO accountants Bill Zysblat and Joe Rascoff has concluded that U.S. musicians will benefit from overseas touring thanks to the weakening value of the dollar. The firm, which has calculated tour finances for huge acts from the Rolling Stones to the Police, estimates “a ticket two years ago that was EUR100 got the band $100. Today that same ticket gets the band $147,” Zysblat says. He also predicts that while U.S. bands may start spending more time overseas, this could mean less time on U.S. soil by foreign acts. Just in time for the holiday season, R. Kelly is releasing a deluxe package version of his Trapped in the Closet DVD today which features all twenty-four installments of the exaggerated drama. Among the extra features are running commentary from Kelly, a DVD trivia game and live performances of several chapters. And there’s more: Kelly, who’s currently on tour and awaiting another hearing next week in his child-porn trial, is also launching trappedintheclosetmerchandise.com to sell shirts with the faces of Closet’s chara

Published: 2007-12-12 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Morning News Roundup, On Tour

Zeppelin Watch: Ian Astbury says The Cult Will Open for Led Zep in Cincinnati Next Year

During a gig at a small Cincinnati club last Saturday, Cult singer Ian Astbury let slip that the Cult will be opening for Led Zeppelin during the band’s still-unannounced 2008 reunion tour. “We’ll be back next year,” Astbury assured the Cincy faithful. “Because we’re opening for a band you may have heard of… the name starts with an ‘L’ and has a ‘Z’ in it.” Before you could say “Liz Phair” or “Limp Bizkit,” Astbury was nodding to confirm that the band in question was Led Zeppelin. Neither representatives for Led Zeppelin nor for The Cult had any comment, and thus far, Zeppelin has neither confirmed nor denied a full-blown reunion tour. Jimmy Page hopes for a full jaunt, while Robert Plant remains pessimistic of the reunion lasting any longer than the band’s one-night-only show on December 10th at London’s O2 Arena. Here’s what we think happened: The Cult were probably told that, if the Zep show goes well and they do decide to tour, The Cult would be offered an opening slot on the tour. Astbury likely took this to mean that the Cult had just scored the best opening gig in rockdom, and proudly proclaimed this at the Cinci show — even though Zeppelin themselves have not finalized any tour plans. Whether Astbury’s announcement endangers any prospective tour, or the Cult’s opening slot, remains to be seen. But the chances of a full Zeppelin tour are a lot better than they were last week.

Published: 2007-11-22 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Led Zeppelin Reunion

Jay-Z Webcasting NYC Gig, Tribute Albums for Madonna and Pixies, Kelly Clarkson Teams With Reba McEntire for Tour

Jay-Z’s recent performance at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom is about to get a global audience, thanks to Msn.com, which will webcast the show in its entirety starting next Tuesday, November 20th. We don’t know if “in its entirety” and “unedited” are the same thing, so while you listen for beeps, look for guest appearances by Diddy and Lil Wayne. Until then, check out an excerpt from Jay-Z’s Rolling Stone cover interview, plus exclusive audio from his interview and behind-the-scenes video from his photo shoot. Madonna and Pixies are the focus of two new tribute albums. Dig for Fire features British Sea Power, Mogwai, OK Go and They Might Be Giants trying their hand at the Boston band’s catalog. Through the Wilderness, which also serves as a benefit for Madonna’s own Raising Malawi Organization, has appearances by Lavender Diamond, Giant Drag and Ariel Pink. Rick Ross will release his sophomore album Trilla on December 18th. The LP includes guests Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, Akon, T-Pain and R. Kelly, who features on the first single “Speedin’.” Fall Out Boy is in the “first trimester” stages of their new album, says Patrick Stump from the CosmoGirl! awards. The band also denied various rumors that said the band was going folk (rumors that probably originated right here), that they will collaborate with Cobra Starship’s keytarist and that the group are transitioning into rap-rock. Here’s a fresh rumor: Fall Out Boy went to the CosmoGirl! awards! Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire will hit the road togther early next year as they embark on their 2 Worlds 2 Voices tour. Complete dates are after the jump. January 17: Dayton, OH Nutter Center January 18: Louisville, KY Freedom Hall January 1: Morgantown, WV WV University January 24: Norfolk, VA Norfolk Scope Arena January 25: Winston Salem, NC Lawrence Joel Coliseum January 26: Fayetteville, NC Crown Center

Published: 2007-11-17 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Afternoon News Roundup

“American Idol” Adding Guitar Strumming, Subtracting Mentors

With this season’s American Idol currently taping the “Hollywood stage,” when the throng of contestants who are “going to Hollywood” gets slashed down to twelve guys and twelve girls, AI producer Nigel Lythgoe is opening up about some of the changes the show is undergoing in its seventh season. The biggest shift, one that would have benefitted Idol losers like Blake Lewis, Bo Bice and Chris Daughtry, is that contestants will be now allowed to show off their instrumental talents as part of the Hollywood portion. Lythgoe, who is also hard at work on Idol spawn The Next Great American Band, is unsure whether that aspect will carry over into voting weeks. This season will also feature fewer celebrity mentors, as having the contestants share the spotlight every week last year likely contributed to slightly lower ratings. Lythgoe tells the New York Post, “We got such good mentors [last season] that we forgot about … getting across who these kids were, their backgrounds and families. There are legends in our business that hopefully will come along as mentors on Idol this season — but not every single week.” There goes any hope of a possible Shalamar mentorship. The last potential change is the possible joint tour of Fox darlings American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. “I’d love to see the Dance tour go out with the Idol tour and put the singing and dancing together,” Lythgoe says. There’s a lot of time between then and now however, and millions of votes to tabulate, as American Idol’s seventh season is set to premiere in January. Related Stories: Did the “American Idol” Tour Hurt More Minors Than It Entertained? Rock Reality Show Recap: Crappy Groups Galore Grace the Premiere of “The Next Great American Band” ‘American Idol’-Based Movie in the Works: “The Musical Version of ‘Rocky’”

Published: 2007-11-06 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, American Idol

Hot Issue Hits and Misses: Queens of the Stone Age and Tego Calderon

Rolling Stone’s 2008 Hot Issue spotlights acts like Band of Horses and Vampire Weekend, but more on that later. For the next week, we’ll be taking a look at Hot Issue hits and misses from the past twenty-one years (because nobody’s cultural thermometer is accurate all the time). Hit: Rolling Stone named Queens of the Stone Age the Hot Rock in 2000, and while Nick Oliveri is no longer in the band, the Josh Homme-led crew are still going hard. They’ve put out three albums since Rated R (which came out the year they were hot), with Dave Grohl sitting in for the almost-platinum Songs for the Deaf, Lullabies to Paralyze hitting the Billboard chart at number five and this year’s Era Vulgaris clocking in at a slightly less strong fourteen. Yet the band has continued to headline major festivals and attract scores of press love. Miss: While many were quick to proclaim reggaeton sensation Tego Calderón the Next Big Thing (we did it in 2005), the Puerto Rican MC never quite made it to the bigtime in the States. His long awaited 2006 LP The Underdog/El Subestimado was eclectic and like his previous work, connected on the Latin charts, but he never struck it big on the albums chart: despite the positive reviews it has received thus far, the mainstream press has almost entirely ignored his late-summer release El Abayarde Contraataca.

Published: 2007-10-05 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Bruce Springsteen Playing Warm-Up Dates, Sammy Hagar Speaks on Michael Anthony-Free Van Halen, Keane Channel Dr. Dre

Before their new album Magic comes out on October 2nd, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will play two benefit rehearsal shows at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall next Monday and Tuesday. Tickets for the event are $100, and will support an as-of-yet unannounced beneficiary. Springsteen and the band will embark on a tour, starting in Hartford, the same day Magic is released. Keane are bringing an unusual influence into the recording sessions of their third album. Drummer Richard Hughes explains that the band is listening to a ridiculous amount of Dr. Dre’s 2001, and hope to capture that album’s sparse sound on their next release. Sammy Hagar has finally spoken out about his former band’s semi-reunion. We say “semi-reunion” because Hagar feels it’s not the real thing without ousted bassist Michael Anthony. On a previous tour, when Hagar was still in the band, Eddie Van Halen attempted to exile Anthony, but Hagar insisted he wouldn’t tour without Anthony on bass. Hagar had no explanation for why Eddie wanted Anthony out, but it probably has something to do with Eddie’s desire to “play with his son (Wolfgang, who took over bass duties).” Yung Joc will emulate Snoop Dogg in Old School (or George Clinton in PCU, whichever you prefer) when he performs at the 100th anniversary celebration of Cornell University’s Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. The frat came under fire in 2004 for throwing a racially insensitive “Ghetto Fab” party at which revelers were told to dress like rappers. Friends of family of George Grantham (of POCO) are collecting items to auction off to help pay his medical bills (Grantham suffered a stroke and has no health insurance to defray the cost). Don Henley and Graham Nash have donated so far, and more information is available here.

Published: 2007-09-21 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Afternoon News Roundup

Radiohead Catalog Goes Digital For the First Time, But Not on iTunes

All Radiohead albums are now for sale as unrestricted MP3s at the U.K.’s biggest digital outlet, 7digital.com, marking the first time the band has agreed to sell its entire catalog on a major download site. The band continues to reject iTunes — the world’s largest digital outlet — and other services, refusing to make individual tracks available for sale in addition to full albums, something iTunes requires of most artists. At 7Digital.com, users from the U.S. and anywhere in the world can buy all six Radiohead studio albums and live album I Might Be Wrong for seven pounds — about $14 — each, and one of about twenty-two official single releases, bundled with B-sides, for 1.79 pounds, or about $3.60. Individual tracks are not available. The move was a widely expected next step for Radiohead, who previously made full albums available at 7Digital-powered site warchildmusic.com, with a portion of proceeds going to charity, and temporarily made two albums — OK Computer and The Bends — available on iTunes a couple years ago. Last July, Clark Benson, CEO of industry research frim the Almight Institute of Music Retail told Rolling Stone, “Radiohead, by their next release, will probably come to some terms with iTunes.”

Published: 2007-09-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Digital Music