Eddie in the September 2007 issue of Guitar World

Eddie's new statement on www.van-halen.com:

"I want to say thank you to all the Van Halen fans for the tons of emails and all the support they provided when I was in rehab earlier this year. It was an intensely personal thing that I'm not really comfortable talking about right now, but I want everyone to know that their support has and always will mean the world to me. I want everyone to know that I am truly grateful."

He will also be on the cover of the September issue of Guitar World (on sale June 26) with an interview and first look at the 5150 III amp.

The Police Opening Night Setlist

Set 1: Message In a Bottle, Synchronicity II, Don't Stand So Close To Me, Voices Inside My Head > When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around, Spirits In the Material World, Driven to Tears, Walking On the Moon, Truth Hits Everybody, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Wrapped Around Your Finger, The Bed's Too Big Without You, Murder By Numbers, De Do Do Do De Da Da Da, Invisible Sun, Walking In Your Footsteps, Can't Stand Losing You > Reggatta de Blanc > Can't Stand Losing You, Roxanne, E1: King of Pain, So Lonely, Every Breath You Take, E2: Next to You

18th Dye Reunited, Working on Album

18th Dye was one of the most underrated, forgotten indie bands of the 90s. This German/Danish noise rock trio was incredibly talented, reaching their pinnacle with the Steve Albini-produced album "Tribute to A Bus" in 1995. Their live sets were legendary (according to the few people clued in enough to attend them), and not even Sonic Youth or Yo La Tengo could better their highly controlled use of feedback as a source of melody and texture.

After breaking up in 1999, the band reformed last year, and have been playing new material live here and there. They are recording a new album with a release date to be determined. I think their web site has said this for months, but I just noticed it, so it is therefore Top 40 Sucks breaking news.

Method Man a Pot Smoker? NO WAY! I..I..I..JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

According to Pitchfork Media, Method Man was arrested for possession of The Chron in NYC this past weekend. This completely blows my mind as I had no idea that Method Man was a pot smoker. All those pictures of smoke coming out of his mouth...that wasn't tobacco? And these lyrics:


"I got, fat bags of skunk
I got, White Owl blunts
And I'm about to go get lifted"

...weren't about animals and the mystic magic of nature? Boy do I feel dumb.

Lack of Updates/Slowness

Im SO sorry about the lack of updates lately, things have been kinda crazy in my life right now with the end of the school year coming. I also went to the Gwen Stefani concert last night (which was amazing) so i missed posting yesterday too. Also, the TagBoard is getting kinda crazy! You guys need to seriously chill out with the American Idol fueding cuz I just went though all the posts and had to delete and ban 3 people, sorry. Everyone has their own opinions on the show and their contestant which needs to be accepted. Anyway, Ill try to look around for some new things to post for you guys to make up for this dry period.

-matt

Bob Dylan, Bjork, Arcade Fire, White Stripes among notable acts for 2007 Austin City Limits Festival lineup

This year's Austin City Limits Festival lineup may dissapoint some longtime atendees, due to the high percentage of repeat performers, but for folks like me who have never been, it's a perfect year to go. And it's cheaper than any of the other big name festivals of a similar ilk and has a killer lineup.

I'd just like to say that I am proud of myself for not including Yo La Tengo in the title of this post. YLT are performing at ACL Festival, but apparently not everyone else thinks of them as the most important band in the world like I do, evidenced by the fact that their name is listed in print ads and banner ads in the smallest of the three font sizes, underneath bands that have been around for less than one tenth of the time YLT have been around. YLT have always been the tortoise to rock music's hares, though.

Some acts of note:

Bob Dylan (!)
Bjork
Arcade Fire (!!!)
Wilco
The Killers
The White Stripes
The Decemberists
Spoon
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Crowded House (!)
Lucinda Williams
Bloc Party
Indigo Girls
Damien Rice
Ziggy Marley
Peter Bjorn and John
Blonde Redhead
Steve Earle
LCD Soundsystem
Cross Canadian Ragweed
Yo La Tengo
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Ben Kweller
M.I.A.
Robert Earl Keen
Paolo Nutini

Go to the ACLF website for the complete lineup, tickets and more:

http://www.aclfestival.com/generalinfo.aspx

Darth Vader to revive Smashing Pumpkins - new album Zeitgeist - new tour announced

Billy "Darth Vader" Corgan and Jimmy Chamberin from the band Smashing Pumpkins have announced the first tour in seven years supporting a new album entitled "Zeitgeist" which Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin recorded in tandem with out original members D'arcy and James Iha. It has been reported b y the Chicago Tribune that D'arcy and James Iha will not tour but bassist Ginger Reyes and guitarist Jeff Schroeder will take their place.

The opening night will be in Paris on May 22nd and the rest of the tour dates are as follows:

The Orange Peel in Asheville
June 23-24, 26-27, 29-30
July 2-3 and 5.

San Francisco's Fillmore
July 22, 24-25, 27-28, 30-31 and Aug. 1. Tickets go on sale Sunday (May 20) but will only be available online.

Fans are encouraged to record the show with their own audio (we'll see what kind of viral action this will have) so we should have links to the show in the near future.

Lastly, the amazing technology of today's dermatology procedures has rendered Darth Vader's intensely disgusting scars on his skull virtually invisible (see above picture).

Whoever Is Saying Im Spamming Their Site

Some person naming themselves "Annonymous" is claiming im spamming their site when I have no clue what theyre talking about. If your reading this, just know - its not me. I have no clue what your site is and I would never go around spamming on someone else's work. If you really did report me thats pretty sad because you wont even state what site you own so I can send you a personal statement. Im sorry for the confusion and hopefully you understand

-matt

David Hasselhoff ties one on while eating Wendy's

David Hosselhoff ties on a big ol' buzz as of late and his little girl video tapes it's (and annoyingly badgers him about it). It seems the once girlie stud muffin of the 80's and even the 90's has found comfort in pounding his liver with the elixer of life and then doing what any red blooded American would do....get some late night fast food...this particular dinning establichment being Wendy's. I have to warn you...this video is mildly painful to watch because we all know we have been there. Shit canned and hungry...and having trouble getting the food to our mouths while making extremely terrible grunts and noises while trying to force all that fast food goodness down our pie hole. Enjoy the life of the Night Rider getting pissed...

A bit about Hasselhoff's singing career (since this is a music blog) Brought to you by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hasselhoff

Hasselhoff launched his career with guest appearances on the children's program Kids Incorporated and also obtained permission to produce a Knight Rider episode ("Let It Be Me") which focused on his singing abilities. The episode served as a springboard for his 1985 debut album Night Rocker.

The debut album was released while he was still working on the show. After two moderately successful albums, he recorded "Looking for Freedom" with German producer Jack White in the summer of 1989 and released it just as the Berlin Wall came down. He performed it at the Berlin Wall on New Year's Eve, 1989. In a VH1 interview, Mr. Hasselhoff still claims he had something to do with the end of communism in Germany.(HA!)

In Germany, his song became an anthem of sorts at the time, and the album went gold and triple platinum, topping the charts for three months whilst the single managed a mere eight weeks. He was later announced as the best selling artist of 1989 in Germany even prompting the newspaper headline "Hasselhoff: not since the Beatles." (See HA! up above) Since then, another six of his albums have gone platinum in Europe.

It was reported that Hasselhoff had teamed with rapper Ice-T and was planning to record a rap album under the handle of Hassel the Hoff. On Late Night with Conan O'Brien Ice-T confirmed that he was not involved in any such project. In June 2006 Hasselhoff confirmed that the project was a "prefabrication" on The Kevin and Bean Show on KROQ, Los Angeles. (THANK GAWD)

You're gonna love this:

New Banner and Colors!

I felt like I needed to bring back colors to the blog so I made a new banner with different color page elements. Hope you like it for the summer!

-matt