Tickets are still on sale for DJ Shadow's upcoming show at Irving Plaza. And I have a couple of pairs you can win. Details below.

Tickets are still on sale for the Shearwater/Damien Jurado/Anni Rossi show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. And I have a pair you can win. Details below.

"WITNESS' 6th Annual Focus for Change Benefit Dinner & Concert" goes down on Thursday, December 2, 2010 at Roseland Ballroom in NYC. Co-Hosted by Peter Gabriel, there will be performances by Antibalas, Jimmy Cliff and Sheryl Crow. Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, will be there too. Click the link to get your $750 tickets.

Fistful of Mercy is Joseph Arthur, Ben Harper & Dhani Harrison, and you can catch them at the Apollo Theater on November 17th. Tickets are still on sale.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the upcoming Girl Talk shows at Wellmont Theatre and Terminal 5.

Tickets go on sale at noon for Gang of Four's show at Webster Hall.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the Interpol show at Radio City Music Hall.

Iron & Wine Radio City tickets are on sale now.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the Tokyo Police Club/Two Door Cinema Club show happening at Temrinal 5.

Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band play Terminal 5 on 2/12. Tickets are on sale.

Pete Yorn and Ben Kweller play Terminal 5 on 3/11. Tickets are on sale. Way before that you can catch Ben Kweller on his own solo tour which is underway now.

Bindlestiff Family Circus has been added as an opener to the New Years Eve Drive by Truckers show at Terminal 5. Tickets are still on sale.

UK band Peggy Sue are worth getting to Terminal 5 early on November 19th. They open that date for Kate Nash. Tickets are still on sale.

Randy Newman plays Town Hall on March 5th. Tickets are on sale.

Ray Davies plays the Beacon Theatre in NYC with the Dessoff Chamber Choir on Wednesday, November 24th, two days before his previously announced NJ show. Tickets are on sale.

Lia Ices, full of CMJ buzz, plays Mercury Lounge on 12/14. Tickets are on sale.

Rural Alberta Advantage play Mercury Lounge on 1/12. Tickets are on sale.

Contests below...

Continue reading "Peter Gabriel, Randy Newman, Ray Davies, Josh Ritter, DJ Shadow, Interpol, Girl Talk, Fistful of Mercy, Lia Ices & other tickets"

DOWNLOAD: Peter Gabriel - Flume (Bon Iver cover) (MP3)

Peter Gabriel in London in March...

Peter Gabriel's orchestra tour is in NYC for shows at Radio City Music Hall tonight (May 2nd) and tomorrow (May 3rd). Opening both shows will be Norwegian singer Ane Brun. Tickets are still on sale.

Peter Gabriel's new LP, Scratch My Back, which includes covers like the Bon Iver one posted above (a single for Record Store Day), is out now. Coincidentally Gabriel's NYC shows are a month before his Genesis bandmate Phil Collins plays NYC shows in support of his own, different covers record (and one of Phil Collins's shows is the same day as Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett's free NYC show).

Ane Brun follows up those opening gigs with her own headlining shows in L.A. on May 8th and NYC on May 10th at Bowery Ballroom. Opening those is Olof Arnalds, an Icelandic singer who we've mentioned once or twice. Tickets or the NYC show are on sale.

Olof Arnalds recently recorded with fellow Icelandian Bjork who also makes an appearance in NYC Sunday night.

All Ane Brun & Olof Arnalds tour dates and a video are below...

Continue reading "Ane Brun opening for Peter Gabriel @ Radio City (Sunday & Monday), headlining her own shows (with Olof Arnalds) "

Rocker Phil Collins has spoken out about the difficulties he faces in drumming after undergoing surgery to correct a spinal cord injury and nerve damage caused by years of playing.

"My vertebrae has been crushing my spinal cord because of the position I drum in," he told Rolling Stone. "It comes from years of playing. I can't even hold the sticks properly without it being painful."

Collins has, however, found a new way to drum.

"The first time I picked up the drumsticks after my neck surgery, they flew across the room because I couldn't grip them," he said. When I play, I've had to tape the sticks to my hand. It's like wearing a condom. It's very strange. It really cramps your style."

The drummer added that he hopes another upcoming surgery will help him regain full use of his hands.

Due to Collins' injury, talks of another Genesis reunion have been suspended. The drummer did note, however, that he hopes to perform with a Peter Gabriel-led lineup of Genesis again some day [they toured in 2007 without Peter Gabriel]. [RTT News]

With the Genesis reunion on the shelf for now, Phil Collins is putting together an album of Motown covers to come out this September. To promote the record, he'll be playing four nights at NYC's Roseland Ballroom on June 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th with a 19-piece band. Tickets to those are on Citibank presale now. General sale starts Friday, April 23rd at 10am. More info below.

Serious Genesis fans may want to think twice about seeing Phil on June 23rd (unless they plan to go all four nights). Another Genesis member plays a (free) show in NYC on the same day...

Steve Hackett and Renaissance
Presented by Battery Park City Authority
Steve Hackett, best know as the Genesis guitarist, continues to shine as a star performer and composer in his own right with an original and extraordinary acoustic and electric playing style. Art-rock ensemble Renaissance, led by vocalist Annie Haslam, perfected a synthesis of folk pop and symphonic influence on their classic albums Prologue, Turn of the Cards, and the remade Scheherazade.
Free, 7pm, Rockefeller Park, River Terrace and Warren Streets 212.417.2000

Peter Gabriel, like Phil, has his own new album of covers and shows coming up too. He plays two nights in May at Radio City Music Hall. Tickets are still on sale.

More about Phil Collins' live band and some videos below....

Continue reading "this week in Genesis - Phil Collins releasing Motown covers & playing 4 NYC shows, Steve Hackett playing free summer show "

Regina Spektor @ Tibet House benefit on Feb. 26th (more by Chris La Putt)

Regina Spektor will follow up her set at Tibet House benefit at Carnegie Hall last Friday (2/26) with a benefit of her own at Irving Plaza on March 23rd to support Doctors without Borders' Relief Program in Haiti. Tickets should be going on sale some time today (3/2).

Regina Spektor is one of the artists (with Bon Iver, Bowie, Magnetic Fields) covered by Peter Gabriel on his new all-covers record, Scratch My Back, which is out today in the US.

[Gabriel] chose the material in a kind of social-networking experiment. "Scratch My Back" got its title because when Mr. Gabriel picked a song, he also asked the songwriter to record a Gabriel song in turn. The original plan was to release two albums in tandem. The songwriters agreed -- except for David Bowie, whose collaborator on "Heroes," Brian Eno, will participate -- but the deadlines came and went. "We may not get everybody, but I hope we will."

The Arcade Fire has been working on Mr. Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers," while Regina Spektor is still choosing her Gabriel song. "Scratch My Back" includes the Arcade Fire's "My Body Is a Cage" and Ms. Spektor's "Après Moi." In a telephone interview Ms. Spektor said: "It's cool not to hear the song in my voice. The leash has been let go from my voice, and now it doesn't just belong to me." [NY Times]

Peter Gabriel will be performing at Radio City this May.

Regina will be at Bonnaroo. She performed her song "Machine" on Jimmy Fallon in early February. That video is below...

Continue reading "Regina Spektor playing a benefit, choosing a Gabriel song"

Tickets are on sale (@10am) for the two Peter Gabriel shows at Radio City Music Hall.

Tickets are on "Jonsi presale" (@10am) for the two Jonsi shows at Terminal 5 (password = "Go").

Tickets are on sale for the Porcupine Tree show at Radio City Music Hall.

The Donnas are playing Highline Ballroom on Wednesday, March 24th. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at 11am for the just-added (2nd) Josh Ritter show at Town Hall.

DOWNLOAD: Peter Gabriel - Flume (Bon Iver cover) (MP3)

Peter Gabriel's new record Scratch My Back is an all-cover, orchestra-backed collection of songs from Bowie's "Heroes" to Arcade Fire's "My Body Is a Cage." There's also a Bon Iver cover, a soft-spoken take on "Flume," which you can get above (full track list below). The record is described as "the first part of a series of song exchanges in which Peter and other leading artists reinterpret each others songs." It comes out in UK/Europe on February 15th (through EMI), in Canada on February 16th (through Universal Music) and in the US on March 2nd through Gabriel's own Real World Records.

Gabriel's album-supporting tour is short and sweet. He plays three European cities in March, then there are three North American stops - one night in L.A. and Montreal, and two nights at New York's Radio City Music Hall on May 2nd and 3rd. Tickets go on AmEx presale Sunday, Febraury 7th. General sale starts Tuesday, February 16th at 10am. For all the dates, he'll have a 54-piece orchestra in tow.

In other rock legends playing Radio City news, tickets go on general sale Friday for a show Ringo Starr and his All Star Band are playing at the venue in July.

Full Peter Gabriel tracklist w/ album art, an audio interview with Peter about the album, and tour dates, below...

Continue reading "indie rock-covering Peter Gabriel announces shows - 2 nights @ Radio City Music Hall & other dates, Bon Iver MP3, more"

M.I.A.'s baby boy (Pink is the New Blog)

M.I.A. who wouldn't risk her health to perform on the Oscars, and Peter Gabriel who wouldn't compromise his integrity to perform on the Oscars, lost the title of "Best Song" to Slumdog's Millionare's "Jai Ho", the song credited to A.R. Rahman who also won a few minutes before that for the entire soundtrack too.

You can hear "Jai Ho" in the video below...

Continue reading "M.I.A didn't win the Oscar, but Slumdog Millionare still did"

The Dark Knight, the superhero thriller that was expected to make history as the first comic-book adaptation to take a best-picture nomination, and Gran Torino, which the Hollywood veteran starred in and directed, were left out of the contest for Oscar's top prize.

Instead, the far more serious Holocaust-themed The Reader took the fifth berth and its director, Stephen Daldry, also managed to slip into his category.

The other nominees announced for top prize in the 81st Academy Awards Thursday morning in Los Angeles followed the script of the prognosticators: the era-spanning fable The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which led the crowd with 13 nominations; gay-themed political biopic Milk; TV-landmark drama Frost/Nixon; and romantic crowd-pleaser Slumdog Millionaire. [USA Today]

Slumdog Millionaire, which won for Best Score at the Golden Globes, was also nominated for Best Score and Best Song (twice). Three songs total were nominated this year: Peter Gabriel's Down To Earth (Wall-E), and Slumdog Millionare's "Jai Ho" and "O Saya". Along with composer A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam (aka M.I.A.) is credited for "O Saya". Listen to it in the video below...

Continue reading "M.I.A., Peter Gabriel & others were nominated for Oscars"

photos by Leia Jospe

DOWNLOAD: Hot Chip & Robert Wyatt - We're Looking For A Lot of Love (Gees Mix)
DOWNLOAD: Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance (Chromeo Remix)
DOWNLOAD: WhoMadeWho - TV Friend (Hot Chip Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Robert Wyatt - Hasta Siempre Comandante (MP3)

Vampire Weekend @ Terminal 5

New Hot Chip EP

Despite their feverish schedule this year which took in numerous side projects, solo records, countless dancefloor-igniting remixes, production duties and, of course relentless touring (which culminated in their triumphal homecoming shows at Brixton Academy in November) that indefatigable, delightfully off-kilter five-headed electro pop colossus known as Hot Chip have somehow found the time to assemble a lovingly put together little present for their fans. And not only that, but they have managed to rope in the services of none other than the godfather of the experimental psych-prog world, Robert Wyatt and kindred mischievous electronic spirits Geese to help out as well.

Hot Chip with Robert Wyatt and Geese" contains the following tracks:

1. Made in the Dark (with Robert Wyatt)
2. Whistle for Will (with Robert Wyatt)
3. We're Looking for a Lot of Love (with Robert Wyatt and Geese)
4. One Pure Thought (remixed by Geese)

Click HERE to order your copy.

Geese = Emma and Vince from The Elysian Quartet.

In other news, Pitchfork strangely named Hot Chip's Made in the Dark the 23rd album of the year. Bill said:

I am one of Hot Chip's biggest supporters, but Made in the Dark hasn't really held up for me (wheras the Warning still does). And Cut Copy at #4???? The Metronomy record crushes both of those.

Hot Chip are also up for a Grammy and recently made the cover of the NY Daily News.

Also, you may have heard about the cover of Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" by Hot Chip and Peter Gabriel. The very man who is mentioned in the song, does the singing. Listen to it below.

Vampire Weekend recently ended their whirlwind year on a high note with 4 NYC-area shows, 3 of which were at Terminal 5 (the same venue Hot Chip played twice in October). They were also named the most overrated band of 2008 in Stereogum's Gummy Awards, and they got 7th best album of 2008 by Pitchfork. The latter seems less weird than Hot Chip's ranking, though it's probably even more globally controversial.

Coming up for Vampire Weekend: the Tibet House benefit concert @ Carnegie Hall and a NY Times speaking event.

Picture's from Vampire Weekend's third of three Terminal 5 show (the one Fiasco opened - 12/6), the Peter Gabriel song, and more, below...

Continue reading "Hot Chip - an EP w/ Robert Wyatt & Geese, a Vampire Weekend cover w/ Peter Gabriel, free MP3s, Terminal 5 pics"

Web servers hosting musician Peter Gabriel's web site have gone missing from their data center. "Our servers were stolen from our ISP's data centre on Sunday night -- Monday morning," reads a notice at PeterGabriel.com. The incident is the latest in a series of high-profile equipment thefts in the past year, including armed robberies in data centers in Chicago and London. How secure is your data center?" [Slashdot]

PREVIOUSLY
* Peter Gabriel launching music recommendation website
* Matthew Dear's harddrive was stolen @ Galapagos

"The Filter is the ultimate discovery service. Tell it the movie, music and WebVideos that you like and it will find new stuff for you that match your taste - every day."

"...backed and advised by the British singer and technology evangelist Peter Gabriel, who was in San Francisco last week promoting the company in advance of its relaunch today" [NY Times]