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.