Video clips surface from Heath Ledger's Nick Drake video
About a month after actor Heath Ledger’s death, a haunting video tribute he filmed in memory of British folk singer Nick Drake has raised many questions about the actor’s state of mind during his last days. Stereogum reports that Ledger directed, filmed and acted in a video set to Drake’s song “Black-Eyed Dog,” a term used by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe depression. Portions of the video are now available on YouTube, interspersed with an Australian news report: Ledger was a long-time admirer of Drake and his music, and made the film for an exhibition honoring the musician’s... read more
The Duke Spirit heads to SXSW, tours with BRMC
Despite the many misfortunes of its last major U.S. tour (broken limbs, stolen gear, traveling in a van for 287 shows) The Duke Spirit is returning to the road in honor of its forthcoming album, Neptune. Available in April, the band's second full-length comes two years after Cuts Across the Land with the help of Chris Goss (Queens of the Stone Age). The band will be using some West Coast gigs to warm up for three nights at SXSW, after which it will support Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Dates: March 4 Los Angeles, Calif. @ KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic 5... read more
Spring proves to be a Swell Season for live dates
Still basking in their Oscar glow, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova recently announced that they will embark on a U.S. tour with their band, the Swell Season. The tour that launches in April will hit Coachella, Bonnaroo and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Also highly notable is their May 19 stop at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. April 23 - Phoenix, Ariz. @ the Orpheum Theatre 25 - Indio, Calif. @ Coachella 26 - Oakland, Calif. @ Paramount Theatre 27 - Eugene, Ore. @ McDonald Theatre 28 - Portland, Ore. @ Portland Center for the Arts 30 - Seattle, Wash.... read more
Dylan, Bowie, Wilco, MMJ more on Heroes soundtrack
Bob Dylan, David Bowie and a host of others will appear on NBC’s soundtrack to Heroes to be released March 18. Also featured on the compilation will be the New Pornographers, Wilco, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Chemical Brothers and Yerba Buena. Bowie’s song “Heroes” will be featured, natch, as will Dylan’s “Man in the Long Black Coat,” which executive producer Allan Arkush was thrilled about, given the selectivity that Dylan’s representatives usually practice with rights to his songs. Arkush had used Dylan’s work before on “Crossing Jordan.” "We started talking about including music that inspired us--not just music that... read more
Paste & Stereogum present The Dell Lounge @ SXSW 2008
[View a larger version of the above poster here.] If you're traveling to Austin this March for the musical spectacular known as South By Southwest, come on over to the Dell Lounge at the new Volume Night Club (located at 612 E. Sixth St., next door to Emo's) for Paste's fourth annual SXSW showcase, presented this year in conjunction with our blogging-fiend friends at Stereogum. Before we get to the set times for the myriad bands playing at the Dell Lounge, here's a few incidental reasons why the Paste & Stereogum party—which is open to the public as well as... read more
Paul Dano and Zooey Deschanel to star in Gigantic
Paul Dano has signed on to star in and executive produce the upcoming film Gigantic, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The delightfully quirky Zooey Deschanel will co-star with Dano in Gigantic, an offbeat romantic comedy about a young mattress salesman and a woman he meets at the store where he works. Rookie Matt Aselton will direct the film, which he co-wrote with Adam Nagata. Dano first gained widespread attention with a mostly mute performance as brooding teenager Dwayne in the 2006 breakout hit Little Miss Sunshine. He also garnered rave reviews for his role as a manipulative young clergyman opposite... read more
Ray Davies tours, speculates about Kinks reunion
Imagine it's 1970. "Lola" has just become a top 10 hit in the United States, against all odds, since it's a song about a transvestite. The Kinks have just been allowed to re-enter the United States after a four year expulsion, for reasons never made clear to the public. Now, let's fast forward to the early '80s. Ray Davies, lead singer of The Kinks, has begun to date Chrissie Hynde, who will soon have his child and leave him for Jim Kerr of the Simple Minds, all in the span of a year. Whether coincidence or stroke of fate, after... read more
John Mellencamp and Stephen King to unleash musical
In today's "WTF?" celebrity-collaboration news, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently reported that wholesome Chevy fan and impending Rock Hall member John Mellencamp will pair up with bestselling nightmare-inducer Stephen King to stage the musical they've been plotting for going on eight years. The Mississippi-set fratricidal mystery spans decades of life, death and afterlife in an old lakefront property and will be directed by Peter Askin, who helmed the Off-Broadway production of acclaimed glam-rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It's slated to open in April 2009 at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre. (Let's hear it for Paste's hometown getting two big musical debuts... read more
Beatles pirate prosecuted, still no sign of legal digi-releases
In an age when many artists (even ones we never talk about) have begun to release music solely through digital outlets, and almost all release digital versions of their recordings in addition to CDs and vinyl, The Beatles remain the highest profile group to not have any of their work available digitally. A search on iTunes reveals various tribute acts or collaborations in the "artist" column. None of the real stuff—any of their 13 actual LPs, dozens of compilations, plentiful box sets, a live recording or two—can be purchased this way. Even the official Beatles online store, Beatles.FanFire.com, only offers... read more
Rock Hall announces presenters for 2008 ceremony
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently announced the celebrities who will present each of 2008's inductees to the museum: Lou Reed will induct Leonard Cohen; Billy Joel will induct John Mellencamp; Tom Hanks will induct The Dave Clark Five; Justin Timberlake will induct Madonna; Jerry Butler will induct Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff; John Fogerty will induct The Ventures; and Ben Harper will induct Little Walter. Six hundred voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation chose the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees from a list of eligible artists (meaning it has been... read more
Jack White talks about Hank Williams album
It was back in November when we first reported news of a Bob Dylan orchestrated Hank Williams album. The record is said to consist of unheard Hank Williams lyrics that are being put to music by a slue of different artists. The only confirmed parties involved at the time were Jack White and the head honcho himself, Robert Zimmerman. To our delight, the former has finally spoken out about his work on the project. In recent interviews, White has pegged Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams and Alan Jackson as participants in the album. Still, the White Stripes leading man has also... read more
Terminator is back for a fourth round
What a country we live in. The land of the free and the home of the brave. A place where one man can go from body builder, to movie action hero, to governor of his own state. American truly is a land of great opportunity! However, with opportunity comes great responsibility. That is why we regret to inform you that the Governor of California will not be appearing in the next Terminator movie, scheduled for release on May 22, 2009. It's understandable, though. What would the rest of the world think of the state—not to mention, the American people—if Schwarzenegger... read more
Radiohead, Tom Petty, more play Outside Lands festival
Radiohead, Tom Petty and Jack Johnson will be headlining the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, festival organizers confirmed this weekend after much speculation. The inaugural Outside Lands Festival will take place August 22-24. Organizers from Another Planet Entertainment expect the headliners to attract crowds of up to 160,000 people over the festival's three days, according to government documents quoted by The Daily Swarm. Ticket information and the official festival lineup have not been announced at this time. Organizers said that full festival lowdown will be available soon via OutsideLandsFest.com. Related links: Radiohead.com TomPetty.com JackJohnson.com Got... read more
Buddy Miles: 1947-2008
Buddy Miles, drummer and singer famous for his work with Jimi Hendrix in the late '60s, passed away Tuesday night. Miles died of congestive heart failure in his Austin home, according to his website. He was 60. Miles was born on September 5, 1947 in Omaha, Neb., and inherited his passion for music from his father, a bassist, who performed with a group called the Bebops. Miles sat in on drums with his father’s band when he was as young as 11. As a young musician, Miles began his professional career playing with Wilson Pickett, the Delfonics and the Ink... read more
SFA's Gruff Rhys involved in Brazilian zombie rock opera
Gruff Rhys may be a Candylion, but he recently partnered with a pair of Brazilian artists who hunger for something a little more sinister than sugary sweets: BRAINS! OK, maybe Diego Medina and Desirée Marantes don't want to literally consume anyone's grey matter; they're more interested in worming their way into the ears of horror/music fans across the globe with their ambitious Zombieoper collaboration. After discovering that they shared an interest in both at-home recording and the undead, Medina and Marantes brainstormed Zombieoper—a bizarre, lighthearted rock opera about zombies who exhaust the cerebral-cortex supply on Earth and have to... read more
Random House abandons DRM for audiobooks
Random House Audio announced earlier this week that it will no longer require a registered (DRM) encryption of its digitally sold audiobooks. The decision to make all audio books DRM-free came after the major publishing company tested the sale of new audiobooks in watermarked MP3 format through eMusic.com and found that all online pirated versions of the titles originated from cracked DRMs and CD rips. The largest online audiobook store Audible.com, however, sells DRM versions of their audiobooks as a matter of policy. According to BoingBoing.net, Random House's announcement and Amazon.com's recent acquisition of Audible may cause the popular online... read more
Larry Norman: 1947-2008
Larry Norman, who was dubbed the father of Christian rock, passed away on Sunday in his home in Salem, Ore. “Larry was my door into the music business and he was the most Christlike person I ever met," Pixies' singer Frank Black said in a press release after Norman’s passing. Black is a longtime fan of Norman's and the two have appeared on stage together and seemed to maintain a mutual respect. It seems that many have some sort of connection to Larry Norman—Pete Townshend, Bob Dylan, U2, John Mellencamp. Never one to be confined to category, Norman apparently had... read more
Mates of State Re-Arrange with new album
Having a baby doesn’t mean you have to put your career on hold. In fact, if you are Mates of State, kids just add to the fun. The married organ and drum duo has had its hands full raising a newborn and a toddler, as well as completing a new record, Re-Arrange Us. Set for release on May 20, the LP will mark the indie-pop group's fifth studio album. There are no tour dates scheduled in support of the release as of yet, but the California-based band is known for its eager beaver touring schedule, and will no doubt be... read more
Rare Velvet Underground bootlegs sold despite questions
A rare bootleg recording of a 1967 Velvet Underground performance at New York City’s Gymnasium has resurfaced after 40 years, and the owner is selling a limited number of copies online. A seller on eBay listed 100 green vinyl copies of the album for sale last week (the online bidding has since ended.) According to LicoricePizza.com, the album contains a number of gems including a 19-minute version of “Sister Ray” and the previously unreleased “I’m Not A Young Man Anymore.” The album is also said to be the last recording from John Cale’s time in the band. The Gymnasium bootleg... read more
Black Crowes to soon tour on Warpaint
Fans of the Black Crowes have plenty to celebrate aside from the pending release of the band's new album, Warpaint. In addition to an official apology from Maxim for reviewing the album without hearing it (And hey! Nas too! Those Maxim folks sure exemplify journalistic integrity, no?), The Crowes have released the dates for their world tour. The international dates come promptly after a stint of "One Night Only" shows where they will be performing the entire Warpaint album onstage, a first for the band. Their world tour so far only takes them on an extended hop down under and... read more
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