Music News & Notes

R.E.M. Release Date Set

R.E.M. and Warner Brothers Records have announced an October 27 release date for the new 2-CD release Live at the Olympia by R.E.M.

The new album chronicles the band's five night stand at Dublin's Olympia Theatre from July 2007 where they were doing "working rehearsals" prior to recording the Accelerate album. Crowd reaction was especially exuberant as the band was performing for fan-club members, family and friends along with fans from around the world.

The group called the stand and "experiment in terror" as they were trying out many new songs and older material that they hadn't performed in many years. Guitarist Peter Buck said, "We were just trying to do something we hadn't done before which meant there was no relaxing during the set. Every second we were playing something we didn't know all that well. Which was kind of good — there were all kinds of terror elements going on during that show."

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Michael Jackson's 'Body Contained Lethal Levels Of Propofol'

Michael Jackson had lethal levels of the powerful anaesthetic propofol in his body when he died, it’s been reported.

The Los Angeles Coroners' findings were revealed in a search warrant affidavit, which was made public today in Houston. Furthermore, the Associated Press claims an unnamed police source has said the coroner ruled the star’s death as homicide.

The drug propofol is normally given to patients ahead of surgery, has come to be the focus of Jackson’s death.

The affidavit also revealed that Jackson’s personal physician, Dr Conrad Murray, told police he had been giving the singer the drug for six weeks to treat insomnia.

He said he left the singer to make phone calls and when he returned Jackson was not breathing.

The Jackson family released a statement Monday afternoon commending the authorities on their hard work. "The Jackson family has full confidence in the legal process, and commends the ongoing efforts of the L.A. County Coroner, the L.A. District Attorney and the L.A. Police Department," the statement said. "The family looks forward to the day that justice can be served."


I, along with the rest of the world, cannot figure why he was getting this for insomnia. When you can't sleep, take a sleeping pill, not inject a powerful sedative used in surgery into your body! I mean, who hasn't fallen asleep watching late night TV? I hope they prosecute whoever is responsible and get a handle on the Dr. Feelgood's that surround the LA area. In the end it's all about $$$$ and I guess if you have it, then you can hire the right doctor to get the drug of your choice.

Any thoughts?

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Restocks at Vinyl Collective

Stop by www.vinylcollective.com and pick up some great vinyl for your collection!

FLOGGING MOLLY ìWithin A Mile of Homeî LP green vinyl
FUGAZI “3 Songs” 7? reissue
FUGAZI “Red Medicine” LP w/ digital download
FUGAZI “Repeater” LP
FUGAZI “The Argument” LP REISSUE
MAKE UP “Destination Love” LP reissue
MINOR THREAT “First 2 7?s” LP
MINOR THREAT “Out Of Step” LP
MINOR THREAT “Salad Days” 7?
NATHEN MAXWELL & THE ORIGINAL BUNNY GANG “White Rabbit” LP black vinyl
NATHEN MAXWELL & THE ORIGINAL BUNNY GANG “White Rabbit” LP white vinyl
Q AND NOT U “3 Songs” 7?
Q AND NOT U “Different Damage” LP reissue color vinyl
Q AND NOT U “No Kill No Beep Beep” LP clear gold vinyl
RITES OF SPRING “S/T” LP
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM “The 59 Sound” 7? (RE-RELEASE)
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM “The 59 Sound” LP black vinyl
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM ”The ‘59 Sound” 7”
WAX “Hangin’ On” 7? clear yellow vinyl

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Beatles: Rock Band Creators Bring in Paul and Ringo to Get the Details Right

by Dan Reilly

On Sept. 9, The Beatles: Rock Band will hit shelves after more than two years in development. Josh Randall, the creative director and project leader at Rock Band developer Harmonix, has been at the heart of the game since its inception, and he recently spoke with Spinner about turning the concept into one of the most anticipated video games in recent memory. "It's a stressful thing, trying to re-create someone's loved one or an icon that's important to so many people," he says. Read on to hear how Randall and his colleagues painstakingly researched details about the band, overcame the difficult task of choosing which songs to include and won the approval of Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison, Dhani Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

What was the process for selecting the songs used in the game?

We worked closely with [producer] Giles Martin, the son of [Beatles producer] Sir George Martin, and our main focus was trying to pick songs that would be fun to play in the game. That was our first criteria, and from there we wanted to get a balance of songs that would spread throughout their entire career. We wanted one of the modes in the game to have a linear campaign through the whole history of the Beatles starting at the Cavern Club [circa 1962] and going up to the Apple Corps rooftop [in 1969], so we wanted to evenly spread it out that way. Then we threw some of our favorite songs in there, as well.

read the rest here:

www.spinner.com

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No Guitar Record

James Burton didn't set his record. The Elvis and Ricky Nelson guitarist was attempting to break the record for most guitarist simultaneously playing the same song at his International Guitar Festival this past weekend. Burton was able to assemble 877 guitarists to play That's All Right and Hound Dog. That's far short of the record of 1,802.