Elbow to Release Next Album in 2010

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Elbow has been on an extended worldwide tour, riding the wave of their Mercury Prize winning album, Seldom Seen Kid.  But they haven’t lost sight of their next album, their fifth, which is expected to be released in September 2010. 

The group is certainly feeling the pressure for their follow up to the acclaimed Seldom Seen Kid.  Bassist Pete Turner admitted to the BBC, “There is [pressure].  I think we’re up there for a little bit of a taking down almost – for us it means we’ll work a little bit harder.”

Part of working harder means the band will be more organized upon entering the studio, with songs in hand.  Something they haven’t done in previous sessions.  To that end the group has been diligently writing on the road, setting up writing rooms at every stop.

Elbow will be performing a smattering of US dates throughout the East coast this summer, including the recently announced All Points West Festival. The only West Coast stop they have scheduled is The Wiltern in LA on July 22.

Listen to “Running to Stand Still (U2 Cover), off the recently released War Child charity album.  

Meet VEVO, YouTube’s New Music Video Hub

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I read recently in both Gizmodo and TechCrunch now of the upcoming launch of Vevo,  a site billed as the ‘premium online music hub built for consumers, advertisers, and content owners..’. The site is a collaboration between Universal Music Group and YouTube and is expected to launch later this year.  The launch of the site will feature UMG’s catalog of music videos powered by YouTube’s technology. The two companies will share advertising revenue generated by the site. Reportedly, deals with other labels are in the works.

Why launch a portal for music videos when you can essentially get them for free now on YouTube? It’s a question many are asking, but I suspect Google plans to change the game a bit on music content.  I highly doubt the site will just stream videos.  I’m sure it will be community driven and designed to separate the YouTube hack from the professional, high-quality VEVO content.  So no more scrolling through bogus, homemade videos to find the content you’re looking for.  Yeah! Considering ad revenues on music video content is an area that UMG actually made money, the venture makes sense. Labels need to figure out somewhat to make money these days, don’t they?

Airport Surroundings

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An empty Chicago O'Hare airport around midnight, waiting for luggage.

Listen to Loney, Dear, “Airport Surroundings”:  

The Swedish indie pop group is on tour supporting their new album, Dear John, and will be performing at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill on May 15.

Phil Spector Found Guilty of Murder

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The New York Times reported today that creepy music producer, Phil Spector, was found guilty of murder.  A unanimous decision.  Why it took them 30 hours to reach that conclusion is beyond me.  I mean the guy is on record confessing “I think I killed somebody” with the gun in his hand. He faces a minimum of 18 years in prison for shooting a woman point blank in the face for spurning his sexual advances.

Twitter Concerts – SF Band Logs 3000 Downloads Using Twitter

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Moonalice.  Heard of them?  Yeah, you and no one else outside of Silicon Valley either. Luckily lead guitarist Roger McNamee knows a thing or two about technology, being one of the Valley’s most well-known venture capitalists. TechCrunch reported that the band staged it’s first Twitter-integrated concert at a venue in San Francisco recently and logged 3000 downloads of their music using the platform.  Pretty impressive for a band no one’s ever heard of and an eye opening tactic for bands to successfully leverage Twitter as a viral marketing tool.

These so-called Twitter Concerts work something like this: immediately following each live song performed, it’s digitized, uploaded then tweeted about it’s availability with a TinyURL where users can listen and download the song.  It’s like a virtual live concert feed. And if a small local band can see that much success, imagine the impact if well known artists jump on the Twitter Concert bandwagon. By golly, I think we’ve just spotted a trend in the making – Twitter Concerts!  

According to The Underwire, hip hop artist K’naan is leveraging the Twitter platform in equally innovative ways to promote his music as well. Here’s to Web 2.0!

Outside Lands Initial Line Up Announced

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Here it is.  The initial line up for Outside Lands.  And all I can say is WTF? Pearl Jam, Black Eyed Peas and The Dave Matthews Band for christ sakes? We’ve gone from Radiohead to Fergie. That’s definitely going to draw the wrong crowd.  Too bad because the ‘opening’ bands look great – Band of Horses, Silversun Pickups, The Dead Weather (definitely interested in Jack White’s latest venture), The National, Deerhunter, The Duke Spirit. 

Ah well, it’s up to you Treasure Island Music Fest.  You haven’t let me down yet.

State Targeting Legendary SF All Ages Music Venues

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Bottom of the Hill - One of SF's all ages music venues in question

Bottom of the Hill - One of SF's all ages music venues under scrutiny by the ABC.

The San Francisco Chronicle ran a disturbing story this weekend on legally questionable new regulations the state of California’s Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) is trying to impose on some of San Francisco’s legendary all ages music venues.  If enforced some of the City’s best music clubs – Bottom of the Hill, Great American Music Hall, Slim’s and Cafe du Nord – may be forced to close.

All of these businesses are able to operate as all ages venues because they serve food, as required by the ABC.  Recently, however, the agency has decreed that at least half of the clubs’ revenue must come from food sales. The problem is that most of their income comes from alcohol and ticket sales. While the code makes no mention of a minimum sales requirement, some clubs are having conditions set on their license by the ABC contingent upon these new requirements – such as food sales exceeding alcohol sales.

Luckily the jurisdiction of the ABC is being questioned by elected officials, including San Francisco Supervisor Sophie Maxwell and state Sen. Mark Leno.  Still, it can’t hurt for the community to get involved in the fight to preserve our best music venues – and a right of passage.  

(Thanks Al for forwarding this story!)

My Own Personal Jesus

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Artist: Dan Auerbach
Album: Keep It Hid
File Under: Vintage Blues Rock
Recommended if You Like:  The Black Keys, Heartless Bastards, The Raconteurs
Featured Tracks: “The Prowl”

If Clapton is God, then Dan Auerbach is Jesus Christ.  That’s what all the comments on my YouTube video say anyway, about a posting I made of a recent live performance of him covering The Animals “Inside Looking Out”. “Dan Auerbach is the Jesus Christ of all musicians….the man is THE KING……JESUS CHRIST, WHAT A VOICE!”   

And the comments just keep coming. I’ve been a longtime fan of The Black Keys so word of Dan’s new solo effort had me hot and bothered for months. But you never know how these solo gigs are going to go.  I had to see it, touch it, feel it to believe it.  Fortunately I had the chance to do so, right after his debut album (Keep It Hid) released, at Bimbos in San Francisco.  Without a doubt it was one of the best live shows of the year. One that has fueled my first, full-fledged musical obsession for 2009.  So much so that I have officially baptized myself to the Church of Dan.  

Is Jesus Christ going too far?  I don’t know, but it is Easter Sunday and he’s certainly a legend in the making. And quite frankly with the impressive body of work he’s generated recently, it’s hard to argue. In early 2008 he gave us the acclaimed album Attack & Release with The Black Keys, later that year they released a DVD Live at The Crystal Ballroom, then just months later his solo album Keep It Hid was unveiled – followed by an extensive tour that rolls right into another Black Keys tour.  Whew!  Call him whatever you want, but Dan is most definitely the man right now.

The Black Keys perform at the new Fox Theater in Oakland, Saturday April 18.

Videos: Dark Was the Night – Yeasayer, Dirty Projectors, The National

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The official videos for Yeasayer’s “Tight Rope”, Dirty Projectors – “Knotty Pine” and The National – “So Far Around The Bend”, off of the Dark Was the Night, a charity compilation for AIDS released by 4AD Records and Red Hot.  The Red Hot Organization is the leading international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.