Monday, June 29, 2009

Music Notes: Many Michael Jackson updates, Blur triumph at Glastonbury

- Michael Jackson's final tour rehearsals could see the light of day in a CD/DVD release. The last rehearsal held before the icon's death was filmed in HD video and multi-track audio. [MTV]

- AEG Live, the organization promoting Jackson's now-canceled 50 gigs at London's O2 Arena, has announced that fans who purchased tickets through authorized agents will receive full refunds. These refunds include service fee charges. President/CEO Randy Phillips said the following in a statement: "The world lost a kind soul who just happened to be the greatest entertainer the world has ever known. Since he loved his fans in life, it is incumbent upon us to treat them with the same reverence and respect after his death." [Billboard]

- Jackson was remembered during a heavily revamped BET Awards last night, where an emotional Janet Jackson took the stage and told the audience, "To you, Michael is an icon, to us, Michael is family. And he will forever live in all of our hearts. On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all of your love, thank you for all of your support. We miss him so much. Thank you so much." [Rolling Stone]

- As of right now, Katherine Jackson — Michael and Janet's mother — has been granted temporary guardianship of his three children. An Aug. 3 hearing is set to determine whether or not she can become the children's permanent guardian. She has not been granted permission to become administrator of the children's estates. [NME]

- Despite some "interesting" reports that were coming out earlier, it looks like Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of Jackson's two eldest children, hasn't really been in touch with anyone. Though her lawyer released a statement on her behalf this weekend, Rowe's whereabouts were listed as "unknown" on court documents. [BBC]

- Naturally, Jackson's music is in heavy rotation everywhere... radio play is up by 1735 percent. Seriously. [NME]

- In some happier music news, Blur played their first major gig last night at UK's Glastonbury Festival, playing some of their most energetic hits, as well as sadder, well-loved tunes like "This is a Low," "The Universal," and "To The End." The general consensus? The band's still got it. [Guardian, SPIN]

- Global licensing issues have shut Pandora (the internet radio site) outside the U.S. [Slashdot]

- You can see the Pixies on an European tour in October. The tour, titled "Doolittle" to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their album of the same name, will go through cities like Dublin, Glasgow and Frankfurt. The band intends to play songs from Doolittle and all its related b-sides. [NME]

- New Jay-Z vid for "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)." [Pitchfork]

No comments:

Post a Comment