Neil Young- Le Noise (Album Review)

Neil Young calls his new album with producer Daniel Lanois “folk-metal,” and the description is pretty apt. “Le Noise” (Reprise) was recorded with just voice and guitar, but Lanois’ sonic treatments make it sound as epic as the Grand Canyon.

Young’s voice, still a thing of spectral (if highly unconventional) beauty in its high, lonesome transparency, is intimate, confiding. He’s tackling deep subjects: the death of the planet, of soldiers in inexplicable conflicts, of the soul itself as it is degraded by drugs, failed love, time.

“I made a mistake, then I did it again,” Young sings. No sugar-coating for this guy. He’s 64, and he’s in no mood for idle chit-chat or warm, fuzzy illusions.

“Hitchhiker” is a brutal litany of a life lived on a ledge, a string of bad drugs and bad decisions redeemed only by the love of wife and family. “My head did explode,” Young sings in one of his most chilling narratives.

That singular voice is surrounded by a cocoon of what sounds like a small orchestra of instruments. It’s remarkable to think that it was all made by one sonically enhanced guitar, but one needn’t know that to appreciate the sound pouring out of the speakers. Though the album is at heart a series of small performances, easily adaptable to a living room or coffee house, it has all the scope of a wide-screen movie. In “Walk With Me,” one of the very best performances of Young’s career, thick, crashing chords give way to a cascading, wordless vocal – as if a hymn had suddenly broken out in the middle of a war zone.

The album is full of those kind of unexpected juxtapositions, a stunning statement from an artist who shows no signs of slowing down.

It looks like Nine Inch Nails will be heading to a TV near you, in a somewhat unusual way. Trent Reznor is working with HBO and BBC Worldwide Production to develop a sci-fi miniseries based off of the band’s 2007 record, ‘Year Zero.’

“We are in [the development phase of] pre-production with HBO and BBC to do a miniseries,” Reznor told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s exciting. I probably shouldn’t say too much about it except that I understand that there’s a thousand hurdles before anything shows up in your TV listing. It’s been an interesting and very educational process and it cleared the HBO hurdle a few moths ago and now we’re writing drafts back and forth. So it’s very much alive and incubating.”

As Spinner previously reported, Reznor revealed that the band was in talks with HBO in 2008 about using the ‘Year Zero’ to inspire a “two-year limited series” that would be set 15 to 20 years in the future.

Reznor has apparently teamed up with a bunch of TV and film heavyweights including producers Lawrence Bender (‘Pulp Fiction,’ ‘Inglourious Basterds’) and Kevin Kelly Brown (‘Roswell’).

“BBC [Worldwide Productions] was the first to show interest and came on as the studio,” Reznor explained. “Our writer is Daniel Knauf from ‘Carnivàle’ and he’s busy with pages right now and revising the overall world Bible. It’s been an interesting collaborative effort but I’ve learned that [television development] moves at a glacial pace.”

This is only one of many projects under Reznor’s belt. Aside from his band, How to Destroy Angels with wife Mariqueen Maandig, he also scored the upcoming film ‘The Social Network.’

Just in time for the holidays, dirty-mouthed Canadian Peaches is set to bring her one-woman show, ‘Peaches Christ Superstar,’ to North America in December. The event involves Peaches interpreting the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Sir Tim Rice musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ with her assuming the roles of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the disciples.

“When I was 16, I often sang the whole musical to myself all alone in my room,” Peaches said earlier this year. “It tells an entire story without spoken text, only with vocals, in the style of a rock opera. I’m a performer, my concerts are extravagant and play with exaggerations. This project allows me to do without all this. I wanted to confront this task totally exposed, because it is a possibility. It’s a question of stamina.” Peaches added, “Performing ‘Peaches Christ Superstar’ is the most intense and powerful stage experience I have ever had.”

For those familiar with Peaches’ career, a show like this shouldn’t come to any surprise. This is from the woman whose albums are called ‘Impeach My Bush’ and ‘Fatherf—er.’ Earlier this year, as ‘Peaches Christ Superstar’ was getting ready to debut in Germany, the production was initially halted, but resumed after a wave of negative press.

That said, Peaches herself has been busy in other realms this summer. She launched Peaches TV, released a single called ‘Jonny’ in tribute to Suicide’s Alan Vega and recently made a guest on pop sensation Christina Aguilera’s fourth album, ‘Bionic.’ Superstar level stuff, clearly.

Here are tour dates for ‘Peaches Christ Superstar’:
Dec.10 — Boston — Institute of Contemporary Art
Dec 11 — New York — The Concert Hall at New York Society for Ethical Culture
Dec 14 — Chicago — Portage Theater
Dec.17 — Los Angeles — Orpheum Theatre
Dec. 18 — San Francisco — Herbst Theatre
Dec. 21 — Toronto — Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Following on from their two sold out dates at London’s Olympia this November, Primal Scream will be playing their seminal 1991 album ‘Screamadelica’ at a string of UK shows in Spring 2011.

Primal Scream play:
November
Fri 26th LONDON, Olympia SOLD OUT
Sat 27th LONDON, Olympia SOLD OUT

March 2011
Mon 14th LEEDS, O2 Academy
Tue 15th BIRMINGHAM, O2 Academy
Wed 16th NEWCASTLE, O2 Academy
Fri 18th GLASGOW, SECC
Sat 19th MANCHESTER, Apollo
Tue 22nd BRIGHTON, Centre
Fri 25th LONDON, O2 Brixton Academy

Tickets go on sale Friday October 1st.

(flash required)

Across two pairs of full-lengths and EPs into which the mainstream indie rock press thrust its winner-picking prongs, Deerhunter reverse engineered the typical fate of darling newcomers. Rather than using up its quota of inspired songwriting then veering into sonic experiments to mask writer’s block, the group began enshrouded in elaborate instrumental textures then came forth through the thicket bearing the gift of memorable pop. The next step in this pleasantly surprising path, Halcyon Digest is Deerhunter’s most accessible and best effort to date — a magical little universe where novel, distinctive sounds enliven classic pop structures.

If likening Halcyon Digest to a world unto itself seems hyperbolic, consider the opening sounds of “Earthquake.” An arpeggiated, harp-like synth part resembles the soundtrack to an underwater world in the galaxy of Super Mario. Yet it’s paired with a plodding rhythm track — suction sound on the one, drum machine snap on the three — that sounds like Massive Attack is slowly invading. Hovering atop it all, Bradford Cox’s heavily distorted vocal becomes just one piece of the elaborate architecture.

“Earthquake” ushers the listener into a record with both a remarkably unified aesthetic and many standout moments. Previewed for the blogosphere well before the album release, “Revival” is a charming, jangly jaunt that sounds like the crystallized potential of that uneven but charming singles-churning ensemble The Coral. Likewise “Helicopter,” with its crisp percussive snaps awash in the same sort of dreamscape as “Earthquake,” is a melancholy, noise pop lullaby. “No one cares for me / I keep no company / I have minimal needs / And now they are through with me,” Cox muses, but the music is less bitter than sweet. Such numbers extend the fresh and endearing sound of Deerhunter’s 2009 EP Rainwater Cassette Exchange and pair it with more resonant melodies.

Yet it is the more upbeat, shimmering pop numbers on Halcyon Digest that leave the firmest imprint. On “Desire Lines,” for instance, the group updates the classic sound of The Stone Roses, layering ethereal vocal harmonies atop spiraling guitar lines in the mode of John Squire. Clocking in at over six and a half minutes, the track reconciles the Deerhunter of new and old; it’s equal parts tight, melodic pop and stretched-out, instrumental meandering. “Memory Boy” is more emphatic, its soaring guitar riff leading up to, then topping off, the addictive refrain. “It’s not a house anymore . . . Try to recognize your son, in your eyes he’s gone,” Cox sings, and when the bright lead returns, the triumph of nostalgic gloss takes on a hint of self-consciousness. Also winning is the surprising “Coronado,” where Cox, vocal-filtered a la Julian Casablancas, sings verses while a squawking yet melodic sax intermittently substitutes for a proper refrain. It’s a daring mix that might have been a mess, but somehow sounds wildly at peace with itself — like just about every experiment on a set quite deserving of its name.

Deerhunter is not a newcomer to the peaks of indie reverence. But it has grown into the hype that was prematurely bestowed. Now a long way from its days as a relatively nondescript noise-rock outfit, it can hardly be misidentified or dismissed for say, its participation in the lamentable vogue for cervine band names. Deerhunter has come into its own, and the halcyon result is not to be missed.

(This review was written at 30,000ft in a Boeing 737)

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees are first-timers Tom Waits, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Donovan, and Neil Diamond, along with previously snubbed artists Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, J. Geils Band, Donna Summer, Chic, Dr. John, Laura Nyro, Joe Tex, Darlene Love, and Chuck Willis. (Via Rolling Stone.) In order to be eligible, an artist must have put out his or her first recording in 1985 or before. And since Tom Waits put out his debut single in 1973, that means it took him 12 years to be nominated. Weird.

The lucky few who get enough votes from industry insiders to make it into the Hall this year will be announced in December. The induction ceremony is set to take place March 14 in New York City.

This Saturday September 24th at Smarty Pants in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, WA. DJ Kingblind, DJ Teenage Rampage and DJ Self-Administered Beatdown will be spinning at our DJ night…

It’s called: KINGS OF THE VINYL FRONTIER

Here are the details,

Kings of the Vinyl Frontier is a DJ night on the last Saturday of every month for vinyl lovers at Smarty Pants in the georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. ( That means we are playing nothing but vinyl.. No CD’s, No MP3’s and No Serato.. Just 100% vinyl )

Every month our theme for the night changes. This month’s theme is: (Punk Rock Night US vs. UK) The best of US and Uk punk clash in the ultimate showdown!!

Cost: 100% free
Date: Saturday 24th 24th 2010
Time: 8pm till closing

Please check out the website for complete details and directions
http://www.kingsofthevinylfrontier.com

Kings of the Vinyl Frontier (At Smarty Pants)
6017 Airport Way S, Seattle, WA. 98108
(206) 762-4777

Flaming Lips concerts are nothing short of a spectacle, offering balloons, dancing animals, fake blood, and frontman Wayne Coyne walking on top of the crowd in a massive plastic bubble. With such a wealth of eye-grabbing visuals, it makes perfect sense that the band have released a photo book.

The collection is entitled All We Have Is Now, and of the pictures were taken by photographer J. Michelle Martin-Coyne — Wayne Coyne’s wife. She’s been following around the band with her camera for years, so the book is guaranteed to offer lots of behind-the-scenes content.

Making the deal even sweeter is the fact that this photo book is the first in a planned series. In a video explaining the release (see below), Wayne Coyne said, “These will appear every six months or so, so remember: when you come the shows, be as flamboyant and colourful as possible, and you yourself will one day end up in this photo collection.”

The Flaming Lips’ website reports that Volume No. 1 is a 10″ x 10″ paperback, and “feature events such as the annual Halloween March of 1000 Flaming Skeletons, the St Gallen Festival in Zurich, Earth Day concert in Washington DC, the 2009 New Years Eve Concert in Oklahoma City, and many more!”

You can pick up this and future editions of All We Have Is Now from the Flaming Lips’ website and at concerts.

It was around this time last year when singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens suffered a self-diagnosed “existential crisis”, imploring in a magazine interview:

“I definitely feel like ‘What is the point? What’s the point of making music anymore?’ I feel that the album no longer has a stronghold or has any real bearing anymore. The physical format itself is obsolete; the CD is obsolete and the LP is kinda nostalgic.

“So, I think the album is suffering and that’s how I’ve always created — I work with these conceptual albums in the long-form. And I’m wondering, what’s the value of my work once these forms are obsolete and everyone’s just downloading music?”

Twelve months, one album and one EP later, Stevens returns with a new 11-track record and it appears the period of discontent has not passed. In a lengthy email sent to fans, Stevens’s independent record label Asthmatic Kitty Records suggests that Amazon is devaluing the work of artists with its bulk discount scheme.

Says the email:

“So. We have it on good authority that Amazon will be selling The Age of Adz for a very low price on release date, not unlike they did with Arcade Fire’s recent (and really terrific) The Suburbs. We’re not 100% sure Amazon will do this, but mostly sure.

“We have mixed feelings about discounted pricing. Like we said, we love getting good music into the hands of good people, and when a price is low, more people buy. A low price will introduce a lot of people to Sufjan’s music and to this wonderful album. For that, we’re grateful.

“But we also feel like the work that our artists produce is worth more than a cost of a latte. We value the skill, love, and time they’ve put into making their records. And we feel that our work too, in promotion and distribution, is also valuable and worthwhile.

“That’s why we personally feel that physical products like EPs should sell for around $7 and full-length CDs for around $10-12 We think digital EPs should sell for around $5 and full-length digital albums for something like $8.

“So you might wonder why we’d ‘allow’ Amazon to sell it for lower than that.

“There are several reasons why, but mostly? It’s because we believe in you. We trust you and in your ability to make your own choice.”

A quick Amazon search shows the sprawling marketplace retailing Stevens’s latest CD, The Age Of Adz, at $13.99 or £6.99 from the UK store. Digital downloads of the albums weren’t live on the site at the time of publication.

Stevens’s record label goes on to point to alternative retailers and distributors of his album – SC Distribution, the exclusive distributor for Asthmatic Kitty Records and other smaller labels, and Bandcamp, a platform allowing artists to become the retailer and sell directly to fans – both apparently valuing his work at “more than the cost of a latte”, to steal the phrase.

It will be interesting to see the effect of this on sales, we’ll be keeping an eye on it. In the meantime, Stevens might want consider going the way of Peter Gabriel.

New video from our favorite noise pop duo.. Sleigh Bells. (Flash Required)

The Federal Communications Commission will meet Thursday to discuss net neutrality regulations that have pitted major telecoms, which want control of the flow of information across their broadband networks, against small businesses, bloggers, political actors and other Internet users who are resisting the telecommunication takeover attempt.

On Wednesday, a group of popular musicians entered the fray, joining with MoveOn.org to press the FCC to write regulations that will prevent telecoms from asserting control over the flow of information. Jackson Browne, R.E.M. the Roots, Rosanne Cash, OK Go, Moby, Bonnie Raitt and They Might Be Giants are among the artists to sign the letter. They will be encouraging their fans to contact the FCC and push the commission to write rules preserving an open Internet. Telecoms are pushing the FCC to do nothing and let Congress act instead, while major corporations such as Verizon and Google strike bilateral deals that carve up the Internet.

But Congress has already acted. In 1996, the Telecommunications Act updated the original 1934 Communications Act, New Deal legislation that prevented monopolies from dominating the means of communication. In 2002, under pressure from the cable and phone industry, the Bush administration’s FCC classified broadband as an “information service” rather than as a “telecommunications service.” It is, quite plainly, a telecommunications service, but the FCC deemed it otherwise for the sole purpose of avoiding the legislative requirement that neutrality rules be written to protect the Internet from control by major corporations.

By 2005, the phone and cable companies had begun publicly discussing their plans to subvert net neutrality. “Why should [companies] be allowed to use my pipes?” BellSouth CEO Ed Whitacre told BusinessWeek. “The Internet can’t be free in that sense … for a Google or Yahoo! or Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes for free is nuts!”

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the FCC could not regulate broadband as an “information service.” It had already ruled in 2005 that the FCC could classify broadband as a “telecommunications service.” So, following the 2010 court ruling, the FCC announced plans to reclassify broadband as what it actually is.

That’s when the telecom lobbying went into high gear. The GOP launched an attack arguing that Obama was attempting to take state control of the Internet, as if regulating broadband the way that phone lines are regulated amounted to nationalization. The telecom lobbying effort soon came to focus around an effort to pressure FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski not to reclassify broadband, but to leave it unregulated until Congress acts.

The collaboration between MoveOn and the artists is an effort to persuade Genachowski to act.

The full letter:
Dear FCC Commissioner Julius Genachowski:

The Internet has facilitated an explosion of creativity and commerce, offering unprecedented opportunities to musicians and music entrepreneurs. Due to the open structures of the Internet, musicians and other creators and innovators can compete on an equal technological playing field with the biggest companies. The result is a blossoming and legitimate marketplace that compensates creators while rewarding fans with access to an incredible array of music.

None of this could have happened without Net Neutrality — the principle that protects the open Internet. That’s why we support efforts to preserve Net Neutrality for the benefit of innovation and free expression — and urge the FCC to act immediately to ensure that the Internet is kept free and open.

As artists, we are encouraged that the Commission recognizes the importance of net neutrality. We encourage you to apply its core principles to any and all broadband points of access, including the wireless space. We also encourage you to consider the perspectives of musicians, who depend on an open Internet to compete in a crucial marketplace and express ourselves creatively.

We will continue to support the Commission on the road to achieving clear and enforceable rules of the road for the Internet for the benefit of creators, innovators, entrepreneurs and the public. However, we also feel that the time to act is now, to avoid prolonged uncertainty for all stakeholders, including musicians and music entrepreneurs. The future of the Internet depends on decisions made today, as does the future of music. We believe that Net Neutrality is the best and only way to ensure that both futures remain bright.

Sincerely,
R.E.M.
The Roots
Rosanne Cash
Bonnie Raitt
Jackson Browne
MOBY
OK Go
Jamie Kitman
Writers Guild of America, East

As Phoenix wind down the touring cycle behind their masterful 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, they’re offering fans free downloads of the multitrack recordings– i.e., each song broken down into individual files for bass, drums, vocals, guitars, etc.– for the entire album. They wrote on their site: “We want to thank you with a few presents before our last shows in the U.S. for a while. (You never know how long we’ll take to record the next album.)”

Of course, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is probably one of the most remixed albums of all time (there’s even an official collection of redos), but maybe you can finally unlock some hidden secrets behind “Lisztomania”. Or just make a chillwave remix. Either one.

Download the multitrack files here.
(via pfmedia)

Digital Music News:
The RIAA site (riaa.com) was downed by a major denial-of-service attack over the weekend, though the site recovered early Monday. The group simply known as “Anonymous” claimed responsibility, and also yanked down sites for the MPAA (both mpaa.com and mpaa.org) and AiPlex Software starting Friday evening. The raid was dubbed “Operation Payback,” and follows attacks by MPAA gun AiPlex against the Pirate Bay and other BitTorrent trackers…

Wired UK:
Infamous internet imageboard 4chan has taken down the RIAA and MPAA‘s websites in a co-ordinated DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) campaign, supposedly in retribution for similar attacks against filesharing websites.

Hundreds of thousands of 4chan users and sympathisers from other online communities joined forces to direct massive amounts of traffic to the target sites using a bit of software called the Low-Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC). LOIC offers a simple way of flooding a server with data, and when used by hundreds of users at the same time, it’s almost impossible to guard against, as the attacks are massively distributed…

Panda Security’s blog declared the action “the future of cyber protests”, and filesharing blog Torrentfreak agreed, saying: “No lawyer, no injunction and no police force can stop these kind of attacks from happening and those carrying them out love the sense of power, the sense of payback they provide.”

Reuters:
“The MPAA is aware of the illegal attack and has taken measures to mitigate the effect of any denial-of-service attack,” said an MPAA spokesman, noting the organization was able to get its site back online…

The Drums have announced a temporary replacement for guitarist Adam Kessler, whose departure was announced last week (September 16).

Frontman Jonathan Pierce told NME that band friend Tom Haslow is to play Kessler’s parts on the band’s US tour, which they are currently midway through.

However, he added that the band are unsure of how long Haslow will be playing with them for, and indicated that he is not a full-time member of the band.

Speaking of Haslow, Pierce said: “He’s a kid from New York who I’ve known for a few years.”

Pierce called Kessler’s departure “a harsh thing to accept” for the band, but confirmed that their live commitments – including a UK tour set to kick off on November 24 – will still go ahead as planned.

Radiohead have revealed that they have finished another group of songs for their forthcoming new album.

In an essay for Index On Censorship, bassist Colin Greenwood also explained that the band are thinking about how they will release them.

“We have just finished another group of songs,” he wrote. “And have begun to wonder about how to release them in a digital landscape that has changed again.”

He added: “It seems to have become harder to own music in the traditional way, on a physical object like a CD, and instead music appears the poor cousin of software, streamed or locked into a portable device like a phone or iPod.”

Later in the essay, Greenwood also admitted that while he enjoyed the success of the way the band released ‘In Rainbows’ through a ‘pay what you like’ scheme, he missed the way the music industry used to be.

“I understand that we have become our own broadcasters and distributors,” he said. “But I miss the editorialisation of music, the curatorial influences of people like John Peel or a good record label. I liked being on a record label that had us on it, along with Blur, Beastie Boys and The Beatles.”

As previously reported, guitarist Ed O’Brien revealed the group had almost completed their new album and are looking to release it by the end of the year.
(via NME)

Lately, I’ve been playing around with various music locker services, just to get a better understanding of how they work and to be able to access my (legally purchased) music collection on various machines and devices. So far, they’re all a bit limited, but it shouldn’t be long until they get better. However, the industry has always hated music locker services, and insisted that they somehow violate their copyright, even when the lockers simply allow individuals to place shift their own legal music. There’s an ongoing lawsuit over Michael Robertson’s MP3Tunes for which a decision is expected shortly. At the same time, Apple has been trying to quietly enter the market without disturbing the record labels.

Why? Because the labels have this bizarre theory of copyright that says that even if you have a music locker with entirely legal and authorized music, you still need to pay license fees to stream the music from the locker. It’s difficult to understand how that makes any sense at all, either from a common sense or legal standpoint, and the labels may have a difficult time getting such a concept to stand up in court. But I’m reminded of the issue again as reports are leaking of Google’s proposed music service, which would include a music locker component. Apparently a big stumbling block, however, is that Google wants to charge $25/year for it, and do a 50/50 split with the labels.

The labels, of course, are quite upset at such a proposal, claiming it’s ridiculous, both in terms of the total amount and the revenue share. But I’m wondering what their complaint is here. If the music is legally purchased (or is given away in an authorized manner for free), then how can they possibly demand such exorbitant rates for streaming that very same music? This is going to backfire on the labels in a big way. Their constant refrain of “pay us every time you use,” is looking more and more despe

After all of the stewing over whether or not Casey Affleck’s film of Joaquin Phoenix’s unraveling, “I’m Still Here,” is real or just an elaborate joke, Affleck has finally admitted that it is, in fact, a performance.

“It’s a terrific performance, it’s the performance of his career,” Affleck told The New York Times, referring to Phoenix’s oddball behavior, like that bizarre interview on “Late Show with David Letterman” in February, 2009. He was performing then, too, Affleck confirms.

But that performance was necessary to “create a space,” Affleck explained, in order for people to “believe what’s happening is real.”

In actuality, the director told the Times, the mockumentary – we feel it’s pretty safe to call it that now – consisted of “multiple takes, these are performances.” His intent was to show audiences what the “disintegration of celebrity” looked like without them walking in with any “preconceived notions.”

Affleck added that when Phoenix appears on “Letterman” on September 22, he won’t be in character.

“I never intended to trick anybody,” Affleck said. “The idea of a quote, hoax, unquote, never entered my mind.”

Earlier this week, Robin Pecknold reported on Facebook that Fleet Foxes have finished recording their second full-length. The band is currently mixing and mastering the album in New York and hope to post a new song or two “geologically soon.” The album was recorded in NY State and Seattle, WA by Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Band of Horses)

Sacha Baron Cohen, the man behind Borat and Bruno, will take on some serious fare when he stars in the role of Queen’s Freddie Mercury in an upcoming biopic. The as-yet-untitled film will track Mercury’s career from the beginnings of Queen to their performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium. (Deadline reports that Mercury’s final years and AIDS-related death in 1991 won’t be part of the film.) No director has been hired yet, but the script will be written by Peter Morgan, who scripted the acclaimed Frost/Nixon and The Last King of Scotland. Queen’s site and GK Films, which won the rights to use Queen’s music, and say that the film will start production in 2011.

It’s unknown whether Cohen will attempt to replicate Mercury’s vocals or if the original tracks will be used. “Queen is one of the greatest rock bands of all time, and a music brand all unto itself,” GK Films’ Graham King said in a statement. “Freddie Mercury was an awe-inspiring performer, so with Sacha in the starring role, coupled with Peter’s screenplay and the support of Queen, we have the perfect combination to tell the real story behind their success.”

(flash required.)

On October 19, Majordomo and Shout Factory! wrap up their series of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion reissues with two-disc editions of 1994′s Orange and 1998′s Acme.

Orange is packaged with the Experimental Remixes EP, featuring Beck, GZA, the Beastie Boys Mike D, and others, as well as more rarities.
Acme adds the odds-and-ends collection Acme Plus. Tracklists below:

CD1:

01 Bellbottoms
02 Ditch
03 Dang
04 Very Rare
05 Sweat
06 Cowboy
07 Orange
08 Brenda
09 Dissect
10 Blues X Man
11 Full Grown
12 Flavor
13 Greyhound
14 Showgirl
15 Miss Elaine
16 Haircut
17 Bellbottoms (original long ending rough)
18 Brenda-BX Man-78 Style-Greyhound
19 Woman Love (VPRO session)
20 Very Rare (VPRO session)

CD2:

01 Bellbottoms (Old Rascal Mix)
02 Flavor Part 1 (Mike D remix)
03 Flavor Part 2 (Beck and Mike D remix)
04 Soul Typecast (Dub Narcotic remix)
05 Greyhound Part 1 (Moby remix)
06 Greyhound Part 2 (GZA remix)
07 Tour Diary (original full-length version)
08 Explo (John Oswald remix)
09 Blues ‘XXX’ Man (Prince Paul remix)
10 T.A.T.B. (Saints & Sinners remix)
11 Attack (Detroit remix)
12 Shakin’ (Slick Sixty remix)
13 Lapdance (Benzel-Waters remix)
14 Calvin (Zebra Ranch remix)
Acme + Acme Plus:

CD1

01 Calvin
02 Magical Colors
03 Do You Wanna Get Heavy?
04 High Gear
05 Talk About the Blues
06 I Wanna Make It All Right
07 Lovin’ Machine
08 Bernie
09 Blue Green Olga
10 Give Me a Chance
11 Desperate
12 Torture
13 Attack
14 Right Place, Wrong Time
15 The Black Godfather
16 New Year (Destroyer)
17 Confused (Sansano)
18 Hell (Benzel-Waters)
19 Bacon (Techno Animal)
20 Lap Dance (Thirlwell)
21 Blues Power

CD2:

01 Wait a Minute
02 Get Down Lover
03 Confused
04 Magical Colors (31 Flavors)
05 Not Yet
06 Get Old
07 Bacon
08 Blue Green Olga (Waters)
09 Heavy (Stimulated Dummies)
10 Lap Dance
11 Leave Me Alone So I Can Rock Again
12 Soul Trance
13 Electricity
14 New Year
15 Lovin’ Machine (Automator)
16 Chowder
17 T.A.T.B. (Demo)
18 Hell (Zebra Ranch)
19 Torture (Waters)
20 Blues Explosion Attack (Dub Narcotic)
21 Calvin (Bagel)
22 Shhh

Lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven, North American fans of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The long-dormant post-rock activists have announced the dates for their tour of our continent, which will take place in February and March of 2011
.

17.02.2011 Seattle US Showbox At The Market
18.02.2011 Portland (OR) US Crystal Ballroom
20.02.2011 San Francisco US Great American Music Hall
21.02.2011 San Francisco US Great American Music Hall
23.02.2011 Los Angeles US Music Box At The Henry Fonda
16.03.2011 Brooklyn US Masonic Temple
17.03.2011 New York US Church of St Paul The Apostle
19.03.2011 Philadephia US Trocadero
20.03.2011 Washington (DC) US 9:30 Club
22.03.2011 Athens (GA) US 40 Watt Club
24.03.2011 Nashville US Cannery Ballroom
26.03.2011 Chicago US Metro
27.03.2011 Chicago US Metro
29.03.2011 Detroit US Majestic Theatre

In a move that makes for a convincing case for the slow death of the record label, agit-rockers Gang of Four are poised to release their first set of new songs in 16 years on Jan. 25. ‘Content’ — the band’s seventh album — has been entirely funded by fans who have made pledges of investment via the Pledge Music website in return for a plethora of collectable material including signed T-shirts, hand-written lyric sheets and even phials of the band’s own blood.

In a further bid to raise revenue to cover the recording costs of the album, Gang of Four also sold Walkmans (remember them?) with bootlegs of the band’s first ever gig for a mere £175 ($271) as well as downloadable memorabilia including old reviews and gig posters.

“What I’ve been thrilled by over the years is that our music still seems to make sense to our audiences, however old they are,” said singer Jon King in a statement, “and these days they’re mostly under 30.”

The new album will be the first new material from the band since 1995′s ‘Shrinkwrapped.’ Having reformed in 2004, Gang of Four released “Return the Gift’ — their own tribute album of sorts that contained re-recordings of some of their earliest and best known work.

Chapel Hill was quite a fruitful place for indie rock during the early ‘90s with the likes of Polvo, Archers of Loaf and Superchunk all emerging around the same time. While Polvo are recognized as one of the pioneers of math rock and Archers of Loaf’s ‘Icky Mettle’ is seen as one of the most underappreciated alternative rock albums of the 90’s, it’s arguably Superchunk who have had the biggest impact on music since their formation. Putting their actual music aside for a moment, Superchunk’s do-it-yourself ethics and influence has spanned so far over the years that the little record label they created to record and release their own albums has grown into something much, much larger over the years; Merge Records, you may have heard of it? The indie label who’ve just landed their first #1 Billboard release with Arcade Fire’s ‘The Suburbs’ and who are home to dozens upon dozens more important, critically acclaimed indie bands of both our generation and the last, including Neutral Milk Hotel, Dinosaur Jr and The Mountain Goats? Superchunk did that.

And then there’s the music. Their up-tempo, hook focused rock, exemplified by singles like “Precision Auto”, was doing what bands like The Get Up Kids were hailed for doing nearly a decade later. Though they didn’t pioneer this movement as much as they’ve done with their label, they played a huge part in nurturing it to the heights it aspired to then and has done now, through the steady and consistent releases of seven albums in about ten years – the last being 2001’s ‘Here’s to Shutting Up’. The hiatus that took them off the map was simply a result of priorities; some band members had kids, some ran a record company and others simply moved to a different city. They made a point of not breaking up though and did so with shows and rehearsals sporadically spread out through the years, the culmination of which has brought us here: Majesty Shredding.

Where pop-punk now is more widely known for bands who are heavier on the pop and lower on the punk, Superchunk’s influence gave us bands like Dillinger Four and The Thermals, and as such Majesty Shredding opens with a song that reminds us of everything the genre can be. “Digging For Something” is blissfully energetic, with McCaughan’s youthful vocals rising far above the ‘oh-oh-oh’ backing vocals in the chorus and the wailing guitar in the bridge, and it’s a perfect way for the band to introduce themselves to a new generation of listeners. Majesty Shredding is, if anything, lively. The term may just exemplify everything about the album; McCaughan’s vocals are upper-register and quick spoken, the guitars are noisy and, together, the hooks are plentiful. Other songs like “Rope Light”, “Crossed Wires” and “My Gap Feels Weird” are bound to the same ethics: make it loud, make it catchy, make it fun. The maturity in these songs is exactly what the current crop of All Time Low’s are missing, sacrificing it for gloss and melodies dumbed down to the point of indistinction.

Based on these credentials, it’s unfortunate that a band like this even needed an introduction. It’s a shame that the legacy of their music hasn’t sustained as much as the influence of their values but Majesty Shredding is a chance at rectifying that. It’s an album as assured of itself as you would expect of these veterans and Majesty Shredding is 42-minutes of wildly consistent, front-to-back pop-punk and alternative rock gems. It has the potential to win the hearts of loads of new fans and even if the band choose to end their recording career here (and I hope they don’t), they have a more than solid catalog to keep those fans satisfied. The thing is, despite their participation in the bustling, creative and innovative 90’s scene, Majesty Shredding might just be their best album yet.

Google is circulating a proposal among major record labels for a long-anticipated music service that would include an a la carte digital download store and a subscription-based cloud-based locker, according to industry sources.

The search giant has proposed charging consumers about $25 a year to store songs in the locker, from which they could access their music on an Internet-connected device by either streaming or downloading. Google’s download store would operate like a conventional digital retailer, giving the consumers the ability to purchase individual tracks and digital albums.

But Google locker subscribers would have the additional option of having their purchases transferred directly to their cloud-based account. And the company is seeking the right to provide each customer with the ability to listen to a full-track stream of every song once — as Lala.com did before it was acquired in December by Apple — after which the customer would be limited to a 30-second sample of that song.

The locker would also have social networking features, such as allowing users to send playlists to fellow subscribers, entitling those users to listen to each song in its entirety once. Google would make available a web-based music player and a mobile application for playback of tracks from the cloud-based locker.

Google is seeking an initial three-year licensing agreement from the labels for each territory it launches its music service, although sources say they don’t know where — or when — the service will be launched first.

The final form of a Google music service is bound to change from this initial proposal, which the company has detailed in a term sheet and in meetings with label executives. Some sources say that Google’s proposals represent “a good start,” but others say they will meet plenty of resistance, particularly on issues of compensation.

Representatives at Google couldn’t be immediately reached for comment. Many questions remain unresolved, such as how much storage capacity the locker would provide, whether the labels would grant Google the ability to provide a free full-track stream for the duration of the initial three-year agreement and exactly how — and how much — labels and publishers would be compensated for their music.

Sources say Google has proposed splitting the subscription revenue “50-50″ with master rights holders, with music publishers receiving a 10.5% share. But sources say they don’t know whether the publishers’ share would come off the top, with Google and master rights holders splitting the remaining revenue evenly or whether that share would come out of either Google’s share or the master rights holders’ share.

Google’s cloud-based locker would scan a subscriber’s hard drive for music files. Any tracks that Google recognizes as music that it has licensed would be listed by Google as being accessible to the user from their cloud-based account. Such tracks could include those purchased at the Google download store or another download retailer, tracks ripped from a CD and even music files downloaded from peer-to-peer networks.

While the inclusion of P2P tracks may get some pushback from label executives, some sources acknowledge that in order for this concept to work, they may have to allow P2P tracks to populate lockers. But they also point out that in return, the labels would probably press Google to take stronger measures to fight music piracy, such as excluding P2P sites from search results or blocking the use of apps for Google’s Android mobile operating system that facilitate P2P access.

Sources say they don’t know how much Google plans to charge for digital tracks and albums at its download store. But they note that the labels would sell Google music at the conventional wholesale rate of $7 for a digital album and 70 cents for most tracks, 91 cents for superstar tracks and 49 cents for catalog tracks. A 70 cent wholesale download usually retails for 99 cents, while a $7 wholesale digital album typically carries a retail price of $10.
(via billboard)

John Lennon’s 70th birthday will be marked by a one-off concert in New York .

Patti Smith, Jackson Browne, Cyndi Lauper and Aimee Mann are lining up to perform at the benefit gig which will be held at the Beacon Theatre on November 12.

Proceeds from the event will go to the Playing For Change Foundation, which promotes peace with music, reports BBC News.

The gig is part of a series of events taking place from October 9 to mark the late Beatle’s birthday.

His widow, Yoko Ono, has also planned two special tribute shows featuring Lady GaGa and Iggy Pop in Los Angeles during the month.

They’ve covered everyone from the White Stripes to Pink Floyd, so it only makes sense that the Flaming Lips would sign on for a forthcoming Guided by Voices tribute compilation.

Oklahoma’s favorite sonic sons have apparently tackled the ‘Bee Thousand’ extract ‘Smothered in Hugs,’ based on a new video of frontman Wayne Coyne singing the song into a microphone. Coyne broke the news via his Twitter account last week as he announced, “Spent the morning recording some singing for Guided by Voices tribute record.”

According to Pitchfork, little else is known about the still-untitled project, which is expected for an early 2011 release via No More Fake Labels. So far, the Lips are the most notable band paying tribute to the Robert Pollard-steered outfit. A collaboration between the Breeders’ Kelley Deal and Buffalo Killers is also in the works for the tribute LP, which is reportedly 80 percent finished.

Meanwhile, GBV is about to kick off a fall reunion tour. A lo-fi, limited edition cassette-only compilation called ‘Guided by Guided by Voices’ is already out with inclusions by the likes of relatively obscure acts like Chromium Bitch, Air Waves and Fluffy Lumbers.

Post-rock ear-abusers Mogwai are trading in one iconic indie label for another. For more than a decade, Matador Records has released the band’s music in North America. But when Mogwai put out their new album early next year, they’ll have a different logo on the back: Sub Pop. On their website, the band announced that the Pacific Northwest powerhouse will give the new album its North American release.

In the same announcement, the band thanks Matador and reports that their own Rock Action imprint will release the new album in Europe, and that Hostess will put it out in Japan.

Vice has made a great new music documentary that explores one of the birthplaces of rock & roll; Muscle Shoals, AL. The place Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Osmonds, Mac Davis, and Duane Allman made famous. They traveled to the internationally acclaimed recording town where host Ian Svenonius (Nation of Ulysses, The Make-Up) talked to some folks who helped establish it’s distinctive American R & B sound. This is so damned good kids.. enjoy!
(Flash Required)

DJ Shadow has hidden two new songs in random record shops across Europe and the US.

The vinyl tracks, called ‘Def Surrounds Us’ and ‘I’ve Been Trying’, have been given to selected stores in the UK and US, and also placed randomly in shops across Europe, where DJ Shadow is currently on tour.

Shadow has announced that he is to continue releasing new music as he completes it, via limited vinyl and download releases, with the two tracks above also available to download for free from DJShadow.com today (September 13) and then on iTunes from September 20.

“The idea is ‘shop-placing;’ it’s the opposite of shoplifting,” he said. “You go into a store, and leave your record in the racks to be discovered later. It’s not about being cute, it’s about passing the music along in the most unobtrusive way possible.”

The DJ also gave his opinion on the way new music is typically distributed.

“I’d rather give away free vinyl than a download, because to me, downloads are so impersonal and soulless,” he admitted. “In 2010, it has become akin to sending your dad an e-card on his birthday; no personality, no class. And from an artistic point of view, I think it sends a negative message about the worth of the music.”

DJ Shadow’s new album, currently untitled, is due for release in May 2011.

Hypebot:
Like anyone in the record and music industries, you’ve probably wondered to yourself how much it costs to run iTunes. Well, you’re not alone. According to the app developer and industry analysis site Asymco, iTunes is approaching an overhead of nearly $1 billion a year.

Fast Company:
…Keep in mind, Apple boasts more than 160 million users around the globe. At Apple’s recent music press conference, Steve Jobs explained that around 450 million TV episodes have been downloaded, along with 100 million movies, 35 million books, and close to 12 billion songs across 23 countries. What’s more, users are downloading some 17 million apps per day, and that number is growing. Asymco estimates that if this rate continues apps will outsell music downloads by the end of the year.

Fortunately for Apple, whiles those sales might be weighing down on iTunes operational costs, their more than making up in revenue from the $1 billion burden on servers. However, such high costs for a download store may provide some clues into why Apple has hesitated to switch to the cloud. A streaming service might be just too expensive to maintain.

Today, Superchunk premiered their new video for “Digging for Something” . Directed by former Daily Show writer Scott Jacobson, the video features special guests John Darnielle from the Mountain Goats, comedian Ted Travelstead, and The Love Language (described as “a bunch of dudes from LookAtThisFuckingHipster.com“).

Next month, O.G. indie label Matador Records celebrates its 21st birthday with a three-day Las Vegas blowout that the folks behind the label have dubbed their Lost Weekend. In addition to the festival, Matador announced today that it will celebrate its birthday with a massive six-CD box set called Matador at 21, which chronicles the entire history of the label.

Matador at 21 includes five CDs of remastered tracks from throughout the label’s history, and one that consists of live recordings from the label’s 1999 10th anniversary shows in New York. That means previously unreleased live tracks from Pavement, Cat Power, Mogwai, and Bardo Pond. Along with the music, the set includes an 85-page book that documents the label’s history, and 36 custom Matador poker chips. They’re really running with this Vegas thing! All this comes in a foil-stamped, linen-bound box.

Over at the Matablog, you can find photos of the box, as well as the tracklist. It’s worth noting that the Matador folks didn’t just include tracks from all the historically important bands in their catalog. So alongside Pavement and Liz Phair and Belle and Sebastian and Guided By Voices, you’ll find Dustdevils and Unsane and 18th Dye and Arsonists and other stuff that you might’ve completely forgotten about.

On the same day that the box set comes out, Matador will also release a double LP featuring all the songs on the box’s fifth disc, Matador Today. That one includes songs released on the label since 2008.

Proceeds from the box set will go to three charities chosen by Matador’s owners: Chicago’s Jane Addams Hull House Association, New York’s Ali Forney Center, and the Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. All the bands included have also agreed to donate their royalties to those organizations.

In other Matador anniversary news, the Matablog has filled in more details about the Las Vegas festival, which takes place at the Palms Resort and Casino October 1-3. Liz Phair, the Clean, Times New Viking, Perfume Genius, and Esben & the Witch have been added to the bill, and MCs for the three days include Pavement’s Bob Nastanovich, Jeff Jensen, and Scharpling & Wurster. Click over here for the full schedule, which also includes Belle and Sebastian, Pavement, Spoon, Superchunk, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, and, of course, the reunited Guided by Voices.
(via pitchfork)

Sufjan Stevens’ much anticipated new full-length, The Age of Adz, which is due October 12 via Asthmatic Kitty. This time, it’s a Norwegian radio rip of the album’s second track, “Too Much”. We All Want Someone to Shout For has the song, which is six minutes long and full of electronic blips and bloops, while still retaining Sufjan’s expressively melodic style. Enjoy

(flash required)

Gloomy post-punk pop band Interpol didn’t fare too well with their move to Capitol Records for their last album, Our Love To Admire, which many saw as a disappointment. In an effort to recapture past glories, they’re back with their original label, Matador, and describe this new offering as a return to their roots.

On the surface, it does sound more like their earlier days, but there’s something missing. It might just be that time has passed, yet Interpol are still writing variations on the same plodding song. To put it mildly, they’re not exactly eclectic in mood, sound or even tempo.

The best moments come when they shy away from their trademark wall-of-reverb blueprint and flirt with vintage glam and art rock flavours. It’s a better album than their last, and diehard fans should be satisfied, but it’s not going to get the rest of us very excited.

The XX’s Romy Madley Croft has said the band are planning to spend the £20,000 prize money they won at the Barclaycard Mercury Prize on a new recording studio.

The trio beat the likes of Paul Weller, Foals and Mumford and Sons to the prize tonight, which was announced at a ceremony in London. Speaking at a press conference shortly after winning, the band said they were still in a state of shock, though they had already made plans about what to do with the prize money.

We made this album (‘xx’) in a converted garage at our record label,” said Madley Croft. “We felt very lucky at the time to use it, but I think we’d love to make our own studio, somewhere where we can just experiment and let Jamie [Smith, bandmate] produce.”

Madley Croft added that the band are now set to throw a party in celebration of the award, going on to say that she hopes the tube strikes across London today won’t have too much of an impact on those attending.

“We thought we’d throw one win or lose,” she revealed. “Hopefully people can make it with the tube strike!”

Noel Gallagher did the unthinkable at Tuesday night’s (Sept. 7) GQ Men of the Year Awards ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House — he gave his approval, albeit qualified, to one-time Britpop nemesis Damon Albarn for Gorillaz’s victory in the Best Band category.

Gallagher told The Sun, “Gorillaz definitely deserve some kind of award — if only for having 104 people on stage at Glastonbury. What a f—— rider that must’ve been to organise — more complicated than a Big Brother shopping list!”

However he was less impressed with the English men’s magazine picking Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs as Sportsman of the Year. Noel, and ardent Manchester City supporter said, “Giggsy-wiggsy? Sportsman Of The Year? When you consider the gymnastics Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole and little Peter Crouch have been getting up to lately, that award was a bit of a sham.”

The former Oasis man was in attendance to present an Outstanding Achievement award to Ray Davies.

One man happy to see the Kinks man honoured was Alice Cooper. He said, “It was British bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks that got me into music. Ray is the man who made me want to write songs. I learned everything I know from analysing his songs.”

Another notable winner on the night was Dizzee Rascal who picked up the Solo Artist of the Year award. The recognition should go some way to make up for his missing out on the Mercury Prize on the same night.

Morrissey described the people of China as a subspecies because of the way they treat animals, and he is is standing by his remarks.

The outspoken former Smiths frontman, a longtime vegetarian and animal rights advocate, told the Guardian Weekend magazine:

“Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can’t help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies.”

The interview was done by poet Simon Armitage, who told the Guardian:

“I thought at the time it was a dangerous thing to say into a tape recorder. He must have known it would make waves, he’s not daft. But he’s provocative and theatrical, and it was one of dozens of dramatic pronouncements. I’m not an apologist for that kind of remark, and couldn’t ignore it. But clearly, when it comes to animal rights and animal welfare, he’s absolutely unshakable in his beliefs. In his view, if you treat an animal badly, you are less than human. I think that was his point.”

Morrissey has been called a racist before for lyrics in songs such as ‘Bengali in Platforms’ and ‘Asian Rut,’ and for the anti-immigration comments he made to NME music magazine in 2007.

But he’s not backing down on this one. He later said in a statement:

“If anyone has seen the horrific and unwatchable footage of the Chinese cat and dog trade – animals skinned alive – then they could not possibly argue in favour of China as a caring nation. There are no animal protection laws in China and this results in the worst animal abuse and cruelty on the planet. It is indefensible.”
(via The Huffington Post)

With most bands it’s the perennial struggle to hold on to drummers, but with L.A. rockers Jane’s Addiction, the problem has always been holding to their bottom end . And now Reuters reports that bassist Duff McKagan has left the band after just five months in the job.

Despite playing a few gigs and working on new material for the band’s first album in seven years , the former Guns N’ Roses bassist has quit after citing the age old problem of “musical differences.”

Jane’s Addiction said in a statement released via e-mail, “Hey we wanted to thank Duff for helping us write songs for our new record. We love the songs we worked on with him — and the gigs were a blast — but musically we were all headed in different directions. From here Duff is off to work on his own stuff so we wish him all the best.”

It is understood that McKagan will now concentrate on his band, Duff McKagan’s Loaded, who recently finished working on their new album with Soundgarden and Pantera producer Terry Date.

Loaded are in the process of finding a new home after parting ways with Century Media Records who released the band’s debut album, 2009′s ‘Sick.’

Matador:
Ever wanted to go to a TV taping? One where Pavement is playing? Stick around to try and meet the band? Go backstage? Watch soundcheck? Eat their food? Talk fantasy sports with Malkmus?
Ever wanted to, you know, get your lazy ass off the couch and JOIN PAVEMENT? Then do it, goofball…

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon:
Beloved indie rock band Pavement is back together after an 11-year break, and we’re giving one lucky person the chance to play guitar on stage with the band when they visit “Late Night” on September 23. Video yourself covering any of the approved Pavement songs below and upload it for a chance to play with them on the show!

# Important Dates: Submissions Period Closes: Wed. 9/8
# On-Line Voting Begins: Mon. 9/13
#
# Online Voting Ends: Fri. 9/17
#
# Winner Announced: Mon. 9/20
#
# Pavement Performance: 9/23

Submit your video now to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!

Reuters:

* Labels eager for Google-Apple battle

* Google mulling download store, song locker service

* Google’s talks with labels led by Android founder Rubin

* Labels see cloud-based music services from Apple, Google

* Google, Apple shares up in afternoon trading (Adds Google spokesman, stock prices)

Google Inc (GOOG.O) is in talks with music labels on plans for a download store and a digital song locker that would allow its mobile users to play songs wherever they are as it steps up its rivalry with Apple Inc (AAPL.O), according to people familiar with the matter.

Google’s Andy Rubin, the brains behind Google’s Android mobile operating system, has been leading conversations with the labels about what a new Google music service would look like, according to these sources.

Rubin, Google’s vice president of engineering, hopes to have the service up and running by Christmas, two of these people said.

The music industry hopes to benefit from a battle for control of the mobile phone and computer desktop between Apple and Google as both technology giants go head-to-head in a wide range of media and consumer technology areas including online TV and movies, mobile phones, software and even advertising.

L.A. TImes:

Google Inc., which is developing a digital music service, is finding a warm welcome at record companies that are hoping the technology company can loosen Apple Inc.’s grip on the digital music market with its iTunes music store.

The talks center on securing a sweeping set of licenses that would give Google the latitude to offer an array of products and services through its Android operating system for mobile phones as well as through computer browsers, said executives familiar with the discussions.

Music companies have all but rolled out the red carpet for Google, believing that the Mountain View, Calif., technology giant can serve as a counterweight against Apple, which controls more than 80% of digital music sales via its iTunes store. Though record companies collect 70% of the revenue generated by iTunes, they have bristled under Apple’s terms, which have in the past limited the prices music companies can charge, among other things….

With Android phone sales outpacing iPhone sales in the first half of the year, Google is in a position to bring millions of potential customers to the table. About 7.6 million subscribers in the U.S. had Android phones at the end of June, compared with 12.4 million iPhones, according to ComScore Inc., a market research firm.

Electronista:

The strategy rumored in the past would focus on streaming and would be tailored primarily to Android devices; it may or may not be an unlimited plan but could give users access to their music collections on phones and tablets by streaming instead of downloads. Google bought Simplify Media in the spring with what many believe is the intent to create a “locker” for someone’s music collection and grant access over 3G or Wi-Fi.

It might use Google’s current support for music previews and store links in its search results to help drive sales and could also use YouTube to its advantage by popping up ads and suggestions to buy from its own stora rather than using sources like Amazon MP3 or iTunes.

Computer World:

Steve Job took time from his Apple TV and iPod announcement yesterday to take aim at Google and Android, saying that that Apple was activating 230,000 devices a day, and adding “We think some of our friends are counting upgrades in their numbers.” Google disagrees. Who’s right here?

Jobs was slightly coy with his accusation, not directly naming Android. But there’s no doubt that was his target, espeically because he was in the process of announcing the 230,000 device-a-day figure, and Google had recently said it was activating 200,000 devices a day.

Google quickly responded to the Google accusation, telling Seth Weintraub at Fortune, “The Android activation numbers do not include upgrades and are, in fact, only a portion of the Android devices in the market since we only include devices that have Google services.”

That would mean that the 200,000 number is an underestimate of the total number of Android devices activated a day.

At a Radiohead gig at Prauge’s Výstaviště Holešovice Exhibition Hall on August 23, 2009, more than 50 fans collaborated to shoot in-the-crowd footage on Flip phones. The video was assembled and edited to make a concert film called Live in Praha, and then Radiohead themselves gave the Czech fans behind the concert film their own audio masters from the show, according to the Live in Praha site and confirmed by a representative from the band. It sounds amazing.

Download or stream the entire 25-track set, in formats ranging from DVD quality on down, for free here (the site seems to be overwhelmed with traffic, but you can also watch on YouTube) and check the trailer for the film below:

(via Pitchfork)

Sub Pop announced this morning that it has signed Shabazz Palaces, the dark alter ego of Digable Planets’ Ishmael Butler. (flash required)

Josh Homme has admitted he considered breaking up Queens Of The Stone Age after firing bandmate Nick Oliveri.

The bassist left the band in 2004, having been a founder member, after falling out with the lead singer over his attitude towards the band.

“[It] always made me nervous that it would get to the spot where the personalities would overcome the music because I don’t need a better table at a restaurant, I just want people to respect our music,” Homme told Zane Lowe in a video interview.

“I’m playing for respect and I think Nick got a little confused about the real expectation was. It wasn’t about partying. I would never ask someone to stop partying, you do whatever you want as long as you do a good job at your job because you have deserve the party.”

He added: “The rules were always there: don’t break the golden rule which is someone says they like your music so much, you’re not amazing, it’s not you, they don’t know you, it’s not that way, so don’t believe that. I don’t believe that about myself.”

Homme admitted he considered calling time on Queens Of The Stone Age after ‘Songs For The Deaf’, but found a new determination to carry on.

“I thought about [giving up] a lot. I wanted to respect what was there, but you come to a spot where you say, ‘Should some mistake really be the end of us all? Someone else’s mistake. Is that fair?’ In the split [with Nick] I found my reason to continue, to make it about the music.”

Homme added that the band will now begin work on their sixth studio album, but he was not in a rush.

“It feels like a brand new band, it feels like we can do anything,” he explained. “So we’re going to do it go to the middle of no where not record at all and just be a band for a while.”

Also, with his 2000 album ‘Rated R’ currently the centre of a 10th anniversary reissue, Homme explained the band had been surprised by its initial critical success.

“[When 'Rated R' came out] We didn’t realise anyone was paying attention yet. When that record one Record Of The Year in NME we were in Australia, we were like, ‘What’s NME?’ ’cause we didn’t know. We’re from America we didn’t know what NME was,” he said. “I’m not being dickish we just wanted to get back to the party, we wanted to play, we wanted to have sex with people. What magazine it was wasn’t the most important thing!”

Here’s a bit of futuristic nostalgia courtesy of venerable guitar slingers Built to Spill. The video is for their song “Hindsight” from last year’s There Is No Enemy LP and it finds the band playing a party for old people– but there’s a twist. Bob Odenkirk of “Mr. Show” and “Breaking Bad” directed the clip.

Built to Spill Tour Dates:
09-02 New York, NY – The Temptress (Rocks Off Boat)
09-03 New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place
09-04 Mohawk, NY – moe.down
09-17 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
09-18 Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
09-19 Kansas City, MO – Beaumont Club
09-20 Iowa City, IA – Blue Moose Tap House
09-21 Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
09-22 Champaign, IL – Pygmalion Music Festival
09-23 Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
09-24 Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre
09-25 Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
09-28 Buffalo, NY – The Town Ballroom
09-29 Northampton, MA – Pearl Street
09-30 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
10-01 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
10-02 Pawtucket, RI – The Met Café
10-03 So. Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
10-07 Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero
10-08 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
10-09 Richmond, VA – The National
10-10 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
10-11 Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theater
10-12 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
10-13 Jacksonville, FL – Free Bird Cafe
10-14 Orlando, FL – The Social
10-15 Fort Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
10-16 St. Petersburg, FL – State Theater
10-17 Gainesville, FL – The Venue
10-19 Tallahassee, FL – The Moon
10-20 New Orleans, LA – The Howlin’ Wolf
10-21 Houston, TX – House of Blues
10-22 Austin, TX – Emo’s
10-23 Austin, TX – Emo’s
10-24 Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
10-25 Albuquerque, NM – Launch Pad
10-26 Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre
10-27 Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern
10-28 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
11-11 Ashland, OR – Ashland Armory
11-12 Eugene, OR – WOW Hall
11-13 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
11-15 Bellingham, WA – The Wild Buffalo
11-17 Missoula, MT – Wilma Theater
11-18 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory Concert House
11-19 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
11-20 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
(via pfmedia)

The Sex Pistols have launched their own perfume.

The unisex scent sees the band collaborating with Paris perfume company Etat Libre d’Orange, who have licensed the group’s name via their promoter Live Nation Merchandise, reports Billboard.com.

The Sex Pistols scent, which comes in packaging based on their ‘God Save The Queen’ single artwork, is currently available in France, and launches in selected shops in the US on September 10. It is not clear yet when it will reach the UK.

The band have not commented on their latest release, but Live Nation Merchandise insisted they were “closely involved” with the launch.

There are also plans to launch a ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ soap later this year.

All good things must come to an end — and even the Pogues are not immune to the march of time. The band have decided to bow out once they’ve completed their final Christmas dates in the UK this December. Now something of a tradition, the Pogues have hit the road for a festive tour every December since the band reformed in 2001.

Formed in 1982, the Pogues — originally named Pogue Mahone (Gaelic for “Kiss my arse”) — blended traditional Irish music with a punk rock sensibility. Lead by pickled poet Shane MacGowan, the Pogues secured international success on the back of albums such as ‘Rum, Sodomy and the Lash’ and ‘If I Should Fall from Grace With God.’ Drinking problems caused MacGowan to leave the band in 1991 and his place was taken briefly by former Clash frontman Joe Strummer. The band carried on with whistle player Spider Stacy assuming vocal duties before splitting in 1996.

More recently, Shane MacGowan and his wife, Victoria Clarke, appeared in his own gardening show, ‘Victoria and Shane Grow Their Own.’ (Yes, I am being serious.)

The Pogues’ final stand will take place at:

Glasgow O2 Academy, Scotland (Dec. 13)
Newcastle O2 Academy, England (Dec. 14)
Sheffield O2 Academy, England (Dec. 16)
Manchester Apollo, England (Dec. 17)
Birmingham O2 Academy, England (Dec. 18)
London O2 Academy Brixton, England (Dec. 20 and 21)

The Drums became the buzz band of summer 2009 with the irresistible Summertime! EP, and their self-titled debut album arrived a year later with the song that generated all the commotion. “Let’s Go Surfing” is re-recorded here, boasting major-label polish and softer, more thoughtful verses, but that whistled hook is as irrepressible as ever, and as instantly recognizable as Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks” was a few years earlier. The rest of The Drums makes it even clearer that the band isn’t afraid to be pop with a capital P, and that the Drums know and love every trick in the pop handbook. The album is drenched in glossy reverb and awash in handclaps and harmonies, all of which help unite the band’s fetishes for spindly ‘80s indie guitars, innocent ‘50s melodies, and tinny drum machines and synths. They’ve also got a knack for picking singles: “Forever and Ever Amen” has some bite in its beats, but it’s still a perfect soundtrack to a summertime fling; the ultra post-punky “It Will All End in Tears” is the brisk and heartbroken aftermath. Indeed, the poignancy of summer giving way to fall informs many songs on The Drums, and the bandmembers spend as much time with tears in their eyes as they do going to the beach. They’re skilled at writing lonesome love stories such as “Me and the Moon” and joyous breakup songs like “Book of Stories,” both of which bury their sting with jaunty melodies and synth washes. As immediate as the band’s songs are, their workings are interesting in their own right. The way the Drums juxtapose the heightened emotions of ‘50s and early-‘60s pop with the often-jaded moods of post-punk and indie is fascinating, with “Down by the Water”’s slow dance haze sharing space with “Best Friend”’s impatient yelps. The way their riffs borrow equally from Buddy Holly and the Smiths shows that the jangly simplicity of those styles isn’t so far removed after all. Even when the band’s songwriting falters — “I Need Fun in My Life” and “I’ll Never Drop My Sword” are a touch too simple and repetitive compared to what came before — The Drums’ sound is still distinctive, and even if the album feels a little calculated at times, it’s still greater than the sum of its parts.

St. Louis music fans celebrated “Jeff Tweedy Day” on Sunday, Aug. 29, when Mayor Francis G. Slay officially honored the Wilco frontman in conjunction with his solo performance at the city’s Loufest. Slay made the announcement just hours before a 90-minute concert by Tweedy, a native of nearby Belleville, Ill.

Tweedy joked to the crowd that the proclamation was “the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” according to a report by the Riverfront Times. Although the mayor didn’t make the gig, Tweedy told the audience that he was thankful for the honor before performing Wilco classics like ‘Sunken Treasure,’ ‘Via Chicago,’ ‘Casino Queen’ and ‘Misunderstood.’

When the Wilco frontman told the audience, “I guess none of you have to go to work tomorrow, ’cause traditionally ‘Jeff Tweedy Day’ is a three-day weekend,” he was met with rapturous applause.

In addition to standards from his songbook, Tweedy delighted hardcore loyalists by performing obscurities like the ‘Chelsea Walls’ rarity ‘When the Roses Bloom Again’ and the Golden Smog track ‘Lost Love.’ He even broke into Uncle Tupelo’s ‘New Madrid,’ a song from the band’s 1993 swan-song album ‘Anodyne.’ Check out video of Tweedy discussing the honor below.

For a music brand that is all about innovative sounds, British record label 4AD’s 30th anniversary is one of the quietest celebrations the industry has known. But this has not stopped loyal fans of the indie bands 4AD has championed recognising that its survival is an unlikely cultural triumph.

“What I loved was their brilliant sense of art and they are still here because of the combination of judicious husbandry of the business and a very canny A&R operation,” said Mike Smith, managing director of Columbia Records.

Next month sees the release of a new 4AD album, Halcyon Digest, by American band Deerhunter, yet the only sign of such a feat of endurance for a small company working in the most ruthless of creative industries will be the little “3X” that appears at the end of all 4AD album catalogue numbers this year. Minimalism has always been 4AD’s style.

Founded as the last sparks of punk dwindled, the label was home to revered indie bands such as the Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance and the Pixies and it quickly became a beacon for adventurous musicians. 4AD was also hailed for its strong visual sense, with album covers regarded as design classics. “You could always spot a 4AD sleeve and there was a real quality not just to the music but to the artefact itself,” recalled Smith.

The label began in 1980, the year after founders Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent set out to produce the work of unknown bands with the financial help of Beggars Banquet Records. Watts-Russell, the creative force behind the label, wanted to find atmospheric new music that could be more than just a party soundtrack.

In a rare interview in 1999, he explained his motivation: “I remember being young and hearing music and thinking, ‘I didn’t know music could do that.’ That can be a feeling of a release, of pent-up tension or aggression, or just being transported through a beautiful moment or an emotional setting. It’s just something that connects. I don’t know why it does it, but it’s there, and I’m bloody glad it is.”

Watts-Russell and Kent worked behind the counter of the Beggars Banquet record store in London and picked up demo tapes from new bands. The boss of the store’s own label, Martin Mills, lent them £2,000 to set up an imprint and their new label, initially called Axis Records, released four singles under that title in the first week of 1980, but had to switch to 4AD when it was discovered an American company already had the name. Playing around with new titles, Watts-Russell and Kent amalgamated the date, AD1980, with Orwell’s book 1984 to come up with the cryptic 4AD.

Of the first four singles, Dark Entries, by Northampton band Bauhaus, won good reviews. It was the follow-up to their indie hit Bela Lugosi’s Dead and later in 1980 4AD released the Bauhaus album In the Flat Field, which topped the indie charts.

By 1982, 4AD had discovered the haunting sound of the Scottish Cocteau Twins and then signed up Dead Can Dance. However, many fans regard Watts-Russell’s chief achievement as his decision to set up a collaboration between the Cocteaus’ Liz Fraser and other stars in the 4AD stable to create This Mortal Coil, a group still seen as indie gods.

But the label’s biggest commercial hit came from a different direction, with the heavy beat of M/A/R/R/S’s Pump Up The Volume, which reached number one. It was Boston band the Pixies, signed by Watts-Russell at his girlfriend’s insistence, which became 4AD’s biggest overall sellers.

The label’s current roster features Broken Records, the Big Pink, the Nation and Scott Walker, as well as Deerhunter, the band behind next month’s release. Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox is issuing a flyer in the cut-and-paste style of his new-wave heroes from the 1970s.

Fans are being asked to photocopy it, and photos of the flyers stuck up in unusual places will be rewarded with a chance to hear the first single on the album and the gift of an exclusive track.