Jack White working on three albums

courtesy of NME.com

Jack White has revealed he he is working on three albums.

The White Stripes/Raconteurs man explained his current projects while discussing the fallout caused by his first band scrapping their the rest of their 2007 tour dates because drummer Meg White was suffering from acute anxiety.

"Half of me was glad because I have three other records I'm working on, and I didn't have any time to work on them," he told the Seattle Times. "I was really getting worried that I might have to not do these things I wanted to do because of the touring."

White would not name what the other projects he was working on, but denied it was the Raconteurs' new album or a long-rumored solo album.

White added that the cancelled dates did not mark the end of the White Stripes, though, declaring: "If it came to a point where Meg said, 'I don't want to be in this band anymore, it doesn't fulfil me in any way,' then it would be a different story. But she's not saying that."

White speculated on how long the band's live break was going to be.

"I guess it's up to her...she seems to be lively," he said. "She was really invigorating working together on this 'Conquest' record [new single]. I was wondering if she was interested and she was completely--very, very involved."

White also spoke about the band's collaboration with Beck.

"We had some songs that were kind of lingering around," he explained. "Meg and I had never really played them, we just kind of learned them in Beck's living room. His studio wasn't ready to go, so he just set it up in his living room. He's inspiring to us because of the way he looks at folk music. It's different from the way we look at folk music."

Radiohead Album Number One in Critics Album Choice of '08

The results are in: Radiohead's self-released album "In Rainbows" has won the 2007 Billboard Critics' Choice poll by a landslide. The album appeared on 17 of the 49 lists submitted by Billboard staff and freelance contributors.

An inverse point system was used to calculate the final rankings -- for example, an album listed at No. 1 on a critic's top 10 list received 10 points; No. 2, nine points; down through No. 10, which received one point.

"In Rainbows" was unmatched with 106 total points, while Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible" (Merge) and Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" (Universal Republic), both sophomore efforts, made for a distant second and third with 57 and 56 points, respectively.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's "Raising Sand" (Rounder) snagged the No. 4 spot with 48 points, while also receiving the most No. 1 rankings, with three. The National's "Boxer" (Beggars Banquet) and Feist's "The Reminder" (Cherry Tree/Interscope) trailed close behind in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

The bottom four spots were filled as follows: No. 7, Bruce Springsteen's "Magic" (Columbia); No. 8, a three-way tie between M.I.A.'s "Kala" (Interscope), Spoon's "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" (Merge), and Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky" (Nonesuch); No. 9, Kanye West's "Graduation" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam); and No. 10, Battles' "Mirrored" (Warp).

Radiohead joins the echelon of recent Billboard Critics' Choice winners, which includes Bob Dylan ("Modern Times," 2006), My Morning Jacket ("Z," 2005), and Franz Ferdinand ("Franz Ferdinand," 2004). "In Rainbows," meanwhile, is slated for a U.S. release on Jan. 1 under the TBD Records imprint.

from Billboard

Journey: New Singer Announced!

JOURNEY WELCOMES ARNEL PINEDA
WITH “OPEN ARMS” TO THEIR FAMILY
AS THE BAND’S NEW LEAD SINGER

December 5, 2007

After much speculation…the wait is finally over.

JOURNEY--Neal Schon (guitar), Jonathan Cain (keyboards), Ross Valory (bass), Deen Castronovo (drums)--is proud to introduce fans all over the world to their new lead singer, Arnel Pineda (“pin-eh-da”). He replaces Jeff Scott Soto, who parted ways with the band earlier this year after stepping in for Steve Augeri, who had to leave the band in 2006 for medical reasons.

Arnel hails from Quezon City in the Philippines and has been singing Journey songs--in addition to original material--with his band, The Zoo, for the past couple of years in clubs all over his homeland. Joining the legendary band is a dream come true for him.

“It’s so exciting to sing with one of the best bands in the world. It’ll be a lot of hard work on my part and I’m actually looking forward to the scrutiny I’ll get from the hardcore JOURNEY fans. I know they’ll expect me to sound exactly like ‘the voice’ (Steve Perry), but that will never happen. I know there's only one Steve Perry in this world.”

When it was time for JOURNEY to look for a new lead singer, the internet came to their rescue. Guitarist Neal Schon wanted someone new to the music business, so he turned to YouTube. After finding Arnel singing “Faithfully,” he knew he had found the perfect frontman.

“I was frustrated about not having a singer,” explains guitarist Neal Schon, “so I went on YouTube for a couple of days and just sat on it for hours. I was starting to think I was never going to find anybody. But then I found The Zoo and I watched a bunch of different video clips that they had posted. After watching the videos over and over again, I had to walk away from the computer and let what I heard sink in because it sounded too good to be true. I thought, ‘he can’t be that good.’ But he is that good, he’s the real deal and so tremendously talented. Arnel doesn’t sound synthetic and he’s not emulating anyone. I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him that night, but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter.”

Arnel Pineda picks up the story: “My friend Noel picked up the message on YouTube and told me it was from Neal. I thought it was a hoax so I ignored it. Noel said, ‘what if it really was Neal and he wanted to offer you the chance of a lifetime?’ So I e-mailed Neal back and the rest is history.”

“Arnel brings a soulful and passionate voice to JOURNEY,” continues keyboardist Jonathan Cain. “His personality is very well-suited to our music. He’s a sincere, authentic person with a great smile and a big heart. I think fans are really going to love him. With Arnel’s soaring tenor, Journey returns to our heritage sound.”

Schon agrees, “We feel reborn. I think there’s a lot of chemistry between the five of us. At first we were going to go into the studio and just write 4 songs, but now it’s escalated to a lot of great new and diverse material. The stuff sounds tremendous. Everyone’s so stoked about it. We feel very fortunate to have found Arnel.”

JOURNEY is currently working on a new album with legendary producer Kevin Shirley, which they hope to release by spring/summer 2008. Details will be announced early next year.