News on Popstars, David Foster, Money Mark, Noise Pop Festival, Girls Against Boys, Joy Division, Ween, Boredoms
Friday night's episode of the WB network's "Popstars" revealed the five young women who will make up the reality series' teen musical group. Ana Maria Lombo of Scottsdale, Ariz., Maile Misajon of Long Beach, Calif., Nicole Scherzinger of Louisville, Ivette Sosa of Edison, N.J., and Rosanna Tavarez of Miami beat out more than 1,000 others who auditioned for the group/series.The as-yet-unnamed group will begin recording its debut album with Grammy-winning producer David Foster shortly. The disc will be released in May by London/Sire Records, in association with Foster's 143 Records.
"We think we have chosen five young women who can be great role models and who share the ideals and aspirations of today's youth," Foster said. "These girls can sing, act and dance and when they leave a room you know they're gone."
For more information on the group, visit its official Web site.
Indie rock faves Girls Against Boys (GvB) have created most of the music that will be heard in "Series 7," a film spoof of the hit reality series "Survivor." Due April 24 from Koch, the soundtrack to the film consists of 95% GvB material, comprising the group's first studio work since its 1998 Geffen debut "Freak*On*Ica." GvB will support the release with a summer tour.
The only tracks not by GvB on the 19-track album are "Cello Love Theme" by Robbie Kondor, "Sweetness" performed by Julie Stephonic and GvB's Eli Janney, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division, and "Wedding Serenade" by MenKing.
Directed by Daniel Minahan, "Series 7" parodies the idea of "Survivor" through a fictitious show titled "The Contenders," where instead of participants are killed instead of being voted off.
Keyboardist Money Mark (Beastie Boys) has joined the lineup of San Francisco's Noise Pop Festival with a scheduled March 3 performance at the Justice League. The rest of the bill will feature No Forcefield (which includes members of Primus and the Invisibl Skratch Piklz) and DJ Me DJ You (formerly DJ Sukia).
Noise Pop badges are available at TicketWeb for $100, and grant access to all of the festival's live shows Feb. 27-March 4, the Noise Pop Film Festival, the Noise Pop Educational Series of mentoring sessions, and the opening night party. For more information, visit the festival's official Web site.
Cult rock duo Ween, currently label-less after parting company last winter with longtime label Elektra, will mount an 12-date U.S. tour, set to begin March 23 in Sea Bright, N.J., and run through April 5 in Washington, D.C. Writing on the band's official Web site, Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo says, "we will be touring throughout the year and will eventually make it to just about everywhere in America by Christmas time."
Although Ween has yet to begin working on the follow-up to last year's Elektra swansong "White Pepper," the band is planning a second album with members of noise-rock avatars the Boredoms under the name Z-Rock Hawaii. The set will be released on former Faith No More frontman Mike Pattons' Ipecac label.
Here are Ween's tour dates:
March 23: Sea Bright, N.J. (Tradewinds)
March 25: Burlington, Vt. (Higher Ground)
March 26: Northampton, Mass. (Pearl Street)
March 27: Boston (Avalon)
March 29: Buffalo, N.Y. (Tralfamador)
March 30: Columbus, Ohio (Newport)
March 31: Cincinnati (Bogart's)
April 2: Athens, Ga. (Georgia Theater)
April 3: Charleston, S.C. (Music Farm)
April 4: Winston-Salem, N.C. (Ziggy's)
April 5: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
April 6: Norfolk, Va. (NorVa)
-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.