May 10, 2012 would have been the 55th birthday of iconic punk rocker Sid Vicious, who died at the age of 21 in early 1979. Though most famous for being the “bass player” of the Sex Pistols, Vicious could not actually play the bass, nor is it confirmed that he actually appeared on a single Sex Pistols recording (though it’s rumored he played on the recorded version of “Bodies”).

Vicious’s bass guitar was reportedly unplugged while he performed onstage, and the Pistols’ records featured the bass playing of guitarist Steve Jones, as well as original bassist Glen Matlock. It’s safe to say Vicious wasn’t a musician in the least…until you consider his posthumously released solo album, Sid Sings.

Recorded in September of 1978 and released in December of 1979 — more than 10 months after his death — Sid’s solo album features 11 tracks, 10 of which were covers. Backed by guest musicians including Jerry Nolan and Arthur Kane of New York Dolls, the album displays Vicious’s true aptitude as a musician.

Sex Pistols’ manager Malcom McLaren once stated that if he’d met Vicious before he had hired Rotten to be the singer, Vicious would have been the Sex Pistols front man due to his superior onstage charisma — McLaren perhaps should have noted his superior voice as well.

Here are five of Sid’s best tracks, including his famous cover of “My Way,” featured on The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, directed by Julien Temple.

“My Way” (Paul Anka)

“Born to Lose” (Johnny Thunders)

“Something Else” (Eddie Cochran)

“Search and Destroy” (The Stooges)

“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” (Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart)

Next month, Iron & Wine will release a seven-inch of covers entitled Two Sides Of George, featuring two covers of George Michaels songs: “One More Try” (stream available below) and “Trouble,” originally by Lowell George’s Little Feat. Only 750 discs will be pressed by Suicide Squeeze Records.

Iron & Wine will also be performing select tour dates this summer. Dates are below.

Iron & Wine on Tour
5/18 Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
6/10 Highland Park, IL @ Ravina
7/08 Winnipeg, MB @ Winnipeg Folk Festival
7/27 Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theater
7/28 Newport, RI @ Newport Folk Festival
7/29 Calgary, AB @ Calgary Folk Festival

(via Prefix)

The 2012 This Is Hardcore Fest, which will be held from August 9th through 12th in Philadelphia, has announced its lineup. Acts include Cro-Mags, H2O, Bane, Terror, Ringworm, and many more.

Tickets go on sale May 17th at 12:00pm EST. Complete lineup is below; for more information visit the official website.

As reported earlier, a Jimi Hendrix biopic starring OutKast‘s André 3000 is in the works, but it does not have the backing of the Hendrix estate. According to The Wall Street Journal, Experience Hendrix LLC released a statement saying that the estate “has made it known many times in the past that no such film, were it to include original music or copyrights created by Jimi Hendrix, can be undertaken without its full participation.”

Experience Hendrix LLC has no opposition to the idea of a film about Hendrix’s life, but in order for one to come to fruition, they require the inclusion of the estate in decision-making processes. (via P4k)

Andre 3000 of OutKast is confirmed to portray Jimi Hendrix in a new Hollywood biopic, All Is By My Side. The film will be written and directed by John Ridley, and is currently in pre-production. Filming will begin in three weeks in Dublin and Wicklow.

According to ITFN, All Is By My Side will focus on Hendrix’s period in England over 1966 and 1967 as he created his debut album Are You Experienced?

Andre 3000 is the only confirmed cast member so far. (via NME)

The Beastie Boys have been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over samples used on Licensed to Ill and Paul’s Boutique. The suit was filed on May 3rd, the day before Adam Yauch died due to cancer. The timing is unfortunate, but hip-hop and R&B label Tuf America is going forward with the case, according to AllHipHop.

The suit alleges that “Hold It Now Hit It” and “The New Style” (both off Licensed to Ill) illegally sampled “Drop the Bomb,” a 1982 song by Trouble Funk. The label also claims the group illegally sampled Funk’s “Say What” for “Shadrach,” off Paul’s Boutique.

Tuf, however, may not have much success, as they are basing the lawsuit on laws that were passed after the release of both albums. The relevant copyright rulings weren’t in place until the early ’90s, and License to Ill and Paul’s Boutique were released in the ’80s. (via HuffPo)

The lineup for the annual Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series in Prospect Park has been announced, and will start on June 5th with Jimmy Cliff.

Free shows include performances by Ghostface Killah, Wild Flag, Mission of Burma, Laura Marling, the Head and the Heart, and more.

Most of the shows are free, though BRIC Arts Media Brooklyn will also host ticketed benefit concerts including Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q on June 26th, Dirty Projectors, Wye Oak, and Purity Ring on July 10th, Hot Chip and Gang Gang Dance on July 18th, Wilco on July 23rd, Sigur Rós on July 31st, and M. Ward and Yo La Tengo on August 7th.

(via P4k)

The Vaselines will embark on a rare visit to the United States this August for a brief three-date mini-tour. The visit will mark the band’s first US live dates since their October 2010 tour that followed the release of their critically acclaimed second album, Sex With An X.

The final stop will be at this year’s Bumbershoot, which will include a stage co-curated by Sub Pop. Consisting largely of performances by artists signed to the label, the Fountain Lawn Stage will feature The Vaselines, Blitzen Trapper, The Helio Sequence, Fruit Bats, Mudhoney, THEESatisfaction, Niki + The Dove, Low, Sera Cahoone, and Debo Band.

The Vaselines on Tour
8/30 Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House
8/31 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
9/02 Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot

Verbicide Free Download: Click here to download “Sex With an X” by The Vaselines

Rolling Stone magazine has reported that Against Me! singer Tom Gabel has come out as transgendered, and plans to soon begin living as a woman. Gabel has dealt privately with gender dysphoria for years, and will soon begin the process of transition by taking hormones and undergoing electrolysis treatments.

Gabel will eventually take the name Laura Jane Grace, and will remain married to Heather Gabel.

“For me, the most terrifying thing about this was how she would accept the news,” says Gabel. “But she’s been super-amazing and understanding.

“I’m going to have embarrassing moments,” Gabel continues, “and that won’t be fun. But that’s part of what talking to you is about – is hoping people will understand, and hoping they’ll be fairly kind.”

The full story of Gabel’s transformation will appear in the latest print issue of Rolling Stone, which hits newsstands on Friday. In the interview, Gabel reveals what will become of Against Me! (via RS)

The Magnetic Fields have released a video for “Quick!” from their recent album Love at the Bottom of the Sea. The video, directed by James Spinney, seems to be an odd homage to Oscar the Grouch, showing the lives of two people who live in a trashcan.

A group of investors has purchased the rights to CBGB and are seeking to host a festival this summer in the former club’s name, as well as to open a “new” CBGB in downtown Manhattan.

According to the NYT, the new owners of the club’s assets say they hope that the festival will revive the wide-open artistic aesthetic associated with CBGB, which is where acts such as the Ramones, Blondie, Sonic Youth, and Patti Smith got their start.

The 2012 CBGB Festival is scheduled to begin on July 5th and will feature approximately 300 rock bands performing at around 30 venues of varying sizes, including Central Park Summerstage, Webster Hall, Trash Bar, and the Living Room.

The Cro-Mags, Vision of Disorder, and Sick of It All will headline a hardcore show at Webster Hall, and the festival will also stage a free concert in Central Park with Guided by Voices, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Cloud Nothings.

An investor group led by Tim Hayes have reported that he and his partners intend to reopen the club in Lower Manhattan and are searching for a building to purchase: “We don’t want to be a tenant. We don’t want to be a victim of what happened before,” says Hayes, referring to the shuttering of the original CBGB in 2006 when owner Hilly Kristal (who died in 2007) was forced from his building by owners seeking a higher-paying tenant.

For more information on the festival, visit CBGB.com.

Children’s book author Maurice Sendak died Tuesday, May 8, 2012 in Danbury, Connecticut at the age of 83. According to Michael di Capua, his longtime editor, the cause of death was complications from a recent stroke.

The New York Times described Sendak’s work as “[wrenching]the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and [plunging] it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche.”

Sendak’s most famous work, Where the Wild Things Are, was published by Harper & Row in 1963, and was turned into a feature film in 2009. Other notable works include In the Night Kitchen (1970), Outside Over There (1981), The Sign on Rosie’s Door (1960), and Higglety Pigglety Pop! (1967).

In September 2011, Sendak’s Bumble-Ardy was published as the first in 30 years for which he produced both text and illustrations. His final book, My Brother’s Book, is scheduled to be published in February 2013.

Sendak’s final interview was conducted by Stephen Colbert and is worth revisiting:

Fat Possum Records has released “We Can’t Be Beat,” the lead track from The Walkmen‘s upcoming album Heaven, which will be released on May 29th. The record is the band’s sixth and was produced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, The Shins, Band of Horses) in Seattle.

The band will be heading out on tour this summer as well to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

Tour dates and a stream of “We Can’t Be Beat” are below.

The Walkmen on Tour
5/11 Charlottesville, VA @ Main Street Arena
5/27  George, WA @ Sasquatch Festival
6/27 Louisville, KY @ WFPK Waterfront Wednesdays
6/28 St. Louis, MO @ Plush
6/29 Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
6/30 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
7/20 Burnaby, BC @ Deer Lake Park
7/21 Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
7/22 Troutdale, OR @ Edgefield
7/25 Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
7/29 Indianapolis, IN @ The Lawn @ White River State Park
7/30 Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion
7/31 Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
8/2 Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
8/3 Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival
8/5 Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza

The Walkmen – “We Can’t Be Beat” by FatPossum

Animal Collective are back with a new seven-inch single featuring two brand new songs, “Honeycomb” and “Gotham”. The “Honeycomb/Gotham” digital bundle is available today, and the physical seven-inch will be released June 26, 2012 on Domino Records.

You can stream both tracks below.

Beastie Boys MC Adam Yauch, aka MCA, has passed away at the age of 47 due to cancer

The Beastie Boys are one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time, and were instrumental in bringing hip-hop to the mainstream. The band was formed in 1981 by Yauch with Michael Diamond (Mike D), and Adam Horowitz (Ad-Rock).

Yauch also ran a film production and distribution company, Oscilloscope Pictures, which included documentaries on Le Tigre and William S. Burroughs.

Yauch was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, resulting in a canceled tour and the delay of the Beastie Boys’ final album Hot Sauce Committee. The Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month. (via TMZ)