Rock News Two: The week in pop

SPIN'S APRIL ISSUE LISTS LISTS

There are 115 lists in Spin Magazine's April issue, "The Ultimate List Issue." When Spin Editor-In-Chief Sia Michel was a kid she was obsessed with "The Book of Lists," which is packed with random historical trivia. So when Spin was putting together the annual "Spin Top 40: The Most Important Artists Making Music Right Now" package, she, and the rest of the editorial staff at Spin, thought it would be fun to devote the entire issue to music lists. Some of the lists are practical, like the "15 Most Influential Albums," others, like "Seven Rock Stars with Bad Teeth," are completely whimsical. When senior writer Marc Spitz was asked to come up with a list of 10 infamous new-wave hairdos, he e-mailed Sia Michel 18 examples in less than two minutes, as if he'd been waiting his entire life for someone to ask. Readers are encouraged to send their own lists to [email protected]. The best ones will be published in an upcoming issue.

INDIE ROCK AT SXSW

Two of indie rock's most respected record labels, Southern California's Hopeless/Sub City Records and New York's Equal Vision Records, are teaming up for a joint showcase at this year's SXSW Music Conference. The showcase will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday March 15 at Emo's Jr. and will feature three bands from each label's roster. Representing EVR will be The Rocking Horse Winner, This Day Forward and Armor for Sleep. South Florida indie-pop favorites The Rocking Horse currently tour with Coheed and Cambria, Onelinedrawing and Hopesfall. Their latest release, "Horizon," is out now. Philly progressive, melodic-hardcore masters This Day Forward and New Jersey's driving indie rock four-piece Armor For Sleep are two of Equal Vision's latest signings and they'll be previewing tracks off of their forthcoming full-lengths due out this spring. Performing for Hopeless/Sub City will be Stairwell, Avenged Sevenfold and Against All Authority. Orange County indie rock outfit Stairwell will play songs off of their irresistible new album, "The Sounds of Change," which arrives in stores March 25. Avenged Sevenfold's seamless hardcore/metal hybrid is sure to leave ears ringing and Miami's Against All Authority will raise hell while raising awareness with their politically minded punk rock. Both bands have highly anticipated new albums out this year. Special limited edition Hopeless/Sub City Records/Equal Vision CD samplers will be given out at the show and everyone who attends will receive a goody bag full of EVR/Hopeless swag.

PUT DOWN THAT KNITTING

Michael Dorf, founder of the New York avant-garde club the Knitting Factory, has resigned his position as chief executive officer/chairman of the Knitting Factory and Knit Media. Dorf plans to work on an arts center for Lower Manhattan. He will remain a board member and consultant for the Knitting Factory, which has outlets in New York and Los Angeles, with a Paris club scheduled for opening in the fall and a Berlin club sometime in the future. "(New York) needs a medium-sized performing arts facility to help with the economic, spiritual and intellectual renewal of downtown," Dorf said.

KELLY OSBOURNE IN HAIRSPRAY?

The New York Post reports Kelly Osbourne loved "Hairspray" so much, she wants to be the next Tracy Turnblad. "After seeing the show last week, Kelly and her mom Sharon came backstage and told the casting director Kelly wants to star in the show," a source told The Post. Current "Hairspray" lead Jaret Winokur's contract runs through August, but if the producers have heard Osbourne sing Winokur has nothing to worry about.

LIFEHOUSE SETS U.S. TOUR

Lifehouse is set to hit the road here at home, the band's first American tour since the September release of "Stanley Climbfall." Since last September, the band has toured Europe, Australia and Japan, performed a string of radio shows in December and opened up for the Rolling Stones, but this is Lifehouse's first stateside tour in support of the new album. This also is the first U.S. tour with Lifehouse's newest member, Sean Woolstenhulme, who officially joined the band in September. Sean is the lead guitarist, a former member of The Calling, and also the brother of Lifehouse drummer, Rick. The brothers, who are best friends and have been hoping to end up in the same band for years, joke any infamous "Oasis style sibling rivalry" is highly unlikely.

GET THE CURE

Ross Robinson, known for his production wizardry on projects with KoRn, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Sepultura, At The Drive-In, and the red-hot punksters The Blood Brothers, fulfilled a lifelong ambition to work with the legendary British band The Cure by signing them to his own imprint, I AM Recordings/ARTISTdirect Records. "The Cure has been my favorite band for years and years," he said. "They were instrumental in my approach to production. It was The Cure that opened me up to a more sensitive, heartfelt type of music, and I've been extremely loyal to that feeling in every project I've done since then." Led by charismatic singer/guitarist/songwriter Robert Smith, The Cure played a seminal role in launching Modern Alternative Rock after their emergence in the late '70s. In the years that have followed, the band has released a long string of hit albums and singles, during which their sound has constantly evolved, from the darkly ambitious early albums "Seventeen Seconds," "Faith," and "Pornography," into the more accessible, pop-inflected "The Head On The Door," and "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me," the landmark, "Disintegration" and the hugely successful "Wish", through to the most recent, "Bloodflowers."

DANIEL JOHNSTON COMPILATION

Dualtone Records will release a special double CD compilation of avant-garde singer/songwriter Daniel Johnston's music April 15, "The Early Recordings of Daniel Johnston, Volume 1." The album is comprised of the Texas-based performer's first two recordings, "Songs of Pain" and "More Songs of Pain," recorded in the basement of his parent's house, originally released on homemade cassette tapes and available for the first time ever on CD. Louis Black, editor of the Austin Chronicle, and Paul Leary, member of the Butthole Surfers and producer of some of Daniel's later albums for Atlantic Records, are writing liner notes for the set and the packaging contains all new original artwork from Johnston. A fixture on the Austin music scene since the 1980s, Johnston's music was first embraced by local musicians and then by the international music community, who discovered him through his homemade tapes, which were passed from performer to performer. Johnston soon evolved into an alternative/underground icon, becoming a favorite of Sonic Youth, the Butthole Surfers, David Byrne and Nirvana (Kurt Cobain was often photographed wearing a Daniel Johnston T-shirt). During that time, he also made an appearance on MTV's "Cutting Edge" show. Both Nirvana and Sonic Youth performed his songs on stage. In addition to the Butthole Surfers, others who've recorded Johnston's songs include Mike Watt, Mary Lou Lord, Jad Fair and Kramer, Built to Spill, the Reivers, Yo La Tengo, the Wild Seeds, Half Japanese and the Dead Milkmen.

THE FINAL CUT

Hank Ballard, the originator of "The Twist," died Sunday without ever getting due recognition for being one of the most important figures in rock history. Ballard was a sensation in the rhythm and blues world, fronting the Johnny Otis-lead Midnighters, whose "Work With Me Annie" was the biggest soul hit of 1954, setting the stage for rock 'n' roll's big breakthrough the following year. Ballard wrote and recorded a version of "The Twist" in 1958, but his record company didn't promote the tune and Chubby Checker ended up cutting the hit version. Ballard was a true original and a far more important figure in rock than history has credited him.

IRON MAIDEN OFFSHOOT

March 8 marks a historic event for former Iron Maiden and Wolfsbane vocalist Blaze Bayley, as his new band, simply monikered Blaze, makes its presence known in North America with a spotlight performance at the March Metal Meltdown festival in Irvington, N.J. Armed with two studio albums, "Silicon Messiah" and "Tenth Dimension," both made available domestically for the first time Feb. 25, Blaze brings an uncompromising raw energy and traditional heavy metal to the festival. Fans will be able to commemorate the live performance on April 29 when SPV Records releases "As Live As It Gets," a two-CD testament to the unbridled power Blaze presents in the live setting.

ROOMFUL OF BLUES TO CELEBRATE NEW RELEASE

The horn-fueled, jumping, swinging, award-winning band, Roomful of Blues, will celebrate the release of their Alligator Records debut, "That's Right," with a live performance in New York. The great Count Basie called them "the hottest blues band I've ever heard." DownBeat said the band is "in a class by itself." The show will take place Friday, April 11, at The Bottom Line in New York City.

BONERAMA IN SAN FRANCISCO

No band epitomizes the newfound freedom and anything goes attitude of the New American Music more than Bonerama. The band essentially is a pumping rhythm section with a trombone front line playing rock and funk themes. That's right, trombones, and when you hear the way that massed brass delivers the riffs to such classics as "Frankenstein" and "Crosstown Traffic" you'll think of power chords in a whole new way. The band's principal soloist, Mark Mullins, plays great open-toned trombone, but also plays the instrument as if it were an electric guitar, using sophisticated distortion techniques and a "wah wah" audacity right out of Jimi Hendrix. In the space of two years Bonerama has become one of the hippest bands on the New Orleans scene, with regular gigs at Jazz Fest and clubs around town. Last fall Bonerama made a spectacular New York debut, backing up Galactic, then selling out their own show at Tobacco Road and leading a marathon jam that included Stanton Moore on drums for "Foxy Lady," Theryl "Houseman" deClouet singing "Just Kissed My Baby" and "Big Chief" and six trombones across the stage at the climax. Bonerama's San Francisco debut at the Boom Boom Room on March 14-15 promises to be every bit as historic an occasion.

OR MUSIC TITLES SET

Independent label Or Music, founded in 2002 by music industry veterans Larry Miller and Michael Caplan, is set for its first batch of releases. New records by award-winning singer/songwriter essence and legendary funk outfit Tower of Power are set for release, while Texican blues-rock heroes Los Lonely Boys begin recording their Or Music debut in March. Or Music also continues to add to its diverse roster. The newest Or Music artists are Pitty Sing, whose lush, wistful rock evokes the Smiths and early U2, and Phil Roy, an accomplished writer of pop songs and film scores. Pitty Sing, Los Lonely Boys and essence all will take part in the label's first South By Southwest showcase, scheduled for March 14 at Steamboat in Austin, Texas.

FROST AGAIN

Vanguard Records will release a live album by legendary Detroit rockers The Frost on March 11. "The Best of The Frost" was recorded live over two sold-out nights at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit in 1969. The group debuted in 1968 with the single "Bad Girl," signed with Vanguard Records in 1969 and released the LP "Frost Music." For its next album the band decided to record live in front of the home audience. Several of the tracks recorded on those two nights ended up on "Rock and Roll Music." The remaining tracks from those two concerts appear here for the first time. The Frost was one of the most popular Detroit rock bands of the classic late '60s, early '70s era, with the biggest selling albums of any Detroit-based rock band, and attendance records all over the region. The band featured the highly influential songwriting and lead guitar of Dick Wagner, the powerful vocals and showmanship of Don Hartman, the classic double bass drum work of Bob Riggs, and bassist Gordy Garris. The Frost enjoyed a large cult following throughout the Midwest but failed to capture a national audience. Following the release of 1970's "Through the Eyes of Love" the group disbanded. The Frost released three albums during their tenure for Vanguard, "Frost Music" (1969), "Rock and Roll Music" (1969) and "Through the Eyes of Love" (1970). Wagner went on to substantial success as a session guitarist and songwriter, working with artists including Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, KISS, and Peter Gabriel. Hartman went on to produce film soundtracks.

CRADLE OF FILTH CLEANS UP

British Shock Rock innovators Cradle of Filth has completed its major label debut for the Red Ink/Epic label, "Damnation And A Day." Produced by Doug Cook (Anathema, Cathedral) and mixed by Rob Caggiano (Dry Kill Logic, Ill Nino, Ra, 36 Crazy Fists) and Steve Regina (Days of the New, Dream Theater, Dry Kill Logic) at Scrap 60 Productions, "Damnation And A Day" is an apocalyptic concept record written by founding member/vocalist Dani Davey. The other group members are guitarist Paul Allender, keyboardist Martin Powell, drummer Adrian Erlandsson, and new bassist Dave Pybus (formerly of Anathema). Red Ink/Epic plans to take advantage of the band's visual presentation, which frequently includes stilt-walkers and fire-breathers, with a conceptual video for the album's first single "Babalon AD (So Glad For The Madness)." The video was directed by Wiz, known for his work on Marilyn Manson's "Fight Song" and "Man That You Fear."

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Sixties legends Pearls Before Swine will be celebrated with a box set titled "Jewels Were The Stars" set for release March 25 on Water Records. The fourCD box contains all four Warner/Reprise albums -- "These Things Too," "The Use Of Ashes," "City Of Gold" and "Beautiful Lies You Could Live In." The box also will contain a detailed 60-page book featuring photos, posters and liner notes by Lenny Kaye, Savage Pencil, Byron Coley, Joe Phillips, Mitch Myers and interviews with Tom Rapp and Elisabeth. The set will also include 20-page booklets in each of the four CDs.