Country Duet Idols

antiMusic reports: Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your TV comes a new show from American Idol producers. Here is the official PR: Television personality Rossi Morreale ("Temptation," "TBS Weekend Extra," "Foody Call") has been named host of CAN YOU DUET, CMT's new weekly music competition series produced by FremantleMedia North America (FMNA), it was jointly announced today by Eugene Young, Chief Creative Officer for FMNA, and Bob Kusbit, Head of Development for CMT. Premiering on Monday, April 14 at 10:30 p.m., ET/PT, CAN YOU DUET will seek to find the best country music duet in America.

"Rossi is the real deal," said Young and Kusbit in a joint statement. "He's a natural talent with a charisma that makes people stand up and take notice. Whether you're a contestant on the show or a viewer at home, Rossi connects with what's important." - more comedy here

Primal Fear Find Their Man

Metal Underground reports: German power metallers PRIMAL FEAR have issued the following update: "We've decided to continue with one of the most exciting and respected guitar player in the business - Magnus Karlsson from Sweden.

"Magnus is known from his excellent work as a guitarist, songwriter and producer for ALLEN/LANDE, MAGNUM's BOB CATLEY, STARBREAKER and many more.

"We're looking forward to hit the road again with a special best-of setlist and Magnus will be an additional attraction for the shows. It looks like we're planning to get back into the recording studio after the summer festival season to work on a new album!" - more on this story

OK Go A Million Ways To Help New Orleans

PR reports: OK Go and Bonerama released You're Not Alone, a five-song digital EP. OK Go spent the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina recording with the New Orleans soul trombone band at Piety Street Studios deep in the city's Upper 9th Ward.

"New Orleans is one of the last places in America where music is truly a fundamental part of everyday life," says OK Go singer Damian Kulash. "People get together on the weekends and parade through the streets just playing songs; 12-year-old-kids learn funk on the tuba; everyone dances. Life elsewhere in the world simply isn't as celebratory. If we allow the culture of New Orleans to die by leaving its musicians marooned around the country, America will have lost one of its great treasures."

Damian wrote about this EP on the Huffington Post as well as what New Orleans is facing in the aftermath of Katrina. Here is part of his article dealing with this EP, "Or if you're a cheap-ass and you've only got 4 bucks for the cause, consider buying this record. My band OK Go collaborated with the New Orleans brass rock band Bonerama (as in TROMbone), and on Mardi Gras we released 'You're Not Alone,' a 5-song iTunes EP. 100% of the proceeds from the record (and from the two release parties we hosted) are being donated to SNHO and the fund for Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, one of the godfathers of New Orleans soul music, whose Lower 9th Ward house was washed off its foundation and later destroyed by the city without his knowledge or permission." - Check out the mp3 for the song "A Million Ways"

DIRECTV SXSW Live Lineup

PR reports: DIRECTV gives viewers a front row seat to the legendary South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival with DIRECTV SXSW Live, a live broadcast concert series featuring 24 performances broadcast in HD and 5.1 surround sound direct from Austin, Texas.

The special will air on DIRECTV's original entertainment channel, The 101, from Thursday, March 13 through Saturday, March 15, with special encore viewings following the live broadcasts. DIRECTV SXSW Live will feature the hottest bands the famed festival has to offer including Los Angeles punk rockers X, Nicole Atkins, Augustana, Carbon/Silicon (featuring Mick Jones of The Clash and Tony James of Generation X), Daniel Lanois, Daryl Hall, Deana Carter, Dizzee Rascal, Earlimart, Ferras/Katy Perry, Hanson, Joanna Cotten, Canadian singer/songwriter Justin Nozuka, Monte Negro, Paddy Casey, Ryan Cabrera, Salvador Santana, Sia, Sons & Daughters, The Answer, The Lemonheads, The Noisettes, The Ting Tings, Tift Merritt and Martha Wainwright.

Each night, DIRECTV's television coverage will begin at 5 p.m. EST - more on this story

ACMs Really Heart Kenny

AP reports: Kenny Chesney received a leading 11 Academy of Country Music nominations Tuesday, including entertainer of the year and top male vocalist.

Rodney Atkins followed with six nominations, including top male vocalist. Brad Paisley, Big & Rich and Sugarland all got four apiece.

Chesney also is up for song and video of the year for "Don't Blink" and vocal event for "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" with Tracy Lawrence and Tim McGraw. - more on this story

You Can Finally Afford to Buy "My Dad's a F*cking Alcoholic"

PR reports: For over 20 years, record collectors have bought and sold copies of extremely rare and highly-sought-after punk singles with legendary songs like "My Dad's a F*cking Alcoholic" and "Drunken Sex Sucks." Now, these classic releases by the Denver label Local Anesthetic are available to us all on CD/LP at a considerably lower price. Included in this bargain compendium are rare recordings -- the likes of which inspired REM's Peter Buck and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore to later seek out details on how they were engineered -- by The Frantix (featuring members of later Sub Pop grunge co-founders The Fluid), Bum Kon, The Nails (later to score a Top 40 hit with "88 Lines About 44 Women"), Defex and more.

In 1981, Denver's Wax Trax Records co-owner Duane Davis formed the in-store label Local Anesthetic and released the debut single by Denver band Gluons featuring part-time Colorado resident Allen Ginsberg on vocals. - more on this story

Baby Strokes

Gigwise reports: Babyshambles bass player Drew McConnell has revealed that he has recorded several songs with Albert Hammond Jr of the Strokes.

The tracks also feature the Mercury Prize nominated talent of Fionn Regan and McConnell says they could be released soon.

He told the BBC: "I did four tracks a couple of months back with Albert Hammond Jr from The Strokes and Fionn Regan. - more on this story

Jeremy Fisher Join Proclaimers Tour

PR reports: Jeremy Fisher will be direct support for The Proclaimers, who have announced a month-long tour across the U.S. this spring. Starting in Buffalo, NY, the two artists will travel westward, their last tour date in San Juan [Capistrano], CA on May 18.

Jeremy Fisher has been on the road in the United States since August 2007, following headline dates and a support tour with Jenny Owen Youngs. He began 2008 playing alongside Will Hoge and Jason Isbell & The 400, and is currently headlining a tour with Jim Bianco and Brooke Waggoner. He also spent two months in Australia as direct support for Xavier Rudd.

The troubadour's music has often been compared to that of Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. His style has no doubt impressed fans and critics alike, proven in his two Juno Awards nominations (Best New Artist, Best Alternative Album). As he supports his latest Wind-up Records release Goodbye Blue Monday (Fall 2007), Jeremy is eager to get on bigger stages here on the U.S. afforded by his opportunity with The Proclaimers. - dates

10 Strait Years

PR reports: ACM voters recognized George Strait for the 10th time in the Entertainer of the Year category as well as a nod for Top Male Vocalist, for which he's been nominated 18 times. His collaboration with Kenny Chesney on "Shiftwork" also garnered a nomination for Vocal Event of the Year.

For the first time in the history of the ACM, fans will be able to vote for the Entertainer of the Year, which makes the award that much more special. George's new album - TROUBADOUR - is set for release on April 1.

Strait is currently headlining a national arena tour. The legendary entertainer has a goldmine of music from nearly three decades to thrill audiences and leaves them begging for more. See tour dates for a chance to see this icon live and don't miss the 43rd Annual ACM Awards, broadcast live May 18, 2008, at 8pm EST on CBS. - Strait Dates

Coldplay Verve Sex in Japan

Gigwise reports: Coldplay, The Verve and the Sex Pistols will headline the Summer Sonic festival in Japan, it's been revealed.

The festival will also feature Paul Weller, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Prodigy, Alicia Keys and Fatboy Slim.

Summer Sonic, which will also see performances from Panic At The Disco and Devo, takes place from August 8th-10th in Osaka and Tokyo. - more on this story

Bobby Williamson is Out of Outworld

Blabbermouth reports: Keyboardist Bobby Williamson of the Texas metal band OUTWORLD has issued the following update: "Due to overwhelming and stressful tasks that I took on, rehearsal schedule problems, sleep deprivation and damage to my hearing (tinnitus), I have made the decision to leave OUTWORLD. This was a hard decision to make, but I feel it's best for me.

"Rusty Cooley [guitar] and I, the founding members of this band, began OUTWORLD years ago with the vision of putting together an amazing metal band that could measure up with the quality of bands like SYMPHONY X, DREAM THEATER, etc., and I think we conquered that vision to a degree. However, things have changed for me, it became not fun anymore and too hard to persevere with little positive return.

"But I'm not done with music! And I look forward to writing music of my own...not sure which direction I will take yet as far as a project or a band - more on this story

Conway Twitty The Musical

PR reports: It's Only Make Believe is so much more than a tribute show to American Music Icon Conway Twitty whose untimely death in 1993 left a void in the world of Country Music. It's Only Make Believe is Conway Twitty's story told through the eyes and heart of his children. It is a loving musical scrapbook of memories that is honest, touching, funny, heartbreaking and sincere. This production will be a musical journey of his heart, from humble beginnings to Rock and Roll Idol and all the way to a pure Country Legend.

The musical production will be created and directed by Randy Johnson, produced by Conway Twitty United, and Executive Produced by Scott Welch Management. It's Only Make Believe will be touring across the country make stops at venues of all sizes, including Performing Arts Centers, state fairs, and theaters. The show will be exclusively booked through Buddy Lee Attractions in Nashville, Tennessee. - more on this story

Final Breath Reissue

PR reports: Metal Mind Productions set the release date of the reissue of Final Breath's "Mind Explosion" on the 31st March 2008 in Europe and 10th June 2008 in USA (via MVD). The remastered disc will include two bonus tracks.

Out of many regions in the world, Germany is well known for its devotion towards the death and thrash metal scene – the number of extreme bands that spawned on the German soil is pretty much impossible to count. Final Breath is another strong representative of the death/thrash conglomerate, delivering a fine mixture of high speed aggression and skillful technique in one of their most impressive releases – "Mind Explosion" (2002). The album goes further towards death metal, revealing a far more aggressive and violent side of band's music. It features tracks "The Punisher" and "White Prison" which deliver some quality thrash energy, comparable to best Scandinavian groups such as The Haunted and early At The Gates. "Mind Explosion" returns today in a new digipak edition with 2 bonus tracks taken from "End Of It All" EP, 1997! - more on this story

Tween Girls Will Soon Flood Video Stores

Billboard reports: The "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds Concert" will arrive April 15 via Walt Disney Records as a CD/DVD set, chronicling a fall 2007 sold-out North American tour.

The trek, which grossed more than $54 million, according to Billboard Boxscore, also spawned a recent 3D concert film that has pulled in more than $63 million at the box office.

On the upcoming CD/DVD, fans are treated to 14 tracks: seven performed by Cyrus as herself, and seven others featuring the teenage artist in her Hannah Montana guise. - more on this story

Black Francis on April Fools Day

HER reports: The Black Francis mini-album, "Svn Fngrs" will be released in the U.S. on APRIL 1, 2008, and NOT on March 4 as previously announced. Directly from Black Francis himself: Cooking Vinyl has agreed to release my latest session (thank you CV!), which I have called SVN FNGRS, on April 1, 2008 [in the U.S.].

It was written, recorded and mixed in six days, and on the seventh day, Mark Lemhouse did artwork. The band for the session was myself, of course, on guitar, vocals and harmonica, Jason Carter on drums, and Violet Clark on bass. The session was produced by Jason Carter. There are seven (7) songs clocking in at 20 minutes and so I suppose it qualifies as a mini-LP under the old formats. No one seems to know or care what the current format models are (a very weakened LP on compact disc continues to rule the roost by default), which is WONDERFUL; so let's just call it music and pay whatever price your Google research turns up. If you want it for free, you can usually find some tracks for free download on my Myspace page or on my own blackfrancis.net. - more on this story

.... Fight - K5: The War of Words Demos

Nothing against K5: The War of Words Demos, but it's rather trivial to release these demos and advertise it as some idolized collection because there's hardly any differences between this and what their full-length debut has to offer. - Read the full Fight - K5: The War of Words Demos review

.... Sponge - Galore Galore

The collection highlights the bands ability to make songs inviting enough that you can't help singing along after you become familiar with them. There are 11 tracks on the album with most being rockers and a couple semiballads thrown in (3.5 stars) - Read the full Sponge - Galore Galore review

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