Archers Of Loaf founding member Eric Bachmann, better known as Crooked Fingers, will on Aug. 22 issue his solo debut “To The Races” via Saddle Creek. The self-produced effort features violinist Tom Hagerman (Devotchka) and vocalist Miranda Brown. The album was recorded over a week’s time in rural North Carolina.

Pearl Jam has unveiled its first music video since the 1998 clip for “Do the Evolution” in the form of “Life Wasted,” the first video directed by visual artist Fernando Apodaca. The clip is available from various sites through Wednesday (May 24) as a free download under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Drivers license. It premiered […]

Kaiser Chiefs and Snow Patrol are to headline a two-day festival in Belfast this summer.The bands play the Tennent’s Vital 06 bash, which takes place at the city’s Botanic Gardens.Kaiser Chiefs will headline on August 22, while local heroes Snow Patrol close proceedings the following day.

New Order have announced a new UK tour for this autumn. The Manchester legends will head out for a series of big shows this October.Meanwhile New Order will release a live DVD, taken from 2005 concerts in New York and London, on June 19.

Lordi are to release ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’, the track that won them the Eurovision Song Contest, as a single on June 6. The band have also been confirmed to play the Download Festival on June 11.

An ummastered version of the title track from the new Meat Loaf album is now available for download via his official website. Called ‘The Monster Is Loose’, it’s the third part of the ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ saga, and was co-written by Nikki Sixx, John 5 and Desmond Child. The last named also produced it.

Halifax have posted the acoustic song ‘Such A Terrible Trend’ online. This comes from new album ‘The Inevitability Of A Strange World’.

Swedish death metalheads Visceral Bleeding have parted with guitarist Marcus Nilsson. The decision is said to be amicable. His replacement is Martin Germ Bermheden.

Lamb Of God are expected to release the song ‘Redneck‘ as the first single from their new album. The latter, ‘Scarament‘, is due out in August. It was produced by Machine.

Dirty Rig, fronted by ex-Warrior Soul vocalist Kory Clarke, have signed to Escapi Music. New album ‘Rock Did It’ will be released in late June.