News

Chromatics announce new album, Dear Tommy

Synth pop band from Portland, Chromatics have announced their new studio album, Dear Tommy. This album serves as the follow-up to their 2012 album, Kill For Love.

The track listing reveals that the album has 17 tracks, with new versions of “Camera” and “Cherry” from their After Dark 2 album.

Dear Tommy Tracklist:
01. Fresh Blood
02. In Films
03. Time Rider
04 I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around
05. Cherry
06. She Says
07. Just Like You
08. 4 A.M.
09. Teacher
10. Camera
11. Dear Tommy
12. Touch Blue
13. After Hours
14. Shadows
15. In Silence
16. Colorblind
17. Endless Sleep

Austin Psych Fest reveals 2015 line-up

Austin Psych Fest has announced details about its 2015 festival. Named LEVITATION, the festival, from May 8th-10th will take place at Carson Creek Ranch in Austin, Texas.

The line-up is studded with bands such as Tame Impala, Spiritualized, Primal Scream, The Flaming Lips, and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Orher bands on the line-up include, Thee Oh Sees, Mac DeMarco, Lightning Bolt, A Place to Bury Strangers, Ty Segall’s FUZZ, The Sword, Earth, The Black Angels, Melody’s Echo Chamber, METZ, White Fence, The Soft Moon, Rose Windows, The Black Ryder, Night Beats, The Blank Tapes, Nothing, Indian Jewelry, and Fat White Family. More acts are yet to be announced.

The website has more information and to purchase weekend and camping passes.

Watch Prince perform “With a Little Help from My Friends” after randomly crashing a jazz concert

Prince has been keeping a low profile since his performance on Saturday Night Live last month. He even deleted all of his social media accounts. However, he is still out there, he made a surprise performance at the W Hotel in Hollywood during their jazz night.

Originally attending the concert as a guest, he eventually decided to join the band to perform the Beatle, “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

Courtney Love to team with Lana Del Rey for the “Endless Love Tour”

Lana Del Rey has announced the first leg of her “Endless Summer Tour” in support of Ultraviolence, her recent sophomore album. The tour will begin in the Woodlands, Texas.

Courtney Love, the frontwoman for Hole will join for select dates as she prepares for her upcoming solo album, which is expected to be released in 2015.

Lana Del Rey 2015 Tour Dates:
05/07 – The Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion *
05/09 – Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion *
05/12 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre *
05/14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-Chin Pavilion *
05/16 – Chula Vista, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheater *
05/18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl *
05/20 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre *
05/22 – Ridgefield, WA @ Sleep Country Amphitheater *
05/28 – Noblesville, IN @ Klipsch Music Center %
05/30 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre %
05/31 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre %
06/03 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre %
06/04 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre %
06/11 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live %
06/13 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion %
06/14 – Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood %
06/16 – West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheater %

* = w/ Courtney Love
% = w/ Special Guest TBA

Watch the only color footage of the Velvet Underground in concert

This last week was the release of the 45th anniversary reissuing of the Velvet Underground’s self-title studio album featuring previously unreleased recordings and performances. Now, the only color footage of the band performing live is on YouTube.

The film was recorded in 1967 by Andy Warhol, who frequently collaborated with the band. The YouTube description says:

“This newly unearthed film, which Warhol shot during a concert at the Boston Tea Party, features a variety of filmmaking techniques. Sudden in-and-out zooms, sweeping panning shots, in-camera edits that create single frame images and bursts of light like paparazzi flash bulbs going off mirror the kinesthetic experience of the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, with its strobe lights, whip dancers, colorful slide shows, multi-screen projections, liberal use of amphetamines, and overpowering sound. It is a significant find indeed for fans of the Velvets, being one of only two known films with synchronous sound of the band performing live, and this the only one in color. It’s fitting that it was shot at the Boston Tea Party, as the Beantown club became one of the band’s favorite, most-played venues, and was where a 16-year-old Jonathan Richman faithfully attended every show and befriended the group. Richman, who would later have his debut recordings produced by John Cale, and later yet record a song about the group, is just possibly seen in the background of this film.”

The setlist included “I’m Waiting For The Man,” “Guess I’m Falling In Love,” “Run Run Run,” “Heroin,” “Walk It & Talk It,” “I Heard Her Call My Name,” “Venus In Furs,” and “Sister Ray.”

Scott Stapp put in psych ward after being found on side of road mumbling

Lead singer of Creed, Scott Stapp, had recently released a video online saying he was living In an Holiday Inn, without money, and being threatened by his old record label. He claimed that the IRS has frozen his accounts and that the record label stole money and kept royalties from him. This might just be the plea of someone who is paranoid, and as it has become apparent, it might just be. His wife of eight years, Jaclyn Stapp, has filed for divorce and this has revealed that he could be in bad shape.

The former Miss New York says in the divorce papers that Stapp left home in early October and has not told her his locations. She also said that he has been using amphetamines, crystal meth, and steroids so much that it made him take a break with reality, he even threatened to kill himself or harm his family.

To support her claims, she shared the these text messages she was sent by Stapp:

“Florida is not safe. Biological weapons on the way. U have to leave with kids and meet me in Atlanta.”

“I’m coming to get you Satan and children. No mercy. You know how this ends. God created you and now God is ending you.”

“God is also telling me something about Palm Springs and Nashville so there’s a connection somehow. He’s also telling me DEA for some reason.”

“Wells Fargo working out my account problems. I’m out of gas. Haven’t eaten all day. I’m asking if they can spot me $1,000 so I don’t fall over from malnutrition.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it if the CIA is behind Alcoholics Anonymous.”

TMZ also reports the November 13th incident where the Madison County Florida Sheriff’s Dept. deputies found him on the side of a road “wasted, incoherent, and rambling that someone was trying to poison him.” The police thus placed him on a 72-hour psych hold.

Along with filing for complete custody of their children, on November 11th, Jaclyn filed for a separate Marchman Act petition. The Marchman Act is a Florida law that provides the court the with the ability to perform “involuntary assessment, stabilization petitions, and involuntary treatment petitions for substance abuse impaired persons.” A hearing was held Wednesday, however, on Friday, Jaclyn decided to drop the petition and decided to instead help him personally.

In his recent video, Stapp claims that he is completely sober, but the legal documents tell a different story.

Bonnaroo Thanksgiving Special airing tonight

The music festival, Bonnaroo, has taken over the Thanksgiving weekend with two big events. Today, Thanksgiving Day, they have a one-hour special on VH1 celebrating the festival’s last 13 years. The special is named A Very Bonnaroo Thanksgiving and with feature footage from Jack White, The White Stripes, Lionel Richie, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, Mumford and Sons, and many more. The special with begin airing at 9 p.m. ET.

On the infamous Black Friday (November 28th), the festival will have a pre-sale for its 2015 festival. The limited number of general admission tickets will be sell for $274.50, and VIP tickets will be sell for $1,474.50. For more information, including details on layaway plans, visit Bonnaroo’s website.

Listen to Future Islands’ “Seasons” reworked by jazz trio, BadBadNotGood

The experimental jazz outfit, BadBadNotGood, over the past few months, have contributed to notable hip-hop tracks from artists such as Ghostface Killah and Danny Brown, and Black Milk. The trio now moved to a different direction into synth pop with their reworking of “Seasons (Waiting on You)” by Future Islands.

This remix gives the frontman, Sam T. Herring, a different kind of background for his intense vocals.

First authorized Kurt Cobain documentary to air on HBO

The first “fully authorized” documentary of the late Nirvana frontman will air on HBO.

Montage of Heck is set to premiere on HBO next year. The documentary is directed by Brett Morgen and is billed as the first “fully authorized” documentary about Kurt Cobain’s life. It was made with the help of his family, and his daughter, Frances Bean who served as an executive producer.

The documentary has “dozens of Nirvana songs and performances as well as perviously unheard Cobain originals, no-holds-barred access to Kurt Cobain’s archives, home to his never-before-seen home movies, recordings, artwork, photography, journals, demos, personal archives, family archives and songbooks,” according to a press release. Morgen says:

I started work on this project eight years ago. Like most people, when I started, I figured there would be limited amounts of fresh material to unearth. However, once I stepped into Kurt’s archive, I discovered over 200 hours of unreleased music and audio, a vast array of art projects (oil paintings, sculptures), countless hours of never-before-seen home movies, and over 4000 pages of writings that together help paint an intimate portrait of an artist who rarely revealed himself to the media.

Montage of Heck is named after a mixtape Cobain made in 1988; it surfaced earlier this year.

Will Butler from Arcade Fire reveals new music from solo album

Arcade Fire’s multi-instrumentalist, Will Butler teased fans with the release of his debut solo album, Policy, with a trailer that has music from the album.

The album is set to be released on March 16. The album was recorded in New York at the Electric Lady Studios and has Jeremy Gara, also from Arcade Fire, on the drums.

In a recent press release that followed the news of the album, the music on Policy is compared to The Breeders, The Modern Lovers, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, The Magnetic Fields, Ghostface Killah and John Lennon.

Butler was nominated for an Oscar for best soundtrack for Spike Jonze film Her earlier this year. Will Butler scored a documentary about a Barack Obama impersonator in New York as well as touring with Arcade Fire.