NYC's Yeah Yeah Yeahs have announced an April 14 release date for new album "It's Blitz!"?
Why do you care? C'mon, they cut a bunch of it at Tony Rancich's Sonic Ranch studios in Tornillo last spring (see previous items on this blog).
The 10-track disc was cut there, Long View Farms in Massachusetts and Brooklyn's Stayglo studios with producers Nick Launay and David Sitek of TV on the Radio. Guest contributions come from TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone and jazz pianist Greg Kurstin, also known as Lily Allen's producer.
The new album, their third, also features horns and synthesizers, including a vintage Arp, a new element to the YYYs' kinetic sound.
The first single from the disc, "Zero," will be released April 7.
Here's the track listing:
1. Zero
2. Heads Will Roll
3. Soft Shock
4. Skeletons
5. Dull Life
6. Shame and Fortune
7. Runaway
8. Dragon Queen
9. Hysteric
10. Little Shadow
The band will be announcing a slate of dates soon (they've already confirmed a Coachella appearance on April 19). Let's hope they return to the Sun City to play some of the songs they recorded here.
In other album news:
• The Crystal Method, who did premiere new material when they did a DJ set last year at Studio 69, announced that their next album is called "Divided By Night" and it will be out May 12. Matisyahu guests on the lead single, "Drown in the Now." The duo plans a tour with a full band, their first in five years but only their March 21 SXSW show and their April 17 Coachella dates have been announced. Other guests on the CD include New Order's Peter Hook, Metric's Emily Haines, She Wants Revenge's Justin Warfield, Meiko, LMFAO and Jason Lytle.
• Dave Matthews Band will release a new, as yet untitled studio album, produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Kid Rock, My Chem) on June 2. DMB launches their next tour April 14 in NYC and will play dates across North America and Europe through Oct. 2, though, regrettably, none will be here. Shows within striking distance for us include Houston's Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (May 1), Dallas' Superpages.com Center (May 2), Albuquerque's Journal Pavilion (May 5), Phoenix's Cricket Wireless Pavilion (May 6) and Vegas' MGM Garden Arena (May 8-9).
Openers include the Avett Brothers, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Switchfoot, the Hold Steady, the Old Crow Medicine Show and Texas songwriter king Robert Earl Keen.
The touring band includes violinist Boyd Tinsley, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer Carter Beauford, singer-guitarist Tim Reynolds, trumpeter Rashawn Ross and saxophonist Jeff Coffin, all of whom appear on the new album.
Online ticket requests may be made at warehouse.davematthewsband.com. Tickets go on sale to the general public March 12-14.
• U2 and Bob Dylan have contributed "Love Rescue Me" to the Playing for Change CD and DVD, "Playing for Change — Songs Around the World," coming out April 28. I've blogged about Playing for Change before. It's a unique effort in which producer and engineer Mark Johnson traveled the world recording various musicians, many of them street performers, playing songs. Johnson then splices them all together into one recording (with an accompanying video) that almost sounds as though he gathered them all together in the studio and recorded them together, a la "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "We Are the World."
It includes "Stand By Me" (the track I wrote about earlier), Bob Marley's "One Love" and "War/No More Trouble" (which includes vocals by Bono and the late reggae legend), Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," Peter Gabriel's "Biko" and Tracy Chapman's "Talkin' Bout a Revolution." Other notable guests include blues/folk singer-guitarist Keb Mo.
Some of the musicians on the disc will take part in a five-city tour kicking off March 20 at SXSW in Austin.
Hey Doug,
You should review the latest Tragically Hip cd coming out on April 7th. You can go to www.thehip.com to listen to their first single. They never get enough exposure in the States but are huge in Canada and Europe. Are you a fan?
Posted by: EP | February 20, 2009 at 07:41 AM
http://www.huckmagazine.com/features/yeah-yeah-yeahs/
http://www.huckmagazine.com/features/yeah-yeah-yeahs/
http://www.huckmagazine.com/features/yeah-yeah-yeahs/
Posted by: Sooz | July 14, 2009 at 09:20 AM