Last Week's News Roundup: Febuary 10th - 17th

(Monday 11th Feb) Alien Ant Farm reformed with original members

Being a band that has survived it’s fair share of misfortune (singer Dryden Mitchell came very close to death after a terrible bus accident) it looks as if the band are set to reform with it’s original members.

Despite their 2001 album ‘Anthology’ becoming a massive hit, helped with a charming cover of Smooth Criminal that still gets regular play on the (nazi) likes of Kerrang, later releases didn’t see the group reach quite the same heights both in sales and in quality of music.

Hopefully the reformation will see the group return to their fun and sarcastic roots that saw them being a band that everyone (should have) enjoyed.

(Tuesday 12th Feb) UK illegal downloaders could face internet ‘ban’.

The good old British government have given approval for plans to be developed in order to find a method to ‘banning’ people who use their internet connection to download music illegally. Although nothing is set in stone, it seems as if we are coming ever closer to a 1984-esque atmosphere.

It’s a story that has been courting a great deal of attention and protest from the public, considering the issues surrounding privacy on the net, and one that is sure to be thrilling to follow.

Obviously this is a reaction by the government to help the music industry recover it’s slumping sales, seemingly due to the prolific amount of illegal downloading going on over the isles (six million people a year apparently). Personally, I find the concept quite disturbing, as if such plans were given the go-ahead then this opens a whole floodgate concerning what internet service providers (such as BT) and the government can find out from your internet usage. Where will the line be drawn?

(Thursday 14th Feb) Tool to record new album soon?

MTV had a brief chat with James Maynard Keenan, the lead singer from Tool this week at the Grammy’s. Not only was Maynard breaking tradition by actually turning up for the award ceremony (Tool were up for best ‘hard’ rock performance) but he was also in quite a talkative mood it would seem, revealing that Tool are looking to head back into the studio much sooner than normal.

Considering the gap between Lateralus and 10,000 Days was around five years, it’s good to hear the group looking at releasing some material a bit quicker. Although, having created one of the best albums ever (in my opinion) in Lateralus, some might argue that it’s almost futile for the group to continue pushing to better it, as 10,000 Days seemed to prove. Still, it should be interesting to see what the band develops.

"We all get in a room, shut out all the extra noises from the other people and what goes on outside the room and just focus on the four of us, where we are that day. And then we just start making sounds," is what Maynard said, and it certainly seems the best way to do it.

(Saturday 16th Feb) 36 Crazyfists to release precursor EP ‘The Oculous EP’

Alaskan rocker’s 36 Crazyfists are putting the finishing touches on their fourth album (The Tide and it’s Takers, tipped for a May 27th release) and in order to give fans something to mull over whilst they are waiting, they will release a new EP on April 19th .

Considering their third album seemingly passed over absolutely everyone, even those actually interested in the band (go on, name it without looking) it should be intriguing to see how much effort the group have put into their next release. Their first two albums were stonkingly good listens, if a bit on the shallow side but they do have a certain passion that could make a big difference in this upcoming release.

Last Week's News Roundup: Febuary 3rd - 10th

(Tuesday 5th Feb) Meet Me In St. Louis Split Up

Despite attempts to continue playing live shows after the departure of lead vocalist Toby Hayes in November, Guildford rock group Meet Me In St. Louis have decided to call it a day after drummer Paul Phillips also decided to leave the project.

The news wasn’t a massive surprise for fans of the group, but still comes as a disappointment, especially considering the band were beginning to get some respect for their dedication and hard work.

However, it’s not all bad news, as Toby Hayes is now focusing on the awesome ‘Shield Your Eyes’, another promising upstart that has already received some positive reactions.

(Wednesday 6th Feb) Meshuggah Put ‘Bleed’ on MySpace

Swedish math-metaller’s Meshuggah are gearing up for a March 7th release of their eagerly anticipated new album ‘obZen’, and have whetted fan’s appetites by providing a sneak peak of what the full length has to offer, in the form of ‘Bleed’.

The track wastes no time in reminding us why we love this band – a bone crushing riff leads to Jens Kidman’s guttural and raging vocals. The track is fast, furious and is definitely a fantastic sign of things to come. You can listen to the song right here.

(Friday 8th Feb) The Verve and Kings of Leon will join Jay-Z as headliners of Glastonbury festival ’08

Glastonbury, the UK festival of choice for hippies and shit weather fanatics around the globe, has announced its much anticipated headliners for this year’s events.

Despite rumors abound all over the internet, Radiohead will not be making a reappearance, with Kings of Leon, The Verve and rap icon Jay-Z taking top slots on the famous Pyramid stage.

It’s going to be an interesting year for the festival, as it continues to struggle amongst the multitude of other indie events, and that’s before the competition from the big boys such as Reading/Leeds and Download is considered. Organizer Michael Eavis said that Jay-Z “will appeal to the young people and under-25s for sure, so that's a big pull for them” and with the addition of British favorites Kings of Leon, it looks like choosing your festival just got a whole lot more troublesome.

(Saturday 9th Feb) Godspeed You! Black Emperor seemingly laid to rest

After four years under the depressing but somewhat hopeful guise of “in hiatus”, it would seem that any chance of the orchestral post-rock standard bearers Godspeed You! Black Emperor reforming have now dwindled to nothing.

Talking to Drowned in Sound, Efrim Menuck revealed that the war in Iraq was the catalyst that has led to the demise of the group, stating that he felt the events caused him to have an “existential freak-out” regarding how the band could overcome their profound difficulties in offering a political message in their chosen style of music.

It’s a really disheartening piece of news, especially given the sheer talent and power the group were capable of outputting into both their recorded and live performances. However, Efrim is continuing to play with A Silver Mt. Zion, who’s new album ’13 Blues for Thirteen Moons’ should see a March 10th release.

[EDIT 12/02/08] It would seem that Efrim has refuted the claims made by Drowned in Sound, and contacted them regarding the story. In his email to the website, Efrim accused the writers of lazy journalism "in the name of scoring some bullshit 'news exclusive'" after the website claimed that the Iraq war took a fundamental role in the band parting ways. He went on to say "a whole host of internal disagreements and external pressures contributed to us ending our long march together".
At the moment, the comments seem a little bit on the agressive/defensive side, but hopefully facts can be fully clarified when Drowned in Sound publish their interview with Efrim later this month.