James Taylor's One Man Band

The DVD, produced and directed by Don Mischer ("Kennedy Center Honors," and "Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show with Prince") and executive produced by Sydney Pollack ("Out of Africa," "Sketches of Frank Gehry"), helps tell the stories behind some of Taylor's most beloved hits through exclusive interviews, rare multi-media footage, home movies and photographs from Taylor's personal archives. The result is an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind portrait of an iconic American artist, his renowned repertoire and the personal stories behind the songs.- more on this story

Kid Rock Under New Management

E! Reports: The aptly named Ed "Punch" Andrews resigned after seven years of repping Rock, and, per Billboard, the musician has hired Vector Management, which also reps Bon Jovi and Lynyrd Skynyrd. - more on this story

Universal Want To Drive Single Sales

The Vivendi-owned company plans to charge about £4.99 for USB singles starting on October 29 with releases from piano rock band Keane and Nicole, the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. That compares with £2.99 for a typical CD single. 

However, the hope is that fans will be willing to pay extra because the extra storage capacity on a USB allows the addition of videos and other multimedia.- more on this story

Victory Tour

The Victory Tour, which had its inaugural run in 2002, has featured such acts in the past as Taking Back Sunday, Silverstein, Hawthorne Heights and more. With 37 dates scheduled nationally this year, rabid Victory fans everywhere will flock to venues across the country. The tour will kick-off on October 25th in Baltimore, wrapping up December 8th in Asbury Park, N.J.- more on this story

Twisted Country Sister

The six-episode series takes seven established performers from every realm of the entertainment and music industries and immerses them in all things country for a chance to break out as the next big country superstar. Production is currently underway in Nashville. 

The show uproots these seven musical celebrities and moves them into a Nashville mansion together to embark on a two-week adventure, hosted by singer/songwriter John Rich of Big & Rich fame.
- more on this story

The Sound of Animals Fighting Epitaph

TSOAF's exceptional style of music features a complex arrangement of unusual song structures and tempos drawing from an array of influences including indie, rock, electronic, hardcore and even world music for one of the most unique collaborative projects around today.

Leaving only a trail of riddled clues, TSOAF's shroud of secrecy has fascinated fans for over three years. Originally assembled in 2004, TSOAF is a group of musicians and artists united with the common idea to create innovative music on the co-op level. The outfit released their debut EP Tiger and the Duke in 2005 and a follow-up LP, Lover, the Lord Has Left Us..., in 2006. Having only played a handful of rare live shows since, TSOAF will once again convene to begin documenting the next chapter of their mystifying career.- more on this story

Home for Misfits

Weaned on Johnny Cash, Bobby Gentry, Bob Dylan, and Leadbelly, Murphy sets aside his alt-country leanings to cross back to his Lovin' Spoonful / Simon & Garfunkel / Mamas and the Papas roots. With a voice as distinct as Tom Petty, John Prine, David Byrne or Dylan, Murphy has coined an album with a classic rock mood - and a current pop/Latin edge - a highly melodic, rhythmic roots rock album with a nod to his '60s and '70s pop heroes. 

Murphy's new album Home for Misfits will be released in the fall of 2007. For this album Murphy retreated to the studio, spending almost two years writing new material. Culling from the wealth of talent that is the LA music scene, Murphy and co-producer Rich McCulley enlisted support in the studio from Murphy's long-time band members Brian Young (Fountains of Wayne, Ivy), John Skibic and Sully Sullivan (Ivy, Twilight Singers), and wife Jacqueline Grad, along with McCulley, Amy Farris, Kip Boardman, John McDuffie and Duane Jarvis. What have emerged are Kaz's best work yet, a sonically rich and emotionally compelling collection of songs that share the stories of ordinary people gone awry; Home for Misfits authentically examines through carefully taken long-shots and close-ups, the misfit that lingers in all of us. - more info

Yakuza Pitchdorked

by Justin Broadrick (Napalm Death, Godflesh, Jesu), the remix is described by Pitchdork as "Powerful, certainly, but what makes this one of Broadrick's best moments in years comes a full minute after the point where Yakuza aimed for coda. Broadrick charges in renewed, unleashing a mechanized beat that's pure, concussive force. His samples volley, but he shapes the din into a diatonic melody split in loose counterpoint by a groove more militant than you may imagine. Despite Broadrick's recent trajectory, this is unequivocally brutal." 

Currently playing a handful of east coast shows, YAKUZA will team up with Broadrick and Jesu later this month for a few shows throughout the Midwest before returning to Chicago. YAKUZA is continuing to support the band's latest effort, 'Transmutations,' which saw an August release through Prosthetic Records

Find the remix at- Pitchdork

Black Tide Rising

BLACK TIDE burst onto the metal scene with a month-long stint opening up the main stage of Ozzfest. It's no coincidence that at the young ages of 14 (Gabe-vocals, guitar) 18, (Zakk- bass and Alex-lead guitar) and 19 (Steven- drums), Black Tide already has an Ozzfest notch on their belt and are getting ready for their major label debut. The February release, Light From Above, is a heavy hitting, heart pounding album. It will bring back memories of explosive '80's metal to some and introduce a harder rocking sound to those who are too young to remember.

Confident stage presence and jaw dropping skill is what attracted Ozzfest to Black Tide, yet their ages caused them to be kicked off the Jagermeister-sponsored stage. Festival organizers and fans alike were outraged and as a result, Black Tide found themselves on the main stage opening up for Ozzy Osbourne and Lamb of God. Black Tide was embraced by the bands and fans all summer. They felt the same, especially Zakk who said, "Opening for Ozzy was like playing for God!" - more on this story

ASCAP Honor Mellencamp

John Mellencamp has a long and distinguished record as a social activist and humanitarian. Together with Willie Nelson and Neil Young, he organized the first Farm Aid concert in 1985 to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. Farm Aid stages America's longest running annual concert event that unites farmers, artists, consumers, and concerned citizens to build a powerful movement for good food from family farms. Farm Aid has raised more than $30 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture. - more on this story

The Almost Tour

11/8 San Francisco, CA The Warfield

11/9 Anaheim, CA The Grove

11/10 Ventura, CA Majestic Ventura Theatre

11/11 San Diego, CA Soma

11/12 Bakersfield, CA Golden State Hall

11/13 San Luis Obispo, CA Downtown Brew- more on this story

The Motion Sick Soph

Lead singer, Mike Epstein, observes, "Vonnegut approaches almost all of his stories with a sort of self-deprecating confession of the whole plot right away and then weaves together the revealed pieces. You're never really reading the book waiting to see what happens, but rather waiting to see how it happens. The tone of his wit is something I admire and strive for and his narrative writing fits with the fatalist concepts in many of our recent songs."

Never too serious with the weighty subject matter of their often unconventional musical themes, however, the band remains profoundly simple in the melodic nods to their literary muses and societal inspirations.- more on this story

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