Smashing Pumpkins Reunion
As posted on the bands website, the oft rumored but never confirmed reunion of The Smashing Pumpkins is under way.  The band is currently penning songs for the upcoming unannounced album.  Unfortunately, no one really knows the band members yet and we can promise you that two of yesteryears won’t show up for the chips-n-dip.  James Iha and D’arcy Wretzky and been well documented as shaky at best and Corgan has been bitter toward them as the direct cause of the bands original demise.  Fortunately, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin is in by signing a management agreement with Corgan.

Babyshambles’ Doherty Arrested, Again
Babyshambles lead singer/Frontman Pete Doherty was arrested today on suspected drug possession hours after leaving court.  Earlier in the day, Doherty appeared in court on previous drug possessions charges which resulted in a court ordered 18 month rehab stint, 2 year probation, and 6 months license suspension.  Although not confirmed, sources close to the East London Police Station have reported Doherty was in fact the man arrested along with another 21 year old male with intent to supply by plain clothed officers.  More as it unfolds and his life continues its shitter spiral. 

›› Babyshambles Down in Albion Review
›› Doherty Continues His Shenanigans; Misses Court

David Lee Roth Canned
Howard Stern has new material; rejoice!  His replacement from New York standard radio airwaves David Lee Roth has been fired.  Earlier this year, DLR replaced Stern as the infamous morning shock jock moved over to Sirrus Radio in a multi year multi-million dollar contract.  Unfortunately, the shoes seemed to big to fill and audiences quickly dissipated some 50% reports state.  Of course, those numbers won’t come in until next weeks Winter 2006 Arbitron results are revealed.  Here’s hoping this leads to the much delayed Van Halen reunion; Panama II.  CBS will replace Roth with Opie and Anthony Show syndicated by none other than satellite giant XM.

Tapes-n-Tapes Tour With Figurines
Office favs are always appreciated on the road, but then you add two office rotations in the same non-festival tour schedule its perma-orgasim.  See: Tapes-n-Tapes and Figurines on tour together in the month of June.  Check out this powerhouse duo for a listing near you. 

06-04 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
06-05 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Club
06-06 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
06-07 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
06-08 Baltimore, MD - Fletcher's
06-09 Atlanta, GA - The Drunken Unicorn
06-10 Nashville, TN - The Basement
06-12 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room
06-13 Austin, TX - Stubb's Barbeque
06-15 Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture
06-16 Los Angeles, CA - Echo
06-17 San Francisco, CA - Café du Nord
06-18 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
06-19 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café
06-22 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
06-23 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground

Demme Does M’s
Jonathan Demme just can’t get enough of the music scene as of late.  Fresh off the release of his Neil Young documentary Heart Of Gold in which he followed the grunge god through his tour and his life, Demme is now tackling Chicago’s M’s music video for “Future Women”.  If you’ve been living in a cave, Demme is known as the Oscar winning director behind Silence of the Lambs and others like Philadelphia.  He also shot Stop Making Sense by the Talking Heads back in the day.  Look for the video toward May.

Fionna Apple Takes Bite Out of US
After a winter of opening for the likes of Coldplay, Fionna is on her own and hitting one hell of a tour schedule this summer.  David Garza and Damien Rice will open on independent dates.  Check it out:

Extraordinary Tour:

05-06 West Palm Beach, FL - Sunfest
05-07 Lake Buena Vista, FL - House of Blues
05-09 Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
05-19 Atlantic City, NJ - Trump Taj Mahal
06-20 Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre
06-21 Temecula, CA - Perchanga Resort & Casino
06-23 San Diego, CA - SDSU Open Air Theatre
06-24 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theater
06-25 Santa Barbara, CA - County Bowl
06-27 Saratoga, CA - Mountain Winery
06-29 Concord, CA - Chronicle Pavilion
06-30 Saratoga, CA - Mountain Winery
07-01 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater
07-03 Seattle, WA - Chateau Ste. Michelle
07-05 Denver, CO - City Lights Pavilion
07-07 Dallas, TX - Nokia Theatre
07-08 Austin, TX - The Backyard
07-09 Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
07-12 Indianapolis, IN - Verizon Wireless Music Center
07-13 Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavilion
07-14 Minneapolis, MN - Northrop Auditorium
07-21 Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
07-22 Wantagh, NY - Jones Beach Theater
07-24 Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun
07-26 New York, NY - Central Park Summerstage
07-28 Camden, NJ - Tweeter Center
07-29 Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata
07-31 Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap
08-01 Virginia Beach, VA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
08-02 Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park
08-04 Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre
08-05 Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
08-06 Cary, NC - Koka Booth Amphitheatre
08-08 Pittsburgh, PA - Chevrolet Amphitheatre
08-09 Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Amphitheatre
08-10 Cleveland, OH - The Plain Dealer Pavilion

Islands Ship Off On Tour
In response to their recently release album, Islands is planning a major tour kicking off this April.  In support of their latest, Return to the Sea, ex Unicornians (does that work?) Nick Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur plan on coasting off in Boston with a planned dock in homeland Canada a month later.

04-19 Boston, MA - Middle East
04-20 Providence, RI - Living Room
04-21 Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
04-22 Brooklyn, NY - Sound Fix (in store)
04-22 New York, NY - Avalon
04-23 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
04-24 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
04-25 Washington, DC - Black Cat
04-26 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
04-27 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
04-28 Pensacola, FL - Sluggo's
04-29 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington
04-30 Denton, TX - Hailey's
05-01 Austin, TX - Emo's
05-03 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
05-04 San Diego, CA - Epicentre
05-05 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
05-06 San Francisco, CA - Slim's
05-08 Portland, OR - Loveland International
05-09 Vancouver, British Columbia - Mesa Luna
05-10 Seattle, WA - Neumos
05-12 Salt Lake City, UT - Kayo Gallery
05-13 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
05-14 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
05-15 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground
05-16 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
05-17 Chicago, IL - Metro
05-18 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
05-19 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
05-20 Montreal, Quebec - Le National
05-22 Ottawa City, Ottawa - Babylon
05-23 Waterloo, Ontario - Starlight
05-24 London, Ontario - Call the Office
05-25 Quebec City, Quebec - L'Anti

›› Islands Return to the Sea Review

Kanye Goes Live With New Album, DVD
After pretty much rewriting the hip-hop world for the past three years, Chicago’s own Kanye West isn’t slowing down.  In a rare move for rap artists, a live album and DVD will be released.  Although the DVD is only planned for UK at this moment, the CD Late Orchestration: Live at Abbey Road Studios will be released in the states sometime soon.

Track listing below: 

01 Diamonds
02 Touch the Sky
03 Crack Music
04 Drive Slow
05 Through the Wire
06 Workout Plan
07 Heard 'Em Say
08 All Falls Down
09 Bring Me Down
10 Gone
11 Late
12 Jesus Walks
13 Gold Digger

Ben Harper’s Last Call
Carson Daly, who previously only got street-cred around our offices for teaching Earl Hickey about Karma, is now our friend (for the time being).  In a first, “Last Call With Carson Daly” will air May 2-5 with Ben Harper performing each night on NBC’s late-late-late show.  Set your TiVO’s.

White Stripes Get Sued
Call it petty – call it true, but just don’t pay attention.  In a move that similar a beef over rim selection on your Hummer, Jim Diamond, a producer and front runner of Ghetto Recorders studio is filing suit against Jack and Meg White for due royalties on the teams first two albums.  The lawsuit sites monies owed for creating the ‘style’ of the White Stripes.  The Stripes used the studio while recording their albums and sited Diamond as co-producer on their debut and sound mixer on their second.  How the hell do you sue for style?  I guess we’ll find out on June 12^th when the trial is slated to start.

Bright Eyes Go Canada Crazy
Conor Oberst and crew that make up Bright Eyes are hitting the great white north and hopefully spreading their PC karma all over the great land.  If you are smuggling drugs across the boarder for your sick grandparent anytime in June, check them out:

06-04 Victoria, British Columbia - Royal Theatre
06-05 Vancouver, British Columbia - Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park
06-07 Edmonton, Alberta - Reds
06-08 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Hall *
06-09 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Wheatlands "A"
06-10 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Burton Cummings Theatre
06-13 London, Ontario - Centennial Hall
06-14 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall

Iggy Pop, Stooges Collaborate Again
Stick boy Iggy Pop is working with his old band mates from the Stooges writing songs for their upcoming album.  Apparently the group is also planning a full blown tour instead of the skirmish-like festival circuits of the past.  Pop cites the reunion as a muse to help kick start his rather petite stock of new songs and ideas.  Tour dates to follow so stay tuned.

Ambulette Hits the Road
Following the much hyped release of The Lottery last month, newly formed Ambulette composed of ex Denali member Maura Davis is hitting the road to push their latest effort.  Check out the listings below for your nearest venue. 

04-17 Agora Ballroom, Cleveland
04-18 Metro, Chicago
04-19 St. Andrews Hall, Detroit
04-20 Cafe Metropolis, Wilkes-Barre, Penn.
04-21 Avalon, New York City
04-22 Avalon Ballroom, Boston
04-23 Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia
04-24 Nanci Raygun, Richmond
04-25 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.
04-26 Norva, Norfolk, Va.
04-27 Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte, N.C.
04-28 The Masquerade, Atlanta
04-30 Emo's, Austin
05-02 Modified, Phoenix
05-03 Troubadour, Los Angeles
05-04 Bottom Of The Hill, San Francisco
05-05 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, Ore.
05-06 The Paradox, Seattle
05-07 Media Club, Vancouver
05-10 Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis
05-11 Beat Kitchen Chicago
05-12 Beat Kitchen Chicago
05-13 Grog Shop, Cleveland
05-14 Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, Mich.
05-15 Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
05-16 El Salon, Montreal
05-20 Bowery Ballroom, New York

›› Ambullette The Lottery review

Gnarls Barkley still no. 1
Continuing their UK Singles Chart dominance with the hit “Crazy”, Gnarls Barkley nabbed another week making it the top hit 3 weeks in a row now.  Not hot news but we like (A) the name of the band, and (B) the single is silly hot so (C) download it.