Vagrant Records will release EELS’ eighth studio album End Times on January 19. EELS is the ever-changing project of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Oliver Everett (aka E). End Times follows on the heels of EELS’ critically acclaimed 2009 release Hombre Lobo, hailed by Vanity Fair as “anti-anthems that get your dopamine pumping instead of your fist” and praised by Rolling Stone for its “muddy roadhouse rockers.” Largely self-recorded on an old four track tape machine in the basement of Everettt’s Los Angeles home, the “end times” he writes about isn’t “Mayan calendar conspiracy theory bullshit,” says Everett, but, “the state of the desperate times we live in. The bottom line-ness of it all.”
While Hombre Lobo was written from the point of view of a fictional character (namely, the Dog Faced Boy of EELS’ 2001 album Souljacker), End Times is purely real life as Everett sees it: a “divorce album” with a modern twist. He equates his personal loss with the world he lives in losing its integrity. This isn’t Everett’s first break-up record. His 1993 solo effort, Broken Toy Shop, chronicled the broken heart of a young man in his twenties. End Times focuses on the loss of a middle-aged man growing as an artist. The loss has more weight.
As for the timing of the release, “I felt guilty about the long gap between the last two albums so I’m making up for lost time,” Everett says. The longest gap between EELS albums (four years between the 2005 release Blinking Lights and Other Revelations and the 2009 Hombre Lobo) is being followed by the shortest (six months between Hombre Lobo and End Times).
During the four years prior to Hombre Lobo Everett embarked on a number of projects including his acclaimed book Things the Grandchildren Should Know and the BBC produced multiple-award winning Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives documentary film about Everett and his quantum physicist father, Hugh Everett III, which was broadcast on PBS’ Nova series in the fall of 2008. Everett says he’s now “back to my real job: making music full time.”
Check out the new track “Little Bird” from End Times :
U2 have just released three never before seen interview clips on MySpace Music, AOL’s Spinner, and The Wall Street Journal to coincide with the 25th anniversary of their creative breakthrough release, The Unforgettable Fire.
The largest rock band in the world sat down to discuss their favorite tracks from the album, what they really thought of their biggest single at the time, “Pride (In the Name of Love),” and what it was like working with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois for the first time at Ireland’s Slane Castle for the making of this landmark album.
The recently re-mastered version of The Unforgettable Fire is now available everywhere in limited edition 2CD+DVD box set, 2CD deluxe edition, single CD and LP vinyl.
Watch each video in its entirety to learn something new about the band and make sure to check out www.U2.com for the band’s most recent tour dates.
I’m not sure exactly what this says about Weezer… The band has unfortunately gone from nerd rock heroes in the mid 90’s, to comeback kings in the early 00’s, to mainstream poop-rock weirdos in the current musical landscape. I can’t for the life of me figure out why they’d brand a retarded infomercial product with their band name, but I keep falling back on the answer that lead singer Rivers Cuomo must have had a mental breakdown in the last few years that has rendered him oblivious to right and wrong, up and down how to make meaningful music anymore… Here’s hoping one day they can return to form, in the meantime watch the Weezer Snuggie Commercial and try and make sense of it all…
There aren’t many details yet, but The Magnetic Fields will be releasing a new album on January 26th called Realism. This will be the bands 9th full length album and first since 2008’s Distortion. Check out the tracklist below and the band performing a classic tune from their back catalog.
Realism Tracklist:
1. You Must Be Out of Your Mind
2. Interlude
3. We Are Having a Hootenanny
4. I Don’t Know What to Say
5. The Dolls’ Tea Party
6. Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree
7. Walk a Lonely Road
8. Always Already Gone
9. Seduced and Abandoned
10. Better Things
11. Painted Flower
12. The Dada Polka
13. From a Sinking Boat
Formed in Scotland in 1994, and still considered a Scottish band, Snow Patrol is comprised of both Irish and Scottish members. Best known for their huge 2006 hit, ‘Chasing Cars,’ the band has had over twenty singles across five studio albums. 2009 sees the band coming out with their first compilation album, ‘Up To Here,’ which showcases their huge catalog of songs. In this video, http://www.WatchMojo.com chats with Nathan from the band to find out what it’s like to tour with bands as huge as U2 and Coldplay, and to find out if Snow Patrol themselves have any romantic ‘Chasing Cars’ moments.
For more information, check out www.SnowPatrol.com
In response to the leak of Them Crooked Vultures’ album, the band has made the unprecedented decision to stream the record in its entirety beginning with first track “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I” at YouTube. Check out the embed below.
Them Crooked Vultures’ self-titled debut album is due out November 17 in the United States and Canada on DGC/Interscope Records and can be pre-ordered here, http://themcrookedvultures.com/preorder. Its release has been preceded by first single “New Fang” currently streaming on MySpace and “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” now available as a free iTunes download.
Them Crooked Vultures recently announced its first ever shows in California and the Pacific Northwest: November 17 at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, November 19 at the Fox Theater in Oakland, November 21 at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, and November 22 at the Roseland Theater in Portland.The dates expand an itinerary that already includes a December tour of the UK and Europe and January dates in Australia and New Zealand.
For further information, updates, dates, etc., check back at www.themcrookedvultures.com.
Originally formed in 1985 under the name Majesty, Dream Theater is a band known for the skill of its instrumentalists. What is unique about the band is that they use a rotational set list for their shows, meaning every show is different. It also means the band needs to know a huge catalog of music for every concert they perform. In this video, http://www.WatchMojo.com speaks with guitarist and founding member of the band, John Petrucci about the band’s most recent album, Black Clouds & Silver Linings, and we find out more about how Dream Theater’s song writing has evolved in their 25 years together.
For more information, click http://www.dreamtheater.net/
On the heels of the release of their new album, Crash Love, perennial rockers AFI have announced a new string of tour dates, taking them throughout the West in January. Fans who have checked out the band’s East Coast dates have been treated night after night with a mix of old and new songs spanning AFI’s massive eight album catalog. Included as a staple each night is Crash Love and live-set opener “Torch Song,” which AFI recently released an exclusive demo of via Google’s La La music platform.
Also new from AFI will be a release of a 5 song pack on Rock Band which will be available 11/17. The downloadable addition to the game will include “Love Like Winter,” “The Leaving Song Pt. II,” and Crash Love favorites “Beautiful Thieves,” “End Transmission” and “Medicate.”
Tour Dates:
November 03 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
November 04 St Louis, MO The Pageant
November 06 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
November 07 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
November 09 Detroit, MI The Fillmore
November 10 Toronto, ONT, Canada Sound Academy
November 12 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
November 13 New York City, NY Roseland Ballroom
November 15 North Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
November 16 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
November 18 West Palm Beach, FL Pompano Beach Amphitheatre
November 19 Lake Bueuna Vista, FL House of Blues
November 21 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theater
November 22 Austin, TX Stubbs
December 4 Dallas, TX Nokia Theatre
December 6 Denver, CO Magness Arena
December 8 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
December 11 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
December 13 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena
December 15 Winnepeg, MB Canada Winnipeg Convention Center
December 16 Saskatoon, SK, Canada Prairieland Park
December 18 Edmonton, AB, Canada Shaw Conference Center
December 19 Calgary, AB Canada Big Four Building
December 21 Victoria, BC, Canada Save On Foods Centre
January 16 Reno, NV Knitting Factory
January 18 Boise, ID The Big Easy
January 19 Missoula, MT Wilma Theater
January 21 Spokane, WA The Big Easy
January 22 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo
January 24 Vancouver, BC The Commodore
January 25 Portland, OR Roseland
January 27 Fresno, CA Rainbow Ballroom
January 30 Tempe, AZ The Marque
January 31 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
For the latest information and tour dates from AFI visit www.AFireInside.net or www.MySpace.com/AFI.
When dashing Danish duo The Raveonettes released In And Out Of Control to the masses last month, fans lucky enough to purchase the record from select indie retailers were rewarded with an exclusive bonus disc featuring “Planes Do Crash” and “The Chosen One,” two never-before-heard tracks. RecordStoreDay.com powered the promotion, pointing exclusive-hunters to retailers where the bonus disc was available. Of course, it was a “while supplies last” deal, so only a handful are still available (check out the website for details). But just as the stockpile begins to run low, RSD.com is offering up one of the songs — the jittery soda-shop stomp “The Chosen One” — for free. Fans who missed out on the physical goods can snag both exclusives when they buy the full album from ThinkIndie.com.
Download “The Chosen One” Bonus Track From The Raveonettes’ In And Out Of Control
The band is in the midst of a brief respite from the road, where they’ve been supporting In And Out Of Control alongside The Black Angels since mid October. On Thursday, they start pounding pavement again in Vancouver, and are joined for a west coast leg the following night in Seattle by Crocodiles. And, of course, the band is still giving away tickets to fans via Twitter. Remaining itinerary below.
Raveonettes Tour Dates:
11/05 VANCOUVER, BC – VENUE
11/06 SEATTLE, WA - NEUMO’S #
11/07 PORTLAND, OR - DOUG FIR LOUNGE #
11/09 SAN FRANCISCO, CA - BIMBO’S #
11/10 COSTA MESA, CA - DETROIT BAR #
11/12 SOLANA BEACH, CA - BELLY UP #
11/13 LOS ANGELES, CA - HENRY FONDA THEATRE #
11/14 POMONA, CA - GLASSHOUSE #
# w/Crocodiles
http://share.theraveonettes.com
http://www.myspace.com/theraveonettes
http://www.theraveonettes.com
In celebration of All Souls Day, Them Crooked Vultures a/k/a Dave Grohl, Joshua Homme and John Paul Jones are giving it away: As of midnight, “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” is available as a FREE download at iTunes. No obligation to buy anything. Not part of a pre-order. No strings attached. FREE. The band also took in the spirit of Halloween with a treat for fans in the form of two skeletons dancing to the tune of “Gunman,” another track off the forthcoming album.
Additionally, “New Fang,” the first single from Them Crooked Vultures’ self-titled debut album due out November 17 in the United States and Canada on DGC/Interscope Records, was recently premiered and is currently streaming at http://www.myspace.com/crookedvultures. The track is also being offered as an instant download for all fans who pre-order the album on iTunes.
While the band just announced their first shows in California and the Pacific Northwest, dates in Los Angeles and Portland both sold out in a number of hours. A few tickets are still available for November 19 at the Fox Theater in Oakland and November 21 at the Paramount in Seattle. For a full list of tour dates visit www.themcrookedvultures.com.
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