The Black Keys have announced that, in conjunction with the May 18 release of the band’s new album, Brothers, via Nonesuch Records, the group will launch a pop-up store at New York City’s Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, May 18 through May 20, highlighted by an intimate performance May 19, from which 100% of the ticket proceeds will go directly to Housing Works. The pop-up store will offer band merchandise, including a limited-edition collectible hardbound book/deluxe edition of Brothers. A portion of the proceeds from all merchandise sold will go directly to the Housing Works charity.

The group will tour extensively this summer, including headlining dates during which they will be supported by The Morning Benders, The Whigs, and Nicole Atkins; two sold-out shows at New York City’s Central Park’s SummerStage (July 27 and 28); and a number of shows in which they will be the support act for the likes of Kings of Leon, The Flaming Lips, and Pearl Jam.

The track listing for The Black Keys’ Brothers follows:

1. Everlasting Light
2. Next Girl
3. Tighten Up
4. Howlin’ For You
5. She’s Long Gone
6. Black Mud
7. The Only One
8. Too Afraid To Love You
9. Ten Cent Pistol
10. Sinister Kid
11. The Go Getter
12. I’m Not The One
13. Unknown Brother
14. Never Gonna Give You Up
15. These Days

Every generation has a band whose regular creation of compelling, literate albums causes them to become iconic. Perhaps their first album was a huge hit and they were able to follow that success with further critical and popular hits – Pearl Jam in the 1990s. Perhaps they released albums of high-quality and gained popularity with each subsequent release, before exploding into the popular music consciousness with an album so big, it could not be ignored – U2 in the 1980s and 1990s or Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in the 1970s and 1980s. Perhaps they released a number of critically-acclaimed albums and created a rabid fan base, but never crossed over to the mainstream – The Replacements in the 1980s come to mind immediately.

The progression is not necessarily a rapid one, even if the success is immediate. Tens of thousands of bands have produced one great album and thousands have produced two. Rare is the band whose output is – with few missteps – consistently engaging and enervating. The great bands usually pair their studio talents with a compelling live show; one that causes its fans to want to be there every night, so as not to miss a moment of potential magic or mayhem.

Inevitably, the problem with anointing a band, even if it fits relatively well into one of the categories described above, is that opens oneself up to criticism. If you make the proclamation early in a band’s career – after three albums – there will be those who want to hear an established body of work, and who will argue that it is, indeed, too soon to label the band as great. If you make the proclamation after the band has released half a dozen discs, the cynics will wonder what took you so long, even if you wanted to stamp the band with the imprimatur of greatness a few discs earlier. (The mathematically-inclined among you will likely argue that the number is somewhere between two and six, and that four is the answer to the question.)

And so, it is with that 300-plus word introduction that this writer will posit that the time is right (and the time is now) to declare that The Hold Steady is the best band in the United States. There is no double-elimination bracket that can prove this statement conclusively – which is unfortunately, because the argument can be made that The Hold Steady would be a five-or-six seed and a shrewd gambler would be able to clean up – but, with the release of its fifth album, Heaven Is Whenever – a disc that is likely to hold up when it’s time to make the year-end, best-of lists – The Hold Steady has proven not only that the band has proven worthy of being placed in the lofty company of the bands named above, but also that it’s time for music fans to embrace them so that they can continue to grow, and so that they won’t eventually go in the direction of their hometown Minneapolis, Minnesota legends, the Replacements; a band that only began to get its proper due long after it was broken up.

One speed bump on the road to immortality is the fact that the new disc, while as compelling as its previous releases, is less accessible, less commercial, than its predecessors. It is a disc that showcases a band in flux; one which lost its keyboardist, Franz Nicolay, and which demands more attention than previous releases. The disc is layered, with multiple levels of sonic enjoyment weaved into the musical tapestry that is its tracks. A genuinely-compelling listen the first time through, the disc grows, from its country-tinged opener, “The Sweet Part of the City,” into a rock disc which feels more organic than its previous few discs.

It’s not clear that Heaven Is Whenever will bring an influx of new fans of The Hold Steady, but it will convince its current base that this is a band that continues to challenge its fans and itself, and that this is a band that deserves to be revered, for few make better music than The Hold Steady does.

According to filmmaker Tyler Perry, Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson are set to star in his next film, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. Perry will direct and write the upcoming movie, which will also star Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Jurnee Smollett, Kimberly Elise, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine and Macy Gray.

Stevie Wonder will headline the Hard Rock Calling Festival, in London, England’s Hyde Park, June 26. Among the supporting acts on the bill are Jamiroquai, Corinne Bailey Rae, and James Morrison. It was announced previously that Pearl Jam will headline the opening night of the festival (June 25) and that Paul McCartney will top the bill on the final night of the fest (June 27)…

Crowded House has announced that it will release Intriguer, its first album since 2007’s Time on Earth, later this year in North America. The disc will be released worldwide (except for North American territories) in June, and the band will tour North America beginning in July…

Lady Gaga, Elton John, and Shirley Bassey will join Sting at the 21st Rainforest Fund benefit concert, May 13, at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. The performers will be joined by additional surprise guests, and are expected to team on a number of songs…

Perez Hilton has announced that he will launch a weekly music countdown show in the coming months. Hilton revealed the news exclusively to Billboard.com, saying that he hoped to provide “a cooler alternative to (On-Air With) Ryan Seacrest…

Robbie Rivera will headline Juicy Beach, March 25, one of the showcase events of the Winter Music Conference, in Miami, Florida. The 17-hour event will feature performances from Rivera, Joachim Garraud, Funk Agenda, Antoine Clamaran, Alex Gaudino, Oscar G, Wally Lopez, and many other electronic artists.

Groovevolt.com recently spoke with the energetic and genial Rivera about the evolution of Juicy Beach and the overall state of electronic music in North America.

Groovevolt: Tell me a little more about Juicy Beach and why you put it all together in the first place.
Robbie Rivera: I started doing the Juicy party in Miami around 2005 and I was just doing it in small venues with around 100-odd people and they were swamped, swamped, swamped parties and people couldn’t get in and Monica, my wife said that we could throw a party for three, four, five thousand people, but where could you do that in Miami. I went to Nikki Beach, I know the owner, so I asked him, ‘Hey, can we do a humongous beach party here where we bring the Juicy sound, the sexy rhythms, the happy vibe, to the beach crowd, and dancing all day and then continuing the party inside the venue at night and he just loved the idea, and we held the first one here, and we get in around seven thousand people.

GV: You curate all of the artists yourself. Are there certain people that you wanted to get and couldn’t for this year, and how happy are you with the lineup right now?

RR: When I do my lineup, I try to bring a lot of my friends I know and people that produce music on my label and sometimes I want to bring people I know are difficult to get now, for example, I wanted to get Benny Benassi here, Benny and I got way back, playing that party three times, four times, but he couldn’t this year because he was exclusive to another party, so it kind of gets difficult with the talent that I want to bring, so what I do now is bring in new cats who are blowing like Koen Groeneveld.

GV: You’ve become such a brand that everyone wants to be a part of it. Is it difficult as an artist to also think of yourself as a brand?
RR: It’s awesome that my name and the Juicy brand have taken off. We’re planning now this summer coming up doing JuicyBeach at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. We had offers from three different hotels in Vegas and I was overwhelmed and I was like, ‘Wow, this is awesome,’ and I never thought of myself as a brand, but I guess it turned out to be that way.

GV: Are there other Juicy Beaches planned in other locations?
RR: We’re going to do Vegas once a month throughout the summer at the Wet Republic party, and then we’re going to be doing Cabo San Lucas.

GV: You’re going to be broadcasting Juicy Beach Miami on Sirius/XM. Tell me your feelings about being able to broadcast on satellite radio.
RR: It’s tough, because you have to get the permission of all the artists, because they’re afraid about people downloading [the sets.] But in a sense, having the show live on the radio enables people to listen to the party live and that’s very cool.

GV: Do you get the sense that the electronic music scene is starting to become stronger in North America?
RR: North America is already caught up. I love to play in North America now. All the parties here are crazy. The amount of fans that I’ve seen here compared to other countries, is really up there.

GV: You’ve stated that your influences are rock as well as electronic-based. Tell me about your influences.
RR: I grew up listening to so many different styles of music. A lot of people have asked me what DJs influenced me… My music has lots of energy and I think that came from listening to rock so much. A band that really has that energy is Pearl Jam. I grew up listening to that. I also mix into that by listening to Faithless or Lords of Acid. I had a lot of Latin music as well growing up.

GV: With all your success, is there somewhere you haven’t reached that you want to get to?
RR: I’ve never played in Australia or Japan and I’m looking forward to getting over there. It comes down to where you want to grow as an artist, and financially as well. I think America right now is the biggest place to be an electronic music artist. I think it’s huge here and there’s a lot of people supporting it big time and that’s why I play so much here.

GV: Do you think it’s more fertile than Europe right now?
RR: Europe has gone down big time. A lot of people always think Europe is the best and my main market was Europe for 12 years and it’s switched to North America. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing in France and Spain… but it’s not the way it used to be. Generations change. Kids change. For me, it doesn’t feel the way it was back in the day.

GV: Are there any artists you’d like to work with that you haven’t worked with already? Who’s on your wish list?
RR: I would like to remix many artists I’ve never worked with. I would love to remix bands like Coldplay or U2. I like a lot of pop artists that are out there.

GV: Do you ever see taking the Juicy brand to bigger venues or is a five-or-six-thousand person venue as large as it will get?
RR: I have an idea of doing a humongous Juicy Beach all ages, I haven’t found a location, but it’s definitely in my head.

GV: Have you ever thought of a stadium-sized show?
RR: We had an idea about doing something at the American Airlines Arena here. It’s definitely something that needs a lot of planning, and unfortunately, I do so much stuff, I haven’t had the time to figure it out.

Pearl Jam has announced a series of European tour dates to take place in June and July 2010. The tour will kick off in Dublin, Ireland, June 22, and wrap in Oeiras, Portugal, July 10. A number of the dates have yet to be announced, though shows in London, England; Belfast, Ireland; Berlin, Germany; Arras, France; and Werchter, Belgium were announced at press time…

Slayer has announced that it will be hitting the European concert circuit this summer. The band will perform at Warsaw, Poland’s Bernowo Airport, June 16; at Knebworth Park in Knebworth, United Kingdom, August 1; and at the Sonisphere Festival (dates TBA) where they will share the stage with Metallica, Rammstein, Anthrax, The Cult, Mastodon, Iron Maiden, and others. In addition, the band will announce more European tour dates Thursday (December 10)…

Tibet House US will hold its 20th annual benefit concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, February 26. Philip Glass, the concert’s artistic director has assembled a lineup that includes Patti Smith, Jesse Smith, Michael Campbell, Baaba Maal, and Pierce Turner. Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks and tickets will go on sale December 24…

Bruce Springsteen posted a statement on his official Web site in support of the pending vote in the New Jersey statehouse to legalize gay marriage in the Garden State. Springsteen wrote: “Like many of you who live in New Jersey, I’ve been following the progress of the marriage-equality legislation currently being considered in Trenton. I’ve long believed in and have always spoken out for the rights of same sex couples and fully agree with Governor Corzine when he writes that, “The marriage-equality issue should be recognized for what it truly is — a civil rights issue that must be approved to assure that every citizen is treated equally under the law.” I couldn’t agree more with that statement and urge those who support equal treatment for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to let their voices be heard now.”  In other Springsteen news, it was reported that the death of his cousin and tour manager, Lenny Sullivan, in October was due to a drug overdose…

Pearl Jam never seems to need special motivation to perform a great live show; their lengthy, career-spanning shows rock with an energy that most bands would hope to match once in their respective careers.

On Tuesday night (October 27) at the Spectrum in Philadelphia – the first of four shows (the final events to take place in the storied arena before it is turned into a parking lot) – the band was, by frontman Eddie Vedder’s own admission, determined to make the closing dates memorable.

Referring to four shows by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band last week, Vedder said that he heard that they “blew the roof off this place and we’re not going to be the clean-up crew.” And over the course of the next two-and-a-half hours, Pearl Jam proved that they play second-fiddle to nobody. The 31-song set was punctuated by tracks from their entire catalog, as well as a pair of brilliant covers

After opener Social Distortion primed the crowd with a fantastic opening set, Pearl Jam kicked off their show with “Corduroy,” which quickly set the near-sellout crowd into a frenzy that would not abate for the entire evening. The band played several tracks from their latest album, Backspacer, including “Supersonic,” “Just Breathe,” and “The End,” which fit seamlessly with their earlier material – a testament to the quality of the band’s songs as well as their fans’ loyalty to the new material.

For those unfamiliar with Pearl Jam’s live shows, among the most amazing things is the band members’ unflagging energy. The level was high throughout, even when Vedder took the stage with a lone guitarist by his side and a small string quartet behind him on “Just Breathe” and “The End” during the first encore.

Vedder also let rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard take the lead vocals on “Mankind,” after explaining facetiously to the crowd that Gossard had threatened to quit the band earlier in the month. His lack of reticence to share the spotlight is one of the reasons that the band has succeeded for so many years. Not all frontmen would be content playing the tambourine in the background.

But that is another reason Pearl Jam is so powerful. Whether it is the case or not, it appears that the band is a democracy, albeit one in which an extremely personable Vedder sets the tone. He paid tribute to the Spectrum prior to the band’s cover of The Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me” during the second encore when he mentioned that The Who performed the track notably during a 1973 show at the arena during their Quadrophenia tour. He also seemed to try to bring the building down with the show’s final song, a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In the Free World,” and he damn near succeeded, while singing exuberantly and running around the stage throwing tambourines to the fans.

Still, at the end, the building was left standing, which, in retrospect is a good thing, since the band is booked for three more shows, Wednesday (October 28), Friday (October 30), and Saturday (October 31). That said, considering Vedder’s goal to make these closing dates memorable, there might not be much left of the building by the time the band vacates the premises on Halloween night.

The set list for Pearl Jam’s October 27 show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania follows:

Set 1

• Corduroy
• Whipping
• Hail, Hail
• Supersonic
• Dissident
• Unthought Known
• Faithfull
• Parachutes
• Unemployable
• Immortality
• Green Disease
• Not For You(Modern Girl)
• Rival
• Nothingman
• Ghost
• Do The Evolution
• Why Go

Encore 1

• Bee Girl
• Just Breathe
• The End
• All Those Yesterdays
• State Of Love And Trust
• Mankind
• The Fixer
• Go

Encore 2

• Daughter
• Love Reign O’er Me
• Black
• Leash
• Rearviewmirror
• Rockin’ In The Free World

Barbara Streisand surprised many this week when her latest album, Love Is the Answer debuted atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, after selling 180,000 copies in its first week of release.

Streisand’s ninth No. 1 album, prevented Paramore’s Brand New Eyes, and Mariah Carey’s Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel from capturing the top spot in their first week on the charts. Paramore debuted at No. 2 on sales of 175,000 units, and Carey landed at No. 3 after moving 168,000 copies.

Breaking Benjamin’s Dear Agony entered the chart impressively at No. 4 on sales of 134,000 copies. Rounding out the top five is Alice in Chains’ Black Gives Way to Blue, which sold 125,000 units in its first week of release.

Other notable new release include Madonna’s greatest-hits set, Celebration, which debuted at No. 7; Miranda Lambert’s Revolution, which entered at No. 8; and Selena Gomez and the Scene’s Kiss and Tell, which opened at No. 9.

Last week’s top album, Pearl Jam’s Backspacer dropped from No. 1 to No. 10, and Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 fell from No. 2 to No. 6.

It cannot be easy for Pearl Jam to live up to the admittedly-unrealistic expectations that some have of the band; however, as one of the final groups from the grunge era who are still recording and touring on a regular basis, those expectations will follow for as long as they continue recording and touring on a regular basis.

On Backspacer, their ninth studio album and first in three years, Pearl Jam returns with a tight collection that maintains a punk energy; one that is largely attributable to a total running time of approximately 37 minutes. At the same time, the disc is painfully uneven: The opening four tracks – “Gonna See My Friend,” “Got Some,” “The Fixer,” and “Johnny Guitar” – combine to form a promise of something huge, but the disc hits the wall on “Just Breathe,” where frontman Eddie Vedder takes what could have been a great song and underplays his hand, adding a country lilt, which turns a potentially-great track into a frustrating afterthought.

And it is there that the album basically falls apart, losing its focus on tracks like “Unthought Known,” “Speed Of Sound,” and “Force Of Nature.” (Unfortunately, the solid “Supersonic” gets lost in the shuffle.)

By the time the disc concludes with “The End” objective fans will likely be both disappointed and confused. After such a promising opening, the disc basically falls apart and listeners can be forgiven if they wonder how an album that seemed to have such potential could derail so quickly.

Still, it is clear that this is not the end of the band. Backspacer is not the work of a band that has attempted to remain relevant for too long, but rather, it is the work of a band that lost its way temporarily while recording its latest album. No band hits a home run every time out and on Backspacer, Pearl Jam barely slides into second with a double.

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Pearl Jam has announced additional tour dates in Vancouver, British Columbia; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in support of their new album, Backspacer, which hits store shelves September 20. As noted previously Ben Harper & Relentless7 will open all dates except for the Philadelphia shows…

Country music superstars Brooks & Dunn announced that they will split in 2010 after releasing a final greatest hits album and embarking on one last tour. The duo posted a message on their Web site Monday (August 10) in which they wrote that they agreed to “call it a day” after two decades together. “This ride has been everything and more than we could ever have dreamed … We owe it all to you, the fans,” they said in the message. “If you hear rumors, don’t believe them, it’s just time.” The group’ss greatest-hits album will hit store shelves September 8…

Jack’s Mannequin’s Andrew McMahon will hit the road in October for a solo tour, which is intended to raise awareness about his documentary Dear Jack, which chronicles the year that McMahon spent battling leukemia while trying to release Jack’s Mannequin’s debut album. The tour kicks off October 4, in Denver, Colorado, and wraps October 29, in West Hollywood, California…

Reprise Records’ The Used have announced a fall headlining tour of North America, which will kick off in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 9, and wrap November 14, in Portland, Oregon. The Almost and TK will support The Used, who are touring in support of their new album Artwork, which hits store shelves August 31…

Wolfmother returns with its new album, Cosmic Egg, October 13. The first single, “New Moon Rising,” makes its radio premiere Friday (August 14).  The group will hit the road in support of their 12-song sophomore set when they open for The Killers. They will remain on the road with The Killers through early September and will return to their native Australia for a series of theatre dates in the second half of September…

Nico Vega, who has been touring for most of the year in support of its self-titled debut, will join Placebo on a tour of North America, starting September 12, in Portland, Oregon, and wrapping October 11, in New York City…

Chicago, Illinois’ Painkiller Hotel, who just signed with Rock Ridge Music, will release its debut album, Black Roses, October 27….

Berlin, Germany’s electro-glam rockers Cinema Bizarre will release its U.S. debut, Bang!, August 25, the day after their second album, Toyz, hits store shelves in Europe. The group released its overseas debut album, Final Attraction in 2008. Bang! will contain songs from both Final Attraction and Toyz…

Pearl Jam has announced a series of select North American tour dates in support of their new studio album, Backspacer, which hits Target store shelves September 20.The album will be available internationally September 21, via Universal/Island and the first single, “The Fixer,” will be released at radio July 20.

The band will kick off its tour with a pair of hometown shows at Seattle, Washington’s Key Arena, September 21 and 22, and will wrap the tour with two shows at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Spectrum, October 28 and 30. Ben Harper and Relentless7 will open all dates, except for the Philadelphia shows.

Public tickets for Pearl Jam’s Spectrum shows will go on-sale Friday, July 17th at 10 a.m. EST through ComcastTIX at www.ComcastTIX.com, by calling 1-800-298-4200, in person at the Wachovia Complex box office or select Acme Markets and at www.LiveNation.com. The remaining announced North American dates will go on-sale Saturday, July 18th. Specific ticket on-sale times and locations will be announced in local markets. (Note: Potential additional dates and corresponding on-sale information may be announced at a later date.)

A special ticket presale for current members (as of July 7) of Pearl Jam’s Ten Club begins Monday, July 13. Full details are available at Pearl Jam’s official Web site.

Pearl Jam plans to tour Australia and New Zealand in November 2009. Full details on that leg of the tour will be announced in the coming weeks.

The itinerary for Pearl Jam’s tour of North America follows:

September 21 – Seattle, WA (Key Arena)
September 22 – Seattle, WA (Key Arena)
September 30 – Los Angeles, CA (Gibson Amphitheatre)
October 1 – Los Angeles, CA (Gibson Amphitheatre)
October 6 – Los Angeles, CA (Gibson Amphitheatre)
October 7 – Los Angeles, CA (Gibson Amphitheatre)
October 9 – San Diego, CA (Viejas Arena)
October 28 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (The Spectrum)
October 30 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (The Spectrum)