Here's the info:

'we bought a zoo' released
today, december 13th, sees the release of the soundtrack for the forthcoming movie 'we bought a zoo' - the soundtrack comprises of over 30 minutes of brand new music from jónsi; two new songs from jónsi: "ævin endar" (life ends) & "snærisendar" (end of a rope) as well as nine shorter "theme" pieces, plus reimagining's of songs from jónsi's debut solo album "go". the soundtrack also includes "hoppípolla" by sigur rós.

information about the album, tracklisting, ordering and preview streams are all available on jonsi.com

to celebrate this release, today (december 13th) in new york city there will be a live q&a session with jónsi & the movie's director cameron crowe. this event [at Barnes & Noble] starts at 7pm nyc time and will be streamed live

Continue reading "'We Bought a Zoo' soundtrack released; Jonsi & Cameron Crowe appearing in NYC (and online) today"

photos by Matt Eisman

Recorded and shot over two nights at London's Alexandra Palace at the close of the 2008 world tour around their fifth full length album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, Inni sees the band at the peak of their powers, captured on film for the first time as a core four-piece since they were joined by string section amiina at the start of the century. Directed by Vincent Morisset (Arcade Fire's Miroir Noir), with film manipulations by Godspeed You! Black Emperor visual collaborator Karl Lemieux, Inni is Sigur Rós' second live film following 2007's hugely-celebrated tour documentary Heima.

If you prefer to view Inni early or somewhere other than the plush folds of your couch, then look for it in a theater near you. It comes to NYC on 11/5 at midnight (11/6) at IFC Center. Tickets are on sale.

The film premiered at Club NASA as part of the Reykjavik International Film Festival in the band's home country of Iceland last week. The RIFF (best name ever) kicked off on 9/22 and came to a close yesterday. BV photographer Matt Eisman happened to be in Iceland at the time and took some pictures at the premiere where various people spoke along with the film. Those pics are in this post. Check out more of them with the release details and a video preview, below...

Continue reading "Sigur Ros's "Inni" movie premiered in Iceland (pics), coming to a theater in NYC (tix on sale)"

Canon Blue

Canon Blue, the solo project of Daniel James, released his sophomore LP, Rumspringa, today (8/16) via Temporary Residence Limited (and via Efterklang's label Rumraket in Scandinavia) (Rumtaket's last-ever non-Efterklang release). The album is the follow-up to 2007's Colonies, a collaboration with Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear. It was recorded while he was on a European tour with Efterklang, who Daniel contributes to. Sigur Ros' string section Amiina provided string arrangements on the album (which they recorded in Iceland). Slaraffenland and Efterklang both also contribute to the album. Stream the track "A Native (Madison)" here and check out some video clips of album tracks below. Listen to the whole album at Spinner.

Canon Blue kicks off a tour in support of the album tonight (8/16) at Mercury Lounge. After a couple more East Coast dates, they'll play Glasslands on August 20 and then hit up other US and Canadian venues. Both NYC shows feature support from Atlantic/Pacific (ex-Texas is the Reason). Tickets are on sale now for the Mercury show and the Glasslands show. Canon Blue also tour in November supporting The Boxer Rebellion. Canon Blue are not listed as an opener when The Boxer Rebellion hit NYC on November 18 at Webster Hall but maybe that will change after Canon Blue's NYC shows this week. Tickets for the Webster Hall show are on sale now.

Speaking of Sigur Ros, they recently put a trailer video on their website for the film INNI, which will screen at the Venice Film Festival. The film was directed by Vincent Morisset, who also directed the Arcade Fire film Mirror Noir. Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi is also set to score Cameron Crowe's upcoming film We Bought a Zoo. Cameron and Sigur Ros last worked together when the band contributed music to his 2001 film Vanilla Sky.

All dates, videos, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Sigur Ros doing film stuff, Canon Blue released an album & is playing shows (dates, songs & videos)"

photos by Vincent Cornelli, sarcasm by BBG

Washington Post: You've said that before you made a solo album, you felt as if you'd been in a cocoon. Did making the album give you more confidence?

Jonsi: For me, you mean? No. Maybe, yeah.

Do you think it will affect how you make albums with Sigur Ros?

Maybe. It was a good experience to do this, working with a lot of new artists and musicians and producers. It's healthy to work with different people.

Do you think you'll work with Nico Muhly again? You should say yes.

Yes. He's a fun guy to be around, anyway. So we definitely might do something together.

You've said you grew up listening to Metallica. For real?

Yeah, Metallica and Megadeth and stuff like that. But now I just listen to Billie Holiday and Django Reinhardt and stuff like that....It's nice to have in the background, like a comfy sofa.

Mountain Man opened the show, but we have no pictures of them unfortunatley. More of Jonsi, some video, and that Fallon appearance video are all below...

Continue reading "Jonsi played Hammerstein Ballroom & Fallon (pics & video) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Jonsi @ Terminal 5 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

The previously-mentioned Wordless Music show featuring Jonsi and Kjartan Sigur Ros, along with Alex Somers Of Riceboy Sleeps, The Hilliard Ensemble, Latvian National Choir and Wordless Music Orchestra, is happening at The Church of St. Paul the Apostle on November 15th. Tickets are on sale through the Lincoln Center, who are putting on the show as part of their White Light Music Festival.

Jonsi kicks off his own solo tour of North America on October 15th. Tickets for the Hammerstein Ballroom show are still on sale (Mountain Man open).

White Light Fest runs from October 28th-November 18th, and its other shows include Antony and the Johnsons at Alice Tully Hall on October 30th (that's their only North American show this year). That's now sold out. Listen to Antony's new LP, Swanlights, at NPR.

Also part of the White Light Festival is an October 28th show featuring the Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble at David Rubenstein Atrium. That crosses over with another new music series, Target Free Thursday at Lincoln Center's David Rubenstein Atrium. The full schedule for those shows, which run through December, is below. There's also free DJ nights at the Atrium on Saturday night; that schedule is below too.

To bring it back to Wordless Music, Kronos Quartet will be at (Le) Poisson Rouge for two nights this weekend (Oct. 8 and 9), each with different sets of mostly-new music. The first night includes pieces by Terry Riley and Michael Gordon (both with assists by Young People's Chorus of New York City) and young composers Bryce Dessner (of the National) and Missy Mazzoli (of chamber group Victoire). The second has another new work by Gordon, music by JG Thirwell, and new Schubert arrangements, reworked by vocalist Judith Berkson, who'll also be on hand. Unfortunately, both nights are sold out.

And since we mentioned Brooklyn composer Missy Mazzoli above, it should be noted that her band Victoire plays a free show at Dumbo gallery Smack Mellon on November 4th. Victoire's new album, Cathedral City, just came out on New Amsterstam. Their schedule is below too.

The full Free Thursdays schedule and more info is below...

Continue reading "Wordless & White Light Music, Josni, Kronos Quartet, free Thursdays, Meredith Monk, Victoire & more"

Jonsi @ Terminal 5 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Along with that Godspeed You! Black Emperor announcement, two Wordless Music Series-presented shows included, came this:

"Look for a full 2010-11 Wordless Music season announcement in the coming days, including world and U.S. premieres of new music for orchestra by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, Jónsi and Kjartan of Sigur Rós with Alex Somers of Riceboy Sleeps, Kronos Quartet, The Hilliard Ensemble, Latvian National Choir, Tyondai Braxton, the Wordless Music Orchestra, Joshua Rifkin, Deerhoof, and the U.S. debut of the Carl Craig/Moritz von Oswald/Francesco Tristano Schlimé Trio, as well as collaborations with Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Library of Congress, Walker Arts Center, and Emerson College for concerts in New York City, Washington D.C., Boston, and Minneapolis."

Jonsi @ Terminal 5 in May (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Missed him last time? Jonsi will tour one more time in support his solo album "Go", and that will include the same big production as last time and another U.S. jaunt including November 10th at Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC. A tour trailer and all dates below...

Continue reading "Jonsi touring Australia, Europe & the USA again (dates) "

DOWNLOAD: Dean & Britta - Making Me Smile (MP3)

"Sing Me To Sleep" is a really fun compilation of lullabies and popular songs re-imagined as lullabies by some of today's best indie artists including: Dean & Britta, Tanya Donelly, The Leisure Society, The Rest, Telekinesis, Jenny Owen Youngs, The Real Tuesday Weld, Snowbird, Neil Halstead, and many more. All proceeds from this wonderful album are donated to The Valerie Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization that provides support for the comprehensive health care of children with cancer and blood disorders. It's a beautifully produced album for indie-hipsters young and old.

Coming up, Joe's Pub will be hosting a June 13th show for the album with contributors Tanya Donelly, backed by a jazz ensemble, Jenny Owen Youngs and Julie Peel. This all-ages, kid-friendly (with face painting, free souvenirs and door prizes) starts at noon. Tickets are on sale.

Songs from the record (including Stars cover of the Smith's "Asleep") are streaming, and the Dean & Britta track is available above. Tracklist for the CD and show flyer are below...

Continue reading "Sing Me to Sleep - indie lullabies out now + an MP3 & NY show"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

"omg omg I love you sigur ros you make me cry @sigurros and thank you jonsi for an amazing concert last night at terminal 5" - Andrew

jónsi: it's super scary. i dunno why. there was a big confusion because first of all i'd been in sigur rós for 15 years. and all of a sudden i went from this safe environment of having three other guys to bounce ideas off. when i get tired i could tell them to take over. it was so easy. i didn't actually realise until i went into this project when i had to do everything myself; everybody's coming and asking things and you have to pretend to know. it's also confusing because this album was supposed to be a small side step from sigur rós - not quitting or anything like that - they were all off having babies, not me. so i thought it was prefect timing to do something else. the first idea was to have a really low-key acoustic album but then it exploded into something totally different. the first demo was acoustic guitars, piano and ukulele. then songs became crazier and i had people in mind i wanted to work with like nico muhly. he's amazing. he did all the arrangements with strings and brass. then there was no holding me back. we were in my apartment and he had one small keyboard and a computer and he did five songs in a night. he is so hyper active; it was really fun and exciting. he had worked on some albums that i heard and liked the arrangements because they were not like sigur rós. i didn't want to have sigur rós arrangements. i wanted something crazier than the obvious choice.

Continue reading "Jonsi & Death Vessel @ Terminal 5 (night 2) - pics & video "

photos by Ryan Muir

"[Jonsi's] concert was a tribute to Nature, both sublime and pitiless. His backdrop was a window onto a dark forest; videos showed plants blossoming, predators pursuing prey and ravaging storms.

While the album starts with its thumping, upbeat songs, the concert took its time, starting with folky acoustic ballads, a somber hymn and Steve Reich Minimalist patterns. Folkiness carried over into the danceable songs. There was always something hand-played, an acoustic guitar or a plinking vibraphone, in the mix. And when the faster songs arrived, with the cosmic advice of "Go Do" -- "We should always know that we can do everything" -- Jonsi's high, clear voice was not only the carrier of insistent pop hooks, but also a messenger of ecstatic hope." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Jonsi & Death Vessel @ Terminal 5 (night 1) - pics & video "

Jonsi's tour kick in Vancouver 4/6 (A Hermida)

On a set that looked like the Museum of Natural History after a fire (trust me), a tight musical arc that fit the songs into one another like puzzle pieces, and gorgeous projections courtesy of London's 59 Productions, the show was less winsome rock and more serious Theatre. There were costumes, too: All but one band member wore a jacket trailing bright fabric strips that hung like rainbow tree moss.

But when the whole band combined like a marvelous machine, as on the twinkling "Sinking Friendships" or thrashing, thunderous closer "Grow Till Tall," the Jonsi experience reaches its height. Percussionist Samuli Kosminen manages to alternatively scare and soothe with tools both expected (good old drums) and unusual (a rock, I think).

In between, "Tornado" hinted at both orchestra and film score, "Go Do" found a sunny, breakneck pop sprint, and "Around Us" was a hypnotic, trippy epic, complete with live vocal loops.

The pinnacle, however, came in the encore. Jonsi, in full Native American headdress, emerged from the side of the stage and put his plumage on full display. Then he smiled, and it was clear: Sigur Ros is a beautiful thing, but when he goes solo, Jonsi does something amazing -- he lets his freak flag fly. "I want to be a miracle," he sang on "Boy Lilikoi." [Spin]

[Jonsi] enlisted a design company that creates sets for the Metropolitan Opera Company, the English National Opera and other bastions of high culture. The company, Fifty Nine Productions, was looking to branch out into pop music. "We were all really big Sigur Rós fans. They were literally on the list of people we wanted to work with," says director Mark Grimmer.

For Jónsi, Fifty Nine Productions created a sort of decimated museum exhibit on stage, with heavy use of video projections--without jumbo-sized screens. "We try to integrate the images into the fabric of the shows and project them onto objects that aren't dead when there's nothing on it," Mr. Grimmer says. For instance, video is projected in museum-like exhibit cases along with on Jónsi himself. [Wall Street Journal]

If you need a Jonsi fix sooner, there's a free listening party tonight at Le Poisson Rouge (no RSVP required) for the new album, which came out today (4/7)...

"Album available to purchase on site, and happy hour drink specials for the duration of the event. The album will be played in full, with giveaways set up for Jonsi/Sigur Ros vinyl, and tickets for Jonsi's Terminal 5 shows on May 8th and 9th. Video footage from Jonsi's new music videos and related projects to be screened as well."

Continue reading "Jonsi's album is out & his tour kicked off last night in Vancouver (pics, video, setlist & a bit about the stage setup) "

Tickets are still on "Jonsi presale" for the two Jonsi shows at Terminal 5 (password = "Go") (password applies to other shows on the tour too). Tickets for the Terminal 5 shows are also on AmEx presale as of 11am. General sale starts Friday at noon. Check out Jonsi's new video for "Go Do" below....

Continue reading "Jonsi - "Go Do" video & show tickets "

Jonsi's solo-album supporting tour will kick off in Vancouver on April 6th, pass through Coachella, and end in NYC for not just one, but two shows at Terminal 5. All dates below....

Continue reading "Jonsi (Sigur Ros) - 2010 Tour Dates (2 NYC shows) "

Jonsi's "Go"

Sigur Ros have announced that they're taking an indefinite hiatus to focus on family and other projects. Members Kjartan and Georg are spending time with their newborn children, and singer Jónsi is releasing a solo album and touring. The band was previously reported to be working on a new record last year. Jónsi wrote on their site, "we started working on something a few months ago, then we scrapped everything and sold our studio and rehearsal space. now we are back in the drummer's garage, rocking out like we did when we were 14. i think it's gonna be good."

Jónsi's debut solo album, Go, comes out April 5th on XL Recordings. The song "Boy Lilikoi" is streaming on his website and its artwork is above. The album features arrangement work by Nico Muhly, percussion by Samuli Kosminen, and production by Jonsi, Alex Somers (Jonsi's boyfriend and Riceboy Sleeps partner) and Peter Katis (who has worked wth Interpol, The National & Tokyo Police Club).

Jónsi is working with London-based 59 Productions on the set, costumes and stage-show for his upcoming world tour, which will "open in North America in April 2010, and will come to Europe in late May [dates TBA still]." The company recently leaked teaser photos (possibly mock-ups of the stage), which are posted below. The full tour hasn't been announced yet, but it will come to NYC's Terminal 5 on Saturday, May 8th. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 12th at noon.

UPDATE: Full tour announced and it includes two NYC shows.

Jónsi played songs off the new record on NYC's Soundcheck on January 21st. That's streaming on the station's site. Videos from the making of the album, teaser pictures and album tracklist are below...

Continue reading "solo album & shows from Jonsi of Sigur Ros (who are on indefinite hiatus)"

photos by Vincent Cornelli

FlavorPill: So you don't have any plans to move Stateside?

Olof Arnalds: Not now. Maybe in a few years it would be great. I have a son who's one and a half years old, and there's so much life quality in Iceland when it comes to having children because it's so safe. It's such a good environment for kids to have the freedom to play. I have a big family, and I wouldn't want to raise my kids anywhere else than Iceland.

FP: Can you talk a little bit about the music scene in Iceland?

OA: It's a very tight scene. Everyone's friends and help each other out. It's really vibrant because you can make things happen really quickly. It doesn't take a long time to make it happen. It's a gutsy environment. People just do things.

FP: How did you meet Kjartan Sveinsson from Sigur Ros, who produced your first album?

OA: His wife, Maria. We're friends from youth. She's from the quartet Amiina that played with Sigur Ros for many years. It's just a small scene of musicians. It's friendship. Sigur Ros and Mum, who I used to play with, are good friends.

Continue reading "Olof Arnalds played the Whitney, Rockwood Music Hall (pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Olof Arnalds - Englar og darer (MP3)

Ólöf Arnalds's beautiful debut album, Við og Við, will be released in the US by One Little Indian on January 12th. Grab track #1 above for free right now! That's the cover art up there too.

NYC is becoming a second home for Olof who is back in town again and will be joined by fellow Icelandic musician Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Rós at the Whitney Museum of American Art on November 6th.

Cage a Swallow Can't You But You Can't Swallow A Cage: A Sonnet Sequence for Roni Horn

November 6
Performances at 7 pm and 8 pm

Composed in honor of Roni Horn by poet Anne Carson, this performance of sung and spoken word features a mix of voice and harmonium. Icelandic musicians Olof Arnalds and Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Ros, join Carson and poets R. Currie and Penelope Thomas for this special program.

That is one of two (actually three) chances you have to see Olof in the next week. She will also return to Rockwood Music Hall for a show on November 9th (10pm set).

In September Olof stopped by KEXP's studios to perform some songs. Check out those videos below...

Continue reading "Olof Arnalds - new album in 2010 (MP3), a Whitney show w/ a Sigur Ros member, a Rockwood show, KEXP videos & more "

Daft Punk's first album had helped refresh house music in the mid 1990s; the second went further, rewriting electronic pop's pleasure principles to such a degree that when it came out a lot of people thought Discovery must be a put-on. They took the joy in the record for irony. Rather, the band had simply plunged into the raw popstuff of their 70s childhoods, from AOR to disco, Buggles to Manilow, rock to robotics. They wanted their listeners to get the rush of context-free delight they had hearing music as kids, and on "Aerodynamic" and "Digital Love" they succeeded wildly, dissolving a decade-plus of dance music good taste. And not all of Discovery looked back. The middle of the album is house music as string theory, with the duo finding dimensions of pleasure coiled within the tiniest loops: "Crescendolls" releases an awesome, gleeful energy by repeatedly triggering one five-second sample.

Discovery was simply the decade's best good-times record, with Daft Punk as pyramid-toting party wizards and the chipmunk Kraftwerk of "Harder Better Faster Stronger" their anthem. But this most celebratory of records has a bittersweet streak, too: Daft Punk know that a rush always carries the risk of exhaustion. Perhaps the album's most underappreciated track is the sad but gorgeous "Short Circuit", a three-minute robot graveyard of crumbled transistors and dying LEDs. But from Romanthony's first blissful, vocoded shout of "one more time!" the dominant emotion on Discovery is joy. A joy that wasn't afraid to be sentimental and funny as well as hard and futuristic, and is all the better for that. When a generation looks back and tries to catch a fuzzy hold of the music that made them happy this decade, Daft Punk's will be top of the list. --Tom Ewing [Pitchfork]

Continue reading "Pitchfork announces the top 20 albums of the decade "

Jonsi and Alex aka Riceboy Sleeps are DJing ("Jonsi From Sigur Ros & Alex - DJ set") at tonight's Fanfarlo & Wildbirds & Peacedrums show at Bowery Ballroom (9/21)

That above picture is the cover for the forthcoming Tegan & Sara album, Sainthood, due out October 27th on Vapor Records. The record is being produced by Chris Walla (of Death Cab and many producing credits) and Howard Redekopp (who's worked with New Pornographers, Mother Mother, and others) - interesting in that they've both worked on past Tegan & Sara individually.

The pair (Tegan and Sara) have a few shows scheduled at the moment. Two of those will happen at NYC's Town Hall on October 30th and 31st (Mischief Night and Halloween). Tickets go on sale Friday at 10am.

Tiestoremixed Tegan & Sara's track "Back in your Head" in 2007. Now the three have collaborated again on "I Feel it in My Bones," a song that'll be included on Tiesto's new album, Kaleidoscope, out October 20th on Ultra Records. That song is streaming on his MySpace. Also guesting on the Tiesto album will be Jónsi of Sigur Rós, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Emily Haines of Metric, and others. Full tracklist is below.

Tiesto is going on a pretty big tour that kicks off with three nights at Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC. Tickets for those shows (9/24-9/26) are on sale now. All dates, the Tegan & Sara album back cover and tracklist, and more, below...

Continue reading "Tegan & Sara - new album, 2 Town Hall shows, & collab. w/ Tiesto who is touring (dates) & playing 3 NYC shows"

photos by Ryan Muir

"I think that Brooklyn has maybe become the music capital of the world," the violinist David Harrington said from the stage of the Prospect Park Bandshell on Thursday night.

The occasion was a concert by the Kronos Quartet, the groundbreaking ensemble he founded in 1973. Mr. Harrington went on to suggest that to find a similar concentration of artistic vitality you had to look to late-17th-century Vienna.

The claim was hyperbolic, maybe, but certainly understandable: after all, the Kronos Quartet was performing as part of the annual summer series Celebrate Brooklyn! Its program, presented before a large, diverse and boisterously appreciative audience, included new pieces by three Brooklyn composers -- Bryce Dessner, Missy Mazzoli and J. G. Thirlwell -- with further selections prepared by a Brooklyn arranger, Jacob Garchik." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Kronos Quartet Celebrated Brooklyn (and played music by Bryce Dessner) @ the Prospect Park Bandshell in NYC - pics"

"BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn is pleased to announce that Kronos Quartet will perform a free concert at Celebrate Brooklyn! on Thursday, July 16. The groundbreaking ensemble¹s performance will include material from their new album, Floodplain, as well as the New York premiere of The National¹s Bryce Dessner¹s ³Aheym,² the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli¹s ³Harp and Altar,² pieces by Sigur Rós, Café Tacuba (arr. Osvaldo Golijov), Michael Gordon and [JG Thirlwell's piece "Nomatophobis" and a pice by Michael Gordon and more]. Kronos will be joined on the bill by Gypsy punk string ensemble Luminescent Orchestrii. The concert will begin at 7:30 P.M.; gates will open at 6:30 P.M."

DOWNLOAD: Riceboy Sleeps - Boy 1904 (MP3) (via)

"Known primarily for his haunting falsetto and other-worldly presence as the singer in Sigur Rós, Jon Thor Birgisson has - together with his partner Alex Somers - been exhibiting artwork and staging exhibitions under the name Riceboy Sleeps for two or three years now, including the release of a limited edition picture book. A couple of months back the early fruits of the musical side of this collaboration surfaced in physical form for the first time, with the track "Happiness", on the exemplary Dark Was The Night Red Hot compilation...

Now... the full-length Riceboy Sleeps album is finished and ready for release. And, as with "Happiness", it is set to subtly redefine expectations of slow and elegiac instrumental music in 2009." [XL]

Continue reading "Riceboy Sleeps (Alex & Sigur Ros' Jonsi) - new album, MP3 "

by Ryan Barkan

When it comes to licensing, Tom Waits has a strong reputation..

Waits has steadfastly refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials and has joked about other artists who do. ("If Michael Jackson wants to work for Pepsi, why doesn't he just get himself a suit and an office in their headquarters and be done with it?") He has filed several lawsuits against advertisers who used his material without permission. He has been quoted as saying, "Apparently, the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad -- ideally, naked and purring on the hood of a new car," he said in a statement, referring to the Mercury Cougar. "I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor....

...In 2005, Waits sued Adam Opel AG, claiming that, after having failed to sign him to sing in their Scandinavian commercials, they had hired a soundalike singer. In 2007, the suit was settled, and Waits gave the sum to charity." [Wikipedia]

The campaign, shot by American History X director Tony Kaye, launched November 25th and is intended to raise awareness and drive action to fight hunger in America.

Created pro bono by Ogilvy NY, the new TV, radio, print, and web advertising aims to change the way Americans look at this critical issue affecting our country and to understand the fact that many people they interact with on a daily basis may not know where their next meal will come from...

"We are thrilled to partner with Feeding America to educate Americans about just how close hunger is to each one of us," according to Peggy Conlon, President & CEO of The Advertising Council. "I believe that the 1 in 8 campaign will inspire Americans to become involved in this critical issue."

"This work uses simple visual imagery to demonstrate the reality of the fact that everyone today knows someone who is hungry," said Antonio Navas and Chris Bradley, creative directors at Ogilvy who developed the campaign. "We were very fortunate to get musician Tom Waits to contribute a beautiful piece of music - "Never Let Go" off of 2006's Orphans -- that helps bring the work to life and connect with the public in a tangible way. We believe it will have great impact on this important cause."

Per the Ad Council model, the PSAs will be distributed to media outlets nationwide this week and will run and air in advertising time and space that is donated by the media.

Other Notable Licensing News:

Another band that usually passes on licensing requests for its music is Arcade Fire. The Canadian band decided to let its song "My Body Is A Cage" be used in the trailer for the new Brad Pitt movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

According to the Arcade Fire's management, "This is the first time the band have used their music in this way. David Fincher asked them to look at the trailer. They all thought it was a good use of the music. They have no issue with licensing music when it's used in a creative way. It rarely happens." [Pitchfork]

The soundtrack to Juno continues to inspire advertising creatives. One of Barry Louis Polisar's songs from that soundtrack, "All I Want Is You", gives it a go in a spot for the National Lottery in the UK. The commercial can be seen below.

I've seen the commercial for Ubisoft's new Prince Of Persia game on air this past week. Just like the trailer (watch it below), the spot features the song "Saeglopur" by Sigur Ros. This is the second video game featuring Sigur Ros music - EA's trailer for Dead Space (released in October 2008) uses "Track 7" as the soundtrack.

The Shins' "Sleeping Lessons" provides a cool soundtrack to Statkraft Energy's new European commercial. Watch it at Boards Mag.

Sony has released quite a few new commercials recently for both the PS3 and PSP that have good musical soundtracks. The "Mural" spot features "Everybody Ona Move" by Michael Franti & Spearhead, "LA Plays PSP" has The Grouch featuring MURS' "The Bay To LA", and "NYC Plays PSP" uses Chromeo's "Fancy Footwork". Watch the last one below.

continued below...

Continue reading "This week in Music Licensing"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Night 1, Night 2....

Continue reading "Sigur Ros @ United Palace (night 2), NYC - pics & setlist"

BE NICE (more by Ryan Muir)

today in NYC
* FREE
* DANCE
* a free Hold Steady show
* Sigur Ros @ United Palace
* Howard Tate @ Slipper Room
* the opening of The Bell House
* Noah & The Whale @ Sidewalk Cafe
* The Mars Volta @ Starland Ballroom
* Mogwai & Fuck Buttons @ Terminal 5
* Phosphorescent does a Rooftop Film
* WHY? & Mount Eerie @ Bowery Ballroom
* Balkan Beat Box @ Highline Ballroom
* The Stills @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Opeth, High on Fire & Nachtmystium @ Nokia Theatre
* a free Bloc Party @ Amazing Baby show @ Roseland Ballroom
* Borts Minorts & American Watercolor Movement @ Glasslands
* The Major Labels, Dragonette & Oppenheimer @ Mercury Lounge
* World Without Magic and Joe & The Flying Spoons @ Union Pool

Working on cloning myself.

What else?