Weekly Music News

[FH]

Wow. It was a slow week for music up until today...

VELVET REVOLVER: 'Slither' Full-Length MP3 Available For Download
Source: Blabbermouth

"Slither", the first single from VELVET REVOLVER's much-anticipated debut album, "Contraband", has been made available for download in MP3 format at this link (courtesy of FMQB.com).

"Contraband", due on June 8 through RCA Records, will include twelve of the more than fifty tracks the band co-wrote before and after vocalist Scott Weiland (ex-STONE TEMPLE PILOTS) joined the lineup last spring. The CD was produced by Josh Abraham (LIMP BIZKIT, STAIND) and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, WHITE ZOMBIE, LINKIN PARK, SLAYER, SEPULTURA). Mastering took place on December 19 in New York City.

VELVET REVOLVER finished filming the "Slither" video last weekend with director Kevin Kerslake.

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COURTNEY LOVE Lashes Out At Accusers, COBAIN's Grandfather Believes KURT Was Murdered
Source: Blabbermouth

Courtney Love is lashing out at a book that alleges she may have had a hand in the death of her husband, NIRVANA frontman Kurt Cobain, in 1994. Max Wallace and Ian Halperin, authors of "Love & Death", have "opportunistically used the anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death to promote their ongoing campaign of greed and exploitation of what remains an unbearable tragedy for us all," Love told The New York Daily News.

Meanwhile, Kurt Cobain's grandfather, 80-year-old Leland Cobain, was treating Monday's 10-year-anniversary of Kurt's death as just another day, claiming he was "over it pretty well, now." Then again, maybe that's because Leland doesn't think the NIRVANA singer took his own life ten years ago. "I think he was murdered, yeah," says the elder Cobain during an interview with the Calgary Sun. He's not ready to accuse Kurt's then-wife Courtney Love though. "I have no idea who done it, but I think the cops in Seattle really goofed up," he says. "I can't understand how he could have that much dope in him and still lift a shotgun. And I can't understand how come his jaws weren't all broke up and everything from the concussion when it went off and why (the gun) was still on his chest — it should have jumped clear off his chest."

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Beastie Boys Return With '5 Boroughs'
Source: Billboard

The Beastie Boys blend politics with party time on "To the 5 Boroughs," the New York-based rap trio's first album since 1998's "Hello Nasty." The 15-track set is due this summer via Capitol, to be preceded by album-opening first single "Ch-Check It Out." The group is expected to tour in support of the release and has already confirmed Aug. 7-8 appearances at Japan's Summer Sonic Festival.

"To the 5 Boroughs" is loaded with political commentary as expected, including calls to vote President Bush out of office and critiques of U.S. foreign policy. On "Time To Build," Adam Yauch (MCA) raps, "We've got a president we didn't elect / the Kyoto treaty he decided to neglect / and still the U.S. just wants to flex." On "That It's That All," the group demands, "'cause George W's got nothing on me / we've got to take the power from he."

The set frequently pays homage to the trio's New York surroundings, best heard on "An Open Letter to NYC." In front of a chopped-up sample of the Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer," the group finds solace in the city's post-September 11th resiliency: "Since 911 we're still livin' / and lovin' life we've been given / ain't nothing gonna take that away from us / we're lookin' pretty and gritty 'cause in the city we trust."

But the Beasties wisely don't skimp on their trademark goofball humor, with references to such pop-culture figures as Fred Sanford, the Keebler Elves, Ron Popeil, Herman Munster, Jabba the Hut, Foghorn Leghorn and "Three's Company" landlord Mr. Furley. Each member shines on "Rhyme the Rhyme Well," a trade-off track in the vein of "Pass the Mic." "Hey, could you please pass me the peas / and let me get a tissue if you think you're gonna sneeze," raps Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock).

"To the 5 Boroughs" features largely programmed backing tracks, with only a handful of live instrumentation. Mix Master Mike's scratching highlights "Shazam!" and "Right Right Now Now," while the boomimg bottom ends of "The Brouhaha," "Rhyme the Rhyme Well" and "All Life Styles" evoke shades of the group's classics like "Shake Your Rump" and "Root Down."

"'Licensed to Ill' was where we were at the time -- drinking beer and acting silly," says Mike D. "'Paul's Boutique' was moving to L.A.; that was a whole different fantasy. 'Check Your Head' was getting back to three of us. This album is really New York City; all of us living here." Adds MCA, "Having fun in troubled times."

In other news, Yauch is producing a new studio album by pioneering hardcore act Bad Brains, according to the Beasties' official Web site. "Now I need to get [guitarist Dr. Know] to play some guitar solos on some stuff and then finish mixing it. It's kind of circling above the airport right now."

Here is the track list for "To the 5 Boroughs":

"Ch-Check It Out"
"Right Right Now Now"
"The Hard Way"
"Time To Build"
"Rhyme the Rhyme Well"
"Triple Trouble"
"Hey F*** You"
"Oh Word?"
"That It's That All"
"All Life Styles"
"Shazam!"
"An Open Letter to NYC"
"Crawl Space"
"The Brouhaha"
"We Got The"


-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

[FH]

Tool Hammer Away At New Album
Source: MTV


The members of Tool aren't at all jealous of frontman Maynard James Keenan's commitment to his other band, A Perfect Circle. They enjoy the downtime. And when they get antsy, they can get to work on new ideas without having a hands-on singer getting in the way.

For months, drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor have been jamming together, and they've already got the framework for 10 to 12 new songs.

"They're very much in the infant stage, where we have all these different jams and we start piecing them together," Carey said. "There are no true arrangements yet. We like to develop ideas, but we don't want to solidify anything too much until Maynard gets involved."

Tool will continue to write as a trio until mid-June, when Keenan finishes touring with A Perfect Circle. Then they'll work through the songs with their singer for another two or three months before hitting the studio, Carey said. While it's too early to get an overall read on the new songs, Carey described the material as heavier and more intense than the group's last disc, 2001's Lateralus.

"There seems to be a little more brute force going on in the music, rather than being lighter and more intricate like some of the stuff on the last record," Carey said. "It still has quirky time changes, but so far we've been working on really heavy stuff."

In part, the aggressive vibe of the material has been a reaction to Tool's tours with thunderously intricate bands like Fantômas and Swedish death-prog band Meshuggah.

"[Fantômas singer] Mike Patton and [Fantômas/Slayer drummer] Dave Lombardo — those guys are a good, heavy influence," Carey said. "And we did most of the dates on our last tour with Meshuggah. They're incredibly heavy, so it was a good kick in the teeth playing with them."

Carey said he hopes the new Tool record will be ready for release by the end of the year, but he added that it may not be issued until early 2005 in order to avoid being lost in the Christmas shuffle.

In addition to rehearsing new songs from noon to 4 p.m. every day, Tool-minus-Maynard have also been putting together a DVD of footage from the Lateralus tour, which they plan to release this summer.

"It's going to be something really cool," Carey said. "It won't be just another band-playing-live video."

Tool are also editing footage of a lengthy conversation between themselves and Alex Grey, the psychedelic painter who created the artwork for Lateralus, for future release. "Alex is in the process of releasing a book on his function in the Lateralus tour with his artwork, so we're thinking we might release them as a package together," Carey said.

When he wasn't working with Jones and Chancellor, Carey spent his free evenings in his home studio writing and recording with Pigmy Love Circus, a band he originally played with before joining Tool. Following a reunion gig at the House of Blues in West Hollywood last year, Pigmy wrote the new record The Power of Beef, which Carey drummed on and produced.

"It's a good-time, straight-on power band," Carey said. "Tool is a lot more intricate and more dynamic, but there's nothing like playing full-ahead, balls-out, raw power, too, and I don't get to do that as much in Tool."

The Power of Beef is out June 8.





—Jon Wiederhorn

[FH]

THE DARKNESS To Cover AEROSMITH?
Source: Blabbermouth
THE DARKNESS are set to pay the ultimate tribute to their rock heroes AEROSMITH — by covering their classic hit "Walk This Way", according to World Entertainment News Network.

The Brit Award-winners will reportedly team up with U.K. hip-hop collective GOLDIE LOOKIN' CHAIN to remake the hit track — with a contemporary edge.

In related news, members of AEROSMITH and CHEAP TRICK were reportedly present at THE DARKNESS' April 8 gig in at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, Ga. "About halfway through the show, [THE DARKNESS frontman] Justin Hawkins informed [the crowd] that members of [the two bands], who were in town for their concert Friday night (April 9) at Philips Arena, were in the audience," a gig attendee told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "They were sitting in the balcony on the side of the stage. They seemed to enjoy the show."

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New CD Releases 4/13

Aa Big A Little a (Narnack)

Rabih Abou-Khalil Morton's Foot (Justin Time)

Autopilot Off Make a Sound (Island)

Pete Belasco Deeper (Compendia)

Blackie & the Rodeo Kings BARK (ICE #205) (True North/Rounder)

The Blackouts Living in Blue (Lucid)

Buckethead Population Override (Ion)

Gary Burton Generations (ICE #205) (Concord Jazz)

Sam Bush King of My World (ICE #205) (Sugar Hill)

Henry Butler Homeland (Basin Street)

Case The Blaxl Rose Xperience (Def Soul)

Crossfade Crossfade (Columbia/Earshot)

Dropbox Dropbox (ICE #204) (Realign/UME)

eX-Girl Endangered Species (Alternative Tentacles)

Faction of the Fox Faction of the Fox (Quincy Shanks)

Frog Eyes Ego Scriptor (limited-edition) (Absolutely Kosher)

Frank Gambale Raison D¹etre (Wombat)

Gutbucket Dry Humping the American Dream (Cantaloupe)

Heartbeat Clock The Hill (Ark 21)

Illogic Celestial Clockwork (ICE #205) (Weightless)

Living Things Resight Your Rights (EP; enhanced CD) (DreamWorks/Interscope)

Bonnie McGee Trouble (Reprise)

Mexican Cheerleader Kings and Kings¹ Hoots (Underground Communiqué)

Monday's Hero Love Carries an Axe (Lucid)

Allison Moorer The Duel (ICE #205) (Sugar Hill)

Mr. Airplane Man Shakin' Around (EP) (Sympathy for the Record Industry)

Name Taken Hold On (Geffen)

Willie Nelson Live at Billy Bob's Texas (CD/DVD combo; ICE #205) (Smith Music Group)

Salim Nourallah A Way to Your Heart (Paisley Pop)

The Oxford Collapse Some Wilderness (Kanine)

Radford Sleepwalker (Universal)

Rasputina Frustration Plantation (co-produced by Joseph Bishara) (Instinct)

Joe Satriani Is There Love in Space? (Epic)

Satyricon Volcano (Red Ink/eatURmusic)

Bob Schneider I'm Good Now (Shockorama/Vanguard)

Slow Pain L.A. Blues (CD/DVD combo) (Thump)

Sugarcult Palm Trees and Power Lines (Fearless/Artemis)

Tortoise It¹s All Around You (ICE #205) (Thrill Jockey)

Turbo Tabla Bellydance Overdrive (Ark 21)

Two Gallants The Throes (Alive)

The Vanishing/Sixteens Split (EP) (Gold Standard Laboratories)

The Vestals The Vestals (Warming House)

Dr. Michael White Dancing in the Sky (Basin Street)

Adrienne Young Plow to the End of the Row (ICE #205) (TK)

VA Jazz Lounge 2 (Water Music)

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SCORPIONS: Career-Spanning Box Set Due Next Month

Veteran German hard rockers SCORPIONS will be releasing a three-CD career retrospective, called "Box Of Scorpions", on May 25. The set features 51 tracks from throughout their recording history, which started with 1972's "Lonesome Crow". There aren't any unreleased songs on "Box Of Scorpions", but there are a few tracks that have only been released on best-of collections — "Over The Top" and "Life Goes Around" from 1997's "Deadly Sting: The Mercury Years", and "Cause I Love You" and "Bad For Good" from 2002's "Bad For Good: The Very Best Of The Scorpions" — as well as a cover of THE WHO's "I Can't Explain", which THE SCORPIONS recorded for the anti-drug Make A Difference Foundation.

"Box Of Scorpions" track listing:

Disc One:

01. I'm Going Mad
02. Speedy's Coming
03. Fly To The Rainbow
04. In Trance
05. Pictured Life
06. Virgin Killer
07. Catch Your Train
08. Steamrock Fever
09. We'll Burn The Sky
10. He's A Woman, She's A Man
11. Backstage Queen
12. Top Of The Bill
13. Dark Lady
14. Robot Man
15. Loving You Sunday Morning
16. Holiday

Disc Two:

01. Coast To Coast
02. Lovedrive
03. Make It Real
04. Don't Make No Promises (Your Body Can't Keep)
05. Twentieth Century Man
06. The Zoo
07. Blackout
08. Can't Live Without You
09. No One Like You
10. Dynamite
11. Bad Boys Running Wild
12. Rock You Like A Hurricane
13. Coming Home
14. Big City Nights
15. Still Loving You
16. Another Piece Of Meat
17. Don't Stop At The Top
18. Rhythm Of Love
19. I Can't Explain

Disc Three:

01. Tease Me, Please Me
02. Believe In Love
03. Don't Believe Her
04. Wind Of Change
05. Send Me An Angel
06. Hit Between The Eyes
07. Alien Nation
08. Under The Same Sun
09. Woman
10. Over The Top
11. Life Goes Around
12. You And I
13. Mysterious
14. Hurricane 2000 (With The Berlin Philharmonic)
15. Cause I Love You
16. Bad For Good

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VELVET REVOLVER: Tour Dates Announced
Source: Blabbermouth

VELVET REVOLVER will jump-start the June 8 release of their much-anticipated debut album, "Contraband" (RCA), with their first-ever tour. Launching May 13 in St. Louis, the intimate venue trek will take the band — who've only played one show before (last year in Los Angeles) — across the U.S. into such cities as New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and Detroit, among others.

"Slither", the album's first single, exploded at radio in its first week of release, airing on over 130 stations. The song was #1 Most Added at Modern Rock, Active Rock and Mainstream Rock.

For the "Slither" video, VELVET REVOLVER — lead vocalist Scott Weiland, guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Dave Kushner — joined forces with video director Kevin Kerslake (NIRVANA, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, IGGY POP). The band performed the powerful song in an underground "catacomb party" in front of hundreds of fans packed into the sprawling basement of a downtown Los Angeles warehouse. Other portions of the "Slither" video are being shot in Europe, where "catacomb parties" take place underground, reachable only by following a series of clues and traveling through the maze of tunnels that lay nearly a half-mile underneath the city. Look for the "Slither" video to premiere Tuesday, April 27 at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific as part of MTV2 "Makes The Video".

VELVET REVOLVER tour dates:

May 13 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
May 14 - Kansas City, MO @ Memorial Hall
May 15 - Minneapolis, MN @ Quest
May 19 - Chicago, IL @ The Riviera
May 20 - Detroit, MI @ TBA
May 21 - Toronto, ONT @ Kool Haus
May 26 - New York, NY @ Roseland
May 27 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
May 28 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
May 29 - Boston, MA @ TBA
Jun. 04 - Portland, OR Roseland
Jun. 05 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theater
Jun. 07 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
Jun. 08 - Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
Jun. 09 - Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre

[FH]

KISS And POISON To Embark On 'Rock The Nation' U.S. Tour
Source: Blabbermouth

KISS and POISON will be teaming for the "Rock The Nation" two-month U.S. tour beginning on June 10 in San Antonio, Texas.

Commented POISON lead singer Bret Michaels: "Throughout our entire career, we have been headlining, but I look at the opportunity to go on the road with KISS as a complete honor. POISON's set will be nothing but hits, a balls-to-the-wall, all thriller-no filler, stage show."

Tickets for "Rock The Nation" with KISS and POISON go on sale beginning on April 24.

"Rock The Nation" tour dates featuring KISS and POISON:

Jun. 10 - San Antonio, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amp
Jun. 11 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Center/Nextstage
Jun. 12 - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Wood Mitchell Pavilion
Jun. 15 - Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
Jun. 18 – Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Pavilion
Jun. 19 - Los Angeles, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amp
Jun. 20 – Concord, CA @ Chronicle Pavillion
Jun. 22 – Portland, OR @ Clark County Amp.
Jun. 23 – Seattle, WA @ White River
Jun. 26 – Minneapolis, MN @ FloatRite Amp.
Jun. 27 - Kansas City, KS @ Verizon Wireless Amp
Jun. 28 - St. Louis, MO @ UMB Pavilion
Jun. 30 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
Jul. 02 – Nashville, TN @ Starwood Amp.
Jul. 03 – Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Amp
Jul. 04 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavillion
Jul. 06 – Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
Jul. 07 – Milwaukee, WI @ Marcus Amp.
Jul. 09 – Chicago, IL @ Tweeter Center
Jul. 10 – Columbus, OH @ Germaine Amphitheatre
Jul. 11 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
Jul. 13 – Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Waterfront
Jul. 14 - Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Jul. 16 – Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center
Jul. 17 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Trump Taj Mahal
Jul. 18 – Hershey, PA @ Hershey Park Stadium
Jul. 20 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Ct.
Jul. 21 – Wantagh, NY @ Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach
Jul. 23 – Scranton, PA @ Ford Pavilion at Montage Mtn
Jul. 24 – Washington, DC @ Nissan Pavilion
Jul. 25 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amp
Jul. 27 – Raleigh, NC @ ALLTEL Pavilion
Jul. 28 – Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amp
Jul. 30 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Sound Advice Amp.
Jul. 31 – Tampa, FL @ Tampa Bay Amph
Aug. 03 – Birmingham, AL @ Oak Mountain Amp
Aug. 04 – Atlanta, GA @ Hi Fi Buys Amp
Aug. 04 – Atlanta, GA @ Hi Fi Buys Amp

[FH]

'The O.C.' Debuting New Beastie Boys Single
Source: Launch

Fans of Fox's primetime series The O.C. will be among the first to hear the Beastie Boys' new single, "Ch-Check It Out." The song will be featured prominently on the April 28 episode of the show, in which the boys of the O.C. go to Las Vegas for an impromptu bachelor party and the ladies cook up their own trouble with a bachelorette party back home. "Ch-Check It Out" is the first single off the Beastie Boys' To The 5 Boroughs, their first album in six years. "Ch-Check It Out" will debut on radio on the 28 as well, according to Fox.


Though none of the songs previously featured on The O.C. were as high profile as the new Beastie Boys single, the show has regularly integrated new music into its storylines. The O.C.'s theme song, "California," is by Phantom Planet, and the Southern California band Rooney was prominently featured in an episode.


An album titled Music From The OC is also now available in stores. In addition to tracks by Spoon and The Dandy Warhols, the enhanced CD includes actors' commentaries about their favorite music and a guide to the specific scenes in which the songs were used.

[FH]

KURT COBAIN Biopic In The Works
Source: Blabbermouth

The WB Network is developing an original movie about late NIRVANA frontman Kurt Cobain, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The network has obtained the rights to Charles Cross' 2001 book "Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain". Robert Munic ("They Call Me Sir") has been commissioned to write the script for the untitled film, which could get a primetime berth as early as next season.

"The day Kurt Cobain died was the day the music died for a generation," said Tana Nugent Jamieson, senior VP of the WB's new longform original programming unit. "His story is perfect for our audience."

No casting or director is attached.

The film will trace Cobain's life from his troubled youth near Seattle to his pioneering role in the emergence of the grunge music genre as the lead singer and guitarist of NIRVANA.