Author: chip midnight

Concert to Combat Global Warming to feature big name talent


Following in the tradition of big concerts like Live AID and Live 8, Live Earth has revealed a list of artists scheduled to perform at Live Earth concerts to be held around the world on July 7. Locations for this massive concert include Giants Stadium in New Jersey, Wembley Stadium in London, Aussie Stadium in Sydney, Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janerio, Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo, and Cradle of Human Kind in Johannesburg.Among the big names scheduled to perform in the U.S. are The Police, The Smashing Pumpkins, Roger Waters and Kanye West.

Tickets go on sale for the U.S. show on Monday, April 16 at 10 a.m. (EDT).

Continue reading to see the complete lineups for New Jersey and London.

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What are you buying this week?

On my radar …

Army of Me – Citizen (Doghouse Records) – Don’t know much about these guys other than they toured with The Damnwells and my friend Gilly loves ’em. I wasn’t sold on the one performance of theirs that I saw, a little bit too bland for my tastes, but maybe I’ll give them another shot.

Bright Eyes – Cassadaga (Saddle Creek) – Conor’s voice usually drives me nuts to the point where I can’t listen to more than a song or two in a row, but something about this CD has captured my interest. The hints of twangy alt.country will sucker me in just about every time. Will I listen to this more than half a dozen times? I’m not sure yet.

Cloud Cult – The Meaning of 8 (Rebel Group) – Cloud Cult’s last album Advice from the Happy Hippopomatus came out of nowhere in 2005 and kicked my ass with it’s quirky-pop (ala Flaming Lips, Granddaddy) goodness. Can’t wait to hear this one.

Cocorosie – The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn (Touch & Go) – Sure to be as strange as their previous material. The video for “Noah’s Ark” creeped me out and made me a believer at the same time.

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Pumpkins, Puppets, Police

Buddyhead.com’s gossip section is always a fun read and most of the time the gossip turns out to be right on the mark. The site is reporting that Billy Corgan is rounding out the Smashing Pumpkins with bassist Ginger Reyes, formerly of female pop-rockers Halo Friendlies, and guitarist Jeff Schroeder of The Lassie Foundation. Of the two, Reyes seems to be the most interesting choice as her solo work leans towards the MTV reality-show soundtrack side which doesn’t seem like it would be a good fit for the Pumpkins but I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the ol’ chrome dome announces with regards to who really will be in the band when they start playing live shows. I had heard a rumor that Scott Lucas (Local H) had been asked to join the Pumpkins and was mulling the offer over but I guess that goes to show how much credibility you should put into rumors.

Not only did Curt and Cris Kirkwood play their first Meat Puppets show in years at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, but now Billboard is reporting that the brothers have finished a new record which will be released by Anodyne Records on July 17.

Tankboy points to news on the NME site that The Police are considering working on a new record once the reunion tour is wrapped up. While Tankboy’s not too excited at this prospect, I think it would be a great idea and I’d be the first in line to buy the CD. Of course, I also said I’d be the first in line to buy concert tickets should the trio ever get back together (and went so far as saying that I’d drive however far I’d have to and sell a kidney to pay for a good seat) and here I am, ticketless for the band’s upcoming tour even though they’ve got $50 tickets still available for the Cleveland date (a 2-hour drive from AtomicNed.com headquarters) on July 16.

Download Fig Dish’s previously unreleased 3rd album

After two albums, with a combined sales of 16,000 copies, Chicago rockers Fig Dish severed their relationship with A&M Records in 1998. The band, consisting of Blake Smith (vocals/guitar), Rick Ness (vocals/guitar), Mike Willison (bass), and Bill Swarz (drums), went back into the studio to record demos to shop to other labels. RollingStone.com wrote a feature about Fig Dish’s departure and their subsequent record in which Smith said Fig Dish had no intention of breaking up and had recorded a double album worth of new material. Less than a year later Smith and Willison had started a new project, Caviar, while Ness started his own solo band, bringing Swarz along with him.

So whatever became of those 2 CDs worth of material Fig Dish recorded?

After being locked away in the Fig Dish vault for nearly 10 years, we’re happy to unleash the cracken and offer you the 19 track demo that Fig Dish recorded and used in an attempt to find a new label. For fun, we’ve tossed in 2 songs that were on the hard-to-find “Quiet Storm King” CD-single released in 1995, “Eyesore” and “Spit the Part”.

David Cobb, college roommate of Mike Willison, and longtime Fig Dish fan/friend/supporter dubbed this double CD, Onanism, so that’s the name we’ve given this collection of songs.

DOWNLOAD NOW: Fig Dish – Onanism

Track listing following the jump.

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Silversun Pickups tour and late night TV info

Hard to believe that the band I saw perform on a restaurant patio last year in Austin during SXSW in front of 15 people has now sold over 110,000 copies of it’s debut full length but that’s just what the Silversun Pickups have done. And, along the way, they’ve managed to do the late night talk show circuit (Letterman, Leno, Carson Daly) and open for heavy weights such as Wolfmother and Snow Patrol.

Silversun Pickups will add the Jimmy Kimmel show to their resume when they perform several songs on his show on Tuesday, April 17 before heading off to play the mainstage at Coachella on April 27. From there the band will do a series of headlining shows as well as appearing on a few radio station-sponsored festival dates.

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