Some interesting new records are out, like The Polyphonic Spree - ‘The Fragile Army’ or Maps - ‘We Can Create’, White Stripes Icky Thump has also been released today in the US, after it’s debut in Europe yesterday. However my personal favorite has to be Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway, that i’ve been waiting to come out for like ages ! Here are the US new album releases of this week (18-24 June):

The Aliens - ‘Astronomy For Dogs’

Art Brut - ‘It’s A Bit Complicated’

Dimitri From Paris - ‘Disco Cocktail’

Burning Brides - ‘Hang Love’

Bon Jovi -’ Lost Highway’

Andrea Corr - ‘Ten Feet High’

Maps - ‘We Can Create’

The Polyphonic Spree - ‘The Fragile Army’

Mandy Moore - ‘Wild Hope’

The White Stripes - ‘Icky Thump’

Bob Sinclar - ‘Soundz Of Freedom’

The Mooney Suzuki - ‘Have Mercy’

Ornette Coleman, world renowned Jazz saxophonist, received immediate medical care yesterday at the Coffey County Hospital, after collapsing on-stage from a heatstroke. The recent Pulitzer winner was performing in the Manchester, Tennessee’s Bonnaroo festival.

Thankfully there were no serious injuries and Ornette is expected to recover by the time he has to leave for Europe for touring this summer, after which he will return to the USA in fall for some other shows.

Ornette’s tour schedule looks like this:

07-06 Kongsberg, Norway - Tubaloon
07-09 London, England -Royal Festival Hall
07-11 Perugia, Italy - Umbria Jazz 2007
07-13 Pescara, Italy - Teatro Gabriele D’annunzio
07-15 Rotterdam, Netherlands - North Sea Jazz Festival
07-18 Warsaw, Poland - Roma Theatre
07-20 Vitoria, Spain - Polideportivo De Mendizorroza
09-23 Monterey, California - Monterey Jazz Festival
09-26 Los Angeles, CA - UCLA Royce Hall
10-28 San Francisco, CA - Nob Hill Masonic Center
11-04 Zagreb, Croatia - Studentski Center

As reported by Billboard.

New York based indie trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs are set to release their third EP: Is Is. The EP contains 5 brand new tracks and will be released on the 24th of July, via Fontana Interscope.

The songs from the EP were written in 2004, during their Fever to Tell tour. The producer appointed by the band is Nick Launay (producer of Silverchair, Taking Heads). Vocalist Karen O had this to add about their choice for producer: “Nick Launay was the natural choice having produced PIL Flowers of Romance, collectively a favorite between us. I put that record on and want to stuff my mouth with raw hamburger meat.”

The EP will also contain film footage with the YYYs live shows in Grasslands Gallery in Brooklyn on May 7, where they played the tracks from the record.

Tracklist

1. Rocker to Swallow
2. Down Boy
3. Kiss Kiss
4. Isis
5. 10×10

The EP will be available on CD, double gatefold 7” vinyl, single track download and digital bundle in addition to a special USB stick. All formats will carry all 5 tracks, making this a special, non chart-eligible, release.

The brits from Radiohead have released a video sample containing studio bits from tracks that will be present on their upcoming album, still untitled. The video can be viewed on Radiohead’s official blog Dead Air Space or you can watch it directly from this post, for your convenience.

British pop icon Sir Elton John performed in a open aired charity concert, yesterday night, in Ukraine. Elton played in front of, a national record, 200.000 people in Kiev’s main square, promoting the national and global AIDS awareness.

Although the English lord was greeted well by the local people, some protests from behalf of various religious groups where nevertheless present, who tried to boycott the whole event, as they believe Elton John encourages a gay lifestyle. The leader of the Union of Orthodox Ukrainians Orthodox had this to add: “people have no respect to people with untraditional sexual orientation, including Elton John because such people are directly associated with HIV/AIDS”.

The gig ran as planed, with condoms distributed amongst the fans, together with fliers containing AIDS counseling and test info. Ukraine is one of the most AIDS infected country in Europe, 128.4 per 100,000 individuals infected.

via NME

After firing her manager Jeff Kwatinetz just a few days ago, Kelly Clarkson succeeds to surprise us by making yet another bold move: she cancels her summer tour( for now at least), due to low ticket sales. The pop/rock star was set to play in 35-date tours, from July 11 to September 26, the only official summer concert that the artist will play at is July 7 Live Earth concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Here’s a statement for Kelly’s tour promoter Michael Rapino:

“It is mind-blowing when you stop to think about what Kelly Clarkson has achieved during her young career,” said Michael Rapino, CEO of tour promoter LiveNation, in a statement. “But ticket sales have not been what we anticipated and we came to the realization that we had bit off more than we could chew. In the end, we are in the Kelly Clarkson business and for that reason we believe that this decision will only benefit her and her fans in the long run.”

For those who bought tickets for Kelly’s summer show they have the option to get a refund or if they chose to keep the tickets ( don’t see what good that will do) they will be notified via phone, email etc of future concerts.

Noel Gallagher, the lead songwriter and guitarist from the British rock band Oasis, was interviewed by BBC, regarding the band’s cover of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, by the The Beatles. Oasis recorded a version of Within You Without You, to commemorate 40 years since Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released, considered the most influential album of all time by prominent critics. Oasis joined Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, Bryan Adams and The Magic Numbers in the studios,where each band recorded a song from the 40 year old masterpiece.

After answering a series of questions regarding The Beatles covers, Noel told BBC that they will shortly begin work on their seventh studio release, on the 3rd of July.

“The songs are written… but don’t hold your breath because the last album took three-and-half-years and three goes!

“It would be great if it was done by the end of the year and we could get out on the road by next summer, but that’s insane wishful thinking.”

It’s been almost five years since i haven’t heard anything new from Radiohead, in terms of new material, but that all change today when i saw a post on their blog Dead Air Space. In a post there Radiohead’s lead guitarist Ed O’Brien confirmed that they’re almost finished with they new studio installment, fallow up to their last album Hail To The Thief:

“a word from the studio
Yes I know its been a while ….. but we’ve been working on this album for a while …… BUT WE ARE NEARLY THERE …..
Ed”

I’m really exited about this, so i’m hoping more news on this matter will come on hand soon, maybe a teaser or a track snipet. I’ll be sure to let you all know !

Eccentricity is a word that would characterize the White Stripes or maybe it’s just a strong sense of marketing, whatever it is White Stripes have surprised us again, this time by announcing that they will release the forthcoming album “Icky Thump” full-length in USB drive format.

This is a very limited edition, the 512 USB 2.0 drives will come in 3,333 Jack depicting units and 3,333 Meg depicting units ( see picture for reference) . You can buy the USB’s in a pair for a discount (99$) or separate if your prefer one of the Whites better (57$). Both of the versions of the drives come pre-loaded with Icky Thump in Apple Lossless format and will be shipped to the buyers from June 19th, the day of the album’s release in the US.

You may buy the USB drives from here.

A big chunk of my childhood was influenced by the popular TV series Transformers, i can’t imagine my early years without the colossus fights between the Autobots lead by the nobil Optimus Prime and the evil Decepticons lead by it’s mastermind Megatron.

When i first heard that there was a live action movie based on the animated series i used to watch as a kid, my first thoughs were of skepticisms. I’ve been disappointed before by the adaptations of Marvel comics in the movie world, Spirderman, Punisher, Fantastic Four disillusioned me even more.

Anyway let’s stay on topic, after all this is a music blog, not a movie blog, so the reason why i brought all this Transformer talk is that i’ve learned that it’s soundtrack will be released on July 3, 2007, 2 weeks after it’s theater debute. The O.S.T. of Transformers was composed by the grand master Steve Jablonsky, with it’s main theme being performed by the electro-rock band Mute Math. I ran into the new electrofied Transformers theme down at Mute Math myspace profile page and it rocked. What do you think, is it any good?