Avoiding all April Fools jokes here is a roundup of some of the most interesting music announcements in the last week.

News that you may have heard, on May 13th Sony and the Estate of Michael Jackson will release ‘Xscape’. It will be available as either a 1 disc or 2 disc option, the 2 option includes the songs on the album in their original form without any producer meddling. Question is, why release it like this in the first place? The fans will want complete songs that will work regardless of being redone for the 2014 pop world, assuming that the album actually sounds anything like 2014. Tracks presumably lined up for the album include: Xscape (song leaked originally in 2003 on the internet, a left over from Invincible), Slave to the Rhythm (2 leaked productions, both supposedly not what Jackson intended, a third teased in a recent Sony advert), People of the World, and others that have leaked in part or been listed by publishing companies.

Steve Hackett has announced a new CD/DVD, a live surround sound release featuring his Genesis Revisited tour at the Royal Albert Hall. It’ll be released in June 2014. It features various guest singers including Genesis alumni Ray Wilson on Carpet Crawlers. Tracklist is:

1. Dance On A Volcano
2.  Dancing With The Moonlit Knight
3. Fly On A Windshield
4. Broadway Melody of 1974
5. Carpet Crawlers (w/ Ray Wilson)
6. The Return Of The Giant Hogweed (w/ Roine Stolt)
7. The Musical Box
8. Horizons
9. Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleeprs
10. In That Quiet Earth
11. Afterglow
12. I Know What I Like (w/ Ray Wilson)
13. Firth of Fifth (w/ John Wetton)
14. Ripples (w/ Amanda Lehmann)
15. The Fountain of Salmacis
16. Supper’s Ready
17. Watcher of the Skies
18. Los Endos

After an unforgettable 2013, Hackett will be rewarding fans in 2014 with his Genesis Extended world tour, which hits the UK in October and sees the return of Nick Beggs on bass. The show will once again feature seminal tracks from the ‘Genesis Golden Era’, some of which were not included on the Genesis Revisited tour.

Genesis Extended UK Tour Dates 2014

Tue 21^st Oct               IPSWICH                     Regent Theatre          01473 433 100

Wed 22^nd Oct                         BRIGHTON                  Centre                         0844 847 1515

Fri 24^th Oct                 NOTTINGHAM            Royal Concert Hall     0115 989 5555

Sat 25^th Oct                GLASGOW                  Clyde Auditorium       0844 395 4000

Sun 26^th Oct              YORK                          Barbican                     0844 854 2757

Tue 28^th Oct               SOUTHEND                Cliffs Pavilion             01702 351 135

Wed 29^th Oct              SOUTHAMPTON         02 Guildhall               023 8063 2601

Thu 30^th Oct               CARDIFF                      St David’s Hall           02920 878 444

Sat 1^st Nov                  LONDON *                 Eventim Apollo           0844 249 4300

Sun 2^nd Nov                SALFORD                    The Lowry                   0843 208 6000

Mon 3^rd Nov               GUILDFORD                Glive                            0844 770 1797

Tue 4^th Nov                 BIRMINGHAM             Symphony Hall           0121 345 0602

 

Ticket prices for all venues except London are £29.50 and £27.50 all seated (except Guildford seated/standing) and London*  £35 and £30.   24hr Ticket Hotline: 0844 338 0000 Online: BookingsDirect.com (Agency & credit card bookings subject to booking fee) Showtime for all shows is 7.30pm (plus support).    For full details on exclusive VIP packages to meet Steve before the shows, please see www.hackettsongs.com

 

On another note, we also received this recent piece of music in our mailbox. Collectress are a great orchestral band featuring some sultry vocal performances and have recently released (last week) their album Mondegreen. You can hear some cuts on their Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/collectress and they’ll also be playing some dates around the UK in the coming month.

Finally a band I’ve recently indulged upon, The Antlers! Announcing their new 9 track album called Familiars as well as promo video for the track ‘Palace’. The album is out June 17th.

Familiars:

1. Palace
2. Doppelgänger
3. Hotel
4. Intruders
5. Director
6. Revisited
7. Parade
8. Surrender
9. Refuge