Monday, March 8, 2010

Music News & Notes

STRYPER Begins Recording Covers Album

Christian hard rockers STRYPER entered the studio on March 6 to begin recording an album of covers songs, set to be released later in the year. The CD will include STRYPER's renditions of the following classics:

* JUDAS PRIEST - "Breaking The Law"
* IRON MAIDEN - "The Trooper"
* SCORPIONS - "Blackout"
* OZZY OSBOURNE - "Over The Mountain"
* SWEET - "Set Me Free"
* VAN HALEN - "On Fire"
* DEEP PURPLE - "Highway Star"
* BLACK SABBATH - "Heaven And Hell"
* UFO - "Lights Out"
* KANSAS - "Carry On Wayward Son"

STRYPER guitarist/vocalist Michael Sweet recently explained the band's decision to pay tribute to its influences on the new album:

"We grew up listening to many different styles of music and there is a list of bands that influenced us throughout our musical education. Bands like JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, SCORPIONS, VAN HALEN, UFO, DEEP PURPLE, LED ZEPPELIN, QUEEN, KANSAS and many others, helped to shape our sound and make us who we are today, musically speaking. '

Check out this fan-filmed video footage of STRYPER performing a cover version of the JUDAS PRIEST classic "Breaking The Law" on January 23, 2010 at Tivoli in Utrecht, The Netherlands can be viewed below.



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Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous Takes Own Life

Prolific singer/songwriter Mark Linkous has committed suicide, according to his publicist. He was best known for his acclaimed work with the bandSparklehorse, who released four albums of imaginative ambient psych-folk. Linkous also produced Daniel Johnston’s 2003 album Fear Yourself and collaborated with Danger Mouse on Dark Night of the Soul. His exact age is unknown, but he was in his forties.

“It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today,” reads a statement from his family. “We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts.

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Kinks Working On New Album

It's being reported that the Kinks are in the process of putting together a new album that will include some older, never released tracks along with the possibility of a few new ones.

Drummer Mick Avory told Spinner's UK site, "Things are always bubbling under or over with the Kinks -- I'm never quite sure if we're going to do them or not. We are certainly doing another album. We've got old tracks which need to be baked. You have to go through this process to transfer them to digital, it's a bit of a process and you only get one shot at it. We've certainly got eight tracks we could use there, so we're going to have to do some more to make the numbers up for an album."

Of course, the big problem in trying to get those new tracks recorded is the long running feud between brothers Ray and Dave Davies. "...in our case it's Ray and Dave that have got to work together, once they've slotted together, we can go ahead. All the while they are not wanting to do what the other wants to do, it goes nowhere."

The group's last original recordings were released on the revised 2-CD edition of To The Bone (1996) while their last performance together was in the same year.

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Neil Young's Trunk Show Coming to Select Theaters on March 19

Jonathan Deeme will be releasing the second installment of three Neil Young concert documentaries in eleven cities starting March 19, 2010 for a one-week run. Trunk Show was shot during two Pennsylvania shows during Young's 2007 Chrome Dreams II tour. Partway through the follow-up to the 2006 documentary Heart of Gold, Young launches into “No Hidden Path” and 20 blistering heart-drenching minutes later he ends. The new documentary mixes live and backstage footage and includes new music from the Chrome Dreams II album along with classics like "Cinnamon Girl" and "Cowgirls in the Sand."

Trunk Show is subtitled “scenes from a concert,” specifically from a pair of shows Young performed at the 1927-built Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, as part of his intimate Chrome Dreams II theater tour in 2007. Onstage, he performed a full acoustic set, followed by a full electric one with bandmates Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Ralph Molina, Anthony “Sweetpea” Crawford and wife Pegi Young.

The following theaters will be showing the film beginning March 19:

•Kendall Square Cinema, Cambridge, MA
•Sunshine Cinema, New York, NY
•Ritz Five, Philadelphia, PA
•Music Box Theatre, Chicago, IL
•Lagoon Cinema, Minneapolis, MN
•Chez Artiste Theatre, Denver, CO
•Shattuck Cinemas, Berkeley, CA
•Lumiere Theatre, San Francisco, CA
•Embarcadero Center Cinema, San Francisco, CA
•Nuart Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
•Landmark's Varsity Theatre, Seattle, WA




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Bloc Party Star's Side Project Announce Debut Album

Pin Me Down, the side-project of Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack, have announced plans to release their debut album. The self-titled effort was recorded by Alex Elena and Daniel Lingren in London and New York throughout 2009. The group Pin Me Down, also features vocalist Milena Mepris, will release a new single 'Treasure Hunter' on limited edition 7” and digital download. Both the album and the single will be available from April 19.

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