Yesterday we told you all about a alternate Spanish version of the [tag]White Stripes[/tag] single “Conquest,” that’s soon to be released under the moniker of Las Rayas Blanca and titled “Conquista.” The single is out on February 19, but the video’s already been released, with no visual changes to the original, just Jack’s alternate Spanish ego. The whole thing sounds like a Spanish dubbed B-movie, with Jack’s vocals and accent sounding awful, as many native speakers have already confirmed on the web. Fun as hell though.

The 14th record, from the Athenian trio of [tag]R.E.M.[/tag], is closing in fast and after we’ve posted Accelerate’s tracklist, it’s now time for a first glimpse on how the album sounds, by sampling its first single “Supernatural Superserious.” How’s it like? Well let me start by saying it’s a heck of improvement, compared to their previous slump of a record, quite catchy actually towards excellent. Glad the boys found their whits and guitars again. You can stream the song bellow.

A lot of people had high hopes, that the shoegazing Irish innovator of [tag]My Bloody Valentine[/tag], would make a stop at this year’s Coachella festival. However, the band apparently wasn’t able to attend, leaving a lot of North American fans disheartened, as well as leaving some flat broke, as a trip to a European festival is by no means a picnic. Although MBV hasn’t added any North American dates, since our last update about their tour, the band decided to increase their European gigs, by  announcing appareances at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark in early July, as well as at the Øya Festival in Norway in early August. A show in Paris and London’s Roundhouse (the fifth show at the same venue!), each, have also been announced. Dates and venues after the jump.

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The new video, for the pop punk quartet’s latest single, “Always Be,” is set in a Museum, where the band unleashes it’s prehistorical rocking, as two lovers stray from a guided tour. Always be is part of [tag]Jimmy Eat World[/tag]’s latest record Chase This Light, out now.

I’ve always had loads of fun with [tag]Foo Fighters[/tag]’ videos, packed with a lot of humor, next to some hard rocking. The initial video for “Long Road To Ruin,” was no exception, managing to crack me up on each play. I guess there’s something about Dave Grohl, that make the Foos video magic and funny as hell. Anyway the fun train hasn’t stopped yet and a alternate version of the video was posted recently, this time the initial soap opera vibe is gone, but Mr. Grolton & co. still rock hard. The chicks dig them too.

Btw don’t forget about the Foo Fighters Grammy moment contest.

A lot of rumors floated around last year that, alt-rock legends of the 90’s Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli would join forces and form a new band. Previous collaborations between each of the two’s musical projects, made it very likely and back in September 2007, the two announces that they’ve completed recording their debut album, under the moniker of The Gutter Twins. “Idle Hands” is the group’s first single and it sure does sound sweet, as the two’s voices fit unbelievably well, resulting in a grunge/alt (Lanegan) mixture with a dash of punk (Dulli). You can stream the song at the duo’s MySpace page. “Saturnalia,” The Gutter Twins’ debut album rolls out on March 4th, 2008 via Sub Pop.

The 50th edition of the famous Grammy Awards is just one month away and for the their performance, the alt-powerhouse of [tag]Foo Fighters[/tag] have something special in mind. Meaning they’ve partnered with YouTube  to launch a fan contes in which contenders will have to upload a 60 second video that consists of them covering The Pretender with orchestral instruments. That means no guitar, no bass, no drums just string, woodwind and brass players are invited to join. Submissions end on January 20.
Afterwards, 45 quarter finalists will be determined by a Grammy judging panel, with the public selecting the semi-finalists who will perform with the Foo Fighters as part of an orchestra. The winner will then fly with the band to LA, where the Grammy Awards will take place on February 10. The band has re-written the song, so that it now matches the extra orchestral instruments and I think it’ll be a little more gentle.

More info at Youtube.com/mygrammymoment.

The legendary Athenian alt-rock trio of [tag]R.E.M.[/tag] have recently announced the title and release date of their forthcoming 14th LP. According to Billboard the album, recorded in Vancouver and Dublin and produced by Jacknife Lee, will be titled “Accelerate“, and should be out on April 1. Those of you who may still feel the bitter taste of R.E.M’s lethargic rhythm in the band’s previous album Around The Sun, can somewhat stay at ease, as the band promises the new Accelerate songs to be fast and wild or as manager Bertis Downs like to put it: real “rockers”.Say for a few songs, I’ve been a bit disapointed in the band’s recent work, so if their new album is half of what they used to put out in the mid 90’s, I’ll be more then happy.

A official tracklist hasn’t yet surfaced, but the band named a few familiar songs that would be featured on Accelerate. Most of the album’s material has been featured in live gigs, mostly during their summer performance at Dublin, where a lot of the songs where tested. Some songs were spared of any concert demoing, so we should at least be in for a few surprises, hopefully pleasant.

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Artist name: Rivers Cuomo
Album name: Alone
Label: Geffen
Gender: Alternative/Geek Rock
Release date: December 18, 2007
ZMErating: 8/10
Website: http://www.riverscuomo.com/

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As the frontman for the cult phenomenon band [tag]Weezer[/tag], Rivers Cuomo has always managed to form a pop eccentric image and most of all a dictatorial presence in the band, as it’s widely known he says what goes and what doesn’t in the geek group. He’s a perfectionist in nature, proved by the fact he’s recorded and dumped, in his whole career with Weezer and other side projects, over 800 tracks. It’s mainly because of this why I was extremely surprised of his first solo record, “Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo,” a collection of demos recorded most probably in his basement, containing “eighteen tracks, spanning my demo-making career from 1992 to 2007″ as Rivers put it in a recent interview. The reason why I was so surprised is that almost all of the songs sound so under produced, half-backed, with out of sync vocals and rusty guitar works; overall things that Rivers would usually never allow to see the light of day with Weezer.It has a constant vibe of rawness around it, trough out the listen, that I just love.
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Recently we had the chance to have, a really short but concise, e-mail conversation with  Jeff Stinco, the lead guitarist from Montreal based punk-pop quintet [tag]Simple Plan[/tag]. We pondered Jeff with a few questions, about the band’s new album, sound, new video and their upcoming 2008 tour and he was gracious enough to give some interesting answers.

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