Music News & Notes

Arctic Monkeys At Oxfam

Indie rock favourites, Arctic Monkeys are doing their bit for charity with the release of ‘Crying Lightning’, the first single taken from their soon to be released third album ‘Humbug’, out August 24th.

The lads are going retro by ditching the usual CD format in favour of vinyl for the exclusive release of their new single.

‘Crying Lightning’ will be released in two versions; a ten-inch and a seven-inch single with the later being available exclusively through the UK charity shop ‘Oxfam’ for £2.99

The single, which is currently available to download, will go on sale on Monday August 17th with the Oxfam exclusive version featuring a cover of ‘Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds’ song ‘Red Right Hand’ as the B-Side. Whilst the ten-inch version of the single, which will be sold through more conventional record shops, features a new track ‘I Haven’t Got My Strange’ as an extra B-Side.

But don’t fret if you don’t own a record player, both versions of the single will come with a code allowing the free download of the relevant tracks on MP3.

In further support of Oxfam, the band and their label (Domino) are encouraging all fans who buy the single from one of the 700 nationwide shops to take something of value to donate, especially any unwanted records and other music-related items.

“Oxfam is a Great British institution and it’s a delight to be working together on this project…as well as raising some money for a great cause we are able to get vinyl back onto more of the nation’s high streets, which feels good.”

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DJ Shadow Launches His Own Music Store On New Website

DJ Shadow relaunched his official Website today as a destination where fans can purchase unreleased material, deluxe versions of his albums and more content, marking the first time a major label artist has established his own music store. Not only does DJ Shadow’s new site allow him to connect globally with fans, it also allows for the Endtroducing..… mastermind to directly receive money for his music without using a middleman like iTunes or other digital outlets.

Among the exclusives now available at DJ Shadow’s new Website include a batch of live performances and mixes from throughout the past decade, as well as rehearsal demos and free downloadable interviews. All the downloads are high-quality, DRM-free MP3s.

The site’s layout is also novel — it transitions from day to night depending on what time you visit the site. The site will also house DJ Shadow’s video blog, as well as features like “Guide To Collecting DJ Shadow” and the “DJ Shadow Handmade” series.

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Jacko Still Selling

Michael Jackson will, once again, have the biggest selling album in the United States next week with Number Ones and the only album to sell over 100,000 copies. Hits Daily Double is predicting that he will also have number 3 (Essential) and 4 (Thriller), both selling in the 60 to 70,000 area.

The new UK album charts are out as well and for the 6th straight week (and every week since his death) Michael Jackson had the top selling album. In all there were 7 MJ/Jackson 5 albums on the UK top 40 albums chart this week:

#01 The Essential Michael Jackson
#08 Michael Jackson & The Jackson 5: The Motown Years
#11 Thriller
#16 Off The Wall
#26 Michael Jackson: The Collection
#36 King of Pop
#40 Michael Jackson & Jackson Five: The Very Best Of

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Pink Floyd CD Box Set: Oh By The Way

The Pink Floyd CD Box Set “Oh, By the Way” includes all of the studio albums from Pink Floyd’s long career beginning with 1967’s brilliant Syd Barret era Piper at the Gates of Dawn through 1994’s The Division Bell. Basically this a good “one stop” way to buy the entire Pink Floyd discography in a fancy box with some nice CD sleeves (using original LP artwork.)

It’s apparently a “limited edition” box set with only 10,000 copies having been made. Pick up yours here:




Along with the complete Pink Floyd studio album collection in CD format with the original LP artwork, this “Oh, By the Way” Box Set also includes a Pink Floyd poster and two Pink Floyd coasters which are only available as a part of this box set (not sold separately.)

Albums Included: Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, More, Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother, Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, The Final Cut, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, & The Division Bell.

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Sir Paul McCartney Denies Retirement Rumors


Sir Paul McCartney has denied reports that he plans to retire in 2010.

Last week, The Sun newspaper claimed the former Beatle was to give up touring next year following a series of farewell concerts.

But Sir Paul has played down the claims and said he plans to tour as long as fans want to see him.

“I was thinking this morning that it was five years ago that this same rumour went around,” he told the Boston Herald.

“All I can say is that I’m not retiring.”

The singer compared the latest reports to previous claims in 1966 that he had died.

He said: “It’s like, 'Paul is dead'. 'No, I’m not,' is all I could say.

“I did talk about retirement in one sentence in one story and only to say, 'No way Jose'. But someone must have only read part of that one sentence.

“As long as people want to come and hear me, I’ll probably be doing this. It’s just so easy to star rumours.”

The former Beatle is currently in the middle of a brief US tour, which included a headlining show at Citi Field in Queens last month.

For an old guy, he still rocks.

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What?

Sometimes you have to give the people what they need. The ear-splitting heavy metal group My Bloody Valentine will give out earplugs to fans attending shows on their European Tour, courtesy of Earplugshop.com. I think they intend on being loud and this will also deter people from filing those pesky lawsuits claiming that they lost their hearing at a concert (yes, there have many suits filed like that!)

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Abbey Road Anniversary Walk

Fans celebrate Abbey Road 40th anniversary next weekend

On 8th August 1969, the Beatles crossed Abbey Road. Next Saturday, 8th August 2009, a special day of events have been planned to celebrate the anniversary.

A special Beatles walking tour will cross the Abbey Road Crossing exactly 40 years to the minute since the Beatles did it in 1969. The tour will be lead by Richard Porter, a professional Beatles tour guide and owner of the Beatles Coffee Shop. The special tour starts at Marylebone Station at 9.20am. There is no need to book for the tour, just turn up at the meeting point.

At 11.35am fans will cross Abbey Road exactly 40 years to the minute since the Beatles. They will be led across by Beatles band Sgt Pepper's Only Dartboard Band, who will be wearing replicas of the clothes the Beatles wore 40 years before. They will be arriving in an exact replica of John Lennon's psychedelic Rolls Royce Car- as provided by Ripley's Believe it or Not.



Other places visited on the tour will include:

the place where the opening scenes for A Hard Day's Night were filmed;

the restaurant featured in Help!,

the former Apple Shop which had the psychedelic mural painted on the wall;

the registry office where two of the Beatles were married,

the apartment immortalised by Ringo, John and Yoko where the infamous 'Two Virgins' picture was taken.

We'll also see the house where Paul lived with Jane Asher.

Those were the days ... for it was in that house that John and Paul wrote I Want To Hold Your Hand.

If you can't get to the event in person, it will be broadcast by CBS News in the US, on Russian National TV and also in Spain and France!

You can also watch it live on the Abbey Road webcam!

For more information on the day's events please visit www.beatlesinlondon.com/abbeyroad.htm




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John Patitucci Releases New CD "Remembrance"


The new CD from Grammy winning jazz bassist John Patitucci, Remembrance, is in stores today (CD & digital) via Concord Jazz.

Remembrance is Patitucci's 7th release on Concord Jazz and pays homage to several of his heroes, including tenor sax colossus Sonny Rollins (the upbeat “Sonny Side”), the late trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard (the bouncy, joyful “Blues for Freddie”), tenor sax titan Joe Henderson (the bold, bright “Joe Hen” with Lovano’s searing tenor solo) and bass elder Ray Brown (the lazy blues “Play Ball” that Patitucci says is “one of the slowest tempos I’ve ever played”).

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New Country Releases

Gloriana – Gloriana

Hank III/Assjack – AssJack

Mac McAnally – Down By the River

Steve Azar – Slide on Over Here

Sugarland – Live On the Inside (CD/DVD)

Zac Brown Band – Live From Bonnaroo (EP)

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KISS & Candy

Rumors are swirling that the title of the new Kiss album will be "Sonic Boom." Or maybe not.

Something that is firm is that there will be special edition Kiss M&M's released in October. Here's the current ad:


What's next? KISS makeup kits just in time for Halloween? Wait, they probably already have that.....