New CD Releases, July 10: Smashing Pumpkins, Crowded House, Interpol
The Smashing Pumpkins "Zeitgeist"
The influential alt-rockers return from a seven-year hiatus and finally deliver their sixth album. "Zeitgeist" is the band's first new full-length since 2000's "Machina/The Machines of God."
The re-tooled Pumpkins--which feature vocalist-guitarist Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, but not guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky--are busily supporting "Zeitgeist." Having recently completed a lengthy residency at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC, and appeared at the mega Live Earth concert, the group will next conduct an 11-night stand at the famed Fillmore in San Francisco beginning July 15.
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Crowded House "Time on Earth"
The band that once instructed fans "Don't Dream It's Over" is now telling us that, indeed, it's not over. The Australian group, which features Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and Mark Hart, has reunited and will mount its first headlining tour in more than 10 years.
Crowded House will be supporting its new album, "Time on Earth," during a North American tour that begins Aug. 4 in Northampton, MA, and features singer/songwriter Pete Yorn on most dates.
Longtime Crowded House drummer Paul Hester committed suicide in 2005.
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Interpol "Our Love to Admire"
The New York troupe is back with a follow-up to its critically acclaimed sophomore set, 2004's "Antics." The first single from "Our Love to Admire," titled "The Heinrich Maneuver," was released in early May.
Having completed a late-spring tour, these road warriors will again take to the highway to support "Our Love to Admire." The band kicks off its next headlining trek on July 19 in Rochester, NY. The outing will include an Aug. 4 appearance at Chicago's Lollapalooza Festival.
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Spoon "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"
The Austin, TX, quartet hopes that fans will indeed go "Ga Ga" over its sixth full-length release, which follows 2005's "Gimme Fiction." The indie-popsters will support "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" with a North American tour that includes a load of festival dates, such as Aug. 4 and 5 appearances at, respectively, Lollapalooza in Chicago and Virgin Festival in Baltimore, MD.
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Various Artists "Hairspray"
Things have come full circle for "Hairspray." It was originally a movie that inspired a hit Broadway show, which, in turn, has now inspired another major motion picture. This movie soundtrack includes contributions from John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah and other stars who appear in the film.
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Other new releases:
Aly and AJ, "Insomniatic" (Hollywood)
Bad Religion, "New Maps of Hell" (Epitaph)
Danzig, "The Lost Tracks of Danzig" (Megaforce)
Nick Drake, "Family Tree" (Tsunami)
Gogol Bordello, "Super Taranta" (Side One Dummy)
Jason Isbell, "Sirens of the Ditch" (New West)
Mike Jones, "The American Dream" (Ice Age)
Justice, "Cross" (Vice)
The Monkees, "Headquarters" (Rhino)
The Monkees, "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones" (Rhino)
Patton Oswalt, "Werewolves and Lollipops" (Sub Pop)
Kim Richey, "Chinese Boxes" (Vanguard)
Ulrich Schnauss, "Goodbye" (Domino)
Stephen Stills, "Just Roll Tape: April 26th 1968" (Rhino)
They Might Be Giants, "The Else" (Idlewild)
Soundtracks and scores:
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (Warner Bros.)
Rowling on 8th Potter Book: "Never Say Never"
Author J.K. Rowling has apparently left the door ajar for an eighth Harry Potter novel.
Asked during a BBC interview Friday night about the possibility of reviving the series in the future, Rowling reiterated that her seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, to be published on July 21, will be the last, but she added that her motto has always been "never say never."
A spokesman for Rowling said Sunday: "It's not saying that she definitely is [going to write another Potter book], and it's not saying that she definitely isn't. I cannot comment further."
Meanwhile, the British bookstore chain Waterstone's launched an online petition Sunday that begins with the words, "We, the undersigned, petition J. K. Rowling to write more new adventures for Harry Potter and his friends no matter what happens at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
And what if Rowling kills off Harry in the final book?
Well, the bookstore observed, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes in 1893 in The Adventure of the Final Problem but brought him back to life after a public outcry.
Sony slashes Playstation price in Canada
Sony has slashed the price of its current PlayStation 3 by $100 in Canada and introduced a high-capacity model in an effort to spur sales of the struggling video game console.
Starting Monday, the current 60-gigabyte model will cost $549, down from $649. In the United States, the same model will be priced at $499 US, reduced from $599.
The Japanese electronics maker also said it is introducing a new version of the PlayStation 3 with a bigger hard drive for storing downloaded content such as video games and high-definition movies. The new PS3 increases the system's storage capacity to 80 GB from 60 GB and includes a retail copy of the online racing title MotorStorm, a company spokesman said. It will be priced at $659 in Canada, and $599 US in the United States.
The larger capacity machine won't be available in the United States and Canada until August.
It plays into the company's upcoming strategy of eventually offering downloaded high-definition movies, video games, movie trailers and demos, Sony spokesman David Karraker said.
Karraker said further details on high-definition movies for download would be released at a later date.
The announcement comes two days before the E3 Media & Business Summit in Santa Monica, Calif., where dozens of industry heavyweights including Sony rivals Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. are expected to show off their latest games and related products.
Nintendo's Wii outpacing PS3
Sony has said it sold 3.6 million PS3s in the fiscal year ending March 31 and expects to sell another 11 million in the current fiscal year. Microsoft said in its most recent quarterly earnings report filed in April that it had shipped 11 million Xbox 360s.
Nintendo, meanwhile, claims it has sold nearly six million Wiis worldwide as of March 31 and more than 40 million Nintendo DS handhelds. The company has predicted it will sell another 14 million Wiis and 22 million additional DS systems by the end of the current fiscal year.
The Wii and PS3 were released within days of each other late last year. Microsoft had a head start in the current generation of consoles, having launched its Xbox 360 in 2005. Last week, the software company announced an extension of the warranty because of the high number of systems suffering from hardware failure, also called the "red ring of death."
In April, Microsoft began selling a version of its Xbox 360 with a 120-GB hard drive and a souped up high-definition video connection. Called Xbox 360 Elite, the black-coloured system sells for $479.99.
Xbox gamers who already own the $399.99 20-GB model can buy a snap-on 120-GB hard drive for $179.99.
Karraker said Sony would use the E3 show to focus on two areas: ways to increase the number of consumers who own PS3s and other products such as the PlayStation Portable handheld system and expanding the system's library of available games.
He said Sony would be releasing 100 new video games during the current fiscal year, including 15 titles that are exclusive to the PS3 such as the hack-and-slash action title Heavenly Sword.