Black Sabbath Officially Reunited (New Album + Tour)

We've followed the rumors, we provided a hilarious and detailed account of the band's fucked up history, and now the day has finally arrived. Heavy metal titans Black Sabbath today announced that they are officially reuniting in their original four-man formation, putting out their first new album of original material since 1978, and embarking on a world tour in 2012.

Yep, that's quite a bit of news to pack into a Los Angeles-based press conference, but there you have it. Black Sabbath's first reunited performance will be a headlining slot at the Download Festival in the UK on June 10 (betting they're gonna want to update their website), with performances around the world to be announced. Tickets for the Download Festival are on sale next Friday 11/18 at 9am GMT. The tour will support said new Rick Rubin-produced album and will likely be completely nuts, so make that happen.

Check out the teaser video the band made about their near future after the jump, and happy Friday!

Ed O'Brien Shares Details About Radiohead's 2012 Tour

Image via the NY Times

Radiohead. Perhaps we've mentioned them here before. My favorite band of all time and apparent masters of news cycles have followed up their nonchalant / HOLY SH#T confirmation of new material with another reveal by guitarist Ed O'Brien about their upcoming 2012 tour dates.

Speaking with BBC 6, O'Brien noted that the tour would likely take place in the February through November timeframe in the UK and the US at pretty much everywhere you'd expect it to (yay for living in a major city!), and that the dates would be primarily at indoor venues with comparatively fewer outdoor shows due to the nature of The King of Limbs material. Which makes sense - as evidenced by their Roseland shows, I'd agree that the twitchy intricacies of TKOL would be best heard in closer environs. But hey, if they play Liberty State Park again, I'm all about that too. 

Basically, more Radiohead please.

O'Brien also confirmed that the tour would of course focus on TKOL plus songs from throughout their catalog that fit best around them rather than just greatest hits, which for diehard fans is great news anyway. Check out the entire interview in audio form after the jump, and continue waiting impatiently.

Thom Yorke Confirms 2012 Radiohead Tour, New Atoms For Peace Album

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke seems to really enjoy being on the radio these days. Fresh off of dropping by Mary Ann Hobb's XFM show to drop a new mix and do "The Twist," he popped back on the air last night to hang out with Gilles Peterson on his BBC Radio 1 show, spin records, aaaaand confirm a 2012 Radiohead tour and a new Atoms For Peace album.

Yup. Like bandmate Ed O'Brien before him, Thom noted that the band will be setting up tour dates throughout what might be the last year of civilization, if you believe the Mayans. AND, his Atoms For Peace side project (which we last saw in 2010 rocking through Thom's solo release The Eraser with, uh,  Flea) is putting the finishing touches on a new album. As weird as it sounds, I caught their show on that tour and it was very legitimately cool, so very curious about what this new Atoms For Peace album will sound like.

Listen to the whole radio show over here, and keep on spazzing about that upcoming Radiohead NYC Takeover.