Monday Morning Newsletter

Welcome to the new way to jump start your week correctly in the form of Jose Fritz's Monday Morning Newsletter. Every Monday, we'll get our week started right with the news that Fritz feels matters most. And away we go.

Mike Patton's score for the short film "A Perfect Place" will see a release through Ipecac on March 11th.

Fight Amputation, the only band known to admit they are from Wilkes-Barre (since Jolly John Robel the Polka king) is back on tour. A total of 28 dates have been announced stretching from their homeland in the Shenandoah to California and back.

Mahjongg has posted their Winter tour dates. If all goes well Jose Fritz will finish writing a record review before they get back to Kansas.

Die! Die! Die! Has cranked out another album of searing painful guitar noises just to validate Steve Albini’s world view. Albini was quoted as saying “This makes me feel funny in the pants.” They will be attending SXSW If you miss their set prepare to be mocked publicly.

Torche's second full-length, "Meanderthal," is set for an April 8th release through Hydra Head Records (vinyl to be released by Robotic Empire). http://www.torchemusic.com/

The president of Trustkill Records admits in an interview that the band Hopesfall is $20,000 in debt not because of their bad deal with his label but because they spent all their money on pussy, beer and drugs. Trabue of Hopesfall responded “Did you say that or did I just think it?”

Expect big concert ticket prices to increase. Ticketmaster has just purchased Ticketsnow for $265 million dollars. That and the recently completed acquisition of Get Me In Ltd. complete the terms of the deal that CEO Terry Barnes signed with Satan back in 1983.

The Weakerthans are on tour starting February 2nd in Toronto. Homeland Security should be processing their paperwork in an expedited manner allowing them to enter the U.S. in March of 2009.

These Are Powers are on tour terrifying the gentle-hearted Americans of both coasts with their deranged version of outré-weird rock and an array of power tools.