Depeche Mode - Hollywood & Vine - April 23, 2009 (charlie.salazar)

Depeche Mode's new album Sounds of the Universe dropped on April 21st.

On Thursday, April 23rd (late last night on the East Coast), the band played a big outdoor show in LA for Jimmy Kimmel Live...

[The band] drew more than 12,000 people to Los Angeles' famed corner of Hollywood and Vine, the largest crowd gathered there since the show first launched in 2003 with a performance by Coldplay. The band played seven songs in just under 45 minutes, including "Wrong," the first single off their latest album, Sounds Of The Universe, along with fan favorites "Personal Jesus," "Enjoy The Silence" and the set's closing number "Never Let Me Down Again," during which singer Dave Gahan led a sea of Depeche devotees to reach for the sky before humbly bro-hugging his right-hand man of nearly 30 years, Martin Gore. [Rolling Stone]

Videos, official and unofficial, from the LA show, below...

Continue reading "Depeche Mode played on Hollywood & Vine (videos)"

Nouvelle Vague in Dublin 2008 (voss)

French cover band Nouvelle Vague will be playing a show at NYC's Irving Plaza on Wednesday, June 17th. It's the group's only US date on its list of upcoming shows so far. Tickets are on sale.

The band's last LP was 2006's Bande à Part, which, "like their eponymous first album, is a collection of Bossa Nova cover versions of 1980s New Wave tracks." [Wikipedia]

Though there's no 100% official word on a new record from the band, info is scattered about regarding a new album called NV3 which may be coming out on June 3rd which is not long before the Irving Plaza show. Apparently...

Nouvelle Vague reaches the point where a song, although already perfectly rendered in its original version, can still become a completely different one, to the extent that sometimes the public doubts whether it is a "cover" or not.

Nouvelle Vague's approach is so unusual that some of the original authors accepted to participate in the recording of the "NV3" cover of their own songs.

This is the statement of this 3rd album.

We never hear of any artists singing on covers which dissemble so much from the song their originally wrote nearly 30 years ago, or even covering their own song.

There are a variety of musical tones proposed by Nouvelle Vague on this third album such as Bluegrass, Country, Folk, Americana, Pop...

And the loop is looped when we hear on a "Nouvelle Vague" cover the voice of Martin Gore (Depeche Mode), Ian McCullough (Echo and The Bunnymen), Barry Adamson (Magazine), Terry Hall (The Specials), Samy Birnbach (Minimal Comact) or Chris Bailey (The Saints)...

Continue reading "Nouvelle Vague playing NYC, releasing NV3 (more covers, but with original singers too?) "

The Frank Black-produced Art Brut vs. Satan is Art Brut's third album, and the highlight of the new releases this week for me.

Depeche Mode's Sounds Of The Universe comes out this week as well, as does the 4-disc Jane's Addiction: Cabinet of Curiosities box set

The legendary Booker T. returns with Potato Hole, this time with the Drive-By Truckers as his backing band.

Other discs I have heard and can recommend include Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi, Camera Obscura's My Maudlin Career, Cryptacize's Mythomania, and Okkervil River's Pop Lie single.

Capitol's reissues of 13 Radiohead EPs and singles are at the top of my shopping list (at least the ones I don't already have).

What new releases can you recommend? Have I left anything off the list?

Continue reading "Largehearted Boy's Interesting CD Releases This Week"

"Though promoters around the country report strong early ticket sales for festivals and summer tours, the recession is causing jitters. This year Coachella, which has the most glamorous reputation of all American festivals, began selling tickets on layaway, and 18 percent of its customers took that option, Mr. Tollett said.

The proliferation of big festivals, like Bonnaroo near Nashville and Lollapalooza in Chicago, has not been without casualties. This year Langerado in Miami shut down, citing the economy. The Pemberton Festival in British Columbia is on hiatus after only one year, although its promoter, Live Nation, said the problem was permit delays." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2009 - the official & complete lineup"

"Three-day passes for the 2009 edition of Lollapalooza go on-sale Tuesday, March 31 at 10am (CDT). A limited allotment of three-day passes will be available at the lowest Early Bird price of $175 each, inclusive of service fees, and are expected to disappear quickly. VIP Lolla Lounge passes will also be on-sale at lollapalooza.com.

Lollapalooza happens August 7-9 in Chicago's Grant Park, and will welcome 130 acts over the three days. Rumors abound over the acts on this year's bill, but fans will have to wait until April 21 for the official lineup release."

Rumored bands to be playing Lollapalooza are Kings of Leon, The Killers, Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode, the Decemberists, Lou Reed, The Beastie Boys and Tool.

All Points West runs from July 31-August 2 in NJ and the lineup was announced today. Tool and Beastie Boys are both on that bill too. APW Tickets go on pre-sale April 2nd at noon (password = WRXP).

"Pre-orders go live today at www.beastieboys.com for the deluxe reissue of the band's third album, Check Your Head. Check Your Head follows Paul's Boutique in receiving the remastered expanded reissue treatment by Beastie Boys and Capitol/EMI, with multiple configurations ranging from a high quality DRM-free digital download of the album (including its numerous and classic B-sides and bonus tracks) to an ultra-deluxe 4 LP 180HQ vinyl version packaged in a fabric-wrapped hardcover coffee table book case and limited to 2000 copies. The retail release date of all physical editions other than the 4xLP version will be April 7, with the ultra deluxe following close behind."

Continue reading "Check Your Head - All Points West presale (4/2), Lollapalooza (lineup and) ticket sale (3/31) info"

The August 3rd show is either sold out or close to it. August 4th was just added, and Tickets are on sale now.

Peter Bjorn and John are opening both shows and the whole tour.

"Swedish indie pop stars Peter Bjorn and John ("Young Folks") will perform at the W New York as part of W Hotels' WonderLust Live Concert Series. The performance marks the band's first performance in the U.S. this year in anticipation of the official release of their new album, Living Thing, which will hit stores on March 31st via Almost Gold Recordings/StarTime International.

The performance is closed to the public but a special W Wonderlust Live Package is available for both local music fans and out-of-towners looking to book the ultimate concert experience. Available in limited quantities, the package, which must be booked with a MasterCard card, includes 2 tickets to the performance, a meet-and-greet with the band, an exclusive W Hotels/Sony Music All Access VIP Gift Bag, 2 cool cocktails, a 3 PM late checkout, and a Fantastic Suite."

After the W show, Peter Bjorn and John head to Austin to play a bunch of shows at SXSW before returing to Europe until April when they kick of a North American tour with Chairlift at Coachella. That is the tour that brings them back to NYC at the end of April for shows at both Webster Hall and Music Hall of Williamsburg (tix). That tour ends May 2nd in Washington DC, and they are scheduled to be at Sasquatch in Washington at the end of that same month.

Fast forward to July 24th. PB & J will return to North America for yet another tour, but this time as opener on the Depeche Mode stadium tour. That includes the August 3rd show at Madison Square Garden that goes on regular sale today at 10AM

All dates & contest info below...

Continue reading "Peter Bjorn & John - W Hotel in NYC Tuesday (win tix), touring w/ Depeche Mode (tix on sale @ 10), other dates"

Tickets are on Internet Presale for the Depeche Mode show happening at Madison Square Garden in August. (PASSWORD = WRONG) (thx Bao)

Beastie Boys @ Terminal 5 in 2008 (more by Elizabeth Weinberg)

Thanks to Anon for pointing out that The Chicago Tribune has revealed Depeche Mode and the Beastie Boys as headliners at this year's Lollapalooza Festival. That would be IN ADDITION TO Jane's Addiction (who the Chicago paper also confirms) and Tool.

The Lollapalooza date fits nicely in to the gap between Depeche Mode's scheduled NYC & Seattle shows.

Beastie Boys are also playing Bonnaroo.

"EMI Music today the debut of the first iTunes Pass with groundbreaking electro legends Depeche Mode. With iTunes Pass, music fans can get new and exclusive singles, remixes, video and other content from their favorite artists over a set period of time, delivered to their libraries as soon as they're available.

The first iTunes Pass [debuted February 24th] in conjunction with Depeche Mode's forthcoming 12th studio album, "Sounds of the Universe," to be released on April 21 in the US. Fans who sign up starting [that day] get the alternative/dance pioneers' new single, "Wrong," as well as the Black Light Odyssey Dub Remix of the new track "Oh Well." They will also receive the new album on its street date plus great music and video exclusives before and after the album's release over the next fifteen weeks. The Depeche Mode iTunes Pass can be purchased starting [that day] for $18.99.

"As we work to better understand music consumers and help create stronger connections between fans and artists, we are pleased to work with Apple and Depeche Mode to kick off iTunes Pass," said Ronn Werre, president, Music Services for EMI Music. "We think it's a great new platform that will change the way artists engage with their audiences and also a powerful new way for us to build value for our artists' music. And with iTunes Pass, Depeche Mode are once again demonstrating that they are true trailblazers and innovators when it comes to creating amazing music and connecting with their fans."

Continue reading "Depeche Mode - 2009 tour dates WITH VENUES, new video & the iTunes Pass debut"

Depeche Mode @ Bowery Ballroom in 2005 (more)

Groundbreaking electro legends Depeche Mode have announced North American cities and dates for their upcoming "Tour Of The Universe," which will mark the group's most extensive outing in the region in several years. Kicking off in Toronto on July 24th, the band's 22-city North American tour will cover both the US and Canada and hit most major markets across the continent (see dates below). Tickets for select markets are set to go on sale on March 13th.

Depeche Mode's "Tour of the Universe" is happening in conjunction with the release of the group's twelfth studio album, Sounds Of the Universe (Mute/Capitol/Virgin), which will be released on April 21st. Alongside a standard CD format, Depeche Mode has announced that Sounds Of The Universe will also be released as a Special Edition CD/DVD and a Deluxe Box Set that will include a host of exclusive material.

Continue reading "Depeche Mode announce 2009 tour dates (cities), new album "

Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S.) was a short-lived but highly successful English synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex that had a number of top ten hits in the British charts in the early 1980s.

Heavily influenced by earlier bands like Kraftwerk, Yazoo expanded upon the synthpop formula by juxtaposing Alison Moyet's vocals with Vince Clarke's electronic hooks. Its sound referenced disco but added a more disaffected attitude that disco lacked. Their second album saw greater songwriting input from Moyet, adding a rather more mature and soulful flavour, particularly on the hit single "Nobody's Diary."

Continue reading "Yazoo (Yaz) - reunited, reissues, 2008 Tour Dates (USA, NYC)"

Continue reading "new Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) video - "Saw Something""

by James Minor

Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan played a short solo set at the SoHo Apple store in NYC on Tuesday (Oct 23). Not surprisingly, it was being recorded for an iTunes exclusive digital release. People started lining up Monday night to get in, and about 85 of them did. My expectations were low - I mean it's an Apple store, but when Gahan and his band finally came out, it was flooring. Gahan's solo record Hourglass was released the same day (stream it at AOL), and all the material he played was pulled from that. The sound was great, and Gahan put just as much energy into it as any arena show - it even looked like he was having fun despite the semi-awkward lighting.

I love the new record, and it comes across great live - with "Saw Something", the Superpitcher- esque "Endless", and the screaming "Deeper + Deeper" being personal highlights. Fingers crossed for a real tour.

More pics, and the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Dave Gahan played the Apple Store, stream his album"

@ The Apple Store in SOHO, NYC (info)
Oct 12 - Alan Alda
Oct 16 - Stephen Colbert
Oct 17 - Thurston Moore
Oct 18 - Q-Tip
Oct 19 - Simian Mobile Disco
Oct 23 - Dave Gahan