Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Music News & Notes

Slash to release new solo album

Slash of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver fame, has announced the European release of his debut solo album. The album, entitled 'Slash', will be put out by Roadrunner Records in the spring of 2010.

In keeping with the trend of innovative album releases, 'Slash' will take the form of a 'deluxe fan pack'. The album will be bundled together with a collectible edition of Classic Rock magazine dedicated to Slash's career.

Slash will release a teaser CD of two tracks in Japan on November 11, 2009. The CD will contain the single, 'Sahara', which features singer Koshi Inaba of the Japanese hard rock duo B'Z. The second track will be a version of the GN'R classic, 'Paradise City', which features Cypress Hill and Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. Should be interesting.

According to Slash, "the record is in its mixing stage and the mixes to this point sound great. We have recorded 18 songs, with one more I want to track. The record is still slated for a February/March release".

As you might imagine, the personnel Slash used is and all-star cast. Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, GN'R, etc.) handles drum duties, while professional bass-ace Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction, The Panic Channel, etc., etc.) holds down the low end. Guest singers include: Ozzy Osbourne, M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold), and Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave). Other notable contributors include: former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler, Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea, and Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters main man Dave Grohl. The producer of the CD is Eric Valentine (Queens Of The Stone Age, Smash Mouth).

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Jack White´s Third Man Records to Release Carl Sagan Remix "A Glorious Dawn" on Vinyl

Third Man Records have announced the upcoming 7-inch vinyl release of “A Glorious Dawn,” an Auto-Tuned remix of Carl Sagan’s dialogue from his “Cosmos” television series; the remix, which features Stephen Hawking, first gained notoriety after composer John Boswell uploaded it to YouTube earlier this fall.

“The release is timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Sagan’s birth,” Third Man’s news bulletin says. “Also happening that day is a reception in United States’ Congress with speeches by senators, NASA officials and assorted scientists, all hosted by the Planetary Society, which was co-founded by Sagan.”

Ben Blackwell, White, and the rest of Third Man’s musical A-Team aren’t finished yet: A limited edition “Cosmos Colored Vinyl” version will be sold at their Nashville headquarters and randomly included with mail orders of the record. As the “A Glorious Dawn” 7-inch will not have a B-side, an etching on the flipside will be a replica of the Voyager Golden Record, which was launched into space in 1977.

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Red Collar Announce Limited Edition Vinyl Release

(PR) Red Collar will release a limited edition vinyl version of their acclaimed debut album Pilgrim on December 1, 2009 via Loose Charm Records. The 500-copy run will be hand-numbered red vinyl encased by screen-printed sleeves, and the first 100 copies will also be printed with metallic silver ink.

The original album sequencing has been reworked to present more of a Side A/Side B feel and while - due to space - the record will contain only nine of the 11 album tracks, every copy will come with a download card for all 11 tracks in addition to one bonus track, a cover of Jawbreaker's "Jinx Removing."

A pre-order is available now on Red Collar's website and via Vinyl Collective , and will also be at the band's show at the Troika Music Festival in Durham, NC, on November 7th at the Trotter Building (11:30pm set time). Full Pilgrim vinyl track listing is below.

Side A
1. The Commuter
2. Radio On
3. Tools
4. The Astronaut
Side B
1. Pilgrim
2. Rust Belt Heart
3. Used Guitars
4. Tonight
5. Catch A Ride

Additionally, Red Collar has inked a physical distribution deal with Suburban Home Records. Now Pilgrim - which has previously been available only digitally, by mail order through the band's website, and at their shows - will be sold in stores nationwide. "We here at Suburban Home are excited to be distributing Red Collar's album, Pilgrim. The band works hard and their live show is jaw-dropping," said Virgil Dickerson, owner of Suburban Home. "It has always been our idea to help artists who are already doing great things on their own to get records into stores and homes all over the world. We hope to see the band do even bigger and better things, and hope to be there to help them accomplish those milestones."

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Stopping Sublime Abuse

A Los Angeles judge has shut down an effort by former members of the ska-punk band Sublime to perform under the name.

The preliminary injunction was issued Tuesday in a trademark lawsuit brought by the estate of frontman Bradley Nowell, who died of a drug overdose in 1996.

Surviving band members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh have continued to perform. For years they played as the Long Beach Dub Allstars, but recently they revived the Sublime moniker when they recruited newcomer Rome Ramirez as lead vocalist.

"Prior to his untimely passing, both Bud and Eric acknowledged that Brad Nowell was the sole owner of the name Sublime," the Nowell family posted on the band's MySpace page. "It was Brad's expressed intention that no one use the name Sublime in any group that did not include him, and Brad even registered the trademark 'Sublime' under his own name."

Now Judge Howard Matz has agreed with the family, issuing the injunction citing the estate's likelihood of prevailing on its trademark claim. Matz asked the estate's attorneys to draw up a written injunction for him to sign.

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Rush's Peart & The Music World

Neil Peart has taken to his website to discuss to state of Rush. According to the acclaimed drummer, the band will convene in Los Angeles very soon to discuss their next recording, the follow-up to 2007's Snakes & Arrows. "These are parlous times in the music business, so our time-honored pattern of touring, recording and touring is no longer the obvious way to do things.""

"The music world - or at least the business of it - is very different now, even since 2006, when we began work on Snakes & Arrows," he continues. "The importance of 'the album' is not what it was, and there is currently a reversion to a musical climate rather like the 1950s, when only 'the song' matters," he wrote. "Radio, downloads and 'shuffle' settings are inimical to collected works. Because of that reality, record company advances that used to pay for album projects are a thing of the past, so if that was what we wanted to do, we'd be on our own...

"To this point, the three of us haven't even discussed what we might discuss, so to speak - so our ideas and shared enthusiasm for the entity of Rush will be fresh, spontaneous and quite likely exciting. For myself, I'm open to anything we can all agree on (I've pointed out before that in a three-piece band, we need consensus, not democracy - it's no good having one outvoted and unhappy member)."

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Iron Maiden Takes Band of the Year, Chickenfoot Gets Best New Band at Classic Rock Awards

Britain's Classic Rock magazine held their annual awards last Sunday night at the Park Lane Hotel in London. The audience included award winners Iggy Pop, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi, Ginger Baker and Iron Maiden.

Chickenfoot, which is made up of veteran artists Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani and Michael Anthony (Van Halen) ironically took home the Best New Band prize. Album of the year went to AC/DC's Black Ice while the Band of the Year was taken by Iron Maiden.

Below are the nominees from the main six categories with the winner followed by the winners in the other categories.

Best New Band
•Crippled Black Phoenix
•Steadlur
•New Device
•The Parlor Mob
•Chickenfoot ***********
•Diagonal

Album of the Year

•Black Ice - AC/DC *********
•Death Magnetic - Metallica
•Folklore and Superstitions - Black Stone Cherry
•The Ballad of John Henry - Joe Bonamassa
•Everyday Demons - Answers
•Chinese Democracy - Guns N' Roses
•Consolers of the Lonely - Raconteurs
•And You Were a Crow - Parlor Mob
•The Devil You Know - Heaven and Hell
•Black Clouds and Silver Linings - Dream Theater

Band of the Year

•Kings of Leon
•AC/DC
•Faith No More
•Iron Maiden*************
•Metallica

Reissue of the Year

•Eliminator - ZZ Top
•Pyromania - Def Leppard
•No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith - Motorhead
•The Who Sell Out - Who
•Ten - Pearl Jam
•Reissues - Black Sabbath**********
•Picture Book - Kinks
•Stormbringer - Deep Purple
•Anthology - Move

DVD/Film of the Year

•Kissology, The Ultimate Kiss Collection - Kiss
•Shine a Light - Rolling Stones
•Archives - Neil Young
•Flight 666 - Iron Maiden
•Woodstock
•Anvil***********

Event of the Year

•Download Festival***********
•The Resurrection of Anvil
•The Return of Spinal Tap
•Iron Maiden Get a Brit Award
•AC/DC Take Over the World

Other winners:

•Outstanding Contribution - Ronnie Wood
•Tommy Vance Inspiration Award - John Bonham
•Innovator - Ginger Baker
•VIP Award - Don McGhee
•Metal Guru - Biff Byford
•Spirit of Prog - Dream Theater
•Marshall 11 Award - Billy Gibbons
•Childline Rocks Award - Steve Harley
•Classic Songwriter - Paul Rodgers
•Classic Album - Rocks - Aerosmith
•Breakthrough - Joe Bonamassa
•Comeback of the Year - Mott the Hoople
•Living Legend - Iggy Pop

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Brown Album Cover Horrible


Chris Brown is slowly making his musical comeback following his assault on Rihanna and subsequent guilty plea, and he's made a big step by unveiling the cover art to his upcoming album, 'Graffiti.' Generally, I let album covers speak for themselves, but this one is just so awesomely bad I am almost ashamed to post it. Come on, who is he dealing with here and who is he trying to impress?










Ditto this cover by American Idol idiot Adam Lambert, I mean come on, we know you like being a girl, but do we have to see it?

Now, the next post shows you what a little imagination can do with regard to a wonderful and interesting album cover:





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DISARMONIA MUNDI: New Album Details Revealed


Italian melodic death metallers DISARMONIA MUNDI will release their new album, "The Isolation Game", on December 9 via Coroner Records. The CD was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered at The Metal House Studio by Ettore Rigotti and contains 13 brand new tracks of "wall-shaking extreme metal," according to a press release. The cover artwork was created by the French artist Trëz and can be seen below.

"The Isolation Game" features guest appearances by Björn "Speed" Strid (SOILWORK) on vocals and Olof Mörck (NIGHTRAGE) on lead guitar.

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