Music News & Notes

Mushroomhead Set To Release New Album On September 28

Explosive Cleveland, OH art-metal collective Mushroomhead has finished work on its new video for the first single "Come On." The high energy clip – taken from the band’s forthcoming release Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children - was directed by "House" of Precinct 13 and features "fight club" type scenes and bloody combat shot with stylish cinematography. House previously directed the band's 2007 video for "1200", which netted the band MTV Headbangers Ball "Video of the Year."

"Conceptually, it's about having the opportunity to vent your rage," says Mushroomhead's Skinny. "The song 'Come On' is a sucker punch and it's a metaphor for everything that's gone wrong. It's a modern day anthem for everyone who is fed up with everything, just like us." A teaser clip for the "Come On"

As one of the leaders of the alterna-metal movement since its inception in 1993, Mushroomhead is one of the more unique and adventurous hard rock bands on the planet today. It’s also one of the most DIY units. The septet has written, produced and recorded its own music, conceived and designed all of its album artwork and photography, stage shows, props and merchandise and also produces, directs, films and edits all of its music videos and DVDs. The band’s extreme performance style has garnered it an enormously devoted cult following and its cornucopian sound -- a forceful yet melodic, underground yet accessible merging of hard rock, heavy metal, hardcore punk, industrial and soundtrack-worthy ambience – has seen it move upwards of 900,000 records worldwide.

Mushroomhead (or MRH) has headlined arenas the world over and shared the stage with metal magnates such as Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Slayer, Deftones, Lamb Of God, Hatebreed, Meshuggah and Down. The band has had multiple Top 50 Billboard debuts with 2006’s Savior Sorrow landing at #50 and 2003’s XIII rocketing to #40 in its first week of release.

The full track listing for Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children is as follows:

01. Come On
02. Inspiration
03. Slaughterhouse Road
04. I’ll Be Here
05. Burn the Bridge
06. Holes in the Void
07. Harvest the Garden
08. The Harm You Do
09. Your Demise
10. The Feel
11. Darker Days
12. Do I Know You?

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Costello Goes Really Retro With 78 Vinyl Release

Elvis Costello's forthcoming album, “National Ransom,” mines a century’s worth of pop music history in both the characters, scenarios and themes in his songs, and in the atmospheric sound that producer T Bone Burnett has given the record.

So it makes perfect sense that Costello, a voracious fan of music of all styles, would want to add a vintage touch of some kind in conjunction with the album’s release come Nov. 2.

Vinyl LP version? Everyone’s doing that nowadays, so Costello is going one step beyond: He’s releasing four songs on a pair of 78 rpm discs.

A whimsical announcement about the 78s has been posted on Costello’s website, sounding much like the fancifully stylized introductions he gives his musical guests on the Sundance Channel “Spectacle” show:

“Lupe-O-Tone -- Purveyors of fine flat phonograph records & cylinders since 1913. Our motto is ‘Ego sum satus infremo.’ Lupe-O-Tone present 78 rpm discs in full Lycanthropic Sound. …‘A Slow Dance With Josephine’ b/w ‘You Hung the Moon’ and ‘Jimmie Standing in the Rain’ b/w ‘A Voice in the Dark,’ by the Lupotonians with vocal refrain by Elvis Costello.”

The 78s will be pressed in limited editions of 25 copies, each signed by Costello. No price is mentioned, but the announcement promised more details to come (http://www.elviscostello.com/) 

Should make for one heck of a collectible and I would be interested in the sound quality as well.

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Nick Rhodes and Mark Ronson's New Track Will Only Be Available for One Day

In a Twitter post, Ronson revealed that his new track with the Duran Duran star will only be available from one British record store on Monday, September 27.

A new track written and recorded by Duran Duran star Nick Rhodes and DJ/producer Mark Ronson is set to become one of the most exclusive ever - it will only be available from one British record store on Monday, September 27.

Rise Records in Bristol, England will only be allowed to sell "Sound of Plastic" during Ronson's pre-gig takeover of the store.  In a tweet to fans on Sunday, September 26, Ronson writes, "tomorrow Kyle, Spank Rock, Alex Greenwald, Zender, MNDR, Rose & myself are taking over Rise Records in Bristol @ 5pm. Then gig @ the Academy (sic)."

"We also made an xclusive 12" (inch vinyl record) with Nick Rhodes & Jamie Klaxons which is only available in Rise Records on that day (sic)."

Another rare collectible record, if you can get your hands on one....

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Giant Sand release new album plus reissues

Howe Gelb is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Giant Sand on October 25th with a brand spanking new album Blurry Blue Mountain and a thirty album strong reissue series on Fire Records.

About the new record Gelb says…

"These recordings were done in the space between the waking world and the sleeping one. there exists a point there with a broad landscape that has seldom been loitered in. as with every previous album, none of this was planned. every record has its own atmosphere. for me they are always a new place to live in and spend some time before moving on. On this album, it happened that every session we were able to record came between work loads that rendered us at that point of sleeping and waking. like the poppy fields in wizard of oz, we went in and out of consciousness at various times during recording. This is not a bad thing. nor does it make the record sound like we’re asleep. it has the momentum of that place between sleep and being awake. and in that narrow slip of existence lies a landscape of reason that most of us hurry past in daily lives. this record is planted firmly there."

All of the albums by Giant Sand, Howe Gelb, The Band of Blacky Ranchette, Arizona Amp and Alternator will be re-mixed, re-mastered and released with added new material. See the rough schedule below for CD with vinyl to follow…

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

GIANT SAND – Valley Of Rain (25th Anniversary Edition)

OCTOBER 2010

GIANT SAND – Blurry Blue Mountain & Valley Of Rain (25th Anniversary Edition)
GIANT SAND – Blurry Blue Mountain
GIANT SAND – Ballad Of A Thin Man (25th Anniversary Edition)
GIANT SAND – Storm (25th Anniversary Edition)

And many more to come....

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Re-release my first album "My Little World" on Vinyl - Kickstarter Project by Jeff Matey

I found this obscure video (7 views) on You Tube and thought some of you may be interested. It is not the 'normal' way to make a record, but with new music being released by anyone who has a MySpace Page, who says this is wrong? I actually like the music and wish the man success. He's actually quite good!