Irish rockabilly-jazz-boogie-woogie blues belter Imelda May will release her debut Love Tattoo stateside on August 11th on Verve Forecast. Handpicked as a virtual unknown by British TV icon Jools Holland to perform on his program, Imelda May quickly landed a label deal with UK's Universal Records, on which she released Love Tattoo this past January and spent two weeks at the #1 spot on the Irish charts just ahead of Bruce Springsteen, Paolo Nutini and Eminem.
As Imelda gets ready to head to the US, she'll play some of the summer's biggest European festivals including Glastonbury, Lovebox, Cheltenjam Jazz and Camp Bestival. She just booked dates with guitar legend Jeff Beck, who is a big fan of Imelda’s. Beck made a point of telling Jools Holland that he was only on the program to see Imelda when they both guested on “Later with Jools Holland”. She's also shared stages with Van Morrison, Scissor Sisters, Eartha Kitt, Dionne Warwick and Lionel Richie.
Having fallen in love with rockabilly and the blues as a nine-year-old in Dublin – the only kid in her class who wasn't into a-Ha and Wet Wet Wet – she's turned them into a cool, swinging fusion that's both classic and oddly modern. Though her musical heart lies in early Rock N' Roll, she puts a 21st century spin on things. Her debut album Love Tattoo is lusciously retro, but as fresh as 2009. And her live gigs, where she sings and plays bodhran, are fierce.
Seattle grunge rock favorites Pearl Jam have confirmed an American tour for this September and October. This is in addition to already confirmed August dates including headlining slots at Calgary’s Virgin Festival and the Austin City Limits Festival. The band are also scheduled to tape an episode of that public television music favorite, Austin City Limits, on October 3.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on July 18. The band also hints on their website that Australian and New Zealand tour details will follow soon. Backspacer, the band’s ninth album and the first in 3 years, is scheduled to drop on September 20.
Tour Dates: Aug 08 – Virgin Festival / Calgary Aug 21 – Molson Amphitheater / Toronto Aug 23 – United Center / Chicago Aug 24 – United Center / Chicago Aug 28 – Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival / San Francisco Sep 21 – Key Arena / Seattle Sep 22 – Key Arena / Seattle Sep 30 – Gibson Amphitheatre / Universal City, CA Oct 01 – Gibson Amphitheatre / Universal City, CA Oct 04 – Austin City Limits Festival / Austin Oct 06 – Gibson Amphitheatre / Universal City, CA Oct 07 – Gibson Amphitheatre / Universal City, CA Oct 09 – Viejas Arena / San Diego Oct 28 – Wachovia Spectrum / Philadelphia Oct 30 – Wachovia Spectrum / Philadelphia
Swedish trio Peter Bjorn & John hit the global music map in 2006 with the release of their song “Young Folks”, which was heard virtually everywhere and featured Victoria Bergsman on guest vocals. That’s the song they’re most oft associated with, which is a slight shame as their oeuvre is pretty phenomenal. They released their last album, Living Thing, in March of this year and it has plenty of solid, stunning tracks, “It Don’t Move Me”, being one.
.Peter Bjorn & John – It Don’t Move Me A mid tempo track, “It Don’t Move Me” runs with a little urgency. The style of the song is set with a pounding piano intro, followed with drum stutters and a fluid rapidity of sequencers and programmed percussion. The percussion is not hard, not soft, yet it slaps around with affirmation, really driving the sleek, stylistic aesthetic of the song. What really adds greatness to the track is Peter Moren’s vocals. He sings with a cool, nonchalant disposition, which adds truth and feeling to lyrics that describe a man being done with a woman that “don’t move me no more”.
.Miike Snow Remix Miike Snow’s mix is amazing. I like it a whole lot better than the original. Though the original is already a pretty solid dance track, Miike Snow adds a ton of dancing juice to this one. They layer wild synthesizers over the entire song, making it more electronic, faster, and jumpy. The verses are pierced with quick shifting synths, and the style they use for this track matches the disaffected, listless style of the vocals. It’s an incredible fuzz and buzz created on keyboards that underlies the back beat of the track, which adds another layer of synth fun. Towards the end, the group lets loose with plenty of programming, creating a carnival effect of sounds, loopy, bright and fast.
.The Knocks Remix A slightly bland remix here that adds a lot of programmed drum beats that slap the beat of the song. A little more poppy, a little more youthful, the mix is by no means a replacement for the original or the Miike Snow mix, but it adds a little fun, though can get wearily repetitive after a few listens. The Knocks utilize typical synth distortion, lasered sequencers and fast beats.
On a rather muggy and rainy Saturday, I wandered over to the St. Louis Arch grounds to cover the free All-Star Game Charity Concert in which Major League Baseball donated $1 million dollars to Stand Up To Cancer. A rather worthy cause and performer choice considering Sheryl Crow’s very public battle with breast cancer back in 2006 and her hailing from the show-me state.
Luckily, as Crow and band took the stage, the dreary weather and rain seemed to fade away as her rather cheery demeanor warmed up the crowd. This photographer was rather bummed by not allowing to photograph Elvis Costello due to his guest appearance not being as an opening act, but instead performing along side Crow later on into the show. It was quite a treat however to hear Costello and Crow combine on tracks from both artists catalog; in particular I enjoyed hearing “Pump It Up” as I walked out of the grounds to return my camera to my car. While his appearance in her set was short-lived, he later joined Crow again in the encore as they covered Chuck Berry and Led Zeppelin in a concert lasting around two hours for an audience estimated by MLB officials to be around 40,000-50,000 people.
Set List: A Change Would Do You Good Strong Enough Can’t Cry Anymore First Cut is the Deepest (w/ Elvis Costello) Pump It Up (w/ Elvis Costello) Hard to Make A Stand (w/ Elvis Costello) Peace, Love and Understanding (w/ Elvis Costello) My Favorite Mistake There Goes The Neighborhood Home If It Makes You Happy Out of Our Heads Soak Up the Sun Everyday is a Winding Road // All I Wanna Do Back in the U.S.A (Chuck Berry Cover, w/Elvis Costello) Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin Cover, w/Elvis Costello)
Seattle grunge rock favorites Pearl Jam have confirmed an American tour for this September and October. This is in addition to already confirmed August dates including headlining slots at Calgary’s Virgin Festival and the 
