Articles and News of Interest - SoundStageDirect.com: Music News & Notes

Slash to release new solo album

Slash of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver fame, has announced the European release of his debut solo album. The album, entitled 'Slash', will be put out by Roadrunner Records in the spring of 2010.

In keeping with the trend of innovative album releases, 'Slash' will take the form of a 'deluxe fan pack'. The album will be bundled together with a collectible edition of Classic Rock magazine dedicated to Slash's career.

Slash will release a teaser CD of two tracks in Japan on November 11, 2009. The CD will contain the single, 'Sahara', which features singer Koshi Inaba of the Japanese hard rock duo B'Z. The second track will be a version of the GN'R classic, 'Paradise City', which features Cypress Hill and Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. Should be interesting.

According to Slash, "the record is in its mixing stage and the mixes to this point sound great. We have recorded 18 songs, with one more I want to track. The record is still slated for a February/March release".

As you might imagine, the personnel Slash used is and all-star cast. Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, GN'R, etc.) handles drum duties, while professional bass-ace Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction, The Panic Channel, etc., etc.) holds down the low end. Guest singers include: Ozzy Osbourne, M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold), and Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave). Other notable contributors include: former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler, Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea, and Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters main man Dave Grohl. The producer of the CD is Eric Valentine (Queens Of The Stone Age, Smash Mouth).

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Stopping Sublime Abuse

A Los Angeles judge has shut down an effort by former members of the ska-punk band Sublime to perform under the name.

The preliminary injunction was issued Tuesday in a trademark lawsuit brought by the estate of frontman Bradley Nowell, who died of a drug overdose in 1996.

Surviving band members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh have continued to perform. For years they played as the Long Beach Dub Allstars, but recently they revived the Sublime moniker when they recruited newcomer Rome Ramirez as lead vocalist.

"Prior to his untimely passing, both Bud and Eric acknowledged that Brad Nowell was the sole owner of the name Sublime," the Nowell family posted on the band's MySpace page. "It was Brad's expressed intention that no one use the name Sublime in any group that did not include him, and Brad even registered the trademark 'Sublime' under his own name."

Now Judge Howard Matz has agreed with the family, issuing the injunction citing the estate's likelihood of prevailing on its trademark claim. Matz asked the estate's attorneys to draw up a written injunction for him to sign.

Good, it's not Sublime without Brad Nowell.

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Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon & Julian Lennon Release Give Peace a Chance 40th Anniversary Single

Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon have partnered with EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music Publishing to release a 40th anniversary digital single of the Plastic Ono Band's historic recording of Give Peace a Chance. Proceeds from the sales go to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). The single became available today on iTunes and will be offered through the end of the year.

Ono commented, "I am thrilled that so many in the music business are readily supporting Give Peace a Chance on its 40th anniversary. It is indeed a time when we are all getting more aware of the necessity of doing something to achieve world peace, no matter how small. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I feel deeply that we are all one, regardless of where we stand."

The song was written during John and Yoko's March 1969 "Bed-In" after Lennon told a reporter "All we are saying is give peace a chance" in response to being asked what they were doing. The recording was made using a 4-track recorder on June 1, 1969 in Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Those that joined in and sang on the chorus included Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary, Petula Clark, Dick Gregory, Allen Ginsberg, Murray the K, and Al Capp.



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USB Drive of Beatles Music Available


Though you can play Beatles songs on Rock Band and enjoy the band?s epic catalog on remastered CDs, you still can?t legally buy the music of John, Paul, George and Ringo on the iTunes store or other digital shops ? yet. In a move that may represent Apple Corps. softening its traditionally inflexible view of selling the Fab Four?s music digitally, the company and EMI Music will release a limited-edition USB drive featuring the entire Beatles in Stereo remastered set as 320 Kbps MP3s on December 8th. All 14 albums and 13 ?mini-documentaries? will be included on the 16GB USB drive, which will be shaped like the iconic Apple logo with ?The Beatles? written on it. Only 30,000 of these USBs will be produced; onsale information is available at the Beatles Website. www.thebeatles.com

Following the 9.9.09 debut of the digitally re-mastered catalogue on CD, Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music are pleased to announce the worldwide release of a limited edition Beatles Stereo USB on December 8th.

This unique, apple-shaped USB drive is loaded with the re-mastered audio for The Bealtes' 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs' visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK art, rare photos and expanded liner notes. A specially designed Flash interface has been installed, and the 16GB USB's audio and visual contents will be provided in FLAC 44.1 Khz 24 bit and MP3 320 Kbps formats, fully compatible with PC and Mac.

In addition, EMI is going after a digital-music Website called BlueBeat.com for offering up the Beatles catalog as a digital download without permission. According to Variety, a copyright-infringement lawsuit was filed yesterday by EMI, which controls the digital rights of the Beatles music through an agreement with Apple Corps.

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Jack White´s Third Man Records to Release Carl Sagan Remix "A Glorious Dawn" on Vinyl

Third Man Records have announced the upcoming 7-inch vinyl release of ?A Glorious Dawn,? an Auto-Tuned remix of Carl Sagan?s dialogue from his ?Cosmos? television series; the remix, which features Stephen Hawking, first gained notoriety after composer John Boswell uploaded it to YouTube earlier this fall.

?The release is timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Sagan?s birth,? Third Man?s news bulletin says. ?Also happening that day is a reception in United States? Congress with speeches by senators, NASA officials and assorted scientists, all hosted by the Planetary Society, which was co-founded by Sagan.?

Ben Blackwell, White, and the rest of Third Man?s musical A-Team aren?t finished yet: A limited edition ?Cosmos Colored Vinyl? version will be sold at their Nashville headquarters and randomly included with mail orders of the record. As the ?A Glorious Dawn? 7-inch will not have a B-side, an etching on the flipside will be a replica of the Voyager Golden Record, which was launched into space in 1977.

Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music and vinyl record collecting. He also serves as a contributor to SoundStageDirect, LLC at www.soundstagedirect.com. Mr. Benson also operates www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can download a FREE copy of his ebook entitled "The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting."