As bands collaborate and reunite for a winter of rock, other established groups prepare for spring performances, and we couldn’t be more excited for the new year and the music it will surely bring.
The 2012 All Tomorrow’s Parties’ festivals in London and New Jersey will welcome the resurrection of the Ohio rockers, The Afghan Whigs. The group formed in 1986, and released six critically acclaimed albums during the span of their career, including the 1993 success Gentleman. The band has not been back together since 2006, when they briefly reunited to release two new tracks.
Original Afghan Whigs members Greg Dulli, John Curley and Rick McCollum will reunite to play their first concert in 13 years at next year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties I’ll Be Your Mirror festivals in the UK and US. Although it was previously announced that Guided By Voices would be Sunday’s headliner of the London festival, the Afghan Whigs will replace them act the headlining act of the festival. ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror will be held from May 25-27 at Alexandria Palace in London. Later on in 2012, the festival will expand to the US from September 21-23 at Asbury Park, New Jersey.
British electronic band Underworld have been assigned Music Directors for the opening ceremonies proceedings of the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Alongside well known British director Danny Boyle as Artistic Director, the duo, consisting of Rick Smith and Karl Hyde, will commence the 3-hour ceremony on July 27th with some great music direction. Danny Boyle and Underworld have collaborated before, with Underworld’s music having appeared in Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach.
While we’ve been enjoying the recent release of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ soundtrack to the upcoming David Fincher movie, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Reznor is back at work, announcing new work from his side project How To Destroy Angels, as well as a possible Nine Inch Nails (NiN) release in 2012.
In a recent interview with BBC Radio 1, Reznor disclosed information regarding a new album with How To Destroy Angels, the effort teaming him up with his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and recent collaborative partner and writing force Atticus Ross. Ross and Reznor recently completed a Zeppelin cover, featured in the trailer for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Reznor says How To Destroy Angels’ new album will be out sometime next year, and in the meantime, Reznor went on to drop vague hints about possible new Nine Inch Nails Material.
The 20th anniversary San Francisco Noise Pop 2012 festival has released its lineup, which will feature Built to Spill, Archers of Loaf, Porter Robinson, Die Antwoord and many more.
In its 20-year span, Noise Pop has featured great groups like The Flaming Lips, The White Stripes, Modest Mouse and Bright Eyes. The Noise Pop official site has a great write-up of the festivals 20-year history; be sure to check it out. Early Bird Badges are on sale now, and with them, you will gain access to all general admission concerts, films, happy hours and other events. Regular badges will be available staring December 9th, and individual Noise Pop shows will go on sale December 12th.
As 2011 comes to a close, SXSW is steadily adding more names to the list of performers who will be in town for the March festival in Austin, TX. Noise Pop featured artist Built to Spill has also been added to the SXSW list, as well as Metric, The Big Pink and The Big Sleep. With November and early December housing 3 rounds of announcements of performers for SXSW, the comprehensive list has grown bigger and better, and surely has something for everyone.
Unplugging In Brief:
The Afghan Whigs Reunite to Play Both All Tomorrow’s Parties: I’ll Be Your Mirror USA and UK – Their first performance in over 10 years, The Afghan Whigs will reunite to perform at the UK and US All Tomorrows Parties I’ll Be Your Mirror festivals in 2012.
Underworld Announced As Music Directors For 2012 London Olympic Games – Alongside director Danny Boyle, the British duo Underworld will serve as Music Directors for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games.
Trent Reznor Announces Plans for How To Destroy Angels Album, Possible Work With Nine Inch Nails – Shortly after the release of Reznor and Atticus Ross’ Dragon Tattoo soundtrack, Reznor revealed new material in the works for side project How To Destroy Angels, as well as a possible new release for Nine Inch Nails.
Noise Pop 2012 Announces 20th Anniversary Lineup – San Francisco’s 20th anniversary Noise Pop festival will feature a slew of great bands, so check out the ticketing now!
SXSW 2012 Announces Third Round of Showcasing Bands Including The Big Pink, Metric, Built to Spill and More – After the 3rd announcement of showcasing bands to perform at the 2012 SXSW festival in Austin, the list of performers seems to go on and on.
