Following their 2010 reunion shows, Soundgarden’s 2011 tour is now underway and going well.  According to Rolling Stone magazine, frontman Chris Cornell says Soundgarden’s material doesn’t sound nostagic and playing with the band “feels fresh and vital”.

The grunge icons are currently working on a new album – their first since 1996’s ‘Down On The Upside’ – but have no plans to premier any new material during the live shows.  The upcoming album will be produced by Adam Kaspar, but as yet no further details have been released.
Soundgarden are scheduled to play the following venues on the remaining dates of the US/Canadian tour:

As yet, the band have not made any announcements as to whether they’ll be visiting Europe or the UK.

Earlier this week, Noel Gallagher announced the title, tracklisting and release date for his eagerly awaited solo album.

‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ will be released on October 17th and feature the following tracks:

Everybody’s on the Run /Dream On / If I Had a Gun / The Death Of You And Me / (I Wanna Live in a Dream In My) Record Machine / AKA…What A Life! / Solider Boys and Jesus Freaks / AKA…Broken Arrow / (Stranded On) The Wrong Beach /Stop The Clocks

In more surprising news, Gallagher also announced he was working on a second album to be released in 2012.  The currently unnamed project will be a collaboration with psychedelic duo Amorphous Androgynous (aka electronica duo Future Sound of London), who previously worked with Gallagher on a 22 minute remix of the Oasis track ‘Falling Down’.

With a couple of albums under their belt, alongside a #1 single on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, US rockers (and friends of Nickelback) embarked on a tour this week.

The tour, which began a couple of days ago, is scheduled to stop at various locations across the States between now and September:

 July 2nd – Indianapolis, IN @ Victory Field Rock N Roll BBQ
 July 3rd  – Great Lakes, IL @ Great Lakes Naval Station
 July 7th – Calgary, AB @ Calgary Stampede
 July 8th – Sawyer, ND @ Rock on the Ridge
 July 9th – North Lawrence, OH @ Clay’s Park Amphitheatre
 July 14th  – Peoria, IL @ Heart of Illinois Fair
 July 15th – St Joseph, MI @ Venetian Festival
 July 22nd – Pottsville, PA @ Goodfellas
 July 23rd – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun
 July 24th – Poughkeepsie, NY @ THe Chance
 July 28th – Kansas City, MO @ WOth Harley Davidson
 July 29th – Columbia. OH @ Midway Expo
 July 30th – Madison, WI @ Band Camp @ Willow Island
 August 6th – Bay City, MI @ Veteran’s Memorial Pk
 August 12th – Sturgis, SD @ Buffalo Chip Campground
 August 13th – Avon, OH @ Roverfest 2011-All Pro Freight Stadium
 August 18th – Escanaba, MI @ UP State Fair
 August 19th – Fostoria, OH @ The New Nest
 August 20th – Ironton, OH @ Ironton Bike Rally
 August 23rd – Winston-Salem, NC @ TBA
 August 27th – Ownesville, OH @ Swinefest Cincinnati
 August 28th – Syracuse, NY @ NY State Fair Grandstand
 September 1st – Marshfield, WI @ Central Wisconsin State Fair
 September 4th – Montpelier, IN @ Montpelier Jamboree

The tour is in support of Saving Abel’s second album, ‘Miss America’.
Read a review of ‘Miss America’ here.

In addition to the other upcoming shows on their reunion tour Pulp have announced an extra date.

They will be appearing at London’s Brixton Academy on 31st August 2011.

Tickets are £27.50, are limited to 4 per person and go on sale at 9am on Friday 8th July.

Continuing their extensive Wildhearts reissue programme, Lemon Records (a subsidary of Cherry Red) will be releasing an expanded version of the band’s 2001 album ‘…Must Be Destroyed’ on July 18th.

‘The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed’ marked the band’s first new material after disbanding in 1997.  The album featured three succesful UK singles: ‘Vanilla Radio’ (#26), ‘So Into You’ (#22) and ‘Top of The World’.

The expanded 2011 reissue contains a whole disc of bonus materials including b-sides, alternate mixes and tracks previously available on the Japanese issue.

The tracklisting is as follows:

Disc 1 (original album):
Nexusicon / Only Love / Someone That Won’t Let Me Go / Vanilla Radio / One Love, One Life, One Girl / Get Your Groove On / So Into You / There’s Only One Hell / It’s All Up To Me / Out From The Inside / Top Of The World

Disc 2 (bonus tracks)
Bang  / Move On  / So Into You [Gordon Raphael Mix] / Danny Dancin’ / Lake Of Piss / So Into You [Spike Drake Mix] /Action Panzer / The People That Life Forgot / Return To Zero  / 6.30 Onwards / Eager To Leave ‘Er / Hit It On The Head  / Cheers  / L.T.D.

The Wildhearts’ live album ‘The Wildhearts Strike Back’ – originally issued in 2004 makes it’s return on catalogue on the same date.  The track listing is identical to the original issue.

Read a review of ‘Earth Vs. The Wildhearts’ here.