Rolling Stone is reporting that Mark Linkous, the mastermind behind Sparklehorse, took his own life on Saturday. This is terribly sad news and comes just months after Vic Chesnutt (who had worked with Linkous in the past) killed himself. And, as in Chesnutt’s case, just a look at song titles and a listen to lyrics reveal that Linkous made no secret about his sadness – “Heart of Darkness”, “I Almost Lost My Mind”, “Sick of Goodbyes”.
Linkous was one of the first musicians I ever spoke to for AtomicNed’s predecessor, Swizzle-Stick, and I found him to be a very interesting and enjoyable person to talk to. You can read that interview, done back in 1999, after the jump.
File this under “never thought this would happen”: Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine announced the return of bassist Dave Ellefson to the band, just in time for the 20th anniversary Rust in Peace tour (with Testament and Exodus). Let’s not forget, it was just 5 years ago that Ellefson sued Mustaine for $18.5 million (the lawsuit was dismissed). Ellefson replaces James LoMenzo who has been in Megadeth since early 2006. I certainly hope this has nothing to do with the interview I did with LoMenzo last year when I asked if, under the right circumstances, he’d reunite with White Lion.
New High on Fire song, new tour: High on Fire debuted a new song (“Snakes for the Divine”) on Spin.com today (damn, this thing SMOKES) and announced a pretty major headlining tour with support from Priestess, Black Cobra and Bison BC. The band’s new album comes out Feb.23.
Soundgarden? Creed? Limp Bizkit? Rock on the Range announces lineup at 10am, February 9: The rumors are running rampant about who will be playing the fourth annual Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio May 22 and 23. The festival has had some huge mainstage talent in the past and there is no reason to think this year won’t offer a plethora of big name hard rock bands. Personally, I’d love to see Soundgarden and/or Faith No More. We’ll all find out tomorrow morning who will be performing. Check out RockOnTheRange.com at 10am for all the information.
Not sure if this qualifies for a supergroup but Apparatjik features singer/guitarist Jonas Bjerre (Mew), guitarist/keyboardist Magna Furuholmen (a-ha) and bassist Guy Berryman (Coldplay).
I’m not sure when the band’s first album, We are Here, is supposed to be available but there are plenty of videos on YouTube featuring the songs (like the video posted above) and it sounds like this could be a really good record.
Q409 Annual Report to Shareholders – Part II – Read about how the band hasn’t started recording yet (boo!), a bit about the business side of making music and running a band, and their solution to keeping the band going in these challenging economic times.
Q409 Annual Report to Shareholders – Part III – 2010 plans – “So, for like the dozenth time, official full-band recording starts next Wednesday, January 13th, 2010, at approximately 6:00pm E.S.T. in a New Jersey basement studio not far from Rudy Van Gelder’s original Hackensack one.”
The Wrens don’t have any tour plans in the immediate future but are playing a special Haiti Benefit gig with the likes of Ted Leo, The Cold War Kids, AC Newman, Rhett Miller and Jimmy Fallon on January 27 in Brooklyn
