Billy Corgan (photo: Jim Rinaldi)
|
Smashing Pumpkins have announced an update on their 2008 tour plans. The band will tour the U.S. in August "for fun and will consist of unique sets and songs." Then a 20th anniversary tour will take place in November, with dates confirmed in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, and more cities to come. The recently-announced "Gish tour," celebrating the Pumpkins' debut album, has been pushed back to 2009. Billy Corgan said in a statement, "The August tour is going to be a blast... Expect a very loud and raucous show from us... and we are very, very happy to know we will finally be playing our own shows come November in New York, L.A., and Chicago... The 20th Anniversary shows will be magical... We are already working on lots of surprises."Bruce Springsteen will release a live digital EP on July 15 featuring highlights from the Boss' recent tour in support of last year's Magic. The four-song EP features "Always A Friend" with Alejandro Escovedo live in Houston, "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" with Tom Morello live in Anaheim, a cover of "Turn Turn Turn" featuring The Byrds' Roger McGuinn, and late E Street Band member Danny Federici's final performance on March 20 in Indianapolis. A portion of the proceeds from the EP will go to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund.
Ben Folds' first new studio album in over three years is titled Way To Normal. The record, due out September 16 on Epic, includes a duet with Regina Spektor ("You Don't Know Me") as well as other new tracks "Free Coffee," "Errant Dog," "Hiroshima" and "Bitch Went Nuts." Folds tells Paste magazine that Way To Normal is "a fairly lyric-driven rock record."
Brit band Bloc Party surprised fans with a new track, "Mercury," which debuted on the BBC on Monday afternoon. The song will likely appear on the band's third record, due out in the fall. A deluxe physical single for "Mercury" is available on the band's Web site, blocparty.com, where the song is also currently streaming.
A new song from Franz Ferdinand will debut on the soundtrack to this year's Madden '09 video game, which is out August 12. The tune, "Lucid Dreams," will appear on the band's long-awaited third record, due out early in 2009. A new Gym Class Heroes song from the group's upcoming record The Quilt will also make its first appearance in Madden. According to Billboard, the game will also feature tracks from Busta Rhymes & Linkin Park, Airbourne, Disturbed, Rev Theory, Shinedown, The Offspring, The All-American Rejects and many others.
