Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers Return with New Album, North American Tour, and an Opportunity for Really Bad Wild West Fanfiction
By Liz Louche on 08-03-2009
Somewhere across the canyon, a lonely wind blows. The horses are drinking in deep, long gulps, and as you lift your eyes to the blazing sun, a vulture circles overhead. The carnival’s in town, Joe, they say, but you’re not listening. Because from somewhere in the distance a melody is playing, melancholic and tough. That voice: it sounds so familiar. Could it be… could it be… Mark Lanegan of The Screaming Trees and Queens of The Stone Age? Yessss, whisper the scattered trees. Yesssss, howls the coyote. He’s back with English band Soulsavers and some very, very special guests for the group’s third full-length, Broken.
“Special guests? In these here Godforsaken parts?” you ask. Why yessss. Friends like Mike Patton of Faith No More, Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce, Gibby Haynes of The Butthole Surfers, Richard Hawley, new Australian voice Red Ghost, and Martyn LeNoble, studio bassist for Porno for Pyros and Jane’s Addiction, all stop by for some sweet duet action. LeNoble will be helping Lanegran and Soulsavers take it to the streets, along with Spiritualized guitarist Rich Warren. The album drops August 18 on V2 Records and a North American tour winds its way through all the dusty, Harry Crews-influenced no-name towns of the United States. And you know, LA and DC and stuff.
Broken tracklisting:
1. The Seventh Proof
2. Death Bells
3. Unbalanced Pieces
4. You Will Miss Me When I Burn
5. Some Misunderstanding
6. All the Way Down
7. Shadows Fall
8. Can't Catch the Train
9. Pharaoh's Chariot
10. Praying Ground
11. Rolling Sky
12. Wise Blood
13. By My Side
Save the Date:
09.06.09 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
09.07.09 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09.09.09 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
09.10.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
09.12.09 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
09.15.09 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s
09.16.09 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
09.18.09 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks
09.19.09 - Atlanta, GA - The Loft
09.21.09 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
09.22.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
09.23.09 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
09.25.09 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club
09.26.09 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
09.27.09 - Chicago, IL - Double Door
Congressmen Look to Investigate Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger, All Sacco and Vanzetti-Style
By Brom on 08-03-2009
The Simpsons got it spot on with Ticketmaster (from the Homerpalooza episode):
Mr. Burns: [chuckles] And to think, Smithers, you laughed when I bought Ticketmaster. "Nobody's going to pay a 100% service charge."}Smithers: Well, it's a policy that ensures a healthy mix of the rich and the ignorant, sir.
Unfortunately, if the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger goes through, we’ll all be suckers! The proposed merger would see Ticketmaster, the nation’s dominant ticket seller, combine with Live Nation, which has its own ticketing business.
But one thing is for sure: this deal is not going through without a fight. Britain’s Office for Fair Trading, a consumer watchdog, has already referred the merger to the country’s competition regulator, the Competition Commission, which will report on November 24. And Senator Herb Kohl is most certainly not going to be taken for a goddamn fool either. As chair of the Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee, Kohl wrote to Christine Varney, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, to argue "It is clear that this merger raises serious competitive concerns warranting thorough scrutiny.” In addition, Rep. Bill Pascrell wrote a letter expressing concern about the deal, which was signed by 50 members of the House of Representatives.
Kohl also says the venture would create "an enormous, vertically integrated entertainment giant, which will control everything from artist management, concert promotion, concert venues, and merchandise sales to primary and secondary market ticket sales."
On a lighter note, I did particularly enjoy Billboard’s comment that “the deal has been criticized by superstar Bruce Springsteen, politicians like Senator Charles Schumer, and legions of music fans commenting in Internet chat rooms.” Yeah, lets not forget those highly intelligent, sophisticated, and well-reasoned visitors of internet chat rooms, all (and I mean all) of whom engage with each other in an intellectual and erudite manner. Teh interwebz iz srs bsns!
