According to a recent Blabbermouth post, Maynard shouldn’t necessarily be blamed for the lack of Tool action:

"I can’t sit still, so when those guys hesitate, it takes us so long to do stuff, and it’s like a snake eating its own tail situation, ’cause then I get distracted and I go off and do a thing, and then I get blamed for not being around to do the (TOOL) thing," he said. "But nothing was getting done when I was standing there, so I got bored and left. It’s just an endless cycle."

Sounds fair to me.  It’s been pretty clear that Tool is a team effort for a long while, and singling out any one member for a lack of a new album is a little harsh…

A video had found it’s way onto the net with Danny Carey on drums for AC/DC coverband BC/DC.  The track is Back In Black and I imagine you all know how it goes….

Thanks to fodasse for the tip!

According to a recent post on Blabbermouth, Blood Into Wine will be released on DVD/Blu-Ray on May 4 2010.  The article also has a small amount if insight into the making of the film:

“Maynard is as mysterious and complex as rumored so we don’t know exactly why he allowed our cameras and questions into his world for the winemaking year of 2009,” explains Page. “But once we got past his pitbulls and his crossbows we were surprised that Maynard was open with us challenging the perception of him as a celebrity winemaker and the notion that making wine in Arizona is like making wine on the moon,”Pomerenke adds. “Maynard and Eric continue to surprise the winemaking world right now.”

I’m looking forward to seeing this.  I emailed the producers about screenings in other countries (particularly Australia) and haven’t received any response from them, but a DVD release so soon suggests this isn’t going to get a wide release, much as I expected.

In case you’ve forgotten, confirmed screening dates around the US are:

• Albuquerque – Guild Cinema – Mar. 13
• Austin – Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek – Feb. 19 – 20 Tickets: HERE
• Boston – Somerville Theatre – Feb. 26 – 28
• Davenport (IA) – Capitol Theatre – Feb. 19, 21 & 26 Tickets: HERE
• Healdsburg, CA (Sonoma) – Raven Film Center – Feb. 19 – 21
• Houston – Alamo Drafthouse West Oaks – Feb. 19 – 20 Tickets: HERE
• Los Angeles – Laemmle Sunset – Feb. 25 – 28
• Minneapolis – Riverview Theatre – Mar. 4
• Phoenix – Premiere: W Hotel – Feb. 19 ; Valley Art Theater – Feb 26 – Mar. 4 Tickets: HERE
• Salt Lake City – Tower Theatre – Mar. 5 – 11
• San Antonio – Alamo Drafthouse The Market – Feb. 19 Tickets: HERE
• San Antonio – Alamo Drafthouse West Lakes – Feb. 20 Tickets: HERE
• San Francisco – Viz Cinema – Feb. 25 Tickets: HERE
• Salem, MA – Cinema Salem March 12-18

Toolband has mentioned that there are more to be announced soon.

AcousticPhenomena emailed me today to let me know about and interesting snippet he found on Robert Fripp’s website:

A fabbo lunch with Adam covering a wide range of common interests & experiencing, among which: the possibilities of continuing our album, begun in Los Angeles some 5-6 years ago; and go out speaking together.

Should be an interesting album should it actually happen.  This sounds promising, though I’m sure many would argue not at the expense of a Tool album…

Not sure how long it’s been on the site, but the January Tool Newsletter is now available on Toolband and Toolarmy.  It’s really just a bit of a recap of Tool-related news over the last couple of months, confirming that Tool aren’t doing much at the moment, and that Danny, Adam and Justin are all abroad (or have been) and that Maynard is busy with Puscifer and Caduceus stuff.

Features some nice (audio) live stuff towards the end…

According to a recent post on Puscifer.com, the 2010 East Coast Puscifer Tour now includes the following dates:

• Mar 2nd, 3rd Atlanta, GA CW Center Stage On sale NOW
• Mar 5th, 6th Washington DC, Lincoln Theater On Sale NOW
• Mar 8th, 9th Philadelphia, PA Theater of the Living Arts On Sale NOW
• Mar 11th New York, NY Grand Ballroom On Sale NOW
• Mar 12th Stamford, CT Palace Theater On Sale TBA
• Mar 13th New York, NY Apollo Theater On Sale NOW
• Mar 15th, 16th Boston, MA Berklee Academy of Music On sale NOW
• Mar 19th, 20th Toronto, ON Queen Elizabeth Theater On Sale NOW
• Mar 21st Lorain, OH (Cleveland) Lorain Theater On Sale NOW
• Mar 23rd, 24th Detroit, MI Royal Oak Theater On Sale NOW
• Mar 26th, 27th Chicago, IL Vic Theater On Sale NOW
• Mar 28th Columbus, OH LC Indoor Pavillion On Sale Jan 30th
• Mar 30th Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater On Sale Jan 29th
• Mar 31st Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater On sale NOW
• Apr 2nd, 3rd Minneapolis, MN Pantages Theater On Sale NOW

The Stamford show has been recently added.  Visit Puscifer.com for ticket sales info, and VIP tickets.

Coming soon to a cinema near you (perhaps!)

I stumbled across this extremely short interview with Danny by Artisan News Services on Youtube, where he mentions briefly that they might start writing a new album this year.  Skip to about 1:20 for the 10 seconds or so of actual DC interview (the rest is just filler).

To be honest, it doesn’t say much, and the article is making a bigger deal of this than it really is, but it’s comforting to know that at least there are plans to get stuck into things, hopefully soon!

According to a recent blog post from progressive metal band Intronaut, apparently Dave contributed drums two two tracks on a musical project with Justin:

Dave contributed drums to a song or two in a project with Justin Chancellor from Tool and a Polish guy named Peter. I’m a little afraid to try and describe the music, but it rules and kind of sounds like African techno with Polish lyrics. That’s actually not at all what it sounds like. Forget I said anything. It rules though! We’ve also been talking with these two characters about collaborating on a new Intronaut song.

Sounds intriguing!  Anyone have any idea who this Polish guy could be?

And here we were thinking that Justin’s done nothing but sit on his arse during the break.  Check out Intronaut’s music on their Myspace page.

Thanks to Lance for the tip!