Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Music News & Notes

KAMELOT Keyboardist's SONS OF SEASONS Announce Live Dates For Germany, Reveal Cover Art For Debut Album Special Edition Featuring EPICA Vocalist


SONS OF SEASONS, founded by KAMELOT keyboardist Oliver Palotai, have revealed the cover art for the limited edition version of their debut album, Gods Of Vermin, which is different from the standard edition. It features EPICA vocalist Simone Simons, who also makes a guest appearance on the album.



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Elvis Items On Auction Block


Gotta Have Rock and Roll (www.gottahaverockandroll.com) started an on-line auction today for over 500 lots of Elvis Presley owned items and other Elvis memorabilia. The auction runs through March 25.

The top items in the auction:

Lot #506: White Wm. Knabe & Co. Grand Piano Used at Graceland - Minimum Bid $500,000
Lot #001: Elvis' Madison Square Garden Jumpsuit - Blue with Gold Lining - $100,000
Lot #309: Hound Dog Christmas Oil Painting by Ralph Wolfe Cowan - $25,000
Lot #310: Praying Elvis Oil Painting by Ralph Wolfe Cowan - $25,000
Lot #311: Pink Cadillac Oil Painting by Ralph Wolfe Cowan - $25,000
Lot #015: Elvis Presley Signed Seventh Degree Black Belt Karate Card with Fingerprints - $10,000
Lot #011: Elvis Presley Owned and Worn Silver & Turquoise Belt - $8,000
Lot #005: Elvis Presley Owned and Worn Black Pants and Shirt with IC Costume Label - $8,000
Lot #012: Elvis Presley Owned and Worn 14kt Gold and Diamond Owl Ring - $5,000
Lot #013: Elvis Presley Owned and Worn Solid 14kt Gold Diamond Pave Bracelet - $5,000
For those with a little less money, there are a number of Presley albums, press books, lobby cards and other ephemera available for under $100.

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Dylan's New LP

Columbia Records has officially announced an April 28 release date for Bob Dylan's 46th album, called "Together Through Life."

The album comes on the heels of the critically acclaimed "Modern Times," "Love and Theft" and "Time Out of Mind" Those three releases have led to a huge career resurgence for the icon, winning multiple Grammys and each selling over a million copies.

The album was recorded late last year and is based on classic styles from the Chess and Sun recordings of the 1950's. In an interview on his sight, Dylan commented.

". . . the old Chess records, the Sun records. . . I think that’s my favorite sound for a record.

"I like the mood of those records - the intensity. The sound is uncluttered. There’s power and suspense. The whole vibration feels like it could be coming from inside your mind. It’s alive. It’s right there. Kind of sticks in your head like a toothache."
In discussing the change in sound from his last album, Modern Times:

"All the Modern Times songs were written and performed in the widest range possible so they had a little bit of everything. These new songs have more of a romantic edge.

"These songs don’t need to cover the same ground. The songs on Modern Times songs brought my repertoire up to date, and the light was directed in a certain way. You have to have somebody in mind as an audience otherwise there’s no point.

"There didn’t seem to be any general consensus among my listeners. Some people preferred my first period songs. Some, the second. Some, the Christian period. Some, the post Colombian. Some, the Pre-Raphaelite. Some people prefer my songs from the nineties. I see that my audience now doesn’t particular care what period the songs are from. They feel style and substance in a more visceral way and let it go at that."

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Bad Co Tour?

That one-off performance by Bad Company must have gone pretty well as the band has announced on its website:

"Just announced: Bad Company to tour in 2009! Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke have announced that Bad Co will perform together again. Dates to be announced soon."

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ELP Return?

Carl Palmer's website is hinting at a possible Emerson, Lake and Palmer reunion tour.

"2009 is shaping up to be one of Palmer's busiest years in his career, that began with The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and spanned four decades plus. In addition to select dates with the Carl Palmer Band, Palmer will return to his drum kit, propelling the powerful sound of the original ASIA. There is also talk of an ELP reunion tour in the fall."

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Kid Rock/Lynryd Skynyrd Tour

Following on the heels of their successful “Rock and Rebels” tour together last year, Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd will teamup once again for another trek this summer. The tour will kick off June 26th in West Palm Beach, Florida. Tickets for the shows go on sale March 20th at Live Nation’s Website. Like last time, Rock will be backed by the 11-piece Twisted Brown Trucker Band.

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Mötley Crüe - Crue Fest 2

Mötley Crüe will be joined by Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Drowning Pool and Charm City Devils on the Crüe Fest 2: The White Trash Circus tour, the band announced at a Fuse TV press conference yesterday (March 16).

The band will celebrate the 20th anniversary of "Dr. Feelgood," its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, by performing the album in its entirety on the tour, which kicks off July 19 in Camden, NJ and runs through Sept. 5 in Darien Lake, NY.

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Thicke Readying New Release

Robin Thicke has made enough progress on his next album to predict a first single this summer with a full-length release in the fall.

"I've got about 15 new (songs)," Thicke told reporters during a Monday conference call to promote his upcoming concert tour with Jennifer Hudson. The big change this time, he said, was working with a variety of different producers rather than helming the set himself.

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CATHEDRAL: 'Caravan Beyond Redemption' Reissued On Double Splatter Vinyl - Mar. 16, 2009


Night Of The Vinyl Dead Records has released CATHEDRAL's "Caravan Beyond Redemption" album on limited-edition double splatter vinyl with a gatefold cover. The LP, which was originally released by Earache in 1998, is limited to 500 copies.







CATHEDRAL's latest album, "The Garden of Unearthly Delights", was released in Europe in October 2005 and in North America in January 2006. Produced by Warren Ryker (DOWN, CROWBAR), the CD was said to be the band's "most varied effort so far." Using every stylistic device — from female vocals up to violins — and embedding it all in that typical CATHEDRAL brand of doom, "The Garden of Unearthly Delights" is a treat for every fan of the band, old and new alike. The follow-up to 2002's "The VIIth Coming" once again features the epic artwork of long-standing CATHEDRAL sleeve artist Dave Patchett.

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