Music News & Notes

Hallelujah! Cohen Cover Takes Over iTunes Again – This Time For Haiti Relief

Covers of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" have a history of breaking records for digital music (see American Idol's Justin Castro, Jeff Buckley, that girl from the X Factor). Today, Justin Timberlake joins the club.

Timberlake covered Cohen's '84 classic -- with help from former fellow Mouseketeer Matt Morris -- on Friday night's Hope For Haiti benefit. And though the evening featured memorable performances by artists including Madonna, Wyclef Jean, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Coldplay, Jay-Z, etc., etc. -- apparently JT hit people in their credit cards (and hearts) a little more than the others. His cover of "Hallelujah" is currently at No. 2 on the iTunes chart. (Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock's cover of "Lean on Me" is the next telethon recording to represent on the chart, at the No. 12 spot.)

"It's always been one of my favourite songs," Timberlake told MTV of "Hallelujah." "And my artist Matt, we always kinda sing that song when we're messign around in the studio with ideas.

"The way that it's written can be interpreted many different ways," he continued. "But the emotion that comes through -- the chords, the melody and also what's being said in the song -- it just kind of fit for the telethon."

All the musical performances from Friday night's fundraising special were made available to download via iTunes following the program, with funds raised going towards various NGOs assisting with the earthquake relief effort. According to the New York Times, the Hope For Haiti Now album was the No. 1 album on iTunes in 18 countries, and set records as the biggest one-day album pre-order for the online retailer. That said, however, CBC reports that final figures on how much the recordings raised for charity have yet to be released.

The telethon's producers released a statement saying that the donations made by viewers via phone and text message tally up to more than $57 million US. (CBC reports that the Strombo/Cheryl Hickey/Ben Mulroney-hosted Canadian telethon that also aired Friday raised around $9.4 million.)

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Blackball Records reissuing Jawbreaker's Unfun

Jawbreaker's Adam Pfahler made a post to the band's MySpace page this weekend wherein he revealed that his Blackball Records will be reissuing the band's 1990 debut full-length, Unfun.

We're not really calling it this, but the twentieth anniversary edition of Jawbreaker's 1990 debut album Unfun will be released on Blackball Records on March 30, 2010.

Unfun has been remastered by John Golden from the original analog tapes. The increased sampling rate boosts some of the bottom end and midrange. It sounds fucking awesome.

The CD and download versions of the record include the three song Whack & Blite E.P., as well as the 7" mix of "Busy" as an unlisted bonus track. The vinyl version is available for the first time since 1992 and has the same 12 song track list.

The original artwork has been restored and all formats include additional band photos from the time of recording. The CD comes with a 24 page booklet with the Whack & Blite E.P. insert reproduced in its entirety.

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AC/DC To Release "AC/DC: Iron Man 2" Compilation Album

AC/DC has just announced they will release "AC/DC: Iron Man 2," on April 19th through Columbia Records in support of the upcoming "Iron Man 2" film from Marvel Studios. The album will feature 15 AC/DC songs, selected from ten of the band's studio albums ranging from 1976 to 2008. Included in the album are songs such as "Shoot To Thrill," "Thunderstruck," and "Let There Be Rock" as well as "War Machine" from the recent "Black Ice" release.

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The survival of vinyl records

By Charles Purnell

Music industry insiders made a prediction in 1989 that vinyl records would soon be extinct.

The foresight was partially true because record companies stopped producing 45s (vinyl singles) in early 1990. The reason: buying behavior of music patrons had changed. Cassettes and compact discs proved far more appealing than the flat, black circles with only two songs on them.

As it turned out, LPs (long players in industry jargon) maintained appeal with DJs throughout the decade of cassettes and compact discs.

With the emergence of DJ software like Serato in 2001, another prediction was made – LPs would soon be extinct because digital vinyl could be used to play MP3s. Furthermore, turntables were going to be tossed to the wayside because digital turntables, allowing DJs to scratch and back cue CDs, were underway.

Read the rest here: http://www.dailytitan.com/2010/01/the-survival-of-vinyl-records/