Details are still coming together at deadline, but it seems a sure bet that Pearl Jam fans will have a new live DVD via Rhino to play on repeat before the holidays are out.
It is well-known that photographer Danny Clinch filmed the band’s concerts in Italy in the fall of 2006, which included such oddities as a complete, in-sequence performance of Pearl Jam’s self-titled J album in Torino and a cover of Tom Waits’ “Picture in a Frame” in Milan. This will be Pearl Jam’s first concert DVD since 2003’s “Live at the Garden,” which hit No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Music Videos chart.
As previously reported, frontman Eddie Vedder has penned a host of new songs that will be released in conjunction with the upcoming movie “Into the Wild” in September via J Records. Pearl Jam’s lone remaining show of the summer will be at Lollapalooza in Chicago on Aug. 5.
— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Akwid, the duo that pioneered a blend of regional Mexican and hip-hop music, is at it again on “La Novela,” due Oct. 2 via Univision. True to its title, the set will hone in on the drama of the Gomez brothers’ coming to the United States and growing up in South Los Angeles.
Sergio Gomez would reveal few details, but said Akwid is teaming with the Valenzuela brothers again for production assistance, but unlike prior collaborations, “La Novela” will not have banda music as its backdrop.
— Ayala Ben-Yehuda, L.A.
Veteran rock outfit Ministry will release its last studio album, “The Last Sucker,” Sept. 18 via 13th Planet/Megaforce. Group leader Al Jourgensen plans to retire the Ministry name following the album and its supporting 2008 tour to focus on other projects.
“The Last Sucker” is the final installment of a trilogy dominated by ruminations on the Bush Administration, following 2004’s “Houses of the Mole” and 2006’s “Rio Grande Blood.” The album even includes audio snippets of Bush woven through the songs.
Jourgensen was joined in the studio by guitarists Thomas Victor and Sin Quirin, bassist Paul Raven and drum programmer John “Bixby” Bilberry. Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell guests on the songs “Die in a Crash” and the two-part “End of Days.”
— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.