Second Them Crooked Vultures album promised in interviews

So, is it unanimous? Them Crooked Vultures should make a second album? I'll round up what the band says in just a moment ...

This thing I got on iTunes this Tuesday morning is hot. I am so proud to be able to tell my grandkids someday that I was at a show on the first Them Crooked Vultures tour.

(And when they say, "Who?.......")

Well, how about that second album? Who's ready?

John?

Continue squeezing this »

No shortage of original riffs at Them Crooked Vultures show; John Paul Jones puts on display with array of instruments

The all-too-brief North American tour by Them Crooked Vultures comes to a close tonight with a performance at New York's Roseland Ballroom. If it goes anything like last night's concert at the 9:30 club in Washington, D.C., the Big Apple is in for an ear-splitting treat consisting of well over an hour of riffs.

Dave Grohl's career since Nirvana may have flourished the most with him singing for the Foo Fighters, but make no mistake: He belongs pounding on the drums, where his power is rivaled by his imaginative drum beats and long (trance-inspired?) fills.

Throughout the show, Grohl watched carefully as his bandmates out front unleashed each riff. Beneath a mop of hair that has been soaking since the first song, Grohl's face displayed a sly look as he eyed the man to his right, who heretofore was most famous in the band that placed him with John Bonham. A spontaneous and stilted "Moby Dick" reference between songs last night brought to mind the drummer who has been missed since 1980. For John Paul Jones, all bets are that this lineup is his favorite since those days of expanding upon Willie Dixon-derived tunes.

No Willie Dixon royalties were earned or withheld last night. The band bashes through only completely original riffs in its uncompromising set that's devoid of cover songs. The creative forces that wrote these songs in a short time this year execute them flawlessly in their live setting. The complicated rhythmic changes are memorized and performed without even the slightest exchange of a visual cue. It's all done with ears, not mirrors.

Jones inadvertently steals the show with his mastery of an array of different instruments. As each new one is strapped around his neck and displayed on the stage, the audience responds with an approval. But it's surprising to see Jones confined to a four-string bass when he's just tinkered with the freedom 10 or 12 strings a song or two earlier. He makes your average professional bass player look like an amateur.

A title and release date for the band's album have not been officially announced, although one online U.K. retailer shows Nov. 23 as the date in question. Singer and guitarist Josh Homme said their disc would be self-titled, but that could change if a new catchphrase in line with the past "Follow What's Heard" and "Deserve the Future" is favored.

In the meantime, NPR says it hopes to air, given the band's permission, a multi-track recording made at last night's show. It appeared to be an error-free show that was captured on tape, with the third public performance of the recent composition "Highway One," so it would make sense to offer the show up to the airwaves.

Them Crooked Vultures to release CD by end of year, Josh Homme says in forthcoming interview

Kudos to the folks over at Antiquiet for being the first to get some important details out of any member of Them Crooked Vultures regarding their upcoming album.

Singer and guitarist Josh Homme said he's not quite sure when to expect a CD release by his new supergroup with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones. As a matter of fact, none of the band members knows! Says Homme:

"We’ve been doing a lot of stuff real kind of secretive, and we actually made a pact to not know when it’s coming out, the band guys. I’m betting… Well it’s going to be before the end of the year… We kind of have a little running bet on what the date is. And I intend to win that bet, because I’m going to cheat."

Josh, I invite you to cheat by visiting TheCrookedVultures.info for that information as soon as I learn it, hopefully, before you do.

Also of note is Antiquiet got Homme to break the band's silence on whether or not it is signed to a record label. Here's the discourse:

Antiquiet: Any idea as far as an agreement on a label, or how that’s all going to work out distribution wise?

Josh Homme: Yeah… It’s going to come out on Interscope in the states, and Sony/BMG internationally.

Antiquiet: How do you feel about that? You’ve been pretty outspoken in the past about not feeling so hot about Interscope anymore…

Josh Homme: Well, you know… If it was up to me, I’d just get a real big hot air balloon, and put ‘em all in the basket of that, and just (miming) pull the cord and let it drop over places, you know?

But, you know, it’s not up to me always.

Again, kudos to Antiquiet. You can read the full interview with Homme there.

Dave Grohl, as drummer, loves his new band with John Paul Jones and Josh Homme

Dave Grohl's back on drums! That's what a lot of the buzz is that's currently surrounding Them Crooked Vultures as the band sets off to cruise across North America.

In the Foo Fighters, Grohl's talents behind a drum kit were hidden away in a bushel basket so that he could be the frontman, screaming indelicately into a microphone with a guitar strapped to his back. But the former Nirvana drummer has consistently returned to the drums whenever he's linked up with Queens of the Stone Age founder Josh Homme, himself an ample guitar player, singer, songwriter and frontman.

So it's long been Grohl's dream -- and probably fans of his -- to be able to return to the drums in a tight-knit group. Grohl envisioned himself forming a band with Homme years ago -- and who better to play bass than John Paul Jones? But who among us wouldn't desire to recruit Jones to join a rhythm section in much the same way we draft reliable running backs for fantasy football? Grohl probably never seriously thought he could form a band with both Homme and Jones.

Until he got that unexpected phone call.



As Grohl explains in his backstage interview with radio station KUT 90.5 Austin:

"I'd worked with John on a Foo Fighters record and asked him. I guess it was about a year ago. I bumped into him in London, and I said, 'Hey, I got this project I think might be kind of fun. Me and my buddy Josh are gonna do something outside of our bands.' And he kind of went, 'Oh, yeah, right.' And then I didn't hear from him for a while, and then a month later, he called and said, 'Hey, when do you think you're gonna do it?' So I called Josh, [and I'm] like, 'F***, man, I think he actually wants to do it! This is amazing!'"

Grohl says that when he, Jones and Homme all started jamming together for the first time, it took him only as much as two or three minutes to realize it was the best band he'd ever been involved with.

"John, I mean, you know, John is ... he's ... he's an incredibly gifted musician. Anything that he picks up, he plays with feel, he plays with passion. He's ... he's a ... you know, he's a classically trained f***ing genius. But he rips on anything! He'll pick up a mandolin and just blow your head off! You know? And ... and everybody knows what he can do with a bass guitar, and watching the two of them go at each other, you know. I get to sit there and watch those two every night, and it's awesome."

It was presumably Grohl's first interview about Them Crooked Vultures since the band's formation early this year, and so he gushed over the fact that he was finally able to talk freely about the band.

"Nobody knew; we kept it a secret for eight months. Nobody knew. And that was the best part. I'm actually relieved now that I can talk about it because I used to -- you know, I had to keep it a secret. It's like I had a secret lover for eight months and I was trying to hide her away from everybody. You know? I couldn't tell anybody!"

The only remaining secret with the band that neither Grohl nor Jones was at liberty to address in their interviews with KUT 90.5 Austin was when Them Crooked Vultures will be releasing any of their studio recordings. When Grohl was asked if he could reveal anything about their record, he clammed up, reverting to the tight-lipped nature of the band since its public debut in August. Grohl simply told the reporter:

"No. You'll see."

While some media outlets are still reporting the band's debut album will be titled "Deserve the Future" and released late this month, it's really not even certain there will be an album release in the traditional sense. As I said one month ago yesterday:

For all we know, Them Crooked Vultures may forego an in-store physical album release altogether. Too passé!

Why not drop the entire album free of charge over the course of a month, hiding uncompressed digital files on different Web sites. We'd have to follow the social networking accounts of a couple dozen different henchmen affiliated with the marketing scheme and click incessantly on suspect links to various indistinguishable vultur.es URLs. Most would reveal comical images of crooked vultures, while only a handful would be those proverbial needles in the haystack, unleashing track by track the powerful music created for fans of loud rock.

Truly, then, only the most patient and ardent fans would deserve the future.

John Paul Jones gives first interview since debut of Them Crooked Vultures; bassist compares band's onstage improvisation to that of Led Zeppelin

John Paul Jones has given his first interview since the debut of Them Crooked Vultures. In his interview for KUT 90.5 in Austin, Texas, he commented on a number of topics all related to the new band.

There were no questions about the status of a Led Zeppelin reunion.



How Them Crooked Vultures got together:

"It's all Dave's fault. It's all Dave's fault. He came up to [the] GQ Awards in London last year to present us with, um, Men of the Year, I believe it was, with Zeppelin. And we got to talking, and he says, 'Well, you know, if you're ever not doing anything, I want to get a little band together with Josh singing, and give you a call.' You know, so, I found out I was doing nothing after a while. ... I just came over in February, met with Josh for the first time, went pretty much into the studio, and just started having fun basically."

On the fact that the band got together despite none of the three members needing to have another band at this time:

"It's got to be fun. It really has."

On the blues-based groove present in the band's songs:

"Yeah, yeah. There kind of has to be. Josh is pretty bluesy too, and I suppose my history is blues-based. Blues-based rock. And it all comes from the blues for me. I just like the sound of it, I like playing it, and we're doing basically what we want, you know."

On releasing their studio recordings:

"Yes, it is hard to come by, but ... There will be music ... real soon now, as they say in the computer world."

On the method of release:

"I can't really comment on that, but it'll be everywhere soon, don't worry."

On the band's ambitions and longevity:

"We're still a young band hoping to go places. It is, yeah. They're all still growing. We all play 'em fine, of course, but this is again one of those bands where different things happen onstage and you take the songs from different places and discover new stuff about bits. It keeps the interest, and it's good fun to do. ... Yeah, I think it's going to go for a while. Honestly, you know, their respective bands will call them back eventually, but I think we're going to get a good run of it before anything like that happens."

In a separate interview for 90.5 KUT, Dave Grohl discusses the status of the Foo Fighters and explains what it is like playing in a band with John Paul Jones.

Them Crooked Vultures may make U.K. debut as early as tonight

The new supergroup involving John Paul Jones has been on a European tour, with last week's concert itinerary consisting of one club appearance and two festivals.

Them Crooked Vultures now appears set to repeat the pattern in Jones's home country.

The band has been rumored to be playing a surprise set at Brixton Academy tonight and turning up at both the Reading and Leeds festivals this weekend.

(Update: Tonight's rumored gig has now been confirmed as per updated Google Earth imagery on the band's official Web site.)

Tonight's gig has been rumored as an opening slot for the Arctic Monkeys, which is scheduled to perform a sold-out show at the London venue. Online music media such as Spinner, Gigwise and RollingStone.com -- plus the British journalists behind NME.com, the Times Online and MTV UK -- have reported the rumors of tonight's appearance by Them Crooked Vultures.

Last week, the band shifted its approach as to fan-shot footage of its concerts. Just days after the removal of multiple YouTube videos was attributed to the band's Josh Homme, the band began using its own online applications to publicize some amateur footage of complete Them Crooked Vultures songs played in concert.

This started just after the band's Aug. 19 upload of 33 seconds of video footage of the band hanging out in the studio, with the audio backdrop of portions of their song "Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I."

Several videos of Them Crooked Vultures can be viewed here.

Them Crooked Vultures destination: Amsterdam

Tickets to an Aug. 19 performance by Them Crooked Vultures in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, are going on sale one day in advance.

Found online at the Web site for the Melkweg concert venue is a poster sporting the coded band name "8436 2766533 88588737" (the numbers you would press on the phone to spell out the band's name) and the band's scourge doctor logo.

(Update: The band's official confirmation of this concert came minutes after the initial posting of this concert on LedZeppelinNews.com. The official Twitter page of Them Crooked Vultures linked to a page containing the poster.)

Tickets are to be sold exclusively at the Melkweg box office beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 18. To prevent scalping, there is a limit of one ticket per customer, and a photo ID is necessary for the purchase. The ticket and wristband issued at the point of sale must be brought back to the venue the following day for entry to the concert. Tickets are nontransferable.

The concert is scheduled to take place on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Doors to the show open at 7 p.m. Cameras and recording devices are prohibited.

For fans who did not attend the debut performance in Chicago, there is little to go on as to what the new music sounds like. The band is acting as its own gatekeeper, releasing elusive tidbits one at a time through online networking sites.

Not only that, but the poster for the Amsterdam show explicitly prohibits recording devices and cameras inside the venue. Likewise, security inside the Metro in Chicago on Aug. 10 kept many fans from taking pictures or video during the debut performance, and the few quality videos taken at that show have been removed from YouTube, apparently following a request from singer Josh Homme.

Them Crooked Vultures affirm role as gatekeeper

See or hear any good song clips from Them Crooked Vultures lately?

In a move that saw the band flexing its copyright muscle, a handful of unauthorized videos have been excised from the Web.

Two high-definition videos shot by a fan while attending the only gig so far by Them Crooked Vultures have been removed from Youtube. In place of each is an explanation:

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Joshua Homme .

The two high-definition videos had been viewed a total of 14,826 times in about 24 hours. Both videos featured clear footage of John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme playing their instruments, although obscured by some heads in the way.

Probably more troubling for the band is that both videos also contained a decent audio recording of songs that have not yet been released in any form.

Four fan-shot concert videos, believed to be the first uploaded to Youtube, contain highly overloaded sound and their music is barely discernible. These four videos remain on Youtube, evidently not selected for removal in this first wave of deletions.

The two high-definition videos were removed from Youtube on Aug. 12 but were uploaded a second time each, this time with a notation pleading with the band:

C'mon Josh, it's awesome music, don't delete it, just show to us more amazing TCV!

Only one promotional video has made its way onto the video-sharing site courtesy of Them Crooked Vultures. That video, called "Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I," matches 14 seconds of audio with an animated sequence starring some swooping vultures and three scourge doctors. It has so far been played 32,600 times.



Also removed from YouTube on Aug. 12, with the same explanation of "a copyright claim by Joshua Homme," is a supposed Them Crooked Vultures video that turned out to be a hoax. It claimed to feature a full instrumental demo by Them Crooked Vultures of a track called "Paved Death" from an upcoming album.

A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office record reveals a filing date of July 29 for the phrase "Them Crooked Vultures" by a Delaware-based limited liability company of the same name. The trademark extends to "entertainment activities" and the "production of audio and video recordings."

The band is attempting to exercise exclusive control of the release of not only its new music but also all details relating to an upcoming tour schedule.

Daily updates from the band direct Twitter users to images of the earth, each day zooming closer to a destination many assume will ultimately reveal the location of the next Them Crooked Vultures gig.

So far, the imagery appears to be closing in on a location in the North Atlantic, playing into a rumor that Them Crooked Vultures will appear at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium on Aug. 20, giving way to further festival dates in Europe by the end of the month. (Update, 1:32 p.m.: The image at the left centers just east of the United Kingdom and is expected to pan farther east as it hones in on the location.)

The Pukkelpop Festival announced on Aug. 6 that a so-called "surprise act" had been booked to perform on the festival's opening day, Aug. 20. The act is to go on around 9 p.m. on the Marquee stage and play for an hour, the announcement says.

Many users of the festival's Web site have guessed the secret act's identity is Them Crooked Vultures.

Whether or not they're right is something the festival says it will not confirm until the time of the show.

"Do not expect any hints, tips or clues from us," reads the festival's announcement. "We can only promise that you will be astounded by our 100% surprise act."

The band has also been mentioned in connection with the Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands on Aug. 23 (Update, Aug. 15: Now Belgium and the Netherlands look even more like a possibility. Click here to view a map of the locations of these festivals.), the Leeds Festival in England on Aug. 28, the Reading Festival in England on Aug. 29, and Rock en Seine in France on Aug. 30.

'Quite a buzz' as Them Crooked Vultures debut completely original set in Chicago; online forum and store unveiled night of show

Advance promotion of the gig roughly told ticket buyers they were going to see a band called "8436276653388588737." When split into three words, "8436 2766533 88588737" translates in phone number code to "Them Crooked Vultures."

Wyatt, a concert goer three rows from the stage, where he spotted a keyboard in front of him at stage right, said Josh Homme confirmed the band's name toward the beginning of the midnight set at Metro.

All reports Tweeted, texted, phoned and otherwise communicated either during the show or immediately after it seemed to agree that between 10 and 14 songs made their debut during the show.

Titles revealed from the set list include "Scumbag Blues," "Elephant" (or "Elephants"), "Caligula" (or "Caligulove") and "Spinning in Dandelions" (or just "Dandelions"). Wyatt recalled one song title as "The Last Breath You Take After You Give Up," which one Twitter user said he recognized as the original title for the Queens of the Stone Age track "Turnin' on the Screw." If true, cool.

Apparent concert goer JohnEPark writes on a newly launched official forum for Them Crooked Vultures, "Unreal show. I came in with what I thought may have been ridiculously high expectations and they blew em out of the water in the first 2 minutes. ... Josh and JPJ both rocked balls. JPJ plays the bass 90% percent of the time, keys for a couple songs and the keytar for a song."

Wyatt confirmed the keytar, adding he saw Jones playing the keyboard as well, plus "a sort of portable lap steel" and all sorts of basses -- some with four, five, 10 or 12 strings each! On Twitter, NC17 mentioned, "John paul jones on strapped slide guitar."

Says logan5ive on the band's official forum, "The 1st song, Elephants, kicked major ass! That felt, without question, like witnessing an inaugural musical eruption."

NylonBandoleers wrote on Lollapalooza's official forum, "Pretty awesome show. ... Everyone looked like they were having a good time and they put on a hell of a show. Great way to end Lollapalooza. As for the sound, it didn't really bear a striking resemblance to any of their previous work. Josh Homme handled nearly all the main vocals, and John Paul Jones played some of the most ridiculous basses ever."

Twitter user DannyWirtz wrote, "Them Crooked Vultures is what happens when a good idea is also well done. a nice mix of all 3 bands ... Bring on the record."

Greg Kot's "Turn It Up" blog for the Chicago Tribune said the band "sounded like it was on to something fresh, invigorating and just plain nasty." The meat and potatoes of Kot's review:

Homme handled lead vocals and guitar, and was unusually clear-eyed and affable, playing with more precision than he usually musters in Queens. And Jones, whose music with Led Zeppelin is an obvious touchstone for both his bandmates, was a huge presence with his variety of four-, six- and eight-string basses, a match for Grohl’s power and a counterpoint for Homme’s melodies. The group was rounded out by Queens alumnus Alain Johannes on guitar.

The set’s foundation was hard rock and hard edges, with Jones and Grohl going toe-to-toe in the engine room. Homme played more with texture and layering sounds on his guitar, the first memorable riff showing up four songs into the set on “Dead End Friends.” His high vocals were often bolstered by harmonies from Grohl, Johannes and even Jones. There were a couple of red herrings: “Bandoliers”” flirted with tenderness (Homme introduced it as a love song) and “Interlude w/ Ludes” came off as a prank, with Jones on keytar and a shimmying Homme in lounge-crooner mode. Otherwise, it was wrecking ball time, with the arrangements sometimes taking several turns before resolving.

Two epic tracks stood out. “Daffodils,” which hinted at psychedelia with reverb effects on the vocals and a massive bass tone, was capped by a Jones piano solo. And “Warsaw” ebbed and flowed, winding down to a low-key guitar-bass exchange before building back up into a slamming finale.

History tells us that super groups usually don’t last very long. But at least this particular one is off to a rousing start.

Then, Kot includes a transcribed set list:

Elephants
New Fang
Scumbag Blues
Dead End Friends
Bandoliers
Mind Eraser
Gunman
Daffodils
Interlude w/ Ludes
Caligulove
Warsaw
Nobodys Loves Me

A review of the show on the blog Hightower and Jones is heavy on the adulation, if not the hyperbole:

To call it the greatest debut ever is like calling Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a mere center or Bruce Lee a simple martial artist. To call it promising would severely downplay the talent of the band's members and the songs that spanned their 77 minute debut.

Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones took the stage with nothing to lose and nothing really to prove other than to simply rock and they did exactly that. Accompanied by an additional guitarist, Them Crooked Vultures performed a set of unheard, unreleased material that left the remants and sounds of their more familiar bands at home. Instead, they brought forth a sound that rocked, was funky, bluesy and, overall, nothing short of jaw dropping.

... There are bands who dream of sounding as perfect as this, even during a rehearsal. ...

Them Crooked Vultures isn't just another supergroup. Based off tonight alone, they're a group that could singlehandly bring Rock back to the top of the Billboard charts.

Another forum user, this one posting at the Rekords Rekords forum, writes, "It was mind blowing. If you asked me what it sounded like, I can only answer 'it sounded exactly the way it should have'. Honest to god, some of the best music I have EVER heard. John Paul Jones was incredible and smiling the whole time ..."

As for the prospect a tour, which was never really in doubt until a MTV UK report questioning it, consider the Crooked Vultures logo on the drum kit an indication that more than one show is planned.

In addition, Antiquiet's Skwerl promises, "We’ll have news soon on a headlining tour."

Also take into consideration tonight's launch of Them Crooked Vultures official store, which so far contains but one black T-shirt in four men's sizes. The shirt sells for $30 and ships for an additional $10. Inside the shirt reads the slogan, "Deserve the Future." The shirt and a concert poster were sold at the gig.

Another addition to the official Web site of Them Crooked Vultures: The scourge doctor now breathes.

Update:

The beginning of the show is here on YouTube:


Through an iPhone's distorted recording, the minute's worth we can hear of this song sounds like a heavy basher in drop D tuning:


Here's a portion of a jam in the key of A:


This appears to be the end of "Daffodils" because it has John Paul Jones playing keyboard just before a round of applause and what could be Homme uttering Jones's name to the jubilant crowd:

Official: John Paul Jones to debut new band at Lollapalooza this weekend

It's official: Them Crooked Vultures will be debuting this weekend!

The supergroup including John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme has been scheduled to perform Sunday night after the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago has concluded.

The aftershow concert is scheduled for a midnight start time, and tickets are to go on sale Thursday morning exclusively online.

The concert will be a midnight show taking place after a full day's lineup closing the Lollapalooza festival this Sunday, Aug. 9. Doors are open at 10 p.m.

The appearance was officially confirmed when an e-mail from themcrookedvultures.com, the band's official site, linked to the official ticketing page. An image in that e-mail also contained the same three symbols -- the Foo Fighters symbol, the John Paul Jones symbol and the Queens of the Stone Age symbol -- that bloggers had earlier noticed were together on by an unnamed act.

Also this morning, the listing of aftershows at the Lollapalooza festival's official Web site and the venue site also began listing ticketing information for an unnamed act but identified only by those same three symbols.

Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times, in an online blog, mentioned a rumor this morning that John Paul Jones and his new supergroup would be playing Sunday night at Lollapalooza.

Soon afterward, Brent DiCrescenzo wrote in another blog about the rumor and pointed to a page on Etix.com with tickets to be sold exclusively online beginning this Thursday at 10 a.m. Central.

Word of the symbols on that ticketing page also appeared this morning on the Chicagoist blog and TankBoy's blog. Visitors to the venue's official site also spent some time guessing what the symbols meant.

Jones's management has not confirmed to LedZeppelinNews.com any aspect of the collaborative project the musician alluded to in an interview this April with Women's Wear Daily. Speculation began in June that Josh Homme and Dave Grohl were involved.

Over the past few days, the group's name has been floating around the Internet as Them Crooked Vultures. It is this name that both bloggers use in their postings today.

DeRogatis points out the festival's management has not confirmed the booking. If it happens, he says the Grohl-Homme-Jones appearance would "provide the much-needed icing on the cake largely missing from this year's festival lineup by closing things out with a special intimate after-show Sunday night at Metro."

DiCrescenzo calls this event "one of the biggest 'secret' shows to grace our Chicago stages in a while."

Name of John Paul Jones supergroup reportedly Crooked Vultures

A band name has been blurted out for the group involving John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme. It's the Crooked Vultures, according to one musician who's apparently in the know.

Eagles of Death Metal singer Jesse Hughes said the name during a live interview broadcast on Power 99 in Winnipeg, Canada.

Hughes, when asked if Homme was touring with the Eagles of Death Metal, said, "No, he's actually with the Crooked Vultures. He's doing the supergroup thing with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones."

When the interviewer asked Hughes to clarify, he paused and said, "Yeah, maybe I'm not supposed to say that."

The conversation then got back on track to the original question of who's playing with the Eagles of Death Metal.

Management for Jones offered no comment when contacted by LedZeppelinNews.com.

Visit www.TheCrookedVultures.info for all up-to-date information about this emerging band as reported by Lemon Squeezings.

Update: It appears the band will be going by the name Them Crooked Vultures. There is an e-mail sign-up at www.ThemCrookedVultures.com, a domain that was purchased in March. Some other obvious domain names -- including TheCrookedVultures.com, purchased in April -- redirect there. The band's marketing team won't be omitting new media: There are also official Twitter, Facebook and Myspace pages for Them Crooked Vultures.

Josh Homme's wife confirms his album with John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl

John Paul Jones has indeed been in a Los Angeles recording studio, working with Dave Grohl and Josh Homme, wife of the Queens of the Stone Age has confirmed in an interview, Antiquiet reports.

Brody Dalle, who is the singer and guitarist for Spinnerette, confirmed the latest rumors about her husband's upcoming project with Grohl and Homme, as reported less than two weeks ago.

In her interview, as reported by Johnny Firecloud, Dalle says, "I'm not at liberty to talk about it… but I think [the project] is pretty f---ing amazing. Just beats and sounds like you've never heard before."

Still no official confirmation, but this pretty much firms it up! Hope to hear their new music really soon!

As list of John Paul Jones collaborators builds, talk of Led Zeppelin reunion likely uninteresting

It was early last month that John Paul Jones was in Madrid, Spain, helping Takehisa Kosugi and the members of Sonic Youth create soundscapes backing up a dance troupe. It all started with a few performances in Brooklyn this April, preceded late last year by some getting-to-know-you rehearsal sessions.

Sonic Youth's drummer, Steve Shelley, has just spoken with the Detroit Free Press about his experience with the "Nearly Ninety" production, which celebrated choreographer Merce Cunningham's 90th birthday. In this interview, Shelley clarifies the extent to which their music was rehearsed versus improvised night in and night out:

That was a lot of fun; that was weird. We went and played music at this dance performance at B.A.M. [the Brooklyn Academy of Music]. We had written scores of music to play of various lengths -- a six-minute piece, a ten-minute piece -- and every night we performed, they would throw down the score in a different manner. Our music would be played in a different order each night, and so it didn't really go with the dancing in a traditional sense but in a more abstract sense.

We were also performing with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin and Takehisa Kosugi, a longtime Merce Cunningham compatriot. We were sitting on this weird metal sculpture they had built for the show that looked like a spaceship or building scaffolding, and it was just a very odd but very fun event to be at.

Just before this whole undertaking went to performance mode is when Jones made a solitary offhand comment about having been "working on some other music, which is more rock based, with a couple of other people." Not willing to let the cat out of the bag, he has since kept his "secret" under wraps.

One account that appeared this weekend suggests Jones has been rehearsing with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age.

Meanwhile, the blogosphere has been abuzz with a guessing game concentrating on a separately reported Homme recording project. The one person claiming to be in the know is Ipecac Records co-owner Greg Werckman; he tells Rock-a-Rolla magazine that his label's other co-owner -- former Faith No More singer Mike Patton -- has been approached about joining Homme on the project Werckman says is "top secret."

Werckman says his colleague isn't the only person Homme is trying to recruit now either. "He's trying to get a lot of people involved in it, too," Werckman says. Homme would be looking at an uphill battle if he has the Faith No More singer in mind. Werckman says Homme is "trying to convince Mike [Patton] to go out to the desert but Mike hates the desert."

The report on Jones, Grohl and Homme collaborating didn't say anything about the desert. In fact, it said they'd been making their music in a good, old-fashioned recording studio in Los Angeles.

L.A., meanwhile is the main stomping grounds for Sara Watkins, who recently completed a headlining tour in support of her debut solo album, which Jones produced. While in New York back in April around the time of his debut performances with Sonic Youth, Jones sat in with Watkins on a late night TV appearance.

Now, Watkins is focused on yet another recording project. Most of the same musicians who contributed to her solo album have returned for the first album under the name Works Progress Administration. From Toad the Wet Sprocket, Glen Phillips usually handles lead vocals. The lineup is actually a lot like the group Mutual Admiration Society that Jones toured with in 2004, except for mandolin player Chris Thile, who's been playing with the Punch Brothers since Nickel Creek split. But it does include drummer Pete Thomas, who played with Jones on two albums but whose major accolade was backing up Elvis Costello in the Attractions. Also, on keyboards, is Benmont Tench, an alumnus of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.



As is typical for Watkins projects, the sometimes-fourpiece/sometimes-eightpiece Works Progress Administration has already played a few dates on the road, including last weekend at the Telluride Bluegrass festival in the mountains of Colorado. Ralph Jaccodine, band manager, says Jones didn't have anything to do with the album "but we do have an all star cast."

There's a pretty good chance that if Los Angeles is Jones's hangout anytime in the near future, he would sneak his way onto the stage with Watkins and her brother Sean once again. For instance, the siblings will be in the Little Room at Largo at the Coronet this Sunday night, June 28, and the Watkins Family Hour returns on Wednesday, July 8.

Between those gigs, Works Progress Administration is booked at Fitzgerald's in Berwyn, Ill., on July 4. The band hits the road for a little longer beginning Aug. 16 at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

On a final note, it would be funny if Jones gets to work with Mike Patton of Faith No More. Grohl may have had his mind set on drumming for Jones for years, but it was Faith No More's other Mike -- Mike Bordin -- whose name was mentioned as the other half of a prospective rhythm section with Jones way back in 1991. Bordin was Robert Plant's suggestion in 1991 for a drummer if Led Zeppelin had reunited at that time.

Quoted in the press back then about a possible Led Zeppelin reunion, Jones said, "It wouldn't be a bad thing to do. I'm not at all opposed to it. ... I think Jimmy feels the same as I do about it." And yes, 1991 was ages ago. For the highly productive Jones, a healthily growing list of collaborations probably stands in the way of resuming any pointless talks about a Led Zeppelin reunion.

Dave Grohl wished for album with John Paul Jones, Josh Homme years ago

"The next project that I'm trying to initiate," Dave Grohl once said, "involves me on drums, Josh Homme on guitar, and John Paul Jones playing bass. That’s the next album. That wouldn’t suck."

Right, it probably wouldn't suck, but it would just take a while -- years -- to come to fruition from when he first said it.

If indeed it has! I'm getting ahead of myself. But it's looking like, uh, it has.

Fronting the Foo Fighters only scrapes the surface as to who this guy is and what Grohl has been capable of. Once known only as the drummer throughout all of Nirvana's major success, this guy has revealed himself to be a primo singer and guitarist, savvy songwriter and ambitious collaborator.

Grohl never did make a secret of his desire to take John Bonham's place in a reunited Led Zeppelin, and when given the chance to work with -- or even just hang with -- anybody from that group, he has repeatedly taken it.

(Right, who wouldn't? Maybe the emphasis is more on the fact that he has been given those chances more often than just about anybody else in recent memory. Some would say this guy deserves it.)

And now that the name Dave Grohl has been blurted out online as one of two people working with Jones on a project that would see them releasing an album and going on tour, it seems to be a perfectly logical conclusion -- if not a convenient one.

A couple of months ago, Jones spoke out and said he'd been "working on some other music, which is more rock based, with a couple of other people." He said he couldn't reveal who they were as it was all "secret."

"Top secret" perhaps? This two-word turn of phrase was invoked less than a week ago, when Greg Werckman of Ipecac Recordings revealed to Rock-A-Rolla magazine that singer and multi-instrumentalist Josh Homme "has got a new top secret project that he's working on now."

Homme is the other guy mentioned as having been recording with Jones and Grohl, and it brings to fruition a dream Grohl expressed in the above quotation. That remark of his comes from an interview given to Stevie Chick for Mojo magazine back in 2005.

Yes, 2005. That dream of his first went public four years ago.

At that time, the Foo Fighters released the double album, In Your Honor, for which Jones met up with the Foo Fighters at their recording studio that was designed to look like the Stockholm facility where Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door was born as the brainchild of Jones, foremost among the members of that band.

Grohl may have wanted his next album to be with Jones and Homme, but it didn't happen in 2006. Sessions the following year yielded the album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. The band spent a while touring in support of its new disc, the highlight of which came on June 7, 2008, when Jones rounded up Jimmy Page to show 86,000 people -- and however many have bought the live DVD since its release last November -- at the Foo Fighters' Wembley Stadium finale just how well they could still play the Zep songs "Rock and Roll" and "Ramble On" in their 60s, as well as how eager they were to do it!

Since this, the Foo Fighters have gone on hiatus, and the hopes for some kind of a continued Led Zeppelin reunion beyond just one single show were dashed. Ever since things have settled down, it seems all too probable that Grohl has finally gotten his way as far as his wish to bring Jones in to help him write and play with Josh Homme.

We await official confirmation, and we also await the dates of an album release and a tour.

Source drops suggestion for new John Paul Jones collaboration; Foo Fighters front man and Queens of the Stone Age stronghold named

The two people rumored to have been ready to make loud music with John Paul Jones may have just been publicly identified for the first time.

Back in April, Jones posited that he hoped "to be everywhere this summer" with "a couple of other people" who've been "working [with him] on some other music, which is more rock based."

Now, a blog source says recording sessions have already been underway in Los Angeles involving Jones with Dave Grohl and Joshua Homme.

Jones in recent years has sat in with Grohl's Foo Fighters onstage and in the studio, and conducted an orchestra for the Foos at the Grammys. Homme, who is the only consistent member of Queens of the Stone Age, allowed Grohl to guest on that outfit's breakthrough single.

When Jones first hinted of a summer project, he gave few details -- and intentionally so, it appears, due to an expressed secrecy revolving around the collaboration. After dropping his sole hint in an interview with Women's Wear Daily, Jones added, "It's a secret, actually. I shouldn't have even said that, you know? There are some exciting projects coming up, let's put it that way."

But as for what this project would be named, today's disclosure says it hasn't yet been determined. But it does say an album will follow.

Jimmy Page 'not famous enough to be recognized' in China?

Some Chinese newspapers have voiced their complaints over the closing Olympic festivities in Beijing, and Jimmy Page's name is caught up in it all.

Not that his name actually means anything to millions of people, apparently.

One of several quips printed by the state-owned media in the People's Republic of China is one that blasts the selection of Page to perform Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" at the Aug. 24 closing.

The Titan Sports Daily, China's top sports newspaper, said both singer Leona Lewis and Page "are absolutely not famous enough to be known or recognised by millions of the Chinese audiences."

I guess it is possible that in a remnant of Communism, even Led Zeppelin goes unheard of among many of the 1.3 billion citizens, of whom 111 million are users of a heavily censored Internet due to a restrictive government.

Come on, China. Do you want to know who's really not famous? Try Cameron Crowe. There's "almost famous" for you! (Is this thing on? Please, people, cultural refrences! Keep up with me here.)

In another Chinese piece, columnist Hi Yang for the Daily First newspaper criticized the combination of Lewis and Page, writing that they "were so incompatible, considering the singer is from our time while Jimmy Page is from the 70s."

Admittedly, Page did look a bit weary from having been cryogenically frozen for 28 years and then carted off immediately from London to Beijing. (I'll be here all week, folks. Try the moo shoo veal.)

See the Chinese comments for yourself, as reprinted by the British media.

'Whole Lotta Love' brought before world stage

The version of "Whole Lotta Love" performed by Jimmy Page with singer Leona Lewis at the closing ceremony of the Olympics, now having taken place in Beijing and aired on television in some parts of the world, was part of a spectacle that will presumably have drawn several hundred million viewers -- undoubtedly one of the biggest gigs a musician can possibly ever obtain.

Atop a red double-decker tour bus as found all throughout London, Page appeared with his long silver hair tied back in a pony tail, but only after a one-minute intro during which Lewis was elevated. Playing on a Les Paul, Page took command of the 39-year-old signature riff. An unseen rhythm section, seemingly prerecorded, laid down a faithful rendition of the song. Each chorus had some orchestral sounds that recreated the sound of Page's divebomber effect from the 1969 studio recording. The second verse gave way to a fiery guitar solo that was vintage Page.

After the song concluded, the performers strutted around to a continuing orchestral arrangement that was reminiscent of Faith No More's "Epic." As expected, David Beckham kicked a soccer ball into the crowd. It ended up as the souvenir of a Japanese woman in a parade.

What I want to know is who played drums!

Good luck finding clips on the Internet. It does appear that videos of the broadcasts are being removed from YouTube due to copyright claims.

Page's Olympics closer to be 'Whole Lotta Love,' says bassist Pratt

A bassist who has formerly worked with Jimmy Page has claimed he will be performing with the Led Zeppelin guitarist this Sunday, Aug. 24, during the closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing.

Pratt, who played bass for Pink Floyd in the post-Roger Waters era, wrote in his blog on Aug. 19 that he will be on bass for a version of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" performed with Page and sung by U.K. talent show champion Leona Lewis.

His remarks came in a paragraph at the end of a blog posting dated Aug. 19 and were still available early on Aug. 21. However, the paragraph in question was removed at some point on Aug. 21, perhaps because it was intended for the song's identity to have been kept a secret.

Pratt's typed paragraph, including its original typos, read in full:

"You may also be interested to know t.at when Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis perform 'Whole Lotta Love' at the end of the Olpmpics, that's me playing bass on it…"

Pratt has performed onstage with Page before, including at Net Aid on Oct. 9, 1999, when they and drummer Michael Lee performed an instrumental version of "Dazed and Confused" and also debuted a new instrumental that turned out to be called "Domino."

Jimmy Page gets Olympic fever for star-studded close

The Mirror reports that Jimmy Page is to take part in an eight-minute spectacle produced by the United Kingdom for the Olympics' closing ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 24. Details about the event are limited, but the article says the guitarist is to play a duet with singer Leona Lewis.