Facebook cheat code

From TIME magazine:

The Konami code, a key sequence — up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A — that, if entered, gave the player a set of the game's power-ups can be used in Facebook.

If you type it in it gives a cool lens flare effect. Try it out.

The code has also been incorprated into many other websites and games. A list can be found on a dedicated website — Konami Code Sites — , of course you have to type the code to access the site.

Read more:

I and Love and You makes #9 in Time Magazine's best albums of 2009

Coming in at #9, just behind Grizzly bear in Time Magazine's best albums of 2009 list is the Avett Brothers.

It's a big shout out for their first major label record. Here's what they say.

The Avett Brothers (Scott and Seth, plus bassist Bob Crawford and cellist Joe Kwon) specialize in epic sincerity played on acoustic instruments — which means that their major-label debut could have gone spectacularly wrong. Instead, almost everything went right, starting with producer Rick Rubin's decision to grant these 10-year coffeehouse and club veterans some of his bearded wisdom. Rubin stripped the band of its fetish for musical digression and focused almost exclusively on melody. As a result, the Avetts' abundant emotionalism — they're tortured about being in love, or not being in love, on nearly every song — is scaled down to something far more intimate. On the title track and the mid-tempo ballad "Laundry Room," it's like having a good friend with a honeyed voice whispering in your ear.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1945379_1943810_1943831,00.html#ixzz0ZCW1YNOW

Favourite albums of 2009

If you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet, now would be a good time. Amazon have a great deal:

Buy CDs and get up to £3 credit to spend on MP3s

Spend more than £5 on CDs at Amazon.co.uk between now and December 31st, and we'll apply a credit to your account that you can spend on MP3s:

- Spend £5 on CDs, get £1 of credit to spend on MP3s
- Spend £10 on CDs, get £2 of credit to spend on MP3s
- Spend £15 on CDs, get £3 of credit to spend on MP3s

Here are my favourite records this year to get your started:

Avett Brothers: I and Love and You



Passion Pit: Manners



U2: No Line on the Horizaon

Criticised by many and it's true the second half of the album, like a lot of U2 albums is quite weak (not withstanding Breathe) but once you have heard the songs live they will come to life - Magnificent, Moment of Surrender, Unknown Caller are all excellent songs.



Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

A lot of fun by a band with a great line in hooks and melodies.



Wilco: The Album

Wilco just keep getting better. This album is a real grower. Tracks like Everlasting and Country Disappeared rank among their finest.




What have you enjoyed this year (or decade as everyone now seems to be doing)?

Spectacle with guests Bono and The Edge of U2

Check out the new series of Spectacle on the Sundance channel. It starts out with special guests Bono and The Edge. A preview video is below:

U2 at Glastonbury 2010!

U2 will headline next year's Glastonbury festival on the Pyramid stage on Friday 25 June 2010 it was confirmed today.

It will be their first appearance at the festival, something Bono says they have been working up to their whole life.

The 26-year-old rumour has finally come true," Michael Eavis, the festival organiser said. "At last, the biggest band in the world are going to play the best festival in the world! Nothing could be better for our 40th anniversary party. And there are even more surprises in the pipeline."

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster

Preview THE FAME MONSTER Now at Rhapsody!

Beginning today, you can stream THE FAME MONSTER in full exclusively from Rhapsody’s The Leak! Gaga’s new album is out this Monday, November 23rd but head over to Rhapsody for your exclusive first listen! You can also check out all of the songs from The Fame Monster including "Bad Romance & "Telephone" feat. Beyoncé this week on MTV & VH1!

Great Lake Swimmers on tour in UK

CANADIAN FOLK ROCKERS GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS TOUR IN NOVEMBER Following a highly successful trek across Europe in the spring of 2009 to promote the release of their new album, ‘Lost Channels’, Canadian folk rockers Great Lake Swimmers return in November for another tour, including London Jazz Café on Nov 18. Dates are below. ‘Lost Channels’ received rave reviews around the world upon release, with many in the media comparing Great Lake Swimmers favourably to the likes of Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine and Cowboy Junkies.



GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS

Sat Nov 14 BELFAST Speakeasy
Sun Nov 15 BIRMINGHAM Glee Club
Mon Nov 16 MANCHESTER Deaf Institute
Tues Nov 17 BRISTOL Metropolis
Weds Nov 18 LONDON Jazz Cafe

Google Wave

I've just got an invitation from Google to try out their new Google Wave product.

It's one of the hottest tickets on the internet right now and I have invites to give away.



If you want to try it out, leave a comment to this post or send an email to aboutthemusic@googlemail.co.uk

Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation
and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

What is a wave?

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

The Beatles - on record

THE BEATLES ON RECORD, a new documentary premiering on HISTORY on Wednesday, November 25 at 10pm, charts The Beatles' extraordinary recording journey from Please Please Me to the epic Abbey Road LP and reveals how they developed as musicians, matured as songwriters and created an enduring body of work that pushed the boundaries of studio recording, changing the course of musical history and popular culture. There will be additional airings of the special at later dates across A&E Television Networks (AETN).

Narrated entirely by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Sir George Martin, THE BEATLES ON RECORD features over 60 songs, rarely seen footage and images from The Beatles' archives along with never-before-heard outtakes of conversation from the original recording sessions. The result is an intimate look at the creative process behind each of the band's Abbey Road Studios masterpieces. The documentary is directed by Bob Smeaton, who directed the landmark Beatles Anthology series and created mini-documentaries for The Beatles' recently released re-mastered albums on CD.

I love this

The Mountain Goats

I first encountered the Mountain Goats when I was handed "The Sunset Tree" for review for Alternative Ulster and it ended up in my top 10 records of 2005. I was struck by their distinctive voice and lyrical style.

If you haven't discovered the Mountain Goats then MLive.com offers a primer.

Troy Reimink writes:

"During the past few years, John Darnielle has become one of my favorite songwriters. He's the creative energy behind the Mountain Goats, and basically IS the band in the same way Owen Pallett is Final Fantasy, Conor Oberst is Bright Eyes and so on.

Also, Darnielle is wildly prolific -- he's released nearly an album a year since he started recording in the early 1990s -- and consistent, which makes entering the Mountain Goats catalog a bit intimidating. (Though it's hard to go wrong with any of his 4AD output.) Here are a few suggestions:

Whenever I make a mix CD for somebody in the month of January, I include "This Year," which includes the captivating, who-can't-relate refrain of, "I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me":

Darnielle has penned two of the greatest breakup songs in the history of the form. The more approachable is "Woke Up New," which kicks off "Get Lonely" (sort of a breakup concept record) and devastatingly chronicles the narrator's inability to perform basic daily tasks for the first time following a relationship's end:

The real gut-wrencher, though, is "No Children" from the "Tallahassee" record, which kind of makes you wish every day was Valentine's Day, don't it?

Last year's "Heretic Pride" was a typically solid effort that closed with one of Darnielle's loveliest compositions, "Michael Myers Resplendent," a deliriously spooky campfire singalong.

My all-time favorite Mountain Goats song was the first one I ever heard, "Palmcorder Yajna" from the "We Shall All Be Healed" album. There's an eerie, early-REM quality to the lyrics, which give me the chills for reasons I don't really understand. Like this: "I dreamt of a camera pointing out from inside the television / And the aperture yawning and blinking / And the headstones climbed up the hills." Unfortunately, the best video I can find is a cover version by Ben Gibbard:

The band recently released "The Life of the World to Come," a collection of songs each inspired by a single Bible verse. Here's a moving performance of "Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace":

The further back you go into the catalog, the more lo-fi it gets. Of the pre-4AD releases, I'm fondest of "All Hail West Texas," mainly because of "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton" whose chorus -- "Hail Satan!" -- you might agree serves as an interesting counterpoint to the more recent biblical material:

The Swell Season - Strict Joy

About The Music is a huge fan of The Frames and it's front man Glen Hansard. We loved the Swell Season, Hansard's collaboration with Czech pianist Markéta Irglová.

I heard them play together a few years ago at the Lisburn Arts Centre in Ireland. After starring in the low budget, Oscar winning film "Once" they are now bona-fide big stars. However the fame and glamour was a bit much for the relationship but the wonderful thing is, they still make music. "Strict Joy" is not a break up album, just a record by friends who used to be lovers. Let's hope there are more to come.

The Observer Music magazine had a short piece about how the couple fell in, and now out of love

Priscilla Renea - Free "Dollhouse" download

Priscilla Renea's single "Dollhouse" is currently available for free download on MTV's Discover and Download!

Get the track here:

Also, check out Priscilla's new EPK for her upcoming debut album, Jukebox, out December 1st

Very Funny

How Lord Of The Rings should have ended

Sufjan Stevens - existential crisis

Sufjan Stevens records album of 'background music' He has contributed to Music for Insomnia, an ambient record designed for relaxation. All this had led him to question the power of his music.

"I definitely feel like, 'What is the point? What's the point of making music anymore?'" Stevens told Exclaim magazine. "I feel that the album no longer has a stronghold or has any real bearing any more. The physical format is obsolete; the CD is obsolete and the LP is kinda nostalgic. So, I think the album is suffering and that's how I've always created – I work with these conceptual albums in the long-form. And I'm wondering, what's the value of my work once these forms are obsolete and everyone's just downloading music?"

Read the whole Exclaim interview here and here for a bit more.



I also think that we missed commenting on the release of the BQE - a Sufjan side project.he released a classical composition called The BQE (and an accompanying film), commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2007. This week, a remake of his 2001 album, Run Rabbit Run, is due on shelves – with its original electronic arrangements replaced by newly composed string parts. The Guardian gave it

Music for Insomnia is due 8 December.

Honestly, when will he get on with it and release another album already? As the Guardian rightly said "Sufjan Stevens is a very talented singer-songwriter who seems determined to do almost anything else but write songs and sing them"

Flaming lips - Embryonic

NPR listening party:

ShockHound interview with Wayne and Dennis Coyne

THE FLAMING LIPS POP-UP STORE LAUNCHES "EMBRYONIC" ON OCTOBER 15, 2009 FOR ONE DAY ONLY WITH SPECIAL LIVE MYSPACE SECRET SHOW

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN SHOW CONFIRMED FOR OCTOBER 13.

The Flaming Lips publicity machine is getting into gear for the launch of Embryonic. The FLAMING LIPS have planned a very special, intimate MYSPACE SECRET SHOW performance just for tickets winners at their pop-up store
at the Nike / Ricardo Montalban Theater located at 1615 Vine St. in Hollywood 90028.
You won't get the change to see the LIPS live again until 2010!

Tickets for the event will be made available on a first come, first served basis at the opening on October15. Additional tickets will be available at Amoeba records with purchase of the Lips CD on street date, October 13. KCRW 89.9 FM and the LA Weekly will also participate in ticket give-a-ways so play close attention.

HBO Bored to Death

New HBO show starring Jason Schwartzman,Ted Danson, and Zach Galifianakis.

Jonathan Ames, a young Brooklyn writer, is feeling lost. He's just gone through a painful break-up, thanks in part to his drinking, can't write his second novel, and carouses too much with his magazine editor. Rather than face reality, Jonathan turns instead to his fantasies - moonlighting as a private detective - because he wants to be a hero and a man of action.

The offbeat comedy series BORED TO DEATH kicks off its eight-episode first season SUNDAY, SEPT. 20 (9:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, followed by other half-hour episodes debuting on subsequent Sundays at the same time. Created by Jonathan Ames (author of several books, including the acclaimed graphic novel "The Alcoholic"), the show follows the misadventures of a fictional Jonathan Ames as he pursues his quixotic dream of emulating his heroes from classic private detective novels.

BORED TO DEATH stars Jason Schwartzman ("The Darjeeling Limited") as Jonathan Ames; Ted Danson ("Damages," HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm") as George Christopher, a high-profile magazine editor and Jonathan's boss; and Zach Galifianakis ("The Hangover") as comic book illustrator Ray Hueston, Jonathan's confidant. Guest stars on the first season include Olivia Thirlby, Heather Burns, Kirsten Wiig, Parker Posey, Bebe Neuwirth, Oliver Platt, Patton Oswalt and John Hodgman.

Mixing noir mystery and neurotic humor, BORED TO DEATH opens with Jonathan's girlfriend, Suzanne (Olivia Thirlby), moving out of their apartment in Brooklyn, on the grounds that Jonathan devotes too much time to smoking pot and drinking white wine instead of focusing on his writing and their relationship. As Jonathan returns to his empty apartment, a neighbor who witnessed the parting suggests he look for a rebound date on Craigslist.

After sifting through his abundant supply of noir suspense novels, Jonathan idly decides to offer his services as a private detective on the site instead. As responses to Jonathan's Craigslist post roll in, he begins taking cases - and usually finds himself injecting his own personal problems into his client's situation.

Jonathan's needy boss, magazine editor George Christopher, frequently interferes with his newfound career, forcing him to work his cases in increasingly ludicrous ways. Jonathan also meets regularly with his best friend Ray, a struggling graphic artist who does his best to advise him, but can barely keep his own life together.

Larry David video

CNN posted a preview of Joy Behar's interview with Larry David tomorrow night, and it is hilarious. In the clip they talk about doing standup in the old days, and Larry relates how his favorite explorer is Magellan because he circumnavigated the globe - "the others just went to Africa."

David became mortified when Behar told him her producers had dug up an old video of him doing standup and begged her not to play it, but of course she did and we were treated to a very young Larry David with a full head of dark hair cracking jokes.


Watch the video at Huffington Post

Amazon Kindle arrives in Europe

Amazon's e-reader device has taken the world by storm. It is top of the best selling and most wished for items in Amazon USA. It's not the first e-reader by any means but it is the first to do what Apple do, to provide an easy way to get content onto your device wherever you are.

They've announced a price cut and international availability.

Now I have always thought that I have no interest in getting one. I like physical books, I like the fact I can read them on the beach and get them wet and sandy without worrying, I like the fact I can throw them into the bottom of my bag without a care and I love the fact that they are so cheap (most I buy second hand for around £2).

But I love gadgets and the Kindle really does intruige me. If it was cheap enough...

Thom Yorke and Flea - live review

The Guardian reviews the first live show where Thom Yorke and Flea (from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers) perform songs from Thom Yorke's solo album - The Eraser

Verdict - "Harrowdown Hill, a gut-wrenching work that queries whether the death of Ministry of Defence weapons expert Dr David Kelly was really suicide, has been described by Yorke as "the angriest song I have ever written". So who knew that what it really needed was a funky Chili Peppers bassline wriggling through it? Yet somehow Flea managed to take this most haunting and most English of songs and make it his own."

Curb Your Enthusiasm - Season 7

Curb is my favourite television show and at long last Larry David is back with a new season. It kicked off in america last night.

The sitcom Seinfeld commanded the kind of devotion from up to 20 million fans normally associated with cults or religious sects. It was dubbed the greatest television show of all time, turned its creator and lead actor Jerry Seinfeld into a multimillionaire, and was showered by critical accolades.

The characters have finally reunited after 11 years on Sienfeld.

Number 8 of the decade - Sigur Rós -Ágætis Byrjun

I've just had one of those really annoying moments when I typed a whole post, went to copy and paste it and then accidently pressed CTRL-C instead of CTRL-V and lost it. Anyone know if you can recover text?

Anyway, what I was typing about before is that looking down the list of the top records I saw Sigur Ros at number 8 with Ágætis Byrjun. Now that was a record.

It brought me back to when I discovered it. My good friend and bandmate David and I found it together. At the time we were listening to big guitars and post-grunge rock with plenty of Smashing Pumpkins and some Rage Against The Machine etc. Then we found this record with unknown sounds, a language called Hopelandish and the voice of angels?

It blew our minds. It led the way to discover more music like Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor and Explosions In The Sky. Perhaps you didn't need lyrics or choruses after all.

Listening to the record now, it still sounds as fresh and timeless as ever. Never mind the music, the videos were some of the finest ever made.

The Pitchfork review gets it just about right:

They came from Iceland and Radiohead liked them. That's about all we knew back when Ágætis Byrjun first starting making its way around near the turn of the decade, but in those days, that was enough to get people intrigued. Discovering the music of Sigur Rós was an active process, because a series of questions inevitably followed: How do you pronounce their name? What does it mean? Is that a man or a woman singing? Did I hear right, that the words aren't actually in any language? Indeed, since Ágætis Byrjun was one of those records that filled a deep-seated need listeners didn't even know they had, experiencing it was at first a little confusing. Punk had taught us to be skeptical of pure, unapologetic prettiness, so as underground music fans, we'd been conditioned to reject this sort of thing. We were used to it being cut with noise, irony, or emotional distance, which left us unprepared for exquisitely crafted music that asked to be appreciated in the same way as a bright orange sunset or the first snowfall of the season. But we got over it, and once that happened, after we'd given the record a couple of spins, one final question came to mind: Is there any other music like this? --Mark Richardson

Well it's finally finished - down to the top 20 records of the decade.

And what made number 1?



Kid A?!!!!

You've got to be kidding me.

Yes it's a pioneering break through record. Yes it has influenced probably all the music that came after it, but Radiohead were already experiemental musicians pushing boundaries. OK Computer is probably one of the finest records of our time and that came before Kid A.

Kid A was a challenge. It threw down the gauntlet for even those who that that "Fitter Happier" was the catchiest thing on Ok Computer. It was a mainstream record that challenged mainstream listeners. It had rock - "Optimistic"; it had plenty of wierd - "Treefingers"; and it showed a rock band dabbling in beats and dance music - "Idioteque".

Ok, perhaps it is a great important record. But the best of the decade? Not convinced.

Wilco interview

The Austin Chronicle has an interesting interview with Wilco lead singer Jeff Tweedy. Wilco are currently on their US tour and will shortly play Austin. They do spend most of the interview talking about The Beatles though.

"AC: I was thinking about the line in "Wilco (the song)" about us all needing a "sonic shoulder to cry on." We all acknowledge the truth of that statement in our culture today, but I think back to the 1920s when they didn't have that. Are we a shallower culture because we need that? Why do we need that?

JT: Because we don't have each other as much as we did in the 1920s. We don't. We've been isolated by television and this idea that the world's expanding and you have to take on the emotions and heartbreak and misery of the entire world whereas in the 1920s people understood their communities and that's about it. Maybe some people would get the news filtered in from the world at large, but most people were pretty much ensconced in their day-to-day with the people they knew and were face to face with. I'm not a historian, but that's got to be a part of it."

Read the rest of the article here

Pitchfork: The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s:

Pitchfork has produced a quite staggering list of 200 top albums of the decade. It's amazing to read through it and remember all those records. They are releasing them all week and so far they have 200-151. Of personal note I fondly remember the Elliott Smith album - Figure 8. It introduced me to the masterful and sadly missed musician.

Read the list here

The Flaming Lips - Behind the Scenes

Here's Wayne backstage at the Colbert Report with Bradford Cox (Deerhunter). Enjoy!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Exclusive - Backstage with The Flaming Lips and Deerhunter
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

Ben Kweller - Luxury Wafers session [mp3]

Ben Kweller is a favourite of About The Music's. His self titled 2006 remains in our opinion one of the finest guitar - pop records around.

If you haven't heard him yet, you could do worse than to check out this mp3 of the Luxury Wafers sessions.

Fight [mp3]

Wantin' Her Again [mp3]

Things I Like To Do [mp3]

You can also watch a video of the performance here.

Thom Yorke and Flea form supergroup

This just in from The Guardian



Thom Yorke has recruited Flea, the bassist from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers to play slap bass on his solo tracks. The band which will play live dates next week, also includes Joey Waronker, Mauro Refosco and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.

t's not yet clear if the band intend to write their own material, or if they've simply been put together by Yorke to recreate the increasingly weird noises that fester inside his head. One thing is clear, though: for anyone who has ever heard Yorke's solo material and thought, "Interesting stuff Thom … but this abstract bleepy wailing could really do with some funky slap bass", it really is your lucky day.

Tryone Wells - audio stream

Singer/songwriter Tyrone Wells is the latest act to gain exposure on the hit TV show Grey?s Anatomy. His song ?Sink or Swim? was recently featured in the promos for the sixth season premiere.

Listen to the full track here:

Windows

Quicktime

It sounds very Coldplay - but that's not a bad thing. He does have a great, immediately accessible voice. Check it out.

Wells launched his career in 2003 with a number of indie releases. His fourth album and second major label release, Remain, is full of passion, with a lush production value that showcases his powerful voice. Remain, featuring the track ?Sink or Swim,? is available now in stores and on iTunes.

iPhone on Orange in UK

A bit of a techy one this, but the O2 exclusivity for the iPhone in the UK is now coming to an end (as long rumoured). Orange will start selling both the iPhone and the iPhone 3GS later this year. The exact date is undertermined.

This may be enough to tip the balance and make me purchase one. No word on price plans yet.

Avett Brothers - I and Love and You - video

The Avett Brothers are pleased to premiere their first video from their upcoming September 29th release “I and Love and You” on MySpace today!

If you've been reading the blog you'll know that we're very excited about the forthcoming Avett Brothers release. Check out the video of this wonderful song.

Enter Shikari

Enter Shikari are a british, St. Albans-based quartet of kinda electro, kinda rocky shouty loud music. Their new album, COMMON DREADS will be released shortly. Some say it will come to define the era into which it was born: one of recession, paranoia, state control and the fallout of decades of accelerated capitalism. But – and this is important – also an era of hope and creativity, humanity, hedonism, irreverence and fun. Just check out lead single ‘Juggernauts’.

Anyway, lead singer Rou Reynolds sat down for a brief Q&A about the new record.

Your first album Take To The Skies--released on your own Ambush Reality label--debuted at #4 on the U.K. chart, becoming one of the most successful self-released rock albums ever. With your choice of major label offers in the U.K., why did you decide to release it on your own and what did you learn from it?

At the time, we didn't really feel like we had a choice--we'd been touring for around two years properly without any press or label interest. We'd done everything along the way ourselves from the booking to the designing and printing of T-shirts to recording our demos. It was only as we released "Sorry You're Not A Winner" that the interest suddenly boomed and by that time we realized we could do it ourselves with the help of the family we had built up around us. I'm glad it happened just as it did as I'd hate to be tied up in a major label deal now in this current era of uncertainty.

On COMMON DREADS, you teamed with producer Andy Gray (U2, Tori Amos, Korn, Gary Numan) and holed yourselves up in the isolated Isle of Wight. How did this work for you? What did you feel the result was for COMMON DREADS?

It was superb-- it couldn't have been more of an opposite experience from the recording of our first album. That was rushed down in two weeks and I've never been happy with the way the vocals sound. This time around, it was a conscious decision to get away for a few months and experiment. Andy (Gray) was wicked as well--he was up for anything from burning pianos (“Havoc B”) to breaking into churches and recording organs (“Fanfare”) to singing outdoors in boxers whilst it was snowing at 1:00AM to get that real 'cold' vibe (‘’All Eyes On The Saint’’). It was a real fun experience and I'm really proud of the result! COMMON DREADS really captures the live feel of the band and our vision.

What would you describe as the most powerful song to you on this album? Which new song do you really enjoy performing right now?

That’s a tough one--I'd probably have to go with “Fanfare.” It was all done pretty last minute, so I guess it came out as a final outpouring of frustration with both our countries’ aggressive foreign policies this past decade. I'm loving performing “Havoc B” at the moment--Chris pulls down some vicious sub bass to get the ground shaking and at the end hearing the crowd join in with the chanting creates such an unbelievable sense of unity.

What was the inspiration behind the song “Juggernauts?”

We campaigned to stop a local superstore giant here in the U.K. from building a store right in the center of our town. It was just a nice quaint victory that was really inspiring to see everyone getting involved. The song itself is about how important it is to feel involved and to have a sense of belonging to your community and how our current economic and social system actively discourages this.

The name ENTER SHIKARI came from a boat that belonged to your uncle. Why did you choose it and what do you feel it means?

Shikari means “The Hunter” in many Indian languages. My uncle was a fisherman and back when I was a kid I used to go out onto the high seas with him and just thought it was an awesome word. When we made the band, it just kind of fitted into what we had to do. We knew to make changes in this world you have to get out there and hunt yourself. It just seemed apt for how we were working as a band (the whole DIY style) as well as our political outlook.

What is your biggest guilty pleasure?

Lady Gaga.

The Beatles reissues

What a cash machine. Following 09/09/09 The Beatles have broken multiple chart records around the world. In the major music markets of North America, Japan and the UK, consumers purchased more than 2.25 million copies of The Beatles' re-mastered albums, individually and in two multiple-CD boxed sets, one in stereo and one in mono, during the first five days of release (excluding non-traditional retail outlets whose sales are not tracked by the chart compilers).

On Billboard's Comprehensive Albums chart, which lists the most popular album releases in the US, including current and catalogue titles, The Beatles set a new record for the most simultaneous titles by a single artist (18), including five of the top 10 and nine of the top 20.

Watch Film Trailer Starring the Shins

Some Days Are Better Than Others, a new film features former Sleater-Kinney guitar hero Carrie Brownstein and Shins frontman James Mercer. McCormick described the film as being about "lonely people trying to create their own abstract forms of communication. You could call it a charmingly melancholy look at abandonment."

Watch the trailer here

U2 360 tour - Cardiff - 22 August 2009

I've finally got around to uploading some of my photographs from the U2 360 show in Cardiff. What a great night. Here are some of the memories. Click on the picture to go to a bigger version.

From New Album 27/08/2009 21:41

From New Album 27/08/2009 21:41

From New Album 27/08/2009 21:41

From New Album 27/08/2009 21:41

New Flaming Lips video

I Can Be A Frog - watch the video here

SINGER/SONGWRITER JAMES YUILL TO RELEASE TURNING DOWN WATER FOR AIR: EARTH & FIRE VERSIONS

That's quite a long title but here's the gist of it:

There's a guy called James Yuill. He's a singer-songwriter with diverse influences ranging from the folk-rock ballads of Nick Drake to more progressive productions turned out by the likes of Radiohead and the Chemical Brothers (but who hasn't been influenced by Radiohead?).

His folktronica sound blends traditional acoustics and down tempo vocals with digital sounds and techno enhancements.

Anyway today he releases a new digital version of his debut album Turning Down Water For Air.

Turning Down Water For Air: Earth & Fire Versions is a re-recording of Yuill’s entire debut album; he actually turned each track on its head to create new versions in the opposing style to that in which they were originally conceived.

Stand-out tracks like “No Pins Allowed,” “No Surprise,” and “This Sweet Love,” which were originally more electronic-tinged are now stripped down and called “Earth Versions.” The folkier original album tracks like “How Can I Lose” and “You Always Do” are now laced with an electronic edge, making these “Fire Versions.”

If you like the sound of this why don't you check out the:

FREE DOWNLOAD OF "THIS SWEET LOVE" EARTH VERSION

Want to know more? Check out http://www.jamesyuill.com

The Avett Brothers - free stream of new album

I've been listening to the forthcoming release of The Avett Brothers' new album for a few days now.

It's called "I AND LOVE AND YOU" and I'm hooked.

A friend from Utah told me to check them out in the summer and despite not having listened to them before I can tell that they will quickly become a favourite. Paste Magazine has reviewed their album saying that "it's like Ryan Adams before the speedballs took over - they have an ability to mine the heart and sould of the modern american man". (or words to that effect).

The title track is a slow ballad, as the rest of the songs are, but one that demands your attention. It features the perfect melody and the sweetest harmonies together with proper lyrics and a wonderful chorus.

You can listen to the album, in full, yourself. It streams exclusivly on NPR MUSIC this week.

Beginning today, and running through September 29, NPR Music will host an Exclusive First Listen of I and Love and You on their , website, where fans will be able to get a sneak peak of the new album a week prior to release. NPR Music’s distinctive Exclusive First Listen series recently showcased new music from such innovators as Wilco, Moby, Bjork and Neko Case.

On Tuesday, September 29th The Avett Brothers will release I and Love and You, their major label debut on American Recordings/Columbia Records. I and Love and You was produced by multi Grammy Award winner Rick Rubin. The band is set to perform the title track on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday September 28. The band will also be seen performing another new track, “Laundry Room,” on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Tuesday October 6th.

The band’s diverse style and consistent touring, along with independent releases, have helped the band build a loyal and rabid fan base. Rolling Stone recently highlighted the band in their ‘Artists To Watch’ proclaiming "Over the course of a decade The Avett Brothers perfected a blend of bluegrass picking, country harmonies and rock & roll energy." While O Magazine proclaimed “The North Carolina rock band creates elegiac Americana.” The Avett Brothers have toured most of 2009 testing out new material, as well as their older songs. This year alone, the band has performed at SxSW Music Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, as well as upcoming stops at Newport Folk Festival, Mulberry Mountain Festival, Outside Lands Festival, Britt Festival, Austin City Limits Festival and more (see full itinerary below).

The Beatles - Official Widget

Get the widget for yourself here

Brand New - Daisy

BRAND NEW ANNOUNCE ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCES

With Brand New's album, Daisy, hitting stores in just under one week the band has announced a string of special acoustic performances at independent retailers across the country. Fans must purchase Daisy at one of the selected retail stores to receive a pass that will guarantee them access to the acoustic set. Pass distribution begins on 9/22, the day Daisy is released, but quantities will be limited to one pass per purchase. Check the list below for a retailer closest to you, and make sure to visit www.myspace.com/BrandNew for all the latest Brand New news.

ST LOUIS, MO
October 6th at 4pm
VINTAGE VINYL
6610 Delmar Blvd
University City, MO 63130
**Pass distribution begins on 9/22!**

SAN FRANCISCO, CA
October 16th at 4pm
RASPUTIN RECORDS
1820 S. Bascom Ave
Campbell, CA 95008
**Pass distribution begins on 9/22!**

LAS VEGAS, NV
October 23rd at 4pm
ZIA
4225 S Eastern Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89119
**Pass distribution begins on 9/22 at both Las Vegas ZIA locations**

DALLAS, TX
October 30th at 4pm
GOOD RECORDS
1808 Lower Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75206
**Pass distribution begins on 9/22!**

CHARLOTTE, NC
November 9th at 4pm
MANIFEST DISC
6329 S. Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28217
**Pass distribution begins on 9/22 at both Manifest locations**

Free smashing pumpkins album

The Guardian reports that Billy Corgan has announced an enormous, 44-song Smashing Pumpkins album, to be given away for free. Starting around 31 October, the band will make the new songs available on their website, one by one, "with no strings attached".

Teargarden by Kaleidyscope will be the eighth album by the Smashing Pumpkins, and the first to be recorded with only one original member. Instead, Corgan is joined by Jeff Schroeder, Ginger Reyes, and 19-year-old drummer Mike Byrne.

Check the Smashing Pumpkins website come the end of October.

THE AVETT BROTHERS Video Series & NPR Song of the Day

The Avett Brothers are presenting a series of 13 clips, each showcasing a song from the new Rick Rubin produced album, I and Love and You.

Using live footage shot at the recent Charlotte, NC headlining show, and incorporating band and fan interviews, the Brothers hope to show the unique and close relationship they have with their fans, the excitement of an Avett Brothers live show, and the incredible music that is on I and Love and You.

Check out the first three videos here:

“I and Love and You” on AOL SPINNER



“January Wedding” on SPIN



“Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” on MY OLD KENTUCKY BLOG

The Avett Brothers “Slight Figure of Speech” is today’s NPR Song of the Day!

Check it out here


I and Love and You is available everywhere on September 29, 2009

New Thom Yorke video

Thom Yorke has announced that there will be a video released for his cover of Mark Mulcahy’s song “All For The Best,” directed by Melinda Tupling, which will be screened for the first time at the September 20th benefit concert for the project Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs Of Mark Mulcahy, in stores September 29th on Shout! Factory.



The concert will be held at Music Hall in Williamsburg, NY, featuring performances by Frank Black, David Berkeley, surprise guests, and new additions to the roster include Butterflies of Love, The Autumn Defense, Ray Neal, Chris Harford, the Late BP Helium, The Parkway Charlies, Winterpills, The Gravel Pit, The Mericans, Lo Fine, Biet and Gryphon, School for the Dead, Spouse, and Senator.



Thom York’s version of “All For The Best,” has received early raves from critics. The cut was called “gorgeous” by Pitchfork, “awesome in every way” by EW.com, “absolutely jaw-dropping” by BLURT, and Stereogum wrote “fans of Radiohead, Miracle Legion, and Mulcahy should equally enjoy.” The song is being released as a single in the U.K. with a limited number of 7” being made available there and in the U.S. The recording of song, which features both Thom and Andy Yorke, was the first time that the brothers have worked together. Andy Yorke also contributed the title track to the album, “Ciao My Shining Star,” with his band Unbelievable Truth.

Spotify iPhone app

here's some surprising good news:

Apple has approved Spotify's iPhone app.

Premium subscribers in the UK, Sweden, France, Spain, Norway and Finland will be able to download Spotify for free from the App Store soon.

Spotify on the iPhone will include many of the features our users enjoy on the desktop, with the added advantage of letting you listen to your playlists even when you haven’t a network connection, for instance when on a plane or the underground. We’ll be sure to let you know here on the blog as soon as it’s in the App Store.

Essentially this means you have a whole world of music on demand at any time. Wow.

You do have to sign up for the premium price of £9.99 a month, which is quite hefty when you consider other subscription based services let you keep the tracks. But then it's the equivalent of 10 songs in iTunes?

This is It - documentary movie

This is It tour

The first pictures for the documentary about Michael Jackson's This Is It Tour have surfaced. It shows rehearsals at the Staples Centre in LA where he was preparing for his London O2 arena gigs.

The documentary is being released on Wednesday, 28 October for a limited two-week run in cinemas worldwide. It's bound to be a sell-out. I think everyone is pretty curious to see it.

Funny People - Review

I was surprised to love "Knocked Up", one of Judd Apatow's previous movies and so am quite looking forward to "Funny People", a film about, you guessed it comedians. It opens in the UK this weekend and happily, Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian (a scathing critic where he sees fit - Inglorious Basterds was give a 1* review) says it is-

"one of the most enjoyable films of the year."

and gives it 4/5. Sounds good.

Read the review here

u2 360 tour in 360 degrees

click on the link for an amazing 360 panoramic photograph from the stage.

u2 in 360

u2 360 tour

I'm going to see U2 on saturday. I'm very excited, and this is just getting me in the mood:

Fleet Foxes - live

I just stumbled accross this. Not only are they a wonderful band on record, they're pretty brilliant live too.

The Fleet Foxes performing White Winter Hymnal

Arctic Monkeys - Web Transmission of new album

Arctic Monkeys are pleased to announce that they will be performing tracks from their upcoming 3rd album, ‘Humbug’ in a Web Transmission on Thursday 30th July 2009 at 9.00pm GMT.

View the trailer for the transmission here.

To ensure that you do not miss the transmission you can sign-up for a reminder email that will be sent directly to your inbox in advance of the transmission. To set reminder, go here.

The Web Transmission will be broadcast in the UK on www.arcticmonkeys.com, www.guardian.co.uk/music

Wilco - Ashes of American Flags

Sure this has been out since April, but what with the new album and all, I'm feeling in a Wilco mood. I've got their other DVDs - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart and Sunken Treasure Live and I've just watched the trailer for the new one - Ashes of American Flags. They are possbily the best live band around, and this dvd is them doing what they do best.

Best songs of 2009?

Paste magazine are starting the end of year lists kinda early.

Seeing as there is now less of 2009 ahead than behind us, Paste Magazine decided to start the half way "best of" lists.

The Decemberists come out pretty high on all the lists, as well as Passion Pit. Editor-in-chief, Josh Jackson, has listed his 20 favourite songs so far:


Best Songs of 2009 (so far)

1. "California On My Mind" - Wild Light
2. "Little Secrets" - Passion Pit
3. "My Girls" - Animal Collective
4. "Lua" - Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch (from Dark Was the Night)
5. "Charlie Darwin" - The Low Anthem
6. "Field Report" - Loch Lomond
7. "Bloodbank" - Bon Iver
8. "Two Weeks" - Grizzly Bear
9. "The Rake's Song" - The Decemberists
10. "No Wedding Cake" - Fol Chen
11. "Airstream Driver" - Gomez
12. Roman Candle - "Why Modern Radio Is A-OK"
13. "This Tornado Loves You" - Neko Case
14. "Make Light" - Passion Pit
15. "Brackett, WI" - Bon Iver (from Dark Was the Night)
16. "Doomsday" - Elvis Perkins
17. "So Far Around the Bend" - The National (from Dark Was the Night)
18. "Come Saturday" - Pains of Being Pure at Heart
19. "Belated Promise Ring" - Iron & Wine
20. "Echoes" - The Decemberists (live Pink Floyd cover, part of the "Save Paste" download vault)

The charity compilation - Dark Was The Night, features pretty heavily. You can listen to the songs and check out the rest of the lists here.

100 easiest, fastest recipes. Ever

The Guardian has a great list of their 100 easiest fastest receipes ever from chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Georgio Locatelli. Here are a couple I like:



2. Chef Gordon Ramsay, Claridge's
Slow-roasted tomatoes

We go mad whenever English tomatoes are in season - the kitchens are filled with so many that we could probably fill a bathtub with them. Slow-roasting is a great way to use them up and intensifies the flavour. Heat the oven to the lowest setting and halve the tomatoes. Arrange them, cut-side up, on a lightly oiled roasting tray and scatter over some chopped garlic, shallots and thyme leaves. Drizzle generously with olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Gently roast for an hour until tender. Serve at room temperature with pasta, fish dishes or salads or as a bruschetta topping.

6. Chef Stuart Gillies, Boxwood Cafe
Asparagus, feta and smoked salmon salad

Cut raw asparagus thinly at an angle up to the tip, then mix with crumbled feta cheese, cooked chilled peas and broad beans, watercress leaves and a white wine and olive oil vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper and serve with smoked salmon.

Read them all HERE

Beastie Boys tour cancelled

Beastie Boys tour dates cancelled; album release postponed;
Adam Yauch diagnosed with parotid gland tumor

Beastie Boys have today (20 July) issued the following statement:

'Adam "MCA" Yauch of Beastie Boys was diagnosed last week as having a cancerous tumor in his left parotid (salivary) gland. Luckily it was caught early and is localized in one area, and as such is considered very treatable. It will however require surgery and several weeks of additional treatment. Fortunately the cancer is not in a location that will affect Yauch's vocal chords. Beastie Boys have canceled all upcoming concert appearances to allow time for Yauch's surgery and recovery. The release of the band's forthcoming album Hot Sauce Committee Part 1 will also be pushed back.

You can see the video statement yourself on http://www.beastieboys.com.

New Music - Joshua James

I've just discovered Joshua James. He has a new album coming out soon called "Build Me This". Paste Magazine gives it 92% saying that it "hurts so good". He has a great smokey voice in the americana folk style, with great instrumentation. You can listen to his debut record on Spotify.

Listen on Spotify (http link)

Or the direct Spotify link

Iron & Wine - Around the Well

My finger obviously isn't really on the pulse like it used to be. Somehow my favourite band, Iron & Wine have released a new record and I didn't even know. Thanks to my good friends at Spotify I can listen to it. And you can too

http://open.spotify.com/album/7hlN3GCJESNy45npPZDv7N

Open Spotify and listen

THE AVETT BROTHERS - I AND LOVE AND YOU - IN STORES SEPTEMBER 29

North Carolina based rock band, The Avett Brothers, are gearing up for the release of their highly anticipated American Recordings/Columbia Records debut, I and Love and You, which hits stores on Tuesday, September 29, 2009. I and Love and You was recorded in Malibu, California and produced by multi-Grammy Award winning producer, Rick Rubin. The thirteen songs that make up this new record defy pigeonholing and can best be described as an amalgam of rock, folk, pop and country. The band has spent years touring, recording, performing and perfecting this blend of music styles with their signature lyrics and vocals. I and Love and You will also be available at participating Starbucks company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada and wherever music is sold.

beginning Tuesday, September 22, 2009, NPR Music will host an Exclusive First Listen of I and Love and You on their website, www.npr.org/firstlisten, where fans will be able to get a sneak peak of the new album a week prior to release. . NPR Music’s distinctive Exclusive First Listen series recently showcased new music from such innovators as Wilco, Moby, Bjork and Neko Case

The story of The Avett Brothers has been told by word of mouth until now. Come witness what thousands have been loyally following and speaking about for years…



THE AVETT BROTHERS ON TOUR:

7/09 Norfolk, VA Harrison Opera House

7/10 Richmond, VA The National

7/11 Roanoke, VA Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre

7/12 Louisville, KY The Riverfront Belvedere

7/16 Saint Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheatre

7/17 Lake Buena Vista, FL House of Blues

7/18 Tampa, FL The Cuban Club

7/19 Fort Lauderdale, FL Parker Playhouse

7/24 North Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues

7/25 North Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues

7/30 Buffalo, NY Lafayette Square

7/31 Syracuse, NY The Westcott

8/01 Newport, RI Fort Adams State Park (Newport Folk Festival)

8/02 Northampton, MA Calvin Theater

8/04 Dewey Beach, DE Bottle & Cork

8/08 Charlotte, NC Bojangles Coliseum

8/14 Ozark, AR Mulberry Mountain (Festival)

8/15 Kansas City, MO The Crossroads

8/16 Omaha, NE Sokol Auditorium/Underground

8/19 Telluride, CO Sunset Plaza @ Mountain Village

8/20 Steamboat Springs, CO Summer Concert Series (Howelson Hills Amp)

8/21 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater

8/22 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre

8/25 Salt Lake City, UT Red Butte Garden

8/26 Boise, ID Knitting Factory Concert House

8/28 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre

8/29 Jacksonville, OR Britt Festival

8/30 San Francisco, CA Outside Lands Music Festival

9/01 Arcata, CA HSU Van Duzer Theater

9/03 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Theater

9/04 Camp Mather, CA Strawberry Music Festival

9/05 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theatre

9/17 North Charleston, SC North Charleston P.A.C.

9/18 Augusta, GA Westobou Festival/Riverwalk

9/19 Tallahassee, FL The Moon

9/20 Tuscaloosa, AL Bama Theatre

9/22 Oxford, MS The Lyric Oxford

9/24 Memphis, TN Minglewood Hall

9/25 Little Rock, AR Robinson Center Music Hall

9/26 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom

9/27 Dallas, TX Granada Theater

9/29 Baton Rouge, LA Baton Rouge River Center Theatre

10/1 New Orleans, LA House of Blues

10/2 Austin, TX Austin City Limits

10/3 Midwest City, OK Rose State PAC

10/5 Murray, KY Lovett Auditorium Center

10/15 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live

10/16 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory

10/17 New York, NY Terminal 5

10/18 Boston, MA House of Blues

10/20 Iowa City, IA The Englert Theatre

10/21 Madison, WI Barrymore Theatre

10/22 Urbana, IL Canopy Club

10/29 Huntington, WV Keith Albee Theatre

10/30 Louisville, KY Louisville Palace

10/31 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium

http://www.theavettbrothers.com

Coldplay - Strawberry Swing video teaser

Coldplay are set to premiere the video for "Strawberry Swing" on Babelgum on July 20th. You can check out a sneak peak of the video here:

Wilco reminder: Light Fuse and Get Away

Wilco fans - do your bit!

The new album is out today. Go out and buy it.

WIlco say - "e don't normally push this hard for you to actually "close the deal" -- there are many things we're happy to give away or suggest you donate to charity in exchange, whatever. But every few years, we need you to step up and do us a solid. This is one of those times. Wilco (the album) is, in our not-so-humble opinion, a must have. And with your help, the band could potentially have it's best ev! er first week. Note the gorgeously-packaged super hi-fi 180-gram vinyl version contains a free copy of the cd inside."

Wilco (the Album) Review

Wilco (the album)
Wilco
Nonesuch 2009



Wilco (the band) are done experimenting. They know their sound now. They shaped and honed it through Summerteeth, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born. We thought we saw a different side of them on Sky Blue Sky but it turns out they were settling into a groove. Wilco (the album) is Wilco (the band) in a place where they're happy.

Wilco (the album) is a great collection of songs showcasing the whole spectrum of the Wilco. It contains sing-a-long numbers like those from Summerteeth that will stick in your head all day (Wilco (the song)), experimental guitar numbers like Spiders (kidsmoke) (Bull Black Nova) and beautiful simple guitar songs (You and I). In short there is something for every Wilco fan here. But does it make a great album? Yes.

Every Wilco album I've ever listened to is a grower. I hated Yankee Hotel Foxtrot the first time I played it, yet something kept drawing me back. Wilco (the album) is no different. First time around Wilco (the Song) will have you hitting repeat over and over again. It's a tongue-in-cheek self aware song about how much the band love their fans, providing a "sonic shoulder to cry on" who'll love you baby, even when no one else will. The next listen you'll notice One Wing, a fine Wilco song with one of the finest Wilco riffs yet. In repeated listens you'll get stuck on "You and I", the gorgeous love song duet with Fiest and perhaps my new favourite song before reaching "Country Disappeared" with it's nod to George Harrison, the guitar rock "I Don't Know" and the closer "Everlasting" surprisingly similar to Sky Blue Sky's last song - "On and On and On".

Wilco (the album) is not strikingly different like YHF was. It is a natural progression from the previous records, but it is fresh, it is inventive and it is worth buying.

Rating: 8/10

LISTEN TO WILCO LIVE IN MILWAUKEE

Wilco and Fiest perform You and I

I think this is my favourite song from the Wilco (the Album). Fiest provides such a magnificent counterpart to Tweddy's husky voice. They sound beautiful together and I think that this is now one of my all time favourite Wilco songs.

Tintin's rocket?

I can't wait to go and see U2 in August. They kick of their 360 tour soon in Barcelona.

Every U2 tour brings a wonderful set, from Zoo TV to the heart in the All That You Can't Leave Behind Tour. I thought the Atom Bomb set was so-so, but the guys are really pushing the boat out on this one.

Everyone who sees it says that it looks like something different,” said Willie Williams, who has worked with U2 since 1982 and co-designed the set with the architect Mark Fisher, a veteran of Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones tours. “Tintin’s rocket. The War of the Worlds. Cactus. Octopus. Claw. Whenever it started to look like something, Mark and I would push it in another direction. But it does look as though it has escaped from a giant space aquarium.”

Read the whole interview in the New York Times.

And the Batman 3 villain is...

How can the Joker be topped as the best Batman, villan ever? His cool calculating psychotic nature made him the scariest bad-guy yet.

But, Michael Caine has let slip that the Riddler will be the next villain.

Aparantly it could be Johnny Depp. Watch this space.

Phoenix

The excellent French Electronic / Rock band Phoenix have been named Microsoft's Zune Ignition artists for the month of June.

As part of the Ignition program Phoenix will release a series of exclusive features on the Zune Marketplace, Zune.net, MSN, and Xbox Live. The exclusive features include a free track, "1901", on the Zune Marketplace on June 2, an editorial Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix album breakdown on June 9, Phoenix selected Guestlist on June 16, and an exclusive track, "Listomania (Yuksek Remix)" on June 23.

Download the exclusive Phoenix media here:

Pheonix is Thomas Mars, Deck D'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai, and Laurent Brancowitz. The band formed during their childhood in the French suburb of Versailles. They were influenced by late 90's bands including Air and Daft Punk. Phoenix's fourth album Wolfgang Amadeaus Phoenix was released on May 25, 2009. The band is currently on tour throughout the US with Brooklyn's Amazing Baby and will continue on an international tour starting in July.

Check out Phoenix's profile on the Zune Social here:

To download the Zune software, visit: http://www.zune.net