Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Music News & Notes

FatCat Reissues Animal Collective Catalogue On Vinyl

FatCat Records has announced that it will reissue several of Animal Collective’s early albums on vinyl next month.

The new vinyl editions will include the AC albums Spirit They've Gone They've Vanished (2000), Danse Manatee (2001), Feels (2005) and, yes, Sung Tongs (2004). Each will come packaged with the original artwork and on fancied-up 180-gram double vinyl. In addition to the Animal Collective reissues, which will be available on March 9, FatCat will also be releasing DMM versions of No Age's Weirdo Rippers, Max Richter's Songs From Before and Sigur Rós's Agaetis Bryjun

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Mute Math releases new EP

Adventurous melodic-rock crew Mute Math releases their new Spotlight EP today (Feb. 10) digitally, with a limited edition vinyl version to follow on March 24.

The EP -- stocked with B-sides and remixes -- comes in advance of the full-length follow-up to the band's self-titled debut; Mute Math went into the studio last fall with producer Dennis Herring to start pulling together that new album.

Fans can purchase digital/vinyl or digital only versions of the EP at www.mutemath.com/store. Digital/vinyl purchasers will get high-quality MP3 files of the tracks today, with the vinyl to follow on its release date. Orders also come with a link to exclusive video material.

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Green Day reveal new album artwork

Band credit artists Sixten for inspiration


Green Day have revealed the cover art for the new album today (February 10), just a day after they named the record.

The stencilled artwork, pictured, was apparently inspired by artist Sixten, with art direction credited to Chris Bilheimer.

As previously reported, Green Day's new album will be called '21st Century Breakdown', and will be released in May. It's the follow-up to 2004's 'American Idiot'.

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The Decemberists announce new tour dates, cover art


The cover art for The Decemberists' new album, Hazards of Love, has changed here is the new art.

The Decemberists have never been afraid of a little ambition. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that for their upcoming U.S. tour, they've decided to eschew typical rock-band protocol and present their recent release in a slightly different format.

When the Portland-based group hits the road in support of their March 24 release, "Hazards of Love," they'll be presenting it as a 17-song suit. It seems fitting for an album that tells the tale "woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake.

Here are just some of the dates, with more to be announced soon:

May
19 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Hollywood Palladium
20 - Oakland, Calif. @ Fox Theatre
21 - Eugene, Ore. @ McDonald Theater
24 - Missoula, Mont. @ Wilma Theatre
26 - Denver, Colo. @ Fillmore Auditorium
27 - Kansas City, Mo. @ Uptown Theater
29 - Milwaukee, Wisc. @ Riverside Theater
31 - St. Louis, Mo. @The Pageant


June
1 - Columbus, Ohio @ Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
3 - Atlanta, Ga. @ Tabernacle
4 - Raleigh, N.C. @ Memorial Auditorium
5 - Richmond, Va. @ The National
6 - Upper Darby, Penn. @ Tower Theatre
9 - Boston, Mass. @ Bank of America Pavillion
10 - New York, N.Y. @ Radio City Music Hall
11-14 - Manchester, Tenn. @ Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival

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Academy of Country Music Announces Nominees

The finalists for the Country Music Awards were announced today and Brad Paisley leads all finalists for the Academy of Country Music Awards with six nominations. Paisley is nominated for entertainer of the year and male vocalist. He is also a finalist for record, song and video of the year for "Waitin' on a Woman" and nominated for vocal event of the year for "Start a Band" with Keith Urban.

Heidi Newfield is also a strong contender, picking up nominations in five categories, including song of the year and video of the year for the lovely "Johnny & June."

The winners will be announced during the Academy of Country Music Awards show on CBS from Las Vegas on April 5.

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Country Singer Bee Dies

Country singer Molly Bee passed away last Saturday (age 69) from complications related to a stroke.

Bee starred on television's "Hometown Jamboree," "The Pinky Lee Show "and "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show." Her recordings included a 1952 hit version of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and 1965's "Losing You/Miserable Me." Though Bee had limited chart success (her album Swingin' Country peaked at #40 on the Country Albums chart), she was always a big concert draw.

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When Legends Meet

B.B. King said he got a big thrill on Grammy night when he met Paul McCartney. “I met all the Beatles except him until today!” My guess is that Paul McCartney was just as honored to meet B.B. King.

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New Osbourne TV Show F&*^%INg Sucks

In an early look at the new TV show Osbournes: Reloaded has brought a chorus of catcalls from a number of websites. The preview shows that the program will be a mix of pranks (think Ozzy working the window at a fast food restaurant), comedy skits and musical performances with a good amount of swearing (well, probably bleeping) thrown in for good measure. Maybe redoing something that was great at first is just overdoing it a bit, let it go Ozzie

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