The Future of The Shins

New band members, new label, new songs and a film score are what's in the future for The Shins, an indie band from New Mexico.  The band hit the road in early May and will be touring the rest of the month.  

Former bassist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval were recently replaced with Fruit Bats' bassist Ron Lewis and Modest Mouse drummer John Plummer.  The new members learned the current set just a few weeks before tour and will be working on the follow up for the 2007 album Wincing The Night Away.  

Along with new members, there are new songs on the way.  Lead singer and guitarist James Mercer said he's written 30 songs since the last album, but only two of these are currently being played live.  Mercer said, "There seems to be less dwelling on lack of confidence about things and more affirmative feelings in the songs."  

Mercer has also been getting involved with other types of media as well.  He teamed up with Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock to score the film 180 Degrees South, a documentary about climbing and surfing culture.  The songwriters spent a few weeks backpacking in Chile with the filmmakers before starting the writing process.  

Read more about what's new with The Shins from Billboard.  

Below is a very interesting music video of "Turn on Me" from the album Wincing Away the Night.  The video is from their MySpace.  

The Shins - Turn On Me

Taking Back Sunday is "New Again"

Anyone who has heard a new single from the band Taking Back Sunday will notice some changes.  These changes go right along with the title of the new album, New Again, which will be released on June 2.  

This change in style was obviously intentional.  Frontman Adam Lazarra said, "The music behind it is unlike anything we've ever done before."  And guitarist Matt Fazzi told MTV News that he feels the band is really taking a step forward in every aspect.  

Here is a commercial the band made for their new album and upcoming tour. 

The band kicked off their national tour last week in their hometown in New York.  They played lots of old songs for their die-hard fans and played a pretty loose set.  Then they took the stage at the Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey for a crowd of over 40,000.  To read more about this tour kick off check out this article from newsday.com.  

Daft Punk writes scores for upcoming films

Thomas Bangalter, half of the robotic duo Daft Punk, provided the score for French director Gasper Noe's latest film.  The film is titled Enter the Void, and is scheduled to be released at the Cannes Film Festival on May 22. 

Bangalter also provided the daunting score for Noe's 2002 film Irreversible, and with Enter the Void's plot involving ghosts and death, this score is destined to be just as creepy.  Read more about Bangalter's involvement in the film at Pitchfork. 

In other Daft Punk news, the duo is set to write the soundtrack for the Disney movie Tron 2.0.  That film is set to debut in 2011.  According to the UK-based New Musical Express, Jeff Bridges will return for his role and will be directed by Joseph Kosinski.  

 

M.I.A. asks for Oprah's help

Sri Lankan music diva, M.I.A. earned a spot on this year's TIME 100 list of the most influential people on earth.  This is quite impressive considering Oprah Winfrey also made this list. 

These two really influential people met at the TIME 100 gala last Tuesday to talk about some serious issues.  M.I.A. feels like they made a real connection.  According to Pitchfork, She is asking Oprah to do something about the civil wars that are going on in Sri Lanka.  

M.I.A. wrote in her MySpace blog, "OPRAH CAN YOU DO SOMETHING BOUT THESE CAMPS PLEEEEEEASE!"  

It is crazy to think that renegade global musician M.I.A. would be working hand in hand with the Queen of America, Oprah.  To find out more about this civil war against the Tamils in Sri Lanka, check out this article from Channel 4 news.  

GaGa for A Special Lady.

This last April disco queen Lady Gaga took the stage on "American Idol."  The performance was a big step for Lady Gaga in mainstream music.  

Her appearance on the show was very colorful and unlike anything the "Idol" stage has seen before.  She wore a zippered eye patch and a silver leotard.  

"I'm really very grateful more than anything," Lady Gaga told MTV News about the "American Idol" performance, "I mean, I've been working hard, and I've never given up."  Read more about her idol performance in this MTV News article.  Also in that article is a video of an interview with the "Poker Face" singer.  

Besides her recent appearance on television, Gaga's music is making it big within the music industry.  Just recently Chamillionaire has made his own unofficial remix of "Poker Face," and Kid Cudi, Common and Kanye West are using her vocals to make a new cut.  Hear more about this collaboration in this article from MTV News.  

Listen to Lady Gaga on MySpace.   

Bob Dylan: New album, artwork, and collaborations

Together Through Life is the name of Bob Dylan's new album.  It was released on April 28th and received 4 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke.  Fricke said the album "is a mixed bag of this decade's Dylan - impulsive, caustic, sentimental, long done with the contrived details of contemporary record-making."  Read a more detailed review from Fricke.    

Much of the hype surrounding Together Through Life is because of the collaboration with Robert Hunter.  Dylan collaborated with Grateful Dead's lyricist Hunter on 10 tracks of the new album.  "We could probably write a hundred together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there," said Dylan about working with Hunter in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.  Read more about the duo here.  

Dylan was on the cover on this week's Rolling Stone and has a feature article that includes more about Hunter, more interviews, and a look into his past cover stories.  

Besides reading about his new album, I stumbled upon some artwork that was done by Dylan.  Rolling Stone has a great photo slide show of some of his artwork.  Check it out, they are very interesting.  

Free Coldplay album? Yes, please!

In light of these economic struggles, on their summer tour Coldplay will be giving away a free live album with every ticket purchase.  The band said, "This album is a thank-you to our fans."

The exclusive album is titled LeftRightLeftRightLeft and includes nine live tracks of songs from all of their previous albums.  Coldplay will also make these tracks available for download during their tour from their official website.  

After announcing this special offer the band said, "Playing live is what we love.  This album is a thank-you to our fans- the people who gives us a reason to do it and the people who make it happen."

Here is a list of bands that are hopping on and off the tour with Coldplay this summer:

• Pete Yorn (May 15-June 4)
• Snow Patrol (June 5-21)
• Amadou & Mariam (July 10-24)
• Elbow (July 25-August 9)
• Howling Bells (May 15-21)
• Kitty Daisy & Lewis (July 25-August 9)

For a complete list of tour dates and locations check this article from MTV News. 

 

  

Mean Everything to Nothing: New Manchester Orchestra album

Last Tuesday, April 21, Atlanta band Manchester Orchestra released they second full-length album, Mean Everything to Nothing.  I am a huge fan of the band, so my opinion of the new album is pretty biased.  It is amazing! 

However, beyond my one-sided opinion, Jason Tate, with AbsolutePunk.net, gave the album a 93 percent rating.  His opening statement in the review read, "Quick note to the rest of the albums coming out this year: The bar has just been set."  Tate focused in on the lyrics and creativity of strong points of the album.  In conclusion Tate said, "Between the crashing sounds, the subtle whispers, the vocal chants, and the emotional reaction- we have the making of a classic."  

Manchester and their new album were just featured in the Smoking Section of Rolling Stone magazine.  I actually first discovered the band in the Rolling Stone's Artists to Watch section a few years ago.  During their interview, Andy Hull, guitar and vocals, described the album and said, "The first half of the record is about the anxiety and angst of the road and traveling in a van.  The second half is kind of like where I found God on the road."  When asked where was God, he said, "He was under the backseat of the van."  

Here is a past performance from the David Letterman Show:

There are four more recent videos in the Smoking Section that are definitely worth checking out.  The first is of the first track, "The Only One" and the second is of "Tony The Tiger."  Then there is an interview with Andy Hull and Chris Freeman, keys and vocals.  Finally, a mash-up of Willie Nelson and Mountain Goats performed by Hull and Freeman of "The Party's Over." 

To listen to some of the new songs go to Manchester Orchestra's MySpace.  And for more information about their upcoming tour and music videos, which I already have tickets for, check out their official website. 

Represent: In concert and on the road

On Saturday, April 18, I hopped in the passenger seat of a van with local singer/songwriter Jared Kocka.  We headed north toward the upper peninsula of Michigan for a show in the small town of Ironwood.  Kocka is the sole member of Represent, a pop rock musical endeavor that started in Minneapolis, MN two years ago.

Represent performed live at Gogebic Community College for their "RAM Fest," which stands for "random acts of music."  It was an all day event and Represent went on at 5 pm in the gym.  However, at 5 pm there were only a handful of students at the event.  Kocka still played really well despite the not-so-good crowd.  After his set the promoter asked if Represent would perhaps play later in the evening when more people showed up.  Clearly his performance was very well accepted by the small crowd.  

Kocka got hooked up with the show through the band Cities Never Sleep, which is based out of Duluth, MN.  Represent and Cities Never Sleep will be touring together starting on April 30th.  It was my first time hearing Cities Never Sleep and I thoroughly enjoyed their music.  Following Cities Never Sleep, a local hip-hop duo performed and then Represent was back on stage, but this time with a much bigger crowd.  

If you like pop rock mixed with a little electronica and some feel good beats, you should check out Represent on Myspace.  Also, check out Cities Never Sleep as well, and you can find their tour dates on the site.   

Eminem: Performances, new album, new videos, and everything else

Rapper Eminem is back after a three-year break from the music world and according to him, the rap industry needs him back.  Eminem recently told XXL magazine that he believes the hip-hop world went downhill without him.  However, he said that with the new music that T.I. and Lil' Wayne are producing hip-hop is on its way back up.  

Eminem's three-year break had a lot to do with the death of his best friend Proof, member of D12.  Also, Eminem's battle with drug addiction became a problem.  However, these are both reasons why he is ready to make music again.  Em told XXL that he is at a point where he can talk about tragedy. 

On May 19th, Eminem's new album Relapse will be released, featuring his controversial new single "We Made You."  Just a few days after his album release, Eminem will be performing live at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California.  For more information about Eminem and the MTV Movie Awards check out this article. 

 With Eminem being big in the news lately and in light of him performing at this year's MTV Award's show, MTV decided to look at his top five awards-show performances.  Here's the list:

1. The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000
2. 2000 MTV Video Music Awards
3. 1999 Video Music Awards
4. 2002 MTV Movie Awards
5. 2005 MTV Movie Awards

To watch some of these performances and read up about them, check out this article from MTV Music News.  

Rolling Stone's Spring Music Preview

2009 is going to be a great year for music and Rolling Stone has compiled a list of 45 of the most anticipated albums.  From rapper Eminem to punk rock band Green Day to the folksy Avett Brothers, they covered the music industry's biggest and most promising artists.  

I have highlighted a few of the albums I'm looking forward to:

• Ben Harper's White Lies for Dark Times (5/5) is his first record with his new band, Rentless7, and is going to be his heaviest album yet.  
• Relapse (5/18) from Eminem already has a chart-topping single on it, "Crack A Bottle." The album will mostly be produced by Dr. Dre.  
• Green Day is setting out to top their previous album American Idiot with 21st Century Breakdown (May).  After three years to produce, this new record will be just as political as the last.   
  
• Rapper turned rocker, Lil' Wayne's new record Rebirth (May) was made with a band instead of beats.  I'm sure the album will be chart-friendly!
• Regina Spektor recruited four producers, including Jeff Lynne, for her third studio release Far (June).  

For complete coverage of Rolling Stone's spring music preview check it out here.  

The Hazards of Digital Love: New album from The Decemberists

The Decemberists, a pop indie band from Portland, Ore., released their latest album titled Hazards of Love, last Tuesday.  However, before releasing it on CD, the band's label, EMI's Capitol Records, decided to release the album digitally on Apple's iTunes Store a week earlier than the physical CD.  This strategy proved to be productive for the album's release, with it selling 18,000 downloads that first week and placing the album in the top 20 before it was even out on CD.  They also sold 1,000 vinyl copies the week before the CD release.  Read more about the marketing and release of this album from the LA Times.

Beyond just making lots of sales, the album is actually really good.  Rolling Stone's Will Hermes gave it 4 out of 5 stars.  Hermes describes the music as "strummy British folk rock and heavy-metal thunder, orchestral strings and a children's choir."  He recognizes the resembles to the band's predecessors including Led Zeppelin and Fairport Convention.  "From the glacial, droning opening rack to the head-scratcher folk finale," Hermes said, "The Hazards of Love takes its time, inviting you to grab a seat in front of the fire, stoke your Meeschaum pipe and take a trip."  To read Hermes' full review go to this article from the Rolling Stone.  

I have recently heard the band on the local public radio "The Current," but you can obviously listen to them on their Myspace, or check out the official The Decemberists website.  

SXSW Music, Film, and Interactive Media Festival

Just this last week, from March 13-22, South by Southwest rocked Austin, TX with another year of great music, film, and media.  The festival featured over 1,800 musical acts from all over globe on 80 different stages.  Check out the official SXSW 2009 website for more information on the festival or to watch film trailers.  

There were many great local Minneapolis musicians that performed at the festival such as, Owl City, Solid Gold, and Jeremy Messersmith.  Other artists on the rise that were on the line-up included The Decemberists, who recently released a new album titled The Hazards of Love, and K'Naan, who just announced he will be touring with Snoop Dogg.  I highly suggest that you check out both of those artists on Myspace.  

NPR had great coverage of the festival that included late-night podcasts from Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, Carrie Brownstein and Stephen Thompson.  Here is a link to listen to those podcasts.  And for more of NPR's coverage of the festival check out NPR's official SXSW site.  

I had the pleasure of sending off Minneapolis band Solid Gold to SXSW at First Avenue Nightclub the weekend before the festival.  It was my first time seeing and hearing the band and they hooked me in with their mesmerizing electronic rock.  After going to one of their shows, it was easy for me to see why they were invited to the festival.

Here is Solid Gold's music video for "Bible Thumper."  Enjoy!

 

U2 smashes the Billboard Charts

On February 27th, U2 released their heavily publicized new album "No Line on the Horizon."  It recently topped the Billboard 200 chart  with 484,000 copies sold in the U.S.  This is U2's seventh No.1 on the chart, which leaves them tied with Led Zeppelin for second-most No. 1 spots by a band.  The Beatles hold the record with 19 No. 1 spots.  Check out this article to hear more about U2 and charts.  

U2 has also revealed their summer tour dates.  The tour, titled "U2 360," will kick off on June 30th in Barcelona.  Their tour will be sponsored by Blackberry and it is their first stadium tour since 2006.  The tour will go through 14 European cities and then follow with North American dates in September 2009.  Read more about the tour from U2's website.  

I found this great podcast from atu2.com.  It is a fan podcast that addresses some really great topics surrounding the band U2 and the music they make.  Click here to to listen to the most recent episode.    

Here is a video of U2 performing the song "Breathe" off of their new album.  

  

Britney Spears, the Queen of Pop, is back on tour

Britney Spears' circus themed tour kicked off March 3rd in her home state of Louisiana.  This tour marks a comeback that is long over-due.  Spears has not toured since 2004 when she cut the tour short after a knee injury.  She did perform a few times here and there since then, but the performances were far from acceptable.

Putting Spears' rough last few years aside, this tour is supposedly fast-paced and upbeat.  This shows that she is definitely ready to leave the past behind.  Most of the music during the performance is from her two most recent albums, Blackout and Circus, which I'm not going to lie, are pretty amazing pop albums.  Both of them were very well produced and it's almost impossible to not dance a little when listening to them.  

Speaking of dancing, according to MTV News, Britney does a knock out job of it for this tour.  There are a plethora of back-up dancers and acrobats.  Also, to add to the visuals, Spears has numerous outfit changes throughout the four different "acts" of the show.  Unfortunately, I heard that she does very little live singing and that the vocals are mostly back tracks.  However, as long as she is dancing like a madwomen, I'll be understanding that she can't sing at the same time.  

Overall, her performance is for sure to be eye-opening and spectacular.  A writer for the Rolling Stone said, "[the show] gives fans a bit of high-flying escapism to lose themselves in."  Perhaps this is a reflection of Britney putting her past behind and moving forward.  You can read more from Rolling Stone about the tour.  

Here is the music video for the song "Circus."  It probably gives a good idea of what her live performances will be like.

Joshua Radin on tour

Acoustic indie artist, Joshua Radin, is on a mini tour and I had the pleasure of going to his show at the Fineline Music Cafe in Minneapolis last Saturday.  He toured with pop indie artists Meiko and Jesse Harris.  It was a very pleasant show. 

The Fineline Music Cafe off of First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis was the perfect location for the show, a smaller, simple venue.  Radin has played there a few times before and talked about how much it likes it in Minneapolis during the show.  He told us that the first show he ever sold out was in Minneapolis, and he also sold out the show on Saturday.  

Jesse Harris, who actually plays in Radin's band, started the night with some unique songs on the banjo.   Harris has a very distinct voice and I suggest going to his Myspace to check it out.  Then, Meiko took the stage, which is what I was most excited about.  

Meiko's folksie vocals were practically flawless and I was quite impressed.  Besides how much fun I had bopping around to her music, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her stories in between songs.  She is a quirky person and rather charming.  Before she played her "hit" single "Boys with Girlfriends," she graciously thanked local radio station Cities 97 for promoting her music. Listen to her on Myspace or on Cities 97.   

Finally, Joshua Radin played a lengthy set, which was also full of great stories.  His acoustic picking was so smooth and it kind of put me into a lull.  Radin noted how most of his music is depressing, so every now and then he writes a pop song.  However, I can tell that he is more passionate about the darker stuff, so those songs tend to be his strongest.  Part of what I think set this show aside is the plethora of stories about the songs, which sometimes can be a little boring, but I think Radin actually provided enough meaning to them so they kept my attention.

Radin has two albums out, which he joked about how he has two ex-loves, hence the two albums.  I highly recommend both of them!  For a quick listen of some of his music check out his Myspace.    

A. R. Rahman: Slumdog's music man

The 81st Annual Academy Awards were held last Sunday.  The star of the show was Slumdog Millionaire, winning 8 Oscars.  Two of those Oscars went to A. R. Rahman, the man who wrote the score for the film.  Rahman ended the night with the awards for Best Score for Slumdog Millionaire and Best Song for "Jai Ho."  

Rahman was born in Madras, India and he is the first Indian man ever to win two Oscars.  He studied classical music on scholarship at the Trinity College of Music at Oxford University.  The start of his film music career began with in 1992, when Rahman worked with Mani Ratnam, one of India's most famous directors, on the film Roja.  You can check out his website here.  And you can listen to some of his songs at Last.fm.

I absolutely loved Slumdog Millionaire and I think anyone who has seen it can say that the soundtrack was amazing!  It is definitely something that stuck out to me, I actually bought the opening song called "O...Saya" on iTunes a few days after seeing the film.  Rahman worked with one of my favorite artists, M.I.A., on a few tracks.  She is from Sir Lanka. 

This is the video of "Jai Ho" from the end credits of Slumdog Millionaire.

I was just recently made aware of a Pussycat Doll's Remix of "Jai Ho," which is so great!  Yes, I am a fan of the Pussycat Dolls!  They did a really good job with the remix.  The song can be heard here.  It will most definitely make you want to dance! 

Top Albums of 2008

Yes, I know it's already two and a half months into 2009, but I happened to just stumble upon Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums of 2008.  I love things in a list and I think Rolling Stone does a great job sorting through mainstream (Top 40's) music along with less popular music to create a valid list.  Here is the top ten:

1. TV on the Radio: Dear Science
2. Bob Dylan: Tell Tale Signs- The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
3. Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III
4. My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges
5. John Mellencamp: Life, Death, Love and Freedom
6. Santogold: Santogold
7. Coldplay: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
8. Beck: Modern Guilt
9. Metallica: Death Magnetic
10. Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend

To check out the full list from Rolling Stone, along with reviews of each of these albums click here.

Here is a music video that caught my eye and it's from Vampire Weekend, the number 10 album of 2008.  It's one of the band's singles called "Oxford Coma."

Vampire Weekend is from New York and they are touring in Mexico during the month of March.  To listen to more of their music go to their Myspace.  "A Punk" is a phenomenal song and I highly suggest rocking out to it sometime!

Epic Tours and New Albums to Watch For

Spring is in the air and summer tour dates are being released!  There are some great musicians that will be trekking around America to put on some unquestionably epic shows.  On the top of the list is Coldplay.  The band just won three Grammy's and I just found out will be doing a summer tour, even though they did just tour this last fall.  Check out the dates and get tickets from Live Nation. Oh what I would give to see Coldplay perform at an outdoor venue! 

Two of the greatest piano men are touring together this spring, Elton John and Billy Joel.  The tour starts in March and runs through August.  John has five Grammy's under his belt and Joel has six!  Collectively they have sold over 300 million albums over 30 decades.  This tour is probably going to go down in history.  Here is the link to look at the dates and tickets. 

For those of you local music-lovers, there are a lot of great local musicians touring currently as well.  I am biased to the Minneapolis area because that's where I live, so I use Mr Chan Presents to find out about both mainstream and smaller artists that are coming through the area.  

Coming up this Tuesday, February 24th, there are some great albums being released.  The classic Van Morrison is releasing a live album titled, "Astral Weeks Live at The Hollywood Bowl." Somalian hip-hop artist, K'Naan, is releasing "Troubadour" this week.  I have just recently been hearing more and more about K'Naan, he is definitely an artist on the rise. 

Arrests, Reunions, and Magic: A Brief Overview of the 2009 Grammy Awards

The 2009 Grammy Awards Show was packed full of gossip, glamour, and great musical performances.  As I watched the red carpet pre-show on E! TV, I was shocked to discover the breaking news that singer Chris Brown had been arrested the night before on charges of battery of a female victim and would not be attending the Grammy's.  Then a few minutes later, I was even more shocked to find out that singer Rihanna, Brown's girlfriend, would not be able to attend the awards show either.  Rumors spread like wildfire, and it is still not confirmed if Rihanna was, in fact, the victim.  Either way, Brown's image has been ruined.  However, just recently Brown released his first statement concerning the incident.  Here is a link to read more about Brown's recent statement from Rolling Stone.

The Grammy's were definitely off to an interesting start with both superstars Rihanna and Chris Brown not attending and in turn, not performing as they were scheduled to do.  Putting all drama aside, there were some great moments during this year's Grammy's.  Blink 182, a 90's rock band, announced their reunion, which made me ecstatic!  The trio was recently featured in Rolling Stone with a look at their past in photos.  Check out the slide show; there are some really awesome pictures from when the band first started. 

There were three big winners at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.  The duo of Robert Plant, former singer for the great Led Zeppelin and Allison Krause, a bluegrass singer, walked away with five Grammy's, including the highly honored Album of the Year for Raising Sand.  The duo also performed at the awards show.  Another big winner with four awards, including Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song, was Lil Wayne.  He also had the most nominations this year.  The final big winners were Coldplay with three awards, including Song of the Year for "Viva La Vida."  

There were some okay performances that night (i.e. Taylor Swift & Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers & Stevie Wonder) and then there were some amazing performances.  I picked my top three performances of the evening, which I deemed epic and unforgettable.  

1. Jennifer Hudson performing "You Pulled Me Through." Click here to see the performance.
2. T.I., Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Jay-Z and M.I.A.'s compilation of "Swagga Like Us." 
3. Radiohead's performance with the USC Marching Band of "15 Step." Click here to see the performance.