Soundgarden's King Animal steaming in entirely

Soungarden will release their long awaited 6th studio album and the first in 15 years, King Animal will be released on November 13.

The album will be available as a Box Set, a Deluxe CD, and 180 gram double vinyl. You can checkout and pre-order all the deluxe editions at www.soundgardenworld.com.

If you want to try before you buy,  King Animal is streaming in its entirety on iTunes (US and Canada ONLY ) or NME if you are in the rest of the world. Click here to listen.

Source undercover

Following in the footsteps of David Bowie, Ray Davies, Massive Attack and this year's curator Antony Hegarty, Yoko Ono will programme next year's Meltdown Festival at London's Southbank Centre.

Ms Ono resurrected a version of the Plastic Ono Band, the experimental outfit she led with her late husband John Lennon, in 2010 and played a number of shows with collaborators that included Eric Clapton, Lady Gaga, Iggy Pop, RZA and Thurston Moore. Her eclectic musical taste is expected to be reflected in her selection of artists for the Meltdown Festival that she has played on two previous occasions at the behest of Patti Smith in 2005 and Ornette Coleman in 2009.

"I am deeply honoured to curate the world-famous Meltdown Festival," says Yoko. "In doing so I am aware of the great tradition of experimentalism mixed with classicism that has made the festival such an enduring part of the British arts landscape. I am now starting to approach names from all over the world, some of whom you will know and some who might be new to your world. Let the fun begin!"

Yoko's Meltdown will run for 10 days between June 14 - 23 and the line-up will be announced in due course via the Southbank's website.

Source mojo

When Squeeze tour the UK this autumn they will be debuting a clutch of new songs, the first new material from the band in 14 years.

Lead track 'Tommy' once again sees Squeeze on fine form and reaffirms the genius of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook's writing partnership. Tommy will be available digitally as a free download via Squeeze's website from December 10th and prior to that as a live recording on at their Pop Up Shop tour. Scroll down to stream it now.

The winning formula of Chris' lyrics combined with Glenn's melodies and production is evident on 'Tommy'. Chris says: "It's taken a long time to get ourselves back to the writing table, mainly because we've been touring in the UK and in the States.

I have been writing lyrics and then sending them over to Glenn who puts the music to them and adds additional lyrics and ideas.' Glenn adds: 'When recording the track we were working on changes to the song and sitting down together discussing where the changes should be made and were in complete agreement about them which is something new for our relationship.'

This new tour and the new songs will remind fans just why Squeeze have left such an indelible impression on the UK's music scene and why they continue to be relevant today.

Pop Up Shop 2012 UK Tour plus special guest Paul Heaton

Fri 16 Nov Guildford G Live 0844 7701 797
Sat 17 Nov Cambridge Corn Exchange 01223 357 851
Mon 19 Nov Bristol Colston Hall 0117 922 3686
Tue 20 Nov Plymouth Pavilions 0845 146 1460
Wed 21 Nov Brighton Dome 01273 709 709
Fri 23 Nov Bournemouth O2 Academy 0844 477 2000
Sat 24 Nov Reading Hexagon 0118 960 6060
Mon 26 Nov Cardiff St David's Hall 029 2087 8444
Tue 27 Nov Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall 0844 871 7627
Wed 28 Nov Southend Cliff Pavilion 01702 351 135
Fri 30 Nov Birmingham Symphony Hall 0121 780 3333

Sat 01 Dec Manchester O2 Apollo 0844 477 7677
Sun 02 Dec Sheffield O2 Academy 0844 477 2000
Tue 04 Dec Leeds O2 Academy 0844 477 2000
Wed 05 Dec Nottingham Royal Concert Hall 0115 989 5555
Sat 08 Dec Newcastle City Hall 0191 277 8030
Sun 09 Dec Glasgow O2 Academy 0844 477 2000
Mon 10 Dec Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 0151 709 3789
Wed 12 Dec London HMV Forum 0844 847 2405
Thu 13 Dec London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire 0844 477 2000
Fri 14 Dec London Indigo O2 0844 477 2000
Sun 16 Dec Norwich UEA 01603 508 050

Source music-news

Jackson Browne will open 2013 with a series of acoustic dates on the U.S. west coast.

Playing guitar and piano, and collaborating with musicians on stage, Jackson will perform songs from his entire body of work, with varying set lists each night.

The short tour kicks off on January 19 at Keller Auditorium in Portland, OR and ends February 16 at the Silver Legacy Casino in Reno, Nevada.

The dates:
01/19 - Portland, OR - Keller Auditorium
01/20 - Seattle, WA - Benaroya Hall
01/22 - San Jose, CA - San Jose Civic Auditorium
01/26 - San Diego, CA - Copley Symphony Hall
01/28 - Thousand Oaks, CA - Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center
01/29 - Long Beach, CA - Long Beach Terrace Theatre
01/31 - Bakersfield, CA - Majestic Fox Theatre
02/01 - Temecula, CA - Pechanga Resort & Casino
02/02 - Santa Cruz, CA - Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
02/04 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Performing Arts Center
02/06 - San Francisco, CA - Nob Hill Masonic Center
02/12 - Albuquerque, NM - Popejoy Hall
02/13 - Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum Theatre
02/15 - Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl Theater
02/16 - Reno, NV - Silver Legacy Casino

Source VVN

Carole King will perform in Sydney and Melbourne as well as the Hunter Valley on her upcoming Australian tour.

Two Perth winery dates for Carole King were announced in October as well a winery date in New Zealand with Barry Gibb.

Carole King will perform on:

February 14, Sydney, Entertainment Centre
February 16, Hunter Valley, Hope Estate
February 18, Melbourne, Plenary

Previously announced dates are:

February 9 and 10, Perth, Leeuwin Estate
February 13, Hawkes Bay, NZ, Mission Estate Winery (with Barry Gibb)

Source noise11

Cleve Duncan of the Penguins Passes Away at 77

Cleveland "Cleve" Duncan, the lead singer for the Penguins, passed away this week at the age of 77. Little information is available on his death with some sources saying it occurred on Tuesday while he was at a voting machine and others saying that he died on Wednesday.

Duncan and Curtis Williams, former high school classmates, formed the group in late 1953 with Dexter Tisby and Bruce Tate. Williams, who was a former member of the Hollywood Flames, brought along a song called Earth Angel which the group recorded with Duncan on lead vocals.

Dootone Records picked up the record, along with the song Hey Senorita, and released a single in late 1954. While Earth Angel was the b-side, a DJ flipped the record over to feature the now classic Doo Wop song. The song shot to number 1 on the R&B and number 8 on the Pop chart, ending up the group's biggest hit.

Buck Ram picked up the group, hot off their hit, and brokered a contract with Mercury Records that included the group and the still fledgling Platters. The latter group ended up the hitmakers in the deal as the Penguins never had another national hit except for Pledge of Love which made it to 15 on the R&B chart after they moved to Atlantic Records.

Through the rest of the 50's, the group went through numerous lineup changes with Duncan being the one constant. The remnents of the original group broke up in 1962 but Cleve continued recording under the name with a variety of other performers through the decades. The performed on the PBS Doo Wop 50 special and were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.

Source VVN