B Sides for 02/04/2015
AC/DC's appearance at the annual event is to promote their latest album, "Rock Or Bust." The status of drummer Phil Rudd's availability for the Grammys remains in question, as he is scheduled to return to a New Zealand court to face charges stemming from his November 6 arrest on multiple charges. Part of Rudd's bail conditions is to reside in his Tauranga home, which may make it difficult for the drummer to leave the country for the event in Los Angeles. Read more and see the photo here.
The Crue resume the farewell trek with shows in Japan this month before hitting Australia and New Zealand in the spring; in June, they'll play three European festivals including Download (UK), Sweden Rock and Austria's Novarock before returning to North America for the summer. The group also released a video for their new single, "All Bad Things", a song they wrote and recorded last spring before launching the tour in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 2. Watch the video here.
But industry analysts Neilson Soundscan say vinyl accounts for just 6% of total album sales - a figure that record companies say isn't having a huge effect on their business. Rolling Stone reports that Tom Corson, president of Sony-owned RCA Records, says his company doesn't have a department devoted to vinyl, although he welcomes the increased interest in the format. He says: "It is a small percentage of our business. It's not going to make or break our year. We devote the right amount of resources to it, but it's not something where we have a department for it. We welcome it. It's a sexy, cool product. It represents an investment in music that's an emotional one." Read more here.
To end his set Saturday night at Sands Casino Event Center in Bethlehem, Pa., Manson called on the three teenagers to join him on one of his signature songs, "The Beautiful People." Despite the fact that the group is made up of eighth graders, Manson didn't risk missing a beat. The 13-year-olds appeared to know even the verses, although they proved they are far less the showmen than Marilyn Manson is even now. But hey, he's had years to perfect his craft. They'll catch up. However, there was a stage dive into the crowd at the end of the song, so they have the rock star in them yet. Watch it here.
Harrison says: Every album needs a focus, a master plan - and while I thought about writing new tunes for a big band project, I made a version of Porcupine Tree's Futile and it came out really well. It felt like a good plan to follow on with some of my favourite PT songs, and see if we could make them work. "I had a vision that the arrangements would never lean towards a cliched sound, but always follow a modern contemporary angle. So even if you didn't know the original tune, you could still enjoy it as a modern composition. I couldn't be happier with the results." Collaborators include saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock ,who's previously recorded with Kate Bush and the Moody Blues, and bassist Laurence Cottle from Bill Bruford's Earthworks. Read more and check out the preview here.
Russell had the following to say about the track and the group's plans, "With the ever-changing climate of the music industry, we've decided that we will be releasing several digital singles throughout 2015. "'Hard Habit' is the first in a series of singles the band will put out this year. Be on the lookout for our next single in the coming months! We are really proud of this song and we plan on playing it live as well as some other new tunes and of course all the classic Jack Russell's Great White songs you know and love. See you on the road!" Watch the video here. The band have announced a handful of west coast dates that will be taking place this month in California and Arizona as well as a one-off appearance in Turtle Lake, WI. They have also announced a string of live appearances this spring which will kick off on April 4th in Bolingbrook, IL and includes stops in New York, Maryland, Virginia and Mahomet, IL. Check out the tour dates here.
The group will be releasing their new album, "Black Is The New Black," their ninth studio effort overall, sometime this spring and they have premiered the lyric video for the first single "The Man Who Broke His Own Heart," here. Frontman Art Alexakis had this to say, "We are really excited... It's an unapologetic rock record that I feel combines the best of classic Everclear with contemporary production and what I feel is some of my best songwriting in years!" Alexakis and the band have also revealed the artists that will be joining them on their Summerland 2015 tour. In addition to Everclear, the tour will also feature American Hi-Fi, Fuel and Toadies.
The group, vocalist/drummer Giovanni Trotta, keyboardist Francesco Di Verniere, guitarist Giuseppe Bruno and bassist Angelo Cerquaglia, previously stated their third album would feature a wide and varied mixture of styles. They said: "Noise represents a substantial turning of sound from Deliverance while retaining many of the elements that have always distinguished the band's sound. "The turning points were determined primarily by the artistic maturity of the band members - you'll hear different influences with each listen: 70's rock to post rock, united in an amalgam of incredible arrangements moving Aura to pomp prog and art rock." Watch the video here.
Speaking about the song, vocalist David Ravengarde says: "Unreality is the end of the journey. A visceral, near spiritual tour de force through blinding lights and stygian sights. The astral road to redemption lies ahead- but it won't be easy." Einfallen: A Tale Ov Torment & Triumph will be released 16th March via Nordavind Records, which David describes as "a concept, a story of love that becomes obsession - a wretched poison at its very core that turns to insanity. A deep-seated demonic madness most inhuman. This through to eventual metaphysical realisation of such poisonous ways and the need for atonement and eventual redemption." Stream the song here.
Aaron David Gleason tells us about the song: "Mastermind" Came about in a pretty circuitous way. It WAS a ballad called "The Last Bus" -- but it did have the lyrics "Where did you get the nerve to see right through me?" My Producer, Robert Davis said "Oh, we should keep that line." But we threw out everything else. We did keep the chord changes, but we added a beat. I had, at that time, made a pact to make more uptempo or at least midtempo numbers. We stomped on the floor of my apartment--messed up my floor--and made that beat. Then, we hired a drummer, David Piribauer, and he threw down that "Let's Dance" type feel. 3 months of tinkering later, we had a jam. Jeremiah Kipp tells us about the video: The drum probably informed the whole thing for me. There was a mood of stealth and aggression and planning that wove its way through the song, of pushing forward despite outer and inner frustration. We set out to make a conceptual video around that emotional outburst, told through various characters engaged in artistic or fantastic pursuits. Aaron didn't want to have a central role in the video, though we enjoy collaborating and he did want to be included. We centered the video on a writer drinking and scribbling (played by Bill Weeden), and gave extended sequences to a scientist stuck on an equation (Chris Sarandon), an action painter (Alice Ripley), a sea creature (Ilaria Malvezzi), a woman ripping her way out of a plastic bag filled with wires (Chelsea Smith) and a character played by Aaron's charismatic and engaging mother, Joanna, speaking to the camera in direct confrontation. Aaron interacts with some of these characters and is in some ways fighting to get through these sequences intact. Who is, in fact, the mastermind? Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song and the video, listen and watch for yourself right here!
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