Elbow returns with first release since 2005, tour of U.S.

Elbow is set to release their first record since 2005′s critically acclaimed Leaders of the Free World on Fiction/Geffen records. The Seldom Seen Kid is set to hit stores April 22nd, while the digital single “One Day Like This” will drop on March 18th. The album was recorded within their own studio at Salford’s Blueprint Studios and claims to “stretch their sonic template further than ever before.”

Following the release of the record, the band will kick off a short set of dates in New York City, with more dates to be announced shortly:

April 26th New York, NY Webster Hall

April 27th Washington DC Sixth & I Historic Synagogue

April 29th Chicago, IL Park West

April 30th Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Cafe

May 8th San Francisco, CA Bimbo’s 365 Club

May 9th Los Angeles, CA Avalon

Beach House- Heart of Chambers (Video)

Dave Clark Five singer Mike Smith dies of pneumonia

LONDON (AP) — Dave Clark Five lead singer Mike Smith died of pneumonia Thursday, less than two weeks before the band is to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was 64.

Mike Smith died less than two weeks before his band is to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Smith died at a hospital outside of London, his agent Margo Lewis said.

He was admitted to the intensive care unit Wednesday morning with a chest infection, a complication from a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed below the ribcage with limited use of his upper body. Lewis said he was injured when he fell from a fence at his home in Spain in September 2003.

Smith had been in the hospital since the accident, and was just released last December when he moved into a specially prepared home near the hospital with his wife.

“These last five years were extremely difficult for Mike. I am incredibly saddened to lose him, his energy and his humor, but I am comforted by the fact that he had the chance to spend his final months and days at home with his loving wife Charlie,” Lewis said.

Smith wrote songs as well as singing and playing keyboards for the Dave Clark Five, one of many British rock acts whose music swept across the United States in the 1960s during the so-called British Invasion.

The Beatles are the best remembered, of course, but at the time the Dave Clark Five posed the strongest threat, commercially and critically, to their pre-eminence.

The Dave Clark Five claimed a string of U.S. hits, including “Because,” “Glad All Over,” and “I Like it Like That.” By 1966, the band had made 12 appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” then a record for any British group.

The group’s antics were captured in John Boorman’s 1965 documentary “Catch Us If You Can,” which followed Smith and his band mates through the English city of Bristol.

While the group — which broke up in 1970 — was named after him, Dave Clark himself was the drummer.

The group is going to be inducted in the rock hall on March 10, a ceremony Lewis said Smith was trying to attend.

“We’re very unhappy about the whole situation — it’s sad,” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President Joel Peresman said.

He said the ceremony would go ahead as planned, but that there would be “a little extra significance this year.”

Said Lewis: “He was extremely excited and honored to have been inducted … and I am glad that he will be remembered as a hall of famer, because he was in so many ways.”

Smith is survived by his wife, Arlene (nicknamed Charlie).

THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES ITS PRESENTERS FOR 2008

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation just announced the artists who will induct this year’s honorees at a ceremony on March 10, 2008, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City :

· Leonard Cohen will be inducted by Lou Reed

· The Dave Clark Five (Dave Clark, Lenny Davidson, Rick Huxley, Denis Payton and Mike Smith) will be inducted by Tom Hanks

· Madonna will be inducted by Justin Timberlake

· John Mellencamp will be inducted by Billy Joel

· Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff will be inducted by Jerry Butler

· The Ventures (Bob Bogle, Nokie Edwards, Gerry McGee, Mel Taylor, Don Wilson) will be inducted by John Fogerty

· Little Walter will be inducted by Ben Harper

The 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were chosen by the 600 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after their first recording is released. John Mellencamp and The Ventures are among the artists slated to perform at the event which will air live on March 10th on VH1 Classic (www.vh1classic.com) and streamed live by Best Buy on BestBuy.com.

In addition to being honored at the ceremony on March 10, 2008, each artist who is inducted is commemorated within the I.M. Pei-designed museum in Cleveland , Ohio . The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame displays the signature of each inductee inscribed in glass. In addition, there is an exhibit of artifacts from this year’s inductees, and a multi-media film presentation with highlights from each artist’s career. The exhibit on this year’s inductees will open in March, 2008 and will run for one year.

Kingblind’s Favorite Finds

SXSW 2008 Music Torrent – 764 artists, 3.5 GB (All Legal)

Music exec: “Music 1.0 is dead.”

48% of teenagers bought zero (0) CDs in 2007

A harp made from frickin’ laser beams

Amy Winehouse back on drugs claims newspaper

Amy Winehouse is back on drugs , The Sun (UK) newspaper is claiming today (February 28).

The tabloid states that friends say she is abusing cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis and alcohol.

Their sources also say that Winehouse was only clean for a maximum of ten days, in an effort to gain a visa for the Grammy Awards earlier this month (February 10) – they also claim a friend smuggled drugs in to the singer while she was attending rehab.

According to The Sun, a friend told how Winehouse burnt herself with a lighter, saying: “My life is a shell of what it was. It’s like the whole world is now stillborn. Colours aren’t as bright, love doesn’t feel real. I don’t know who I am and I just feel numb.”

Hendrix Drummer Buddy Miles Dies At 60

Buddy Miles, who co-founded and played drums in Band Of Gypsys with Jimi Hendrix, passed away yesterday (Feb. 26) in Austin, Texas, at the age of 60. A cause of death has yet to be announced.

Miles was born Sept. 5, 1947, in Omaha, Neb., and was introduced to music at a young age by his father, who played in a band called the Bebops. As a young man he also played with Wilson Pickett, the Delfonics and the Ink Spots.

Miles met Hendrix in the early 1960s but didn’t begin collaborating with him until 1969, when Hendrix produced an album by the Buddy Miles Express.

Miles, often decked out in sequined clothes and an enormous Afro, went on to drum on Hendrix’s landmark “Electric Ladyland” album before officially joining Band Of Gypsys with bassist Billy Cox a few months later.

The group’s lone self-titled album chronicled a New Year’s Eve 1969/1970 concert at New York’s Fillmore East, and is regarded by many as one of the best live albums of the era.

After Hendrix’s death on Sept. 18, 1970, Miles contributed drums to a handful of posthumous Hendrix releases, including “Cry of Love” and “Crash Landing.” He spent time in jail in the late 1970s and early 1980s on drug related charges, but returned to the spotlight in 1986 when he served as the voice for the hugely successful California Raisins claymation TV ads.

Miles and a studio band recorded a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” as part of the campaign, which became a minor radio hit in 1988.

In 2004, Miles and Cox revisited the Band Of Gypsys material for a live album, “The Band of Gypsys Return,” which was released two years later.

Throughout his career, Miles played with such superstars as David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Barry White and George Clinton. According to his Web site, Miles’ family is planning a tribute show with details to be announced.

Kingblind Downloads

The Phantom’s Revenge – For Those Who Came In Late Crazy French Disco, House, Big Beat.. But in a good way

Bob – Otto From What’s Happening in Pernambuco – New Sounds of the Brazilian Northeast

The Dirtbombs – Sherlock Holmes Garage gods channel VU!! Detroit FTW!

Ghostland Observatory – Heavy Heart Electro Blip, Blonk, Boop.. Awesome!

Psycho and The Birds – Enon Beach Enhanced boombox recordings from Robert Pollard and longtime studio cohort Tim Tobias.

Prince to have hip replacement

Thirty years of suggestive dance moves and fashionable footwear have caught up with Prince Rogers Nelson, a.k.a. Prince. The forty-nine year old performer is reportedly in major pain every time he takes the stage, and will have his original joint replaced with a titanium model. Though Prince has held up amazingly well over the years, possibly due to his vegan diet and high self-esteem, this seems to indicate that there really is no escaping the rigors of remaining elegantly dressed and musically fierce over an extended period of time. No mention was made if hitting the basketball court in high-heeled boots contributed to the injury. (via NME)

Rocket from the Crypt: from R.I.P. (Final Show)

The Verve Books Spring U.S. Shows

The Verve has scheduled its first U.S. shows in nearly a decade in conjunction with its late April appearance at the Coachella festival in Indio, Calif. The group will play in Las Vegas on April 26 and in New York on April 28-29.

The reunited U.K. rock outfit has also slated a handful of summer European festival appearances, including June 29 at Glastonbury and July 11 at T in the Park in Ireland.

The setup for the Verve’s as-yet-untitled fourth EMI album, tentatively due in June, is less clear. The first new music from the Richard Ashcroft-led act, a 14-minute jam dubbed “The Thaw Session,” was released as a free download last October.

In January, manager Jazz Summers, CEO of Big Life, was one of several artist managers to voice concerns over the new EMI regime’s ability to handle big releases. Also up in the air is the Verve’s status in the States, where the band is unsigned.

Parlophone managing director Miles Leonard tells Billboard the Verve is “currently writing only,” and neither he nor Summers would comment on whether the situation with EMI had been resolved.

The band’s last album, 1997′s “Urban Hymns,” has global sales of 8 million, according to Big Life, more than 1.34 million of which were in the States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

“This is a very special band, with four incredibly talented people,” Summers says. “They made three great albums before. And they’re going to make another great album now. There’s a bit of magic when the four of them come together.”

Here are the Verve’s U.S. tour dates:

April 25: Indio, Calif. (Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival)
April 26: Las Vegas (the Pearl Concert Theatre)
April 28-29: New York (WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden)

Son Volt to tour

Jay Farrar is certainly a hard working man. Currently in the middle of a solo tour, the ex-Uncle Tupelo member will waste little time before getting back out on the road with his band Son Volt. The band has a stretch of April tour dates planned. All dates find Bobby Bare Jr. opening.

Tour dates:

04.09 Louisville, KY: Headliners

04.10 Nashville, TN: Exit/In

04.11 Atlanta, GA: Variety Playhouse

04.12 Tallahassee, FL: Beta Bar

04.13 Birmingham, AL: Workplay Theater

04.15 New Orleans, LA: Tipitina’s

04.16 Houston, TX: The Continental

04.17 Austin, TX: Antone’s

04.18 New Braunfels, TX: Gruene Hall

04.22 Knoxville, TN: Bijou Theater

04.23 Charlotte, NC: Visulite Theater

04.24 Raleigh, NC: Lincoln Theatre

04.25 Washington, DC: 9:30 Club

04.26 Philadelphia, PA: Trocadero

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to tour

When you name your band after a motorcycle club, it only makes sense that you would spend plenty of time on the road. That’s exactly what Cali psych-rock outfit Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has done since the release of the band’s album Baby 81 last year. And BRMC has even more touring ahead this year. The band has some April and May U.S. dates planned, all with The Duke Spirit opening. After that BRMC heads to Europe for some summer festival gigs. The band has one fest appearance in the U.S. scheduled as well.

Tour dates:

04.16 Grand Rapids, MI: The Intersection

04.17 Toledo, OH: Frankies

04.18 Covington, KY: Mad Hatter Club

04.19 Lexington, KY: The Dame

04.22 Charlotte, NC: Visulite Theatre

04.23 Athens, GA: 40 Watt

04.24 Knoxville, TN: Valarium

04.25 St. Louis, MO: The Pageant

04.26 Lawrence, KS: Liberty Hall

05.01 Urbana, IL: Canopy Club

05.02 Milwaukee, WI: Turner Hall

05.03 Madison, WI: High Noon Saloon

05.19 Austin, TX: Antone’s

08.29 Milwaukee, WI: Summerfest

Print is dead. Long live print.

First No Depression, Now Resonance Magazine.. Here is the word from their editor;

In early January 2008, immediately before going to press with our 55th issue, we were forced to cease print production of Resonance. The financial challenge of publishing an independent magazine finally overwhelmed us. Fueled by the tireless support of many people (readers, subscribers, staff, freelancers, advertisers, publicists, as well as long-suffering spouses and significant others), we stubbornly survived on a shoestring budget and volunteer staff for 14 years. Yet, such a model isn’t sustainable forever.

For now, Resonance as a media vehicle is on hiatus, and continuing a printed version at a future date appears unlikely. A more viable return route may be to phoenix online with a site devoted to the same vision (and with a massively diminished carbon footprint). We shall see.

If this is our last act, we hope you will read our final issue, Resonance 55. With the help of contributors from around the globe, we pour hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours into assembling each edition. This issue—even if only in digital form—shines as one of our best and will be permanently available on this site as a free, high-resolution download. Resonance 54, the first issue of 2007’s bold redesign, is also posted here. Please download, enjoy, and share the link with others, as well.

Since 1994, Resonance has celebrated the forward regions of music, books, film and the visual arts. We’ve always aimed to create an innovative and inspiring mosiac of what’s next, accessible to everybody and presented in one nicely designed package. That’s what we ask readers to remember about Resonance. And if we reemerge, the same spirit will continue.

Good Lord, we’ve had a lot of fun along the way—we hope you have, too. To all supporters of Resonance, thank you.

With warmest regards,

Andrew Monko, publisher
Resonance Magazine

Sasquatch! Snags R.E.M., Cure, Lips, Death Cab, R.E.M.

R.E.M., the Cure, Flaming Lips, Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse and M.I.A. lead the bill for the 2008 Sasquatch! Music Festival, to be held May 24-26 at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Wash.

The Flaming Lips will present their “U.F.O. show,” featuring a replica flying saucer amid their usual array of stage garnishes. In addition, the group will premiere its long-in-the-works film “Christmas on Mars” at the event.

Among the other acts confirmed for Sasquatch! are Flight of the Conchords, the New Pornographers, the National, Built To Spill, the Hives, the Breeders, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Fleet Foxes, Battles, Throw Me The Statue and Crudo, a new collaboration between Mike Patton and Dan the Automator.

Tickets go on sale March 8; prices increase two days later and will be raised again the week of the event. VIP package details can be found on Sasquatch!’s Web site.

Here is the lineup for the 2008 Sasquatch! festival:

R.E.M., the Cure, the Flaming Lips (“U.F.O. show”), Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, M.I.A., Michael Franti & Spearhead, Flight of the Conchords, the New Pornographers, the Presidents, the National, Tegan & Sara, Built To Spill, the Hives, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ozomatli, Cold War Kids, the Breeders, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Okkervil River, Dengue Fever, Jamie Lidell, Crudo, Mates Of State, Destroyer, Rogue Wave, Battles, Fleet Foxes, White Rabbits, the Cave Singers, Pela, Grand Archives, the Little Ones, Thao Nguyen & the Get Down Stay Down, Dead Confederate, 65Daysofstatic, the Heavenly States, Kinski, David Bazan, Dyme Def, Vince Mira with the Roy Kay Trio, Sera Cahoone, Joshua Morrison, the Blakes, Siberian, Throw Me The Statue, the Cops, Say Hi, the Shaky Hands, J. Tillman

New Spiritualized Album Shaping Up For May

The new Spiritualized album is titled Songs in A&E and will contain 18 tracks; it’s set for European release on May 19th via Universal. No word on a North American release date yet. It will be the first Spiritualized full-length release since Amazing Grace in 2003.

There will be an Electric Mainlines UK tour in late Spring. Of course there’s other shows in the works, along with the recently announced Coachella gig.

“There may be one or two other dates in California at that time but they are not confirmed as yet. A more extensive Electric Mainlines tour will take place in July / August following the release of the new album,” reads a post on the Spiritualized web site.

In other Spiritualized news, J. Spacemen recently did the film score for the Harmony Korine film titled Mister Lonely. The film features Samantha Morton as a Marilyn Monroe lookalike and Diego Luna as a Michael Jackson lookalike. The Michael Jackson lookalike is lured into a Scottish commune by the Marilyn Monroe lookalike, only to find that the commune boasts membership by Charlie Chaplin and Shirley Temple lookalikes and more … looks like an artistic dramedy.

Songs In A&E Track List
01 Harmony 1
02 Sweet Talk
03 Death Take Your Fiddle
04 I Gotta Fire
05 Soul on Fire
06. Harmony 2
07 Sitting on Fire
08 Yeah Yeah
09 You Lie You Cheat
10 Harmony 3
11 Baby I’m Just a Fool
12 Don’t Hold Me Close
13 Harmony 4
14 The Waves Crash In
15 Harmony 5
16 Borrowed Your Gun
17 Harmony 6
18 Goodnight Goodnight

Jack White speaks about Bob Dylan collaboration

Jack White has spoken about his work on a project organised by Bob Dylan.

Dylan asked a series of musicians to write music for a set of unfinished lyrics by country singer Hank Williams.

White, who has now recorded his version of the Williams lyrics ‘You Know That I Know’ in Nashville, explained: “[Bob] came upon, somehow, 20-25 unfinished songs by Hank Williams, just the lyrics, no music, and he started to ask people if they would finish these songs.

“He did one, asked Willie Nelson to do one, asked me to do one, and I think Lucinda Williams and Alan Jackson are on it too. I think it might come out this year. It’s a cool record.”

Speaking to MTV News, White also hinted that he has yet another musical project on the go, in addition to his work with The White Stripes and The Raconteurs.

He said: “There’s some other stuff I have coming out, but I can’t tell you about it all just yet. You’ll have to be patient!”

Mountain Goats- Heretic Pride (Album Review)

It would be considerate of John Darnielle to include some kind of Mountain Goats decoder with his wordy new song suite, Heretic Pride. As on all Goats records, his lyrics are the focal point, but for some reason Darnielle denies us a lyric sheet, so you find yourself sitting close to the stereo trying to piece together colourful tales of characters and moments.

Besides the brooding cover art, there are a few sly nods to Swedish black metal in the bouncy acoustic title track, as well as the sensitively sparse Marduk T-shirt Men’s Room Incident. (Parts of Heretic were recorded in Stockholm.)

The death of a reggae star is referenced in the island-flavoured Sept. 15, 1983, while H.P. Lovecraft is reanimated in the incongruously hard-driving Lovecraft In Brooklyn. The music often verges on innocuous, but it serves its purpose as a backdrop for Darnielle’s steadily churning imagination. Weakerthans fans will love this.

Portishead Relaunching At Coachella

Out in the California desert, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is fast becoming an oasis for high-profile reunions.

The Jesus and Mary Chain, the Pixies, Rage Against the Machine, Gang of Four and Bauhaus are just a handful of the acts who’ve come back to life at the Indio, Calif.-based event in recent years.

The trend will continue this year when two of Britain’s most important ’90s alternative bands, Portishead and the Verve, make their respective U.S. returns for the first time in nearly a decade.

Securing the services of both groups, says Paul Tollett, principal of Los Angeles-based Goldenvoice, which organizes Coachella, has brought serious pulling power. “The fans like them,” he says, “but also they attract other bands to the bill and give a serious feel to the show.”

Portishead should be nearing peak shape for Coachella, which will serve as a launch pad for “Third,” its first studio album in more than a decade. “They’ve been asking us for quite a few years,” Portishead’s Adrian Utley says of Coachella. “It seems like a good place to play, being out in the desert, and it was started by what seems to be some pretty cool people.”

Gatfield is confident “Third” hits the stellar notes of earlier works.”It’s a really strong record and it’s adventurous,” he says. “Beth [Gibbons'] voice is as powerful as ever. The uptempo tracks are never going to be drum’n'bass, but they do hit 120 BPMs in some places.”

Adds Utley, “[It] sounds nothing like ‘Dummy’ or ‘Portishead,’ but it’s definitely its older brother or sister. It’s the same mindset we’ve always had, only further down the road.”

Admitting the band’s creative process can be “very slow,” with some tracks from “Third” percolating for four years, Utley says the members have drawn upon an eclectic mix for musical inspiration, including recordings by Can, the Silver Apples, Joy Division, early Human League and “weird doom metal band” Ohm.

New tracks were first given an airing last December at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Minehead, England, which the band curated. Wider U.K. and European audiences will get a taste during a spring tour.

“There was never no Portishead,” notes Utley. “It was just we’d had enough, and we didn’t have any ideas. We all got on with various different things, but we worked on each others’ projects. There was always a Portishead. We have ongoing business, obviously, to deal with — permissions and compilations and film requests, even if we’re not doing anything at all.”

Ray Davies- Working Man’s Cafe (Album Review)

“You Really Got Me.” “A Well Respected Man.” “All Day and All of the Night.” Ray Davies wrote all those, and plenty more. His songs have been covered by everyone from the Black Keys to Yo La Tengo, sold computers and laundry detergents, and pumped life into hipper-than-thou soundtracks (“Juno,” “The Darjeeling Limited”).
more stories like this

But that’s history, and Davies’s long-awaited official solo debut, 2006′s “Other People’s Lives,” didn’t offer much hope for the future. Murkily written and overproduced, the record was as bland as a bowl of shredded wheat left out in the rain.

So it’s a welcome surprise to hear Davies on “Working Man’s Café,” a collection of twangy rock that might not stand up with the best Kinks work (what does?) but certainly marks his return as a maker of new music.

Recorded largely over 16 days in Nashville, the album, which will be released Tuesday on New West Records, finds the 63-year-old Davies returning to one of his strengths, the wry brand of social commentary that set the Kinks apart from the Beatles and the Stones. At his best, Davies paints pictures with lyrical detail and a Cockney accent that he can flip out faster than a Diner’s Club card. And he’s as guilty as the rest of us. When, as Davies sings on the title track, he buys a “pair of new designer pants, where the fruit and veg man used to stand,” Davies isn’t just a nostalgic bystander. He’s a participant.

Sonically, “Working Man’s Café” is also a triumph. Co-producer Ray Kennedy (Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams) favors a live sound with limited overdubs. That helps on Davies’s still-strong voice, as well, which was often buried on “Other People’s Lives.” In an interview, he says he pushed Davies to resist holing up for weeks of post-production.

“He doesn’t have the young toss-it-off attitude of early Kinks, but he still has the chops, attitude, and determination,” Kennedy said. “The difference now is that he is very critical of his delivery and he does his best when he’s not analyzing but just belting it out.”

Davies certainly does that on the album’s opener, “Vietnam Cowboys,” a rockabilly song that laments the spread of cheap, overseas labor. “You’re Asking Me” is pure, ’60s-inspired power-pop: jangly guitars, a rich hook, and soaring harmonies. The song also finds longtime Kinks drummer Mick Avory checking in on tambourine. (For those wondering, famously feuding brother Dave Davies did not participate, though Kennedy said he and Ray talked about him repeatedly during the sessions.)

The battlegrounds on “Working Man’s Café” aren’t only economic. They are also romantic, political and, in a few songs, a little bit of both. On “Peace in Our Time,” Davies uses the language of warfare to pick the bones of a broken relationship. Kinks fans will appreciate the way the chorus resolves, a descending guitar-line that sounds as if it could have been nabbed from a “Village Green Preservation Society” outtake.

Even better is “One More Time,” which links a failed courtship with a longing for the old ways. It is the prettiest song Davies has written in years, a ballad that stays in your head long after the music fades.

No Depression ceases publication with seventy-fifth issue

No Depression, the magazine that served as both a tastemaker for the alt-country set and a bridge that helped classic Nashville acts such as Johnny Cash, Ralph Stanley, and Porter Wagoner find an audience among a new generation of fans, has announced that it will cease publication with its seventy-fifth issue. In a letter addressed to readers, publishers Grant Alden, Kyra Allen, and Peter Blackstock cited a variety of reasons for the demise of the magazine, including the advent of digital music and the decline of sales venues. No Depression was lauded by many for balancing its comprehensive coverage of emerging artists with a sense of tradition as well as its no frills aesthetic, which favored in-depth articles over glossy promos. No Depression published its first issue in September 1995 with Son Volt appearing on the cover. Here is the letter, also available on the magazine’s website.

Dear Friends:

Barring the intercession of unknown angels, you hold in your hands the next-to-the-last edition of No Depression we will publish. It is difficult even to type those words, so please know that we have not come lightly to this decision.

In the thirteen years since we began plotting and publishing No Depression, we have taken pride not only in the quality of the work we were able to offer our readers, but in the way we insisted upon doing business. We have never inflated our numbers; we have always paid our bills (and, especially, our freelancers) on time. And we have always tried our best to tell the truth.

First things, then: If you have a subscription to ND, please know that we will do our very best to take care of you. We will be negotiating with a handful of magazines who may be interested in fulfilling your subscription. That is the best we can do under the circumstances.

Those circumstances are both complicated and painfully simple. The simple answer is that advertising revenue in this issue is 64% of what it was for our March- April issue just two years ago. We expect that number to continue to decline.

The longer answer involves not simply the well-documented and industry-wide reduction in print advertising, but the precipitous fall of the music industry. As a niche publication, ND is well insulated from reductions in, say, GM’s print advertising budget; our size meant they weren’t going to buy space in our pages, regardless.

On the other hand, because we’re a niche title we are dependent upon advertisers who have a specific reason to reach our audience. That is: record labels. We, like many of our friends and competitors, are dependent upon advertising from the community we serve.

That community is, as they say, in transition. In this evolving downloadable world, what a record label is and does is all up to question. What is irrefutable is that their advertising budgets are drastically reduced, for reasons we well understand. It seems clear at this point that whatever businesses evolve to replace (or transform) record labels will have much less need to advertise in print.

The decline of brick and mortar music retail means we have fewer newsstands on which to sell our magazine, and small labels have fewer venues that might embrace and hand-sell their music. Ditto for independent bookstores. Paper manufacturers have consolidated and begun closing mills to cut production; we’ve been told to expect three price increases in 2008. Last year there was a shift in postal regulations, written by and for big publishers, which shifted costs down to smaller publishers whose economies of scale are unable to take advantage of advanced sorting techniques.

Then there’s the economy…

The cumulative toll of those forces makes it increasingly difficult for all small magazines to survive. Whatever the potentials of the web, it cannot be good for our democracy to see independent voices further marginalized. But that’s what’s happening. The big money on the web is being made, not surprisingly, primarily by big businesses.

ND has never been a big business. It was started with a $2,000 loan from Peter’s savings account (the only monetary investment ever provided, or sought by, the magazine). We have five more or less full-time employees, including we three who own the magazine. We have always worked from spare bedrooms and drawn what seemed modest salaries.

What makes this especially painful and particularly frustrating is that our readership has not significantly declined, our newsstand sell-through remains among the best in our portion of the industry, and our passion for and pleasure in the music has in no way diminished. We still have shelves full of first-rate music we’d love to tell you about.

And we have taken great pride in being one of the last bastions of the long-form article, despite the received wisdom throughout publishing that shorter is better. We were particularly gratified to be nominated for our third Utne award last year.

Our cards are now on the table.

Though we will do this at greater length next issue, we should like particularly to thank the advertisers who have stuck with us these many years; the writers, illustrators, and photographers who have worked for far less than they’re worth; and our readers: You.?

Thank you all. It has been our great joy to serve you.

GRANT ALDEN PETER BLACKSTOCK KYLA FAIRCHILD

Death Cab Sets Date For, Names New Album

Death Cab For Cutie offers a little bit of everything on its second major label album, “Narrow Stairs,” due May 13 via Atlantic.

The 11-track set lives up to bassist Nick Harmer’s earlier description of the material to Billboard: “a sampling of the most uptempo, upbeat Death Cab songs as well as some of our saddest.”

Several minutes go by before frontman Ben Gibbard’s voice is heard on the eight-minute single “I Will Possess Your Heart,” the most expansive song Death Cab has yet released. A dark Harmer bass riff initially conjures Jane’s Addiction’s “3 Days” before the rest of the band kicks in, shifting the track into atmospheric realms.

“No Sunlight” and “Long Division” are jaunty rockers, while marching-band drums, piano and vintage organ support the state-of-the-relationship ditty “You Can Do Better Than Me.”

Death Cab’s more somber side peeks through on “Talking Bird,” and the largely voice-and-guitar closer “The Ice Is Getting Thinner.”

The group has already confirmed upcoming festival appearances at Coachella and Bonnaroo, as well as a handful of spring shows beginning April 18 in Bremerton, Wash. In related news, Gibbard and Steve Fisk’s score for the Kurt Cobain film “About a Son” was released digitally this week via Barsuk.

Here is the track list for “Narrow Stairs”:

“Bixby Canyon Bridge”
“I Will Possess Your Heart”
“No Sunlight”
“Cath…”
“Talking Bird”
“You Can Do Better Than Me”
“Grapevine Fires”
“Your New Twin Size Bed”
“Long Division”
“Pity and Fear”
“The Ice Is Getting Thinner”

Mum makes some U.S. tour plans

The merry noisemakers in the Icelandic musical collective known as Mum have announced plans to return to the U.S. The band is currently touring in Europe and will hit Asia and Australia before landing in the U.S. in late April. Here the band will play a couple of gigs in New York, a couple in California (including Coachella), and a few in the South. All of this comes in support of the band’s album from last year, Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy.

Tour dates:

04.22 New York, NY: Blender Theatre at Gramercy

04.23 New York, NY: Masonic Temple

04.25 Indio, CA: Coachella

04.26 San Francisco, CA: The Independent

04.28 Dallas, TX: Granada Theatre

04.29 Austin, TX: Parish Room

04.30 Orlando, FL: Plaza Theatre

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings on Live on Letterman (video)

British Sea Power: Do You Like Rock Music? (Album Review)

Having beckoned all in with a question as banal as it is brilliant, the muscular tide of ‘All In It’ ushers us back into the skewed world British Sea Power inhabit, and ‘No Lucifer’ rears up, all brawn and gusto. Cries to “give me the dummy, tit” are surrounded by familiar chants of “easy!”, a tribute to years of Shirley Crabtree Jr’s flailing fists and the grappling wrestling prowess of family favourite Big Daddy and his belly-gutted conquests.

But, away from the belligerent knuckles that The Decline of British Sea Power waved around so haphazardly, with bloodied lip and winded gut Do You Like Rock Music?’s heavy hands are a guileful flurry of throws rather than one solid blow, recklessly flitting between the delicate, retiring grace of Open Season and their rabid 2003 debut.

Bookending the record, ‘All In It’ and its curtain-closing reprise ‘We Close Our Eyes’ are largely redundant other than to provide amiable welcoming and parting shakes. Instead, as good manners fade, it’s the calamitous Surfer Rosa hook to ‘Lights Out For Darker Skies’ that arrests attentions, darting infectiously as gusts of chamber noise break in and comfortably nestle alongside Yan’s trademark streak of Betjeman romanticism.

With Efrim Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor), Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire) and Graham Sutton (Bark Psychosis) all contributing at various legs of production – Czech plains, Canadian bunkers and the coastal climbs of pigeon shit-retreat Fort Tregantle all scaled – the modest charms of BSP initially seem engulfed by an opportunistic shift towards a post-rock pretence, as if making hollow calls to greying rock enthusiasts shifting ‘round Waitrose.

But this is their call to arms. Reverb drenches the awkward silences that once sat so starkly atop the anthemic hollering and as symphonies ring out for Slavic friends on ‘Waving Flags’ – a national anthem for those crossing eastern peninsulas for minimum wage – it’s clear the Cumbrian eccentrics have decided to open their arms to a wider audience, whether Shiraz-stained sophisticates or bopping cretins. The instrumental ode to gannet-pilfing Nordic seabird ‘The Great Skua’ most closely mirrors Open Season’s orchestral aspirations in its focus upon acute intricacies, but elsewhere strings are instead welded onto giant riffs to form crushing blows.

Rather than Yan’s rousing, Thin White Duke delivery, it is usual side-dish Hamilton’s modest rasp that contributes the defining leads, with his delirious delivery an uncomfortable brand of whimsy, beguiling as he pines on the withdrawn ‘No Need To Cry’, lecherously cooing “I don’t mind if you’re queer”.

That same uncomfortable bawl seeps in on the reckless disregard of ‘Down On The Ground’, a track that reared its snout from the trough on the recent Krankenhaus? EP alongside ‘Atom’, providing something between Clap Your Hands’ hurdy-gurdy headfuck and the Red Army Choir’s stoic roar. As gargled shouts and air raid sirens call out with Niels Bohr’s quantum conundrum causing concerns, it provides a track chaotic amidst the calm as ‘Open The Door’ tones down proceedings and Sea Power pick out their Sunday best to close.

Wired with a sense of opportunity, these little Caesars continue to play mother’s favourite rather than the ostracised gurning recluses they initially cast themselves as. Yet the trademark peculiarities remain. As with previous odes to arctic glaciers and ebbing tides, few others could bemoan with such nonsensical brilliance the loss of lives and football club records when estuary isle ‘Canvey Island’ was drowned out in 1953.

For all the rhetoric surrounding these pomped-up epic pursuits, away from Arcade Fire’s entrenched inwardness, there’s an underlying sense of egalitarian spirit and warped optimism to British Sea Power’s raucous gambol, inviting you in on the gently demented proceedings rather than leaving you a cold onlooker. Do you like rock music? That doesn’t matter. Little Richard or Richard Littlejohn? It’s all just a front, all just an invite into Sea Power’s crowded nest.

LCD Soundsystem contribute new song to movie 21

LCD Soundsystem’s newest song will be featured on the soundtrack for the Sony film 21, a movie about counting cards at Blackjack. Songs from MGMT, Rihanna, Broadcast and Peter Bjorn and John will also appear on the film’s soundtrack, scheduled for a March 21 release.

21 Soundtrack track list:

01 Rolling Stones: You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Soulwax Remix)
02 MGMT: Time to Pretend
03 LCD Soundsystem: Big Ideas
04 D Sardy featuring Liela Moss: Giant
05 Amon Tobin: Always
06 Peter Bjorn and John: Young Folks
07 Junkie XL featuring Electrocute: Mad Pursuit
08 Get Shakes: Sister Self Doubt
09 The Aliens: I Am Unknown
10 Rihanna: Shut Up And Drive
11 Knivez Out: Alright
12 Domino: Tropical Moonlight
13 UNKLE: Hold My Hand
14 Mark Ronson featuring Kasabian: LSF (Lost Souls Forever)
15 Broadcast: Tender Buttons

The Strokes help Yoko Ono celebrate her 75th birthday

The Strokes, Rufus Wainwright and David Byrne were amongst the guests helping Yoko Ono celebrate her 75th birthday last night (February 18).

Ono and John Lennon’s son, Sean Lennon, organised the party for 150 people at Joe’s Pub in New York City.

The artist and musician performed a number of her solo songs, including ‘Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow)’, backed by some of The B-52s and her son.

Rufus Wainwright then performed a song for Ono, before her birthday cake was brought out, based on her piece of art ‘Play It By Trust’.

TVT fires staffers, files Chapter 11

TVT Records, long considered one of the top independent labels in the country, axed the majority of its employees today and is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

TVT is currently home to such artists as Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz, Pitbull, Ying Yang Twins, and The Polyphonic Spree. It was founded in 1985 by Steve Gottlieb in his New York City apartment. From 2001 to 2006, it was named Billboard Magazine’s top independent record label. TVT has had a rich history, purchasing Wax Trax records in 1992, and has released albums from a plethora of artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Guided By Voices, Brian Jonestown Massacre (check out TVT’s role in the documentary “Dig!”), Autechrem, and Southern Culture on the Skids among many others.

The Clash played Shea too, new DVD & PBS special

This March, PBS stations nationwide will premiere The Clash Live: Revolution Rock, a new documentary film chronicling live performances from the iconic punk pioneers at the peak of their powers. A preview of the April 15 DVD release, this is a a real tribute to the band’s electric LIVE PERFORMANCES, and something you won’t want to miss.

The Clash Live: Revolution Rock DVD follows the live transformation of the band, incorporating footage from all phases of The Clash’s meteoric career, beginning with live-in-the-studio clips from 1979, through triumphant concerts from clubland (London’s The Music Machine, 1978) and theatres (The Lyceum, 1978, 1980), climaxing with a transcendent blow-out performance at New York’s Shea Stadium in 1982. The DVD also includes rare footage of the band’s performance on The Tom Snyder Show and on ABC’s Fridays.

WLIW: 3/1 — 11:00 PM
New York NY

WPBA: 3/1 — 11:30 PM
Atlanta GA

WLIW: 3/5 — 2:00 AM
New York NY

WGTV; 3/1 — 6 11:00 PM
Atlanta GA

KOCE: 3/2 — 10:30 PM
Los Angeles CA

KUHT: 3/9 — 12:30 AM
Houston TX

KOCE: 3/8 — tba
Los Angeles CA

KUHT: 3/1 — 5 10:30 PM
Houston TX

KCET: 3/1 — –9:00 PM
Los Angeles CA

WTVS: 3/1 — 11:30 PM
Detroit MI

KCET: 3/6 — 9:30 PM
Los Angeles CA

WEDU: 3/4 — 11:00 PM
Tampa St. Petersburg Sarasota FL

KCET: 3/7 — 2:00 AM
Los Angeles CA

KCTS: 3/5 — 12:00 AM
Seattle Tacoma WA

KCET: 3/9 — 11:30 PM
Los Angeles CA

TPT2: 3/2 — 10:30 PM
Minneapolis St. Paul MN

KCET: 3/10 — 11:30 PM
Los Angeles CA

TPT2: 3/8 — 10:30 PM
Minneapolis St. Paul MN

KCET: 3/15 — 12:30 PM
Los Angeles CA

WPBT: 3/11 — 10:30 PM
Miami Ft. Lauderdale FL

WLVT: 3/1 — 11:00 PM
Philadelphia PA

WVIZ: 3/2 — 10:30 PM
Cleveland OH

KQED: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
San Francisco Oakland San Jose CA

KRMA: 3/8 — 11:00 PM
Denver CO

KQED: 3/8 — 1:00 AM
San Francisco Oakland San Jose CA

WMFE: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
Orlando Daytona Beach Melbourne FL

KQED: 3/8 — 2:30 PM
San Francisco Oakland San Jose CA

KETC: 3/2 — 10:00 PM
St. Louis MO

KTEH: 3/6 — 7:00 PM
San Francisco Oakland San Jose CA

WQED: 3/5 — 11:30 PM
Pittsburgh PA

KTEH: 3/7 — 1:00 AM
San Francisco Oakland San Jose CA

WQED: 3/8 — 2:30 AM
Pittsburgh PA

KTEH: 3/8 — 9:30 PM
San Francisco Oakland San Jose CA

KOPB: 3/8 — 10:30 PM
Portland OR

KCSM: 4/20 — 8:00 PM
San Francisco Oakland San Jose CA

WFYI: 3/4 — 9:30 PM
Indianapolis IN

KCSM: 4/27 — 8:00 PM
San Francisco Oakland San Jose CA

WFYI: 3/5 — 2:30 AM
Indianapolis IN

KRCB: 3/12 — 10:30 PM
San Francisco Oakland San Jose CA

WTIU 3/8 — 10:30 PM
Indianapolis IN

KERA: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
Dallas Fort Worth TX

KPBS: 3/4 — 9:30 PM
San Diego CA

NHPT: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
Boston MA

KCPT: 3/1 — 11:30 PM
Kansas City MO

GBH2: 3/1 — 11:00 PM
Boston MA

KUED: 3/8 — 9:00 PM
Salt Lake City UT

GBH2 3/4 — 9:30 PM
Boston MA

WXEL: 3/1 — 11:00 PM
West Palm Beach Ft. Pierce FL

GBH2: 3/4 — 9:30 PM
Boston MA

WXEL: 3/6 — 1:30 AM
West Palm Beach Ft. Pierce FL

GBH2: 3/4 — 9:30 PM
Boston MA

WGVU: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
Grand Rapids Kalamazoo
Battle Creek MI

GBH2: 3 /4 — 9:30 PM
Boston MA

WGVU: 3/7 — 1:00 AM
Grand Rapids Kalamazoo
Battle Creek MI

GBH44: 3/3 — 10:00 PM
Boston MA

WGVU: 3/7 — 10:30 PM
Grand Rapids Kalamazoo
Battle Creek MI

GBH44: 3/7 — 10:30 PM
Boston MA

KNME: 3/8 — 9:30 PM
Albuquerque, NM

WMVS: 3/7 — 10:30 PM
Milwaukee WI

KET1: 3/2 — 12:30 AM
Louisville KY

WMVS: 3/13 — 10:00 PM
Milwaukee WI

WJCT: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
Jacksonville FL Brunswick GA

KLRN: 3/1 — 11:30 PM
San Antonio TX

WSBE: 3/13 — 9:30 PM
Providence RI New Bedford MA

KLRN: 3/4 — 12:00 AM
San Antonio TX

KVPT: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
Fresno Visalia CA

KLRN: 3/8 — 1:00 AM
San Antonio TX

WMHT: 3/4 — 10:00 PM
Albany Schenectady Troy NY

KLVX: 3/13 — 9:30 PM
Las Vegas NV

WCVE: 3/11 — 10:30 PM
Richmond Petersburg VA

WPTD: 3/6 — 10:30 PM
Dayton OH

WCVE: 3/15 — 4:00 AM
Richmond Petersburg VA

WPTD: 3/8 — 11:30 PM
Dayton OH

WGCU: 3/23 — 11:00 PM
Fort Myers Naples FL

WSRE: 3/3 — 9:00 PM
Mobile AL Pensacola FL

KPTS: 3/7 — 11:00 PM
Wichita Hutchinson Plus KS

WGTE: 3/7 — 10:00 PM
Toledo OH

KPTS: 3/12 — 11:00 PM
Wichita Hutchinson Plus KS

KSPS: 3/22 — 10:00 PM
Spokane WA

KNCT: 3/1 — 11:00 PM
Waco Temple Bryan TX

WXXI: 3/6 — 10:00 PM
Rochester NY

KNCT: 3/15 — 10:00 PM
Waco Temple Bryan TX

WCNY: 3/9 — 10:30 PM
Syracuse NY

WFSU: 3/4 — 9:30 PM
Tallahassee Thomasville GA

WILL: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
Champaign Springfield Decatur IL

KIXE: 3/1 — 10:00 PM
Chico Redding CA

MSPT: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
Jackson MS

KAKM: 3/14 — 10:30 PM
Anchorage AK

MSPT: 3/11 — 12:00 AM
Jackson MS

KUSM: 3/4 — 10:30 PM
Butte Bozeman MT

WGBY: 3/8 — 11:00 PM
Springfield Holyoke MA

KUSM:3/6 — 3:00 AM
Butte Bozeman MT

WKAR: 3/1 — 10:30 PM
Lansing MI

WBGU: 3/6 — 9:30 PM
Lima OH

SCETV: 3/1 — 10:00 PM
Columbia, SC

KFME: 3/7 — 10:00 PM
Fargo Valley City ND

SCETV: 3/14 — 4:30 PM
Columbia, SC

WKNO: 3/1 — 11pm
Memphis, TN

WTVI: 3/6 — 11pm
WTVI: 3/12 — 10pm
Charlotte, NC

Nada Surf:: Lucky (Album Review)

Band’s latest is characteristically elegant but somehow underpowered

After two stellar albums, Let Go and The Weight Is A Gift, Nada Surf has long since expunged memories of the showering quarterback in “Popular” and re-established itself as an indie-rock perennial. With crisp writing and the reassuring vulnerability of Matthew Caws’ voice, the band generally manages to be sweet but not cloying, and wistful but not maudlin. Underneath it all is the energy of a group that, for all its sophistication, still has the urge to rock, as on the joyful release of Weight’s “Blankest Year.” While Nada Surf’s newest album has elegant production touches (“Beautiful Beat”), clever lyrics (“Weightless,” the album’s best), and even gets obscuro points for name-dropping The Sopwith Camel (“Ice on the Wing”), it fails to equal its predecessors. With the exception of “Weightless,” the subtle energy that fueled earlier standouts like “Hi-Speed Soul” or “Always Love” never quite reappears here, and the stacking of one lush mid-tempo song after another starts to blunt the impact of the band’s better instincts. There’s nothing overtly wrong with anything on Lucky, but the temperature of the band’s blood seems to have dropped a few degrees. There’s a brooding and increasingly sad energy to Caws’ delivery on songs like first single “See These Bones,” and while the track steadily grows on you, it’s a hook shy of unforgettable. While never unpleasant, Lucky represents a slowdown from the roll Nada Surf has been on.

Spoon’s Spring: New EP, Remixes, Tour

Fans hungry for a taste for new Spoon material need only wait until April 8 when Merge releases the single/EP “Don’t You Evah,” a tune originally penned by the Natural History.

The 8-song EP features the Natural History’s version of “Don’t You Evah,” Spoon’s version as previously released on last year’s “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” and new song “All I Got Is Me.” Additionally, Diplo, Matthew Dear, Ted Leo, DJ Amaze and Alan Astor and newcomer Doc Delay Fixerupper all had a hand in remixing the track.

“Doc Delay Fixerupper just did a remix of his own and threw it up on MySpace. Someone forwarded it and I thought it was just great,” Daniel said “The new Spoon track just didn’t fit in with the last record … but I like putting out singles. It’s fun to find these random little B-sides — stuff that’s hard to find.”

Spoon has been busy touring in support of 2007′s “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga,” having just returned from Australia and revving up to take on London and Lisbon at the end of this month. More U.S. dates are set for April, and a West Coast tour is slated for September.

“We always do a different set list every night,” Daniel says. “We’re trying to learn some new songs, plus some older Spoon songs or covers. We’ve been partial to ‘Peace Like a River’ by Paul Simon and I’ve been forcing myself to play ‘Finer Feelings’ [from 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga'] live.”

The Portland, Ore.-based songwriter plans a long stint of time off from the road later this year to continue writing new material, though there’s no current plans to release a new album any time soon. “We’re always evaluating the recording cycle and the pace. There’s never really time to rest,” Daniel says. “I just want to make as much music as I can and, having to write the songs before I bring them to the band, that’s what my position is all about — it’s more important that playing shows.”

Daniel’s move from Austin to Portland has at least given him new lyrical and inspirational fodder while crafting new track ideas. “I lived in Austin the whole time we were getting the band going, and even before,” he says. “I’ve always lived in Austin. But when you come to someplace new, you learn to drive the streets, learn about the restaurants, bars and people I don’t know. It’s invigorating. I’m just jazzed.”

Aside from Spoon’s slate, Daniel also recently busied himself with another remix opportunity: he tackled Feist’s “I Feel It All” for a digital-only single package, released Feb. 12 online through the Arts & Crafts label. “I think that she’s kind of amazing, and it was great to be able to separate her vocals from the other tracks and just hear that,” he reports. “I just took some elements that were buried in the recording that weren’t the focus in the original release and bring them to light.”

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kV5XkBQsKU&rel=1]

Bob Mould- District Line (Album Review)

District Line, Mould’s seventh solo album, is a swell follow-up to his bracing 2005 return-to-rockishness record Body of Song. You’d think the guy’s heart would get tired of having to beat upon his sleeve all the time–but here we are treated to ten new self-deprecating, brutally honest and often (weirdly) upbeat songs from the founder of Hüsker Dü and Sugar. It’s hard not to cheer Mould on in his desire to meld electronic and hard rock elements–after all, he’s been on this track for more than six years now. What’s strange is that the best songs tend to be those that get lost in either genre rather than the hybrid exercises. One does wish that Mould would abandon that annoying auto-tune synthesizer thing on his voice once and for all. Though “Old Highs and New Lows” is so far towards and through modern MOR sound, it’s definitely one of the more memorable tunes. The exceptionally talented Washington, DC resident busts out a few guitar-heavy crunchers that will remind old-timers of when they lost their hearing seeing either of those bands live. The best of these, “Return to Dust,” should go on for longer than “Reoccurring Dreams,” but is only four and a half minutes.
(Mike McGonigal)

Davies, Sufjan Star At Tibet House Benefit

Ray Davies, Sufjan Stevens and Band Of Horses stole the show at the 2008 Tibet House benefit concert, held last night (Feb. 13) at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Davies, showing no fatigue from having arrived in New York from London at 4:30 a.m. that day, brought down the house with sing-a-long renditions of the Kinks’ “Lola” and “All Day and All of the Night.” The latter featured contributions from all of the evening’s performers.

Davies also played two newer songs from his solo catalog, “They Ain’t Gonna Listen To Me” (about being shot in New Orleans) and “In a Moment,” and added a brief a cappella rendition of the Kinks’ “Days.”

Flanked by a 5-piece horn section and a string quartet, Stevens played a new, unreleased song, “Barn Owl, Night Killer,” as well as a radically rearranged version of “The Star Spangled Banner.” “It’s one of the greatest hits of the last 300 years,” he told the crowd.

Band Of Horses filled the hall with Ben Bridwell’s soaring vocals on “No One’s Gonna Love You” and “Lamb on the Lam (In the City).” The group, which plays Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple tonight, also covered the Keith Richards solo track “Act Together.”

The Tibet House bill was rounded out by a quick set from Tom Verlaine (backed by Patti Smith Band bassist Tony Shanahan and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty), Brazilian singer/songwriter Marisa Monte, fiddley Ashley MacIsaac, harpist Phamie Gow and Tibetan composer Nawang Khechog, who is now recovered from serious injuries suffered in a car accident.

Philip Glass served as the artistic director for the event, which raises funds to preserve and restore Tibet’s unique cultural and spiritual heritage.

Second Gnarls Barkley Disc Due April 8

Gnarls Barkley has settled on April 8 as the release date for its sophomore Downtown/Atlantic album, “The Odd Couple.” First single “Run” leaked two weeks ago and is just now starting to accumulate radio airplay.

A video for the track is in the works, directed by “the filmmaking team known as Happy,” according to Atlantic. Second single “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” will have a video directed by Chris Milk, who worked with Gnarls Barkley on a clip for their cover of the Violent Femmes’ “Gone Daddy Gone.”

The group will support “The Odd Couple” with a summer tour, including a July 27 show at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl and both U.S. and European festivals.

The new album is the follow-up to Gnarls’ runaway hit 2006 debut, “St. Elsewhere,” which has sold more than 1.3 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Final tour plans announced for the Police

There may not be a more dubious two-word phrase in the rock world than “farewell tour.” How many of those have the Eagles done at this point? Well now rock trio The Police is saying its world tour this year will be its last. The long farewell will kick off May 1 in Ottawa. The band jumps over to Europe in June and early July, then is back on these shores through early August. Elvis Costello and the Imposters opens all dates. Catch The Police now before Roxanne turns off her red light for good.

North American tour dates:

05.01 Ottawa, ON: Scotiabank Place

05.03 Buffalo, NY: HSBC Arena

05.04 Columbus, OH: Nationwide Arena

05.10 Chicago, IL: Allstate Arena

05.13 Kansas City, MO: Sprint Center

05.14 Omaha, NE: Qwest Center

05.16 Orlando, FL: Amway Center

05.17 West Palm Beach, FL: Cruzan Amphitheatre

05.20 Houston, TX: Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

05.21 Dallas, TX: Superpages.com Center

05.23 Las Vegas, NV: MGM Grand Garden Arena

05.24 Phoenix, AZ: Cricket Wireless Pavilion

05.26 San Diego, CA: Coors Amphitheatre

05.27 Los Angeles, CA: Hollywood Bowl

07.11 Portland, OR: Clark County Amphitheatre

07.12 George, WA: The Gorge

07.14 San Francisco, CA: Shoreline Amphitheatre

07.16 Concord, CA: Sleep Train Pavilion

07.17 Sacramento, CA: Sleep Train Amphitheatre

07.19 Salt Lake City, UT: USANA Amphitheatre

07.21 Denver, CO: Red Rocks Amphitheatre

07.25 Milwaukee, WI: Marcus Amphitheatre

07.26 Detroit, MI: DTE Energy Music Center

07.28 Pittsburgh, PA: Post Gazette Pavilion

07.29 Philadelphia, PA: Wachovia Center

08.01 Saratoga, NY: Saratoga Performing Arts Center

08.03 Holdel, NJ: PNC Bank Arts Center

08.04 Wantagh, NY: Jones Beach Theater

R.E.M.- Supernatural Superserious (Music Video)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_We6ubpUHZs&rel=1&border=1]

Kingblind Downloads

Gnarls Barkley – “Run” (Stream) NEW SINGLE!!!!
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

R.E.M.- Supernatural Superserious (NEW SINGLE!!!)
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

British Sea Power – Waving Flags
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

The Heavy Circles – Henri
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Hot Chip:: Bendable Poseable
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Vampire Weekend – Walcott
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Radiohead Reveals North American Tour Dates

Radiohead will embark on its first North American tour in two years May 5 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Eight shows have been confirmed for the first leg, which wraps May 18 in Dallas.

Afterward, Radiohead will visit Europe for a month’s worth of shows that begin June 6-7 in Dublin and wrap July 8 in Berlin. The band then returns to North America in August for shows in such locales as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, with dates and venues to be announced.

Tickets for the first leg dates go on sale Thursday (Feb. 14) for members of Radiohead’s W.A.S.T.E. fan organization and two days later for the general public.

The group will be out in support of its 2007 album “In Rainbows,” which was first made available as a name-your-own-price download via Radiohead.com in October, and then released on CD in early January via TBD/ATO. It has sold 311,000 copies in that form, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Here are Radiohead’s North American tour dates:

May 5: West Palm Beach, Fla. (Cruzan Amphitheatre)
May 6: Tampa, Fla. (Ford Amphitheatre)
May 8: Atlanta (Lakewood Amphitheatre)
May 9: Charlotte, N.C. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
May 11: Bristow, Va. (Nissan Pavilion)
May 14: Maryland Heights, Mo. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
May 17: Houston (Mitchell Pavilion)
May 18: Dallas (Superpages.com Center)

Here are the cities for the tour’s second leg (dates, venues TBA):

Boston
Chicago
Cleveland
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Montreal
New York
Philadelphia
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Seattle
Toronto
Vancouver

iTunes lighting up London with special shows

From February 21 to March 2, iTunes will put on a special series of concerts at London’s AIR studios. The series is going by the name iTunes Live: London Sessions. And it comes with a catch. Tickets for the shows can’t be bought. They can only be won. To vie for the chance to catch the concerts, head to the iTunes Live website. That’s where you can also get full details on the schedule for the sessions. Artists who will performing intimate acoustic sets include Jose Gonzalez, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, Billy Bragg, Mystery Jets, Ron Sexsmith, and Roisin Murhpy. The series wraps up with the cathartic double bill of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Spiritualized. All of the shows will eventually be available for download on iTunes.

Radiohead approve remix album. Download available now.
After a cease and desist order, it seemed certain that Amplive’s remix of Radiohead’s In Rainbows would never see a official release. Fortunately, both sides have come to an agreement, and Amplive’s Rainydayz Remixes is now available for download.

Rainydayz Remixes features Too $hort, MC Zumbi of Zion I, Chali2na of Jurassic 5, Codany Holiday, and Del The Funky Homosapien.

Track list:

01 Rainydayz

02 Video Tapez (Ft. Del The Funky Homosapien)

03 Nudez (Ft. Too $hort & MC Zumbi of Zion I)

04 Weird Fishez

05 All I Need

06 15 Stepz (Ft. Codany Holiday)

07 Reckonerz (Ft. Chali2NA)

08 Faustz

You can download the entire album here.

Sonic Youth return to studio, New release in ’09

Sonic Youth will begin work on a new studio album soon, with a release date tentatively pencilled in for early 2009.

Speaking after a show in New York on Friday night, Thurston Moore told NME.com that while the band have been keeping out of each other’s way of late, they will reconvene soon to begin work on studio album 16:

“We haven’t gotten together in about four months,” said Moore.

“We’ve been taking a nice sort of break, which is good. I’ve been actually able to escape into the basement. We’re going to Australia next week for about two weeks then we’ll come back and start writing.”

Thurston will be in Austin, Texas at South By South West next month with Awesome Color, Tall Firs and Kevin Shields; all acts from his Ecstatic Peace label.

The Helio Sequence: Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Album Review)

If the four-year break since Love And Distance seems excessive, it wasn’t because Brandon Summer and Benjamin Weikel were dicking around their hometown of Portland, self-indulgently crafting this non-epic follow-up. Summers’s hard-living ways on tour led to a near total shutdown of his voice, and after a Rocky-like routine of reconditioning, the electro-pop duo return stronger and more on target. It’s brilliant news for Sup Pop, who’d love nothing more than to fill their aching Postal Service void and get those TV soundtrack deals renewed.

Much of Keep Your Eyes Ahead, like the softly plucked Shed Your Love or the Dylanesque Broken Afternoon, could easily backdrop drippy TV dramas, but that isn’t necessarily a knock. Both are beautiful tunes. Hallelujah and Back To This, similarly, have huge crossover potential, the former recalling the guitar pop focus of Modest Mouse’s Good News record. Get thee to a Grey’s Anatomy episode.

Yoko Ono sues singer for being called Lennon

John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono has suddenly decided to sue US singer Lennon Murphy for performing under the name Lennon.

Murphy, who has been performing under the name Lennon for eight years, was named after Ono’s late husband, and former Beatle singer, John Lennon.

According to TMZ.com, Murphy even successfully registered the stagename as a trademark in 2003 – consulting Ono early on in her career about using it to perform under even though, as it’s her legal name, she didn’t need to.

Ono apparently made no objection at the time but is now stating that Murphy “fraudulently” registered the name as a trademark.

She also added that Murphy’s use of late husband John Lennon’s name is “tarnishment” towards the deceased member.

Julian Lennon, son of the former Beatle and his first wife, has posted a statement from Murphy on hisMySpace stating he doesn’t have a problem with the singer using his father’s name.

Above the posting he states: “She has my full support.”

EMI to release Radiohead greatest hits; band not all that keen on the idea

Nothing says groundbreaking, credible rock band like a nicely packaged greatest hits collection. A group of artists who spent years developing their craft should have absolutely no problem with all of their most accessible material being crammed onto one disc, so value shoppers can get all the hit singles without having to worry about the songs’ context. This of course, is how the concept of a greatest hits album works in Bizarro world. In our universe, a band like Radiohead is somewhat less than jazzed that their albums are going to be cut apart and reconstituted by the corporate label they left last year. While a band with a catalog as diverse as Radiohead’s certainly deserves a retrospective at some point, it’s a given that they wouldn’t want it to come from EMI. No matter what Radiohead’s feelings are on the subject, however, EMI is within their rights and will likely release the album to coincide with the band’s North American tour. Venues for the concerts, scheduled to take place this spring, should be announced later this week.

You Know I’m No Good/Rehab (Grammys Video)

Kanye West: Stronger/Hey Mama (Grammys Video)

TV Writer’s strike is over?!!

A deal has been struck between the major media companies and the Writers Guild of America to end the writers’ strike, former Walt Disney chief executive Michael Eisner revealed on CNBC.

“It’s over,” Eisner said. “They made the deal, they shook hands on the deal. It’s going on Saturday to the writers in general.”

Eisner, speaking live on CNBC’s “Fast Money,” seemed to hesitate initially about whether it was possible that the writers could still reject the agreement, but finally suggested the deal’s acceptance was inevitable.

“A deal has been made, and they’ll be back to work very soon,” Eisner said, adding, “I know a deal’s been made. I know it’s over.”

Eisner did not elaborate on terms of the agreement. He said he expects most of the media companies affected by the strike to have “small” write-downs as a result of the deal. Eisner said the deal was struck last Friday.

As a result of studio cutbacks, however, many of the writers who went on strike are unlikely to return to the same big-money contracts they’d had as individuals with the studios, Eisner said.
(via CNBC)

Grammys Confirm Winehouse Satellite Performance

As expected, Amy Winehouse will perform during Sunday’s Grammy Awards via satellite from a London studio, organizers announced today (Feb. 8). The artist, who has recently spent time in rehab, was denied a visa to travel to the Los Angeles ceremony by the American Embassy in London.

“I’m raring to go and really excited to be performing at my first Grammy Awards,” Winehouse says in a statement. “I’d like to thank everyone for their support over the last couple of weeks. I’m really sorry I can’t be there but I appreciate that I’m being given a second chance via satellite. “

Also new to the Grammy performance roster is Kanye West, who leads the field with eight nominations, John Mayer and BeBe Winans. Dierks Bentley, Cuba Gooding Jr., Carole King, Roselyn Sanchez, Usher and will.i.am are new to the roster of presenters.

Other performers include Beyonce with Tina Turner, Kid Rock, Eldar, Dave Koz, Keely Smith, Fergie with John Legend, Rihanna, Josh Groban with Andrea Bocelli, Feist, Foo Fighters with John Paul Jones, Alicia Keys, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige.

Akon, Tony Bennett, Cher, Nelly Furtado, Quincy Jones, Prince, Ringo Starr, Dave Stewart, Taylor Swift, Stevie Wonder, Tom Hanks, Joe Mantegna, Jason Bateman will pres

Jenny Lewis preps second solo LP, makes friends

Jenny Lewis is at work on a new solo album, and according to early reports, the operative word is – well, it’s not “solo.” Entertainment Weekly has the scoop, and the scoop has Lewis being joined in the studio by a plethora of guest vocalists and collaborators, ranging from Johnathan Rice to Zooey Deschanel to Chris Robinson to M. Ward to – consider us intrigued – Elvis Costello.

They further report that “A source who has heard the recordings said: ‘It all sounds super natural, nice, and simple. Like it doesn’t belong in any decade. It’s just timeless.’” Compared to the bad Fleetwood Mac covers band into which Rilo Kiley seems aggressively determined to morph, “timeless” sounds like a divergence worthy of our anticipation.

Hot Chip:: Made in the Dark (Album Review)

“Every time that we walk the streets, I try my best to keep up with the beat,” runs the verse to “We’re Looking for a Lot of Love,” the fifth track off Hot Chip’s third studio album. It’s familiar turf for frontman Al Taylor, who made his name grinding complex emotional equations – from sex to love to growing up – to one common denominator. In Hot Chip’s world, strobe-lit and neon-hued, the dance floor is both a battleground and a stage; it’s the all-encompassing metaphor.

Two years ago, around the time an earlier album, “The Warning” was released, the five-piece band – drums, guitar, bass, keys, vocals – had a finickier relationship with this sort of stuff. Hot Chip made pop music first and let the club DJs dish out the glitchy, bass-heavy remixes. “Made in the Dark,” by contrast, announces its intent early: it’s straight electro, with a naked disdain for the minor key.

Opener “Out at the Pictures,” which Hot Chip has been playing live since at least last year, skitters, madly, across a bass-heavy backbeat. On “Ready for the Floor,” pop is a touchstone, but the backbone – the real heart of the matter – is a Casiotone vamp. Even the wry “Don’t Dance,” a traffic jam of slinky synth riffs, demands precisely the opposite. “If you remember not to tread with caution,” Taylor boasts at the outset, “I’ll make your body speak in full distortion.”
[Matthew Shaer]

Beck has revealed that lyrics from some of his most famous tracks were nonsense.

The star admits that many songs – including ‘The New Pollution’ and ‘Devil’s Haircut’ – featured “scratch” vocals – lines the star recorded during initial recordings of the songs to fill in blanks, that theoretically should have been replaced later on.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, the singer explained that most of the vocal parts on his 1996 album ‘Odelay’ were ad-libbed.

“Most of the vocals on the record were scratch vocals,” he said. “We just grew attached to them.”

The lyrics Beck referred to include the lines, “Heads are hanging from the garbage man trees/Mouthwash jukebox gasoline” from ‘Devil’s Haircut’, and, “She’s got cigarette on each arm/She’s got the lily-white cavity crazes/She’s got a carburettor tied to the moon/Pink eyes looking to the food of the ages” from ‘The New Pollution’ .
Beck has revealed that lyrics from some of his most famous tracks were nonsense.

The star admits that many songs – including ‘The New Pollution’ and ‘Devil’s Haircut’ – featured “scratch” vocals – lines the star recorded during initial recordings of the songs to fill in blanks, that theoretically should have been replaced later on.

Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner’s album to have ’60s’ vibe

Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner and The Rascals’ Miles Kane’s album is set to have a “60s” sound to it.

James Ford, who produced the album, told BBC 6Music that the album – a joint effort by the two musicians – also said that the sound was quite a departure from Arctic Monkeys.

“It’s quite different sounding than the Arctics’ I think,” he said. “It’s kind of ‘Sixties-y’ and there’s a lot of orchestration and stuff.”

Alex Turner and Miles Kane recorded the album in France last summer after becoming friends when their bands toured together.

Metallica, Pearl Jam, Kanye Set For Bonnaroo

The seventh annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival has rolled out its most diverse lineup yet for 2008, with Metallica, Pearl Jam, Kanye West, Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson and My Morning Jacket among the acts on the bill for the June 12-15 event in Manchester, Tenn.

And rumors of a Led Zeppelin appearance at Bonnaroo are true (sort of), with all-female Zeppelin cover band Lez Zeppelin set to take the stage.

Other artists include the Allman Brothers Band, B.B. King, M.I.A., Drive-By Truckers, Phil Lesh & Friends, Death Cab For Cutie, Vampire Weekend, Levon Helm, the Raconteurs and Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. Bonnaroo’s Comedy Tent will host Janeane Garofalo, Zach Galifianakis, Mike Birbiglia, Jim Norton, Brian Posehn and David Cross.

The final Bonnaroo 2008 lineup will total more than 100 bands and 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days. Tickets go on sale exclusively through Bonnaroo.com on Feb. 16 at noon.

“I actually feel like it’s one of our strongest lineups to date and it strengthens our diversity within our programming,” Superfly Productions president Jonathan Mayers said. Superfly and A.C. Entertainment are co-producers of Bonnaroo. “I know we still have a lot more to add, too, so I’m excited about it and feel like we’re going to have a very successful year.”

As to the wide-ranging stylistic nature of this year’s bill, Mayers says it appeals to the diverse tastes of music fans today, much as hosting Tool, the Police, Dierks Bentley, White Stripes and Ralph Stanley did last year. “That’s a real testament to music and the diversity of people’s interest,” says Mayers. “We’re in a position to help introduce people to new things and hopefully the audience is open-minded and will discover what’s out there.”

This year, Bonnaroo is offering ticket buyers the option to purchase a commemorative DVD of the 2008 festival that will be sent to them in December. These DVDs will feature exclusive performances and backstage footage from the upcoming event, in a 5.1 audio mix created from Bonnaroo’s soundboard recordings.

Located on 700 acres of farmland (which Bonnaroo purchased last year) about 60 miles south of Nashville, Bonnaroo is the top-grossing North American festival, taking in an estimated $18 million in ticket sales last year. Bonnaroo is also a three-time winner of the Top Festival award at the annual Billboard Touring Awards.

Here are confirmed artists for the 2008 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival:

Pearl Jam
Metallica
Jack Johnson
Kanye West
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Phil Lesh & Friends
My Morning Jacket
The Allman Brothers Band
The Raconteurs
Willie Nelson
Death Cab For Cutie
B.B. King
Sigur Ros
Levon Helm and the Ramble on the Road
Ben Folds
O.A.R.
The Bluegrass Allstars feat. Luke Bulla, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Bryan Sutton
M.I.A.
Umphrey’s McGee
Iron & Wine
Yonder Mountain String Band
Swell Season
Talib Kweli
Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi’s Soul Stew Revival
Broken Social Scene
Robert Randolph Gospel Show
Rilo Kiley
Gogel Bordello
Mastodon
Lupe Fiasco
Against Me!
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
Pat Green
Ozomatli
Tegan & Sara
Solomon Burke
Drive-By Truckers
!!!
The Avett Brothers
Israel Vibrations
Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck
Phil Lesh / Larry Campbell / Jackie Green
Aimee Mann
Ladytron
The Fiery Furnaces
Orchestra Baobab
Ghostland Observatory
Jose Gonzalez
Dark Star Orchestra
Minus The Bear
Donavon Frankenreiter
Lez Zeppelin
State Radio
Battles
Jakob Dylan
Two Gallants
The Sword
Vampire Weekend
Little Feat
Nicole Atkins
The Felice Brothers
Mason Jennings
MGMT
The Lee Boys
Black Kids
Serena Ryder
Steel Train
Grupo Fantasma
Back Door Slam

Bonnaroo Comedy:
Bonnaroo Late Night Chat About with David Cross
Janeane Garofalo
Zach Galifianakis
Jim Norton
Brian Posehn
Mike Birbiglia
John Mulaney
Michelle Buteau

Breeders birth North American tour dates

Mile markers continue to be added to the Breeders’ comeback trail. We’ve known for a while that the band’s new album, Mountain Battles, is set for an April 8 release via 4AD and that the band would make an appearance at Coachella. Now the Deal Sisters-led group has a fully fleshed out North American tour itinerary. After stops at a Canadian music festival and South by Southwest, The Breeders head to Europe. Then the band is back on these shores for Coachella and beyond.

North American tour dates:

03.05 Toronto, ON: Canadian Music Week

03.12-16 Austin, TX: SXSW

04.25 Indio, CA: Coachella

04.28 San Diego, CA: Canes

04.29 Los Angeles, CA: El Rey

04.30 San Francisco, CA: Slim’s

05.02 Las Vegas, NV: House of Blues

05.03 Tempe, AZ: Clubhouse

05.05 Austin, TX: Emo’s

05.06 Dallas, TX: House of Blues

05.07 Houston, TX: Meridian

05.09 Lawrence, KS: Bottleneck

05.10 St. Louis, IL: Pops

05.23 Vancouver, BC: Richard’s on Richards

05.24 George, WA: Sasquatch!

05.25 Portland, OR: Berbatti’s Pan

05.27 Salt Lake City, UT: Depot

05.28 Denver, CO: Ogden Theatre

05.30 Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue

05.31 Chicago, IL: Metro

06.01 Detroit, MI: Magic Stick

06.03 Cleveland, OH: House of Blues

06.04 Northampton, MA: Pearl Street

06.05 Boston, MA: Paradise

06.07 New Haven, CT: Toad’s Place

06.08 Philadelphia, PA: Theatre of Living Arts

06.10 New York, NY: Webster Hall

06.11 Washington, DC: 9:30 Club

06.13 Atlanta, GA: The Loft

Vedder, Young Grace ‘Body Of War’ Soundtrack

Tracks from Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Neil Young, Bright Eyes, Serj Tankian and Tom Morello will be found on the two-disc collection “Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran.”

The set is due March 18 via Sire, with a vinyl edition arriving April 15. The documentary of the same name premiered last September at the Toronto International Film Festival and will roll out to additional markets in the coming months.

As previously reported, “Body of War” chronicles the travails of Tomas Young, who was paralyzed by a bullet during his first week of military service in Iraq. Vedder was inspired to write new material for the film, which was co-directed by talk show legend Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, after meeting Young in recent months.

The first single from the album, which was curated by the injured Young, will be a version of Vedder’s “No More” performed with guest Ben Harper during Pearl Jam’s set at the 2007 Lollapalooza festival in Chicago.

And while the full track list is still coming together, expect to find Bright Eyes’ “When the President Talks To God” and Morello’s “Battle Hymns” (under his Nightwatchman alter ego) on the album, plus songs from Harper, No Use For a Name, RX Bandits and Michael Franti, among others.

“The songs collected here are the sounds that have helped to inspire me and keep me going as I struggle to find the strength to deal with my new physical limitations while trying to find the energy to fight when many parts of my body and brain are telling me to stop,” Young says. “Each song you hear you’re hearing because I found a meaning in it that helped focus a number of emotions and turn them into something that I hope will ultimately be positive.”

A portion of the proceeds from “Songs That Inspired…” will be donated to Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Bright Eyes, M. Ward To Rally For Obama

Bright Eyes and M. Ward will headline a free rally concert at the Saddle Creek Records-owned Slowdown on Feb. 7 to raise awareness for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

To recruit voters for the Nebraska Democratic caucus on Feb. 9, Obama’s camp set up shop yesterday (Feb. 5) at the 625-capacity club to give away free concert tickets to those who will either register to vote or sign a pledge card to support Obama. A maximum of two tickets will be given to people who are 18 and older, according to the Slowdown’s Web site.

“There were about 75 people here by 4 p.m. and the line was out the door by 4:30,” Saddle Creek label manager and Slowdown co-owner Jason Kulbel said “All of the tickets are gone now.”

Rounding out the bill for the concert are Jim Ward (Sparta) and Secret Life of Sparrows. Additional tickets will be given away to assure the concert reaches full capacity.

“We don’t want people picking up free tickets and then not coming,” read a statement on the venue’s Web site. “I’ll say that if you get a ticket you have a pretty good chance of getting in.”

The Slowdown doesn’t currently have any additional election-related events planned, but “it’s safe to say that we would like to see as many people as possible get out and vote in November,” Kulbel says. “We will definitely be looking for some ways to make that happen.”

Conor Oberst, who fronts Bright Eyes, performed in support of Obama last month at a rally in Iowa.

Public Enemy to perform ‘Nation of Millions’

Public Enemy has agreed to perform It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back as part of All Tomorrow’s Parties Don’t Look Back Series in May. This includes three shows in London, Manchester, and Glasgow along with Edan, Dr. Octagon, the Anti-Pop Consortium, and others to be announced. Tickets on sale this Friday. Oh please do this somewhere in the good old U.S.A. as well.
Dates:
05.23 London: Brixton Academy
05.26 Manchester: Academy
05.27 Glasgow: ABC1

Yahoo Drops Music Subscription Service, Pacts With Rhapsody

Yahoo is dropping its subscription music service and replacing it with Rhapsody America as part of a broad strategic partnership announced by the two companies today.

As part of the deal, Yahoo will exclusively promote Rhapsody on its site and integrate the service into Yahoo Music, though the two companies are still finalizing details on how that will be done. The two plan to collaborate on other digital music services such as music downloads.

Yahoo is the No. 1 music site on the Web claiming 23 million visitors to its music section, but only a small percentage signed on for Yahoo Music Unlimited. The company hasn’t said how many Unlimited subscribers it has.

Yahoo had announced plans to de-emphasize its subscription service several months ago while focusing on its main music site. Today’s move is a new strategy for the site that relies more on partnerships, not a move away from the music business, said Yahoo VP of video and media applications Ian Rogers.

The company also announced today that it has acquired FoxyTunes, a toolbar plug-in that lets users control desktop and Web music players and find lyrics, videos and other music info.

“We’re continuing to believe in and invest in the music business,” Rogers said. “We’re really just taking a different approach.”

For Rhapsody, which has partnered with Best Buy, TiVo and other companies in recent months, the Yahoo deal will help the company raise its profile further, RealNetworks senior VP of business development Dan Sheeran said.

“We basically have two objectives – to make the experience more mainstream with portable devices and living room devices and then tell the world about that,” Sheeran said. “This is a big part of how we achieve the latter.”

Yahoo Music Unlimited subscribers will be given the option in the coming months of moving to the Rhapsody service, which will maintain Yahoo subscription prices for a limited time.

Rhapsody, which is jointly owned by MTV and RealNetworks, doesn’t disclose how many subscribers it has. RealNetworks reported 2.7 million subscribers to all of its services including Rhapsody at the end of the most recent earnings quarter.

The partnership narrows the music subscription field down to Rhapsody and Napster.

Feist wins Shortlist Prize

It’s Leslie Feist’s world; we just live in it. She’s going to the Grammys. She’s going on more extensive touring. She’s getting even more bonkers big than ever, basically. Add to all of this that yesterday (February 4) she picked up the 2007 Shortlist Music Prize for her album The Reminder, beating out the likes of M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Burial, Justice, Spoon, and others. This makes it two years in a row that a female singer-songwriter has won the award, as Cat Power nagged the 2006 Shortlist Prize for The Greatest. Other past winners that Feist now joins the illustrious company of include Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Ros, and TV on the Radio.

Jay-Z confirmed to headline Glastonbury 2008

Jay-Z will headline this year’s Glastonbury festival, organisers have confirmed.

The event’s boss Michael Eavis had previously kicked off speculation as to who would top the bill on the Pyramid Stage this year saying he had booked a big black artist from New York.

Now Eavis has confirmed, that it will indeed by rapper Jay-Z taking the slot.

The likes of Kanye West and had also been speculated for the slot, but Jay-Z quickly became the favourite.

Yes, That Was an Arcade Fire Song in a Super Bowl Ad

A few minutes after the halftime show, something weird happened. And it wasn’t just the realization that holy shit, the Giants actually have a chance here. It was an ad for NFL on Fox, buoying its triumphant montage of sweaty dudes in helmets with the rousing strains of the coda to the Arcade Fire’s “No Cars Go”.

Verrry interrrresting. We knew these guys were sports fans, but would Win, Regine, and the gang really sell their music to Rupert Murdoch so that he could advertise his football television program?

No, no they wouldn’t.

Turns out Fox never even asked the band if they could use their song, and they certainly weren’t given permission to do so. (Gee, this sounds familiar.)

Right now, it’s unclear if anything illegal took place, or if the Arcade Fire is owed any money from Fox. The matter is currently being reviewed by the band’s camp. Though the song has been used throughout the season by the Fox Sports.

R.E.M. Rehearsal of the 1st single off their new album “Accelerate”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRDb1iDleUI&rel=1&border=1]

Xiu Xiu- Women as Lovers (Album Review)

There needs to be a global summit conference at which all the world’s bands collectively agree to stop producing any more covers of David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure.” A catchy enough song at first, the recent barrage of updated versions of the song by bands like the Used, and now Xiu Xiu, have stripped it of any charm it once had. “Under Pressure” sits smack in the middle of Xiu Xiu’s latest, but otherwise, “Women as Lovers” reveals itself as a nifty little album. Much like fellow indie-snob icons du jour Deerhunter, Xiu Xiu betrays an impressive capability to sound like different bands from one moment to the next. The hushed ballad “F.T.W.” follows closely on the heels of the Mars Volta-esque attack of “In Lust You Can Hear the Axe Fall.” Lead singer Jamie Stewart has tempered his often-jarring vocal instrument, ceding authority to his bandmates. The result is an off-kilter grab-bag of sonic experiments, with only a handful of clunkers, reflecting a newfound maturity for these callow indie youths. But fellas, please: ix-nay on the Owie-bay. [Saul Austerlitz]

From The Jam Prepping DVD, New Album

Now that they’ve got their show on the road, there should be some new product from From The Jam in the near future.

Bassist Bruce Foxton — who along with original Jam drummer Rick Buckler leads the revived version of the legendary punk/new wave band — tells us that From The Jam hopes to release both a live DVD and possibly an album of new material, and perhaps both this year.

The DVD is a done deal; the group — which also includes guitarists David Moore and Russell Hastings in place of original frontman Paul Weller — filmed a December show in London, which it plans to release in May.

As for new material, Foxton says From The Jam plans to start rehearsing song ideas in April, after the group finishes its early-year tour commitments. “There will be new material, (but) it probably won’t see the light of day until the end of this year,” he says. “We’ve got a few good ideas kicking around. We’ll see what we come up with. We don’t want to rush it. There’s no pressure from a record label or anybody. It’s a great position to be in.”

While Foxton says it’s “premature” to guess what the group’s original songs will sound like, he notes that “it’s not that dissimilar from (the Jam) from the rhythm section department” but notes that Hastings and Moore will likely bring some different influences and sounds to the mix. “It’s experimental,” Foxton says. “When we go into the studio, that’s when we’ll really see what we’ve got.”

Similarly, he’s not predicting whether From The Jam will be as politically minded as the Jam was. “I’m not sure what direction we’re gonna go in,” Foxton says. “We’re not sure who will actually come to the forefront on the lyrical side yet.”

Whatever transpires, however, Foxton says he and Buckler are pleased that From The Jam is doing good business on the road and feeding the Jam appetite that still exists more than 25 years after the original group split.

“The audience is coming out in hundreds and thousands,” Foxton reports. “Everybody is kind of a winner with this. The audience do want to hear the music performed again. There are a lot of cover bands out there playing Jam songs, so why don’t we get out there with two-thirds of the original band and play these songs? It’s more credible, you know?”

Les Savy Fav “Patty Lee” (Late Night With Conan O’Brien)(Video)