MusicNewsTidBits.com

“Imagine taking off your makeup and nobody knows who you are.”

Steven Tyler, Aerosmith’s vocalist, on fame

Brian Eno’s real name is Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno!

Aww so sweet. I’m looking forward to Michael Franti & Spearhead putting out their new album ‘The Sound of Sunshine’ on August 24th. I hear their new singles ‘Shake it’ and ‘The Sound of Sunshine’ are on the radio but I just don’t listen to the radio anymore so I can’t confirm that. They began recording in Jamaica with Sly and Robbie and also in Bali and his hometown of San Francisco (yeah!). Franti says of the album title,

“Music is sunshine. It gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose. You can’t hold it in your hands, smell it, taste it or even see it, yet somehow just coming together and feeling these little vibrations that tickle our eardrums can somehow lift us all up out of our most difficult moments in life to unimaginable heights.”

Porcupine Tree have release a digital only live benefit album a few days ago with all of the proceeds going to former Japan bassist Mick Karn who’s suffering from cancer. How sweet is that. The live album was recorded in Atlanta during the ‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ tour which was supposed to go out as an official full live album.

You can get the album over HERE

It looks like September 7th, Kid Rock will be putting out the Rick Rubin produced album titled ‘Born Free’. It will have 14 tracks with a good amount of contributions from various people like Trace Adkins, Zac Brown, Sheryl Crow and Bob Seger, T.I. and Martina McBride. After the albums out, he’ll be heading out on tour.

Sweet….on September 28th Yaz is putting out their Reconnected Live double reunion album and download. It’s from the summer of 2008 and gets the great Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet together after 25 years of being apart to sing some of their greats like ‘Situation’, ‘Only You’ and of course ‘Don’t Go’. This should be great!

Here’s the new track from N.E.R.D. from their upcoming album “Nothing” which will be out on September 7th.

Prince is set to get the BET Lifetime Achievement Award on June 27 at the BET awards. He should of received this years ago considering he’s had thirty Top 40 singles and ten platinum albums to date. By getting this award he will join the others such as Earth Wind & Fire, James Brown, Whitney Houston, Isley Brothers and others.

Zakk Wylde and his band Black Label Society are heading out on the road this fall. A couple bands will be joining them as well; Clutch, Children of Bodom and 2Cents. BLS will be touring to support their new album ‘Order Of The Black’ which will be coming out on August 10. Here’s their tour dates.

Sept. 21: Roseland (Portland, Ore.)
Sept. 22: PNE Forum (Vancouver)
Sept. 24: Edmonton EXPO Centre Hall D Arena (Edmonton, AB)
Sept. 25: Agribition Hall (Regina, SK)
Sept. 26: Big 4 (Calgary, AB)
Sept. 28: Winnipeg Convention Centre (Winnipeg, MB)
Sept. 30: Anchor Inn (Omaha, Neb.)

Oct. 1: 7 Flags (Clive, Iowa)
Oct. 2: Eagles Ballroom (Milwaukee)
Oct. 3: Roy Wilkins Auditorium (St. Paul, Minn.)
Oct. 5: Expo Five (Louisville, Ky.)
Oct. 8: Convention Hall (Asbury Park, N.J.)
Oct. 9: The Colisee (Lewiston, Maine)
Oct. 12: Cunard Centre (Halifax, NS)
Oct. 14: Metropolis (Montreal)
Oct. 15: Sound Academy (Toronto)
Oct. 16: Sound Academy (Toronto)
Oct. 20: Hammerstein Ballroom (New York)
Oct. 22: House of Blues (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
Oct. 23: Masquerade Music Park (Atlanta)
Oct. 24: The Fillmore Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.)
Oct. 26: Hard Rock (Orlando, Fla.)
Oct. 28: Verizon Wireless Theater (Houston)
Oct. 29: Concrete St. Ampitheater (Corpus Christi, Texas)
Oct. 30: Verizon Theatre @ Grand Prairie (Grand Prairie, Texas)
Oct. 31: Lonestar Pavilion (Lubbock, Texas)

Nov. 2: Stubbs Waller Creek Ampitheater (Austin, Texas)
Nov. 3: Brady Center (Tusla, Okla.)
Nov. 5: DeltaPlex (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Nov. 7: The Fillmore Detroit (Detroit)
Nov. 9: Main Street Armory (Rochester, N.Y.)
Nov. 10: The LC Pavilion (Columbus, Ohio)
Nov. 12: Cotilion (Wichita, Kan.)
Nov. 13: Uptown Theater (Kansas City, Kan.)
Nov. 14: The Fillmore Auditorium (Denver)
Nov. 16: The Complex (Salt Lake City)
Nov. 18: Dodge Theatre (Phoenix)
Nov. 20: Warfield (San Francisco)

Slipknot have released a 10-minute tribute video on the late Paul Gray. Corey Taylor says of Paul:

“He was everything that was wonderful about this band and about this group of people. The only way I can sum up Paul Gray is ‘love.’ Everything he did, he did for everyone around him whether he knew you or not … and that’s what he’s left behind for us: absolute love. I will miss him with every fiber of my heart, as will everybody at this table and everyone who knew him. He was the best of us.”

How crazy is this. Joe Walsh has a crazy ass 70 year old neighbor that is threatening to kill him. Early in May his neighbor, Nassar Adhoot, trespassed on his property and attacked Walsh’s personal assistant with a block of wood. WTF!!

In the legal documents Walsh claims shouted to his assistant “You tell Joe Walsh I’m going to kill him. I’m going to shoot him.”

Damn psycho.

For their 30 year anniversary, Bad Religion are going into the studio to record a new album. Brett Gurewitz tells us

“While we’re celebrating our 30th anniversary as a band this year it’s also a time when Greg and I have embarked on new creative pursuits which have informed our songwriting process. I’m a new parent again and Greg a new author having just completed his first book Anarchy Evolution. So the songs are a distillation of where we’ve been and who we are now…a natural evolution of creativity.”

Apparently there is a sickness in the band so Wolfmother have pulled out of the Download Festival. Looks like Killswitch Engage has been their replacement.

The founders of Skype and Kaaza have created a new music service called RDIO, and yes there is a missing ‘A’ in there. Now its here in the US and will be available everywhere else later this year. All four major labels are in along with some indie ones. It looks like the subscription will be somewhere between $5 – $10 per month and can be accessed via the web or smartphones.

“No one has managed to elegantly integrate discovery and a high-quality music streaming experience, under one roof,” said co-founder Janus Friis. Rdio apps know what album or playlist the user and their friends are listening to and can sync music to the phone to play offline.

If you haven’t heard, Trent Reznors new group with his wife is called ‘How To Destroy Angels’. They are releasing a 6 track EP that you can get at their site over here: HowToDestroyAngels.com.

If you spend $2 you can get a hi-def version of the EP along with a download of the their video to ‘The Space In Between’.