The Cruel World music festival lives on. Goldenvoice, the event’s promoter, today announced the inaugural Los Angeles-based festival with the ’80s-heavy bill — Morrissey, Bauhaus, Blondie and Devo — is being moved to Sept. 12 from May 2 over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. Full details right here.
The inaugural Cruel World music festival that boasted a bill topped by ’80s alternative stalwarts Morrissey, Bauhaus, Blondie, Devo and Echo & The Bunnymen appears to have been postponed indefinitely in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, but promoters have barely communicated anything to ticketholders.
This is a round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs. All releases due out this Friday unless noted. May also include some other titles released in recent weeks but not previously featured. This week: Cocteau Twins, Game Theory, Heaven 17 and more.
Party-rock favorites The B-52s are headed out on a 40th anniversary tour of North America this summer, and they’ve enlisted contemporaries Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Berlin to open the tour. OMD also will be playing four headline shows in the U.S. during a tour break. Full dates here.
This week’s new releases include brand-new studio albums from The Mission, Elvis Costello and The Roots, Sebadoh and Berlin, plus a live DVD/Blu-ray release from Peter Gabriel, a 1992 live album from The Wedding Present and an audiophile vinyl pressing of The Sisters of Mercy’s ‘Floodland.’
Terri Nunn and Berlin return this week with a brand-new studio album called Animal, and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky Slicing Up Eyeballs reader to attend a special record-release on-stage interview and audience Q&A featuring the band on Tuesday night at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
Blondie, Adam Ant, The Psychedelic Furs, The Fixx and Berlin are set to perform at Los Angeles radio station 93.1 Jack FM’s big “Flashback” concert this fall at The Theatre at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. A portion of ticket proceeds from the Sept. 21 show will go to Talk About Curing Autism.
Q&A: Daniel Ash on Love and Rockets’ reunion, his new band — and figuring out how to play “So Alive” 
Q&A: Chris Frantz talks Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and new book ‘Remain in Love’ 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ Bauhaus’ break-up, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk 
Q&A: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon on new album, changing the world with music 
Q&A: Peter Hook talks ‘Unknown Pleasures’ tour, re-recording Joy Division 