News in Brief: Merge, Echo and the Bunnymen, Nellie McKay, Bridge School Benefits
By Tom Breihan
-- Merge Records' 20th anniversary celebration continues on with The Merge Records Companion, a CD-sized book that features images of everything the label released in its first two decades. The limited-edition book also features essays from label founders (and Superchunk members) Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance. It's out November 3.
-- On October 12, new wave legends Echo and the Bunnymen will release new album The Fountain. First single "Think I Need It Too" is out September 28. The band will tour Europe and North America this fall, and at a few dates, they'll play their classic album Ocean Rain in its entirety.
-- Saucy piano-playing cabaret chick Nellie McKay is a big booster of 50s/60s film and music icon Doris Day. She has reviewed a Day biography for The New York Times and even interviewed Day herself. And on October 13, Verve will drop Normal as Blueberry Pie, McKay's tribute to Day. The album contains McKay's versions of songs previously sung by Day, as well as one McKay original.
-- For two decades, Neil Young has made an annual tradition out of playing acoustic shows to raise money for the Bridge School, a Bay Area school for kids with disabilities. Rolling Stone reports that this year's Bridge School Benefits will go down October 24-25 at Mountain View, California's Shoreline Amphitheatre. Chris Martin of Coldplay, Fleet Foxes, Monsters of Folk, Wolfmother, and Young himself will share the bill with the likes of Jimmy Buffett, No Doubt, and Adam Sandler.
TagsAlbumBenefitAlbum ReleasesBookNellie McKayMergeCoverNeil YoungBridge SchoolEcho and the BunnymenNellie McKayNeil YoungEcho and the BunnymenElectronicRock