Mark Lanegan at Bowery Ballroom in 2010 (more by Caleb Heller)

The Mark Lanegan Band will return this February with their first album since 2004's Bubblegum. The new album, Blues Funeral, comes out in North America on February 7 via 4AD and a day earlier in the UK. The album was recorded with Alain Johannes, who also worked on Bubblegum and features guest appearances from Josh Homme, who he's collaborated with before, Greg Dulli, who he collaborated with in Gutter Twins, and Jack Irons, who drummed in Eleven with Johannes. Check out the album's opening track, "The Gravedigger's Song," along with the album's artwork and tracklist below. You can pre-order the album at the 4AD webstore.

The Mark Lanegan Band is touring the album in Europe from late February to early April, but before they do that, they've got a few North American shows scheduled, including one in NYC on the US album release date, February 7 at Bowery Ballroom with Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

All dates, stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Mark Lanegan Band announces new album & tour dates (Bowery Ballroom on sale now)"

photos by Caleb Heller

"The unlikely duo of former Belle and Sebastian singer and cellist Isobel Campbell, and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, QOTSA, Gutter Twins) remain initially elusive in order to allow anticipation, as well as the crowd itself in the Bowery Ballroom, to build. Sauntering silently on, backed by a four-piece band, the pair launch into the opener from new album Hawk; 'We Die and See Beauty Reign,' a track that wouldn't sound out of place in David Lynch's Twin Peaks' 'Red Room'; a dream-inducing, pulsating slow dance to hypnotize every listener. Followed by most recent single 'Come Undone,' Lanegan, with words on a music stand in front of him, assumes his trademark stance, gripping the microphone with right-hand, stand with left, wincing with every note and watching over his female counterpart like Halloween's killer Michael Myers. Campbell on the other hand, who has produced the new album, is noticeably nervous, delivering her breathless vocals perfectly, but shifting around to involve her beloved cello and as many obscure percussion instruments in each song as possible." [The Arcane Review]

Mark Lanegan was, as it says above, the frontman for Screaming Trees in the 90s. A pair of vocalists of a similar persuasion: Greg Dulli (of Afghan Whigs, and collaborator in Twilight Singers and The Gutter Twins with Lanegan) and Craig Wedren (of Shudder To Think) are on tour and will play Bowery Ballroom on 10/19 (tomorrow) as part of CMJ. Badges or tickets (which are still available) will get you in.

More pictures from Mark and Isobel's Bowery show, with the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan played Bowery Ballroom (pics & setlist) "

"We don't really talk about it but there's a trust thing there. He's a friend. He's a dear friend, and I know he's said the same of me. It's just about good music and singing with this man that's my friend, and it's an honor for me that he will sing stuff that I wrote, that he respects me. I think we're both interested in songs and we'll talk about... sometimes I'll say, 'I really like your songs' and he'll say, [imitates Lanegan's deep voice] 'No, I really like your songs,' and we'll just go 'Awwww...' [laughs] I think there's an understanding between us that's hard to put into words." [Isobel]

Continue reading "Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan are on tour (dates)"

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan will be in the US this October, to play shows behind their new album, Hawk, due August 16th on V2/Cooperative Music. As previously mentioned, the album's guests include ex-Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and songwriter Willy Mason.

The full tour dates haven't been released yet, but the pair will be playing Bowery Ballroom on Saturday, October 16th and Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday, October 17th. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon and then general sale Friday, July 30th at noon.

Two days later, Mark's friend Greg Dulli plays Bowery Ballroom as part of his own solo tour that was just announced.

Mark and Isobel tour in the UK and Europe this September. That's the same month Isobel's old bandmates Belle & Sebastian play in NYC. The two groups are apparently on good terms, as Isobell & Mark are scheduled for the B&S-curated Bowlie 2 ATP Fest in the UK this December.

Tour dates and more are below...

Continue reading "Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan scheduling dates "

"We're still in sunny L.A., in the final stages of recording the album, but plans are already afoot for touring throughout the rest of 2010" wrote Belle & Sebastian at the end of May. Those 2010 touring plans include shows in Europe, Asia and North America (with a TBA trip to South America). As part of that (and as previously reported), the band will be playing Brooklyn's Williamsburg Waterfront on September 30th with Teenage Fanclub (who have a new album of their own coming out). Tickets for the NYC show go on "Internet Presale" Thursday at 10am.

They'll continue on for a show in L.A., a pair in Mexico and a handful more in Canada and the US this fall. Full tour dates are below (Las Vegas still TBA?).

Also due in 2010, ex-Belle & Sebastian singer Isobel Campbell will be releasing her third album with collaborator Mark Lanegan, called Hawk and due August 16th on V2/Cooperative Music. Guests include ex-Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and songwriter Willy Mason.

All B&S tour dates, and Hawk cover art, below...

Continue reading "Belle & Sebastian tour dates, new Isobel Campbell record "

"...I checked out Soulsavers [at Bowery Balllroom last night - 9/22]. I couldnt' get over how much Mark Lanegan looked like Will Ferrell, I actually kept laughing, when he wasn't singing, he looked like Will Ferrell making fun of an angst-riddled grunge singer, lurching around, awkwardly earnest. Do people make fun of him about this? I thought it was uncanny. Anyway, he does have a really cool voice, deep, smokey baritone, unique; when I see a band live I often find it's hard to discern the lyrics but he is uniquely able to cut through the instruments with his voice and articulate every word, pretty cool." [What We are Listening To]

Continue reading "Soulsavers played Bowery Ballroom, continue on tour "

Soulsavers will follow the August 18 release of their third full-length album, Broken, with a headlining North American tour that kicks off September 6 in Portland, OR.

Broken features the return of Mark Lanegan [Queens of the Stone Age, Screaming Trees] on vocals and includes duets with Spiritualized's Jason Pierce ("Pharaoh's Chariot"), Faith No More frontman Mike Patton ("Unbalanced Pieces") and Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers ("Death Bells"). Also appearing on the album are Richard Hawley (backing vocals on "Shadows Fall"), Australian newcomer Red Ghost (Rosa Agostino) and studio bassist Martyn LeNoble (Porno For Pyros, Jane's Addiction).

Joining Machin and Lanegan on the road will be guitarist Rich Warren [Spiritualized] and bassist Martyn LeNoble [Porno For Pyros, Janes Addiction].

Continue reading "Soulsavers (Mark Lanegan) - tour dates & new album w/ Mike Patton, Jason Pierce, Richard Hawley, Gibby Haynes & more"

The upcoming Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan US tour, scheduled to start in May, has been postponed.

See you all in September x

Due to unavoidable circumstances I am disappointed and sorry to announce that we have had to postpone NYC, San francisco and Los Angeles concerts until September this year. For anyone who has bought tickets, these tickets will still be valid in September. And I am sorry for any inconvenience. The good news is that there will be a more extensive U.S and Canadian tour at this time. Thanks for bearing with me! More information to follow....isobelxo
[Isobel Campbell's MySpace]

The 39th annual Bumbershoot: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival, Presented by Samsung Mobile announces a small portion of the 2009 lineup. The 3-day urban event takes place Labor Day Weekend (September 5 - 7). The Festival stretches across the 74-acre Seattle Center, located beneath the city's iconic Space Needle, and programs 20 indoor and unique outdoor venues. This progressive Festival features a diverse array of arts including live music, comedy, theatre, dance, film, urban crafts, and literary and visual arts.

Continue reading "Bumbershoot announces partial 2009 lineup & ticket info"

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan are playing Webster Hall in NYC on Wednesday, May 27th. Tickets go on sale Thursday, April 2nd at noon.

Their last album together, Sunday at Devil Dirt, was released in May 2008. Mark last played Webster Hall in March of 2008 with the Gutter Twins. Also last year, Belle & Sebastian's BBC Sessions double-album was released - a collection that features Campbell singing, and pictured on the disc's cover.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan interview and live video below...

Continue reading "Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan playing Webster Hall"

photos by Ryan Muir

The Gutter Twins' new "All Misery/Flowers" video, and more photos from their March 1st Noise Pop performance at Bimbo's in San Francisco (better late than never), below....

Continue reading "the Gutter Twins - All Misery/Flowers (video), Noise Pop pics"

Mark Lanegan @ Webster Hall, NYC - March 19, 2008 (Ryan Dombal)

After a pretty lame applause from the crowd, Greg Dulli emerged to the stage. Smoking his hundredth cigarette of the night, the Gutter Twins co-frontman quickly confronted the crowd as to why the rest of the band remained hidden in the shadows on the side of the stage. Saying something like "We walk off stage, 5 people clap, and we're supposed to come back out and play more songs," he criticized the crowd for their incredibly weak call for an encore. [NY press]

Continue reading "the Gutter Twins played Webster Hall & Letterman (video)"

Campbell and Lanegan's follow-up to 2006's Ballad of the Broken Seas is called Sunday at Devil Dirt, and it will come out May 5 in the UK on V2/Cooperative Music. Like Ballad, the new album features Lanegan tackling lead vocals while Campbell handles the writing, production, and arrangements. [P4K]

Continue reading "Mark Lanegan - new album w/ Isobel Campbell, NYC tonight"

The Gutter Twins @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - Feb 14, 2008 (Caryn Rose)

My odd thought about tonight was that this show was just - grown up. I haven't seen the lyrics and haven't lived with the songs enough, but this is not about Are you here to make par-tay or even the themes of loss and, well, loss that have hung over acres of Twilight Singers material. Don't get me wrong, this is still a collaboration between Dulli and Lanegan and it's not rainbows and puppies and roses, and it's plenty fuckin dark. But it was just at another level, and maybe because Mark's ass is also on that line, but I have never seen the band this whip-smart and sharp and just totally together, like Greg can put up one hand and conduct the band and they turn on a dime. [jukeboxgraduate]

The Gutter Twins' February show at Bowery Ballroom is sold out, and tickets are on sale now for a March 19th show at Webster Hall. There's a song streaming at MySpace.

Screaming Trees + The Afghan Whigs =

– Sub Pop veterans Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan return to the label in its 20th year under the moniker The Gutter Twins for the March 4th, 2008 worldwide release of Saturnalia, their highly anticipated first album. In addition, the band has announced a handful of very special US and European show dates to preview the complex and carefully crafted songs in advance of the official record release.

“I couldn’t tell you what Saturnalia’s theme is, but there’s a seeking of transcendence that’s new.” Greg Dulli explains. “I have never written songs like this before” it’s a different temple I’m visiting.”

Continue reading "THE GUTTER TWINS (Mark Lanegan, Greg Dulli, Sub Pop) - 2008 Tour Dates (Noise Pop, NYC)"

Almost forgot, thanks all.... Soulsavers kick off a tour in NYC tonight...

In November, Machin will tour the U.S. with his friends in good faith Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, QOTSA, Gutter Twins, etc.), Rich Warren and Kevin Bales of Spiritualized, gospel singers Carmen Smart and Wendi Rose, bassist Matt Stravick, and guitarist Steve Gullick. [Pitchfork]

Continue reading "Soulsavers (Mark Lanegan) - 2007 Tour Dates (tonight, WIN)"