Aimee Mann Tour Part 2

Aimee Mann's seventh solo release to date, @#%&! Smilers, is a return to form after the artistic detours of 2005's concept album The Forgotten Arm and 2006's Christmas CD One More Drifter in the Snow. - more on this story

VMAs Return to LA

MTV reports: Van Toffler, President, MTVN Music Group, today announced that the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards are headed to Hollywood to celebrate the rock 'n roll spirit of music in celebrity playground Los Angeles.

MTV will empower their audience to executive produce this year's show including giving them the opportunity to decide this year's nominees helping to create an awards show with the music they love.

MTV's 25th annual Video Music Awards will air live and only one time in its original incarnation, on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 9PM (Live ET/Tape Delayed PT). Host, performers, nominees, and presenters for the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards will be announced at a later date. - more on this story

Juliana Hatfield To Publish Memoir

PR reports: Juliana Hatfield has unveiled details of her upcoming memoir, entitled When I Grow Up, slated to be published by John Wiley & Sons on September 29th. The book follows the renowned singer/songwriter's much-anticipated new album, How To Walk Away, due from Hatfield's own Ye Olde Records on August 19th.

At turns wryly funny and heartbreakingly sincere, When I Grow Up offers Hatfield's inimitable perspective on her remarkable 20-year career. Penned during her recent year-long sabbatical from music, the book chronicles her extraordinary journey, from her teenage beginnings in the pioneering indie-rock combo, Blake Babies, and iconic rise to alternative solo stardom, to the past decade's stunning streak of increasingly mature, critically acclaimed albums.

When I Grow Up takes readers backstage and behind the scenes of a life lived in rock 'n' roll, detailing the origin of her songs, her battles with clinical depression, and her quest to find purpose after all of her dreams had seemingly come true. Throughout the book, Hatfield recounts her skyscraping highs and deep, dark lows in the same engaging voice her fans have loved for years - spirited, witty, and always candid. - more on this story

Helloween Lineup Changes

Metal Underground reports: Detroit heavy metal band Halloween has parted ways with their guitar player and added some new members. The band gave the following statement on their website:

Due to a difference in artistic vision, Halloween and Donny Allen have decided to part ways. Donny has been a staple in this band for over 16 years and we love him like a brother, he will always be family and we hope the best for him. Good luck Donny.

Mourning Sun/Night Creature guitarist extraordinaire Don Guerrier and Abandon axeslinger Shawn Moore have joined the band. After only one rehearsal with these two, we were blown away by how great it sounded - more on this story

VH1 Rock Honors The Who Weekend

Vh1 reports: The third annual "VH1 Rock Honors" will celebrate The Who in a televised concert, featuring tribute performances by Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips and the recently-announced Incubus, before The Who take the stage to make an unforgettable evening. Taping in Los Angeles at Pauley Pavilion on July 12, "VH1 Rock Honors: The Who" will premiere nationally Thursday, July 17 at 9pm ET/PT.

Leading up to the big event, VH1 has once again partnered with LA Weekly for a Who-themed VH1 Rock Honors Weekend, sponsored by [corp name removed], in Los Angeles, July 10-14. Full details on The Who-themed events happening all around town will be announced shortly, in the meantime here's a sneak peak at some of the activities lined up:

Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane/Starship) art exhibit at Gallery 319 featuring paintings of Pete Townshend. Grace Slick will be in attendance! * The Who-themed karaoke night at Blue Goose Lounge * Rock 'n' Reads brings together music and books with appearances by special bands and various authors including Stephanie Kuehnert (I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone) and Kristin Harmel (How To Sleep With A Movie Star) * Rock Honors BBQ with a Rock Band competition for prize packages at Crane's Hollywood Tavern * 80's cover band Steel Panther tribute The Who the entire night at the Key Club * Watch screenings of The Who movies over a pint @ Ye Coach and Horses * plus a whole lot more... - Rock.VH1.com.

Another Idol Loser Dropped Like A Pauly Shore Sitcom

idolator reports: Ruben Studdard released three albums before getting dropped. Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee got a year and a half on their post Idol contracts before being let go.

Now 2007 American Idol runner-up Blake Lewis has been cast away by Arista, less than a year after they announced signing him. How long will Jive give David Archuleta to find a niche? Six months?

Lewis claims that he never wanted to sign to a major in the first place (I mean, who goes on American Idol wanting corporate assistance in becoming rich and famous?), but whether it's a sign that execs aren't going to suffer some "creative control" fool following Kelly Clarkson's My December, or that one shot is all you get in the current marketplace, news like this will probably make next year's contestants even more complacent about actually winning the competition. - more on this story

Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival Lineup

PR reports: Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival is proud to announce new additions to the already-stellar line-up for the first inaugural event. Howlin' Rain, The Dynamites and Carney are rounding out Friday August 22nd.

The Walkmen, Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck and Everest have been added to Saturday August 23rd. Toots & the Maytals, Rogue Wave, Mike Gordon and Vienna Teng have been added to Sunday, August 24th.

The multi-faceted, three-day festival will take place in San Francisco's historic Golden Gate Park on August 22 – 24, 2008. Radiohead, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Jack Johnson will headline the event. - more on this story

Hollow Corp Set US Release

Prosthetic Records reports: Prosthetic Records is proud to announce the release of French metal band Hollow Corp.'s debut record, 'Cloister of Radiance,' throughout North America.

Originally released in Europe last September through Swedish label Dental Records, the deal will make 'Cloister of Radiance' available domestically for the first time on September 30.

"We're feeling really honored joining such a great label like Prosthetic," Hollow Corp. frontman Stephane Azam says. "They have awesome bands and a vision of the music that corresponds with our own. Let us hope to cross the Atlantic soon! We also wish to thank Dental Records for their great job in Europe!" - more on this story

CCA Promise Something Not Different, But Not The Same

PR reports: Would you like to see something different? Or at least, something that is not the same? CCA is what you are looking for. The meeting of three artists (Cushma, Cides, Alexander) presents an album full of good surprises and of exquisite bouquet - from the first moment, we find impressive graphic art. It is a kind of box or carton that presents a "freak circus show."

The packaging design from Argentina by the illustrator Nuno Enriquez is as special as the music that it contains, which was the premise of work that assembled Linda Cushma, Guillermo Cides and the drummer Tim Alexander recognized by his work with the band, Primus. From sticky melodies to uncontrollable moments of rock, the cd cruises for sound explorations including a tango sung in Spanish by Cushma.

The new album has a long list of guests including renowned bassist/stickist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel/King Crimson) and a remixed version of a song by Quodia with Trey Gunn (ex-King Crimson) and Joe Mendelson. This is one of CCA's many surprises - Gunn narrating a musical story. - more on this story

Bedtime With the Beatles 2

PR reports: Jason Falkner (Jellyfish, the Three O'Clock, the Grays) has delivered his second batch of Beatles lullabies, Bedtime With the Beatles 2. A must-have for parents, kids and Falkner fans alike, the eagerly anticipated sequel to 2001's Bedtime With the Beatles: Instrumental Versions of Classic Beatles Songs compiles serene but compelling instrumental versions of 10 classic Beatles tunes spanning six albums. It's an ideal way for parents to introduce children to the rich and rewarding discography of the Fab Four.

In revisiting the Beatles discography, the versatile Falkner—who has worked with Air, Beck, Aimee Mann and Travis, in addition to releasing three esteemed solo albums—explains, "Great songs are hard to come by, and the Beatles wrote and recorded possibly the most consistently brilliant collection of songs in the 20th century." - more on this story

ThanksUSA Benefit Concert

PR reports: ThanksUSA, a charitable effort to mobilize Americans to "thank" our active-duty troops, will present a benefit concert on July 26, 2008, at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., at 7:00 PM EST.

Headlining the event will be Stephen Cochran, a former U.S. Marine and country newcomer, and international recording artist Mylin, whose father served in the U.S. Navy. The concert is part of a broad fundraising drive to provide college scholarships to the spouses and dependents of active-duty troops.

Over the past two years, ThanksUSA has awarded nearly $4 million in need-based, post-secondary scholarships to more than 1,350 spouses and children of military members serving on active-duty status; scholarships have been presented to recipients in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. - more on this story

Lou Reed's Berlin Screening

Noble PR reports: "Lou Reed's Berlin", a film directed by Julian Schnabel, will receive a Special Preview Screening at the Curzon Mayfair cinema on Sunday 29th June at 6:20pm. The screening will be followed by an exclusive Q&A with Lou Reed at 7:45pm.

A very limited amount of tickets are still available to the general public, priced £15. You can order tickets from 0871 703 3989 or from www.curzoncinemas.com (cinema address: Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon Street, London, W1J 7TY).

The film will go on general release on Friday 25th July in cinemas nationwide including London's Renoir Cinema and Curzon Soho, Arts Picturehouse Cambridge, Filmhouse Edinburgh, Watershed Bristol, Showroom Sheffield and will open at the Tyneside Cinema Newcastle on 15th August.
- more on this story

George Jones Duets

W&A reports: Bandit Records will release George Jones - Burn Your Playhouse Down: the unreleased duets, a collection of never before heard duets between Jones and his illustrious guests on August 19, 2008. The recordings range from the mid-70s with his ex-wife, the "First Lady of Country Music," Tammy Wynette to the most recent recording from 2007 with his daughter, Georgette, the only child from the union of George and Tammy.

Seven of the recordings are extra songs, not included in The Bradley Barn Sessions that MCA Records released in 1994. Produced by Brian Ahern, the Bradley Barn recordings brought together superstar musicians and singers from both the country and rock world. Recorded during the worst ice storm in Tennessee history, the 1993 sessions, which took place over the course of several weeks, brought together Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Leon Russell and Marty Stuart - as the core of the studio band with Keith Richards, Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris trading off as instrumentalists and vocalists on many of the songs.

The top players in Nashville - Eddie Bayers, Mac McAnally, Jerry Douglas, Glenn Worf, Brent Rowan, Glen D. Hardin, John Jennings, Harry Stinson, Richard Bennett and many more made the icy trek every day to Mt. Juliet, about 30 miles outside of Nashville. No one wanted to miss these historic sessions which paired Jones with an array of superstars influenced by the artist they considered the greatest living country singer. Ahern produced the classic Jones hits as an acoustic project to give the songs a different feel than the originals. - more on this story

Stos Debut Coming to CD At Long Last

MMP reports: Metal Mind Productions presents remastered edition of the debut album by the legendary female fronted band Stos.

Stos was formed in 1981 in Jaworzno by Irena Bol - vocals, Mirosław Majta - vocals, Mirosław Bol - guitar, Waldemar Harwig - guitar, Waldemar Rosiak – bass and Jan Bol – drums. The first songs from that period proved that the band was heavily influenced by hard rock music in the likes of Black Sabbath, Nazareth, Budgie or UFO.

Their debut album "Stos", previously available only as a LP, contains the material from recording sessions in Opole '86 and Poznań '89. New digipak ediion includes 3 studio and 5 live tracks as a bonus and is limited to 2000 copies. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on golden disc. The album will be released on 28th July 2008 in Europe and 2nd September 2008 in USA (via MVD). - more on this story

. Jazz Icons Vol. 2 DVD Boxset

Dan looks at Jazz Icons DVD series including Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Sarah Vaughan, and John Coltrane. He says the boxset is a treasure trove of jazz music history. It is also more eclectic than it might appear. - Read the full Jazz Icons Vol. 2 DVD Boxset review

. Grave - Dominion VIII

Dominion VIII was the first record I have ever heard from Grave, and its impression led me to spend several dollars on their remaining discography; it has got a charm that ironically drains your money! Seriously though, there is nothing negative to be said here - Read the full Grave - Dominion VIII review

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