Music Notes: Exene Cervenka diagnosed with M.S., M.I.A. goes political again

- Exene Cervenka, co-vocalist for legendary L.A. punk band X, has revealed that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The musician said the following in a statement: "While this diagnosis will most certainly mean some changes for me, personally, it will not affect my commitments to the current X U.S. tour, nor will it affect my solo album that is slated for release this fall on Bloodshot Records. My focus will certainly be on maintaining my health --many people remain strong and continue to live their lives as productively as they had before an MS diagnosis and I plan to be one of those people." Be well! [SPIN]

- M.I.A. is supporting independent British candidate Jan Jananayagam in the European Parliament elections, to be held June 4 - 7. And so she's offering a free song to Londoners who will do the same. [Pitchfork]

- The Arctic Monkeys have announced that their third (currently untitled) album on August 24 in the UK (so make that the 25th here in the US). The album features ten new songs, and will be available in CD, vinyl and digital download formats. [ArcticMonkeys.com]

- Los Campesinos! are losing their keyboardist-singer Aleks because she plans to "return to her studies." Aw. It's kind of sad, but in a good way. The band is still touring this summer. [Pitchfork]

- Following up on Morrissey touring drama: the singer has rescheduled his canceled UK tour dates. [NME]

- Stellastarr* will embark on a US tour starting July 8 in Boston. The band will release their new album Civilized one day before on July 7. It's the band's first studio album in four years. [NME]

- And in serious music news: Trent Reznor just called Marilyn Manson a malicious, dopey clown. [Prefix Mag]

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Music Notes: Pearl Jam on Target, Morrissey to resume tour

Quick Music Notes today, as I'll be out seeing Art Brut perform tonight (review to follow).

- The rumors are true -- Pearl Jam have partnered up with Target. The band's next release is going to come out without a major U.S. label, but it will be released with a group of partners. Target will be the "'big box' retail partner." The band also filmed a Target commercial directed by Cameron Crowe last week. [Billboard]

- Shortly after canceling his UK tour dates, Morrissey will now resume his world tour in Luxembourg on June 5. The singer has plans to reschedule London and Birmingham gigs for July and October. [NME]

- Moz actually relayed the information above via his MySpace page. And he had more news! An 18-track b-sides compilation called Swords will come out in October. [Morrissey MySpace]

- Pavement's Brighten the Corners will be out as a deluxe vinyl reissue on June 23. [Prefix Mag]

- In addition to planning and recording their next album, Sigur Ros will perform for the Dalai Lama this week. Talk about a spiritual experience! [Paste Magazine]

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Music Notes: Phil Spector sentenced, De La Soul talk new music/Gorillaz

Semi-early edition of Music Notes today! But there's plenty to read:

- "Wall of Sound" creator Phil Spector has been sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for the second-degree murder of actress Lana Clarkson. He's also been sentenced to four years for the personal use of a gun. Spector does have plans to appeal the decision. [MSNBC]

- De La Soul recently worked on a 10-track mix of new material, Are You In?, which was commissioned by Nike. The group has also started work on their next actual album, You're Welcome, which should come out next year. It seems they'd like to get a guest appearance from Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur). De La Soul actually worked with Albarn while rapping on Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc." De La Soul members have already contributed to two tracks on the next Gorillaz album (release date TBA), and De La Soul's Posdnuos told Entertainment Weekly, "From what we've heard, it sounds amazing. To me, quite honestly, it sounds better than the last album." Exciting times! [Entertainment Weekly]
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- Morrissey has canceled the rest of his UK tour dates, based on doctor's orders that tell him not to sing. Fans have been advised to hold on to tickets and wait for gigs that may get rescheduled. As someone who went through the cancellation fiasco the first time she saw Morrissey two years ago, I can say that holding on to the tickets isn't a bad idea (I was able to see him a couple of months later). But if you've seen Morrissey one or more times at this point, it might be better to spring for other concerts the next time he announces a tour. This is sadly not a new thing. [NME]

- Meanwhile, Mozzer's former bandmate Johnny Marr has revealed that The Cribs' new album is due out this September. [NME]

- The forthcoming DJ Hero, an offshoot of the Guitar Hero franchise, will feature music by Jay-Z and Eminem. A limited edition of the game will come with the artists' new greatest-hits CDs and could also feature unreleased tracks. A DJ stand and metal traveling case will also be included. The two rappers are going to serve as consultants. [USA TODAY]

- Nice little Q&A with Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 here. [SPIN]

- Singer-songwriter Kurt Vile has signed on with Matador Records, home to Jay Reatard, Cat Power and Yo La Tengo to name a few. His new album Childish Prodigy is due in the fall. [Pitchfork]

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Music Notes: Jay-Z nixes auto-tune, preps deal with Sony

- Don't expect to hear auto-tune on Jay-Z's next album Blueprint 3. Even though Kanye West (who went a little auto-tune crazy on his last album) is the producer, all auto-tune has been dropped from the album. Sweet. [Rolling Stone]

- In related news, Billboard reports that Jay-Z is now very close to signing a deal with Sony's Epic Records, which would allow his albums to get distributed by the label. This is all following last week's announcement that the artist had parted ways with Def Jam. [Billboard]

- Now time for another Jay. Jay Reatard's next album, Watch Me Fall, will come out August 18. The first track, "It Ain't Gonna Save Me," is available online. The album will be the follow-up to 2006's Blood Visions. [Matador Records]

- Morrissey has canceled yet another show due to illness. Heaven knows we're miserable now. [NME]

- Los Campesinos! are on the verge of finishing their third album. A fun interview accompanies this news over at Pitchfork. [Pitchfork]

- Weezer are releasing their own "Snuggie" blanket, to be known as a "Wuggie." Yeah, I don't know. [Yahoo! Music]

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Music Notes: New Blur compilation, Kanye West continues blogging escapades

- Blur will be releasing a brand new best of album this June, and it will be somewhat different from their last best of compilation. EMI will release Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur — it will be a two-disc compilation (and also available in download format), while also featuring songs from their 2003 album Think Tank. The compilation will feature some of their biggest hits, alongside "quirkier" tracks like "Trimm Trabb." The tracklisting was announced via their website, under "news."

In the meantime, the possibility of the band coming to the United States may or may not be a little higher than it was before. And that high-pitched squeal you just heard was the sound of me shrieking with delight... now if only they'd show up before I go to grad school. [Pitchfork]

- Kanye West critiques a paparazzi shot of Rihanna in his latest blog entry, saying "This pic is hardcore. Peep the perspective shot of the city in the back.... Good job on this one!" He also went on to say Beyonce is the new Tina Turner and Thom Yorke is the new Roger Waters. And I continue to love his craziness. [Kanye West's Blog]

- Natalie Cole received a kidney transplant in Los Angeles yesterday, after months of undergoing kidney dialysis while still promoting her latest album. Following doctors' orders, Cole will reschedule her summer tour dates. [NME]

- Depeche Mode canceled more tour dates in Latvia, Poland, and Lithuania. There has been a lot of speculation regarding David Gahan's illness, but let's hope all ends well. [Pitchfork]

- Morrissey has rescheduled two shows he canceled last week (due to illness), and will be performing in four more UK shows as well. [NME]

- I think I missed this earlier, so I'll mention it here: the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released their Zero Remix EP yesterday on iTunes. That being said, a vinyl 12" EP of the album track and all four remixes will be available June 9. [YeahYeahYeahs.com]

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Retrovideo Friday: Coachella Edition, Moz Style

It's Coachella weekend in California, and Callie will be updating us with plenty of coverage over the next few days. So in honor of the festival, this week's Retrovideo Friday is all about Morrissey, who is slated to perform tonight on the Coachella Stage.

This Week's Pick: "Suedehead" by Morrissey (Year: 1988; Video from: Later with Jools Holland, 1992)

Viva Morrissey. The man has had a long career — he got started as lead singer for The Smiths back in the early 1980s, and is still going strong while releasing albums as a solo artist. In fact, he's been solo longer than he was The Smiths' frontman, and it all began with the 1988 album Viva Hate. While going solo doesn't always work so well for people associated with well-loved acts, Viva Hate got a strong critical reaction upon its release and also produced a number of commercial hits.

One of these is "Suedehead," a song now considered a classic in the Moz catalog. Despite the absence of former bandmate and guitarist Johnny Marr, the song features a memorable guitar riff with Morrissey's trademark, cheerfully-mournful vocals. It's no wonder people gravitated to the song the way they did.

You can watch a performance of the song (below) from a 1992 taping of the BBC program Later With Jools Holland. It's a pretty solid version — the guitars are a little crunchier sounding at first (at least when compared to the record), and you get to witness a young Morrissey in all his shiny-shirted, well-coifed glory. Who knows? Maybe he'll perform it tonight.

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Morrissey at the Wellmont Theatre, NJ: 3/16/09

The first time I saw Morrissey was two years ago, during the third of five consecutive nights at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. My friend and I had pretty good spots, thanks to our general admission tickets, and we were so thrilled that we decided it wasn't necessary for us to see Morrissey again — unless The Smiths miraculously reformed.

But a few months ago, when we found out Morrissey was about to embark on a tour featuring significantly smaller venues, we decided we just had to see him one more time. After failing to snag highly-coveted tickets to him perform during a Saturday night show at the Bowery Ballroom, we wound up obtaining tickets for the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ. While the venue isn't as intimate as Bowery is, the concert was well worth it.
The setlist itself wasn't anything particularly spectacular, but it did have its highlights. Morrissey kicked things off with The Smiths' classic, "This Charming Man," and then plowed through a set that included additional Smiths songs such as "How Soon is Now?" and "Ask," along with a handful of older solo material, songs from You Are the Quarry and his latest offering, Years of Refusal. Interestingly enough, he eschewed tracks from 2006's Ringleader of the Tormentors, an album I personally find middling at best.

While Morrissey himself was relatively low key during the show, keeping the theatrics to a minimum when he wasn't throwing the shirts he was wearing out into the audience, there were still plenty of opportunities to witness the type of spectacle one comes to expect at Morrissey concerts.

Fans hung onto to every word, holding their arms out and singing along to old and new material alike. And when Morrissey came out at the end to deliver an encore of "First of the Gang to Die," fans began crowdsurfing en masse in a desperate (and sometimes successful) attempt to try touching Morrissey's hand before he left the stage. Those last few moments were exhilaratingly intense, even for those of us who weren't trying to reach the stage, a perfect reminder of why Morrissey concerts tend to draw such a dedicated following.

Setlist:
This Charming Man, Billy Budd, Black Cloud, How Soon is Now, Irish Blood English Heart, Let Me Kiss You, I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris, Ask, How Could Anyone Possibly Know How I Feel, The Loop, Death of a Disco Dancer, Something is Squeezing My Skull, Seasick Yet Still Docked, Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself, Best Friend on the Payroll, Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed, Sorry Doesn't Help, I Keep Mine Hidden, The World is Full of Crashing Bores, I'm OK By Myself

Encore
First of the Gang to Die

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