by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Bibi Tanga - "Be Africa" (Dave Sitek Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Little Dragon - Blinking Pigs (MP3)

Little Dragon @ Le Poisson Rouge in 2009 (more by Matthew Taplinger)

Little Dragon announced an early 2011 US tour promoting the release of their upcoming third full length album. The tour makes two stops in New York at Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 20 and Bowery Ballroom on January 21. Tickets are on sale. No openers mentioned yet.

Little Dragon are currently on an international tour (Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand) supporting the Gorillaz, whose most recent album Plastic Beach features Little Dragon on two tracks; "Empire Ants" and "To Binge." LD vocalist Yukimi Nagano also performs both songs live with the band (you may have seen her do it at MSG or on Letterman).

Speaking of Gorillaz, Damon Albarn has announced not only an upcoming Gorillaz album, but two other albums as well. According to an interview with Stuff, Albarn has plans for a second album by The Good, The Bad, & The Queen, and for an album by a new band he's a part of. The new band features Tony Allen (also of The Good, The Bad, & The Queen), Flea, and some of Albarn's "favourite African musicians will be involved also."

Stuff also asked Albarn if Blur, who released a DVD documentary this year, have any plans for a world tour or new album. Albarn responded, "There won't be another world tour for me - for anything - for five to six years; it would seem unlikely. I have a young daughter and it's just not feasible, it's too long away from home. This has been great, but it's too much after a while and so, no, there won't be any tours for me for a while, I should think."

Albarn has also been recording a new Gorillaz album on tour with his iPad. He told NME "I've made it on an iPad - I hope I'll be making the first record on an iPad," he said. "I fell in love with my iPad as soon as I got it, so I've made a completely different kind of record." Albarn wants to release the album "before Christmas."

Gorillaz recorded a new single "Doncamatic" with British R&B singer Daley which will be officially released on November 22 in three formats. The CD version also includes a Joker remix of the song, the iTunes EP adds the third track "Album Mix Tape," and the 7 inch single is "Doncamatic" with the Paul Harris remix of "Empire Ants" on side B. All three formats are currently available for pre-order. There's also a video for the song. You can watch it below.

Little Dragon also recently collaborated with Dave Sitek on one of the tracks off this year's Maximum Balloon release. Sitek more recently remixed the track "Be Africa" by France's Bibi Tanga . It has nothing to do with anything really, but it's being offered as a free download, so grab that mp3 above.

The Gorillaz video and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "new Damon Albarn albums & a Gorillaz video, his iPad, Little Dragon tour dates & Dave Sitek too"

by Black Bubblegum

Blur @ Rough Trade East

What happens when you take a recently disassembled New Order, subtract one, and add in a partial Blur. Apparently, you get an Abel Ferrara film starring Harvey Keitel. Confused?

Frontman Bernard Sumner, drummer Stephen Morris and guitarist Phil Cunningham have joined with Blur's Alex James for Bad Lieutenant's debut album, due in October. "I'm very proud of it, it's a very good album," Sumner told the BBC. "It's pretty guitary too because we've got three guitarists in the band." There may yet be more guitarists added - Sumner has promised that other Manchester musicians are to join the "collective" on tour. -[The Guardian]

Meanwhile Alex James's other gig, Blur, is officially BACK, and they played a pair of reunion gigs in the UK over the past few days including a "friends and family show" in Essex and last night (6/15) at Rough Trade East:

Around 10:42, Graham Coxon's Twitter page gave the game away, rallying the troops to Brixton Academy for eighteen minutes later. A mad dash over the river, through the market and into the unnervingly miniscule queue ensued and fifteen minutes later, wrists were endowed with shining green/ gold dust wristbands emblazoned with the band's now iconic freeform font. All that was left to do was wait.... Until eventually, ...phones and electronic inboxes alike were bombarded with conclusive info as to the wheres and then the whens; Rough Trade East, on stage at 7pm sharp, no arrivals before half six for fear of jeopardising the whole shebang.

...Rough Trade is transformed into the best garage gig never to entail smashed windscreens as involuntary feedback rasps through the murky humidity of an Amazonian rainforest. Invigorating, inspiring and utterly unmissable, the reunion never sounded so victorious. - [Virgin Blog]

Blur's Midlife: a Beginner's Guide To Blur is out now in the UK and due on July 28th domestically. No word on if the band will play on US soil to promote the release.

The recent shows in the UK are only a handful of their upcoming festival-heavy schedule. Check that out, as well as setlists from both nights and video from last night, below...

Continue reading "Blur played some shows (setlists, video, more dates) + Alex James & most of New Order form Bad Lieutenant "

by Ryan Barkan

Duffy @ Lollapalooza 2008 (more by Bao Nguyen)

The cola war has been heating up globally in the last couple of months with music as the weapon of choice.

Pepsi's image rebranding campaign, including a new smile-esque logo, launched right after Christmas with a tv commercial featuring The Apples in Stereo song, "Energy". They then went deep during the Super Bowl, dropping a spot featuring Bob Dylan and Will.I.Am singing "Forever Young" as the beverage's new anthem.

Coke counters with a European spot for Diet Coke that features a playful Duffy doing things on her time during an encore break at a concert. In the commercial, she sings a cover of Sammy Davis Jr's "I Gotta Be Me."

When Sara Tate, a senior planner at the London advertising agency Mother, was asked to find a new face for Diet Coke, she knew what she didn't want. "Definitely no rent-a-face," says Tate, whose ad with Duffy will launch on British television, before rolling out across Europe. "We steered clear of yet another glamorous star with a six-figure fee who will promote anything if the price is right. The public is getting smart to that. We wanted someone who is well known, but not hugely famous. Someone who is on the rise, for whom fame is recent enough that they remember what it is like to have a regular life. Duffy was a perfect fit because, although she is extremely successful, she's still incredibly down to earth." [Via Times Online]

Duffy has since cleaned up at the Grammys, at the British version of the Grammys, and - per Paul McCartney's request, recorded a cover of his song "Live And Let Die" for the new War Child Heroes comp that is released in the US this week. You may have heard the Beck/Dylan track from the same album, when it was played during the credits of last night's Oscars (more on the Oscars in a second...).

Coke's second attack is from Justice - Coke enlisted the duo along with Ed Banger Records' So_Me to design a glow-in-the-dark bottle and provide the soundtrack, their massive jam "D.A.N.C.E.", to a commercial. The bottle will be available in clubs throughout Europe. See the bottle in the commercial below.

The third assault from the Coke comes in their Full Throttle NHRA spots; three of the five have licensed songs: The Faces has "Blue Moon" by the Mavericks, The Machine kicks it country with Merle Haggard's "Working Man Blues", and Left Behind features Operator Please's "Zero Zero."

The final wave occurred as I was writing this article. A one-two punch during the Oscars with both The Boy Least Likely To's "Be Gentle With Me" and Sea Ray's "Revelry" showing up in Coke spots during the telecast on ABC (no video available yet). For those not familiar with the band, Sea Ray broke up in 2005.

Other Notable Licensing News:

Continue reading "This week in Music Licensing (Duffy, Justice, Sonic Youth, Franz Ferdinand, Radiohead, Sea Ray & more...) "

PETER DOHERTY
SOLO DEBUT ALBUM
GRACE/WASTELAND SET FOR MARCH RELEASE

"Last of the English Roses" Is Planned First Single

NEW YORK - The first solo album by singer-songwriter PETER DOHERTY (Babyshambles, The Libertines) is complete, and scheduled for North American release on Astralwerks on March 24, 2009, the label announced today.

The album, Grace/Wasteland, was recorded over a month of sessions in autumn 2008 at London's legendary Olympic Studios with producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, Cranberries, Kaiser Chiefs). Street also produced the 2007 top 5 U.K. album Shotter's Nation by Babyshambles, Doherty's current band.

Album collaborators include guitarist Graham Coxon (Blur), who plays throughout the album; Scottish singer Dot Allison, who co-wrote the duet "Sheepskin Tearaway," which was also featured on Babyshambles' live DVD Up the Shambles; and poet Peter "Wolfman" Wolfe, co-writer and guitarist on "Broken Love Song". Doherty had previously made a guest appearance on Wolfe's U.K. No. 7 single and Ivor Novello Award-nominated song "For Lovers".

Also contributing are Babyshambles members Mick Whitnall on guitar, Drew McConnell on bass, and Adam Ficek on drums.

Further album tracks include "Arcadie," "Through the Looking Glass," "Salome," and "1839 Returning."

With the Libertines, Peter Doherty recorded the U.K. No 1. album The Libertines, and the U.K. No. 2 single "Can't Stand Me Now." Babyshambles have released two U.K. Top 10 albums, Down in Albion (2004) and Shotter's Nation (2007). He is also the author of The Books of Albion: The Collected Works of Peter Doherty (Orion Books, 2007). Doherty was named Hero of the Year in February 2008 at the Shockwaves NME Awards.

In other news, "St. Lucia's tourism chief is praising Amy Winehouse for bringing publicity to the Caribbean island."

Also, Graham Coxon is playing with Blur again, and Dirty Pretty Things announced their breakup in October.

"I can reveal veteran rockers NEIL YOUNG and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN will join ageing Brit-poppers BLUR as bill-toppers at next year's event.

Ticket sales for the most recent bash were the slowest in years.

It was even feared that the event would not sell-out for the first time in its 38-year history.

Many people pointed the finger of blame squarely at the line-up, which was devoid of any truly legendary acts. But now it looks like Somerset native Eavis has come up with the goods in spectacular fashion." [The Sun] (thx Hiro)

Blur have also confirmed another show in the UK in July, and people are wondering if they will play Coachella. Bruce Springsteen is also rumored to play Bonnaroo. Neil Young recently played two nights @ MSG in NYC.

Bonnaroo, the East Coast's premiere multi-day, multi-stage gathering of the vibes (held in Manchester, Tennessee from June 11th to 14th) usually doesn't release its lineup until early February -- but RollingStone.com hears from reliable sources close to Phish that the band will top the bill for two nights, restoring the fest to its jam-friendly roots.......Also being buzzed about with some legitimacy: Bruce Springsteen as Sunday night's closer...

As for Coachella, the fest reputed for reuniting many a dormant band (the Pixies in 2004, Rage Against the Machine in 2007), Blur is believed to be a frontrunner, though a show scheduled for London's Hyde Park in July raises some doubt -- would the Brits really forestall a comeback gig on their home turf for a U.S. one-off jaunt?.... [Rolling Stone]

Maybe Coachella will get "the Specials".

Blur will play a live show in Hyde Park in Summer 2009. Graham Coxon will join Alex James, Dave Rowntree and Damon Albarn onstage for this first time since their Royal Festival Hall performance in 2000. The concert will take place at London's Hyde Park on Friday 3rd July 2009, and tickets will be on general sale from 9am Friday 12th December 2008 at www.livenation.co.uk. [BLUR] (thx cmandel)

Making his Lincoln Center Festival debut former Blur frontman Damon Albarn, is joined by a host of diverse musicians from the UK, Africa, and the United States, for The Honest Jon's Revue, a musical "chop up" (Nigerian slang for "feast"). Albarn, co-founder of the virtual band Gorillaz, has gathered musiciansfrom his label, Honest Jon's, named in tribute to the landmark London record shop of the same name thathas been selling rare and obscure music to discerning buyers for 30 years. Under Albarn's musical stewardship, a wonderfully eclectic group of musicians--the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Simone White and Malians Kokanko Sata, Afel Bocoum and Lobi Traore--will play together and separately, for one show only on Saturday, July 12, in Avery Fisher Hall

Tickets are on sale (thx Bao). More details below....

Continue reading "Damon Albarn & the Honest Jon's Revue is happening @ Lincoln Center in NYC --- tickets on sale"