Alternative Press has posted online a 40-minute acoustic session with Wasilla, AK’s Portugal. The Man, recorded on their recent tour with Minus The Bear. You can stream the session, which includes two brand new songs from their upcoming third album Censored Colors at AP.
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Rancid are in the midst of their North American tour and reports have started to come in from concertgoers. The band has been performing a new Matt Freeman sung song dubbed “L.A. River” that will appear on their forthcoming, still untitled new record. Word from showgoers is that the Brett Gurewitz produced album will arrive via Hellcat Records in September. This is a little bit later than initially reported, but since we’re following up Indestructible from all the way back in 2003, what’s a month or two?

You can watch a video of the band performing “L.A. River” along with …And Out Come The Wolves singles “Time Bomb” and “Ruby Soho” by clicking below. The video was recorded by a fan at the band’s June 11th show at Club 101 in El Paso, Texas.
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NOFX has announced that Dillinger Four will be providing support on their upcoming East Coast tour. NOFX most recently appeared on the Fuse Television series, Backstage Passport. D4 will be releasing their new album any day now, but you can find the artwork here.

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Seattle, WA’s Melvins and their rhythm section/tourmates Big Business will be extending their previously announced tour. The two groups have added dates through the Southwest.

Both bands are set to release albums later this year.
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This month Vice released the DVD of the critically acclaimed documentary about aggressive music in Iraq, Heavy Metal in Baghdad. The film primarily focuses on Acrassicauda, one of the few bands that dared to play Western music in the dangerously sectarian Iraq. To celebrate the release, the label has provided a copy of the DVD and a poster autographed by the band for one winner here at Punknews.org

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Palm Pictures has unveiled plans to provide a theatrical release for Steven Sebring’s Sundance-award winning documentary, Patti Smith: Dream of Life in September 2008.

The film promises a richly layered portrait of the legendary poet, artist, musician. Smith emerged in the 1970’s, galvanizing the music scene with her unique style of poetic rage, music and trademark swagger. Sebring, renowned for merging raw realism with high fashion in his portraiture, first met Smith, in 1996, when he photographed her for Spin magazine. Upon seeing her perform, he was so moved that he asked if he might begin filming her – thus beginning the 11-year project.
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Victory Records has signed Gothenburg, Sweden-based Sister Sin. Despite being from Gothenburg, the band is more influenced by bands like Motorhead and Motley Crue than At the Gates.

You can find some music on their myspace page.
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As rumoured for many months, the Canadian Minister of Industry Jim Prentice today introduced Bill C-61, which has been described as a “Canadian DMCA law,” referring to the controversial American law that has seen academics – like Princeton’s Edward Felten – unable to present research papers.

The Canadian law notable includes anti-circumvention clause that will make it illegal to break digital locks on copyrighted material. The controversy arises from the fact that this anti-circumvention clause will override existing rights, so the “fair dealing” right to backup, copy, cite and analyze commercial works will be restricted at the whim of copyright holders. Moreover, mashups and satire will be criminalized by the bill if they “distort or mutilate a copyright performance.”

The bill was controversial even before its appearance and Jim Prentice declined to present it to the public before today due to the massive outcries from citizens, academics and opposition leaders, one of whom said:

There’s no excuse for why the government has not consulted broadly the diverse stakeholders. The government has not thought this through. It has not thought about how it will enforce these provisions. There’s a fine line between protecting creators and a police state.

Law professor Michael Geist has a detailed analysis here.
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Less Than Jake co-vocalist Chris Demakes is the latest member of the band to do a mini-interview talking about his life as a musician and his musical family as well as his band’s upcoming album. The record is titled GNV FLA and is due out June 24, 2008.

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Political punk/hip hop/ska act Outernational have signed to Warner Bros.. The band is working on their full length for the label with producer Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine and will be using drummed Gil Sharone of Dillinger Escape Plan and Fishbone as well as Joe Tomino of Dub Trio.

You can check out little clip of Tom Morello’s behind-the-scenes recording coaching on their myspace page. There are also a few sample tracks on their Punknews.org Profile.
Source Continue reading Outernational joins Warner, plans debut →