Category: Music

Jimmy Page says Led Zeppelin reissues will be released this year

The first of Led Zeppelin’s long-mooted remastered reissues will be released this year.

Guitarist Jimmy Page first revealed that he was working on remastering a number of Led Zeppelin albums back in 2012. He has now posted a New Year’s message on his website, via Planet Rock, stating the first reissues will come out later in 2014. He wrote: “It’s good news for the New Year. The first of the Led Zeppelin releases – comprising of Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III and their companion discs – will be released this year. I’ve also been working on some of my own material from the archives that will be unleashed in 2014.” It is rumoured that artist Shepard Fairey will be redesigning the original artwork for the new releases, after creating the artwork for the ‘Celebration Day’ live album and film.

Robert Plant recently stated that he had discovered some previously unreleased Led Zeppelin music, some of which features the band’s bassist John Paul Jones on vocals. Speaking on BBC 6Music, the rocker said to Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie that he listened to the material with Jimmy Page and it is likely that the music will feature on the remastered releases of Led Zeppelin’s back catalogue.

He said: “I found some quarter-inch spools recently. I had a meeting with Jimmy and we baked ’em up and listened to ’em. And there’s some very, very interesting bits and pieces that probably will turn up on these things.” Speaking about John Paul Jones’ response to the material which features him on vocals, he joked that Jones is trying to bribe him not to release the songs. “So far, he’s going to give me two cars and a greenhouse not to get ’em on the album,” he said.

Last year Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis revealed that Led Zeppelin were at the top of her dream list for future headliners for the festival. Speaking to the BBC, Eavis was asked if there was a Post-it note on her fridge with her dream list written on. “Yeah, it’s on a napkin actually. On the fridge, there… We would love to have Adele. And we’d also love to have Led Zeppelin. I mean Zeppelin have got to do it, haven’t they? It would be so good, wouldn’t it,” she said.

‘Beyoncé’ illegally downloaded 240,000 times in 10 days

It has been revealed that Beyonce’s new self-titled album ‘Beyoncé’ was illegally downloaded 240,000 times in the first 10 days since its release, resulting in $3.8 million of lost revenue for the singer.

The record, which was released on December 13, also clocked up just under a million legitimate sales in the same time period, reports Billboard, putting the surprise release at the top of the American Billboard chart for the two subsequent weeks.

The report also states that the former Destiny’s Child singer’s entire back catalogue has been shared more than two million times using BitTorrent downloading sites. As well as recent downloads of her eponymous new release, the album has also spurred downloads of the singer’s older albums; on December 15, more than 11,000 downloads of previous Beyoncé albums were also downloaded, which accounts for more than five times the number accessed the day before the singer’s newest release.

‘Beyoncé’ was released this month on iTunes with no run-up or publicity, marking a final surprise release in a year that has also seen similar promotion-less tactics from David Bowie and My Bloody Valentine.

Beyoncé, meanwhile, revealed after the album’s unveiling that she was ”really nervous” about the release. “I was terrified. I was so scared. I already envisioned like the worst things that could happen,” Beyoncé revealed before moving on to discuss the more personal side to the album. “I’m very private and I’m very respectful, and I think it just took me no longer being someone’s child — once I became a mother, I felt like I could tear those fourth walls and I just felt like it was time. I completely feel liberated.”

The Beatles rarities and bootlegs to appear on iTunes later today (December 17)

A collection of The Beatles’ rarities and bootlegs will be released exclusively through iTunes later today (December 17).

The 59 tracks from 1963 are being released by The Beatles’ label in an effort to beat the bootleggers and stop the songs falling out of copyright and becoming accessible to a rival record label.

2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the recordings. EU copyright law dictates that songs remain in copyright for five decades if they have not been officially released. The same law stretches to 70 years if the songs are released.

BBC News reports that the songs will appear on iTunes later today and remain indefinitely. After a recent change in the law, the master tape for The Beatles’ 1963 debut album ‘Please Please Me’ is protected by copyright until 2033, but the unreleased session tapes for that album are not.

The band, whose music only arrived on iTunes in 2010 following lengthy legal negotiations, will release 59 tracks, which some reports suggest will be titled ‘The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963’. A verified tracklist can be seen here.

In total the album includes 15 studio outtakes and a further 44 live BBC tracks to add to those already on ‘Live At The BBC’ and ‘On Air: Live At The BBC Volume 2’, which was released earlier this year.

New Johnny Cash album to be released next spring

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — There’s new never-before-heard music coming from Johnny Cash.

Cash’s estate is releasing “Out Among the Stars,” an album he recorded with Billy Sherrill in the early 1980s that was never released by Columbia Records, then disappeared when the company dropped Cash in 1986. Turns out Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, stashed the tapes — along with just about everything else that came into their possession.

“They never threw anything away,” said their son, John Carter Cash. “They kept everything in their lives. They had an archive that had everything in it from the original audio tapes from ‘The Johnny Cash Show’ to random things like a camel saddle, a gift from the prince of Saudi Arabia.”

They stored away so much, in fact, the younger Cash and archivists at Legacy Recordings didn’t find the material until last year, long after the family began issuing archival music by Cash. “Out Among the Stars” will be out March 25, and continues an intense period of interest in the singer, who helped shape modern country and rock ‘n’ roll music and became an American pop cultural figure before his death 10 years ago at age 71.

Multiple music, book and restoration projects have been started in the past 18 months to mark what would have been the singer’s 80th birthday and the 10th anniversary of his death. The music being released was recorded during a difficult period for Cash personally and professionally.

Columbia paired him with Sherrill, a producer and Country Music Hall of Fame member who was then the president of CBS Records Nashville. One of the main architects of country music’s so-called countrypolitan sound, Sherrill helped push the genre toward pop sounds and conventions — and away from Cash’s more independent-minded ways.

The pairing came at a time when Cash was at a low ebb in his popularity. The music on “Out Among the Stars” is taken from 1981 and ’84 sessions, at a time when country music was going through great change.

“Dad was always uniquely himself,” Cash said. “And later on the world would come back around. He never modified himself. But Nashville at the time was in a completely different place. It was the ‘Urban Cowboy’ phase. It was pop country, and dad was not that. I think him working with Billy was sort of an effort by the record company to put him more in the circle of Music Row and see what could happen at the heart of that machine.”

It was clear record company executives didn’t think much of the outcome. They put out a few more Cash albums after the recordings were made, but never used the music from those sessions before dropping him. Sherrill backed Cash with a band that consisted of fellow Country Hall of Fame member Hargus “Pig” Robbins and a young friend of Cash’s named Marty Stuart.

The younger Cash and his co-producer, archivist Steve Berkowitz, decided they’d bring Stuart back in to re-record his parts with 30 years more experience as a picker. Others, including Buddy Miller and Jerry Douglas, helped fortify the original tapes as well. The 12 tracks include a duet with Waylon Jennings and two with June Carter Cash.

“We were so excited when we discovered this,” Cash said. “We were like, my goodness this is a beautiful record that nobody has ever heard. Johnny Cash is in the very prime of his voice for his lifetime. He’s pitch perfect. It’s seldom where there’s more than one vocal take. They’re a live take and they’re perfect.”

John Carter Cash doesn’t think Columbia executives realized what they had in hand. Even though his father had been a major star, tastes would soon turn to Garth Brooks and Shania Twain.

Biographer Robert Hilburn, who recently released “Johnny Cash: The Life,” said the music fans are about to hear was recorded during some of the most difficult years of Cash’s life. He felt like he’d lost his legacy and he was still dealing with the fallout from personal problems including infidelity and drug addiction.

He soon met producer Rick Rubin, though, and wrote a coda to his career that gave his life something of a mythic quality.

“Johnny Cash was redeemed, and that was a wonderful lesson,” Hilburn said. “His story is so great and it’s so dramatic and it’s so much more dramatic than I ever envisioned.”

Phil Collins to return to music?

Phil Collins could be set to make a return to the music world.

Speaking to the German press – via The Guardian – the musician said that he has been thinking about playing solo again and also with his band Genesis. He commented: “I have started thinking about doing new stuff… some shows again, even with Genesis. Everything is possible. We could tour in Australia and South America. We haven’t been there yet”.

In 2011 Phil Collins announced his retirement from music. The drummer/singer made the announcement on his website, Philcollins.co.uk, writing: “I am stopping so I can be a full-time father to my two young sons on a daily basis,” he wrote.

Collins last played with Genesis in 2007 and last played live in 2010. He has now said that his younger children are encouraging his return to performing. Foals once said they wanted to bring Phil Collins out of retirement to work with them. Speaking to the Daily Star, the band professed their love for Collins, who quit music due to ongoing health issues, including nerve damage, hearing problems and back pain. Frontman Yannis Philippakis said: “We love Phil Collins – we’ll help him drum again.”

In 2010 Collins admitted that he had considered committing suicide. “I wouldn’t blow my head off,” he told Rollingstone.com. “I’d overdose or do something that didn’t hurt. But I wouldn’t do that to the children.”

The Beatles, U2, Eminem, One Direction Contribute To ‘Songs For The Philippines’ Relief Album

The recorded music industry is responding to the disastrous typhoon in the Philippines with a fundraising compilation which features the biggest names in the business.

The Beatles, Bob Dylan, U2, Eminem, One Direction and Katy Perry are among the superstars who have contributed tracks for the relief album, all proceeds from which will be donated to Philippine Red Cross.

All three major music companies are supporting the 39-track “Songs for the Philippines,” which is available through iTunes’ global network of digital stores at iTunes.com/Philippines.

All the artists, record companies and music publishers working on the project have waived fees.

As previously reported, users can go to the iTunes store to donate to the American Red Cross; funds raised will go to help the Asian nation, which has been devastated by Typhoon Haiyan. The death toll from the supertyphoon is currently at more than 5,200.

‘Songs For The Philippines’ track listing:
1. The Beatles – “Across The Universe”
2. Bob Dylan – “Shelter From The Storm”
3. Michael Bublé – “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You”
4. U2 – “In A Little While”
5. Bruno Mars – “Count On Me”
6. Beyoncé – “I Was Here”
7. Eminem – “Stan” (Live from BBC Radio 1)
8. Cher – “Sirens”
9. Adele – “Make You Feel My Love”
10. Katy Perry – “Unconditionally” (Johnson Somerset Remix)
11. One Direction – “Best Song Ever”
12. Fun. – “Carry On”
13. Lady Gaga – “Born This Way” (The Country Road version)
14. Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors”
15. Justin Bieber – “I Would”
16. Alicia Keys – “New Day”
17. Imagine Dragons – “30 Lives”
18. Madonna – “Like A Prayer”
19. P!nk – “Sober”
20. Kylie Minogue – “I Believe In You”
21. Enrique Iglesias – “Hero”
22. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Factory Of Faith”
23. Linkin Park – “Roads Untraveled”
24. Kings Of Leon – “Use Somebody”
25. Muse – “Explorers”
26. Lorde – “The Love Club”
27. Josh Groban – “Brave”
28. Kelly Clarkson – “Stronger”
29. Paolo Nutini – “Simple Things”
30. Ellie Goulding – “I Know You Care”
31. James Blunt – “Carry You Home”
32. Pitbull feat. Christina Aguilera – “Feel This Moment”
33. Earth, Wind & Fire – “Sign On”
34. Apl.De.App – “Going Out” feat Damian Leroy
35. Sara Bareilles – “Brave”
36. Jessica Sanchez – “Lead Me Home”
37. Lily Allen – “Smile”
38. The Fray – “Love Don’t Die”
39. The Beatles – “Let It Be”

Pearl Jam’s ‘Lightning Bolt’ Shows to Air on SiriusXM

Pearl Jam fans will be able to listen to concerts from the band’s current Lightning Bolt tour on SiriusXM’s Pearl Jam Radio, the broadcaster’s channel 22, beginning today. The channel will air the band’s Pittsburgh concert from October 11th tonight at 6 p.m. EST, according to a press release. That show was the kickoff for the tour, and Rolling Stone described it as “a high-octane two-and-half-hour show.”

The channel will premiere a new show every Friday at the same time, and it will rebroadcast them Saturdays at 7 and Sundays at 2. The satellite radio provider will also stream each concert on its SiriusXM app and website.

Eddie Vedder recently sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss the new album. When we asked him whether or not the band was still trying to make the best Pearl Jam album ever, he widened the scope. “I say this in the least-competitive way possible, but we’re trying to make not just the best Pearl Jam record, but just the best record,” he replied. “It’s about getting to the next level of communication, or just trying to crack a code into some higher plane of playing music. Because when we’re making a record, I’m more of a listener than a player.”

And when we asked him if he could envision continuing to do Pearl Jam into his 70s, as the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney have, he didn’t rule it out. “I first saw the Stones in 1981, and at that point they were elder statesmen,” Vedder said. “So we’re lucky to see these old poets being able to read their work in their own voice, you know? I mean, they came from the same generation that said, ‘Don’t trust anyone over 30.’ It reminds you to be open to the possibilities.”

Roger Waters Recording New Rock Album

Roger Waters hasn’t released an album of new rock material in over two decades, but that’s about to change.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Waters revealed he’s recording a new album, not long after wrapping up his The Wall tour last September, telling the magazine he had “finished a demo of it,” and that the current version is “55 minutes long.”

Already, the work is sounding like a concept album of sorts. According to Waters, the unfinished product is “couched as a radio play,” about “an old man and a young child trying to figure out why they’re killing the children.”

The former Pink Floyd bassist/singer last released a new album in 2005, with the opera “Ça Ira.” The upcoming album would be his fifth solo release and fourth in the rock genre.

“Amused to Death,” his last rock release, came out in September 1992, peaking at No. 21 on the Billboard 200.

Waters is scheduled to give the keynote address at the Billboard Touring Conference, happening Nov. 13-14 in New York.

‘Arrested Development’ soundtrack with 42 songs coming in November

The Mitch Hurwitz-created show about the misadventures of the Bluth clan will give fans something to sing about while we wait with bated breath for more AD episodes or a possible film. Varèse Sarabande Records will release the soundtrack on Nov. 19. Film Music Reporter first reported the news.

“Arrested Development’s composer David Schwartz selected his songs and score from all four seasons of the show, with a heavy dose of the original madcap songs and its signature ukulele tunes,” according to a press release. Schwartz (who scored Deadwood, Beverly Hills, 90210) wrote on his website that “the playlist is based on all of the requests from we received during the AMA on reddit.com. Greatest fans ever!”

Do you think Gob and Franklin will go on tour?

The full track listing:
1. Arrested Development (Main Title) (:18)
2. She’s Cute (1:25)
3. Getaway (Extended Version) (2:53)
4. Practice Kisses (1:51)
5. Sound of Silence / The Cockroach (Medley) (1:09)
6. Balls In The Air (Extended Version) (3:05)
7. Face Blindness (L&M) (1:33)
8. You’ll Never Hear From Me Again (3:35)
9. As It Is Such (Medley) (1:18)
10. Tobias Eat Pray Gay (Medley) (:40)
11. Motherboy (1:19)
12. Franklin’s Brown Sugar (:23)
13. It Ain’t Easy Being White (1:19)
14. Shot By Love (Extended Version) (3:04)
15. Mr.F (:49)
16. The Yellow Boat (1:56)
17. All You Need Is Smiles (:27)
18. Big Yellow Joint (:27)
19. Big Rock’n Yellow Joint (:09)
20. The Cute Test (2:05)
21. Aloha Lei To You (1:09)
22. Oh Phoenix (2:14)
23. Andele (:28)
24. Bang Bang Bang Bang (Buster Dance) (2:14)
25. I’m Blue, Man (2:13)
26. Mock Trial (:15)
27. Not Your Father, Mopy, Tiny Town (Medley) (1:30)
28. What Could Be Better (1:20)
29. She Winked (1:07)
30. Free At Last (1:18)
31. Oh My (Medley) (:49)
32. Get Along, Little Sheep (:29)
33. Big Ska (:49)
34. Buster & Lucille & George & GOB (:40)
35. Fantastic 4 (Medley) (:54)
36. The Invisible Girl (:58)
37. Rub It In (1:53)
38. The Chipper (1:39)
39. Teamocil (:35)
40. You Here With Me (1:27)
41. Police Cruise (1:04)
42. Boomerang (3:37) Performed by Lucy Schwartz

On the charts: Pearl Jam land on top, Paul McCartney and Avett Brothers have strong showings

With all this talk of Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, and the rest of the fall diva lineup, you would think there would be no room for a bunch of casually dressed dudes playing guitars. But as this week’s album chart shows, the market still demands the occasional infusion of good old-fashioned rock.

Pearl Jam’s Lightning Bolt took the number one spot on this week’s Billboard 200 with 166,000 copies sold in its first week of release. That’s the largest opening week for a rock album in a year (Phillip Phillips’ The World From the Side of the Moon, if you count that as rock, sold 169,000 in its opening frame last November), though it’s below the first week numbers for Pearl Jam’s last album (Backspacer did 189,000 during its kickoff week in 2009), and well below 2013′s bigger debuts like Justin Timberlake and Drake.

Still, it’s Pearl Jam’s fifth chart-topper, a list that also includes Backspacer, No Code, Vitalogy, and Vs., the latter of which moved a then-record 950,000 units during its first week of release in 1993.

It was a healthy week for rock in general, though — Paul McCartney’s New sold 67,000 copies, which was good enough for a third place opening. A little ways behind Macca in the number five slot sit the Avett Brothers, whose Magpie and the Dandelion sold 58,000 copies in its first week.

Three other guitar-centric albums also debuted in the top 10: Scott McCreery’s See You Tonight (number six, 52,000 sold), Willie Nelson’s To All The Girls (number nine, 43,000), and the Head and the Heart’s Let’s Be Still (number 10, 42,000). That’s a particularly powerful week for the folkies in the Head and the Heart—they had previously sold no more than 4,000 albums in any given week.

Last week’s chart-topper, Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz, took quite a tumble. While it only slid from the top position to number two, it fell 73 percent for a second week sales tally of 72,000. Second frame plummets are common, though anything over 70 percent is generally cause for concern. However, it’s not all bad news for Cyrus: “Wrecking Ball” remains a constant threat to return to the top of the Hot 100, as its airplay numbers and streaming stats continue to climb. The catbird seat on that chart, however, still belongs to Lorde’s “Royals,” which is number one for a fourth week in a row.

According to Billboard, “Wrecking Ball” very nearly returned to the top of the Hot 100 this week, which means that “Royals” may be on the down swing and another song could swoop in and take the top slot. Perhaps it’ll be one of the big gainers on this week’s Hot 100, which include Eminem’s “Rap God” (which debuts at number seven) and Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” (which holds at number four but continues to gain radio and streaming traction).