New Releases, April 8: Nine Inch Nails, The Breeders, Leona Lewis

Plus: P.O.D. [ tickets ], Nick Cave [ tickets ] and the Bad Seeds, more

Nine Inch Nails [ tickets ]
"Ghosts I � IV"
(The Null Corporation)

The industrial-rock troupe's four-disc all-instrumental outing is finally set to hit traditional retail outlets. Many of the band's fans, however, already own the music.

The first nine selections from "Ghosts I-IV" were made available for free download several weeks ago on the band's website, where fans could also purchase the entire 36-song package for $5.

NIN also is offering "Ghosts" in a variety of deluxe packages ranging from $10 to the $300 "ultra-deluxe limited edition," which sold out almost immediately, according to the band.

Trent Reznor and crew will support "Ghosts" on the road. The band has announced its first batch of concerts, which kicks off with a July 25 appearance at British Columbia's outdoor Pemberton Festival. The first headlining show follows a day later in Seattle.

[Read LiveDaily's review of "Ghosts I-IV"]

* * *

The Breeders [ tickets ]
"Mountain Battles"
(4AD)

The veteran alt-rock troupe, originally formed in the late '80s as a side project for Pixies' bassist Kim Deal and then-Throwing Muses guitarist Tanya Donelly, is ready to release its fourth album. "Mountain Battles" is the first new Breeders offering since 2002's "Title TK" and it features production work from, among others, Steve Albini, who famously produced the Pixies' seminal 1988 record "Surfer Rosa."

This version of The Breeders features sisters Kim and Kelley Deal (who both contribute guitar and vocals this time around), as well as bassist Mando Lopez and drummer Jose Medeles.

The Breeders will hit the concert trail in support of the album, beginning with an April 25 slot at Indio, CA's Coachella festival. The group will then mount a 27-city headlining trek, which starts April 28 in San Diego and lasts through a mid-June date in Atlanta.

* * *

Leona Lewis [ tickets ]
"Spirit"
(J-Records)

The British singer/songwriter, a past winner of the British talent show "X Factor," is already a huge star in her native UK. Her single "Bleeding Love" was the best-selling single of 2007 in Britain, where her debut album, "Spirit," is also a chart smash.

Now, the vocalist is crossing the pond to try her luck on this side of the Atlantic, with the stateside release of "Spirit." So far, so good--"Bleeding Love" has already hit the top of the Billboard singles chart.

* * *

P.O.D.
"When Angels and Serpents Dance"
(Sony)

The heavy rockers return to their original lineup--which includes guitarist Marcos Curiel, who left the platinum-selling group in 2003--for the release of "When Angels and Serrpents Dance." Also joining the party are such guest stars as Helmet's Page Hamilton, Suicidal Tendencies' Mike Muir, the Marley Sisters and a gospel choir.

The set was produced by Jay Baumgardner (Evanescence) and its first single is "Addicted." "When Angels and Serpents Dance" follows a pair of 2006 releases: "Testify," which landed at No. 9 on The Billboard 200, and "Greatest Hits (The Atlantic Years)."

* * *

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
"Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"
(Anti)

Having last toured the States as part of the no-frills rock outfit Grinderman, the 50-year-old Australian rock legend returns to his better-known band, the Bad Seeds, for the release of the exclamation point happy "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!" The new album follows 2004's two-disc set "Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus."

* * *

More new releases:
Ashes Divide, "Keep Telling Myself It's Alright" (Island)
Marcia Ball, "Peace, Love & BBQ" (Alligator)
Hayes Carll, "Trouble in Mind" (Lost Highway)
Cut Copy, "In Ghost Colours" (Interscope)
Mari� Digby, "Unfold" (Hollywood)
The Duke Spirit, "Neptune" (Artist First)
Fleet Foxes, "Sun Giant" (Sub Pop)
Foals, "Antidotes" (Sub Pop)
Paul Gilbert, "Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar" (Shrapnel)
Kamelot, "Ghost Opera: The Second Coming" (Steamhammer)
Man Man, "Rabbit Habits" (Anti)
Colin Meloy, "Colin Meloy Sings Live!" (Kill Rock Stars)
Marie Osmond, "Dancing with the Best of Marie Osmond" (Curb)
James Otto, "Sunset Man" (Warner Bros.)
Was (Not Was), "Boo!" (Rykodisc)


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Chantal Chamandy Performs the 'Beladi Concert' From Her Historic 'Live at the Pyramids' Concert July 3rd @ The Jerome Duncan Ford Theater, Detroit

DVD & CD on Six Degrees Records - In Stores Now!
New Single: 'Crazy' Goes #26 Billboard Hot Dance Chart

NEW YORK, June 9 -- Born in Egypt to parents of Egyptian,
Lebanese and Greek descent and raised in Montreal, Canada, Chantal Chamandy
is a pop singer born and bred to ignore boundaries and fuse the accessible
with the exotic. Her new studio album and historic DVD Beladi: A Night at
the Pyramids showcases a lavish, romantic, entertaining and inclusive
musical vision that bridges gaps and brings musical cultures together with
love and celebration. On July 3rd, Chantal will re-create this historic
concert in Detroit at The Jerome Duncan Ford Theater.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080609/NYM029 )

When many in the West are curious and apprehensive of Middle Eastern
culture and society, Chantal -- who recently received the Excellence in the
Arts award from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee -- refuses
to surrender to fears, stereotypes or negative portrayals. Instead, her
music is a refreshing reminder that at its best, music has the power to
bridge our differences and inspire listeners the world over. Chantal writes
and performs a vibrant style of alluring, danceable pop music that has been
a hit on dance floors and pop charts internationally including the song
"You Want Me" which went to #4 on the UK Dance Charts. Said London's
Evening Standard, "Chantal mixes East and West to emerge as a strutting
talent who exudes both breathy sensuality and vocal control worthy of
Celine Dion." The single "Feels Like Love" went Platinum in Canada.

On September 7, 2007, she became the first person ever granted
permission by the Egyptian Ministry to perform and film a concert at the
base of the Pyramids on the Giza Plateau in Egypt. The evening, documented
on the 90-minute DVD Beladi: A Night at the Pyramids, found Chantal
performing thousands of fans backed by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. Her
dancers included Canadians, traditional Egyptian "tanoura" dancers, and
Ahmed Nabil, the principal dancer of the Cairo Opera House Ballet Company.
Her collaborators for the show also included some of the top names in
cutting-edge theater and musical entertainment: director Gerard Pullicino
is responsible for shows by Beyonce, Celine Dion and Madonna, among others,
while choreographer Genevieve Dorion-Coupal and set designer Guy St-Amour
are veterans of Cirque du Soleil. (Dorion-Coupal choreographed the
company's Grammy-winning Beatles show Love, currently a sensation in Las
Vegas.)

The concert is currently being broadcast on PBS stations nationwide;
the DVD contains additional footage not included on the PBS broadcast,
including a feature-length documentary, "The Journey," with
behind-the-scenes footage that follows the creation and staging of this
extraordinary event.

Chantal's studio album Beladi is a companion piece to the DVD, with
studio recording of various songs she performed at the Pyramids. She wrote
most of the songs herself, often collaborating with the noted Indian
musician Subir Dev. Driving and danceable one moment, sensuous and alluring
the next, her music speaks with passion and intelligence of an artistic
vision that recognizes no boundaries as it draws from all of Chantal's
experiences and influences.



http://www.chantalchamandy.com

Publicity contact:
Doreen D'Agostino
DOREEN D'AGOSTINO MEDIA
646.829.0652
doreendagostino@earthlink.net



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Tunguska-Guska

   
Artist: Tunguska-Guska

   Genre(s): 
Other
   

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Discography:


   
 Tunguska-Guska

   Year:    
Tracks: 10

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'Stuck' looks at true story of 2001 Texas car crash with dark humour

'Stuck' looks at true story of 2001 Texas car crash with dark humour

The movie is about a woman who hits a guy with her car and drives home with him still lodged in the windshield - then parks in the garage, closes the door and leaves him there to die.

The title tells you everything you need to know about the tone it takes with this ghastly subject matter: "Stuck." Cult horror director Stuart Gordon plays the material absolutely straight, but with a twisted sense of humour.

"Stuck" is based on a true story, too, which makes it even more riveting to see these events unfold on screen. It's inspired by a fatal 2001 car crash in Fort Worth, Texas, that earned the driver, Chante Mallard, a 50-year prison sentence. But this is no prime-time TV re-enactment, full of glossy lighting and stylish edits; Gordon and co-writer John Strysik strip the accident down to expose the ugliest elements of human behaviour.

Mena Suvari, her angelic features hardened by her blond hair in cornrows, stars as Brandi, a retirement-home nurse who gets behind the wheel after a night of drinking and pills. Stephen Rea co-stars as Tom, a man who has lost his job to corporate downsizing, is homeless and just happens to be crossing the street at the wrong time.

Brandi's meagre life in Providence, R.I., is on the upswing while's Tom's is in decline: She's in line for a promotion at work, and her fear of losing out on the new supervising gig is one big reason she panics and keeps the accident a secret.

She's also not the sharpest tool in the shed, clearly. Her boyfriend, Rashid (Russell Hornsby), is a drug dealer who cheats on her and just keeps popping Ecstasy tablets in her mouth to assuage her when she freaks out.

"Baby, you got nothin' to worry about. You hit a bum!" he coos. "It's no big deal." Rashid also suggests that new seat covers might help cover up the crime.

But there's Tom, with his legs splayed across the hood, his torso flopped over the dashboard, the blood from his forehead landing with a loud slap-slap-slap on the passenger seat. He's still alive, though. And the moment when he writhes and struggles to reach Brandi's cell phone to call 911 is intimately gory. (The fact that Rea, star of "The Crying Game," has to do the majority of his acting from this position is a testament to the versatility of his talent. It probably was also fun for him to appear in such a wildly macabre movie.)

"Stuck" shows how one bad decision can lead to another and another, causing seemingly ordinary people to do extraordinary things in the name of survival. Brandi's eventual ability to turn the crime upside down in her mind, and blame Tom for lying there mangled and bloodied by shards of metal and glass, is stunning. (And that's how Mallard reacted in real life, too.)

The irony, of course, is that Brandi helps people who are elderly and infirm for a living - washing their backsides when they've soiled themselves in bed - but she can't even be bothered to lift a finger for the guy who is about to die because of her selfishness.

Suvari goes from harmlessly stupid to coldly murderous over the course of a night, and the transformation is chilling to watch.

But there's also plenty of dark humour to break up the bleakness, including one scene with an unusually hungry Pomeranian. That's when "Stuck" turns into "Snack." Three stars out of four.

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