“Old Man” Dal leggendario concerto live al Massey Hall di Toronto del 19 gennaio 1971. Solo, acustico.

Amazon Product Description:
Live At Massey Hall, the legendary concert from Neil Young, is finally officially released, and in highresolution stereo, in this CD+DVD package (also as a solo CD). The acclaimed Toronto performance features classics “Old Man” and, in a suite, “A Man Needs A Maid” and “Heart Of Gold” (before they were recorded for Harvest) along with some of his most popular songs (”Cowgirl In The Sand,” “Ohio”) as well as the most obscure (”Bad Fog Of Loneliness”). Live At Massey Hall is a newly mined rock gem.

Slideshow del pool di sleeveface su Flickr

Ironico, quasi comico e senza pianoforte, il nuovo Nick Cave parla con i morti e fa presagire un ritorno a sonorità abbandonate ormai da un bel pò d’anni. Sentiremo…

DIG, LAZARUS, DIG!!!

(…) it’s a very different kind of Radiohead record. Liberated from their self-imposed pressure to innovate, they sound– for the first time in ages– user-friendly; the glacial distance that characterized their previous records melted away by dollops of reverb, strings, and melody. From the inclusion and faithful rendering of longtime fan favorite “Nude” to the classic pop string accents on “Faust Arp” to the uncharacteristically relaxed “House of Cards”, Radiohead’s sudden willingness to embrace their capacity for uncomplicated beauty might be In Rainbows’ most distinguishing quality, and one of the primary reasons it’s an improvement on Hail to the Thief. (…) [Pitchfork Record Review]

“There is no money in recorded music any more, that’s why bands are now giving it away”[Times Online]

“The new album may represent the strongest collection of songs the band has assembled for a decade.”[Guardian Unlimited]

Intrigante conversazione tra Chris Messina “The future of music, In Rainbows” + “Modern music economics: a fierce independent streak” e Steven Hodson “Being free doesn’t make crap any better“. Detto tra noi, i Radiohead non potevano trovare idea migliore per far conoscere il loro gran bel nuovo album.

sembra esser passato un soffio da quella sera al Notting Hill. La dolce Cristina è tornata portando con se La quinta stagione.

“Elliott Smith and Kurt Cobain were the great incorruptible rock artists of the nineties. They shared the mentality of outsiders, and refused to give it up even as their fame and talent earned them status as insiders. When Cobain killed himself in 1994, Smith was just emerging as a solo artist, a songwriter who used an acoustic guitar and sweet, aching melodies to convey resentment and self-loathing every bit as acute as Cobain’s. Smith died at the age of 34 in 2003 of a stabbing that may have been self-inflicted—the Los Angeles coroner’s office has never reached a conclusive determination—and thus began his posthumous career.” [New York Magazine Pop Music Review]

Album and official website.
…and more

Ai tempi in cui ci si scambiava il vinile come avrei mai potuto pensare di ritrovarlo oggi su YouTube… (e di fatto, scambiare ancora).

Broken Radio - Jesse Malin Featuring Bruce Springsteen

“Mostly written on the road, the new LP gets its inspiration from the disconnections of non-stop, intercontinental hotel-jumping. Talking about her ephemeral lifestyle in an interview with Pitchfork last year, Feist said, “You just never set roots; you take pleasure in simple conversations, because you know you’re not going to have much more than that.” Though she’s trekked on her own and with bands including By Divine Right and Broken Social Scene for more than a decade, the 31-year-old songwriter sounds desperate for something more than “simple conversation” here.” [Pitchfork Record Review]

‘’Once Upon a Time'’ è il brano che anticipa Pocket Symphony, il nuovo album degli AIR, la cui uscita ufficiale è prevista per il prossimo 5 marzo. Diffusa in queste ore in video su YouTube, Once Upon a Time è la seconda delle dodici nuove tracce create dal duo di Versailles. E promette bene…

Music wants to be free - The Economist on Steve Jobs’ DRM shot across the bow. Smartly points out that a) this is a bold move for the industry leader to effectively kill a competitive advantage and b) the iPod/iTunes combo is still the best in the biz, with our without DRM [via jimray]

‘’A new model for artists to promote, publish, and be paid for their music. On jamendo, the artists distribute their music under Creative Commons licenses. In a nutshell, they allow you to download, remix and share their music freely. It’s a “Some rights reserved” agreement, perfectly suited for the new century. Artists allow everyone to download and share their music. It’s free, legal and unlimited.'’

October 2006: Beirut live in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall performing Postcards From Italy.
Beirut Band - Postcards From Italy (live in San Francisco)

Le sorprese son belle proprio perchè arrivano sempre quando meno te le aspetti. Questo fine settimana due delizie musicali: una scoperta e una riscoperta. Zach Condon viene da Santa Fe, New Mexico; ha vent’anni ed è il one-man band di Beirut. La band, appunto. Anche se è dall’età di 15 anni che Zach incide piccoli album, è a maggio scorso che esce il suo primo vero disco per la piccola Ba Da Bing! Records.

Ma The Gulag Orkestar, questo il titolo del disco, è troppo sopra le righe per non essere notato: la prima a notarlo è la storica 4AD che non ci pensa 2 volte a far entrare in famiglia Zach Condon e reincidere il disco, aggiungendo 5 nuovi brani.

E’ passato solo qualche mese, il disco e la Beirut band suonano (in concerto Zach viene accompagnato da otto musicisti) e giusto prima che finisca l’anno il negozio della Rough Trade scopre che è il proprio disco dell’anno: il primo della top 100 2006. Provate ad ascoltare Postcards from Italy e ditemi se non è bella musica…

E che bello ritrovare Tom Waits: si è presentato qualche sera fa al Daily Show (NYC) suonando una delle tantissime b-sides pubblicate nella sua recende collezione di 3 cd Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet]

The Sub Pop History Site “This site documents the look and feel of Sub Pop prior to 1991. It includes all of the original columns that [Sub Pop’s] Bruce Pavitt wrote for the Rocket between 1983 and 1988.” Also includes Sub Pop newsletters from 1990, an ad archive, and details about groups such as Nirvana and Mudhoney.

Information Leafblower
The Top 40 Bands in America - 2006 Edition

Los Angeles I’m Yours - A Tower of Babel fable extracted and placed in the context of Los Angeles. E’ un capolavoro di 2 minuti e 38 secondi quello creato dal motion designer Daniel Oeffinger. Il video clip, sostenuto dall’eccelente musica dei Decemberists, è scaricabile da Small Carrot ‘’a site made for mobile entertainment - like iPods, PSPs and cell phones. Sul sito dell’autore, il filmato nelle sue dimensioni originali