R.E.M. |
R.E.M. has announced a new two-disc set, Live From The Olympia, due out in October. The release collects songs from the band's five-night "working rehearsals" during the making of Accelerate, where new songs were tried out and old chestnuts unearthed at the Olympia in Dublin in the summer of 2007. A four-song digital sampler of Live From The Olympia will be released on July 7. The sampler will feature four songs off Reckoning, to tie in with today's deluxe re-issue of R.E.M.'s sophomore album.
The Perez Hilton vs. Will.I.Am feud continues to be a "He Said/He Said" between the two parties, as Perez has now posted his own video on his website saying that Will is a liar for suggesting that a fan assaulted Perez, rather than the Black Eyed Peas' manager. However, gossip site TMZ posted video footage of the confrontation, in which Perez can clearly be heard calling the Black Eyed Pea a "f**king f*ggot." With a crowd surrounding Perez, Will and Will's manager Polo Molina, the two men argue back and forth for about a minute, but the video is dark, shaky and too unclear to see who hit who. In his video blog, Perez claims that Will's manager clocked him in the eye and hit him "two or three times." Molina was reportedly charged with assault in the incident yesterday.Rob Thomas has announced a fall tour in support of his new solo record, cradlesong, due out next Tuesday, June 30. One Republic and Carolina Liar will open for the matchbox twenty frontman on the trek, which begins in Hollywood, FL on September 23 and wraps with two nights in New York City on November 12 and 13.
Silversun Pickups have announced an August tour supporting their new record, Swoon. The trek starts at the All Points West festival in Jersey City, NJ on August 2 and winds up in San Diego on August 29 at the San Diego Street Scene. Manchester Orchestra and Cage The Elephant will open up.
Snow Patrol will tour North America this fall, starting in St. Paul, MN on September 10. The tour winds up in Los Angeles on October 20. The band will open six dates for U2 along the way in Chicago, Toronto and Boston. Snow Patrol is on tour in support of last year's A Hundred Million Suns.
Electronic DJ Paul Oakenfold has revealed he is producing new material for Madonna for her upcoming greatest hits collection, due out in September. "Cutting edge sounds combined with classic Madonna," says Oakenfold of the new songs. He will open for Madonna's entire U.K. and European Sticky and Sweet tour this summer.
The Flaming Lips have expanded their upcoming tour, in advance of their forthcoming double album Embryonic. New dates run up to September 13 in Monticello, NY. Billboard reports the Lips will offer a digital sampler EP to fans as a taste of the new record, when they buy tickets to their summer shows. In addition to three new songs, they will also receive three B-sides and a download of that night's concert.
Counting Crows are planning a collaborative summer tour, dubbed the "Saturday Night Rebel Rockers Traveling Circus and Medicine Show," with Augustana and Michael Franti & Spearhead on board. The tour begins June 29 and wraps in September. Counting Crows' Adam Duritz tells Billboard, "I wanted to show people a whole night of music, with everybody playing together and separately, too, and a lot of collaboration. It's not the usual open, middle and headline thing. I want to play with other musicians and collaborate and have fun, and I want to give people something really special, 'cause rock 'n' roll should be special."
Last week, Courtney Love told the NME that her long-delayed new album would be a Hole record as opposed to being out under her own name. Love revealed that ex-Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur would be recording some backing vocals and hinted at further contributions. In a new interview with ExploreMusic.com over the weekend, Auf der Maur set the record straight. She confirmed that she will be recording some vocals with Love, but that's it. "I think you can’t take a Hole reunion thing that lightly. It’s gonna take a little more organizing than just ‘I’ll come and sing some backups and then we got Hole.’" She added, "I’m a little confused as to what the plan with that is. All I can tell you is that I like singing ooos, ahs, and la-la-las behind her voice."
Influential indie rockers Sunny Day Real Estate will reunite for the first time in over a decade this fall. The band's original lineup will tour for a month this fall, starting September 17 in Vancouver and wrapping up in Seattle on October 16. Their first two albums for Sub Pop Records will also be re-issued on September 15.
