Goo Goo Dolls New Album Update (continued)

Rzeznik says that he has about 25 "ideas" for the record, though he acknowledges that there are "four, maybe five keepers right now." Writing began in earnest in late February, with Rzeznik working both at home and in the studio the group recently completed in Buffalo, N.Y. "I want to keep it real basic so that the songwriting structure is real strong and the melodies and hooks are really good," he explains, "and then we'll let a producer come in and put his flair on it. We want to get the basic groove of what it's all about instead of having this real sterilized, ProTooled, chopped-to-bits kind of thing."
While the Goos are working, fans will be sated with the group's "Greatest Hits Volume Two," a rarities-filled CD and DVD set due out June 17 via Warner Bros.

Beck Plans Summer Album Release

Singer-songwriter Beck is targeting a summer release for his new album, an as-yet untitled 10-song set produced by Danger Mouse (of Gnarls Barkley). No official street date has been announced for the Interscope release, and speculation abounds that it could appear at any time, in similar fashion to the way the Raconteurs released "Consolers of the Lonely" in March.
Live dates are being scheduled, with a headlining appearance confirmed for September 20 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, with Spoon also slated to perform. Beck also has some festival appearances on his summer calendar, including San Francisco's Outside Lands, Bumbershoot and Austin City Limits.

Police to Perform Final Gig in NYC

The reunion of The Police will come to an end this summer with a final concert in New York that will benefit arts programming for the city's public television stations, the band announced on Tuesday. Singer/bassist Sting, drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers reunited for a world tour last May and, according to Billboard data up to September 30, grossed more than $171 million from 53 shows seen by more than 1.5 million people.
The band will say farewell to Britain with a concert in London's Hyde Park on June 29. The New York City concert will end the tour, though a date and venue have not been released.
"We kicked off our very first American tour at CBGB's in 1978 and this summer, 30 years later, our journey will come full circle as we play our final show here in New York City," The Police said in a statement.
When asked in London in February if this really was the end for the group, Sting said "Yeah, I think it's right. We've been saved from the nostalgia in a bad sense because I think the band sounds fairly contemporary."
The environmentally conscious group made the announcement while donating $1 million to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's initiative to plant 1 million trees in the city by 2017. The city matched the $1 million contribution.

Cure to Release New Single Every Month

The Cure have announced that they will release a new single each month leading up to the release of their 13th studio album in September. Robert Smith and company will drop the first single from the as-yet untitled album on May 13, and intend to release a different a- and b-side single on the 13th of each month until the album is released on September 13.
The b-sides are exclusive to the singles and will not appear on the full-length album.
The band is set to kick off an extensive U.S. tour in support of the new album beginning May 9.