Information Society prep full length reunion album

photo by Wil Foster

"This album is both a birth and a rebirth," explains Paul Robb of electronic act Information Society about the new album _hello world.

"It's been so long since we've made new music together it almost seems like a whole new thing, and yet anybody who has ever listened to one of our records will immediately recognize our style."

Set for release on Sept. 23 via HAKATAK International/MVD, the album marks the reunion of the original founding members of the band, Robb (synths), Kurt Larson (vocals) and James Cassidy (bass, keyboards), following the release of their single "Land of the Blind" which was released earlier this year.

"_hello world is our way of re-introducing ourselves to our old fans, and hopefully making the acquaintance of some new fans."

Originally forming in 1982 within the synthpop and New Wave worlds, Information Society (a.k.a. "INSOC") scored a top 10 dance hit in "Running" in 1985.

When asked about the band's new material, Robb says, "We've perhaps matured a bit, and that has enabled us to express some more nuanced emotions in our songs than we may have done earlier."

"Tomorrow the World," is a ballad that might have sounded out of place on earlier records, but on this album, it sounded right.

"We have traditionally not been a 'love song' kind of band," Robb says of the track. "In fact, most of our songs explore what happens when things do not work out so well, but this is a song both Kurt and I had been wanting to explore for a while. It was a situation where we said, 'We'll include it if it works, and leave it off if it doesn't.' Obviously, we thought it worked!"

Another throwback brought into the "now, is INSOC's cover of Devo's "Beautiful World" featuring that group's co-vocalist/founding member Gerald V Casale.

"We'd been toying around with doing covers of songs by some of our influences. Devo was hugely important to us when we were young, so of course we had to do a Devo cover. We had already decided on 'Beautiful World' when management reached out to and asked if he wanted to participate. When he said 'yes', it only made us more excited about recording the track. Turns out he and I live about a mile from each other!"

Information Society's Top 40 hits include their No. 1, "What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)," "Walking Away," "Think" and "Peace & Love, Inc."

World Party concert review: West Hollywood, Calif.

By Kristi York Wooten; taken June 6, 2014 in Atlanta

During World Party’s performance at The Troubadour on Friday, I watched the band’s violinist and couldn’t help recalling main man Karl Wallinger’s Eighties membership in The Waterboys (of which that instrument was often a key part).

After leaving to form World Party, Wallinger made several critically-acclaimed albums through the next decade and scored eight minor UK hit singles. Best known in America for the top 30 pop single “Ship of Fools,” he also charted several times at modern and mainstream rock radio.

In 2012, following a long absence, World Party resurfaced with Arkeology, a five-CD collection featuring 70 rarities encased in a spiral date planner. It encompassed the group’s quarter century history with B-sides (remember those?), demos, covers, live sessions, radio interviews, concert and unissued studio recordings. It’s a must-buy for diehard fans.

The band did a couple brief live swings through the States in support of Arkeology, but last month embarked on a much bigger 25-date trek that just concluded in Solana Beach, Calif.

Wallinger played acoustic guitar and keyboards amid a highly impressive 100-minute set in West Hollywood. He was backed by frequent tour mates John Turnbull (whose credits include Nick Lowe, Boomtown Rats, Paul Young, Ian Dury’s Blockheads) on electric guitar/backing vocals and David Duffy on violin/ mandolin/backing vocals.

The trio opened with intense rocker “Waiting Such a Long Time,” the first of four Arkeology tracks aired here. Fans dutifully sang along loudly to “Put the Message in the Box,” among World Party’s best-known hits, and it went down a storm. The musicians’ harmonies were pristine. Half a dozen tunes were culled from 1990’s Goodbye Jumbo.

Before a truly sublime “Is it Like Today?,” Wallinger mused how it was complicated trying to squeeze the history of Western philosophy into four verses and his distinctly Welsh humor came to the fore all night. “When the Rainbow Comes,” bolstered by Turnbull’s bluesy licks and sumptuous violin work, was an early highlight. Duffy’s eerie accents made “Vanity Fair” more haunting than usual as Turnbull did some chunky end riffs.

Taking to the keyboards for romantic ballad “She’s the One” (a UK chart topper for Robbie Williams in ’99), Wallinger had no trouble nailing the falsetto parts for the sway-worthy “Love Street.”

“So the legalization of marijuana is going good here?,” he asked before starting “God on My Side,” then told the audience about playing in Colorado earlier this month and being amazed at what he could buy.

A Beatlesque “Call Me Up” was joyful and another example of the guys’ seamless harmonic blend. The lilting, Celtic-tinged “Sweet Soul Dream” brought the Waterboys to mind.

Near the end, “Ship of Fools” sounded appropriately dense and supremely soulful; “Sunshine” segued into the slide guitar-infused main set closer “Is it Too Late?” All three members rocked out at the end.

worldparty.net
twitter.com/kristiwooten

Dustin Lynch readies September set

Lynch was one of my favorites at Stagecoach Festival in Indio, Calif. this past spring (see review elsewhere on this blog). I look forward to his new material. Read more from the press release...

Platinum-selling recording artist Dustin Lynch unveiled details of his upcoming sophomore album – Where It's At. It will be released by Broken Bow Records on Sept. 9 and chronicles Lynch’s life over the past two years as he rose from an unknown songwriter to the only new male Country artist to earn a #1 debut album in 2012.

"It's where I am, as a person and an artist," Lynch told Rolling Stone Country. "All the songs on the record are moments I've captured and put down. They were inspired by my excitement for life. So [the album title] Where It's At sounds pretty perfect."

"There are a lot of moments where we really go for it energy-wise, with the live show in mind,” Lynch continues. “I learned that from watching Keith Urban [while on tour with him] every night."

The album (see track listing below) find producers Brett Beavers (Dierks Bentley) and Luke Wooten (Brad Paisley) returning to helm three songs, while Mickey Jack Cones (Joe Nichols) handles the rest.

Lynch co-wrote five of the new songs, including “Middle of Nowhere.” A special, acoustic in-studio performance can be seen only at Rolling Stone Country. Watch it here: http://www.smarturl.it/ygc4g6

The traditionalist ballad “Your Daddy’s Boots” was written by Lynch, Tim Nichols and Josh Leo, the same trio that wrote platinum-selling “Cowboys and Angels.” Though he didn’t write “What You Wanna Hear,” Lynch says he can relate to the tune penned by Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip and Ashley Gorley.

“I’m definitely a down home guy,” the Tullahoma, Tenn. native says. “If I have a day off, I’m driving the country roads just chillin’ out or going home to turkey hunt and going fishing on the river. Lyrically I relate to that song because it’s what I do and musically it’s so catchy.”

Track listing:
 
1. Hell of a Night (Zach Crowell, Adam Sanders, Jaron Boyer)
2. To the Sky (Dustin Lynch, Ashley Gorley, Zach Crowell)
3. Halo* (Ashley Gorley, Matt Jenkins, Jimmy Robbins)
4. After Party (Steve Bogard, Jonathan Edwards, Jason Sever)
5. Where It’s At (Cary Barlowe, Zach Crowell, Matt Jenkins)
6. Mind Reader (Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip)
7. Right Where We Want It (Marv Green, Rhett Akins)
8. She Wants a Cowboy (Dustin Lynch, Tim Nichols, Josh Leo)
9. World To Me (Matt Rogers, Ash Bowers, Adam Craig)
10. Sing It To Me (Dustin Lynch, Jimmy Robbins, Josh Osborne)
11. All Night* (Matt Ramsey, Matt Jenkins, Trevor Rosen)
12. Middle of Nowhere (Dustin Lynch, Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley)
13. What You Wanna Hear (Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins, Ashley Gorley)
14. Your Daddy’s Boots* (Dustin Lynch, Josh Leo, Tim Nichols)
15. American Prayer (Wendell Mobley, Marv Green, Jim Collins)

Produced by Mickey Jack Cones
*Produced by Brett Beavers & Luke Wooten

Jimmy Eat World tour dates

Jimmy Eat World's fall North American headlining tour will commemorate the 10-year anniversary of their album Futures. Slated to kick off in October, the band will perform their 2004 release front to back.

Confirmed dates can be found below. Fan presales have begun, with public on sales Friday at 10am (local time). Additional dates to be announced soon.

The Arizona alt-rockers will also reissue three titles on double LP via Universal Music Enterprises in partnership with SRCvinyl. Static Prevails will be released on Aug. 19, Clarity on Sept. 2 and Futures on Sept. 30.

Remastered from the highest quality 16-bit/44.1 khz recording and cut as 33 1/3 RPM, each LP contains bonus song(s). Pressed by Pallas, in Germany, and mastered for the reissues by Kevin Gray.

All three titles are available for pre-order now at: http://shop.jimmyeatworld.com/ and www.srcvinyl.com. An exclusive pre-order bundle is available via Jimmy Eat World's website. In this bundle, fans will find a limited edition numbered t-shirt and LP, for each of the titles. The LPs will be for sale at all major and independent retail outlets in the US and Canada.

Tour Dates:

Oct 2 - Ventura, CA @ Ventura Theater
Oct 3 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
Oct 4 - Oakland, CA @ Oakland Metro Opera
Oct 7 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater
Oct 10 - Des Moines, IA @ Wooly's
Oct 11 - Bloomington, IL @ Castle Theater
Oct 12 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts
Oct 13 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
Oct 15 - Washington, DC @ 930 Club
Oct 16 - Stroudsburg, PA @ Sherman Theater
Oct 17 - Port Chester, NY @ Capitol Theater
Oct 18 - Providence, RI @ Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
Oct 20 - Westbury, NY @ Space at Westbury Hall
Oct 21 - Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
Oct 22 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz

jimmyeatworld.com

Colton Dixon news

Dove Award-winning artist and Season 11 "American Idol" finalist Colton Dixon has announced the Aug. 19 release of his sophomore studio album, Anchor through
Capitol CMG

"Finally some new music,” says Dixon. “I’m beyond excited to share what I've been up to since A Messenger. We've explored new territory, new sounds, and new topics for the record, and my hope is that at the end of it all, you feel closer to God than you did when you pressed play."

Anchor was written and recorded over the last year between tour dates. Dixon experimented with new sounds and steered the lyrics in a more thematic route. He co-wrote with TobyMac, Matthew West and others.

First single “More Of You” has already made it on the National Christian Audience chart,  with airplay on K-LOVE and Air1.

Fans can purchase the single on iTunes now. Click http://smarturl.it/MoreOfYou to get "More of You." Last year, Dixon released two radio singles, “You Are” and “Never Gone,” both reaching No. 1 at CHR and on the iTunes Christian singles charts.
 
This project comes on the heels of a best-selling and record-breaking album debut in 2013 with the release of A Messenger. Dixon’s full-length debut set the largest first week sales by a new solo Christian artist making it the top album sold in that market. 

Dixon was also nominated for three Dove awards and won “Best Contemporary Rock Album.”

coltondixonmusic.com

Brian Setzer back with rockabilly originals

Brian Setzer has premiered the first single “Let’s Shake,” off his new album Rockabilly Riot: All Original, which comes out Aug. 12 via Sufdog Records. 

Setzer says, “Yeah, ‘Let’s Shake,’ how come no one has thought of that title yet? We’ve been making rock ‘n roll now for 60 years and no one has come up with ‘Let’s Shake?’ And I came up with it and I went ‘wow…Let’s Shake!’ You know, oh god, it’s just so simple it’s magic! It’s got a really great guitar solo in it, just rock ‘n roll sounding…it’s not really ‘billy’ sounding, it’s more rock and roll… again, it’s the simplest songs that are the hardest to write.”

Rockabilly Riot: All Original contains all originals. Setzer is backed by Mark Winchester (bass), Kevin McKendree (piano) and Noah Levy (drums).

The album was produced by Peter Collins (who’s handled the same honors for previous albums Vavoom! and The Dirty Boogie). 

“It’s funny how English people seem to have a more sensibility about what rockabilly music is, even though it was invented in the South says Setzer. “They seem to know what it should sound like.  Peter Collins is experienced and an accomplished producer, he’s done a lot of records, but he loves rockabilly music and he knows what it should sound like.  

"I think this album sounds to me a little bit like the first Stray Cats record," continues the veteran singer/guitarist. "It's rockabilly songs, not just blues songs in the rockabilly style. People like to call it ‘neo-billy’ I suppose, which is some invented word that somebody came up with, but if that’s the word they want to use, I’d like to go with that because it sounds to me like it’s very modern and fresh sounding rockabilly.” 

Riot will be available for pre-order on iTunes and Amazon, in all formats (including vinyl), beginning July 7.

Track listing:

1. Let’s Shake
2. Rockabilly Blues
3. Vinyl Records
4. Lemme Slide
5. Nothing Is A Sure Thing
6. What’s Her Name
7. Calamity Jane
8. The Girl With The Blues In Her Eyes
9. Stiletto Cool
10. I Should Have Had A V8
11. Blue Lights Big City
12. Cock-a-Doodle Don’t

Midge Ure of Ultravox's long awaited solo CD arrives soon

Since I interviewed Ure for his recent U.S. tour (see elsewhere here), this is one of my highly anticipated albums of 2014...
 
Grammy and Brit Award winning musician Midge Ure, OBE (Officer of the British Empire - awarded in 2005) is set to release Fragile, his first new studio album in over a decade, on Aug. 18 via eOne Music.

The album's tracks were influenced by Ure's accomplished guitar work (Rich Kids, Thin Lizzy) and the synth sounds and technology he has utilized since the late 1970s to today (Visage, Ultravox). "Dark, Dark Night" is a collaboration with Moby.

Ure recorded almost entirely in his own studio in Bath, England and handled the playing, arranging, producing and engineering. "Dark, Dark Night" is a collaboration with Moby. 

Fragile is quite possibly the most intimate and honest album I have ever released. Its the kind of work you can only do after a lifetime making music," said Midge Ure.
Ure will also play dates in North America this summer as part of the Retro Futura Tour.

"Doing the Retro Futura Tour 2014 is going to be a great experience for me in the U.S. Working with Howard Jones and Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins) playing many songs which shaped the 80’s will be a ball."

"Although it isn’t the time or place to introduce music from my long awaited new album ‘Fragile,’ I will be performing songs from this new work directly after the tour finishes in the form of solo acoustic shows to be announced soon."
 
Tour Dates:

The Retro Futura Tour 2014 lineup also includes Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey, Howard Jones, China Crisis, Katrina of Katrina & The Waves and introducing Right The Stars

Aug 21 New York, NY - Best Buy Theater
Aug 22 Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
Aug 23 Brookhaven, NY - Pennysaver Amphitheater
Aug 24 Boston, MA - Wilbur Theatre
Aug 26 Toronto, Canada - Kool Haus
Aug 27 Chicago, IL - Ravinia Festival
Aug 29 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
Aug 30 Saratoga, CA - Mountain Winery
Sep 03 Tempe, AZ - The Marquee
Sep 04 San Diego, CA - Humphreys Concerts By the Bay
Sep 05 Las Vegas, NV - Mandalay Bay
Sep 06 Sandy, UT - Sandy Amphitheatre

Fragile track listing:

1. I Survived
2. Are We Connected
3. Let It Rise
4. Become
5. Star Crossed
6. Wire and Wood
7. Dark, Dark Night
8. For All You Know
9. Bridges
10. Fragile

Ure's autobiography 'If I Was' is now available as an E-Book (narrated by the man himself) and available at: www.midgeure.com
 
midgeure.co.uk