Music News & Notes

Crystal Bowersox Album Tracklist and CoverArt

American Idol sweetheart Crystal Bowersox has recently released the tracklist and updated cover for her upcoming album, 'Farmer's Daughter,' which is scheduled to released on Dec. 14. The album has eight songs written solely by Crystal, two co-writes, a Buffalo Springfield cover, a Chad Kroeger/Kara DioGuardi masterpiece, and a song written by Crystal and her husband.

The track list:

1. Ridin With The Radio
2. For What It’s Worth
3. Farmer’s Daughter
4. Holy Toledo
5. Lonely
6. Hold On
7. On The Run
8. Kiss Ya
9. Speak Now
10. Mine All Mine
11. Mason
12. Arlene

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The Decemberists release 'The King Is Dead' in January

The Decemberists are releasing 'The King Is Dead' January 18 on Capitol Records. The album's "10 concise, country-based songs" is an intentional shift toward "simplicity," according to the press release, and sees the band working not only with producer Tucker Martine, but also with Gillian Welch and R.E.M.'s Peter Buck. According to Colin Meloy:

"It’s a real challenge to make simple music, and lot of times we had to deliberately hold off and keep more space. This record is an exercise in restraint. [...] Over the last eleven years or so, since I moved to Portland, I feel like I've been mining mostly English traditions for influence. I guess I've kind of come back to a lot of the more American music that got me going in the first place — R.E.M. and Camper Van Beethoven and all these bands that borrowed from more American traditions like Neil Young and the Byrds. Sometimes I kind of miss the epic-ness of the other albums, but it’s nice to get all of the information across in three minutes. It’s like going from reading a novel to reading a bunch of short stories."

The Decemberists will appear on Conan November 18 to perform "Down by the Water," the lead single off the album.

Tracklisting:

01. Don't Carry It All
02. Calamity Song
03. Rise to Me
04. Rox in the Box
05. January Hymn
06. Down by the Water
07. All Arise!
08. June Hymn
09. This is Why We Fight
10. Dear Avery

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Boxer Rebellion Announce Details Of New Album 'The Cold Still'

Boxer Rebellion have just announced details of their new studio album 'The Cold Still', which is scheduled for release on February 7. The follow up to 2009's 'Union' was recorded with legendary producer Ethan Johns, who previously worked with Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams and Ray LaMontagne. The band recently finished their European tour which included a date a London's Energy Sessions Festival'. 'Step Out of the Car' will be the band's first single.

The tracklisting for 'The Cold Still' is:

'No Harm'
'Step Out Of The Car'
'Locked In The Basement'
'Cause For Alarm'
'Caught By The Light'
'Organ Song'
'Memo'
'Both Sides Are Even'
'The Runner'
'Doubt'

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Joey Belladonna to Record With Anthrax for the First Time in Twenty Years

Joey Belladonna is returning to heavy-metal veterans Anthrax. He returned to tour with them over the summer and now will record with the group for the first time in twenty years. Following their thrash revival shows with Slayer and Megadeth, the rockers have been working on their first studio album since 2003’s 'We’ve Come For You All.'

And the next album, which is scheduled for release next year and is tentatively titled 'Worship Music,' will be the first one featuring classic-era singer Joey Belladonna since 1990’s 'Persistence Of Time.'

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Duran Duran Announce Mark Ronson-Produced Album 'All You Need Is Now'

Duran Duran have recently revealed details of their new album, which has been produced by Mark Ronson. The nine-track album, 'All You Need Is Now,' will be released exclusively via the iTunes music store on December 21. An expanded 12-track physical album will be released in February 2011, the group said in a statement.

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Jack White Reveals Plans For White Stripes Reunion

Could this be true? White Stripes frontman Jack White has recently hinted that the band could be on the verge of getting back together. The duo have been on hiatus since 2007 when Meg White suffered anxiety issues during their tour for last album 'Icky Thump.' However, in an interview with Vanity Fair, White suggested that plans were in place for The White Stripes to return.

"We thought we'd do a lot of things that we'd never done: a full tour of Canada, a documentary, coffee-table book, live album, a boxed set," he said.

White was speaking of the release of the band's new 333-piece limited-edition White Stripes Merchandise Collection.

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Them Crooked Vultures Confirm Second Album Plans

Them Crooked Vultures' bassists John Paul Jones said that a second album is in the works. The band, who have just completed a massive tour, will re-group with Foo Fighter's Dave Grohl and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme in the near future. Jones told the BBC 6 Music:

''Some stuff we've worked on, but we're gonna write pretty quickly and just put it down... we may be a year or so. 'It will mainly be excess material from the first album, material we started and never finished because we had to go and play the stuff we already recorded!''