Playlist

Jacknife Lee, the producer and frequent U2 collaborator, has a cool new Web site, appropriately enough titled jacknifelee.com. On it, he has a slew of remixes of songs from U2, Radiohead, Missy Elliot, Snow Patrol, Busta Rhymes and so on. So for those of you who like to hear a favorite artist totally deconstructed and put back together again, head over there and take a listen. One word of warning: Jack makes you hunt for the mix page, but if you click on the fifth circle from the left on the main page you should find what you seek.

She's not standing by her man. (Courtesy)

So country singer Sara Evans' ugly, very public divorce from estranged husband Craig Schelske is now final. This statement just in from her Nashville publicist: "The parties have agreed that it is in their best interests and those of their children to amicably resolve all issues in their pending divorce. Each wishes the other well in all future endeavors. Both parties are fully committed to raising their children in a cooperative and positive way. Both parties are loving and caring parents. They request that everyone respect the family’s privacy. The parties will have no further comment regarding any allegations of fault or misconduct alleged by either party in these divorce proceedings." Meanwhile, Ms. Evans' Greatest Hits CD comes out Oct. 9. Gotta make nice-nice so folks will buy the new record.

It turns out that Velvet Revolver performed not one Guns N' Roses cover (as stated in my less-than-kind review here) at its concert on Thursday at Smirnoff Music Center, but three. I mentioned "Patience"; the band threw out "Mr. Brownstone" and "It's So Easy" as well after I'd left at the end of VR's 2004 hit "Fall to Pieces" to file my review on deadline.

I ran with that because Slash told me on Wednesday that the band "only had room to fit in" two covers by Stone Temple Pilots (lead singer Scott Weiland's former charge) and one by GnR in its set. What he apparently meant was that VR has added those to the covers already in its song plan.

My bad for not clarifying that with Slash and taking that as gospel in my review. It's not my bad for not being enthusiastic about the show. I've seen VR four times live, including its 2005 Ozzfest turn at Smirnoff, which very nearly stole that festival's stage. As I told a reader earlier: "I won't give a band credit in print when it doesn't return with near the same energy or flow, especially on its own headlining tour and with better original songs in its pocket."

(CNET.com)

My mp3 player is invaluable to me while I work out, but I really need a new one. My Samsung Nexus 50 with XM capabilities has served me well over the past year and a half. But it's a piece of technology that works better on paper than in reality — the XM only functions when the player's sitting in its craddle, so away from home, it's just a run-of-the-mill player. Recommendations? I'm looking for something workout-friendly. Just please, no iPhone ($); I work at a newspaper. And if you reccommend a particular iPod, please say why. I've resisted the i-cult up to now, but I'm willing to sip the Kool-Aid with an effective argument.

Frontman Geddy Lee at Smirnoff Music Centre in August (Brandon Thibodeaux / Special to DMN)

... in Texas, anyway. Billboard's Boxscore lists the top-grossing concerts in August, and I noticed a little trend. Of the top 35 concerts listed, only four were in Texas — but three of the four shows were old schoolers Rush.

Yes, they have a new album, Snakes & Arrows, but I still think of them as classic. I can't dissassociate Rush from my childhood wrestling-watching ways, when Kerry Von Erich would come out to "Tom Sawyer." RAWK!

Rush's Aug. 11 show at Smirnoff came in at No. 20, with more than 13,000 in attendance.

At Palladium Ballroom in April (Jason Janik / Special to DMN)

Some random person pretending to be Chris Cornell online hasn't exactly scored a friendship with the real deal. The November issue of Revolver reports in its "Blabbermouth.net Scoop of the Month" that the former frontman for Audioslave and Soundgarden was pretty unhappy with faux-Chris' online trickery and has said so via his myspace page. Support Chris (the real one) Oct. 30 at House of Blues when he comes through town to promo his new solo album, Carry On. His April show at Palladium Ballroom sold out.

• Show info
• Chris' web site

(Courtesy)

Joni Mitchell, Shine (Hear Music): I'm going to resist talking about the hypocrisy of Ms. Mitchell, who'd retired from music for a while because of her perceptions about its corporate aims, signing to Starbucks' music label (and the fact that Paul McCartney was the first to release a CD on it is a signal that mayyybe the situation isn't as prickly as it seems on its face). But her reputation as a maverick isn't bolstered by this elegant but wonky and ground-down collection, which only resembles her folk-hero heyday in its high-minded and progressive lyrical content. Shine continues her forays into light jazz -- which I'll grant does showcase her graceful songwriting prowess better -- and its applications to other arts that she now pursues (namely, visual art and dance; "If," "If I Had a Heart" and a redux of "Big Yellow Taxi" all appeared in a ballet that she penned recently). But as presented, this jazz fits better in a coffeehouse (surprise!) than a new-age, SoHo-basement bungalow lounge; the horns, guitars, keys and Ms. Mitchell's wrinkled but meditative voice are all stirred into an underflavored mocha in need of an extra shot. Not that this album is bad -- it's far from it. But one has to concentrate way too intently to pick out Ms. Mitchell's complex melodies, nuanced singing and craftily placed fills (oh, the journey that the title tracks provides is reason enough to buy it as an online single). And you can't do that in a freakin' Starbucks.

(Courtesy)

Down, Over the Under (ILG/Warner Music Group): When Pantera split way back when, the Abbott brothers stayed in one camp and the two others -- vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown -- pretty much went waaay the other way. Both are New Orleans natives, and they'd already been stepping out of Pantera's scream-triggered rat-a-tat beatbox with Down, a manufacturer of gigantic and lumbering walls of classic-seared Southern sludge metal with members from two other New Orleans bands: Corrosion of Conformity and Crowbar. It was a side project for all involved until Katrina hit more than two years ago. Over the Under is the act's third product (and first post-devastation), and its the first that actually sounds cohesive and thought-out enough to seem like a full-time band created it. Compared with the first two Down discs, this one has enough well-planned layers (doom, stoner, Southern rock, even bits of grunge) and structured and consistent melodies to keep a listener intrigued. And the biggest surprise of all is Mr. Anselmo, who's sounding like a cross between Layne Staley, Chris Cornell and Ronnie Van Zant these days and screams very little. The playing is sloppy at times and the gloomy production clogs some songs' flow, but Over the Under is the calling card of a band now truly complete thanks to purpose borne from tragedy.

Check the box next to "Best-selling Author" on the resume of Nikki Sixx, the longtime bassist for hair-metal bad boys Motley Crue. The Heroin Diaries: A Year In the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a memoir of a year spent addicted to drugs in the late 1980s, debuted at No. 7 on The New York Times bestseller list for non-fiction this week. On top of that, a companion CD, The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack -- believed by his management to be the first-ever soundtrack to a literary work -- by his band Sixx: A.M. has sold well and has produced a single ("Life Is Beautiful") that's rapidly climbing active rock radio charts. Cool liner note: a quarter of the book's profits (looks like there will be some) benefits Covenant House California, a hostel for runaways and abused kids in the L.A. area.

Upstart progressive hotel chain NYLO Hotels has released a compilation CD of unsigned Texas music artists to accompany the Atlanta-based company's first property, which is being finished up in the Legacy area of Plano and should open in December. NYLO Uncovers, Summer Vol. 1 features cuts by area singer-songwriters Patrick Alan (also frontman of sticky-sweet emo-ish trio Shoreline's End) and Johnny Lloyd Rollins. Plans are to play CD tracks in a common area at the hotel (which will also feature local artworks), and new NYLO Uncovers CDs will be released quarterly by NYLO Music, a subsidary label to the hotel. Interested in making the cut? Send mastered tracks to: NYLO Music, LLC
Attn: Michael Mueller
260 Peachtree St. NW, Suite 2301
Atlanta, GA 30303

Thanks to three interviews today and a wish to nap before seeing two of the better hard rock bands in the country (High On Fire at the Granada and Burning Brides at Double Wide), I'm gonna delay today's Daily CD Review until tomorrow. One will be on Down's Down III - Over the Under; the other will likely be on Joni Mitchell's Shine.

A tease: both are worthy -- and believe it or not, for similar reasons.

The past two days have brought several concert cancellations, including not one ... not two ... but THREE shows on Oct. 16: Swizz Beatz (that's sooo hardcore rap of him ... but at least it was with plenty of warning), Twiztid (not surprised ... and don't really care) and Oh My God (see my shameless post from yesterday as to why).

Today, two more were halted: Palatable country ensemble Emerson Drive on Sept. 29 at Billy Bob's Texas (All that venue rep Pam Minick knows is that "there has been a tragedy in the ... band.") and Brazilian electro-dance trio Bonde do Role -- basically a cross between the Gossip and Cansei de Ser Sexy (and almost as good as the latter) -- on Oct. 5 at the Palladium Ballroom's Loft. Bonde Do Role's publicist cites exhaustion due to touring constantly since February to support its cool-as-heck debut, With Lasers.

An observation: with buzzy Mexican instrumentalists Rodrigo y Gabriela pulling the plug last month its ACL-centered swing through Texas (and Aleks Syntek postponing his appearance at Escapade 2009 until early November), it seems like Latin American acts may have stamina issues ... ???

Reba McEntire's Reba Duets has hit the top spot on Billboard 200, knocking Kanye and Fiddy's warring albums down a notch. On the other side of the two rappers is Barry Manilow (Greatest Songs of the Seventies) at No. 4. I can't imagine artists any more different than Reba and Barry Manilow to bookend the Kanye/Fiddy brouhaha, which I hope we've heard the last of.

Acrassicauda, which claims to be the only Iraqi metal band in the world, is currently holed up in Syria (Hey! Maybe some of Saddam's WMDs did end up there!), unable to perform in its home country because of death threats by the country's religious factions. (Many apparently believe the band, which idolizes Slipknot, Slayer and Metallica, practices Satanism ... gee, I wonder where they got that idea?).

Anyway, the band is the subject of the feature documentary Heavy Metal In Baghdad, which premiered earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival. Now the film's producers, VICE Films, are trying to keep Acrassicauda from being sent back to 'Dad. The band's visas begin to expire on Oct. 10 (and by many accounts, Syria is quietly trying to rid itself of its Iraqi refugees), and VICE is trying to raise $20,000 to shuttle the band to a new country.

If you're so inclined -- and with the popularity of metal among American soldiers in Iraq, there should be plenty of interest and compulsion -- donations can be made here.

And since I'm sure that you're asking: Acrassicauda means "black scorpion" in Latin.

All three members of the eclectic Chicago-based garage rock act Oh My God suffered multiple bone fractures after a car jumped a median and hit its tour van in Ohio on Sept. 21. According to Lori Berk, the band's publicist, "The band hopes to resume playing in early 2008, depending on the results of the surgeries and recuperation."

Call me a masochist, but my first reaction to the news was, "I wonder if any of the band members yelled the band's name right before impact?"

OK. It's out. Let the co-worker and reader scolding begin ...

Chris Crocker (AP)

This entry is only marginally related to music; even less so because the musical connection is Britney Spears. But she really needs a supportive voice these days, and lucky for Brit, Courtney Love lookalike Chris Crocker is on the job.

• Read about the "Britney guy"
• Watch his impassioned defense of Brit

I'm gonna count the weekend as a day this week, since I've got two Sept. 18 releases with local interest to talk a bit about here. Tomorrow is new-release Tuesday, so I'll start with the obscene amount of Sept. 25 releases then. In the meantime ... :

(Courtesy)