New Michael Jackson album announced - 'Michael'

MUCH ANTICIPATED NEW ALBUM FROM THE KING OF POP
MICHAEL
TO BE RELEASED DECEMBER 14

Exclusive Teaser and Song to be Unveiled on MichaelJackson.com

New York, NY – The much anticipated album of newly completed recordings from Michael Jackson entitled MICHAEL will be released on December 14 by Epic Records in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson. Tomorrow, an exclusive teaser for the project will appear on www.michaeljackson.com; on Monday, November 8th the world premiere of “Breaking News,” a full track from the album, will stream on the site for one week only.

The creative process never stopped for the King of Pop who was always planning for his next album; unbeknownst to many fans around the world Michael Jackson was writing and recording songs continuously everywhere from a friend’s home in New Jersey to studios in Las Vegas and Los Angeles with a small group of handpicked collaborators. Now, through the unique stories that will be told about the songs that comprise MICHAEL, fans will get mind-blowing insight into how this artist worked and a chance to hear the songs he most recently created along with tracks that Michael had a desire to bring to fruition.

“Breaking News,” a never heard before song by Michael that appears on the new album was recorded in New Jersey in 2007 and recently brought to completion. Fans can begin pre-ordering the album on www.michaeljackson.com in the next 24 hours.

The attached image of the album cover of MICHAEL was created by painter Kadir Nelson in 2009. In the oil painting, Kadir – who is known for story telling through his art – takes us on a journey through some key moments and important people in Michael Jackson’s life.

Stay tuned for the worldwide launch of the official first single from MICHAEL later this month.
www.michaeljackson.com

DAR WILLIAMS to release 'Many Great Companions', October 12th

Dar Williams is set to release her eighth studio album, Many Great Companions, via Razor & Tie on October 12th. Many Great Companions is a new album of Dar Williams classics recorded acoustically with special guests, with an additional disc of Williams' most significant songs. Songs span Dar's impressive career from 1993's The Honesty Room through 2008's Promised Land.

On Songs Revisited With Guitar and a Few Friends, Dar re-records 12 classic songs from her extensive catalogue, all performed acoustically. She's joined by several fellow musicians and friends on the new versions, including Sean and Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Larkin, Motherlode, and Gary Louris of the Jayhawks who also produced the album. The second disc, Best of Dar Williams, is not just a compilation, but rather a journey through Dar's career. Listeners are able to follow Dar as she transforms from a folk singer just starting out to the seasoned musician she is today.

Many Great Companions showcases classic Dar Williams in a remarkably unique way, different than anything the songstress has ever put out before. Dar's personal and artistic growth can be seen throughout her career, and this album is the perfect summation of her natural evolution. Songs Revisited With Guitar and a Few Friends and Best of Dar Williams complement each other flawlessly, creating the memorable Many Great Companions. The new album will not only engage and interest Dar's current fan base, but will surely intrigue those who may not be as familiar with her prior music.

Dar Williams is one of the most respected singer-songwriters of her generation, and continues to engage her loyal fans and growing audience throughout the country. Dar's personal and artistic growth have happened concurrently. After attending Wesleyan University, Dar spent 10 years performing at coffee houses in the artistic town of Northampton, Massachusetts before self-releasing her first album, The Honesty Room. She now spends her off time with husband Michael and their two children, Stephen and Taya. Dar will be touring from September through November, with residencies in a few select cities.

For more information, visit www.darwilliams.com.

Robert Plant to release 'Band Of Joy' this month

Robert Plant - Band Of Joy
Available everywhere September 13th 2010

When Robert Plant collected the 2009 Grammy for Album of the Year
for Raising Sand, and a further five more for his work with bluegrass singer
Alison Krauss, it confirmed what has been apparent all along - that Plant is
one of the few musicians of his generation whose appetite
for musical innovation remains keen.

His critically-acclaimed new album Band Of Joy was recorded at Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' Woodland studio in Nashville, an important hub from the Seventies which the duo rescued from oblivion. Despite Plant's name being above the title, it's clearly a collective endeavour by him and the musicians, built on mutual sensitivity.

"I found it incredibly refreshing, the lightness of it all was wonderful," he recalls. "And I didn't want to lose the essence of that. After all the things I've done, the idea of just stepping forward with other people and letting them take the lead, is an exciting prospect. And with Buddy, Patty and Darrell on this record, it promises to be exciting... Nothing is daunting for me - but forever challenging. I have to be able to just get out there into the great drift of music and possibility, and hang onto great themes and ideas."

Visit www.robertplant.com to hear samples and order now.

BILL HICKS - The Essential Collection in stores September 14th

N.B.: You may remember that on season 2 of the Insomnia Cafe podcast we had an exclusive early play of Bill's song 'Moon Is Smiling'. That song, and 10 others (making up the album 'Lo-Fi Troubadour') will be available in this set via a special download card.

Ryko is proud to announce the release of The Essential Collection, a four disc set (2 CD/2 DVD) - out September 14th, 2010 on Ryko - that encompasses Bill Hicks’ short but influential career as a satirist, social critic and stand-up comedian.

The package contains double DVD discs with over five hours of footage from Bill Hicks’ personal archives including rare, never-before-seen performances from the early 80’s, the cult short film Ninja Bachelor Party (starring Bill Hicks, Kevin Booth and David Johndrow), in-depth interviews with Hicks and a photo gallery from his family’s keepsakes.

The 2 CD discs offer over two hours of his best stand-up material with never-before-released performance pieces from a San Ramon , CA show recorded by Bill Hicks that was found in his archives. The box set also features new liner notes written by family members as well as renowned figures (including Henry Rollins, Eric Bogosian, noted UK author Paul Outhwaite, and UK journalist/tv personality, Clive Anderson), and a download card containing original song recordings by Hicks (that were mastered at Abbey Road Studios - London, England) entitled, Lo-Fi Troubadour.

Tracklisting (selections marked with an asterisk are previously unreleased):

Disc One (CD):

1. Fevered Egos
2. I’m Talking To The Women Here
3. My Favorite New Kid
4. Marketing & Advertising
5. Artistic Roll Call
6. Orange Drink
7. Save Willie
8. Menu?
9. A Killer Idea
10. Goodbye You Lizard Scum
11. Summertime
12. Elvis*
13. The News
14. Confession Time (Cops)
15. Please Do Not Disturb*
16. Spectravision & Housekeeping
17. Girl Of Your Dreams
18. Clam Lappers & Sonic The Hedgehog TM
19. What Is Pornography?
20. Renting Pornos & Girlfriends*
21. Name & Address Not Withheld*
22. Beelzebozo*
23. Pussywhipped Satan
24. I Love My Job
25. Audience Member / Old Folks Home Manager*
26. Worst Audience Ever
27. The F Word
28. My Parents

Disc Two (CD):

1. Drugs Have Done Good Things
2. Rockers Against Drugs Suck
3. We Live In A World
4. Drugs Have Done Good Things Part 2*
5. Ding Dong
6. Gays In The Military
7. Speaking Of Homosexuality
8. Children On Airplanes
9. Your Children Aren’t Special
10. Pro Life
11. Non-Smokers
12. Audience Member / Dental Assistant*
13. Smoking
14. Smoking Tastes Great*
15. Yul Brynner
16. Smoking In Heaven
17. Flying Saucer Tour
18. Burning Issues
19. Odd Beliefs
20. Kennedy & The Warren Commission
21. Handguns – UK vs. USA*
22. The Vision

Disc Three (DVD):

The Early Years – Stand Up
Houston, TX – 1981*
Houston, TX – 1984*
Indianapolis, IN – 1985*
Houston, TX (Part 1) – 1986*
Houston, TX (Part 2) – 1986*

The Early Years – TV Interview

The Outlaw Comics
Outlaw Comics Performance
Origins Of The Outlaw Comics*

Extras – Photo Gallery

Disc Four (DVD):

Ninja Bachelor Party

About Ninja Bachelor Party

Austin Bootleg Series
November, 1991*
December, 1992*
June, 1993*
October, 1993*

About The Austin Bootleg Series

Download Card:

Lo-Fi Troubadour
Original Songs* – Written & Performed by Bill Hicks

1. Introduction
2. She’s A Woman
3. Hey Mama
4. The Road Can Be Hard
5. Jazz Instrumental
6. The Moon Is Smiling
7. Turn Your Mind Over To Your Heart
8. No Music In My Soul
9. Waiting To Meet You
10. I Never Really Cried For You
11. Outro Instrumental

In stores September 14th.

Darius Rucker to release second country album on October 12th

(Associated Press)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Darius Rucker wrote 77 songs for his new album. That's not a misprint.

Most of them ended up not making the cut for "Charleston, SC 1966," Rucker's follow up to his country breakthrough, "Learn to Live." The new album will be out Oct. 12, and will include 12 new songs. Rucker said it was no problem coming up with a final track list.

"We just listened to them and saw what was rising to the top," Rucker said. "When I say that, people say to me, 'Man, that must be a hard decision.' No, not really. The best songs really rise to the top."

"Learn to Live" has sold 1.4 million albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and earned Rucker the Country Music Association's best new artist award. The 44-year-old former Hootie and the Blowfish singer was the first black performer to win a major individual CMA award since Charley Pride in 1971-72.

Rucker says the many fans of "Learn to Live" can expect something very similar to "Charleston, SC 1966."

"I don't think it's going to be light-years different," Rucker said. "I don't think we set out to reinvent the wheel or do a new sound. I think this record is more of an expansion of the last record than anything else. It's like picking up where the last record left off."

The album's title is a reference to his hometown, the year of his birth and a tribute to Radney Foster's first solo album, "Del Rio, TX 1959." He said it was listening to Foster that first made him realize the possibilities of country music.

"It was his voice," Rucker said. "It was really the first time where I had heard country music where I thought, 'Man, I could sing that.' I always liked it, but it was always, I never really knew I could play it. But then I heard Radney and it was like, 'Wow, that guy's amazing.'"

Rucker teamed with producer Frank Rogers again and says it's a comfortable partnership. Rogers was one of several songwriters who teamed with Rucker to write material for the album. The singer says it's not out of the ordinary for him to write dozens of songs for an album. He wrote 52 for "Learn to Live." He and a co-writer can turn out six to nine new songs over three days, he said, and he teamed with several writers while on tour, in Nashville and at his home.

Rucker says some really good songs didn't make the cut because they didn't fit what he was looking for on the album. He has begun offering them to others, something he didn't do with the first album.

"I think it was one of those things where I think the last record it would've been hard to have somebody cut a song that we wrote," Rucker said. "I was just so new. It was like, 'Who wants a Darius Rucker castoff?' They might want one now."

Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone - new album due this September

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and soul/gospel legend Mavis Staples delivers more wall-to-wall joy on her triumphant new Anti- album, You Are Not Alone (September 14), than any other release you’re likely to hear this year.

Produced by fellow Chicagoan Jeff Tweedy at Wilco’s studio The Loft, the intimate and textured production showcases the iconic singer at her most powerful and fervent. You Are Not Alone mixes traditional gospel numbers with two new songs written for Mavis by Tweedy, plus her unique interpretations of songs by Pops Staples, Randy Newman, Allen Toussaint, John Fogerty, Rev. Gary Davis and Little Milton.

The album features Mavis’s touring band of the last three years: Rick Holmstrom, guitar, vocals; Jeff Turmes, bass, vocals; Stephen Hodges, drums; Donny Gerrard, background vocals; plus special guests Jeff Tweedy on guitars, bass, and vocals; Wilco’s Patrick Sansone, keys, vibes; Mark Greenberg, vibes, keys; with additional background vocals by frequent Neko Case collaborators Kelly Hogan and Nora O’Connor, and Richard Parenti.

You Are Not Alone is Mavis’s second studio release for Anti. It follows her 2007 critical triumph, We’ll Never Turn Back, produced by Ry Cooder, which revisited the great songs of the civil rights era and prompted her hometown paper The Chicago Sun-Times to hail her as “an American treasure.” In 2008, Anti- issued a rapturously received live album, Live: Hope at the Hideout, which was named one of the Best Live CDs of All Time by Amazon.com’s editors and earned Mavis her first Grammy-nomination as a solo artist.

Mavis Staples is enjoying a major career resurgence, having become a festival favorite in recent years. This summer she will play Lollapalooza on August 6, and the Wilco-curated Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCa on August 14 with additional US and European tour dates to be announced soon.

Track listing for Mavis Staples, You Are Not Alone

1. You Don’t Knock (Pops Staples/Wesley Westbrook)
2. You Are Not Alone (Jeff Tweedy)
3. Downward Road (Pops Staples)
4. In Christ There is No East and West (traditional; arranged by Jeff Tweedy)
5. Creep Along, Moses (traditional)
6. Losing You (Randy Newman)
7. I Belong to the Band (Rev. Gary Davis)
8. Last Train (Allen Toussaint)
9. Only the Lord Knows (Jeff Tweedy)
10. Wrote A Song for Everyone (John Fogerty)
11. We’re Gonna Make It (Little Milton)
12. Wonderful Savior (traditional)
13. Too Close To Heaven / I'm On My Way to Heaven Anyhow (Prof. Alex E. BradfordJr./Brad Pathway)

www.mavisstaples.com

HANK WILLIAMS III's 'Rebel Within' unleashed.

All you have to do is take one glance at a few of the song titles on Rebel Within - “Getting’ Drunk And Fallin’ Down,” “Rebel Within,” “Tore Up And Loud” and “Drinkin’ Over Mama”-- and you have a good idea who wrote them: HANK WILLIAMS III.

Nashville native Hank Williams III has built his musical brand around hard-hitting songs, an ornery Hellbilly attitude and a do-it-yourself ethos, as he wrote 10 of the album’s 11 original tracks, did the vocals, played drums and the acoustic rhythm guitar parts. And he recorded and produced the album at his home studio. “I don’t like being told what to do, and I don’t need to be told what my record should sound like,” says Hank. “I got that covered.”

A progenitor of the Hellbilly movement, Hank III has released six albums since his 1999 debut, including 2008’s country/rock/metal Damn Right, Rebel Proud (of which Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times said, “…he careens from the stone country remorse of ‘I Wish I Knew’ to the psychobilly ode to the truck driving man of ‘H8 Line to the 10-minute, three-movement nose-thumbing epic “P.F.F.” offered in tribute to G.G. Allin”) and 2009’s punk/metal-infused Assjack. His refusal to confine himself to one musical genre is evident in his live performances, where he often does three-hour shows: he starts off with a country set, followed by a louder hillbilly set, which culminates with a set with his band Assjack. “I give everybody some of what they came for,” says Hank. “You can’t say I don’t work hard and give all I got.”

The 12-city Crazed Canada Tour launches Friday, June 4 at The Opera House in Toronto, ON and continues through the end of the month. This event will be “an evening with”--no opener, just pure Hellbilly rage all night. The venture will take III's tour bus out to the West Coast for a Saturday, June 19th engagement in Vancouver, BC.

'Rebel Within' is available now online and in stores.

For tour dates and further info visit www.hank3.com