- Metal legend Ronnie James Dio died yesterday at 67. While touring last year with Heaven And Hell, an incarnation of Black Sabbath he continued to lead, Dio announced that he was battling stomach cancer. Through the end, he never gave up hope in touring again and being with his fans. Read more here.
- Akron/Family unleashed two large pieces of news from their tie-dyed camp this week. First, the beginning of a pay-what-you-want record label ran by the trio, named Family Tree that already has its first release available. Second, the trio will be entering the studio in June to record the follow-up to last year’s Set ‘em Wild Set ‘em Free.
- Indie kids the globe over are will be happy with this tease: Arcade Fire have teased via postcard the recent pressing of a 12-inch album, rumored to be “Suburbs/Month of May.” Amazon has the LP listed for June 1st though the band denies the release date.
- Noel Lennox, aka Panda Bear, is also hot on the heels of releasing the 7-inch single, “Tomboy” b/w “Slow Motion,” set for July 13th. The release is the first of a promised limited 7-inch series to be released via different labels to promote fervor over the September release of Lennox’s proper Person Pitch follow-up, Tomboy.
- This past Saturday, The National performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to promote their new album, High Violet, and more importantly to benefit The Red Hot Organization in their fight against AIDS. KEXP offered to send one lucky person and a friend to this event, and Li of Seattle was chosen at random from the nearly 1600 people who entered. Congrats, Li! But now you can clips from the performance, which was broadcast live on YouTube, right here and here:
- The purveyors of late night cartoonish humor, Adult Swim, have more than dabbled in pools of musical bliss as they’ve continually cranked out odd fare for loyal audiences. Now comes word the eccentric Cartoon Network offshoot will be releasing a digital singles series featuring new material from Superwolf (of the Will Oldham/Matt Sweeney variety), Madvillian, and Black Lips among the eight scheduled releases set to begin today!
- Just because The Minus Five and The Baseball Project aren’t enough, the friendly duo of Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck are joining forces with Gary Lightbody (of Snow Patrol) and Richard Colburn (of Belle and Sebastian) in the guise of Tired Pony. The band’s debut, The Place We Ran From, is set for release on July 12th and features an appearance from “it” kids, She & Him.
- Vangaurds of the avant, Jarboe and Michael Gira, are joining forces once more to take their formative experimental project, Swans, on the road. Unfortunately, fans not located in or around the great Northeast of the United States and Canada are unlikely to catch one of their 9 announced North American dates. Here’s hoping the entire continent gets their Swans fix soon.
- Highlights from this week’s late night talk show appearances include Public Image Ltd. on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Band of Horses on The Late Show with David Letterman, and Vampire Weekend on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Set your DVR’s!
Monday, May 17
Jimmy Fallon: Public Image Ltd.
Tuesday, May 18
David Letterman: Janelle Monae
Tavis Smiley: Trombone ShortyWednesday, May 19
David Letterman: Stone Temple Pilots
Thursday, May 20
David Letterman: Band of Horses
Jimmy Kimmel: Slayer
Craig Ferguson: Vampire Weekend
Carson Daly: She & HimFriday, May 21
Jimmy Kimmel: Massive Attack
