Daily Loaf

Stay up-to-date on your music news.

• Green Day hit the studio to re-record 21 Guns with the cast of the American Idiot musical, and also plan to shoot a new video to accompany it. This could be the next big hit on Glee.
• Jennifer Lopez has released her new single, “Louboutins,” which she will perform at the American Music Awards on Sunday. Her stilettos were made for walking, and she wants you to know about it.
• Eminem is pushing back his Relapse 2 album release to 2010, but on Dec. 21, he’ll re-release his fifth studio record as Relapse: Refill with seven bonus tracks. If I had to have some sort of relapse, I’d be stoked to have Slim Shady by my side.
• Paul McCartney joins Ringo Starr for a duet on Starr’s forthcoming album, Y Not. Ringo + Macca + new song = something that everyone will listen to and support because nobody talks shit about the Beatles.
• The ninth annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival will be taking place June 10 – 13 next summer in Manchester, Tenn. Those are also the only dates in 2010 when I will actually wish to be in Tennessee.
• The Decemberists are releasing an iTunes-exclusive “full-length video album” next month, and have just released its drug-induced trailer. Check out the video and get more music news links after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t forget about your homework for the weekend — keeping up on the latest music news.

Jay-Z announced the second leg of his tour for his new album, Blueprint 3. (No Florida stops are included.) The record may just be a “blueprint,” but no doubt it’s a plan to lay the foundation of yet another successful project for Jigga.

This week’s recommended releases as well as a breakdown of other worthy albums available now.

Vinyl:

Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
The band’s third album is a set of songs both heavier and lush than in previous efforts but still full of the Monkeys’ punch and vitality.

Jeff Beck – Beck-Ola
Jeff Beck – Truth
Exact replicas now available on pristine HQ-180 vinyl. Taken from the original analog master tapes.

Chocolate Watch Band – No Way Out
Chocolate Watch Band – Inner Mystique
Hailing from San Jose, Calif., the Watch Band — featuring the pouting, Mick Jagger-influenced lead vocals of Dave Aguilar, the thrilling guitars of Sean Tolby and Mark Loomis, the solid bass of Bill Flores and the thumping drums of Gary Andrijasevich — made all the right scenes in San Jose, including appearances with the Syndicate of Sound and Count Five.

John Fogerty – Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again
Among the special guests are Bruce Springsteen.

Fugazi – 3 Songs 7″
Remastered.

Woody Guthrie – Woody, Cisco And Sonny
Woody Guthrie – Woody The Agitator
Woody Guthrie – Woody’s Roots
Woody Guthrie – Woody’s Greatest Hits
Classic Guthrie vinyl reissues — now available.

Jet – Shaka Rock
bass, drums, guitars and vocals.

Willie Nelson – American Classic

Pearl Jam – The Fixer 7″
Two new tracks from their upcoming album on white vinyl with glow-in-the-dark ink on the label!

Chuck Ragan/Brian Fallon split 7″
They of Hot Water Music and Gaslight Anthem fame, respectively.

Reigning Sound – Love and Curses
New release — now available on vinyl.

The Smiths – The Smiths
The Smiths – Meat Is Murder
The Smiths – Queen is Dead
The Smiths – Strangeways Here We Come
180 gram vinyl reissues. Remastering supervised by Johnny Marr. Read the rest of this entry »

First things first: I have an interview scheduled with Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons this Wednesday at 11 a.m. He’s promoting his book Watching the Watchmen, which recounts the making of the outstanding graphic novel he created with writer Alan Moore. Wish me luck, and let me know if there are any questions you’d like to have answered. (You can be sure we’ll be talking about the upcoming movie adaptation.)

The sweet Hereafter? Maybe, since two movie titans are teaming up for this thriller, which has been penned by British screenwriter Peter Morgan. It will be directed by Clint Eastwood and produced by Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks studio.

Bond is gold: Quantum of Solace posts the best opening ever for 007 in the U.S.

This film goes to 11: Rockers Jimmy Page and Jack White to be featured in a documentary about the electric guitar. No word on whether Nigel Tufnel has been asked to participate.

No-strings-attached deal: Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) teaming up with the Jim Henson Co. to produce a stop-motion Pinocchio.

You’ll have a gay old time: Sacha Baron Cohen, better known to most as Borat, has hired gay porn stars for his new movie, Bruno.

Here’s the first official trailer to JJ Abrams’ Star Trek. I’m not terribly impressed by it, as it reminds me of a host of other action-movie trailers, but judge for yourself.