A cancerous tumor was discovered in Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch’s left salivary gland, the rapper’s record label, EMI, announced in a statement Monday.

While the musician is expected to make a full recovery, the band has been forced to cancel their upcoming tour and postpone the release of their latest album, Hot Sauce Committee Part 1.

“I just need to take a little time to get this in check, and then we’ll release the record and play some shows,” Yauch, 44, said in a video statement on his band’s official Web site. “It’s a pain in the neck (sorry had to say it) because I was really looking forward to playing these shows, but the doctors have made it clear that this is not the kind of thing that can be put aside to deal with later.”

According to EMI, the cancer was caught early and is localized in one area, rendering it “very treatable.” “Our thoughts, love and prayers are with Adam Yauch, his family and the Beastie Boys,” the record label said in a statement. “The most important thing is to allow Adam to focus on staying healthy. We wish him all the best and a speedy recovery.”

No new release date for the album, originally slated for a Sept. 15 release, has been announced.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Blake Lewis wants you to dance!

American Idol’s season 6 runner-up will release his second album, Heartbreak on Vinyl, on Oct. 6 via Tommy Boy Entertainment. Shifting from pop-rock to dance-pop, Lewis says his new album, “the culmination of over 10 years in the dance scene,” will be “filled with electro pop goodness with melodies I cherish.”

Currently in the studio finishing the record, Lewis called on producers Rodney Jerkins (who’s worked with Britney Spears and Lady Gaga) and Dave Aude (who’s worked with the Pussycat Dolls) to craft his new high-energy sound.

“The music in the dance scene gets me out onto the dance floor to lose my inhibition,” Lewis says of the inspiration behind his new project. “The title is an ode to all the record stores that have been closing down due to my industry eating itself. These are the stores that brought inspiration to all of us music lovers and have led me to make the music I create today.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Susan Boyle missed another stop on the “Britain’s Got Talent” tour.

A rep for the perky Scottish singer tells People it was because she felt too tired to perform. “She had a rest day,” her rep adds that reports of Susan going into a fit about her cat Pebbles are nonsense. “She certainly wasn’t shouting out for Pebbles … She was feeling tired and she decided not to perform.”

This is the second time the singing sensation has missed a stop on the tour, after being hospitalized earlier this month due to exhaustion.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Last Thursday, I went and saw Bat for Lashes in Portland, Oregon at the Doug Fir Lounge.  Popbytes introduced BFL to me about 6 months ago, and I’ve been totally hooked, ever since!

The show was awesome! Lead singer Natasha Khan sounds even more amazing live. I’ve become obsessed with her last album, Two Suns.  Her voice is beautiful, and she puts on a great show. If she’s coming to a city near you – go see her! Tickets in Portland were only $10 – but I would have paid much more! She’s great!!

Bat For Lashes is the work of British singer/ songwriter, multi- instrumentalist and visual artist Natasha Khan. Born in 1979, yet combining influences that span decades, Natasha’s work dwells in the elemental, emerging in timeless forms.

A new Bat For Lashes album Two Suns was released on the 6th of April 2009.

‘Two Suns’ was written and recorded around the world, from Big Sur and the Joshua Tree desert in California to the rolling Welsh countryside and the city sprawls of New York and London.

It includes appearances by Brooklyn’s finest psychedelic experimentalists Yeasayer, who provide bass and beat programming. The legendary Scott Walker also performs a duet with Natasha for the album closer ‘The Big Sleep’.
As with Fur And Gold, Natasha chose to co-produce Two Suns with David Kosten (AKA Faultline).

Having spent parts of her childhood in Pakistan, Natasha Khan now lives by the sea in England.

Here is here official website

Check out her Myspace page!

NEW ALBUM ‘BACK AND FOURTH’ OUT JUNE 23 ON COLUMBIA

Man, I love, love, love me some Pete Yorn!   I’ve heard this new album, “Back and Fourth” and let me tell you – it’s better than all his previous albums! It is great!! He’s kicking off a new tour – and you guys HAVE to go see him!

In July, acclaimed singer and songwriter Pete Yorn will kick off a headlining tour in support of his anticipated new album ‘Back And Fourth’ (June 23, Columbia). Backed by his new band – a well-credentialed group of musicians including guitarist Jonny Polonsky who also played on the album, Joey Kennedy on keys, Scott Seiver on drums, Mark Noseworthy and Zak Schaffer on guitar – Yorn will preview the tour with a special album release show at the Roxy in LA on June 24. Tour highlights include multiple nights at LA’s Henry Fonda Theatre, NYC’s Webster Hall, and Chicago’s Park West.

Pete Yorn is currently on the road with Coldplay, through June 4. His first album in three years, ‘Back and Fourth,’ marks a bold new chapter for Yorn, who recorded in Omaha, NE, with producer Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley). Columbia’s Co-Chairman Rick Rubin also helped guide the project. The result is Yorn’s most personal statement to date.

July 09 San Diego CA – House of Blues
July 10 Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
July 11 Tucson, AZ -Rialto Theatre
July 13 Austin, TX -La Zona Rosa
July 14 Houston, TX – Meridian
July 16 Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom
July 17 Atlanta, GA – CW Center Stage
July 20 Washington, DC – 930 Club
July 21 Baltimore, MD – Ram’s Head
July 25 Philadelphia, PA – XPN Radio Show – Wiggins Waterfront Park
July 26 Boston, MA – House of Blues
July 28 New York, NY – Webster Hall
July 29 New York, NY – Webster Hall
August 02 Pontiac, MI – Clutch Cargos
August 03 Chicago, IL – Park West
August 04 Chicago, IL – Park West
August 07 Kansas City, KS – Harrah’s Voodoo Lounge
August 08 Council Bluffs, IA – Whiskey Roadhouse at Horseshoe Casino
August 09 St. Louis, MO – Pageant
August 12 Minneapolis MN Fine Line Music Cafe
August 13 Minneapolis MN Fine Line Music Cafe
August 15 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
August 16 Salt Lake City, UT – Murray Theater
August 21 Vancouver, BC – Venue
August 22 Portland. OR – Roseland Theater
August 24 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
August 27 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre
August 28 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre

Sultry British pop star Adele has spoken out about her reasons for scrapping dates on her 2008 U.S. tour – it was all over a boy!

The Grammy Award-winning  singer headed home as a result of “family issues” but later fuelled gossip her decision to scrap shows was related to her alcohol intake – by telling a U.K. tabloid, “I was really unhappy at home and there was a lot of family issues going on… But I got better again – I stopped drinking.”

At the time, Adele refused to speculate on how her drinking was related to her “family issues,” but now she reveals she quit the U.S. tour to be with her boyfriend, a heavy drinker like her.

She tells Nylon magazine, “We refer to that period as my E.L.C., my Early Life Crisis. Now I’m sober, I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I did that.’ It seems so ungrateful.  I was drinking far too much and that was kind of the basis of my relationship with this boy. I couldn’t bear to be without him, so I was like, ‘Well, OK, I’ll just cancel my stuff then.’”

Adele insists the boyfriend is no more, but “I got a second album out of it (relationship), so it was fine.”

source

photo: Bauer-Griffin