Sights and Sounds: Duran Duran, Mew, Jean-Michel Jarre and Andy Summers

It's early Tuesday and already exciting music news to share...

 Duran Duran announce additional U.S. and South American dates on 2017 Spring Tour

 

TICKETS ON SALE THIS WEEK AT WWW.DURANDURAN.COM 

Duran Duran has announced additional dates for their Spring 2017 World Tour, in support of their current album Duran Duran VIP Fan Community members will have access to tickets before the general public. Members should login and visit the Presale page for details at http://www.duranduranmusic.com.

 

Duran Duran rang in 2017 playing to a sold-out audience at the brand new Washington, DC-area venue The Theater at MGM National Harbor. As previously announced, the multi-platinum band will travel to South America to perform alongside additional superstar artists The Weeknd and Metallica at the Lollapalooza festivals in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. They will also play a headline show in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. These dates will mark the band's first shows in this part of the world since 2012, and the very first in this market in support of Paper Gods. Tickets for Lollapalooza are on sale now, with info and links on www.duranduran.com.

 

Paper Gods was released in September 2015 and entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 10, earning the iconic British band their highest charting album in 22 years. Produced by Grammy Award-winners Nile Rodgers and Mark Ronson, along with Mr Hudson and Josh Blair, the band's 14^th studio album features collaborations with Janelle Monáe, John Frusciante, Kiesza, Jonas Bjerre (of Mew), and Lindsay Lohan. 

 

Duran Duran's latest release is a very special, limited-edition, deluxe vinyl box set of Paper Gods featuring previously unreleased material from the album recording sessions and brand new remixes of the single "Last Night In The City." Visit The Vinyl Factory's website (http://thevinylfactory.com) for more details and purchase information.

 

Duran Duran's upcoming tour dates are as follows. Newly announced shows are in bold.

 

03/17   Palm Spring, CA                       Agua Caliente

03/18   Palm Springs, CA                     Agua Caliente

03/21  Dallas, TX                                  Music Hall at Fair Park

03/22  Houston, TX                             Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land

03/26   Sao Paolo, Brazil                     Lollapalooza Brazil

03/29   Belo Horizonte, Brazil            Belo Horizonte Hall

04/01   Buenos Aires, Argentina       Lollapalooza Argentina

04/02   Santiago, Chile                       Lollapalooza Chile

04/05 Hollywood, FL                         Seminole Hard Rock Casino

04/08 Atlanta, GA                              Chastain Park

 

http://www.duranduran.com

Mew announces 'Visuals,' new album due out April 28, 2017

Hear New Track "Carry Me To Safety"

(Listen here:  http://found.ee/cmtsyoutube)

Mew is pleased to unveil news of the band's upcoming (seventh) album Visuals on April 28, 2017 through Play It Again Sam alongside details of a European run of live dates in May.

 

Unlike previous albums, Visuals arrives fairly quickly on the back of 2015's + - album and came to fruition as front-man Jonas Bjerre explains; "The live shows around that album saw us hit a creative peak, writing tracks on-the-road and the spark was lit. Breaking the normal cycle felt right and we wanted to make an album spontaneously retaining the energy we'd generated on that world tour, rather than wait the normal three or four years."

 

Recorded and self-produced in Copenhagen, Visuals was completed in under a year and sees Mew at its most concise, each song representing its own little chapter and narrative. The first taste of the album comes in the shape of the mesmerizing intricacies of the album's finale "Carry Me To Safety."

 

Meanwhile, the slow-build euphoria of album opener, "Nothingness And No Regrets," and expansive 80's-style pop of "The Wake Of Your Life" countered by the discordant stomp of the intriguingly titled "Candy Pieces All Smeared Out" and blissful glide of "In A Better Place," compete across eleven tracks that convey an irrepressible ebullience of a band on its debut album. Many of the newer tracks evolved in light of what was happening globally. "It was pretty dark last year on many levels, so lyrically that definitely came into play, it's an important reminder to treasure the here and now," says Bjerre. Visuals feels like the culmination for one of rock's most ambitious and inventive groups.

 

Twenty years into its career, Visuals is the distinctive sound of Mew seizing the moment...

 

Mew will embark on a short run of European shows in May (listed below) with plans for a North American tour in the works.

 

Visuals will be released on CD, vinyl and digitally through Play It Again Sam and is available to pre-order here: http://found.ee/mewstore

 

May 201717  Paradiso  - Amsterdam, Netherlands

19  Point Ephemere - Paris, France

20  Trix - Antwerp, Belgium

21  Trinity - Bristol, UK

22  O2 Ritz - Manchester, UK

23  Shepherds Bush Empire - London, UK

25  Luxor - Köln, Germany

26  Knust - Hamburg, Germany

27  Immergut Festival - Neutrelitz, Germany

 

 

Visuals Track Listing

Nothingness and No Regrets

The Wake Of Your Life

Candy Pieces All Smeared Out

In A Better Place

Ay Ay Ay

Learn Our Crystals

Twist Quest

Shoulders

Videos

Zanzibar

Carry Me To Safety

2016 Award Recipients Terry Lewis and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter; Jay Wanamaker, Roland Corporation North America President and CEO; 2017 Award Recipients Andy Summers and Jean-Michel Jarre; Mr. Jun-ichi Miki, Roland Corporation CEO and Representative Director; and 2016 Award Recipient Jimmy Jam Roland and BOSS Present Lifetime Achievement Awards to Jean-Michel Jarre and Andy Summers Second-annual awards presented to industry icons who have contributed greatly to the music industry while using Roland and/or BOSS gear throughout their careers

Los Angeles, CA, January 24, 2017 — During the 2017 Roland International Press Conference, held Wednesday, January 18, 2017, on the eve of the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, Roland and BOSS presented their second-annual Lifetime Achievement Awards to two monumental figures in music: French composer and keyboardist Jean-Michel Jarre (Roland) and British guitarist Andy Summers (Roland & BOSS), best known for his work as guitarist in legendary rock act The Police. The Roland/BOSS Lifetime Achievement Awards recognize individuals for their invaluable contributions to the music industry while using Roland and/or BOSS gear throughout their careers. Chris Halon, Roland Corporation U.S. Vice President, Marketing, and Leslie Lewis, former Director of The Recording Academy's P&E Wing, served as masters of ceremony for the gala event, which was attended by artists, musicians and leading journalists from the music industry. The evening began with Scott Goldman, Vice President of MusiCares; Jay Wanamaker, president and CEO Roland Corporation North America; and Yoshi Ikegami, president of BOSS Corporation, presenting the Roland & BOSS Lifetime Achievement Award to Andy Summers. Rising to fame by the early 1980s as the guitarist with the multi-million record selling rock band The Police, Summers was among the most influential musicians of his generation. The band dominated the music scene and media in the 1980s with several number-one albums and singles. The band was the recipient of countless awards, including several GRAMMY®s. Summers’ innovative guitar playing created a new paradigm for guitarists in this period and has been widely imitated ever since. Since the Police disbanded, Summers has enjoyed a robust solo career and has found further success as a photographer. He has also been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Police. Summers shared, “Musical creativity is sometimes enhanced and encouraged by having these wonderful devices. Over the years, the products that I have used from Roland, in particular, were able to open up what I was able to do. Of course I would have to cite my guitar sound with the Police in particular. ‘Don’t Stand so Close to Me’... ‘Walking on the Moon’... ‘Every Breath You Take’ — all those hits featured Roland products, and if I hadn’t had them, I might not be standing here today. Today, I’m still making records, of course. I believe in the interaction between technology and musical creativity, and one can inform the other. It seems to be particularly important if you play the electric guitar! Roland products have always made this interaction possible. It’s an interesting time, in that technology and music are in partnership to push the creative edge forward, and I think Roland is leading the way in that.”  Next, Mr. Jun-ichi Miki, Roland Corporation CEO and representative director, and Jay Wanamaker, Roland Corporation North America president and CEO, presented Jarre with a Roland lifetime achievement award. As a pioneer in electronic music, Jarre elevated the genre to new peaks of popularity as early as the late 70’s and 80’s and has sold 80 million albums worldwide to date. His dynamic concert experiences broke new ground and paved the way for state-of-the-art outdoor live events in the decades since. Apart from his activities directly linked to musical composition, Jarre has been spokesperson for IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industry) and has headed various lobbies for Internet copyright legislation before the European Parliament. Since June 2013 Jarre has served as president of CISAC (International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies), succeeding the late Robin Gibb. He is also, for the past two decades, UNESCO spokesperson and ambassador, contributing to the awareness of two key UN Millennium projects: “Water for Life” and “Education for All.” Jarre commented, “I started electronic music before these strange machines were even called synthesizers – back when we were actually considered a bunch of crazy guys working with machines; the whole idea was, for the first time, opening new doors and virgin territories. For the first time, we were able to become our own creators of sound. I wouldn’t be here without Roland synthesizers.” Jay Wanamaker remarked, “The Roland and BOSS Lifetime Achievement Awards were created to acknowledge true innovators for their contributions to the music industry and thank them for their long association with our brands. We are honoring Jean-Michel Jarre for his body of work and pioneering use of Roland products, and Andy Summers for his era-defining guitar sound, achieved with the help of BOSS pedals. We thank them for their contributions to Roland and to music and the recording arts.” For more information, please visit www.Roland.com.