Kurt Cobain ‘wrote song for ‘The Ren & Stimpy Show”

Kurt Cobain once tried to get one of his songs featured in cult ’90s cartoon The Ren & Stimpy Show – according to one of the voice actors who starred in it.

Billy West, who provided the voice of the feline simpleton character Stimpy, has claimed that the Nirvana frontman showed up at the Los Angeles offices of Spümcø, the animation company behind the show.

“One day, this scraggly kid came in and said he wanted to write a song for Ren & Stimpy,” he said on podcast Nerdist, “and it was Kurt Cobain.”

West’s account hasn’t been verified by anyone who knew the late singer/guitarist, but whether it was indeed him or not who showed up, the “scraggly kid”‘s song was rejected by the show’s chiefs.

“They [TV bosses] said, ‘Yeah, that’s great,’” West explained, “and they threw it in the wastebasket”.

“Saturday Night Live” cast member Fred Armisen used to play drums in Trenchmouth, and he’s still deep in the indie universe, doing the TV show “Portlandia” with Carrie Brownstein, hanging with Joanna Newsom, and occasionally showing up on Pitchfork.tv. And now the Matablog has posted a video widget of Interpol playing live at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg in September, with Armisen introducing the songs. Check it out below.

Former Husker Du drummer and current solo artist Grant Hart is recovering Friday morning after a fire ravaged his home and destroyed some of his gear.

The fire started Thursday afternoon in Hart’s home in south St. Paul, Minn., according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, but not before it tore through two rooms and claimed an unknown amount of Hart’s musical equipment, including his favorite guitar.

Hart checked into a local hospital following the fire but was released in a few hours. Luckily, Hart’s two cats also survived the blaze.

On Friday, Hart returned to his home to begin assessing the damage, the newspaper reported. There’s no word yet on the cause of the fire. First Avenue and the Turf Club, two local venues that Hart and Husker Du have storied histories with, have both offered to host benefit shows for the songwriter.

Hart just finished a brief tour last week in support of the reissue of his debut post-Husker Du project, ‘The Last Days of Pompeii,’ a sprawling rock opera recorded in 1991 with his group Nova Mob.

The video for Sleigh Bells’ Treats standout “Rill Rill”, directed by Jon Watts, just debuted on MTV, and it’s suitably cool and creepy. Blood pours from telephones, switchblades are used as accessories for yearbook photos, and Derek Miller gets pushed out of a moving car. Fun for the whole family! Watch it below.

(via pitchfork)

Chicago’s rock ‘n’ roll shape-shifters Wilco have formed their own label, dBpm Records, whose releases will be distributed and marketed by eclectic Silver Lake independent Anti- Records. A full announcement is expected soon.

“This is an idea we’ve discussed for years,” Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy said via his publicist. “We really like doing things ourselves, so having our own label feels pretty natural to me. And, to be working with Anti- — a label that was started by a punk rock guy to sell his own records — seems like a perfect fit for us.”

Wilco became free agents after its 2009 Nonesuch release, “Wilco (The Album),” and the move marks not only a shift to the independent world for the band, but also quite possibly Anti-’s biggest coup since inking Tom Waits, whose 1999 album, “Mule Variations,” was the label’s first release. Anti- is an offshoot of Epitaph Records, the punk label founded by Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz.

A timetable has not yet been given for a new album. An Anti- spokeswoman could not be reached for comment early Wednesday afternoon. Wilco spokeswoman Deb Bernardini said the band is currently recording its follow-up to “Wilco (The Album)” in Chicago.

The Wilco camp already has a connection with Anti-. Wilco architect Tweedy produced the most recent album from Chicago soul legend Mavis Staples, “You Are Not Alone,” which was released last year on the label. At the time, Pop & Hiss spoke with Tweedy and asked the singer about the possibility of signing with Anti-, an adventurous imprint that’s home to rock legends (Roky Erickson), rock weirdos (Waits), rock elegance (Neko Case) and rock mercenaries (Grinderman).

“I think they’re pretty smart,” Tweedy said at the time. “I think they’re music lovers. I really respond to it. It’s very similar to the way I am. It’s a lot more like the way the world exists now than when I was growing up. There are less lines drawn in the sand between genres. Punk rock was a line in the sand for a lot of kids when I was growing up.”

Tweedy had hinted that the band would soon be going the indie route. In the summer of 2010, Tweedy told Billboard that it “seems unlikely that we will be under the umbrella of a major label.” Indeed, Wilco is already one of the more self-sufficient working rock bands. The band staged its first-ever festival, Solid Sound, in North Adams, Mass., last year, and will be bringing Solid Sound back to the area for Round 2 in June.

“As we reached the end of our last deal, it felt like it was time for a change, and the one thing we were certain we did NOT want to do was to sign another traditional recording agreement,” said manager Tony Margherita via a written statement. “Our discussions with Anti-, coming on the back of a great experience working with them on the Mavis Staples record, led us to thinking we might be able to come up with something quite different from the norm that could potentially be better for us and, frankly, a lot more interesting.”

Margherita will oversee the label, based in Easthampton, Mass. The label will release “all future Wilco recordings and more,” according to the statement. As for what the “more” entails, details have not yet been unveiled.

Wilco tours endlessly, owns its own studio in Chicago — the famed Loft is a drive-by tourist stop for rock geeks — and is known to fund its own recordings. As for Anti-, the label is a subsidiary of Epitaph, and the imprints are no stranger to working big albums, having recently issued new sets from Weezer and this week’s top 10 debut from Social Distortion.

Wilco has somewhat of a Los Angeles connection, as guitar slinger Nels Cline makes his home in the West, and Best Coast’s Bobb Bruno, in his bunny guise, has been known to make an occasional appearance at a Wilco gig.

Wilco released three albums for Reprise Records, beginning with 1995′s country rocker “A.M.” and ending with the electronic-infused folk-pop of “Summerteeth” in 1999. The band was released from the Warner label after recording “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” a split documented in Greg Kot’s book “Learning How to Die” and Sam Jones’ documentary “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.”

The album saw an eventual release on Nonesuch, another Warner-owned label, in 2002, and Nonesuch ultimately released four studio albums from the band, as well as various live projects. With the move to Anti-, Wilco doesn’t entirely escape the Warner Music Group system, as releases from Anti- are ultimately distributed via the major’s Alternative Distribution Alliance.

Trent Reznor and co-composer Atticus Ross have been nominated in the best original score category at this year’s Oscars.

The pair’s score for Facebook drama The Social Network is up against scores for How to Train Your Dragon, Inception, The King’s Speech and 127 Hours.

The duo are the favourites for the award, having won the best original score honour at the Golden Globes ceremony earlier this month.

They pair are writing the score for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, due out at the end of this year. The adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s best-selling novel sees the pair team up with The Social Network director David Fincher again.

All Tomorrow’s Parties presents: I’ll Be Your Mirror

curated by ATP Friday September 30 and curated by Portishead Saturday October 1st and Sunday October 2, 2011

Asbury Park, N.J.

With very special guest to three day pass holders, Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel)

ATP, who are curating on the Friday are also very excited to be able to present Jeff Mangum who on the Friday night will perform his first large public show of Neutral Milk Hotel songs in over a decade. After releasing what is now one of the most loved albums of the 1990s (In The Aeroplane Over The Sea), the group disbanded before many of those who now love their albums had a chance to see the songs performed live, so this will no doubt be a very special occasion. Please note, as Jeff has chosen to play in the stunning, but smaller Paramount theatre only people who buy 3 day festival passes get access to this show on Friday night.

Also playing on the Friday are Chavez, Shellac, Cults and The Album Leaf, with a headliner and some comedians to be confirmed. The rest of the line-ups for the Saturday and Sunday will be announced in the near future…

Friday day passes do not include Jeff Mangum’s show as explained above. Jeff Mangum will play a separate solo headline show on the Monday night, tickets for which are $35…

Woody Allen used to joke that he “was at two with nature” but decamping to Pendarvis Farm in Portland to record in a barn seems to have worked wonders for the Decemberists. The group’s sixth album, The King Is Dead, is a delight. Lead singer and songwriter Colin Meloy is steeped in British folk history (he admits to having ‘pored over’ the incomparable Dick Gaughan) but the band have turned to Americana for the inspiration for their new album, admitting previous efforts were a “little overwrought”. Meloy made a smart movein teaming up with the superb Gillian Welch, who provides duet and backing vocals on seven of the 10 tracks. Meloy said: “Gillian’s voice has enough character to stand out against my famous donkey bray.” They are particularly effective together on Dear Avery and Rise To Me with some delicate harmonies.
Peter Buck also guest stars on guitars and mandolin on three songs – sounding very REM-like on This Is Where We Fight – and the whole album sounds as though it was recorded by people enjoying themselves. January Hymn is a moving song about loss of love: How I lived a childhood in snow, And all my teens in tow, Stuffed in a strata of clothes. but the bucolic feel of the album is never cloying and January Hymn is balanced by the hopeful June Hymn. The Decemberists blend rock and folk well (there’s even a nod to the famous Raggle Taggle Gypsy Man in a riff on Rox In The Box) and the songwriting crafts pastoral and emotional imaginery into tight-knit, attractive songs. This album is an unexpected treat.

(requires flash)

Even with the past few years bringing about recent revivals for vinyl records and tape cassettes, eight-track cartridges have not had the fortunate experience of coming back as quickly. But regardless of where they stand today, “formatician” Bucks Burnett seems determined to give the obsolete format its proper place in history through launching The Eight Track Museum in Dallas, Texas. The museum, which opens on Feb. 16 to the general public, will also feature other audio formats in an attempt to preserve antiquated media.

Apparently, the Eight Track Museum opening is a big enough deal to attract Former Talking Heads members Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz—both of whom have recently released their Tom Tom Club album Genius of Live on eight-track. “We feel inspired and astonished that in our thirtieth year, Tom Tom Club’s Genius of Live will be available through a technology platform that is clearly on the rebound from obscurity to its rightful place as the transcendent format of the 21st century” the couple commented.

The Eight Track Museum’s first exhibition will be called “Conceived In Cars / Birth Of The Eight Track 1965” and will provide an in-depth look at the mobility that 8 tracks provided music listeners in the format’s early years. The exhibit will feature cartridges from all the Beatles albums released as 8-tracks, along with various artwork and rarities pertaining to the format.

Following Panda Bear’s album finally getting a release date, Animal Collective has announced a string of European tour dates. These dates come alongside the band’s addition of several acts to their own All Tomorrows Parties festival, including the likes of Big Boi and Terry Riley.

In addition to these dates, AC will be performing a number of shows in California before they stop off at this year’s Coachella festival.

California dates:

April
11 – Arcata, Calif. – Kate Buchanan Room
12 – Redway, Calif. – Mateel Community Center
13 – San Francisco, Calif. – Great American Music Hall
14 – Big Sur, Calif. – Henry Miller Memorial Library
16 – Indio, Calif. – Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

European dates:

May
13 – 15 – Minehead, UK @ All Tomorrows Parties
16 – Eastbourne, UK @ Winter Gardens
17 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
18 – Brussels, Belgium @ Les Nuit
19 – Cologne, Germany @ Electron
20 – Berlin, Germany @ Melt Wee
21 – Warsaw, Poland @ Stodola
22 – Krakow, Poland @ TBA
23 – Vienna, Austria @ Arena Vienna
24 – Zagreb, Croatia @ Pogon Jedinstvo

Rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson joined forces with Jack White, the producer of her latest album Modern Times, on Late Show with David Letterman last night for a raucous rendition of the groovy rocker “Shakin’ All Over.” (flash required)

When British Sea Power wrote “Who’s in Control?”, the rousing overture to Valhalla Dancehall, the Cumbrian heroes’ fourth album proper, the current Winter of Discontent and the accompanying outbreak of civil disobedience were still distant prospects, but – like The Specials’ “Ghost Town” – it catches the mood of the nation with eerie prescience.

“Did you not know, were you not told?/ Everything around you is being sold…” begins singer Yan, before dreaming “Sometimes I wish protesting was sexy on a Saturday night”. Looks like he’s got his wish. It’s a song which heralds the band’s most direct and least cryptic release to date, and which sees them tackling idiocy and brutality head-on.

“We are Sound” – possibly a pun on the Mancunian use of the title’s final word as an adjective of approval, possibly not – attempts to engage with someone who “can barely string two words together”, while “Georgie Ray” envisions, with a shudder, a time when “the language gets perfected to a solitary grunt”.

Not that British Sea Power are watching the cultural decline as passive spectators: on “Observe the Skies”, they issue the defiant, you-and-whose-army vow “We’ll stand against them still/ Them and all their bruiser mates…”

And they’re not haughty, highbrow, pleasure-shunning snobs either: on “Luna”, whose first words run “Are you going to the disco, hey?/ Are you hoping that you’ll all get laid?/ When there are interstellar clouds on the Sussex Downs…” they sound torn between star-watching and carousing, between the aesthetic and the carnal, while “Living is so Easy”, which transplants the romance of Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls” to the topic of the north/south divide, raises the toast “Here’s to all the dirty girls/ They’re taking on all of the world/ Accessorised up to the hilt…”

As you’d expect from British Sea Power, it’s all set in a silver sea of the kind of sublime, subtly inventive guitar rock which raises the hackles, spreads goose pimples, elevates you out of yourself. That can mean the demure “Baby” or the deranged “Thin Black Sail” or, somewhere in between, the billowing, somewhat shoegazey “Once More Now”, upon which Hamilton’s last words, at the end of a deathlessly pretty coda, are a spoken “Fuck ‘em”.

As well as being a hilarious moment, it’s highly significant, highlighting just how strongly this band are going against the prevailing grain. British Sea Power are bravely bringing beauty into an increasingly ugly world, whether that world wants it or not. They ought to be given a medal. For valour. For Valhalla!

American singer-songwriter Tom Waits will make a limited edition copy of his poetry available online from next month.

Waits, who released the two-disc album Glitter and Doom Live last year, will make a first edition chapbook of his poem ‘Seeds On Hard Ground’ available for purchase via his website www.tomwaits.com on February 22. There will be only 1,000 copies available in the US and Europe.

All the proceeds will be donated to homeless services in Waits’ local region. For more information and to pre-order the chapbook, click here.

An article in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone features some new information about the Strokes’ forthcoming album, now with a confirmed release date of March 22 via RCA. The album is tentatively titled Angles, and the first single from the ten-song LP will most likely be “Undercover of Darkness”.

Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. tells Rolling Stone that the album title represents “what the record sounds like. It comes from five different people,” meaning that all of the members of the band contributed to the songwriting process. Other song titles mentioned include “Life Is Simple”, “Taken for a Fool”, “Call Me Back”, “Radio Minor Madness”, and “Machu Picchu”, which Rolling Stone describes as “a rough wall of jangle over a hip-hop grind, as if the Strokes are cutting a Jay-Z track via the Rolling Stones’ Aftermath.”

The majority of the album was recorded at Hammond’s studio in upstate New York, following scrapped sessions with producer Joe Chiccarelli (White Stripes, the Shins). “Life Is Simple” is the sole surviving song from the Chiccarelli sessions.

The band has plans to tour later this year, but Hammond emphasizes to Rolling Stone that “we want to come back strong but slowly, so we can grow live and also make new music. We want to release albums quicker.”

Pitchfork:

“It’s that time again. The Coachella Festival has announced its lineup, and it’s pretty stacked. Arcade Fire, Kanye West, the Strokes, Animal Collective, PJ Harvey, the National, Bright Eyes, Robyn, Ariel Pink, Interpol, Cut Copy, Crystal Castles, Lauryn Hill, Sleigh Bells, Cee-Lo, Lightning Bolt, the reunited Big Audio Dynamite and Suede, Duran Duran, Erykah Badu, the Black Keys, Titus Andronicus, Best Coast, the Kills, the New Pornographers, Lil B, HEALTH, OFF!, Odd Future, and the Chemical Brothers are among the acts playing.

And: Wow. Death From Above 1979 have reunited.”

From Goldenvoice:

Coachella 2011. Music. Art. Culture. Community.

With the Coachella line-up announcement serving as the official kick-off to the annual U.S. festival season, festival organizers Goldenvoice can now reveal details for the 2011 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. The 12th Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is set for Friday, April 15, Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17 at the beautiful Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA and the 2011 line-up includes headlining performances from Arcade Fire, Kanye West and Kings of Leon. While music serves as the centerpiece for Coachella, this year’s festival will feature an expanded commitment to art, culture and community via a unique partnership with The Creators Project—a global initiative that supports leading and emerging artists.

Music: The 2011 line-up will feature: !!!, 12th Planet, Afrojack, Alf Alpha, Andy C, Angus and Julia Stone, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, A-Trak, Axwell, Beardyman, Best Coast, Big Audio Dynamite, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, Bomba Estereo, Boys Noize, Brandon Flowers, Brandt Brauer Frick, Breakage, Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, Cage the Elephant, Caifanes, Caspa, Cee Lo Green, Chromeo, Chuckie, City and Colour, Clare Maguire, Cold Cave, Cold War Kids, Crystal Castles, CSS, Cults, Cut Copy, Daedelus, Death From Above 1979, Delorean, Delta Sprirt, DJ Hype, DJ Kentaro, DJ Marky, DJ Zinc, Duck Sauce, Duran Duran, EE, Elbow, Electric Touch, Eliza Doolittle, Ellie Goulding, Emicida, Empire of the Sun, Erick Morillo, Erykah Badu, Excision, , Fat Freddy’s Drop, Fedde Le Grand, Fistful of Mercy, Flogging Molly, Foals, Foster the People, Francis and the Lights, Freelance Whales, fun., G.Q., Gayngs, Glasser, Gogol Bordello, Good Old War, Gord Downie, Goth Trad, Green Velvet, Gypsy and the Cat, HEALTH, Here We Go Magic, High Contrast, Hurts, Interpol, Jack Beats, Jack’s Mannequin, Jakes, Jenny and Johnny, Jimmy Eat World, Joachim Garraud, Joy Orbison, Kanye West, Kele, Kings of Leon, Klaxons, Kode9, Kyle Hall, Laidback Luke, Leftfield, Lightning Bolt, Lil’ B, Lorn, Los Bunkers, Magnetic Man, Mariachi El Bronx, Marina and the Diamonds, Mary Anne Hobbs, MEN, Menomena, Monarchy, Mount Kimbie, Moving Units, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Mumford & Sons, Nas & Damian Marley, Neon Trees, New Pants, Nosaj Thing, OFF!, OFWGKTA, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, One Day as a Lion, Ozomatli, Paul van Dyk, Phantogram, Phosphorescent, PJ Harvey, Plan B, Ramadanman, Raphael Saadiq, Ras G, Ratatat, Riva Starr, Robyn, Roska, Rye Rye, Sander Kleinenberg, Sasha, SBTRKT, Scala & Kolacny Bros., Scissor Sisters, She Wants Revenge, Shpongle, Skrillex, Sleigh Bells, Steve Angello, Sven Vath, Take, Tame Impala, Terror Danjah, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, The Aquabats, The Black Keys, The Chemical Brothers, The Drums, The Felice Brothers, The Henry Clay People, The Joy Formidable, The Kills, The London Suede, The Love Language, The Morning Benders, The National, The New Pornographers, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Presets, The Radio Dept., The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Strokes, The Swell Season, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Twelves, Thunderball, Tinie Tempah, Titus Andronicus, Tokimonsta, Trampled by Turtles, Trentemoller, Twin Shadow, Two Door Cinema Club, Warpaint, Wire, Wiz Khalifa, Yacht, Yelle and Zed Bias.

Art & Culture: In a major new addition for 2011, Coachella will partner with The Creators Project to enhance the cultural experience for fans. The Creators Project supports leading and emerging artists across the globe who use technology to turn their artistic visions into reality. Kicking-off 2011 at Coachella, The Creators Project will be the creative partner for the festival, collaborating with select headlining acts and curating a series of art installations on the grounds. By incorporating technology and visual art, the partnership will add another layer of creative expression to the festival. The Creators Project launched in 2010, by Intel Corporation and Vice, to identify leading artists who are pushing creative boundaries through technology and enable them to showcase their works and artistic visions for millions of fans. Additional information about The Creators Project is available at www.thecreatorsproject.com.

Community: The Coachella community goes far beyond the confines of the festival. From the online communities who interact throughout the year on message boards to the friendships formed annually at the onsite campgrounds, Coachella remains dedicated to creating a memorable experience for attendees. Some of this year’s onsite camping features include a Farmer’s Market, a 24-hour general store, a roller skating rink and free shuttle service to a local grocery store.

Three-day weekend passes, along with camping passes for Coachella go on sale Friday, January 21 at 10:00 AM (PT) through Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1–800-745–3000 and at www.coachella.com. Three-day weekend passes are $269.00, plus surcharges and camping passes are $75.00. More details on layaway, camping options and up-to-the minute information, can be found at www.coachella.com.

Coachella is sponsored by Wrigley, Heineken, Musicians Institute, H&M, JBL, Red Bull & American Spirits.

The Guardian has the clip for Mogwai’s “Rano Pano”, the first single taken from the long-running Scottish instrumental rock outfit’s forthcoming LP Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (out February 15 via Sub Pop and a day before in Europe via Rock Action). In the video, which was directed by Tom Scholefield, two drunk guys try (and, seemingly, succeed) to build some sort of machine that allows you to travel through different dimensions. Scholefield tells The Guardian that the video was inspired by 1980s VHS tapes. Check it out here.

When Ryan Dombal spoke to Arcade Fire’s Win Butler last August, Butler mentioned “a science-fiction B-movie companion piece” to last year’s album The Suburbs made in collaboration with filmmaker Spike Jonze. We saw part of that project in the video for the album’s title track. But now, Consequence of Sound reports that the full film, titled Scenes From the Suburbs, will debut at the Berlin International Film Festival, taking place February 10-20 in (where else?) Berlin, Germany.

A press release for Berlinale Shorts, the category in which the film is set to appear, states the following about the film: “Spike Jonze expands the music video into a film without abandoning the structure of a clip. The future has become reality. And the threat lies in the proximity of the military. Memories of a past summer.” (via pitchfork)

With the sort of jangly guitar work that defined the ’90s indie music scene suddenly back in style, it’s no surprise that Chapel Hill mainstays Archers of Loaf have finally returned to the stage for a moment of celebration.

While their work hasn’t had the lasting power of Pavement’s detached English Major humor or Guided by Voices’ workmanlike rock n’ roll, Archers are truly masters of the form, and they showed off their unique sound at an unannounced reunion show in North Carolina last night.

Stunning the crowd as a random opener for a local act called the Love Language at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, N.C., Archers of Loaf played their first show since 1998.

Fans have already flooded message boards and blogs with rumors of a full tour in the works, but the band’s label, Merge, has yet to comment on the reunion gig and if it will turn into something bigger.

For now, we know that last night (Jan. 16) Archers of Loaf absolutely slayed with a 12-song set that was heavy on fan favorites like ‘Web In Front’ and other tracks off the band’s acclaimed 1993 debut, ‘Icky Mettle.’ Enjoy a video from the gig below and cross your fingers for a full tour.

Arcade Fire, Florence + the Machine and Vampire Weekend are just some of the indie acts that owe much of their crossover success to the network that outperforms late-night tv.

With so many music options available to listeners at any given moment, breaking a new act is more challenging than ever. Even the perfect alignment of mainstream press and promo — say, a Rolling Stone feature, a performance on Conan or a video in rotation on one of the MTV channels — won’t necessarily add to an artist’s bottom line.

But during the past decade, one media outlet has proved to be incredibly effective in connecting a band with its target audience, prompting an instant sales bump and, most important, spreading the word: National Public Radio. Arcade Fire, Florence + the Machine and Vampire Weekend are just some of the indie acts that owe much of their crossover success to the member-supported network, which boasts an audience of 34 million, according to Arbitron, along with a devoted online following. All nabbed Grammy nominations this year, one played for the president (Arcade Fire) and another on the VMAs (Florence), and each has graduated to the opposite end of the dial: mainstream alt-rock stations such as Los Angeles’ KROQ.

“Go down the list,” boasts Jason Bentley, music director for L.A. NPR affiliate KCRW and host of its popular program Morning Becomes Eclectic. “Florence, Phoenix, Miike Snow … pick a band that’s a hot commodity, your best of 2010 — they all started here. Whether it’s getting their earliest airplay or first radio performance, we take chances.”
It’s true, and NPR moves more albums and downloads proportionately than the commercial big boys, yet labels spend millions trying to penetrate those markets. Call it “Yindie Rock,” as in yuppie indie rock, modern music for boomers with loads of disposable income.

“Open fandom on commercial radio seems to be waning,” says Keith Berman of industry tipsheet RAMP (Radio and Music Pros). “NPR is appointment listening. The devotion and engagement level is higher.”

“Pick a band that’s a hot commodity, your best of 2010 — they all started here.” — KCRW’s Jason Bentley

Indeed, research shows that 59 percent of NPR listeners consider themselves active music fans, 68 percent are more likely to attend a concert and 83 percent more likely to purchase “alternative” music. Bob Boilen, host of All Songs Considered and NPR’s main curator of new music, says the bands see the effect firsthand. “Artists tell me an appearance on NPR changes the amount of people that come see them live, and they find that, all of a sudden, people in the audience are singing along to their songs.”

“A booking on Morning Edition or All Things Considered is one of the most vital contributions to any press campaign,” says publicist Ken Weinstein, whose firm Big Hassle represents Kings of Leon and Regina Spektor. “Not only do they discuss the artists in depth, putting the music into context, they give sonic examples. If listeners like it, they’ll buy it.”

It’s almost as enticing as a late-night TV booking, and for good reason: Nearly a third of the audience for a show like Late Night With Jimmy Fallon will drop off before the band appears. “You have depth and consistency with the NPR audience, there’s something to sink your teeth into,” says Cole Wilson, former booker for the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, which no longer features musical acts. “In late-night, the artist gets no face time or interaction with the host.”

It’s also expensive. A band in a van can incur costs of $10,000 for a TV appearance, an act like Bon Jovi can run $100,000. But an NPR feature only requires showing up at the station with CD in hand. It’s no wonder tastemakers like Boilen are inundated with pitches: “It’s like someone turned on the spigot. The amount of e-mail and calls is overwhelming. But if you’re going to be flooded with something, let it be music.”
(via Hollywood Reporter)

Surfer Blood’s JP Pitts has said the band are looking to move away from their lo-fi roots on the follow-up to debut album ‘Astro Coast’.

Pitts reckons that the band’s recent distribution deal with major label Warner Bros will help them to realise their true sound.

“We never intended to be lo-fi anyway,” Pitts explained. “Our songs are all quite big songs, it’s just that they were recorded on shitty equipment, in my apartment. They were lo-fi by accident.”

Pitts added of the band’s new material that “the main difference next time around will be that I won’t be recording the entire thing in my apartment”.

The band haven’t started recording their new album yet, so it isn’t expected to be released until late 2011, following an EP of new material they are working on.

A statement, from Warp Records:

It is with great sadness we announce that Trish Keenan from Broadcast passed away at 9am this morning in hospital. She died from complications with pneumonia after battling the illness for two weeks in intensive care. Our thoughts go out to James, Martin, her friends and her family and we request that the public respect their wishes for privacy at this time. This is an untimely tragic loss and we will miss Trish dearly – a unique voice, an extraordinary talent and a beautiful human being. Rest in Peace.

A report from NME yesterday:
”[Manager] Martin [Pike] says that he can confirm that Trish is in hospital and very ill with pneumonia currently,” they said. “At this time, please respect the privacy of the band and the family and when there is any more news he will be sure to update fans…”

NPR:
If you didn’t know much about Trish Keenan, it was easy to mistake her for an emotionally detached artist. Her ethereal voice seemed to float effortlessly above a psychedelic haze, never appearing to convey a specific feeling. But anyone who dug deeper into Broadcast’s discography and interviews over the years knows that Keenan was anything but remote…

World-conquering Canadian rockers Arcade Fire are up for three Grammy Awards this year, including the all-important Album of the Year award for The Suburbs. And now, the Recording Academy has announced that Arcade Fire will perform at the Grammy Awards ceremony, which CBS will broadcast on February 13 at 8pm Eastern. That right there is a big TV moment in the making.

Arcade Fire are also taking part in the Grammys’ interactive promotional campaign, Music Is Life Is Music, which includes a website and mobile app.

Interpol frontman Paul Banks has layed into ex-member Carlos Dengler, calling him an “a-hole”… but also a “genius”.

Bassist Dengler left Interpol in May 2010, in what the band described as an amicable decision, and was replaced in the band’s live line-up by former Zwan and Slint bassist David Pajo.

Speaking to Australian radio station Undercover.fm, Banks answered a question about how he’d dealt with Dengler’s departure by saying: “I’m the kind of person where, if I think someone is a genius, I’ll put up with tons of crap from them.”

He added: “If you’re in the presence of someone who you think is a genius then you think, ‘I’d rather deal with them being an a-hole than not.’ It’s a more rare treat, a more rare treasure, their ability. Carlos is that.”

Banks also said the band had made no firm decisions about whether Pajo will join the band permanently. Secret Machines’ Brandon Curtis has also joined Interpol’s live line-up.

For what it was, Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy soundtrack was a riveting and well-suited score, but those expecting the proper recorded return of the legendary filter house masters were understandably disappointed. However, those looking for a return to the classic Daft Punk electro might be able to take solace in a series of possible Daft Punk leaks that coincided with the soundtrack.

As Consequence of Sound points out, a series of 12 songs leaked to the Web around the same time as the band were gearing up to release their Tron soundtrack with the artist listed as the Third Twin. They point to a band biography on Ask.com, where a theorist explains:


Daft Punk intentionally leaked these twelve tracks when these were rejected by the Disney production, which was looking for a more orchestral and symphonic soundtrack. Daft Punk disappointed by the severe restrictions of the contract could have decided to introduce their songs to their public who would appreciate this music. They used The Third Twin brand name to avoid legal troubles. This theory is reinforced with the events that took place in 2005 when the album Human After All was leaked on the Internet, weeks before its release.

The claims are a little hard to swallow, especially considering the writing quality of the article, but CoS also points to a recent article with Spanish newspaper El Periódico Mediterráneo, which reports that Daft Punk will be appearing at the Arenal Sound Festival as the Third Twin. The blog reached out to festival organizers, who confirmed that a band called the Third Twin are playing but did not comment on how they relate to Daft Punk.

Whether or not the Third Twin is actually Daft Punk or just the best Daft Punk rip-off band this side of Squarepusher is yet to be seen. Either way, the Arenal Sound Festival takes place between August 4 and 7 just outside of Valencia, Spain.

UPDATE: A press release from Arenal Sound confirms that the Third Twin is indeed playing the festival. If you want to dig for more clues, here is an unedited excerpt:

The Third Twin is a French electronic music duo which is getting very popular around the business in the recent months. The reason is simple: They are directly related to the famous Daft Punk. They are in the second edition of the festival which takes place from August 4-7 at the Playa El Arenal from Burriana, Castellón, Spain. The show up of this mysterious group opens the Arenal Sound line up 2011.

The stage name of The Third Twin emerged supposedly with the aim of publishing the issues proposed by Daft Punk to Disney´s movie Tron: Legacy. The company initially considered the material too oriented to electronic sounds because of that they refused it. The company ordered a new batch of compositions more orchestral and traditional which finally took part of the soundtrack of the film which was recently released with great success.

Daft Punk could not sign with their original name, music themes nor use any clear reference to the film for legal reasons. That is the reason why the well-known French electronic tandem had to use allegedly that pseudonym.

The result was The Third Twin or TTT, a music project which contain the songs published that is part of that band sound rejected. It was compiled together in an album entitled Homemade where you can find those tracks such as “Evil Minds” “Technolers” or “The Time is Over.” The Third Twin has their own profile on MySpace where they have an extensive music material and songs that made Homemade and reached a great amount of visits on YouTube. (http://www.thethirdtwin.com)

Arenal Sound becomes one of the many international festivals on this category to bring significant DJ’s highly praised at the time, The Third Twin. (http://www.arenalsound.com). Just wait and see their performance at the festival to discover if the mystery is revealed.

Norman Blake, of Teenage Fanclub, and Euros Childs, formerly of the band Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, have formed a new group that are simply called Jonny. The band have signed to Merge Records who will release their self-titled debut album on February 1 digitally and April 12 physically.

The band have already released their first music video for the sugary sweet pop song “Candyfloss,” which you can watch below.

Merge is currently giving away a free 4-song EP of tracks that didn’t make the album which you can download as a zip file HERE. Check out the full album track list below.

Jonny track list:
1. Wich is Wich
2. Candyfloss
3. Waiting Around For You
4. Goldmine
5. You Was Me
6. Circling The Sun
7. English Lady
8. The Goodnight
9. Bread
10. Cave Dance
11. I Want To Be Around You
12. I’ll Make Her My Best Friend
13. Never Alone

Arctic Monkeys have started work on their fourth album with producer James Ford – and are hoping to release it later this year.

The Sheffield four-piece started sessions at the end of 2010 in London, and are continuing work on it in Los Angeles.

Alex Turner and co are reportedly hoping to release the album in late spring at the earliest.

The new record will be the follow-up to their 2009 effort ‘Humbug’, which was co-produced by Ford along with Josh Homme. His other production credits include the band’s second album ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’, Klaxons’ ‘Myths Of The Near Future’ and work on Florence And The Machine’s ‘Lungs’.

The band are already confirmed to headline Ireland’s Oxegen Festival in July and are expected to be confirmed for V Festival as well as further UK events. No U.S. Dates are set at this time.

The Strokes look set to release their new album on March 22 in the US – according to a leaked memo from their US record label.

Music blog Directcurrentmusic.com reports that a release schedule from their label, RCA, lists the New York band’s forthcoming fourth record as being released on that date. Bassist Nikolai Fraiture recently said the album would be released “by March”.

The as-yet untitled 10-song follow-up to 2006′s ‘First Impressions Of Earth’ was produced by the band in guitarist Albert Hammond Jr’s upstate New York studio after initial sessions with producer Joe Chiccarelli were scrapped.

The Verve’s Nick McCabe is set to appear on the Twilight Singers’ first album in five years. McCabe has lent his guitar skills to tracks on ‘Dynamite Steps,’ the long-awaited follow-up to 2006′s ‘Powder Burns.’

Released on Valentines Day, the record is also set to feature a guest appearance from Mark Lanegan — with whom Twilight Singers mainman Greg Dulli regularly plays alongside under the guise the Gutter Twins — the NME reports.

The return of the Twilight Singers follows Dulli’s first-ever solo tour last year which, as previously reported by Spinner, featured a career-spanning set taking in both Twilight Singers and Afghan Whigs material. The outing also gave Dulli the chance to test out new songs which will make up part of ‘Dynamite Steps.’

In support of the new record, the Twilight Singers will be hitting the road in March for a brief tour of the UK.

The dates are as follows:

London Electric Ballroom, England (March 18)
Glasgow Arches, Scotland (March 19)
Manchester Moho, England (March 20)
Brighton Komedia, England (March 21)

Last January, Radiohead played a benefit gig for victims of the Haiti earthquake at the Music Box at the Fonda in Los Angeles. And over the holiday break, a high-quality, fan-made, Radiohead-approved document of the entire 24-song, two-hour set went up online. You can download the whole thing here, or watch a YouTube version below. The makers of the concert film, as well as the band, encourage you to donate to Oxfam America’s Haiti Earthquake and Recovery Fund here.

Radiohead for Haiti:

01 Faust Arp
02 Fake Plastic Trees
03 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
04 National Anthem
05 Nude
06 Karma Police
07 Kid A
08 Morning Bell
09 How to Disappear Completely
10 Wolf at the Door
11 The Bends
12 Reckoner
13 Lucky
14 Body Snatchers
15 Dollars & Cents
16 Airbag
17 Exit Music (For a Film)
18 Everything In Its Right Place
19 You and Whose Army?
20 Pyramid Song
21 All I Need
22 Lotus Flower
23 Paranoid Android
24 Street Spirit

Pitchfork:

UPDATE: Yauch has released a statement contradicting the BBC‘s report. He says, “While I’m grateful for all the positive energy people are sending my way, reports of my being totally cancer free are exaggerated. I’m continuing treatment, staying optimistic and hoping to be cancer free in the near future.”

Billboard:

Beastie Boys member Mike D says the veteran rap trio is still on track for a 2011 comeback that includes the release of new album “Hot Sauce Committee Part 2” this spring, after Adam Yauch’s cancer battle rendered the group inactive for much of 2010.

In a new interview with BBC Radio 1, Mike D confirms that the Beasties’ release schedule for its two “Hot Sauce Committee” albums has not changed from what was announced back in October 2010. “It’s still delayed – the first one,” he says. “The second one is coming out as originally scheduled”…

Washington Post:

Adam (MCA) Yauch is cancer free and ready to continue fighting for his right to party. Which is a big relief for long-time fans. Fans who perhaps saw the Beasties play the Cap Center in 1987 on the “Licensed to Ill” tour when they were censored by Tipper Gore and her PMRC and have been fans ever since. Not that I know anyone like that.

Fellow Beastie Boy Mike “Mike D” Diamond, in a BBC Radio1 interview, said the group is moving forward with its new album, “Hot Sauce Committee II” now that Yauch had overcome his battle with cancer, saying ”[It’s] a good thing. We’re really happy about it…”

Mick Karn, the former bass player of pop band Japan, has died at the age of 52 after suffering from cancer.

A statement on Karn’s website said the musician “passed away peacefully” on Tuesday at his London home in Chelsea, “surrounded by his family and friends”.

Japan came to prominence in the early 1980s with hit albums that included Tin Drum and Gentlemen Take Polaroids.

John Taylor of Duran Duran said he was “one of the great visual and sound stylists of the late-70s/early-80s.”

An appeal was launched last year when news of Karn’s illness was announced.

Porcupine Tree – a band featuring former Japan keyboardist Richard Barbieri – were among those who donated profits from auctions and album sales.

Punk alternative

Born Adonis Michaelides in Cyprus in 1958, Karn emigrated to London when he was three years old.

His official biography tells how he bought his first bass guitar for £5 after a bassoon he played in an orchestra was stolen.

He formed Japan in 1974 with David Sylvian and the latter’s younger brother Steve Jansen, performing for the first time when Karn was 15.

The band’s albums include Quiet Life and Adolescent Sex
Having been joined by Richard Barbieri, another school friend, Japan landed their first record contract in 1977.

With their dyed hair and make-up, Japan offered a “glam” alternative to punk and later became associated with the New Romantic movement.

After Japan split in 1982, Karn continued to work on solo projects and recorded with Kate Bush, Gary Numan, Midge Ure and Joan Armatrading.

Karn briefly reunited with other members of Japan in 1991 for the one-off project Rain Tree Crow.

Tributes have been left on Karn’s website, with one fan saluting his dexterity with the bass.

“No one will ever touch him on the fretless,” wrote ‘ngriff’ on Wednesday. “He shaped the way that instrument is played like no other.”

BBC presenter Jeremy Vine has also remembered the musician’s “sensual and stylish” playing.

John Lydon has suggested the Sex Pistols may reunite again, and also said he is up for writing new material with the band.

The punk pioneers have reunited on five separate occasions for tours since originally splitting in 1978, with their most recent gigs taking place in 2008.

Speaking to Stereogum, Lydon said that the success of his recent gigs with Public Image Limited had led to him considering regrouping the Sex Pistols once more.

“For me, there wouldn’t be a PiL if it weren’t for them lads in the Pistols, so I feel responsive to their needs,” he explained. “If they want me to go out on tour with them I’m happy to oblige… until three weeks later when I’m not. That’s how it is.”

Lydon added that he’s also considering writing new material with the Sex Pistols, whose previous reunions have seen them only play their old songs and covers.

“Because I’ve been able to get PiL back together – and because I’ve really been in a songwriting mode – can now look back on the Pistols and imagine writing with them too,” he said.

He also confirmed that he is still planning to resume work on a new Public Image Limited album once he has “come to grips” with the loss of his step-daughter, The Slits’ Ari Up, who died of cancer last October.

Will Oldham has launched an unprecedented attack on Bill Gates, criticising the computer magnate on the motives behind his charity work.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fogged Clarity (via Pitchfork), Oldham, often known as Bonnie “Prince” Billy, said, “[It's] like Bill Gates … I want to eradicate cholera, so I can get another motherf—er to buy my computer. That’s why he wants people to live: because if people are alive they have money to spend and they will buy his f—ing computer.”

“He doesn’t really want people to live. He loves people because they have made him wealthy beyond every human being’s wildest imagination. That’s why he loves people …He loves people because they made him wealthy.”

This may be one of the first times that someone has criticised Gates for his work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to tackle extreme poverty and disease across the world.

Gates has pledged to give more than half of his $54 billion (£34.6 billion) wealth to charity.

Oldham added, “We’re seeking answers and the answers that we come up with are giving us iPads and nuclear war.

“You know we want to eradicate cancer and eradicate colds and eradicate malaria so that we can destroy people with weapons. That’s why we want people to be free with of these diseases: so that we can control who dies and how.”

He also found time to compare creating albums to ladies’ bottoms. “Making records is commerce, and it’s about fooling yourself as a writer and a performer and fooling the audience into not thinking about it and accepting it. It’s like when you walk down the street, and you say, ‘Look at that girl’s ass, it’s so great.’ You’re ignoring the fact that she farts and s—s out of that ass.”

Album sales fell by seven percent in Britain last year, despite a 30 percent jump in the number of digital albums purchased, industry lobby group the BPI said on Wednesday.

The figures compiled by the Official Charts Company extend the trend of recent years, where the sharp rise in legally downloaded music has failed to arrest the overall decline in an industry struggling with online piracy.

Digital and physical album sales reached 119.9 million in 2010, down 7.0 percent from 128.9 million in 2009 and compared with 154.7 million in 2006.

Of that total, 21 million units were sold in the digital format last year, a 17.5 percent market share and an increase of 30.6 percent on 2009.

CD sales slumped 12.4 percent, however, to 98.5 million versus over 150 million in 2006.

The singles market hit a record high of 161.8 million units sold in 2010, up 5.9 percent on the previous year. Of the total, 98 percent of singles purchased were in the digital format.

“However encouraging it is to see the digital market grow … legal downloads are unable to offset the decline in CD sales because they are dwarfed by illegal competition,” said Geoff Taylor, BPI chief executive.

“Meaningful action to tackle illegal downloading remains absolutely critical if we are to stabilize British music sales, let alone return to growth. Without it, investment in new digital services and in British musical talent will begin to dry up.”

On the retail level, music, books, DVDs and games group HMV announced on Wednesday that its sales in the five weeks to January 1 dropped sharply and that it would sell or close around 60 British stores over the next year.

Take That’s “Progress” was Britain’s top-selling album last year, moving more than 1.8 million copies, while Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie,” featuring Rihanna, was the most popular single with sales of 854,000.

Universal Music, the world’s biggest label, had six of the top 10 best selling artist albums in Britain in 2010, followed by Warner Music with three and Sony Music with one.

File this under “who knows?” but Peter Kafka over at All Things Digital’s Media Memo blog is reporting that Viacom sold its Rock Band developer unit Harmonix late last year for as little as $50.

Now that’s a hook-worthy but somewhat misleading figure. The story notes that the buyer, Columbus Nova, took on far more expensive elements as well, such as the liability for all music rights payments and unsold inventory of both game and controllers. The music licensing issue alone is worth in the millions (more on that later).

Another interesting point is that the deal apparently is structured in a way that lets Viacom save $150 million in tax benefits. Whenever there’s a sale of assets, a tax benefit arises when a company takes a loss and is allowed to offset regular income by the amount of the loss. Viacom paid $175 million for Harmonix back in 2006. It’s unlikely Viacom will get a $150 million tax benefit on the deal — that would imply around a $500 million loss from the sale (assuming a 30% tax rate). One possibility is that Viacom will take $150 million write-off on the deal, which implies a tax break in the area of $50 million.

Overall, none of this points to a particularly glowing endorsement of the music game field. Which is rather surprising because even though the genre has shrunk in recent years, Rock Band is a respectable-selling franchise when viewed in the big picture of the videogame market, and its new Dance Central game for the Kinect is looking like a bona fide hit (although official sales stats aren’t in yet).

So if Harmonix is not making enough in revenues to muster more compelling sale terms, it’s not due to lack of sales. It’s due to the cost of developing the game. And that cost isn’t coming from paying its developers. It’s coming from paying for music.

The white suit worn by John Lennon on the cover of the Beatles’ 1969 album ‘Abbey Road’ has sold for nearly $46,000 (£29,700) at an auction in America, reports the Digital Spy website.

The price was considerably less than the $120,000 (£76,740) estimate, a figure based on last time it sold in 2005. The iconic outfit was made in Paris in 1969 by designer Ted Lapidus and has had several owners since being photographed on the pedestrian crossing outside London’s Abbey Road Studios.

Lennon gave it to friend Richard Ross, owner of the Home club in New York. When Ross died it passed to Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia. In 1996 it was bought by an unknown musician.

The auction took place on New Year’s Day at the Braswell Gallery in the New England town of Norwalk in Connecticut. Other items that sold included a 1972 green Chrysler Town and Country station wagon that once belonged to Lennon and his second wife Yoko Ono.

According to Lennon, it was the car he and Ono used to drive across the US to visit a Chinese acupuncturist in San Francisco, who helped the pair stop using heroin. It sold for $5,500 (£3,500).

The White Stripes will pay homage to Captain Beefheart, who died in December, by rereleasing their 2001 covers of ‘Party of Special Things to Do,’ ‘China Pig’ and ‘Ashtray Heart,’ which were originally recorded for Sub Pop’s Singles Club. Jack White’s Third Man Records made the announcement Monday that the single — replete with new artwork — will be part of its First Quarter Vault Package.

“As a tribute to two folks near and dear to our hearts who passed away this past year, Don Van Vliet and Sub Pop Vice President of Sales and Marketing Andy Kotowitz, we are ecstatic to announce the reissue of the White Stripes 7-inch,” the label wrote on its official website. The new incarnation will be released on tri-color vinyl.

In addition to these new collector’s items, which will only be available bundled with a double LP of 2010′s Third Man singles and a new 7-inch by the 5.6.7.8′s, there are plans for Sub Pop to digitally release the audio at some point in the future.

The 5.6.7.8′s single features, at Jack White’s special request, the track ‘I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield’ with a medley of Jerry Lee Lewis’ ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and Tommy James and the Shondells’ ‘Hanky Panky.’ Both of these tracks, which were recorded at Third Man Studios, include guest guitar work by White.

Last year, Kanye West spent a few months giving away a free song every Friday night, making every Saturday morning feel like Christmas. And this year, the Flaming Lips may do something similar. Wayne Coyne tells Rolling Stone that the band hopes to release a new song every month in 2011. According to Coyne, the process of creating a whole new album the traditional way seemed daunting, and the song-a-month system represents a more exciting way of getting their music out into the world. They also plan to film the recording.

Coyne tells Rolling Stone, “Not that I think the old way was boring, but to spend another two years with the same 13 songs, it’s just like fuck. I think we’re going to just start to do things and put it out. Once we get 11 or 12 songs together, maybe we’ll do something else with it. We want to try to live through our music as we create it instead of it being a collection of the last couple years of our lives.”

According to Coyne, the new songs could take a number of different physical forms: “The dilemma is whether we’re going to release it on vinyl, cereal boxes, or some of it on toys that we make. Sometimes, the music is the simplest part of any of these things. We’ll be making these little videos that connect in the end to a bigger movie we’ll be making next year as well.”

Muse’s Matt Bellamy has said that the band have had “real” discussions about the possibility of playing a gig in space.

The frontman said that although his plan seemed rather ambitious, he hoped that technology would allow the Devon three-piece a shot at performing a show in orbit one day.

“We’ve had some discussions about playing in space,” he told The Sun. “Sometimes very coherent conversations and sometimes very late at night, but it’s for real.”

Bellamy explained that although the trio hadn’t started any astronaut training quite yet, he had started thinking about ways of going about getting the gig off the ground.

“I’m thinking of approaching Richard Branson to see if we could do it on his [Virgin Galactic] spacecraft he’s got happening,” he said. “Although we do have a lot of equipment, so I guess we’d have to use pods to carry our stuff and we’d scale back the shows a lot.”

He added: “I do think it will be possible in the future and I’m sure it will happen in my lifetime. We’d love to be part of that.”