By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer
Here are a handful of curious Web stopovers bands are making while on the road:
Tom Waits: The generally press-shy Waits announced his upcoming "Glitter and Doom Tour" in a video recently posted on his Web site: http://www.TomWaits. In a press conference, Waits quiets a clamoring press corps while speaking into numerous microphones (including, humorously, a boom mic). I won't spoil the reveal, but the punchline is classic Waits.
Death Cab for Cutie: The Seattle-based rock band is currently touring their chart-topping new album "Narrow Stairs," a dark and big sounding record that is playing well on large stages (as it did at Coachella). The band has long been very fan-friendly, happy to pull back the curtain to their inner-workings. On Tuesday, they took over the music blog Stereogum (http://stereogum), with all band members writing posts. Among the most interesting: Chris Walla explaining why he's tired of being asked about "the Radiohead model."
Coldplay: The British band, which is releasing the album "Viva la Vida" on June 17, made news recently by announcing plans for free concerts in London, New York and Barcelona. After releasing a traditional video for their single "Violet Hill," they last week put out a version featuring footage of dancing politicians. President Bush and former Prime Minister Tony Blair are the video's biggest stars. Chris Martin sings, "When the future's architectured by a carnival of idiots on show/ You'd better lie low."
Kanye West: The always interesting Chicago rapper is currently on tour and will be playing big venues all summer, including a performance at Bonnaroo. At http://www.KanyeUniversity/blog/, West posts numerous times a day in his own brand of blogging that aptly reflects his, well, let's say uniqueness. He mostly posts links to music, design, furniture, movie trailers and even saunas that interest him.
Nine Inch Nails: Trent Reznor really, really likes the Internet. Earlier this month, Reznor's band released its new album "The Slip" for free at http://www.nin. Beyond that, though, the band has made all songs available to fans for remixing and they regularly post photos and video of backstage life. One video is a 31-second first-person perspective of Reznor autographing a book. It's titled: "Spend the day with us: Watch this 2500 times."
The Raconteurs: Since forming three years ago, Jack White's rock outfit has made nostalgia a part of its identity. The Raconteurs play old-fashioned bluesy guitar rock 'n' roll and they like to appear in black-and-white photos that resemble old pictures of the Band. Their Web site, http://www.theraconteurs is also old-school. It has the bare-bones, bright green type of early computers. The site calls itself "The Raconteurs: Version 1.0" and bears a copyright of 1981 and 1982.
DeVotchKa: Though less known than the above acts, DeVotchKa is a band worthy of a larger audience. With Eastern European, gypsy and mariachi influences, the Denver-based band (which supplied much of the score to "Little Miss Sunshine") play one of the most theatrical shows around. They are also the band to most recently participate in NPR's "All Songs Considered" concert series. The series is the best way to hear concerts in full either live (on http://www.npr.org) or via podcast (downloadable for free on iTunes). Other recently recorded concerts include the Black Keys and Lou Reed.
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EDITOR'S NOTE — What's your favorite Web site for summer tours? E-mail AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle at jcoyle(at)ap.org
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