Band does full one-hour set showcasing The Suburbs material.

By Blurt Staff

Austin City Limits (ACL) will blow it out this Saturday, Jan. 14, with a full episode dedicated to Arcade Fire. Check local listings for times. Here's a preview of "We Used To Wait" (at the end, also check a concert version of "Ready To Start").

Arcade Fire "We Used to Wait" at ACL: Behind the Scenes from Jonathan Jackson on Vimeo.

 
"No band delivers a live show like Arcade Fire, and only one band could top that first show they did for us four years ago. You guessed it...Arcade Fire!" said Terry Lickona, ACL Executive Producer, in a statement. "They out-do themselves every time they hit the stage, and they have no equal today when it comes to that combination of high energy, pure charisma and great music."

During the taping, singer Win Butler echoed that excitement for returning to the show, saying that ACL was one of the very few things he dreamed about doing as a kid.


The Arcade Fire episode song list includes:

"Ready To Start"
"Keep the Car Running"
"Haiti"
"Rococo"
"The Suburbs"
"Month Of May"
"Rebellion"
"Wake Up"
"Sprawl II"

Well, not by much, actually.... Plus, there were those goobers in Maroon 5. But look at those vinyl stats!

By Fred Mills

Hollywood went into the toilet for 2011, but thanks to a handful of huge-selling albums accompanied by the long-anticipated "big jump" for digital sales, the recording industry ended on a relatively upbeat note when all was said in done for the year that just ended.

Boosted by the mega-success of Adele's 21 as well as strong performances by Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Mumford & Sons, Drake and Lady Antebellum (plus, inexplicably, monster sales for a pair of holiday albums from Michael Buble and Justin Bieber), 2011's album-sales tally notched 330.6 million copies, a 1.4% jump over 2010's 326.2 million. That's not a huge increase, but perhaps the bigger news is that digital albums hit 103.1 million, a 19.5% increase - essentially saving the industry from itself, since CD sales continued to decline.

A few more random stats for you to peruse:

*digital sales accounted for 50.3% of all sales, making 2011 the first year that digital exceeded physical.

*biggest digital songs sales: Adele ("Rolling In The Deep" sold 5.81 million downloads), LMFAO ("Party Rock Anthem," 5.47 million), Katy Perry ("E.T.," 4.83 million), Maroon 5 ("Moves Like Jagger," 4.11 million).

*total music sales (albums, singles, videos, digital tracks): 1.6 billion, a 6.9% increase (with straight physical-album sales down 5%).

*vinyl album sales: 3.9 million, a 36.3% increase.

*best-selling vinyl artists: Beatles, Radiohead, Black Keys, Bon Iver

*number of albums released in 2011: 76,875

*number of albums (physical) sent to BLURT in 2011: 5,500 (approx.)

Definitely a Bear's choice!

By Blurt Staff

Coming March 13 from Columbia/Legacy: Live at the Carousel Ballroom, a previously unreleased Big Brother and the Holding Company (w/Janis Joplin), recorded June 23, 1968 by legendary soundman Owsley Stanley, a/k/a "Bear," who supervised the mastering of this release before his fatal car accident on March 12, 2011, in his adopted homeland of Australia.  The release of the album marks the one-year anniversary of his passing and is dedicated to Bear.

"Care was taken to preserve and ensure the integrity of the music as well as to present an accurate snapshot of the masterful talent of one of the greatest singers of her generation and one of the hottest live bands in the San Francisco scene," wrote Bear's widow, Sheilah Stanley, in her dedication to Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968.  "This is Bear's vision - how he heard the band live, and how he wanted to transmit that to you... this truly is Bear's presentation of this phenomenal band and inspirational music."

Cited by San Francisco rock scribe Joel Selvin as "truly one of the fathers of today's concert sound systems," Owsley Bear Stanley "supervised the sound at the Carousel Ballroom, a former big band dance palace at the corner of Market and Van Ness in downtown San Francisco that, for a few months in 1968 was operated by a collective formed by the Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother and the Holding Company, a social/musical laboratory experiment akin to inmates running asylums, whose six-month run may well have corresponded with the height of the whole '60s Haight-Ashbury/San Francisco thing...."

An essential and pivotal figure in the San Francisco counter-cultural scene, from beatniks to hippies to beyond, Bear began mixing live sound with the Grateful Dead in 1966 and ran the sound system for the Carousel until Bill Graham took over and rechristened it the Fillmore West in the autumn of 1968.  From his first days with the Dead, Bear would record the shows he was involved with as way to improve his live system set-ups.  Bear's "sonic journals" are generally regarded as the gold standard for live concerts from the psychedelic era.

"What is key about these moments captured by Owsley is that they're a true representation of what this mythic band really sounded like live," notes rock scribe Jaan Uhelszki in her essay on Janis and Big Brother's enduring ability to astound and surprise, "the rough magic, the explosive synergy, the dangerous frisson of boundaries being demolished between artist and audience....these 14 songs are a testament to what a force of nature Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company was during these two nights at the Carousel Ballroom. Showing them at the zenith of their considerable power, it is so fortunate that this recording was ever made-only two months before their break up. This is one of the few living documents of that propitious and monumental pairing."

"He viewed these recordings as windows into the past," wrote Bear's son, Starfinder Stanley, in his notes for Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968. "So this is not just a live recording of Janis Joplin singing with Big Brother and the Holding Company.  This is an auditory portal that...can transport you back to the short-lived but incredible world of the Carousel Ballroom in 1968."

tracklisting

1. Combination Of The Two 

2. I Need A Man To Love 

3. Flower In The Sun 

4. Light Is Faster Than Sound 

5. Summertime

6. Catch Me Daddy 

7. It's A Deal 

8. Call On Me 

9. Jam - I'm Mad 

10. Piece Of My Heart 

11. Coo Coo 

12. Ball & Chain

13. Down On Me

Bonus Track:

14. Call On Me (Saturday Show-June 22, 1968)

The reunion is not off yet, however.

By Fred Mills

This morning the music world awoke to startling news - Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with lymphoma. The 63-year old guitarist, in the early stages of the disease (cancer of the lymphocytes, cell that comprise part of the immune system) indicated in a statement that he "remains upbeat and [is] determined to make a full and successful recovery."

At the moment there is apparently no plan to interrupt Sabbath's 2012 reunion, which includes their original lineup's first album together in 33 years to be produced by Rick Rubin for a fall release, as well as touring. They have already inked a deal to appear at the Download Festival in England in June. (Go here to read our coverage of the press conference that the group held in November announcing the reunion.)

In the official statement sent out by Black Sabbath this morning:

"With the news that Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma, his bandmates would like everyone to send positive vibes to the guitarist at this time.  Iommi is currently working with his doctors to establish the best treatment plan -- the "IRON MAN" of Rock & Roll remains upbeat and determined to make a full and successful recovery.

"This comes as Black Sabbath--Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums)--are writing and recording their first album in 33 years in Los Angeles (still set for release this fall) with producer Rick Rubin.  They will now go to the UK to continue to work with Tony."

Back to the Nineties for some grunge, boys.

By Fred Mills

Avett Brothers fans could be forgiven for scratching their heads and wondering where the hell is the followup to 2009's Rick Rubin-produced I And Love And You. 2 ½ years is a long time between records and the Avetts had previously been cranking ‘em out at a rate of at least once a year, if you count the various live releases and EPs.

Never fear: as Rolling Stone is reporting today, the band has cut 20+ songs (with input, though not hands-on production, from Rubin; they recorded in Asheville and he remained in L.A. then met with them later to discuss things) and say they are "right at the finish line" in terms of having the followup album ready. According to RS the album is a mixture of "harmony-rich acoustic ballads" and aggressive rockers, with one track, "Paul Newman Versus the Demons" being describe as "very Nineties rock - what you could call grunge."

Whoah.

No title or release date has been announced yet.

Standards collection features guests Diana Krall, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder.

By Blurt Staff

Previously announced was the upcoming Paul McCartney album; in December Macca streamed a new song, "My Valentine," slated to come from the record. Now details have come in on the album, which is to be titled Kisses On the Bottom and will hit stores Feb. 7 on Hear Music/Concord. It is a collection of standards Paul grew up listening to in his childhood as well as the two new McCartney compositions 'My Valentine' and 'Only Our Hearts'.  

The album was recorded at the Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, New York and London throughout 2011 and was produced by Tommy LiPuma. Diana Krall and her band back McCartney up, and the record also features guest musicians Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, respectively, on the original compositions  'My Valentine' and 'Only Our Hearts'.  Clapton also appears on the track 'Get Yourself Another Fool'.

Tracklisting:

Standard CD - 14 tracks

01. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter                  02:36

02. Home (When Shadows Fall)                                                      04:04

03.  It's Only A Paper Moon                                                            02:35

04. More I Cannot Wish You                                                           03:04

05. The Glory Of Love                                                                   03:46     

06. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me)                                   03:22

07. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive                                                 02:32

08. My Valentine                                                                           03:14

09. Always                                                                                    03:50

10. My Very Good Friend The Milkman                                            03:04

11. Bye Bye Blackbird                                                                   04:26

12. Get Yourself Another Fool                                                       04:42

13. The Inch Worm                                                                       03:43

14. Only Our Hearts                                                                      04:21

Deluxe CD Album will feature two bonus tracks plus access to a download of the Capitol Studios show (available from Tuesday 14th February via paulmccartney.com), plus longer liner notes and expanded packaging featuring three postcards)

15.  Baby's Request                                                          03:30

16.  My One And Only Love                                               03:50

EMI files suit against the digital file reseller barely two months after the RIAA sends cease-and-desist letter.

By Fred Mills

When ReDigi launched last year billing itself as the "world's first used marketplace for digital music," staking a claim to being a store whereby users could sell all those MP3s that had been filling up their hard drives, a lot of industry watchers definitely squinted, and hard. The start-up's entire business model, after all, depends on what some said was a unique - if not downright erroneous - reading of the First Sale Doctrine, that legal principle which allows owners of CDs, LPs, 45s, DVDs, etc. to turn around and re-sell the items at the used record store, yardsales, eBay and other venues.

While ReDigi reportedly vetted said business model thoroughly with its lawyers, naysayers' counter-argument was that the transfer of an MP3 to another person is an entirely different function from dumping a used CD onto a shop's trade counter - that it necessarily involved copying/duplicating the MP3 for sale, something that is NOT permitted as part of the First Sale Doctrine. To sell MP3 through ReDigi (putting things very simply here): you first download the company's software and install it on your computer, and then at that point you can select the MP3s you have that you want to sell and upload that information to the ReDigi website and wait for someone to buy ‘em. Or, if you are purchasing MP3s through ReDigi, download them to your player and organize them once you've paid your money.

ReDigi indicates that its system removes the MP3s from the seller's hard drive at the time of purchase, which of course would be necessary to meet the First Sale criteria  -otherwise, the only alternative would appear to be selling the entire physical hard drive, iPod, etc. that is housing the MP3 in question. Of course, in one sense it's kind of hard to get your head around the idea of transferring an MP3 over the internet and taking it off your hard drive as two parts of a single action equal to handing a store clerk a CD as he is handing you back five bucks.

For some reason there hasn't been a lot of discussion about what would seem to be a very obvious question: what if the original owner of the MP3 has copied it to some other device like an iPod? Couldn't that person sell the MP3 on his hard drive, then after the sale turn around and copy the track that's on his iPod back to the hard drive and start the resell procedure all over again, and infinitely? Back in the pre-digital era, someone could easily make a tape copy of an LP or CD before trading it in or selling it - or, with the advent of CD burners, dub a copy to CDR - but the likelihood of that person then being able to sell the cassette or CDR copy was very, very slim. (Street-corner pirated CDR vendors notwithstanding.) On the ReDigi FAQ page this matter is addressed very vaguely, indicating that the hard drive removal process also includes removing the MP3 from "all synched devices" (such as an iPod) "as soon as" the sale is confirmed, but one can easily read through the lines of that statement and see how readily the removal procedure could be thwarted - for example, not having the iPod attached to the computer at that time and then making sure that the track(s) in question has its box un-checked for any subsequent synching. Or simply transferring the MP3 to another computer altogether and installing the ReDigi software on it.

Anyway, in November the RIAA, not surprisingly, had a similarly hard time getting its members heads around the above-mentioned idea and sent ReDigi a cease-and-desist order on behalf of Universal, Sony, Warners and EMI, claiming that the transaction as described is in fact "copying" the MP3s. ReDigi, naturally, countered that there's no copying involved, presumably due to the remove-from-hard-drive aspect of the transactions.  "When our transaction goes from one person to another, there's no copying involved in that transaction," ReDigi CEO John Ossenmacher said.

Billboard.biz has been covering this and it's well-worth reading, particularly if you are intrigued by the whole concept of whether owning a digital file is analogous to owning a physical album; of whether you've purchased a "recording" or merely a "license" when buying an MP3 from iTunes or Amazon; and in particular whether it's even possible to transfer an MP3 to another person without the procedure involving what most of us think of as "copying."

Meanwhile, the whole thing heated up to a new level on Friday when EMI filed a lawsuit against ReDigi, alleging that the company "makes multiple unauthorized copies in violation of copyright law." According to a report at Cnet.com, ReDigi indicated they would "fight it vigorously" in the upcoming battle over the interpretation of First Sale as it applies to digital goods. As Cnet notes:

"ReDigi and its users are making and distributing unauthorized copies of that original file," EMI said in the complaint. "The Copyright Act defines 'copy' and 'phonorecord' as material objects in which a work or sounds are fixed respectively...Neither ReDigi nor its users resell the original material object that resided on the original user's computer. Rather... [ReDigi and users] duplicate digital files both in uploading and downloading discrete copies distinct from the original file that originally resided on a user's computer."

Cnet also touched upon the whole issue discussed above of MP3 owners potentially making multiple copies of their tracks.

Here's betting that before the week is out the three other big major labels will also file lawsuits. Let the games begin, as this is all a matter that to date has not been tested in court. Part of me feels like ReDigi has a righteous cause, as I have always been a staunch supporter of consumer rights, which First Sale clearly addresses. My prediction, however, is that ReDigi will put up a good fight for as long as its resources last (but knowing it is up against the deep pockets of the major labels, don't count on that being a protracted fight), and while it may have a number of advocates in its corner, the courts will be loathe to wade too deep into re-interpreting First Sale and will rule against ReDigi, which will then go out of business.

Drummer had been a key member of the band from 1974 until it went on hiatus in 2004.

By Fred Mills

NRBQ devotees no doubt knew this was coming eventually, but it still hurts deeply just the same: drummer Tom Ardolino, who joined the band in 1974 and played until the middle of the ‘00s when the group went into hibernation, passed away on Friday at the age of 56, in Springfield, Mass. It's known that he'd been battling an undisclosed illness for some time, and a few weeks ago the NRBQ website posted the news that he'd entered a hospital for treatment.

One of the most beloved American bands in history, NRBQ had a number of reunion shows since 2004 and Ardolino performed at most of them, but by the time keyboardist Terry Adams put the group back together last year for an album and tour he was too sick to resume duties behind the drum kit. Speaking to BLURT in October of 2011, Adams commented on his new-look NRBQ and paid tribute to Ardolino when he said, "How could I ever have another rhythm section or greater guys than Tom Ardolino on drums? But Conrad [Choucron] - he's the perfect successor to Tom Ardolino, for one thing. You might've seen that story, or maybe you didn't, where Tom and I heard Conrad in the early ‘90s sometime and we looked at each other and Tom said, ‘Anything ever happens to me, that's the guy.' [laughs] Tom regrets he can't tour anymore, although he's still with the band if we're in a 75-mile radius of his home. So we have two drummers on a lot of shows. So he's an honorary/still-member."

And always will be, in the hearts of memories of ‘Q fans. Ardolino was one of the most genuine and unaffected guys in the business, quick with a handshake and even quicker with a good word. At the NRBQ Facebook page there was an instant outpouring of grief and remembrances after the announcement of his passing was made on Friday evening. One typical comment: "RIP Tommy, Heaven just got another great member in the band...."

Erstwhile NRBQ guitarist All Anderson, quoted in the Hartford Courant, said of Ardolino, "He was a great drummer and a great guy. He had a totally unique style of drumming that nobody can ever duplicate. That was one of the baddest rhythm sections in the world."

After NRBQ split in 2004 Ardolino cut a solo album, Unknown Brain. He also played with numerous other musicians, including NRBQ auxiliary member P. J. O'Connell, whose 2011 album Join The Crowd (reviewed here at BLURT) prominently featured his percussion talents. O'Connell, remembering Ardolino this weekend, observed, "I first saw Tommy play at a free WHCN NRBQ show in Bushnell Park in Hartford during the summer of 1974. He 'd been in the band for less than two weeks and  and it was his second or third show. The sound of the six players on stage (Terry, Al, Joey, Tommy, Keith & Donn) was unlike anything I'd ever heard;  like a single, seamless but breathing organism hatched from another time and place. The whirlwind of black curls on the drum riser in the NRBQ softball shirt was the heartbeat of this phenomenon.


"I  fortunately became friends with all the band over time, and they were a key inspiration in my pursuit of music and songwriting, culminating in the rare and great opportunity to play and record with them. Tommy was the key ingredient on my last record. He listened to rough acoustic demos of the new songs in my car en route to the studio, often humming through the songs. Once there, every tune was captured in one or two takes. So flawless, so natural... just like the Bushnell show, 35 years earlier."

He will be greatly missed. Enough tears, though - let's rock, and remember:

"Challenge" hails from forthcoming album a good country mile.

By Fred Mills

A couple of weeks ago the news arrived that Drivin N Cryin mainman Kevn Kinney had teamed up with Golden Palominos mainman Anton Fier to cut a new Kinney album. Titled a good country mile, it sees a full national release on Feb. 21 via Almost Loaded/Redeye (it can also be ordered directly from Kinney's website, www.KevnKinney.com). The guitar-heavy rec is his first new solo platter since 2004's Sun Tangled Angel Revival and the first time Fier has attached the Golden Palominos name to a recording since 1996's Dead Inside.

So we're pretty stoked to unveil the first single from the album. Titled "Challenge," you can check it out right here. Enjoy! (Photo credit: Brittny Smith.)

03 Challenge by Howlin' Wuelf Media

"Bring it on, Diamond Dave," says Sammy, above.

By Fred Mills

The music world, such as it is, seems to be all abuzz over the upcoming Van Halen tour - David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen announced not long ago that 2012 would be the year they mend fences and, er, rake in the moolah. The band re-unveiled themselves last night at NYC's Café Wha? before a small crowd of VIPs and industry invitees.

CBS News reports that "the band hardly seemed rusty... Though his mic was weak, Roth's voice wasn't, as his signature screech was in top form, as was Eddie Van Halen's scorching guitar play on songs like "Hot for Teacher" and "Dance the Night Away.""  You can watch a clip, below, and decide for yourself if that "day laborer" look Diamond Dave is rocking will fly in the arenas.

Meanwhile, though, not to be outdone, Eddie's old foils Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony - the guys NOT invited to the reunion - just announced that THEIR supergroup Chickenfoot (featuring Joe Satriani and Kenny Aronoff, who is temporarily replacing Chad Smith) will kick off a short European tour starting next week, on Jan. 12, in Manchester. The "Road Test" tour will be to promote their recent album II. Coincidence? We think NOT. You can check out a live clip of Chickenfoot, below.

Let the pissing matches begin!