Excellent singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman (Modern Lovers not included) will play 22 shows this June, completely bypassing Chicago and instead sticking to the land he loves, the East Coast. He will, however, be making an appearance in St. Louis at Blueberry Hill on June 23.
Frankie Poullain, bassist of popular glam-rock revival band The Darkness, has announced his exit of the group. According to British newspaper The Sun, “Tensions grew during recording sessions in Wales over Frankie’s mind being elsewhere. Frankie felt he had done all he could and decided to retire to the French countryside.”
Jenny Lewis, lead singer of Rilo Kiley, and also possibly my best friend if I ever got to meet her, will release a solo album entitled Rabbit Fur Coat to be released by Conor Oberst’s (of Bright Eyes) label sometime by January. “It’s pretty stripped-down, kind of rootsy at times. In the end, it shaped up to be this weird, loose gospel-y record,” she said of the album.
U2 megalomaniac Bono reportably told Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot that that the band is interested in rerecording 1997 LP Pop. Bono blames the impending tour (booked by the band’s manager) for what he sees as low quality, but he feels the potential is for something better. I guess not all the past is viewed through rose-tinted glasses.
Dancepunks and British Big-beat DJs rejoice! DFA Records and Astralwerks have announced a partnership, meaning that Astralwerks will be carrying, among other things, Juan Maclean’s Less Than Human. Hopefully it’ll be better than Daft Punk’s disappointing, more-mortal Human After All, released on Astralwerks this year.
What the Hell? Moment of the Week
Kylie Minogue recently announced that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and her Australian tour dates will have to be rescheduled. This announcement on her Web site caused a sheer torrent of fans to visit the site, and promptly overload the server. We send Kylie our best wishes.
