New album due Feb. 10.

By Blurt Staff

Ben Lee's announced his next album for New West Records, due Feb. 10 and titled The Rebirth of Venus - dedicated, quite logically, to Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty.  As Lee put matters in a statement, he wants to celebrate feminine qualities "such as compassion, nurturing, creativity, spontaneity, intuition, playfulness, tenderness and warmth...are qualities that we all, men and women, need to cultivate." 

Produced by Brad Wood, who also produced Awake Is The New Sleep, critically acclaimed debut Grandpaw Would and sophomore album Something To Remember Me By, the album will be for a good metaphysical AND physical cause:  A portion of proceeds from albums sold will be donated to FINCA's Village Banking program.  (FINCA offers financial services to low-income women entrepreneurs.  This creates jobs, builds assets and generally improves the standard of living in these destitute communities. )

The album's cover re-creates Botticelli's Birth of Venus, but with a rock and roll twist.  Ben is featured in the clamshell with fiancé Ione Skye and band mates as angels above him.  Other musicians who appear on the album include Missy Higgins, Cary Brothers, Patience Hodgson of The Grates, Nic Johns, John Alagia (producer of Ripe) and longtime collaborators and musicians Lara Meyerratken and Nic Johns. 

The backstory:

Lee has been living as a working musician for over half of his lifetime.  Beginning at the age of 14, he has stayed grounded and spiritually focused.  Aside from the honor of winning four ARIA Awards (Australia's equivalent to the Grammy), Ben has started to make regular appearances with various symphony orchestras throughout Australia.  Following the first set of sold out symphony performances with the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra, Ben will play with the Queensland Orchestra in Brisbane featuring hits such as "Catch My Disease," "Cigarettes Will Kill You," "We're All In This Together," and more.  He also wrote and produced the original soundtrack to the film "The Square," which is nominated for Best Soundtrack at the 2008 AFI Awards (Australian Equivalent to the Academy Awards).

Ben's songs have been used in over 30 film, TV and commercial syncs off his last two albums.  In the last year he's had syncs on "Grey's Anatomy," "One Tree Hill," and Kohl's Department Stores in the US and Coca Cola internationally.  His music was also recently used in the trailer for "He's Just Not That Into You," starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Anniston, Drew Barrymore and Scarlett Johansson.  Awake is the New Sleep (Ben's first release for New West Records) garnered rave reviews, career-high worldwide sales, and a hit in the track "Catch My Disease."  The album went Double Platinum in Australia, where the single went on to become the first ever independently released #1 radio song in Australian history and went Top 10 in Canada, Spain and the Benelux, and Top 20 in the US. 

Track Listing:

1. What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)

2. Surrender

3. Sing

4. I Love Pop Music

5. Rise Up

6. Yoko Ono

7. Boy With A Barbie

8. Bad Poetry

9. Blue Denim

10. Wake Up To America

11. I'm A Woman Too

12. Families Cheating At Board Games

13. Song For The Divine Mother of the Universe

El Cid club also features Super Sexy burlesque show...

By Fred Mills

"Jane's is doing another show in Los Angeles on November 20th at El Cid. At the moment I don't have any information on ticket availability or time, but I'm sure it will be made available before I get back to a computer. If not, I will for sure post it as soon as I can. I do know that this will be another intimate setting much like the La Cita show, however, the venue is a bit larger. Hopefully we can all avoid another fire masrshal fiasco!"

That's Dave Navarro, posting to his Dark Matter blog, about the Jane's Addiction reunion show this Thursday night at Los Angeles' El Cid venue (4212 W. Sunset Blvd.). Technically, every first and third Thursday the venue holds what they call "The Super Sexy Show Starring the Hollywood Pin Up Girls" (see below)- but then, what could be more appropriate as a floor show at a Janes' concert.

Navarro also gave away a pair of tickets via his blog and noted that  he "will be giving out another pair on Wednesday evening live on Dark Matter - Indie 103.1FM (12a-2a)."

The group played a show last month, on Oct. 23 at La Cita, featuring the original lineup of Navarro, Perry Farrell, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins. This followed an impromptu 4-song performance back in April at the U.S. NME Awards where the band was given the Godlike Genius Award. To date Farrell has steadfastly pooh-poohed any notions of a full-blown Jane's reunion, and Avery has been on notably poor terms with the other three members in the past, but hey, if pigs can fly, and we know now that they can, anything's possible.

This just in, fellow indie rec shop geeks...

By Blurt Staff

NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) has confirmed it will sponsor Record Store Day, April 18, 2009, for which planning has already begun. The sponsorship of the leading trade association for music retailers, wholesalers, distributors, record labels, multimedia suppliers, suppliers of related products and services, and individual professionals and educators in the music business will help the organizers prepare for the targeted event in April '09 as well as continue to keep promoting Record Store Day and the unique culture of indie record stores all year long, in the media and on www.recordstoreday.com.

"NARM is so pleased to be sponsoring Record Store Day 2009," said President Jim Donio. "The extraordinarily successful debut of Record Store Day in 2008 served to perfectly underscore how vibrant and vital record stores are to communities and economies around the world. NARM hopes that its support will enable organizers to make next year's event an even bigger and better celebration of independent music retailers' passion and commitment to the music that enriches and inspires us all."

Event organizers include the Music Monitor Network, the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), Alliance of Independent Music Stores (AIMS) and Newbury.

Music Monitor prez, Michael Kurtz says, "The Music Monitor Network was happy to see NARM get involved with indie-retail's recent Noise In The Basement Creative Conference in Baltimore and is excited to have NARM's sponsorship of Record Store Day. We look forward to now turning our attention to Record Store Day and working with Jim Donio and his crew on Record Store Day 2009. It will be hard to top last year's event but we are going to put our heart and soul into it."

Don Van Cleave of Coalition of Independent Music Stores adds, "The Coalition of Independent Music Stores is very stoked to include NARM in this year's planning for Record Store Day. While the event is targeted at independent music stores, the good vibes from last year's celebration were felt at all of the music retailers that NARM represents. NARM will help us to spread the message that stores that sell music are a very important part of the culture of music. We are looking forward to their help."

April 2008 marked the first Record Store Day event to great success with over 300 stores participating, not only stateside, but overseas as well. Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, Henry Rollins, Shelby Lynne, Tech N9ne, Raheem DeVaughn and scores of other artists and music industry luminaries all offered votes of confidence to Record Store Day which spiked revenue for indie retailers and inspired coverage in such media outlets as National Public Radio, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, the BBC, and even American Idol. In addition, retailers hosted in-store appearances and performances by both top name and local artists, including Metallica, (who started it all with the announcement of the Record Store Day vinyl re-issue of some of their classic albums, along with an in-store signing session), Panic At The Disco, Dresden Dolls, Regina Spektor, Steve Earle, and Billy Bragg.

NARM advances the promotion, marketing, distribution, and sale of music by providing its members with a forum for diverse meeting and networking opportunities, information, and education to support their businesses, as well as advocating for their common interests. NARM's retail members operate thousands of physical, digital and mobile storefronts that account for about 85% of the music sold in the U.S. market. Established in 1958, NARM is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year.

Black Keys singer-guitarist to release solo debut, Keep It Hid, Feb. 10

By Blurt Staff

Don’t call it a breakup—'cause we've heard diddly (and squat!) about the Black Keys breaking up, but when one guy of a two-man band goes solo, it does activate that paranoid section of the brain. ‘Specially ‘cause The Black Keys are one of the last bands we at Blurt wanna lose. Even if it means Dan Auerbach will still make solo records. You know, like Keep It Hid, which is something we did hear about. It’s comin’ atcha February 10, 2009. In true solo fashion, he produced and engineered the record his own se’f. And he’ll go on tour starting February 28 in Washington, D.C. at the 9:30 Club. Here are more dates. And a Black Keys video.  

Dan Auerbach tour dates:

02-28 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club

03-01 Boston, MA - Paradise Club

03-02 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg

03-03 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

03-05 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom

03-06 Chicago, IL - Metro

03-07 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue

03-10 Seattle, WA - The Showbox

03-11 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom

03-13 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo’s 365 Club

03-14 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre

Ah, but what about that metal plate in my head, Axl -- the one that records alien transmissions?

By Fred Mills

Chinese Democracy starts to get the big roll-out starting TODAY in New York, Dallas and Chicago via open-public listening sessions at selected venues. The festivities continue tomorrow night in L.A. and Minneapolis, then on through the week leading up to the Nov. 23 release at - exclusively - Best Buy.

Naturally the mega-retailer is taking pre-orders on the album, which is expected to become the biggest seller of the year. The CD pre-order price is $11.99 (vinyl is $19.99), and fascinatingly, if you go to the Best Buy preorder page and then click on the customer reviews link, there are already 91 reviews of the album posted to the site - 88% of customers would recommend this product to a friend (80 of 91), for an averaged rating of 4.5 (out of 5). This, of course, before the damn thing is even released!

(This reminds me of a funny thing that happened last year with BLURT predecessor Harp magazine: we solicited artists' Top Ten list for 2007, and several of them selected Radiohead's In Rainbows - this, of course, before the damn thing was even released! As we all know, In Rainbows achieved an impressive no-advance-leak status... Yes, with some bribing, I could be convinced to disclose which artists apparently traveled to the future and listened to the album prior to scribbling their Top Ten lists for us.)

Anyhow, to sweeten the deal, if you do the Best Buy preorder thing, you can take your receipt with you to one of the listening parties and not only receive a free/exclusive Chinese Democracy teeshirt while supplies last (what, no Dr. Pepper?), but you'll get bumped to the front of the queue at the venue. (In theory, at least; they're calling this "front of the line access" but of course if EVERYBODY pre-orders the album they'll wind up canceling out everyone else's access.

One last thing: no cell phones or recording devices are allowed in the venues. Now THAT is paranoid. Wouldn't want folks out here in Normalsville, USA, without access to a major city hosting a listening party to get to hear the album ahead of time, eh?

Hey, go for it, kids! What's the worst that can happen? And if Axl gives you a beatdown, you can write a book about it!

***

Those listening parties:

NYC

11/17 at 7PM

ALL AGES

WEBSTER HALL - THE STUDIO

125 E 11th St.

New York, NY 10003



DALLAS

11/17 at 8PM

21+ OVER

WHISKY BAR

1930 Greenville Ave,

Dallas, TX 75206



CHICAGO

11/17 at 8PM

21+ OVER

JOE'S

940 W. Weed St .

Chicago, IL , 60622



LOS ANGELES

11/18 at 9PM

ALL AGES

THE ROXY

9009 West Sunset Blvd.,

West Hollywood, CA 90069



MINNEAPOLIS

11/18 at 6:30PM

18 + OVER

FINE LINE

318 1st Ave

N Minneapolis, MN 55401



ATLANTA

11/19 at 7:30PM

ALL AGES

TABERNACLE

152 Luckie Street

Atlanta, GA 30303



SAN FRANCISCO

11/20 at 7:30PM

21+ OVER

MEZZANINE

444 Jessie Street,

San Francisco, CA 94103



BOSTON

11/20 at 8PM

ALL AGES

CAVERN CLUB at HARD ROCK CAFÉ

22-24 Clinton St.

Boston, MA 02109



DETROIT

11/20 at 7 PM

ALL AGES

St. ANDREWS HALL

431 E Congress St.

Detroit, MI 48226

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin' on? Not likely. Here are BLURT's top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

9:00 AM SYN: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Emily Bear

1:00 PM VH1C: That Metal Show: Lita Ford

2:30 PM FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Gaslight Anthem

4:30 PM Noggin: Yo Gabba Gabba!: Supernova , Biz Markie

5:00 PM Sundance: Runnin' Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

8:00 PM Great American Country: Master Series:  Glen Campbell

10:00 PM Smithsonian: Sound Revolution: Blues Beginning - B.B. King , Ike Turner , Buddy Guy , Clarence

"Gatemouth" Brown , Etta James

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: Prince

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Barry Manilow

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Kanye West

12:35 AM NBC: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Blitzen Trapper , Snoop Dogg

1:30 AM ETV: Saturday Night Live:  Britney Spears

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: P.O.D. , Wayne Brady

[Please don't sue us, Pr##ce - we only use your name aa a recommended TV listing, not to pimp our fansite. Love, the artists formerly known as Harp.]

But how the heck do we get those two bonus tracks, Boss?

By Blurt Staff

"Towards the end of recording 'Magic,' excited by the return to pop production sounds, I continued writing. When my friend producer Brendan O'Brien heard the new songs, he said, 'Let's keep going.' Over the course of the next year, that's just what we did, recording with the E Street Band during the breaks on last year's tour. I hope 'Working on a Dream' has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we've ever done. All the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes, and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end."

That's Bruce Springsteen talking, of course, in a statement released this morning to announce the Jan. 27 release of his next album, Working on a Dream. Recorded with Magic producer Brendan O'Brien in Atlanta (additional recording in NYC, LA and New Jersey), it features 12 cuts (see track list below) plus a pair of bonus tracks, "The Wrestler" and "A Night with the Jersey Devil."

The official press release was unclear as to whether those two extras will be included on the CD or will be targeted as iTunes exclusives, etc. However, sharp-eyed fans already know the sources of both tracks: "The Wrestler" is a track the Boss penned for the new Darren Aronofsky film of the same name starring Mickey Rourke, while "Jersey Devil" is the special Halloween goodie Springsteen handed out a couple of weeks ago as a video and free MP3.

Oh, and the title track? That's the tune Bruce was playing at Obama rallies leading up to the election. See a YouTube clip of him doing the song, below.

Track Listing:

1. Outlaw Pete
2. My Lucky Day
3. Working on a Dream
4. Queen of the Supermarket
5. What Love Can Do
6. This Life
7. Good Eye
8. Tomorrow Never Knows
9. Life Itself
10. Kingdom of Days
11. Surprise, Surprise
12. The Last Carnival

Bonus tracks:

The Wrestler
A Night with the Jersey Devil

Damn. Check out those peace symbols...

By Blurt Staff

Not to be outdone by all the imminent wall-to-wall Chinese Democracy coverage, Slash stepped into the media spotlight the other day - and this time, for a rather worthy reason. The erstwhile Guns N' Roses guitarist, along with his wife Perla Hudson, spoke out against California's recently-passed Proposition 8, which of course stands to institutionalize discrimination in the state unless the burgeoning counter movement can mobilize effectively gain headway among citizens and voters.

Go to www.jointheimpact.com for details on that, and meanwhile check out the YouTube video below featuring Slash. We've come a long way since "One In A Million," eh baby?

Underneath the Owl due March 10.

By Blurt Staff

En route for March 10 is the next album from Austin's Riverboat Gamblers, the Mudrock-produced Underneath the Owl (East West). This will be the followup to their 2006 Volcom Records release To the Confusion of Our Enemies; see below for the bio scoop.

Meanwhile, to drum up some advance buzz, the group's offering up a free MP3 of the first singe, "A Choppy, Yet Sincere Apology". There are several places you can nab it from:

I Like:

www.ilike.com/artist/The+Riverboat+Gamblers

Pure Volume:

http://www.purevolume.com/riverboatgamblers

Official band website:

http://www.theriverboatgamblers.com

***

On the band:

Originally formed in 1997, the Gamblers built a local following and busted out of the Denton TX college scene in 2001 on the back of their self-released 7" single "Jenna Is A No Show". With that the band began to take the show from the dives bars and house parties of UNT on to the rest of the country. Austin punk legend Tim Kerr produced their self-titled debut album that was released on the D.C. based Vile Beat Records. A couple years later, despite rabid major-label interest (in part derived from an explosive set at 2003's South by Southwest festival), the Gamblers released their second album "Something To Crow About" through San Francisco's Gearhead Records. In 2006 the band recorded and released their debut for Volcom Entertainment, "To The Confusion Of Our Enemies", and hit the road with Against Me!, Eagles of Death Metal, Horrorpops, The Rollins Band, X, Joan Jett and co-headlined the inaugural Volcom Tour in the U.S. with label mates, Valient Thorr.

Photo Credit: Gary Copeland

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin' on? Not likely. Here are BLURT's top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

SATURDAY, NOV. 15:

11:00 AM & 5:00 PM IFC: Henry Rollins Uncut: South Africa

2:30 PM FUSE: Lil' Wayne's World

4:00 PM PLD HD: Genesis - When in Rome

5:00 PM RAVE HD: Later With Jools Holland: Morrissey , British Sea Power , Nate James , Ida Maria , Joe Brown , Mayra Andrade

7:30 PM IFC: Grand Theft Parsons (2003)

8:00 PM PLD HD: Rothbury 2008 W/Dave Matthews Band , John Mayer , Widespread Panic

9:00 PM PBS: Austin City Limits:  Aimee Mann / Iron & Wine

9:00 PM PLD HD: Across the Sea - Weezer Live in Japan

9:30 PM NBC: Saturday Night Live:  Anna Faris / Duffy

10:00 PM ETV: Saturday Night Live (E!):  Lindsay Lohan / Usher

11:00 PM VH1C: That Metal Show: Lita Ford

11:30 PM NBC: Saturday Night Live:  Paul Rudd / Beyonce

12:30 AM MTV2: Saturday Rock The Deuce:  Oasis

1:00 AM BBCA: The Graham Norton Show: Glasvegas

SUNDAY, NOV. 16:

7:00 AM A&E: Biography: Jimi Hendrix

8:00 AM A&E: Biography: Janis Joplin

10:00 AM PLD HD: Hall & Oates: Our Kind of Soul

2:00 PM PLD HD: Across the Sea - Weezer Live in Japan

2:00 PM & 12:00 AM VH1C: That Metal Show: Lita Ford

5:00 PM VH1C: BBC Electric Proms: Paul McCartney

5:30 PM CWTV: 4Real: M.I.A. 

8:00 PM HDNet: New Order - Live in Glasgow 

8:00 & 9:00 PM Smithsonian: Sound Revolution: Blues Beginning w/B.B. King , Ike Turner , Buddy Guy , Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown , Etta James

8:00 PM VH1C: Movie: In His Life: The John Lennon Story

8:15 PM NBC: NBC Sunday Night Football: Bruce Springsteen

11:00 PM VH1C: BBC Crown Jewels: Rock Goes To College: Tom Petty

12:00 AM MTV2: MTV Europe Music Awards: Katy Perry , Beyoncé , Kanye West , Estelle , Pink , The Killers

[Photos: Lita (off the web, from an old CREEM pic; Bruce, from staffer's bootleg CD cover!]