News from the darkest corners...

Cesaria Evora, the world’s most famous singer from Africa’s Cape Verde, had open heart surgery last night (Monday, May 10, 2010) in a Paris hospital. The surgery was in response to a coronary problem that occurred this past weekend. She was admitted to the hospital Monday morning and the surgery, which started at 8:00 p.m., concluded early this morning at 2:00 a.m. The operating surgeon reported that things went as well as possible. Cesaria was then admitted into intensive care where she awoke around 11.00 this morning. Cesaria is suspending all activities until the end of the year. As a result, June 2010 concerts in Washington, DC, New York City, Boston, Toronto, and Montreal have been cancelled.

This week’s surgery follows an amazing return by Cesaria following a stroke in April 2008. Summer 2010 was meant to mark a return to North American stages. Three months after the stroke, she was ready to start rehearsing and working on her new album, Nha Sentimento (Lusafrica). “She hates rehearsing,” said producer and manager José da Silva in an interview earlier this month. “But she had a strong will to return to singing. The stroke made it harder for her to remember the words of new songs. She worked harder on this album than any other we have made,” says da Silva, who is staying at Cesaria’s side in the hospital. Music critics noticed that Cesaria’s voice had changed on the new album, yet she retained the essence of who she is. “I think the stroke scared her and she is now open to doing more things,” da Silva said before this week’s heart surgery.

Nha Sentimento explores the Middle Eastern and Arab influences of Cape Verdean music and culture, territory rarely explored before. The album features collaborator and admirer Fathy Salama, a former conductor of the Cairo Orchestra known for his work with Youssou N’Dour, and who arranged three mornas on Cesaria’s new album. Nha Sentimento will be re-released shortly featuring a bonus track of “Moda Bo,” Cesaria’s duet with Cape Verde’s up-and-coming singer and starlet, Lura, considered by some to be Cesaria’s heir apparent. The duet’s live debut was to take place during the June North American tour, for which Lura was set to be the opening act.

Meanwhile, the world waits and hopes for a speedy and full recovery of Cape Verde’s leading heroine of song, Cesaria Evora.

The Zappa Family Trust have announced a new archival Frank Zappa release: Greasy Love Songs, an expanded edition of the Cruising With Ruben & The Jets album from 1968.

The original album is fashioned as a simultaneous parody of and tribute to the doo-wop music Zappa grew up with and worked on. The album has been described as a collision of high and low art, with Stravinsky-style chord changes and unusual tempos applied to purposely trite and banal teenage pop love songs.

The new cd features the original vinyl mix – previously unreleased on cd – plus bonus material. The exact track listing is unknown at this time, but the album should ship on or around april 23rd.

You can pre-order the album here.

Soul Jazz Records are to release a new double CD/four-LP compilation called “Elektronische Musik: Experimental German Rock & Electronic Music 1972-1983″ in april.

Featuring the likes of Can, Harmonia, Tangerine Dream, Faust, Neu!, Cluster, Amon Düül II and Popol Vuh, this looks like it’s going to be a great introduction for anyone curious about the scene.

From the Soul Jazz website: “The objectives of German experimental rock and electronic music in the 1970s were to create a new music ‘free’ from the past. A music that gave seed out of the cultural ‘nothingness’ that young Germans felt as a consequence of Germany’s role in the Second World War. A generation who grew up stifled by the recent history of Nazi atrocities, the guilt of their parents’ generation and their disillusionment at the reintegration of old Nazis into mainstream society.

From the opening of the first collective/cooperative in 1967, Commune 1, in Berlin, to the formation of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist group and the bombings, kidnappings and killings of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (RAF), young Germans sought out new values and a lifestyle outside of ‘the system’.

These cooperative and communal experiences led to a number of new radical German bands including Amon Düül, Faust and Can.”

The two-disc or quadruple vinyl collection, available in early April, will feature 24 tracks.

The Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen will launch their 2010 World Tour, which includes three European tours and a Canadian tour, with a performance on Sunday, March 21, 2010 at Sullivan Hall, 214 Sullivan St., New York, NY themed “Springtime again”. There will be no better way to shake off the intense winter this year than with the enlightenment that the Arkestra can arouse.

The last two Arkestra appearances at Sullivan Hall were at or very close to a sell out, so it is recommended to make your plans in advance for this show. Tickets are $15, Show 8:00 p.m., Doors 7:00 p.m. For further information, please visit:

http://www.cegmusic.com/sullivan_hall/index.htm

For more information on the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen, please visit www.thesunraarkestra.com

Quincy Jones is spearheading a 25th anniversary recording of the charity hit composed by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, “We Are the World”, with proceeds going to Haiti relief.

The new version will be recorded on Monday in Los Angeles, reports E! Online, and the line-up is rumored to include Jennifer Hudson, Will Smith, Jason Mraz, Sugarland, Sheryl Crow and teen star Justin Bieber, among others.

Jones, the legendary producer who made “Thriller” with Michael Jackson, is being coy about exactly who will appear on the CD. “I want to get a final list before I put it out,” he says.

Director Paul Haggis will likely film Monday’s recording session, a source confirms.

DEVO are to perform at the official 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

The new wave band, who have recently been working on new material produced by Santigold, will play at the Whistler Medals Plaza venue on February 22, with the performance set to be broadcast on NBC.

Singer Mark Mothersbaugh hinted that fans could expect to hear new material from the band at the gig.

DEVO’s performance is part of the Whistler Victory Ceremonies, which runs from February 13-27 and features the likes of Feist, Usher and The Fray.

On Thursday, April 29th 2010, in what could be one of the few possible upgrades in both rarity and uniqueness to a live Jandek performance, Thurston Moore will join the legendary Texas recluse for a one-time, on stage collaboration.

Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Oregon will house this extraordinary event, as they did for one of Jandek’s earliest live shows nearly four years ago. That show, also produced by Jackpot Records, sold out and was released on cd to widespread acclaim as the album ‘Portland Thursday’. The subsequent years have only enhanced clamor and interest in this true outsider musician.

Thurston Moore, front man for Sonic Youth and aficionado of all things reasonably unique, is a dream collaborator, ramping up the possibilities for what this night could bring. This show, like the musicians themselves, is here only once and then gone forever.

The performance begins at 7PM and is open to all ages. $20 gets you in the door.

Tickets available at both Jackpot Records locations:

Jackpot Records Hawthorne
3574 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214 P: 503-239-7561
Jackpot Records Downtown
203 SW 9th Ave, Portland, OR 97205 / P: 503-222-0990
www.jackpotrecords.com

and online here.

Kraftwerk have confirmed that they are recording a new album. The iconic group insisted that they are not worried about getting older and have no plans to quit making music in the foreseeable future. When asked about the possibility of new material, frontman Ralf Hutter told German magazine Der Spiegel: “Of course. Why should we stop doing what we love to do?

The 63-year-old musician also spoke about the hierarchy within the group, maintaining that the band is “still autonomous and independent”.

Kraftwerk formed in 1970 and are regarded as one of the most influential electronic acts of all time. In November 2008, founder member Florian Schneider shocked fans when he left to embark on a solo career.

Following the July release of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity (40th Anniversary)’ digital EP and iPhone application, Virgin/EMI will release an expanded 40th Anniversary Special Edition of Bowie’s classic 1969Space Oddity album on November 17. To be available in a deluxe 2CD package and for digital download from all major digital service providers, the commemorative edition adds 15 tracks to the digitally remastered original album, including 8 previously unreleased demos, alternate mixes and a BBC Radio performance. On the same date, the original album will also be reissued on limited edition 180-gram vinyl.

First released on November 14, 1969, Space Oddity was originally titled Man Of Words/Man Of Music in the U.S. The album was re-titled Space Oddity when it was reissued in 1972, peaking at #16 on Billboard’s Albums chart.

Produced by Tony Visconti (except for the title track, which was produced by the late Gus Dudgeon), the album was a giant leap forward in songwriting for Bowie and is considered by many to be the first truly essential David Bowie album. Also notable for its collaborators, including session players Herbie Flowers, Tim Renwick, Terry Cox and Rick Wakeman, the album delves into psychedelic folk-rock, as well as prog, with its genre-defying template creating a blueprint of the musician who would become, over the next decade and more, one of the world’s most innovative and inimitable artists.

The 2CD 40th Anniversary Special Edition of Space Oddity is packaged in a digipak with an extensive booklet featuring rare photographs, memorabilia, sleeve notes and a chronology by Kevin Cann. Disc 1 features the original album, remastered from the original analog master tapes, and Disc 2 adds 15 bonus tracks, of which eight are previously unreleased, including two ultra-rare demos.

Five years, 100 free albums, nearly 1000 free tracks. That’s our label WM Recordings in a nutshell for you.

We celebrate its fifth birthday today with the release – yes, our 100th! – of this special compilation of cover versions, remixes, and tracks about free, legal music. We hope you’ll celebrate with us.

Various Artists – WM x 100 / 100 x WM
http://www.wmrecordings.com/releases/wm100.htm

Though you can play Beatles songs on Rock Band and enjoy the band’s epic catalog on remastered CDs, you still can’t legally buy the music of John, Paul, George and Ringo on the iTunes store or other digital shops — yet. In a move that may represent Apple Corps. softening its traditionally inflexible view of selling the Fab Four’s music digitally, the company and EMI Music will release a limited-edition USB drive featuring the entire Beatles in Stereo remastered set as 320 Kbps MP3s on December 8th.

All 14 albums and 13 “mini-documentaries” will be included on the 16GB USB drive, which will be shaped like the iconic Apple logo with “The Beatles” written on it. Only 30,000 of these USBs will be produced. More information is available at the Beatles Website.

The Beatles’ back catalogue will be reissued on vinyl, says Jeff Jones, Chief Executive of Apple Corps.

Speaking to MOJO magazine, Jones revealed that work on the next stage of the Beatles Remastered campaign is currently underway: “We’re working on them now,” said Jones, “I don’t have a release date. To put a release date next to them forces us into a situation where we’re releasing something that might not be ready. ”

The vinyl remasters will follow this year’s stunning Mono and Stereo CD reissues, with the engineers at Abbey Road and Apple already hard at work: “They are incredibly complicated in terms of getting the masters right and getting the packages right,” added Jones. “How do you assemble them? How do you put them in a box? How much do they cost? We want to make sure we’re doing it right and that people get real value from it.”

Groovy ghosts and ghoulies abound on the annual Halloween edition of The Retro Cocktail Hour — Saturday, October 31 at 7:00pm on KPR stations (91.5 Lawrence; 89.7 Emporia; 91.3 Junction City; 89.9 Atchison; 99.5 Atchison, or on the web at Kansas Public Radio.

As always, this Halloween spectacular is spiced with plenty of wild stereophonic tricks and treats, including tunes from albums like Music To Be Murdered By, Shock: Music in Hi-Fi, Poe for Moderns and more, along with TV tunes from The Munsters, The Addams Family, The Outer Limits and more. And, as always, you’ll hear plenty of trailers from cheesy sci-fi and monster movies of the ’50s and ’60s!

Tune in Saturday 7:00pm for all the fun, or listen on demand at the Retro Cocktail Hour website.

Project/Object playing the music of Frank Zappa will feature Ike Willis and Ray White for their winter tour. These two musicians have been creating music for over 30 years and with Frank Zappa himself, between 1976 -1988. They will be performing together on stage for the first time in 25 years showcasing the classic Zappa tunes they were a part of for so long. In the spirit of Frank Zappa’s final message to the fans: “Play my music” come see two fantastic musicians do just that.

One of Frank Zappa’s greatest skills was his incredible sixth sense in identifying something magical in each of the musicians he hired. Recognizing this – Project/Object continues it’s singular mission to present the music as it was recorded,but also to respect and develop the creative “live” aspect that Zappa always pushed his band towards. With the support of the fans, Project/Object chooses to do this with the “Alumni”: the people who were there with Frank as the music was created, recorded and performed.

Read more on the official Project/Object website.

Vic Mizzy, the American film and television composer who wrote the theme song to “The Addams Family,” has died at the age of 93.

The Brooklyn-born composer, who was a studio pianist for a radio station before serving with the U.S. Navy during World War Two, had a string of hits in the 1930s and 1940s including “My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time,” and “With A Hey and a Hi and a Ho-Ho-Ho.”

Vic Mizzy is best known for writing the theme tunes for the TV shows “Green Acres” and “The Addams Family” with its infamous rat-tat-tat-tat opening and punctuated with two finger snaps. Mizzy had to sing the theme himself, overdubbing himself several times, when the production company refused to pay for singers.

Mizzy owned the publishing rights to “The Addams Family” theme, once telling a CBS interview: “Two fingers snaps and you live in Bel-Air.”

The LA Times said Mizzy died at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles on Saturday, of heart failure.