Compiled by Keavin Wiggins
. The Day in Rock - antiMUSIC.com's look at Today's Top Rock News Stories From Across the Web

Click Here To Bookmark DayInRock.com - Make The DayInRock.com Your Homepage
.

Kurt Cobain Tribute Concert

PR reports: The Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee has finalized the plans for the "Lounge Acts 2007" Benefit Concert! The committee is staging the concert as part of their efforts to raise funds to honor Kurt in his hometown of Aberdeen (a town he reportedly hated). Set for Saturday, September 15th, the concert will feature 7 bands including: JED, The Whore Moans, Don't Even Know, Black Top Demon, The Bimm Quaid, Bench Grinder, and Clouded Minds.

Lounge Acts 2007 will begin at 6:00 PM, Saturday, Sept. 15. at The Historic 7th Street Theater, (313 7th Street, Hoquiam, Washington 98550). Aside from the live music the event's website says that there will also be"prize auctions throughout the evening, including merch from all the bands involved and local merchants and featuring a print-size, 28-by-22-inch pastel painting of Kurt Cobain on quality canvas from Grays Harbor artist Jeremy Fry. Many more sponsors have donated gifts, as well. "

The Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee say on their website that their mission "started with a local newspaper article written by three Aberdeen High School students. It was 10 years after Kurt Cobain's tragic 1994 death and still his hometown had done nothing to honor him. The teens wondered why." Learn more and get more concert details- here

More on Nirvana - Nirvana CDs - - Comments

Athlete Set Release

PR reports: Beyond The Neighourhood is Athlete's third album and will be released on September 25, 2007. The quartet (Joel Pott, Carey Willetts, Tim Wanstall, and Stephen Roberts) started recording Beyond The Neighourhood in the summer of 2006 in their brand new studio in South London after a whirlwind year and half that included months of worldwide touring for their own sold-out US headlining tours, support slots for U2 in the UK and Europe and Snow Patrol in the US, a stellar performance of their modern rock buzz single "Half Light" on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and was capped off by winning the UK's prestigious Ivor Novello songwriting award for "Best Contemporary Song" for their track "Wires". 

Producing themselves for the first time gave the band the freedom to record without constraints, and gives Neighbourhood an intimate yet grand feel. As with Tourist and their Mercury Prize nominated/UK platinum debut Vehicles and Animals, Neighbourhood is replete with the guitar-pop hooks that initially brought them masses of dedicated fans, but brims with more complex arrangements, sweeping melodies, and lush orchestration.- more on this story

More on Athlete - Athlete CDs - - Comments

Joe Zawinul RIP

BBC reports: Austrian jazz pianist Joe Zawinul, who founded influential 1970s jazz-rock group Weather Report, has died. 

Zawinul, 75, passed away at his home in Vienna. Austrian media reports said he had been suffering from skin cancer. 

The celebrated keyboardist enjoyed his biggest hit - the Grammy-winning Birdland - with Weather Report in 1977.- more on this story

More on Weather Report - Weather Report CDs - - Comments

Lennon Yoko Peace Tower

BBC reports: The widow of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, is to unveil a peace tower dedicated to the late Beatle in Iceland on what would have been his 67th birthday. 

The light tower, engraved with "imagine peace" in 24 languages, will go on display in Reykjavik on 9 October. 

The musician predicted 40 years ago that the tower, which is designed by Ono, would eventually become a reality. "I consider myself very fortunate to see the dream my husband and I dreamt together become reality," said Ono.- more on this story

More on John Lennon - John Lennon CDs - - Comments

Soto Speaks out on Journey Firing

antiMusic reports: Jeff Scott Soto has spoken out about his dismissal from Journey. While speaking with the Classic Metal Show Soto revealed that band didn't even bother to contact him directly to give him the news and in fact have not spoken to him since. Soto was hired by the band in July to fill in for Steve Augeri who was reportedly ill and faced lipsynching accusations. In June Journey announced that Soto was no longer part of the band saying they wished to go in a different direction. 

Here is what Soto told Classic Metal Show about the parting: I can't go into too many specifics here because there are some pending things going back and forth, but what I can say is that I wasn't really told anything. I can't get into any kind of trouble by stating the true fact that I haven't spoken to any one of those guys since the last show that we did together, which was back in Virginia on May 12th. I left for Europe three days after that to start the Talisman farewell tour. Like I said, I haven't spoken to one guy in the band since that day. Nobody has bothered to call me, and it was all done through the management and through all their top people because they just didn't want to address it.

Maybe they felt that I'd want to discuss it with them, and there just wasn't any grounds for discussion. It is what it is, and I was just kind of given the walking papers. The only thing I have to go on is exactly what you said. The press release states exactly that. They felt they needed someone that can live their legacy and do their catalog the way the fans have come to expect it.- Podcast is available here

More on Journey - Journey CDs - - Comments

Surf Punks Get Reissued!

antiMusic reports: Some cool reissues are coming, including two from the Surf Punks! Surf Punks, led by Dennis Dragon (Darryl's brother) delivered an unforgettable mix of surf and real punk not that Blink-182, Sum 41 poser crap. Also on tap for reissue is Cicadas featured Rodney Crowell and Beatnik Beatch which was precursor to Jellyfish. Here is the press release:

So, for the first time in its long history of licensing and releasing reissues, Collectors' Choice launched a new label, which they've assigned the curious name of Noble Rot. Wine lovers will recognize the term as the one used to describe the bacteria that cause grapes to rot, thereby upping their sugar content. The folks at Collectors' Choice liked it because, one, good recordings really do improve with age, and two, because "rot " is as punk as a word gets. (And "bacteria" is pretty punk, too!)

According to Collectors' Choice Music general manager Gordon Anderson, "There are a ton of albums from the '80s and '90s that deserve to be in print but are not, and a lot of them you can't find digitally, either. We started Noble Rot to rescue those records from undeserved oblivion, and, just like with our Collectors' Choice Music label, we're open to suggestions from our constituency, namely music lovers, and, yes, even from music journalists!"- details on these digipack reissues

More on Surf Punks - Surf Punks CDs - - Comments

Necro's Death Rap Arrives

PR reports: Forget Fiddy and Kanye, Necro's new album, Death Rap, is poised to reinvent hip-hop and aggressive metal music as we know it. Not many other artists have managed to strike a balance between the two styles of music without watering down one or the other. Death Rap pushes both genres to their extremes, far surpassing anything Necro or anyone else has done in the past.

While Necro is an underground hip-hop legend, his first musical project was playing guitar in a death metal band. However, his love of rap music soon set him on the path of writing, recording, and releasing albums on his own label Psycho+Logical-Records. Necro created a cult following, based on word of mouth and clever street promotion. His first two albums: I Need Drugs and Gory Days each sold over 30,000 copies and are highly regarded in the underground hip-hop community. Necro started to show his metal roots with 2004's Prefix for Death, an album that featured collaborations with members of Hatebreed, Slipknot, Obituary, S.O.D. and was even more successful than anything he had done before. His past successes have enabled Necro to build up a strong online following with over 130,000 friends on MySpace and a massive YouTube presence. - more on this story

More on Necro - Necro CDs - - Comments

The Very Best Of Mick Jagger

PR reports: The Very Best Of Mick Jagger, the first overview of his distinguished solo career, is set for release in the U.S. on October 2, on Atlantic/Rhino Records. It's a vivid reminder of the compelling gifts that brought Jagger fame in the first place. As an embodiment of all that rock 'n' roll can mean, he is virtually without peer and that is made plain on this compelling 17-track collection, which includes three previously unreleased performances.

But Mick, for better or worse, is also one of those figures who has far eclipsed the realm of rock 'n' roll to become one of the most recognizable names and faces in the world, as celebrated for who he is as for what he's accomplished. Indeed, he is a "musician and songwriter," one of the greatest singers in rock 'n' roll history, and a restless, adventurous artist.- more on this story

More on Mick Jagger - Mick Jagger CDs - - Comments

Sound Team Split

Filter reports: We've all heard the saying that there is no "i" in team. But for Austin's Sound Team, there is an "i" and its right smack in the middle of the letters q-u-i-t. After the release of their debut album, Movie Monster via Capital, the band was quickly dropped. 

From there, the band's been on the bench and haven't been able to get back into the game. As a result, Sound Team have announced their amicable break up. 

Bassist Bill Baird confirmed via his personal blog that while the reasons were "numerous and boring", it was time to move on. After two hometown farewell shows, all members will continue to play music in projects of their own. - The Farewell show dates

More on Sound Team - Sound Team CDs - - Comments

Health Tour, Vinyl, and Remixes

PR reports: The impressive word-of-mouth excitement about L.A. underground quartet Health that has surged throughout that city like a series of rolling blackouts has quickly become an international phenomenon. The band recently ripped a swath across the U.K. and this week Health announce tour dates throughout the US beginning on September 25th.

Health's self-titled debut full length on the ultrahip Lovepump United label hits shelves on September 18th. Soon thereafter, L.A. based Cold Sweat Records (Battles, Phantom Family Halo, This Moment in Black History) will issue the vinyl version of the album. 

As if that weren't enough Health activity, the band has announced a slew of commissioned remixes to follow hot on the heels of the album.- more on this story

More on Health - Health CDs - - Comments

Nick Luca Hospitalized While on John Doe Tour

PR reports: Musician Nick Luca has been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes after he was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit of University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona on August 20, 2007. Emergency room doctors discovered the previously undetected diabetes when Luca arrived, near the end of a two-month national tour with John Doe (X), displaying a wide array of physical problems.

Upon admission to the ICU, Luca's blood glucose (sugar) level was higher than 500 - more than four times regular level - putting him at imminent risk of slipping into a diabetic coma. Blood tests showed that his pancreas had stopped producing insulin during the two months he was on tour, causing a variety of maladies on the road. Toward the end of the tour, Luca entered the later stages of ketoacidosis, a very dangerous and potentially life threatening condition.

"Diabetes is the absolute last thing any working musician thinks about when they set off on a two month tour," said Nick Luca. "Shortly after we hit the road, I began to lose weight, I was eating poorly and I was irritable - which isn't all that uncommon on the road. But as soon as I got home, I started losing my vision, vomiting uncontrollably, I was lethargic and making absolutely no sense at all when I tried to communicate with my wife and friends. Without their help, I probably would have died. I feel like I have a second lease on life. I'm very lucky to be alive."- more on this story

More on John Doe - John Doe CDs - - Comments

Umphrey's Mcgee Live CD, Tour

PR reports: Umphrey's Mcgee Kicks Out The Jams With First Official Live Album, Live At The Murat, In Stores October 16th. Um Celebrates Release With More Touring This Fall, Including Appearances At Vegoose, Caribbean Holidaze, And Jam In The 'Dam. 

Their first official live release, is as impressive as anything they've recorded to date, with the power and finesse, the yin and the yang, that have come to characterize their by-now classic material. 

Recorded in Indianapolis in April 2007 and produced by longtime "sound caresser" / honorary seventh member Kevin Browning, the two-disc set features fan favorites like "Push the Pig," "The Triple Wide," "In the Kitchen," and "Nothing Too Fancy" along with rare tunes like the set-ending "Padgett's Profile" and the brief but torrid "Angular Momentum," centered on the combo of drummer Kris Myers and guitarist Jake Cinninger. - more on this story

More on Umphrey's Mcgee - Umphrey's Mcgee CDs - - Comments

Read Day In Rock Reports From Other Days
 

antiMUSIC News featured on RockNews.info

.

---