Relax with a Best of Sarah

Canadian songbird Sarah McLachlan is releasing a 16-song collection (14 classic hits and two new tunes) in October. Looking forward to that.

Monsters and Critics

We know how you feel, John

John Mellencamp just recently released his 23rd album, and he's OK with being know as an old man of rock and roll. More power to ya, John.

MSNBC.com

Roadtrip, anyone?

Lollapalooza 2008 is happening this weekend in Chicago. I'm not doing anything; let's take a road trip.

Guide from Metromix Chicago.

The Ugliest Musicians of All Time

Luckily, none of us are listed.

Slideshow.

Lyle Lovett makes money for the record company

And we think that musicians must make all this cash selling records. Well, Lyle Lovett says he makes nothing from records, but pays the bills by touring.

So get out and see a band live, OK?

Unique record collection coming to Syracuse

A vast collection of 78 rpm records — valued at $1 million, weighing 50 tons and representing more than a half-century of American music history — is being donated to Syracuse University by the estate of a prominent New York City record shop owner.

The more than 200,000 records represented the entire inventory of "Records Revisited," a landmark Manhattan store owned by Morton Savada, who died in February from lung cancer at age 85.

Savada's collection included recordings from 1895 to the 1950s, with big band, jazz, country, blues, gospel, polka, folk, Broadway, Hawaiian and Latin among the genres. It also contains spoken-word, comedy and broadcast recordings, and "V-disks," which were distributed as entertainment to the U.S. military during World War II.

Yahoo News

Prince @ 50

Wanna know what makes me feel old? Knowing that Prince has turned 50. Wow. The Daily News does a retrospective of The Purple One's career, including a photo gallery.

Bonnaroo 2008 rocks Tennessee

Pearl Jam, Chris Rock, B.B. King, Jack Johnson, Cat Power, Kanye West; yep, we should have been there.

bonnaroo.com
RollingStone.com coverage
Stereogum
The Tennessean

Great songwriter quotes

iSound has collected a bunch of quotes from great songwriters about the art (and work) of writing a song. It's funny and interesting and entertaining. Here are a few examples, and the full article is here.

Irving Berlin: "Listen kid, take my advice, never hate a song that has sold half a million copies."

George Gershwin: "Out of my entire annual output of songs, perhaps two, or at the most three, came as a result of inspiration. We can never rely on inspiration. When we most want it, it does not come."

Burt Bacharach: "Music breeds its own inspiration. You can only do it by doing it. You may not feel like it, but you push yourself. It's a work process. Or just improvise. Something will come."

Hal David: "I tended not to be concerned about whether a song was going to be a hit when I wrote it. Because it became evident that none of us knew what was a hit and what wasn't. So I thought if I just write what I like, why shouldn't people like what I like?"

Leonard Cohen: "I wish I were one of those people who wrote songs quickly. But I'm not. So it takes me a great deal of time to find out what the song is. I am working most of the time."

Neil Diamond: "Performing is the easiest part of what I do, and songwriting is the hardest."

Hank Williams: "If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing."

Gavin doesn't like labels

The term "singer-songwriter"” makes Gavin DeGraw cringe. "It makes you feel like a weakling the way all the singer songwriters are marketed, you know what I mean? ... It's not masculine enough for me. I don't feel like I fall into that category in a lot of ways."

MSNBC.com

Dear Keith:

Blender Mag lets fans ask Keith Richards anything they want, and it makes for a pretty interesting interview (with audio of his answers).

R.I.P. Danny Federici

Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band’s sound on hits from "Hungry Heart" through "The Rising," died Thursday. He was 58.

MSNBC.com

A few minutes with Max

It's always good to sit down and chat with Conan bandleader and E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg.

Popmatters.com

Hey, where's my key?

My hometown of Bay City, MI, wants to honor Madonna with a key to the city, since she was born there in 1958.

That's nice and all, but when am I gonna get a statue? Where's the Pimp Daddy Monument?!? I get no love.

MLive.com

New R.E.M. CD out tomorrow

Accelerate hits the stores tomorrow, and this reviewer really likes it.

Order from Amazon.com here.

I'll believe it when I see it

"We'd love to have Bruce in the Dome," Campbell says. "We've had some conversations. We're waiting to hear. They have a number of places they're looking at. We'd love to do it. They haven't been able to tell me anything."

A History Lesson from Billy Joel

Whether you're a Billy Joel fan or not, you probably remember his song "We Didn't Start the Fire." Here it is, set to pictures---very very cool! Had to share this one. It's a cool flashback through the past half century. Turn up volume, sit back and enjoy a review of 50 years of history in less than 3 minutes!

Thanks to Doc Willoughby for sending this along.

A quiz! A quiz!

So you think you know your album covers? Take this quiz to see if you can tell which ones are correct and which ones have been altered.

Thanks to Ken for the link.

Happy 62nd, David Gilmour

R.I.P. Jeff Healey

Legendary blues and jazz guitarist Jeff Healey has died, his publicist said Sunday. The Canadian musician had battled cancer his entire life.

"It was something he fought with considerable bravery," his publicist, Richard Flohil, told Newsnet late Sunday.

Healey, 41, had lost his eyesight to a rare form of the disease, Retinoblastoma, at the age of one.

Obit

The photos of Autumn de Wilde

I love great photography, so an article and photo gallery about a great indie rock photog - Autumn de Wilde - is really cool.

From Boston.com

Where's the MEB logo?

Spinner Magazine lists the top 25 band logos of all time.

How do they look 20 years later?

Here's an interesting slideshow of 80's male rock stars and what they look like today. Some have aged much better than others (I'm looking at you, John Oates).

WNBC.com

We didn't win again, dangit.

The Grammys happened this weekend and the MEB got dissed again. When will they ever learn?!?

Quick hits:

• I started watching about 9 or so, missed the first chunk.
• Winehouse deserved her wins, but really needs help. She seemed completely out of it.
• Alicia Keys never fails to impress, though the duet with John Mayer was a little off - her tune was solidly in a major key and when John played a lot of bluesy licks, they just didn't work.
• Rhapsody in Blue with Herbie Hancock and some Chinese dude was great - orchestra was really impressive.
• Kid Rock/Dave Koz/some spaced-out lady singing jazz standards was surreal and bad and unsettling.
• Foo Fighters rocked like they should have.
• Enjoyed various folks busting on Kanye, and he seemed to take it well.
• Andrea Boccelli/Josh Groban duet honoring Pavarotti proved that while Groban is talented and has a good voice, Boccelli is just amazing and on another plane.
• I had a hard time watching the Goodyear Blimp formerly-known-as-Aretha-Franklin. Holy crap.

Does Phish smell bad after 2 days?

What's a couple days in jail to Trey, anyway?

Joe Elliott talks about rock star travel

Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott chats with the folks at MSNBC.com Travel about life on the road, favorite destinations, and time at home.

Can actors be musicians, too?

Don Johnson? Jack Wagner? Bruce Willis? Hillary Duff? Keaneau Reeves?

Here are some other folks that are at least passable, according to this article.

Once again, the MEB falls short

I thought our new CD "From The Vault" might be the biggest selling album of the year, but instead Daughtry nabbed that honor. I guess he deserves it. Maybe.

MSNBC.com

Stereogum's Gummy Awards

Music blog Sterogum has posted their annual Gummy Awards, and their readers have chosen Radiohead's "In Rainbows" as Album of the Year. Check out the full list and all the other award winners (and losers).

Ignored again ...

Can't believe that we were snubbed again by the Academy and didn't get nominated for a Grammy. Will they ever learn?!?

Here's the full list of nominees, if you really care.

R.I.P. Kevin DuBrow

Quiet Riot singer Kevin DuBrow died Sunday, drummer Frankie Banali confirmed in a post on his Web site. DuBrown was 52 years old and the official cause of his death has yet to be determined.

Danny Federici taking some time off

E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici is battling melanoma and will take some time off from Bruce's world tour to treat the illness. Best of luck, Danny, we're thinking of you.

We love Alicia Keys

Get to know her better here: Newsweek

Great to hear from Marc Cohn again

One of our favorite singer/songwriters Marc Cohn is out with a new album, and would rather not just talk about his carjacking/shooting incident from 2005. Can you blame him?

MSNBC.com

This class better not meet in the morning

At U-Mass Amherst, they're teaching a history class that focuses on the Grateful Dead. It's History 297D, otherwise known as "How Does the Song Go? The Grateful Dead as a Window into American Culture." Can we audit the class?

Boston.com

Those Van Halen boys seem to be workin' it

Here's a review of their show in Cleveland. This is the concluding paragraph:

You can gripe about the motivations behind the tour -- too bad it had to come after Dave's disastrous nosedive in radio -- or charge the Van Halen boys with cashing in. But David Lee Roth and Van Halen are together again, and that's good enough for now.

Rockin' the Cheese

The bassist for British band Blur, Alex James, is taking time out from his rock'n'roll lifestyle to make cheese. No, seriously.

From Toronto's TheStar.com.

Bruce speaks out

From his 60 Minutes interview.

Mylie is a scalper's dream

The biggest concert this fall isn't Bruce or Madonna or The Rolling Stones or U2 or Kanye West or Nickelback. It's Mylie Cyrus. And every parent of a tween girl knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Article @ MSNBC.com

Listen to Bruce's "Magic"

They're streaming Bruce's new CD "Magic" at www.mydrivefm.com, so take a listen. By the way, 100.5 The Drive out of Rochester is a great station, and you can listen live on their website, too.

Oh, and this reviewer says the CD is a "rockin' good time."

New CD's from Foo Fighters, Will.i.am and more

Sounds like some cool stuff coming out this week.

It's really happening

Here is a sneak peak of the upcoming Van Halen "reunion" tour (minus Michael Anthony). The pics look pretty cool, and the blurb from the photographer sound pretty promising, too.

Thanks to Jim Lent for the link.

Zep is back!

For one night, anyway.

BBC.co.uk

Michael Anthony speaks

Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony tells Rolling Stone about being fired from the band.

The Music Man

I think you'll enjoy this great New York Times Magazine article on the unique music maestro Rick Rubin. I love this guy.

Crazy kids these days

That wacky Amy Winehouse is canceling more appearances again. C'mon, sister, get your stuff together.

Great live music resource

At The Concert Vault you'll find a huge archive of live music for streaming and for download. Here's how they describe it:

There's only one place you can hear Bill Graham introduce the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East, Steve Miller ask for more PA volume at Winterland, or Robert Plant kill time with the Fillmore audience while Jimmy Page re-tunes in the background. It's the same place you can listen to the greatest live music of all time in full concert format.

It's not Heaven, though it may feel like Heaven to rock music purists. It's the Concert Vault, the world's greatest collection of vintage concert recordings.

Where does it come from? In 2003, Wolfgang's Vault acquired master recordings from the archives of Bill Graham Presents. These live concerts were recorded at legendary venues like the Fillmore East and Winterland between 1965 and the late 1980s.

In early 2006, we augmented the Graham archives by acquiring the archives of the King Biscuit Flower Hour, the nationally famous syndicated rock radio broadcasts of live concerts from the 1970s and '80s. We also added the Silver Eagle Cross Country archive of country music concerts in 2006, and we haven't stopped there. Keep an ear out for additions to the Concert Vault in the near future.

The old is new again

The kids are discovering the classic music of yesterday again, and now they've latched onto a Grand Ole Opry fave, Porter Wagoner. Read about the rise, fall, and reincarnation of Porter on CNN.com.

New Bruce on the way Oct. 2

Bruce has put together a new album with the band, titled "Magic," and it hits the record store shelves on October 2.

MSNBC.com

But if I can see them, they they're real, right?

Here's a great list of the Top 10 Bands That Never Existed. Pictured above is The Commitments (in at #5) and Spinal Tap shows up at #2. Who's #1?

I'm sure the MEB will stand the test of time, too

The rock classics used to be The Beatles and The Stones, Dylan, Led Zeppelin and The Who. But what more recent music is still selling and has become classic in its own right? CNN.com delves into the question, and AC/DC, Metallica, and Radiohead are among the winners. And many artists that weren't big sellers at the time have become classics.

Very interesting article.

Here's a flawed list

They're imploring artists to go solo, but many of them already have or have no reason to. I'm so confused.

But it is Monday, so I guess that only makes sense.

MSNBC.com