Archive for December, 2009

[tweetmeme]Al Jourgensen may be hard at work on a purported synthpop album (and recording Christmas songs), but he’s not quite done with Ministry, the proto-industrial act he allegedly retired this year. Next summer will see the release of “Fix: The Ministry Movie,” a documentary about Uncle Al and Ministry featuring appearances by Nine Inch Nails’ [...]

[tweetmeme]Australian guitar innovator Rowland S. Howard — a member of Nick Cave’s early ’80s postpunk act The Birthday Party, a guitarist for Crime and the City Solution and onetime Lydia Lunch collaborator — died Wednesday in Melbourne from liver cancer, according to The Age newspaper. He was 50.
Known for his ragged, reverb-drenched guitar playing, Howard [...]

[tweetmeme]This has been around for some time, but it’s certainly worth sharing for fans who haven’t seen it: The Replacements, in all of their early glory, playing a label showcase put on by Minneapolis’ Twin/Tone Records at the 7th Street Entry on Sept. 5, 1981. The ‘Mats, who had released Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take [...]

[tweetmeme]L.A. punk stalwarts Social Distortion today announced plans for the band’s first tour of South America in its 30-year history — or, more specifically, a short four-date trek that will hit clubs in Brazil and Argentina in late April.
The band — reportedly at work on its seventh album, and first since 2004’s Sex, Love and [...]

[tweetmeme]Despite the dour material, recording The Cure’s epic Disintegration album was a “very happy and jokey” time for the Robert Smith-led band, recalls former keyboard player Roger O’Donnell in a new 11,000-word essay on the 20th anniversary of the recording of that classic record.
As promised, O’Donnell — who played in The Cure from 1987 to [...]

[tweetmeme]Fans of Aussie rock legends The Church have three reasons to do a bit of post-Christmas shopping this week: The band is releasing a brand-new EP — featuring a 34-minute jam, no less — and making two of its recent website-only discs available commercially worldwide.
Due out Tuesday, the four-track Operetta EP features material left over [...]

[tweetmeme]Mute Records is capitalizing on renewed interest in Nitzer Ebb — the reunited British EBM act has a new album out, and is touring with Depeche Mode once again — to release Compilation and Catalogue, two new multi-disc box sets that highlight the group’s past output.
Due out Jan. 25 in Europe, the five-disc Catalogue collects [...]

[tweetmeme]The two studio albums by The Other Two — the New Order spinoff featuring husband-and-wife team Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert — will be reissued next month in digitally remastered editions featuring nine bonus remixes.
Due out Jan. 26 in Europe, the synthpop duo’s 1993 debut The Other Two & You comes with new artwork and [...]

[tweetmeme]Daniel Ash — key player in ’80s darkwave acts Bauhaus, Love and Rockets and Tones on Tail — this month quietly released the four-track It’s a Burn Out EP on iTunes, marking the singer’s first original solo recordings in eight years.
The collection, released Dec. 8 with little fanfare, features four of the tracks that Ash [...]

[tweetmeme]Here’s a new take on a Christmas classic: Billy Bragg and UK indie sensation Florence and the Machine performing “Fairytale of New York,” the beloved 1987 single by The Pogues and the late Kristy MacColl. The clip above was recorded live in the studio last Saturday for BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank’s show. [...]

[tweetmeme]Well that didn’t take long: Just a week after a release date finally was announced for The Cure’s 3CD Disintegration: 20th Anniversary Edition comes news of the set’s delay. According to Chain of Flowers, Rhino’s expanded reissue now will arrive on March 16, a month later than originally planned. Although online retailers aren’t showing the [...]