Billy Corgan Prepares First Solo Album

Slated for release on June 21 on Warner Brothers, the album includes guest spots from Robert Smith, on a cover of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", and Jimmy Chamberlin. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Corgan said, "It's guitar-driven and loud, but not aggressive. The videos, music, and tour will be really new and different. No one will accuse me of sitting on my past." No, we'd never, ever, ever do that, Billy. Never.Tracklist:

01 All Things Change
02 Mina Loy (M.O.H.)
03 TheCameraEye
04 To Love Somebody
05 A100
06 DIA
07 Now (and Then)
08 I'm Ready
09 Walking Shade
10 Sorrows (in Blue)
11 Pretty, pretty STAR
12 Strayz

Gang of Four to Reissue Entertainment!

Rhino Records has announced a May 17 arrival date for the reissue, which supplements the original 12-track record with the four-song Yellow EP and four further bonus tracks that, as far as we can tell, are previously unreleased. The songs from Yellow have already been used as bonuses for earlier editions of Entertainment!, though one of them, "Armalite Rifle", was left off of the most recent pressing in England. (The U.S. reissue on Henry Rollins' Infinite Zero Records had it, but the British version has had the distinct advantage of actually, you know, being in print.) Tracklist:

01 Ether
02 Natural's Not In It
03 Not Great Men
04 Damaged Goods
05 Return the Gift
06 Guns Before Butter
07 I Found That Essence Rare
08 Glass
09 Contract
10 At Home He's a Tourist
11 5.45
12 Anthrax
13 Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time (Yellow EP)
14 He'd Send in the Army (Yellow EP)
15 It's Her Factory (Yellow EP)
16 Armalite Rifle (Yellow EP)
17 Contract (alternate recording)
18 Guns Before Butter (alternate recording)
19 Blood Free (live song, unreleased)
20 Sweet Jane (live) [Velvet Underground]

To catch the reunited Gang of Four live for a night of what bassist Dave Allen recently called "white sexless funk," you can go to one of the shows listed here:

05-01 Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
05-02 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
05-03 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
05-05 Portland, OR - Roseland
05-06 Seattle, WA - Showbox
05-07 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore
05-10 Minneapolis, MN - Quest
05-11 Chicago, IL - Metro
05-12 Chicago, IL - Metro
05-14 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix
05-16 Boston, MA - Avalon
05-17 New York City, NY - Irving Plaza
05-18 New York City, NY - Irving Plaza
05-20 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05-21 Philadelphia, PA - Theater of the Living Arts

Gang Of Four: http://www.gangoffour.co.uk/

Will Oldham, Tortoise Collaborate on Covers Album

"On one level, it sounds like a cross between Tortoise and Will Oldham," Tortoise bassist Doug McCombs told the Chicago Reader. "But ultimately it sounds like a collaboration between six people, not just a group and one guy."

Set for an October release via Overcoat, the involved parties are also rumoured to be embarking on a tour, but that's still in pipe-dream stage. Of course, we'll keep you updated as soon as it makes the jump to wet-dream, but for now all we can do is give you a neat lil' list of the tracks the indie stalwarts have recorded:

* Thunder Road (Bruce Sprinsgsteen)
* Daniel (Elton John)
* The Calvary Cross (Richard Thompson)
* That's Pep! (Devo)
* It's Expected I'm Gone (the Minutemen)
* Cravo e Canela (Milton Nascimento)
* Some Say (I Got Devil) (Melanie)
* Pancho (Dan Williams)
* Love Is Love (Lungfish)
* On My Own (Quix*o*tic)

Overcoat Recordings: http://www.overcoatrecordings.com/

Neil Young Hospitalized for Brain Aneurysm

The first signs of trouble came on March 14, after a performance with the Pretenders at New York's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, when Young began experiencing visual field disturbances. Shortly thereafter, he was given an MRI scan, which revealed a blood vessel had burst in his brain. Surgery was scheduled for this week. Young passed the time between the diagnosis and procedure recording in a Nashville studio.

Weill Cornell Medical Center's Dr. Pierre Gobin, who, with assistance from another doctor, performed the procedure, said Young "is now resting comfortably... but we strongly recommend that he not travel for several days." It's advice Young has taken to heart: He's cancelled an appearance he was scheduled to make this Sunday at Canada's Juno Awards in order to allow himself adequate time to fully recover. "I grew up [in Winnipeg] and was really looking forward to the show as well as spending some time with my old friends and family," said Young in a press statement. "Thanks to my doctors, I'm feeling a lot better now, so I hope I can get a rain check."

Melanie Berry, president of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, sends her condolences: "Our thoughts are with Mr. Young tonight as he recuperates in New York," she said. "Of course, we are disappointed that he is unable to attend Sunday's Juno Awards; however, I know I speak on behalf of our broadcast partner CTV and our production partner Insight Productions in our wish for his full and speedy recovery."

Neil Young: http://neilyoung.com

Superpitcher to Release Mix on Kompakt

01 Lawrence: "Spark" (Ghostly International)
02 DJ Koze: "Let's Help Me" (Kompakt)
03 Michael Mayer: "Lovefood (Matias Aguayo Mix)" (Kompakt)
04 Triola: "Leuchtturm (Wighnomy's Polarzipper Remix)" (Kompakt)
05 Oliver Hacke: "21:31" (Trapez)
06 The Psychonauts: "The World Keeps Turning (Highfish & Zander Remix)" (International Deejay Gigolo Records)
07 Nathan Fake: "Dinamo" (Traum)
08 Wighnomy Bros.: "Wurz+Blosse" (Kompakt)
09 Superpitcher: "Happiness (Lawrence Mix)" (Kompakt)
10 Max Mohr: "Old Song" (Playhouse)
11 Sebastien Tellier: "La Ritournelle" (Record Makers)

Orange Juice Comp to Be Released

The Glasgow School comes out May 17 and focuses entirely on Orange Juice's early days, compiling their first four singles for Postcard Records with songs recorded for their proposed debut album, Ostrich Churchyard. That Postcard LP wasn't released until 1992; instead, the band signed to Polydor, repurposing eight of the songs for 1982 debut album You Can't Hide Your Love Forever and another for their follow-up album released later the same year, Rip It Up. Anyway, here's the whole, how do you say it, tracklist:

01 Falling and Laughing
02 Moscow
03 Moscow Olympics
04 Blue Boy
05 Love Sick
06 Simply Thrilled Honey
07 Breakfast Time, Breakfast Time
08 Poor Old Soul (Part One)
09 Poor Old Soul (Part Two)
10 Louise Louise
11 Three Cheers for Our Side
12 In a Nutshell
13 Satellite City
14 Consolation Prize
15 Holiday Hymn
16 Intuition Told Me (Part One)
17 Intuition Told Me (Part Two)
18 Wan Light
19 Dying Day
20 Texas Fever
21 Tender Object
22 Blokes On 45

Edwyn Collins is currently still recovering from a serious cerebral hemorrhage he suffered on February 20-- the eventual impact is still unknown. In recent years he had created and acted in a BBC sitcom, and produced records for several younger bands.

Edwyn Collins: http://www.edwyncollins.com
Domino Recording Co.: http://www.dominorecordco.com/

N.E.R.D. Management Denies Breakup

While exact details of the dispute were never made clear, what is clear is that their management company is insisting that the differences have been mended. NME reports that the band's management issued a statement from Pharrell stating the following: "N.E.R.D. is still very much a band. We are playing a show together in Japan in two weeks. And we continue to appreciate the support from all our fans."

I guess "No One Ever Really Dies" after all. At least not in the next two weeks.

Star Trak: http://www.startrakmusic.com

Frank Black's Honeycomb Coming in July

Honeycomb features work from eminent studio musicians such as keyboardist Spooner Oldham, guitarist Steve Cropper, and drummer Billy Block. The album features 11 original songs from Black, including "Atom in My Heart", "Another Velvet Nightmare" (co-written with Reid Paley), "Go Find Your Saint", "Violet", "I Burn Today", and "My Life Is in Storage". The three covers that round out the record are Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day", Roy Bennett and Sid Tepper's "Song of the Shrimp"-- which was made popular by Elvis Presley in the film Girls, Girls, Girls-- and Dan Penn and Chips Moman's "Dark End of the Street".

Speaking about the album, Black said, "I can say without a doubt that the Honeycomb session was the most moving and mind-blowing experience I've ever had in my musical career. Steve Cropper co-wrote the first rock'n'roll song that I ever sang in front of an audience ("In The Midnight Hour"). It was a pure pleasure to come full circle with Mr. Cropper." No plans for Black touring behind Honeycomb have been set. He is performing with the reunited Pixies through North America and Europe, with an appearance at the Sasquatch Festival on May 28.

Fiery Furnaces Plan Tour, Lend Support to PETA

Visitors to the site can also learn why Common is a vegetarian, how Peaches the horny rocker stuck up for Peaches the elephant (stuck in cramped quarters at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, it seems), and why Agnostic Front's Roger Miret no longer breeds pit bulls for the fighting ring, among many, many other such tales.

Just back from a brief Pacific Rim tour in March, the Fiery Furnaces will take their anti-cruelty weirdo-pop from the New York island to California in April and May, according to the band's official site. No animals will be harmed in the making of this tour:

04-07 Brooklyn, NY - North Six
04-08 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
04-09 New York, NY - Webster Hall
04-12 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
04-13 Newport, KY - Southgate House
04-15 Atlanta, GA - Emory University
04-16 Nashville, TN - Exit/In
04-18 St. Louis, MO - Gargoyle Club
04-19 Columbia, MO - Blue Note
04-20 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck
04-22 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
04-23 Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
04-26 Sacramento, CA - Harlow's
04-28 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
04-29 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
05-01 Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

PETA2: http://www.peta2.com
The Fiery Furnaces: http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com

Ghostface Preps Three LPs, Works With Doom, Raekwon

Ironman and the Vaudeville Villain have already completed six songs, and just in case you sense a potential clash of styles in the collaboration (the same people who've already forgotten Madvillainy), Ghostface explained the attraction to MTV: "I'm into old hip-hop, and the music that he makes is right up my alley. His beats are real underground. He's got the sound RZA had back in the day." Doom's label, Nature Sounds, will likely release the album.

However, it doesn't end there. Doom has also been involved with Ghostface's follow-up to last year's The Pretty Toney Album. The album has been tentatively dubbed Rapper's Delight, and it will also feature several guest spots by Raekwon. Which leads us to album number three: though the process has just begun, Ghostface said, "I told him [Raekwon] to send me some beats that he wants to use so I could catch some lines on it when I could."

Clearly, this album isn't quite so advanced as the other two, but who cares? Ghostface sounds like a man on a mission when he says, "I just wanna get my talent out to the world within these next two or three years. And maybe two albums after that I might call it a wrap."

Ghostface even had some thoughts on what will come after he hangs up the mic. "I'm going to go straight into film," he said. "I've been writing movies. I want to produce and direct if I could and just get my movie career up, 'cause I think I could get real busy on the acting tip."

This all seems perfectly natural coming from a member of the Wu, but it still won't detract from the pleasure of seeing "Producer, director, actor: Tony Starks." And oh, the possibilities for collaboration on the silver screen! Makes news hounds like ourselves feel all warm inside.

Ghostface: http://www.defjam.com/ghostface/
Def Jam Records: http://www.defjam.com/

Guitar Wolf Bassist Hideaki Sekiguchi Dead at 38

The band had just returned Sunday from a monthlong North American tour, and were slated to play an April 9 show in Tokyo before touring Australia. All future dates have been cancelled, and the band's continued existence is uncertain. In an odd coincidence, Narnack was already preparing an expanded U.S. release of I Love Guitar Wolf Very Much, a tribute album featuring the Coachwhips, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Lightning Bolt, J. Mascis and the Fog, and Puffy AmiYumi, among others. The album came out last year in Japan and will be issued in the U.S. soon, Nord said.

Guitar Wolf: http://www.guitarwolf.net/

Björk to Release Remix Comp for Charity

After the tragedy, Björk announced that she was holding a contest in which anyone could submit a cover or remix of her song "Army of Me", with the best entries being placed on a compilation to be sold for charity. All of the money raised will go to support UNICEF, and the goal is for $500,000 to be raised within the first 10 days of the album's release.

Given only a week to create and submit a version of the song, more than 600 artists submitted a piece. Björk and Graham Massey, who co-wrote the original tune, then set out to choose 20 tracks to put onto the compilation.

Seeking variety, the winning entries cover a wide array of musical styles, from metal to country, as well as a number of electronic remixes. The album will be released by One Little Indian U.S. and distributed by Navarre on May 31. The album will be available for order from Björk's website on April 2. You can also visit the site for more information on the artists that contributed their services to the mix.

01 Interzone: "Army of Me" (Canada)
02 Grisbi: "Army of Me" (France)
03 50 Hertz, Häxor & Porr, Slagsmålsklubben: "Army of Djur" (Sweden)
04 The Messengers of God: "Army of Me" (UK/U.S.)
05 Dr. Syntax'N'CB Turbo v Rivethead: "Army of Me" (UK)
06 Dr. Gunni: "Army of Me" (Iceland)
07 Martin White: "Army of Me" (Accordion Mix) (UK)
08 HEMP: "Army of Me" (France)
09 Lunamoth: "Army of Me (UK/Ireland/Germany)
10 Beats Beyond: "Army of Me (Bersarinplatz Mix)" (Germany)
11 Peter Baker: "Army of Me (Baker Mix)" (UK)
12 Random: "Army of Me" (UK)
13 Atoi: "Army of Me" (Denmark)
14 R.Luvbeats: "Army of Me (The Liquid Riot Mix)" (U.S.)
15 Alfredo Lietor: "Army of Me (Pink Battle Mash Up)" (Spain)
16 Patrick Wolf: "Army of Me ("Army of Klaus Remix)" (UK)
17 Neetoo: "Army of Me (Undancing Remix)" (France)
18 Liliom: "A(r)mour" (France)
19 Mikhail Karikis: "Once More (in CoF Minor)" (Greece)
20 Tor Bruce: ""Army of Me" (Sweden)

Also, Björk is preparing to release a two-disc DVD version of her most recent album, Medulla. The set features a documentary about the making of the album, the music videos, and, of course, the actual album in 5.1 surround sound. The second disc will not be available in the UK, U.S., and Iceland, because its material was already released separately in those countries, but it will be available to the rest of the world for the first time. That second disc contains, "The Inner or Deep Part of an Animal or Plant Structure", a documentary about the making of the album.

>>Disc 1
01 Oceania (Lynn Fox)
02 Who Is It? (Dawn Shadforth)
03 Triumph of a Heart (Spike Jonze)
04 Desired Constellation (Lynn Fox)
05 Where Is The Line? (Gabriela Fridriksdottir)
06 Triumph of a Heart: Stories Behind the Music Video (Ragnheidur Gestdottir)

Björk's "Army of Me" Site: http://unit.Björk.com/specials/aom/

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)