Steve Earle vouches for forthcoming Joan Baez album
Joan Baez spent some time this past winter in Nashville working on her still untitled new album, due out sometime late this summer or fall. Steve Earle is producing the project, and thinks it is coming along nicely, according to Billboard.com. Actually, correction, "It's a fuckin' great record, man," he told Billboard. “She's one of the great interpreters of songs alive on the planet. We started out with seven songs she brought to the table that she arrived at by hearing them. Some of them she'd already started performing, so we started out with songs she very much wanted to... read more
Jamal Woolard to play Notorious B.I.G. in biopic
Fox Searchlight has found its Biggie. The production company has announced that Jamal Woolard will play Notorious B.I.G. (born Christopher George Latore Wallace), in Notorious, the upcoming biopic about the legendary MC. The company had spent months searching for the right person to fill Biggie's corpulent shoes, even conducting an open casting call, before finally choosing Woolard, a Brooklyn-born rapper known on his recordings as Gravy. Woolard released a number of albums in the '90s and eventually signed with Warner Bros. He made headlines in 2006, when he was shot in the buttocks just before entering the Hot 97 radio... read more
Platinum Dunes to spawn new Rosemary's Baby
Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes is looking to sire Rosemary’s Baby, adding to the production company’s ever-growing brood of gruesomely polished horror movie remakes. Just as Beelzebub damned the womb of Mia Farrow in Roman Polanski’s 1969 original, PD is on the hunt for writers to give life to its own little demon seed of inspiration. Based on PD’s past standards when making new Texas Chainsaw Massacre flicks, the plot could hypothetically amount to “the perfect room to rent on Craiglist” becoming “a portal to Hell in this fast-paced, psycho-thriller starring Kim Kardashian and Aaron Carter as Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse.”... read more
Ryan Adams, DiFranco, Thile, more to play Telluride fest
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals and Arlo Guthrie have been added to the lineup of the 35th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, to take place June 19-22 in Telluride, Colo. In addition to headliners Adams and Guthrie, this year’s festival features an impressive mix of up-and-coming artists and veteran performers. Southern songbird Tift Merritt, former Nickel Creek member Chris Thile and his band the Punch Brothers, and indie veteran Ani DiFranco will take the Telluride stage, as will Oscar darlings Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, The Swell Season. Hansard will also be playing with his band The Frames, in one of... read more
Paste's hour-by-hour SXSW recommendations schedule
South by Southwest can be more than a little overwhelming, so we did the work for you this year. By our powers combined, the Paste staff compiled an hour-by-hour schedule jam-packed with our suggestions for the must-see acts visiting Austin this week. (Yes, smartypants, we realize that some hours have more than one act listed. But frankly, there is just too much great stuff to choose from. Also, you'll notice that sometimes a bigger group in a particular slot is backed up by a lesser-known band as an alternative. If you've ever stood in a SXSW line that wraps around... read more
Tapes 'N Tapes reveal 24-hour album stream, tour dates
Don't want to wait anymore for that new Tapes 'N Tapes record? Does April 8 seem just way too far away? Well, if you act fast, you can listen to a streaming version of Walk It Off until tomorrow! The stream, provided by the band to prepare fans for performances of the material at SXSW, will no longer be active as of 1 p.m. CST tomorrow (March 6), so go listen! (Just enter your email address into the blue box near the bottom of the screen.) Tapes 'N Tapes also tacked on some new shows to their Walk It Off... read more
Philip Seymour Hoffman gets on The Boat that Rocked
What do you get when you put Philip Seymour Hoffman on a boat with lauded rom-com writer Richard Curtis and Ed from Shaun of the Dead? And no, it's not the Mayercraft Carrier... Universal Pictures and Working Title Films just announced that they will be moving forward with production on the historically-grounded comedy The Boat that Rocked. The film is based on the true story of pirate radio stations that broadcasted from boats off the coast of England during the late 1960s when BBC was playing a mere two hours of rock music per day. Radio Rock, as it is... read more
Showtime's Dexter to be made into murderous videogame
The recent news that a video game version of the TV series Dexter is in the works for both Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox is sure to excite fans of the serial killer dramedy. (Including this writer, who, incidentally, recently started watching the first season and just found out the identity of the Ice Truck Killer. If you haven't seen it, it will blow your mind.) One can only assume that the main point of the game will be to murder people without getting caught, since Ecko Entertainment says that they'll "work closely with Showtime to ensure it is faithful... read more
The Onion Movie coming to DVD at last
After years of exploring layers upon layers of pop culture, politics and general oddity, "America's Finest News Source" is no longer confined to your computer screen. The Onion's flavor will soon ooze over onto your television, as the online news-skewering organization is finally releasing onto DVD the movie they made three years ago, /Film reports. The movie's IMDb page, now displaying a 2008 release date, has popped back up again, sporting a cast headed by none other than Steven Seagal as a character called "Cockpuncher." Amazing. The film, judging only from the trailer, rakes together a collection of unconnected... read more
Tom Waits announces summer tour plans
UPDATE: Dates and cities have been announced! Click here. ***** Tom Waits, he of the gravel voice and source material for an upcoming Scarlett Johansson cover album, is preparing for a tour this summer, his camp confirmed this week. But don’t rush out to your local ticket office just yet. Waits and his management team are still piecing the tour schedule together, so no dates or cities have been announced. Organizers could only confirm that the tour would hit both the U.S. and Europe. Waits’ fans certainly have reason to be excited, as his tours have been few and far... read more
Wal-Mart's CD markdowns worry music industry
Lower prices may come at a high cost for the music industry. Wal-Mart—the largest retailer of music with an estimated 22 percent market share—proposed a five-tiered pricing plan to the major record companies that allows the discounter to sell albums at even lower prices, requiring the four major labels to pay more of the costs. According to Billboard, Wal-Mart plans to price the 15-20 best-selling titles at $10 each, hits and current titles at $12, top catalog titles at $9, midline catalog titles at $7 and budget releases at $5. While Wal-Mart maintains that the proposed price drops are a... read more
Coen brothers’ Burn After Reading coming Sept. 12
Following their Academy Award winning No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers are prepping a new feature. Entitled Burn After Reading, the film is set for a Sept. 12 release via Focus Features and Working Title. Burn has a tone that should appeal to a broader audience, hence the nationwide release. The story follows the comedy, dark as it may be, that ensues when the memoirs of an ex-CIA agent are somehow accidentally left at his wife’s gym. They are then discovered by two finagling employees who decide to use it toward their benefit. Robert Graf is executive producing... read more
Old 97’s release single, place Blame
The Old 97’s will release their latest album Blame It On Gravity May 13 on New West Records. Band members Rhett Miller, Murry Hammond, Ken Bethea and Philip Peeples self-recorded their debut album 15 years ago in their hometown of Dallas. Seven new albums, a greatest hits collection and a special two-disc live album later, the band decided to return to Dallas last year to record Blame It On Gravity, and enlisted producer Salim Nourallah to help re-create the sound of their debut. New West describes the Old 97’s new album as a mix of various elements from rock, punk,... read more
I'm From Barcelona tours America, Europe, skips Barcelona
In April, everyone's favorite band with nearly 30 members sporting somewhat unpronounceable names will hit the road. (The names are unpronounceable for ignorant Americans who don't speak Swedish, like this writer. How does ones pronounce an "o" with an umlaut anyway?) Touring in support of its upcoming album, I'm From Barcelona will coast hop during April, coming in like a lion and out like a lamb. The question plaguing us is, "How will this enormously oversized band actually manage to travel across the ocean, through the United States, and back again without losing any members?" We thought on it, and... read more
Bono to headline second annual American Idol charity event
Last year, Idol Gives Back raised about $76 million for charities, both U.S. and international. Now, the Emmy-award winning program is back for a second year. Bono will be endorsing the event, as will John Legend, Annie Lennox and Snoop Dogg. Last year proceeds went toward providing education, clean water and medical care to children in Africa. Some proceeds also contributed to health care and literacy programs for underprivileged kids here in the U.S. The show will be broadcast from both American Idol’s home stage and the Kodak Theatre. Also in attendance will be Peyton and Eli Manning, Miley Cyrus,... read more
Martha Wainwright to release sophomore album
It's a group effort. Another album from a singer/songwriter of the Wainwright family is set to grace ears early this summer. Martha Wainwright will release I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too on June 10 as a follow-up to her highly regarded self-titled debut album. Contributors to the album include Pete Townshend, The Band's Garth Hudson and Steely Dan's Donald Fagen as well as her brother Rufus and other members of the Wainwright family. Tracklisting: 1.Bleeding All Over You 2.You Cheated Me 3.Jesus & Mary 4.Comin' Tonight 5.Tower Song 6.Hearts Club Band 7.So Many Friends 8.In The... read more
Eisley to kick off North American tour April 1
Eisley, Tyler, Texas' break-out pop sensation, is heading out on the road behind its 2007 sophomore LP, Combinations. Recently, the DuPree family (and Co.) performed at Sundance, and now seems pretty psyched about the upcoming road trip. "I am completely excited about going on tour next month to see all of you babers," vocalist/guitarist Sherri DuPree gushes on their website's journal page. "It's gonna be really fun, and we're all going to get new scenester haircuts and stovepipe jeans so we look like real rockstars for all of you." She goes on to add that the band has been... read more
Converse takes on Hunter S. Thompson, Karen O, more
Converse is taking its centennial celebration global with its new "Connectivity" ad campaign. The shoe group is attempting to bridge the gap between past and present, not to mention the cultural icons that have been associated with the brand. The Nike-owned company is getting back to its roots through reissues and reminding consumers in 75 different countries of its counterculture legacy. Artists featured include Joan Jett, M.I.A. and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. "Connectivity is an exceptional global campaign that fully captures our spirit and brand ethos celebrating true originals," chief marketing officer for Converse Geoff Cottrill said in... read more
New documentary reveals biker plot to kill Mick Jagger
A new BBC Radio 4 documentary claims biker group Hells Angels concocted a plot to kill Mick Jagger back in 1969. After the tragic death of an 18-year-old at the infamous Altamont Free Concert, where the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young performed, Jagger decided to axe them as bouncers from future gigs. But the plot thickens. Hells Angels allegedly were so angered that they tried reaching his Long Island, N.Y. home not by ringing the doorbell, but by sea. After Mother Nature—who cites Beggars Banquet as her top Desert Island Disc—threw the men overboard during... read more
Elbow announces new album, U.S. tour
The British indie rockers of Elbow have a new album, The Seldom Seen Kid, coming out April 22. The follow up to 2005’s Leaders of the Free World, the new record heralds several new changes for the group: a major label deal (Fiction/Geffen), its own studio space at Salford’s Blueprint Studios, and even fatherhood for several of the band members. It seems Elbow is all growns up. The band has announced a handful of tour dates, with more expected shortly. Dates: April 26 - New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall 27 - Washington, D.C. @ Sixth & I Historic... read more
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