Music news

By Aerin Raymond

Posted on Jan. 27, 2005, at 12:00 a.m.

The Eels are set to return with a new double album featuring a mammoth 33 tracks.

The follow-up to 2003′s “Shootenanny!” is titled “Blinking Lights and Other Revelations,” and will be released worldwide on Monday, April 25 through Universal.

The record features collaborations by the Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian, Tom Waits and long-time Eels cohort, REM guitarist Peter Buck.

The Strokes have recorded five songs for the follow-up to 2003′s “ROOM ON FIRE.” The band has been busy in their recording studio, located in the Hell’s Kitchen district of New York, working on their third album.

It has been revealed that David Kahne is now producing the LP instead of long-time Strokes producer Gordon Raphael. Kahne has previously produced albums for Paul McCartney, Sugar Ray and the Presidents of the United States.

According to the band’s manager Ryan Gentles, The Strokes will embark on a worldwide tour following the release of the new album, though no details are yet confirmed.

Fatboy Slim teams up with Bootsy Collins again on his new single.

“The Joker,” a reworking of the Steve Miller classic, reunites Norman Cook with his “Weapon Of Choice” collaborator.

Due to be released on Monday, Feb. 28 through Skint, it is the third single to be taken from the superstar DJ’s current album “Palookaville.”

Singer/songwriter Jack Johnson will return Tuesday, March 1 with his latest Brushfire Records album, “In Between Dreams.” The first single “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” is available for download from Apple’s iTunes Music Store and made a brief appearance at No. 50 on Billboard’s Hot Digital Tracks chart earlier this month.

Longtime Johnson friend, Ben Harper, makes an appearance in the accompanying music video.

One track from the new album, “Breakdown,” is a reconstituted version of a song on which Johnson was a guest on Handsome Boy Modeling School’s recent Atlantic Elektra release, “White People.”

Johnson has begun lining up tour dates in support of “In Between Dreams,” including a previously announced appearance at the Bonnaroo Festival in mid-June.

Also on the horizon is the soundtrack to the surfing film “A Broke Down Melody,” which is expected to be released this spring via Brushfire.

Mariah Carey’s next Island Def Jam studio album, “The Emancipation of Mimi,” has been bumped to Tuesday, April 12 from its originally scheduled Tuesday, March 22 release date. Carey handled the bulk of the writing on the set and also produced the power ballad “Mine Again.”

The Jermaine Dupri-produced first single “It’s Like That” was last week’s top debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 53, netting Carey her highest-debuting song on that chart in almost five years. The song also opened at No. 58 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks roundup.

A video for “It’s Like That” will be shot next week by film director Brett Ratner (“Red Dragon,” “Rush Hour”).

The new album also features contributions from producers Kanye West and the Neptunes as well as rappers Nelly, Snoop Dogg and Twista.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 27th, 2005, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.