Mammoth Blog

The British trio Keane have had considerable success since their 2004 debut "Hopes And Fears" and the single, "Somewhere Only We Know."

On their latest studio album, "Perfect Symmetry," the group displays their trademark melodic songcraft and soaring vocals, and weaves in a decidedly 1980s New Wave pop flair on many of the album's 11 tracks, which are mostly uptempo.

But don't mistake "Perfect Symmetry" for a collection of lightweight, retro pop.

Perhaps reflecting the band's struggles after singer Tom Chaplin's publicized bout with drug and alcohol addiction following the release of the band's second album two years ago, "Perfect Symmetry" sees Keane exploring more sombre themes, including the dark side of fame, the inevitability of karmic payback and heartbreak.

The best tracks on "Perfect Symmetry" soar in contrast to their sombre subject matter.

The opening track, "Spiralling," starts off with heavyweight '80s pop beat, synths and a recurrent "Ooh!" that feels pulled straight out of song by fellow Brits Wang Chung. But Chaplin is not slinging fluff when he sings "When we fall in love/We're just falling in love with ourselves."

In "Better Than This," another deceivingly bright pop number, Chaplin sings "Could have been something, but you're too late/And you weren't invited anyway."

Perhaps the strongest song, the piano-driven title track, "Perfect Symmetry," glides from one sing-along hook to the next and soars into an epic anthem as Chaplin implores, "And maybe you'll find life is unkind/And over so soon/There is no golden gate/There's no heaven waiting for you."

Keane leaves the best for last with "Love Is The End," a slow, lullaby-like track stripped down mostly to little more than a drum loop, piano and vocals. Chaplin is at his most melodic here, weaving a tale of love lost with an angelic, mournful touch that builds to a full, cathartic choral outro.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: "Black Burning Heart" is instantly catchy modern pop without the '80s effects audible in many of the other tracks on the album - and even features a bit of French vocals. source>>>

Alicia Keys leads the nominees for the 2008 American Music Awards with five, including artist of the year, favorite female artist -- pop or rock music, favorite female artist -- soul/rhythm & blues music and favorite album in pop or rock music and soul/R&B music for "As I Am."

Coldplay and the Eagles earned four nominations each. Coldplay was nominated for artist of the year, favorite band, duo or group -- pop or rock music, favorite artist -- alternative rock music and favorite album -- pop or rock music for "Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends."

The Eagles scored nominations for: artist of the year, favorite band, duo or group -- pop or rock music, favorite artist -- adult contemporary music, and favorite album pop or rock music for "Long Road Out of Eden."

The other artists nominated for artist of the year are Lil Wayne, who was also nominated for favorite male artist -- rap/hip-hop music and favorite album rap/hip-hop music for "Tha Carter III"; and Chris Brown, who also received nominations for favorite male artist -- pop or rock music and favorite male artist -- soul/rhythm & blues music.

Other artists receiving multiple nominations are Mary J. Blige, Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey, Daughtry, Flo Rida, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, Usher and Kanye West.

Voting for the awards is done online via ABC.com's American Music Awards website. The AMAs will be held Nov. 23 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. They will be aired live on ABC and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. source>>>

The 4 track Sway EP is available to download now from iTunes for £1.99. The bundle includes an exclusive string version of Sway which isn't included on the album and a wonderful live version of Sway which was recorded in a studio in Woodstock, upstate New York whilst the band were on their sell out tour of North America. It's also available on CD and 2 x 7"s. The tracklisting across all formats is:

ITunes bundle:

1. Sway (Radio Mix)
2. Sway (Live Woodstock Session)
3. Stole Away (Demo)
4. It Can Be So Hard (Demo)

CD:

1. Sway (Radio Mix)

2. Stole Away (Demo)

7"

1. Sway

2. It Can Be So Hard (Demo)

7"

1. Sway (Radio Mix)

2. Sway (Live Woodstock Session)

Britney Spears didn't just debut her new video for the single "Womanizer" on ABC Friday night (October 10th), she also debuted a newly toned body. The video opens with a naked Britney, dripping in sweat and writhing around in a sauna. She's lying on her back with her arms folded across her chest, and the scene is shot so none of her private parts are revealed. It's not clear what the sauna scenes have to do with the rest of the video, which shows the singer dressed as a housewife, an office worker, a waitress and a limo driver all roughing up the same womanizing guy.

The song is from Britney's upcoming album, Circus, which is due out on December 2 -- Britney's 27th birthday. source>>>

In a blog posted on their website, titled 'An Important Message from Fall Out Boy', the band said they originally thought "it would be a fun idea" for the release of new album 'Folie a Deux' to hit shelves on the same of day of their home country's presidential election.

However, the post reads: "But this is not the election to be cute. This is the most important election of our time and, as much as the record is a social commentary and the term 'folie a deux' is relevant to the candidates, we felt as though rather than making a commentary we were only riding the wave of the election. This seemed less and less like what we intended to do and more of a gimmick."

To make it up to Fall Out Boy fans waiting patiently for the new album, the band will play a series of small club shows in America in November.

They continued: "This will not be a tour and will for the most part not be in areas we have played in a while. These shows will take place in extremely small clubs that we played in prior to take this to your grave. Tickets will be very affordable and only available on day of."

'Folie a Deux' will now be released on December 16. source>>>

Those hard-rockin' ladies known as The Veronicas have a new Web series debuting on Yahoo Music today that promises to showcase the girls' rise from growing up in Brisbane, Australia, to landing at the top of today's music scene as one of the finest purveyors of in-your-face rock 'n' roll.
Called "The Veronicas - Untouched," the series promises to show and tell everything you need to know about twin sisters Lisa and Jess Origliasso, and will detail their tour supporting their Hook Me Up album.
With a new episode every week for 10 weeks, "The Veronicas - Untouched" will also include music videos, footage shot during their tour with the Jonas Brothers and those always popular, never-before-seen backstage clips.
So, what are you waiting for? "The Veronicas - Untouched" is happening now at the band's Yahoo Music Channel. It's 10 weeks of The Veronicas on your desktop. Such a deal! source>>>

Levon's New Year's Eve Ramble!!
The Levon Helm Band
The Alexis P. Suter Band

Order Now!!

AI: The heavily promoted Def Leppard concert, scheduled to happen on 17 and 19 October in Bangalore and Mumbai has been indefinitely postponed.

E-18, the organisers have cited recent serial blasts in the country and other violent occurences as the reasons for this development.

When contacted, E-18 CEO Farhad Wadia said, "How can you have a concert when there are bomb blasts in the country? Security was one of the main reasons why we had to postpone the concert. Eventually, the band also decided not to perform since the situation is too precarious."

The Def Leppard official website too has released a statement, "We are sorry to report that due to unforeseen circumstances, the two shows in India (scheduled to take place on October 17 and 19 in Bangalore and Mumbai, resp.) have been cancelled. We apologize to our Indian fans and we hope to be able to make up for it in the future."

The Def Leppard Concert was hugely promoted during the last E18 event, I-Rock, and it is apparent that the cancellation of the concert has irked sponsors. Farhad Wadia admitted that convincing the Def Leppard concert sponsors was not easy.

However, on being questioned about the Anoushka Shankar- Jethro Tull concert which is set to happen in December, Farhad Wadia said, "The Anoushka - Jethro concert is happening - 100 per cent."

The Def Leppard 'Songs from the sparkle lounge' tour, which was initially scheduled to begin in India will now start from Tokyo (October 23- October 28) and will later move to Australia. According to their official website, the band's tour ends at New Zealand on 14 November 2008 source>>>

Linkin Park has been forced to cancel its five Music For Relief concerts in Mainland China, Macau and Taipei, from October 12-21, as well as an October 6 Las Vegas, NV show, after lead vocalist Chester Bennington sustained a back injury. He is under doctor's orders to refrain from traveling or any physical activities.

Cash refunds will be available for ticketholders who purchased tickets in cash at The Venetian in Macao. Those who purchased tickets by credit cards will automatically have the full amount refunded to their accounts.

The concerts were organized as fundraisers to benefit Sichuan Province in southwestern China, which was ravaged by a devastating earthquake this past May. Funds will still be contributed to the band's nonprofit organization, Music For Relief, and matched by the World Bank.

Linkin Park were on the road in the U.S. earlier this year for the summer-long Projekt Revolution Tour with Chris Cornell, The Bravery and Ashes Divide. The band's song "Leave Out All The Rest" is appearing on the "Twilight" movie soundtrack, which comes out on November 4, two weeks before the film opens in theaters on November 21.

Cancelled Linkin Park itinerary:
(Dates subject to change.)
October 12 Shanghai, CHI Shanghai Stadium
October 15 Wuhan, CHI Xinhua Stadium
October 17 Taipei, TAI Taipei Soccer Stadium
October 19 Beijing, CHI Beijing Workers Stadium
October 21 Macau, CHI Cotai Arena - The Venetian source>>>

Hot Chip

ALEXIS TAYLOR SOLO ALBUM, HOT CHIP ON 'AMAZON TRIBE' & LIVE SHOW THIS SATURDAY...

Alexis Taylor has a new solo album, 'Rubbed Out', available now via London's Treader label. You can find it here and very soon in all good record shops...

Elsewhere, Hot Chip have recorded a track for the new album 'Bruce Parry presents Amazon Tribe - Songs For Survival' on Kensaltown Records. The album has been put together by Parry, star of the BBC's 'Tribe' and 'Amazon' series and all in support of Survival International. For more information click here.

Finally, Hot Chip return this week from their U.S. tour to play as special guests at their first label, Moshi Moshi's, 10th Anniversary party at Matter in London this Saturday. Line-up and details are:

Hot Chip
Kate Nash
Florence And The Machine
Tilly And The Wall
Slow Club
The Mae-shi
The Wave Pictures
James Yuill

Greco-Roman Soundsystem:
Ross Allen
Drums of Death (live)
Joe Hot Chip
Raf Daddy

and Moshi Moshi DJs

Saturday 18th October at
Matter in Greenwich.
8 pm - 6 am

All This, All Night for just £17.50

£1 from each ticket sold goes to Shelter.

It's your first concert. You can feel the excitement in the air. You are filled with anticipation and the expectation of a great night. You thought everything through, and you have your camera, sharpie, and you attempted to dress like you belong there. But how do you stay safe?

There are some really easy tips you can follow to ensure that what should be one of the best experiences of your life doesn't end in the ER.

- Back or Front: Humans have a tendency to gravitate toward the middle of crowds. Instinctively, it feels the safest. At a concert, it's the worst place to be. The very back and the space literally on the rail/against the stage are the safest places to be. (When you get more experienced, the middle is the most fun.)

- Make friends: The people around you are your allies. I can't tell you how many times someone standing near me, who barely knew me, saved my rear end.

- Watch security: Crowd surfing is dangerous even to those who don't crowd surf. Take it from someone who has taken a hiking boot to the face. The security guards tend to point or approach the area where they assume the crowd surfer will end up. Paying attention to them is a great heads up on what's coming.

- Take money: You may actually need to buy water to avoid passing out. I recommend taking a bottle into the pit with you. If it gets rough, the band will hand out bottles of water, and if it's so rough that they're doing it, you're probably going to be so thirsty that you don't care how many people have had a drink before you. The likelihood of you catching a cold from the girl beside you who keeps sneezing is high.

- Don't drink: Okay, so I know that a lot of people want to drink at concerts. I know that a lot of people do. Don't. Not only can alcohol dehydrate you, but it has the capability of putting you off balance which can be dangerous in rougher concerts, and it has the capability of making you look like a jerk. Wait until the show's over and go to a bar.

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A concert series, Music Without Borders, will be held on Friday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Bank of Tucson in Nogales, and Saturday, Nov. 8, at 4:30 p.m. at the Governor's Mansion of the Embarcadero in Tubac.

*
Kory, a classical pianist, is pursuing a master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music and has performed at venues including St. Petersburg, Russia, Beijing, China, and Carnegie Hall, in New York City. Kory performance will include works by Chopin, Lizt, Granados and more.

The concerts will benefit the Santa Cruz Community Foundation and its work with non-profit organizations in the United States and Mexico.

The outdoor sunset concert in Tubac is one of the Tubac Chamber of Commerce's "Art Experience" weekend on Nov. 8-9.

Tickets are $50 and available at the Tubac Chamber of Commerce (520) 398-2704, La Cinderella department store in Nogales (520) 281-2780, or at the Santa Cruz Community Foundation (520) 761-4531.

For more information, contact the chamber at (520) 398-2704, or Santa Cruz Community Foundation. source>>>

The Odditorium, The Dandy Warhols' famed studio in their hometown of Portland, OR, is more than simply one band's space. It's also home to their friends, the touring and local bands looking for a place to play, to record. The band has always striven to build and promote a community for musicians, and in 2007, they took a very purposeful step in making this a definitive part of their ethos. The Dandys began inviting other bands to participate in a collective project, the artists coming in on their own time to record new ideas over tracks others had already laid down, together creating what becomes a nearly living musical entity.

Called Breathe Easy, the project calls on the talents of artists like the Raveonettes, the Black Angels, J Mascis, Saul Williams, Midnight Movies, and of course The Dandy Warhols, to bring their separate musical perceptions and abilities to finished product. Genre becomes loosely articulated; what unites the pieces is the emotion, the spontaneity that comes from collaboration and inspiration. It's music that conveys both the individual contribution and the integrity of the whole.

Beginning October 21, 2008, a series of 12 tracks will be sold digitally at specified Breathe Easy sites and embedded stores, and 100% of profits will go to the Three Rivers Land Conservancy.

The Three Rivers Land Conservancy is a non-profit organization that works to conserve and preserve land by the Clackamas, Tualatin, and lower Willamette Rivers against urbanization. The Dandy Warhols and the Three Rivers Land Conservancy believe that conserving land and protecting against errant urbanization creates stronger healthier communities now and for future generations.

Through consumer purchases, and corporate contributions the initial goal is to save 10,000 acres of Oregon's natural habitat.

Howlin Rain: Magnificent Fiend
"Sounds Like: A psychedelic cocktail of Crosby, Stills and Nash, the Faces, the Damned and author Raymond Carver." - Rolling Stone "Breaking"

"Their sun-baked, lyrically feverish chooglin' is more textured and melodic on these addictive new jams..."
- Mojo 4 stars (out of 5)

"This second offering from Howlin Rain is even better than the first -- a cohesive slab of American rock 'n' roll short on pretense and heavy on songwriting and good times." -Vice "Best Album of the Month"

"... a magnificent album that tones down the feedback and concocts a denser vibe with bigger, more boogie-worthy CCR-on-Crowes hooks." - Stereogum

"... a catalytic mixture of heavy and beautiful elements" -- JamBase

HOWLIN RAIN ROCKERS JOIN THE BLACK CROWES FOR FALL US TOUR DATES!!

Howlin Rain
Magnificent Fiend

S.F. psych rockers Howlin Rain, featuring Comets on Fire co-founder and lead singer Ethan Miller and Drunk Horse's Joel Robinow, will be joining The Black Crowes for the West Coast and East Coast legs of their fall 2008 tour. Favorites on the summer festival circuit here and abroad (Bonnaroo and SF's Outside Lands Fest w/Radiohead , and upcoming appearance at Seattle's Bumbershoot Fest on 8/31), Howlin Rain embrace and expand on the cosmic musical legacy of their Bay Area blues-driven home base. The band's Birdman/ American debut, Magnificent Fiend, is freeform, organic and transcendent, with songs that roll from the speakers like a half-waking vision made of dreams and nightmares, ignited and guided by the power of the band and the velvet roar of Miller's vocals.

Road-tested on tour with Queens of the Stone Age and fellow tripper outfit Black Mountain , Howlin Rain's laid-back grooves and soulful breakdowns build to explode into anthemic choruses with mind-melding guitar riffs and soaring, string-bending solos. Miller is a passionate, possessed frontman and the band's intuitive playing and synched-in musicianship is a heady shot of pure, timeless rock and roll. Catch them live on one of the following dates:

TU Oct 7 Richmond, VA @ The National*
WE Oct 8 Richmond, VA @ The National*
SA Oct 11 Albany, NY @ the Palace Theater *
SU Oct 12 Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theater*
MO Oct 13 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
WE Oct 15 Portland, ME @ Merrill Auditorium
FR Oct 17 Boston, MA @ Boston Opera House*
SA Oct 18 Buffalo, NY @ The Town Ballroom*
SU Oct 28 New York City, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom*

Former Marilyn Manson Bassist Gidget Gein Dead At 39

Onetime Marilyn Manson bassist Gidget Gein (born Bradley Stewart) was found dead in his Burbank, California, home on Thursday of an apparent drug overdose, Lieutenant Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Investigation Department confirmed to MTV News. The death is being listed as an apparent accidental death, and an autopsy is scheduled for Monday afternoon (October 13). Gein was 39 years old.

According to the L.A. Weekly, Gein -- whose stage name was derived from the cutesy '60s surfer girl played by Sally Field and noted serial killer Ed Gein -- had recently finished a stint in rehab and had e-mailed the paper that he had formed a new band called People. Gein played in the Manson band -- then known as Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids -- from 1989-1993, replacing original bassist Olivia Newton Bundy. He performed on a series of early singles, as well as the band's national full-length debut, 1994's Portrait of an American Family.

Gein was fired from Manson's band in 1993 because of his alleged ongoing drug use -- reportedly via a Federal Express message delivered to the hospital bed where he was recovering from an overdose; the letter explained that his services "were no longer needed." The bassist exited the band just two years before the group gained national stardom thanks to a haunting cover of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." He was replaced by bassist Twiggy Ramirez, who would himself be fired and re-hired by Manson over the next decade.

In Manson's 1998 autobiography, "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell," the singer -- who has been open about his own drug use -- discusses his sadness over Gein's drug addiction, saying he once thought of the former bandmate as a brother. "My entire message and everything I'd begun striving to be as a person ran in direct opposition to Brad," Manson wrote. "I wanted to be strong and independent, to think for myself and help other people think for themselves."

Following his ouster, Gein went on two form the band Gidget Gein & the Dali Gaggers and, according to the Weekly, was often the center of attention for his goth-influenced artwork, which was displayed at L.A. parties. Gein's friend Lenora Claire told the paper that "he had just got a book deal, was recording a record with the guy who produced the first Jane's Addiction record and just landed a solo [art] show at La Luz de Jesus that he had wanted for years."

Fellow Manson band refugee Bundy (born Brian Tutunick) was apparently among posters paying their respects to Gein on the Weekly Web site, writing, "That totally sucks. But lessions [sic] should be learned from this. He lost a great gig due to drugs and now he's lost his life.?R.I.P."

This report is provided by MTV News