Monday Morning Newsletter (5-4-09)

The swine flu outbreak has put the kibosh on the planned Cornelius/Deerhoof tour. Originally those dates went right through the hot zones in Southern California and Mexico. Hypochondriac travel restrictions have made the trans-Mexico leg logistically impossible. The bands intend to reschedule in 2010, unless we all die in a pandemic.

Jamie Jasta is not dead. Hatebreed's is dropping a new album, “For The Lions " May 5th through Koch Records. The album was finished in 2008, but the band took a second pass at the recordings with original guitar player Wayne Lozinak to record a some additional tracks. The result is an 18-song hardcore opus.

Dsico has made a whole album of material available for free download here. Entitled "The Aborted Album" the work is a collection songs recorded between 2006 and 2007. Dsico explained "I suppose I've been a bit busy with other things... Rather than simply let them languish on a hard-drive I thought I might as well put them out." Jose loves that enthusiasm.

Coldplay announced last week that they will be giving away a live album beginning May 15th. The album titled LeftRightLeftRightLeft will be available at concerts for all of 2009 and the rest of the year and via digital download on Coldplay.com. That first tour date is in West Palm Beach with Pete Yorn and the Howling Bells.

Pink has come out of the closet and admitted publicly that she is bisexual. This not news to Jose at all except that it sort of implies that Carey Hart might actually be a man.

Good Charlotte vocalist Joel Madden had a problem at Heathrow Airport with a British Airways flight. Madden was not allowed to board because he had tattoos. He was told he had to cover up all of his tattoos before he could board the fight. Madden complied. Later British airways released the statement: "British Airways does not have a policy against tattoos. We don't understand why the employee took it upon himself to enforce regulations that don't exist."

Sludgy metal fiends The Matador have signed a deal with Imagine It Records. they will be releasing a new 5-song EP "Bad Day For A Snake" on June 06th. You can visit their website here. Or you can skip right to downloading their 2008 demo here.

Monday Morning Newsletter (2-2-09)

John Martyn died last week. While his immediate cause of death was not disclosed, his life-long history of drug and alcohol abuse is well-known. He had been in a wheelchair since a leg amputation last year. He was a renowned British Folk artist and was wildly popular at the height of his career in the 1960s. He was only 60.

The band Good Charlotte continues to breed a new generation of superfluous pop punkers. Guitarist Billy Martin and his wife Linzi just had their first offspring which they named Dreavyn because they want her to be ostracized by her future peer group.

Dead this week is Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell. In 1977, he survived the plane crash that claimed the lives of three of his bandmates. Powell had rejoined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987 for a tribute tour and remained with the band. He called 911 complaining of shortness of breath EMS responders arrived to find him already deceased. He was only 56 years old.

Kelly Osbourne is back in rehab mere days after an assault arrest in London. The assault charges stem from an incident in Soho six months ago wherein the first chunklet of rock-royalty slapped some drunken socialite. The rehab stems from being a blood relative of Ozzy. Sharon Osbourne was quoted as saying “She knew that it was the right thing to do at this point and we're proud that she did it."

The jazz legend David "Fathead," Newman, has died at the age of 75 of pancreatic cancer.. His career was unspeakably long and accomplished. He was a tenor sax player with Ray Charles, Herbie Mann, and Aretha Franklin and hundreds of others. His last show was on New Years Eve in Chicago.

Living out a common music critics metaphor, a Slipknot fan actually dropped dead at a show last week. Corey Nickels was pronounced dead after CPR failed to resuscitate him. It is not the first time a fan has died at a Slipknot show. They induced another heart attack in another fan back in 2004.