Sights and Sounds: Leon Bridges, Ace Frehley tribute, Katy Perry

Here's a roundup of news and notes to land in my inbox today...

The two breakout tracks from soul revivalist and R&B singer-songwriter Leon Bridges, “Coming Home” and “Better Man”, have been added to digital retailers and can also now be streamed on VEVO.

Stream via VEVO: http://smarturl.it/ComingHomeStream

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/ComingHomeiT
 

Bridges' soul, R&B and gospel-influenced songs and clean, direct vocals have more than fairly earned him comparisons to Sam Cooke and Percy Sledge and landed him on NPRand NME’s Ones to Watch lists.

The two tracks, produced by Austin Jenkins and Josh Block of White Denim, have been riding multiple influencer media waves since making their debut last October. “Coming Home” specifically premiered on the influential site Gorilla Vs. Bear, which proclaimed, “…we can’t escape the promise of greatness we keep hearing in his timeless songs.”  Through word of mouth, fans quickly and organically gravitated to Bridges’s well-crafted songs and honeyed voice.

Bridges, a trained choreographer with a background in dance, is bringing his energetic live show to the stage with a series of sold-out live shows, including a show at NYC’s Mercury Lounge on February 17^th which sold out in less than one minute, and a show in Los Angeles at Hotel Café on February 24^th.

For more information, please visit http://www.leonbridges.com.  

Deadline Music Pays Tribute To Kiss Guitar Legend Ace Frehley With The Release Of 'Spacewalk – A Salute To Ace Freheley' – February 2, 2015

Features performances by metal giants Dimebag Darrell, Jeff Watson (ex-Night Ranger) plus members of Megadeth, Anthrax, L.A. Guns, Skid Row and more

Los Angeles - Deadline Music will be releasing a space-tacular salute to legendary KISS axeman Ace Frehley performed by the legions of rockstars he inspired on February 3, 2015! Spacewalk – A Salute To Ace Freheley features performances by metal giants Dimebag Darrell, Jeff Watson (ex-Night Ranger) plus members of Megadeth, Anthrax, L.A. Guns, Skid Row and more!

Ace Freheley is best known as the former lead guitarist and founding member of Kiss. He took on the persona of the “Spaceman” or “Space Ace”, and played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982. After leaving Kiss, Frehley embarked on a solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a successful reunion tour. His second round with Kiss lasted until 2002. His most recent solo album Space Invader, was released on August 19, 2014. Guitar World magazine ranked him “14th Greatest Metal Guitarist of All Time”.

Packaged in a digipak, 'Spacewalk – A Salute To Ace Freheley' includes blistering versions of songs from Frehley’s platinum-selling debut solo album including “New York Groove” and “Snowblind” plus Frehley-penned KISS classics “Shock Me,” “Cold Gin” and more!

Track List:

1. Deuce - Marty Friedman

2. Shock Me - Gilby Clarke

3. Rip It Out - Scott Ian

4. Hard Luck Woman - Ron Young & Jeff Watson

5. Snowblind - Snake Sabo

6. Rock Bottom - Sebastian Bach

7. Parasite - Tracii Guns

8. Cold Gin - John Norum

9. New York Groove - Bruce Bouillet

10. Fractured Mirror - Dimebag Darrell

To purchase 'Spacewalk – A Salute To Ace Freheley': http://geni.us/2Gvi

Katy Perry's February 1, 2015 Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show is most-watched and highest-rated halftime show featuring entertainment in history Katy Generated Three Million Tweets During Event Her Performance Of "Firework" Was Top Shazamed Moment Of Game Katy Is Nominated For Two GRAMMY® Awards

Interest in global superstar Katy Perry skyrocketed across numerous platforms during and after her headline performance at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show. Seen on NBC by 118.5 million viewers, it was the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show featuring entertainment ever (dating back to 1991). It earned a 48.2/72 household rating, making it the highest-rated halftime show featuring entertainment in history. Super Bowl XLIX was the most-watched television program in U.S. history and the highest-rated Super Bowl in 30 seasons. It was also the most-Tweeted Super Bowl ever - and Katygenerated more than three million Tweets during halftime. She was getting nearly 300,000 Tweets Per Minute (TPM) as her performance drew to a close with "Firework." Katy continues to be the most followed person in the world on Twitter, with more than 64 million followers. "Katy Perry" was No. 1 on Google Trends on game day. "Firework" was theTop Shazamed moment of the game overall (including the halftime show).Rolling Stone noted, "It was a natural choice for her closing number, and a fitting way to end a performance in which she inspired with both her theatricality and her endurance." Her career-spanning performance propelled PRISM, Teenage Dream and One of the Boysinto the Top 15 of the iTunes Album Chart. Released in October 2013, PRISM(Capitol Records) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, hit No. 1 on iTunes in more than 100 countries and has been certified quadruple Platinum. It is nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Pop Vocal Album while the 8x multi-Platinum single "Dark Horse" (feat. Juicy J) is up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Katy Perry's PRISMATIC WORLD TOUR is a hugely successful global spectacle, visiting 17 sold out arenas in the UK, 66 sold out arenas in North America and 25 sold out arenas in Australia/New Zealand in 2014. The next leg of the tour kicks off on February 16 and will take Katy throughout Europe, Asia and South America, where she will headline Rock In Rio in Brazil on September 25. Premium entertainment network EPIX will present the world television premiere of "KATY PERRY: THE PRISMATIC WORLD TOUR" on Saturday, March 28, at 8PM. The recently filmed, high-energy, two-hour concert special will air during the EPIX Free Preview Weekend (March 26-29) and features Katy performing her biggest hits from "I Kissed a Girl" to "Dark Horse."

Inbox Update: Kitchens Of Distinction, The Casket Girls, Megadeth

Hope everybody is having a great week. Here is a collection of a number of releases that have landed in my inbox this morning... 

Kitchens Of Distinction return with a brand new  studio album, Folly, their first in 19 years   to be released on CD, Vinyl, and Digital Formats on November 5, 2013   check out "Japan to Jupiter" on STEREOGUM

In Summer 2011, Patrick Fitzgerald asked Julian Swales whether he would like to work on some new songs together. Dan Goodwin was invited to join in the fun and eventually ten songs loomed out of the mist. Ten new songs that sound not as a pastiche of a band 20 years on but, as Julian puts it, are "like a new version sucked through time and space."  Fitzgerald elaborates:  "Jules thinks it sounds nothing like old Kitchens, but like a new version sucked through time and space. Dan said he thought it would fit neatly between Death of Cool and Cowboys. Me? Well it certainly sounds like nothing I've recorded these past stephenhero years, so I'm glad as I wanted a change. It's definitely a hark back to the sonic noise of KOD, but the lyrics are wiser, and the songs less fraught. But don't get me wrong, they are no less intense."   Folly is KOD 's fifth overall and first since 1994's Cowboys and Aliens. Fitzgerald, Swales and drummer Dan Goodwin formed KOD in South London in 1985 and released their first single, "The Last Gasp Death Shuffle," in 1987. Between 1989 and 1994, the trio released four studio albums before disbanding in 1996 following the release of final single "Feel My Genie." Fitzgerald rules out touring, at least with all three band members, stating "No live shows featuring all 3 of us. Do you hear? That's a NO to those sitting in the back."  Pre-order: http://www.seeofsound.com/p.php?s=3RANGE11 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kitchens-of-Distinction/36301200732 The Fader Premieres The Casket Girls' "Holding You Back" MP3 Limited Edition Tape Out On September 7 / Cassette Store Day  "The Casket Girls' brand of goth pop is definitely dark, but it's a perfect mixture of doom and optimism that keeps you hanging on every word." - Bust "The Casket Girls sound like homespun electronic kindred spirits to School of Seven Bells,  A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Au Revoir Simone, and other dream-pop groups  centered around swirling sisterly vocals." - Spin Listen: "Holding You Back" via The Fader or SoundCloud The Casket Girls, comprised of Ryan Graveface (Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Marshmallow Ghosts, Dreamend)  and newcomers, Elsa and Phaedra Greene, are back with two new songs for the first ever Cassette Store Day. The limited edition tape will be released on September 7 onGraveface Records & Curiosities and features "Holding You Back" & "Suddenly." The Faderpremiered "Holding You Back" and said "it's got a subtle creepiness to it, seemingly tied to the ethereal, double-female vocals, like an extremely happy song that you might hear over the closing credits of a horror movie." Holding You Back" is also available to post and share via SoundCloud. The cassingle follows up The Casket Girls debut album Sleepwalking which was released late last year on Graveface and a limited edition Record Store Day EP. Those releases were praised by publications such as Bust, NPR, Paste, PopMatters, Spin, The Washington Post and more. The band toured in support of those albums with The Faint, Trust and Black Moth Super Rainbowamong others. The forthcoming cassingle will also act as a competition between the two new songs. Check back onThe Casket Girls Facebook page in the coming weeks as there will be a poll, and the song that wins will go on their next full length due in early 2014. For more info, please visit: http://www.casketgirls.org/ http://www.graveface.com/ MEGADETH - PHOTO CREDIT: Myriam Santos MEGADETH 'COUNTDOWN TO EXTINCTION: LIVE' TO BE RELEASED ON SEPT.  24, 2013 IN MULTIPLE VIDEO AND AUDIO CONFIGURATIONS  Definitive Document of Megadeth’s Acclaimed 2012 "Countdown to Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour" "(Countdown to Extinction) may just be the finest thrash-metal album ever made" – SPIN   Los Angeles, Ca. (August 28, 2013) – Last November and December, Megadeth blazed hot on the band’s “Countdown to Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour,” ripping through their entire double platinum 1992 album from start to finish before performing other classics from their recorded catalog.  On September 24 (September 23 outside of North America), Tradecraft/UMe will releaseCountdown to Extinction: Live, a definitive document of the acclaimed, sold-out tour.  Recorded and filmed at Los Angeles’ Fox Theatre last December,Countdown to Extinction: Live will be available in several video and audio configurations, including deluxe Blu-ray/CD, DVD, CD, Digital Album, Mastered for iTunes Album, and Longform Digital Video.   In addition to Megadeth’s blistering performance of the entire Countdown to Extinction album, including the essential “Symphony Of Destruction,” “Foreclosure Of A Dream,” “Sweating Bullets,” and “Skin O’ My Teeth,”Countdown to Extinction: Live features all of the other Megadeth classics the band performed at the epic concert, including “Holy Wars” and “Hangar 18” from 1990’s Rust in Peace, “Peace Sells” from the band’s influential, platinum certified 1986 album, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, and “Trust” from 1997’s platinum certified Cryptic Writings.   Megadeth’s fifth studio album, Countdown to Extinction was recorded in Los Angeles in 1992.  American tensions weren’t limited to LA, as the Gulf War was still fresh in people’s minds, the state of the environment was becoming headline news, and out of this turmoil, Megadeth was inspired to create Countdown to Extinction, considered by many to be the band’s best and most accessible album. None of their previous records were as polemical as the sonic missiles launched by ‘Countdown.’  Megadeth laced the songs with acid-tongued commentary about subjects ranging from the futility of war (“Architecture of Aggression”) to the senseless brutality of caged hunting (“Countdown to Extinction”).  “Foreclosure of a Dream” sampled George Bush’s infamous “Read my lips” speech, making a statement about taxation endangering the American Dream.   Thanks to a perfect balance of hard-rock song structures, epic choruses, and fleet-fingered guitar work, Countdown to Extinction became an instant classic, benefiting from copious MTV and radio play. SPIN magazine raved that ‘Countdown’ “may just be the finest thrash-metal album ever made.”  The album shot to No. 2 on the Billboard chart (it may have hit No. 1, if not for Billy Ray Cyrus’ long chart-topping reign with Some Gave All), and it was certified double platinum in the U.S. within two years.   Megadeth was in top form, with Dave Mustaine, the band’s then 31-year-old singer and guitarist leading the album’s assault with lyrics like “You know your worth when your enemies praise your architecture of aggression,” not to mention his venomous rhythm guitar attack with his longtime bandmate completed the picture, as bassist David Ellefson jammed dizzying arrays of low-end thunder. Megadeth sounded hungry, and the band was rewarded when the album earned a GRAMMY Award nomination (Best Metal Performance) and when its title cut garnered a Genesis Award from the Humane Society for raising awareness for animal rights issues.   In November 2012, Capitol released an expanded and remastered 20th Anniversary Edition of Countdown to Extinction, personally overseen by Mustaine.  The 2 CD lift-top box and digital release pairs the remastered original album with an exclusive, previously unreleased 1992 concert, recorded live at San Francisco’s Cow Palace. In a career nearing 30 years, Megadeth has sold more than 38 million albums worldwide, earning five consecutive platinum albums and numerous accolades along the way, including 11 GRAMMY® nominations.  The band’s latest studio album, Super Collider, reunites Mustaine once again with guitarist Chris Broderick, bassist David Ellefson, and drummer Shawn Drover.  Released in June, Super Collider debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, Megadeth’s highest chart debut since 1994’s Youthanasia.  Megadeth: Countdown to Extinction: Live Intro Trust Hangar 18 Public Enemy Skin O’ My Teeth Symphony of Destruction Architecture of Aggression Foreclosure of a Dream Sweating Bullets This Was My Life Countdown To Extinction High Speed Dirt Psychotron Captive Honour Ashes In Your Mouth She Wolf Peace Sells Holy Wars...The Punishment Due Outro MEGADETH ON TOUR: 09/03 Raleigh, NC / Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek 09/05 Nashville, TN / Bridgestone Arena * 09/07 Kansas City, MO / Sprint Center * 09/08 Maryland Heights, MO / Verizon Wireless Amphitheater * 09/10 Austin, TX / Tower Amphitheater * 09/12 Las Vegas, NV / Mandalay Bay Events Center * 09/13 San Bernardino, CA / San Manuel Amphitheater * "Battle of San Bernardino" 09/14 Sacramento, CA / Discovery Park "Monster Energy Aftershock Festival" 10/04 Santiago, Chile / Estadio Monumental ** 10/06 Buenos Aires, Argentina / Estadio Unico de la Plata ** 10/09 Proto Alegre, Brazil / Fiergs ** 10/11 Sao Paulo, Brazil / Pama (Campo de marte) ** 10/13 Rio De Janeiro, Brazil / Apoteose ** 10/15 Belo Horizonte, Brazil / Esplanada Do Mineirao ** 10/19 Bogota, Colombia / Parque Simon Bolivar ** 10/22 San Jose, Costa Rica / National Stadium ** 10/26 Mexico City, Mexico / Foro Sol ** 10/30 Phoenix, AZ / Veteran's Memorial Coliseum "Arizona State Fair" * Appearing with Iron Maiden ** Appearing with Black Sabbath www.megadeth.com www.twitter.com/megadeth