Mos Def has an album aimed for Feb

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Mos Def will release his Downtown debut, "The Ecstatic," on Feb. 9, Billboard.com can reveal. The first single, "Life in Marvelous Times," will hit iTunes as an exclusive on Nov. 4.

The veteran rapper's last album, "Tru3 Magic," barely made a ripple upon its late 2006 release via Geffen and has sold just 93,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its predecessor, 2004's "The New Danger," has sold 484,000.

Mos Def will be on the road starting Oct. 31 in Prague with the European installment of the Rock the Bells tour, alongside Nas, De La Soul, EPMD and the Pharcyde, among others.

On the acting front, the artist plays Chuck Berry in the film "Cadillac Records," due Dec. 5 in U.S. theaters.

Courtesy of Billboard.com

Green Day back to the lab with Butch Vig

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Confirming news that Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson let slip recently on "The Carson Daly Show," Green Day is in the studio with veteran producer Butch Vig working on the follow-up to 2004's "American Idiot."

In a video posted over the weekend on YouTube, the band is seen in the control room as the camera pans over to Vig, who smiles and extends his middle finger. Instrumental bits of two new songs are heard in the background.



Vig is best known for his work on Nirvana's "Nevermind" but has also logged time behind the boards with Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth, in addition to his musician role in Garbage. Of late, he has produced albums from Jimmy Eat World, Against Me! and Tad.

Green Day worked with producer Rob Cavallo on "American Idiot," a runaway smash that has sold 5.8 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The group reappeared this spring masquerading as the band Foxboro Hot Tubs, releasing an album and playing a handful of small club shows. The upcoming Green Day album, as-yet-untitled, is expected next year via Warner Bros.

Courtesy of Billboard.com

Featured Artist: Keane

Paul Sexton, London

The multiplatinum English band that was almost derailed by personal problems has relocated its mojo.

Keane by name and keen by nature, the melodic rock trio from Sussex has sold about 8 million copies of its two albums, according to its U.K. label, since emerging some four-and-a-half years ago. With the subsequent drink- and drug-related tribulations of lead singer Tom Chaplin now firmly in the past, the band's creative enthusiasm is refueled to overflowing.

"I've seen what it's like on the other side, and I don't ever want to go there again. This is a liberated record," Chaplin says of "Perfect Symmetry," released Oct. 13 internationally on Island and the following day in the United States on Interscope. "When you sail so close to the edge and then come back, you learn to appreciate what it is [you enjoy] again. We didn't have that sense of fun for a while. We were pretty earnest."

Keane's 2004 debut, "Hopes and Fears," racked up global sales estimated at 5.5 million by Island. So a "mere" 2.5 million for 2006 follow-up "Under the Iron Sea" was something of a letdown. Nielsen SoundScan shows the respective U.S. figures as 976,000 and 373,000, although "Sea" charted higher, debuting at No. 4 on the Billboard 200; "Hopes" had peaked at No. 45.

"We've built up a huge live following in America and the first record obviously did incredibly well," Chaplin says. "We toured there with the second record and the crowds got bigger, but [the album] didn't seem to impact as much as the first one. Whether the Americans get this record or not I don't know, but I hope the openness and poppiness of it will have a big impact."

Full story can be read here.

Courtesy of Billboard.com

Coldplay's EP is coming and Jay-Z makes a surprise visit!

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Coldplay will in November release an eight-song EP, "Prospekt's March," which will include a new version of the song "Lost" featuring rapper Jay-Z. Six of the eight tracks on the EP are new studio recordings, including "Glass of Water," which the band has been performing live of late.

The track list is rounded out by the Jay-Z version of "Lost" and the Osaka Sun remix of "Lovers in Japan."

Coldplay will begin a North American tour Oct. 20 in Ottawa, Ontario, in support of its latest Capitol album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends." The set is the second-highest selling U.S. release of 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan, at 1.77 million copies.

Here is the track list for "Prospekt's March":

"Life In Technicolour II"
"Postcards From Far Away"
"Glass Of Water"
"Rainy Day"
"Prospekt's March / Poppyfields"
"Lost +"
"Lovers in Japan" (Osaka Sun remix)
"Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground"

Courtesy of Billboard.com

Bloc Party is dropping the Digital this week

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Bloc Party will make its third album, "Intimacy," available for digital download Thursday (Aug. 21), more than three months in advance of its Oct. 28 physical street date via Atlantic.

The CD will contain as-yet-unnamed "different tracks" from the digital version, according to the band. Fans who opt to pre-order "Intimacy" in physical form via BlocParty.com will receive the digital version immediately.

The band says the decision to go digital so far ahead of physical was based on the early leak of its 2007 album, "A Weekend in the City." That set has sold 148,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The 10-track "Intimacy," produced by Paul Epworth and Jacknife Lee, is led by the single "Mercury," which debuted yesterday at No. 16 on the U.K. singles chart.

Here is the track list for "Intimacy":

"Ares"
"Mercury"
"Halo"
"Biko"
"Trojan Horse"
"Signs"
"One Month Off"
"Zephyrus"
"Better Than Heaven"
"Ion Square"

Courtesy of Billboard.com