Music Notes: Radiohead release new song, Adam Yauch health update

I'm kind of back to posting in a "normal" fashion for now... here's some music news from yesterday and today.

- Radiohead have released a new song, "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)," a tribute to the last surviving World War I combat soldier Harry Patch. Patch died at the age of 111 on July 25. Thom Yorke posted a message on the band's website, saying that the song would be available for download for £1 with proceeds going to the British Legion. Yorke said, "It would be very easy for our generation to forget the true horror of war, without the likes of Harry to remind us. I hope we do not forget." Download the song here. [Dead Air Space]

- Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (MCA) sent out an update about his health yesterday, following surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his partoid gland. Read the full text of the email here. [SPIN]

- Slightly better news regarding Blur's recent reunion. Though band members recently said they didn't have anything planned for the future, guitarist Graham Coxon said the band could potentially stage more concerts — this time outside their native UK. "We're talking about doing some more shows abroad... I'm not sure how much I can say about that, but we're definitely talking about it," he said. Though Coxon also said the likelihood of new material surfacing anytime soon is very low, it looks like the band has at least considered writing new songs. Baby steps. [NME]

- Steven Tyler fell from the stage at an Aerosmith concert in South Dakota last night, suffering from head, neck and shoulder injuries. He was airlifted to the Rapid City Regional Hospital. The band's next concert, scheduled for Friday, has been postponed. [Associated Press via Yahoo! News]

- Former Shins drummer Jesse Sandoval said he was fired from the band. [Pitchfork]

- Here's a new video from Julian Plenti (aka Paul Banks of Interpol). His debut solo album, Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper, came out this Tuesday. This particular clip also features Emily Haines of Metric. [Pitchfork]

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Music Notes: Thom Yorke writes new song for Twilight sequel, Phish revive festival

- Thom Yorke and Bon Iver are confirmed for the New Moon soundtrack. Chris Weitz, director of the Twilight sequel, revealed this information at San Diego Comic-Con. In regards to Yorke's track, he said he hadn't listened to it yet, but added that "unless it's sounds of him belching, I think I'll put it in." [SPIN]

- Phish will hold a three-day festival — Festival 8 — in Indio, California this Halloween. The concerts will take place from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. On Halloween night, the band will perform another band's album in its entirety, reviving a tradition for the first time since 1998. Tickets go on sale this coming Monday, July 27. [Rolling Stone]

- Amy Winehouse has been cleared of an assault charge stemming from an accusation that she had attacked a dancer last September. [NME]

- Blur haven't really discussed the possibility of continuing their reunion. It does look like the band had a good time. Bassist Alex James, who said the band's Glastonbury 2009 gig was the best they'd ever done, said, "I've spent the last week staring at a bonfire muttering to myself. I haven't been able to contain the joy that [the reunion concerts] brought to all of us. It was very, very emotional. Everything we hoped it would be and more." Well, I'm still holding out hope for some US shows even though chances are looking slim... [Pitchfork]

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Music Notes: Arctic Monkeys extend American tour, Pixies to bring Doolittle stateside

- The Arctic Monkeys have decided to extend their American tour, adding 16 dates in September and October. [SPIN]

- As previously reported, the Pixies plan on doing a Doolittle tour in Europe to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. Now it looks like the band also intends to bring this tour over to North America — New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, Chicago and "maybe Montreal" are among the cities that will probably be part of the tour. [Pitchfork]

- Despite being sick enough to have to go to the hospital, Graham Coxon joined his Blur bandmates last night to headline the final night of Scotland's T in the Park festival. [NME]

- Grizzly Bear have mapped out some US tour dates. They'll play a gig on Aug. 30 in Brooklyn, NY before kicking off the rest of the tour on Sept. 26 in Ann Arbor, MI. [NME]

- Watch the video for The Dead Weather's "Treat Me Like Your Mother" below:

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Music Notes: Panic at the Disco split, Katherine Jackson will not oversee MJ's estate

- Panic at the Disco will be losing two members — guitarist Ryan Rothman and bassist Jon Walker are leaving to pursue their own project together. Remaining members Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith plan to continue under the band name, and will play their 12 tour dates as openers for Blink 182 later this summer. [SPIN]

- A judge has ruled that Katherine Jackson will not oversee her son Michael Jackson's estate. Attorney John Branca and music executive and friend John McClain will take over. The two of them will be in charge of the estate until Aug. 3, when another hearing is supposed to take place. [NME]

- Download a free track from Riceboy Sleeps, the collaboration between Sigur Ros frontman Jónsi Birgisson and his boyfriend Alex Somers. Sign up here. [JonsiandAlex.com]

- Bad Lieutenant, the band that formed now that New Order are no more, will release their debut album Oct. 5. The album is called Never Cry Another Tear. Its first single "Sink or Swim" will be out Sept. 21 (you can watch an acoustic performance of the song here). To clarify some information about the new band: while Blur's Alex James and New Order drummer Stephen Morris do play on the album, they're not "official" members. Morris will play live with the band — James will not. [Pitchfork]

- Aerosmith's Steven Tyler is suffering from an unspecified injury, which has caused the band to postpone their last three shows. [Rolling Stone]

- The Foo Fighers debuted a brand new track, "Wheels," while performing for President Barack Obama and military heroes at the White House on July 4. [NME]

- Fiona Apple will release her first "new" tracks in three years by contributing two new recordings to The Best Is Yet To Come, a compilation that is meant to honor Cy Coleman. Coleman was a composer whose music was largely popularized by Frank Sinatra. Apple's tracks include "Why Try To Change Me Now" and "I Walk A Little Faster." [SPIN]

- More nice things being said about Blur in Hyde Park last week. [Rolling Stone]

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Music Notes: Short and Sweet Edition — Happy Fourth of July!

- The Foo Fighters will play the White House's South Lawn tomorrow during Fourth of July festivities. Sounds like a sweet gig! [Rolling Stone]

- Some more details on last night's Blur show in London's Hyde Park here. [SPIN]

- Madonna will pay tribute to Michael Jackson at the O2 Arena, where he was planning to perform his upcoming concerts. Publicist Liz Rosenberg said Madonna will perform a special choreographed dance in honor of the late pop icon. [Associated Press via Yahoo!]

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Music Notes: Blur play sold-out Hyde Park gig, Jackson's rehearsal footage released

- Blur played the first of two gigs at London's Hyde Park tonight, performing for a sold-out crowd of 55,000 fans. The band will play Hyde Park again tomorrow night. While fans can order copies of the gigs, they can also catch a broadcast of the show on Absolute Radio 5 p.m. London time this Sunday. (Hint to fellow non-UK residents, just open up iTunes and look under "Pop" in the radio subsection). [Metro.co.uk]

- Footage of Michael Jackson during rehearsals for his planned tour has been released to CNN. Watch below: [CNN]



- Michael Jackson's public memorial will be held 10 a.m., July 7 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. AEG Live President Randy Phillips said the details of the event are currently in preliminary stages. If the stadium's 20,000-seat capacity is reached, the rest of the crowd will be able to watch the memorial on large screens at Nokia Palace, which is in the center's vicinity. [Access Hollywood via Yahoo!]

- Dave Grohl, Queen of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones are working together. On what? No one really knows... [NME]

- Q-Tip will finally release his album, Kamaal the Abstract, on Sept. 15 after an eight-year delay. The delay was caused by conflicts with Q-Tip's former record label Arista Records. He will now release the album through Battery Records. [Paste Magazine]

- Fun new Franz Ferdinand video here. [Stereogum]

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Music Notes: Jackson's will and rehearsal pictures turn up, Vibe folds

- Even though his parents have said they believe Michael Jackson died without a valid will, multiple reports are confirming that a will (from 2002) does exist. Meanwhile, Jackson's body will be transported to Neverland Ranch for a public viewing on Friday. A private service is planned for Sunday, while the question of where Jackson will finally be buried is yet to be answered. [CNN, Associated Press via Yahoo]

- See photos from Michael Jackson's rehearsal at the Staples Center, Los Angeles on June 23 here. [Rolling Stone]

- Vibe Magazine has folded. [Gawker]

- R.E.M. will release a four-song EP on July 7, titled Reckoning Songs from the Olympia. The songs, from 1984's Reckoning, were recorded at live gigs in Dublin in July 2007. The band will also release a live double album this fall, simply titled Live at the Olympia. [Pitchfork]

- Andrew Bird and St. Vincent will tour together for a month, starting Sept. 29 in Indianapolis. [Pitchfork]

- Jens Lekman caught the H1N1 virus and realized it while on a plane. He says he's now in quarantine for 10 days. [JensLekman.com]

- Some pictures from Blur's gig at Glastonbury here. [Q]

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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]

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Music Notes: Air announce new album, new Blur material is possible

- Air will release their next album Love 2, the follow-up to 2007's Pocket Symphony, on Oct. 6. The band plans to go on the road in 2010. [NME]

- Things are slowly moving ahead for Blur — in addition to prepping for their upcoming headlining shows, the band members are already jamming together and toying with new sounds. However, as guitarist Graham Coxon pointed out, the band won't be playing complete new songs just yet. "We wouldn't want to just sling stuff together to play this summer [at gigs including shows in Manchester and London's Hyde Park]. It wouldn’t be right. We really don't want to put ourselves under any pressure. I think we want to have fun with these gigs and then we'll think about that really," he said. [NME]

- Clear Channel Radio and Front Line Management have collaborated on a project called "artist personal experience" (a.p.e.), allowing artists to produce their own 24-hour online radio stations. Weezer, the Eagles and Christina Aguilera are supposed to kick off their own stations next month. All songs will be chosen by the artists, and there will be moments where their own music will be played alongside exclusive interviews and commentary. Stations will be available through Clear Channel websites, artists' widgets, and the iPhone and Blackberry's iheartradio app. [Paste Magazine]

- Courtney Love is reviving Hole. Sort of. [SPIN]

- In sad news, a dead body was found on Bonnaroo festival grounds Tuesday. Workers found the body of an unidentified white man in his 20s. The body was found in a tent. Police believe he may have been from Alabama. An autopsy is underway. [Pitchfork]

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Music Notes: Blurred Order, Blur comeback, Lil' Wayne tour announced

I'm still kind of recovering from the evil virus I caught last week, but I'm hoping to resume my regular posting schedule this week. However, if I disappear again, please forgive me... The June Gloom weather in my area isn't doing much to help this situation.

- Blur have recently reunited and are in the midst of a summer of reunion gigs (they even played a surprise in-store in London tonight), but this hasn't stopped bassist Alex James for taking part in a side project. (To be fair, if bandmates Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon can do it, why can't he?) James has teamed up with former New Order members Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Phil Cunningham to form Bad Lieutenant. The group's album is due out this fall. [NME, SPIN]

- In fact, go here for a setlist and videos from tonight's Blur gig. And holy crap, they played "Country House." A couple of repeat vids, plus "Song 2" and "Charmless Man" here. [Pitchfork, Stereogum]

- Lil' Wayne has announced his summer tour, which will feature Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Drake. [SPIN]

- Was this year's Bonnaroo the last ever Nine Inch Nails gig in the United States? [Prefix Mag]

- Pixies played their first gig since 2004/2007 at the Isle of Wight Festival. [Rolling Stone]

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Music Notes: New Blur compilation, Kanye West continues blogging escapades

- Blur will be releasing a brand new best of album this June, and it will be somewhat different from their last best of compilation. EMI will release Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur — it will be a two-disc compilation (and also available in download format), while also featuring songs from their 2003 album Think Tank. The compilation will feature some of their biggest hits, alongside "quirkier" tracks like "Trimm Trabb." The tracklisting was announced via their website, under "news."

In the meantime, the possibility of the band coming to the United States may or may not be a little higher than it was before. And that high-pitched squeal you just heard was the sound of me shrieking with delight... now if only they'd show up before I go to grad school. [Pitchfork]

- Kanye West critiques a paparazzi shot of Rihanna in his latest blog entry, saying "This pic is hardcore. Peep the perspective shot of the city in the back.... Good job on this one!" He also went on to say Beyonce is the new Tina Turner and Thom Yorke is the new Roger Waters. And I continue to love his craziness. [Kanye West's Blog]

- Natalie Cole received a kidney transplant in Los Angeles yesterday, after months of undergoing kidney dialysis while still promoting her latest album. Following doctors' orders, Cole will reschedule her summer tour dates. [NME]

- Depeche Mode canceled more tour dates in Latvia, Poland, and Lithuania. There has been a lot of speculation regarding David Gahan's illness, but let's hope all ends well. [Pitchfork]

- Morrissey has rescheduled two shows he canceled last week (due to illness), and will be performing in four more UK shows as well. [NME]

- I think I missed this earlier, so I'll mention it here: the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released their Zero Remix EP yesterday on iTunes. That being said, a vinyl 12" EP of the album track and all four remixes will be available June 9. [YeahYeahYeahs.com]

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Music Notes: Graham Coxon wants to play it all, Creed are back?

- Blur guitarist Graham Coxon has recently been quoted as saying that he'd like the band to play songs from the 2003 album Think Tank during their upcoming UK gigs. Coxon, who left the band while they were recording the album, only played on one Think Tank track ("Battery In Your Leg"). [NME]

- In the meantime, tickets for additional Blur summer dates went on sale last week. Keep your fingers crossed for a US tour! [Q]

- And apparently, Creed have decided to reunite. [PrefixMag]

- A new Depeche Mode documentary, The Dark Progression, will be released on June 16. [Pitchfork]

- The Killers are planning to release a live DVD. There's even a chance of a covers' album coming out as well. [Billboard]

- Vampire Weekend are currently in the process of working on a follow-up to their 2008 debut album. Frontman Ezra Koenig told Entertainment Weekly that, "It's definitely going to be a recognizably Vampire Weekend sound, but there are going to be new sounds. We're trying to challenge ourselves not to use the same bag of tricks that we used on the first album -- different instruments, stuff like that." [Entertainment Weekly]

- And last but not least, it looks like a live Nirvana DVD will be heading our way in November. The DVD titled Live at Reading will feature the band's 1992 set at the UK's Reading Festival. [SPIN]

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Retrovideo Friday: "Popscene, all right..."

Welcome to the first installment of Retrovideo Friday. This is a new feature where I plan on posting a music video from "back in the day," along with a little history lesson behind what you're watching. Each post will vary from time to time, either featuring an actual music video or a live performance of a song that strikes my fancy. The songs featured may seem like completely obvious choices, or they might be a little obscure... either way, sit back and relax because it's time for a little flashback.

This Week's Pick: "Popscene" by Blur (Year: 1992)

This is an early track by recently-reunited Blur, famous for their role in the Britpop era and that "Woohoo song" (Song 2). Though "Popscene" is a fan favorite, it wasn't all that successful at first, charting in the 30s on the UK Singles Chart back in 1992. The song can be found on US pressings and Japanese reissues of the band's second album Modern Life is Rubbish, but it has never appeared on a UK Blur LP.

Despite the track's slightly sad past, it's one of my favorite earlier Blur tunes thanks to its frenetic pace and insanely infectious horns. There's still something incredibly fresh about it, which makes me wonder why it was such a flop when it was first released as a single. Anyway, Blur have had the last laugh considering their success and the song's immense popularity with fans, so it looks like everything balanced out at the end.

Watch "Popscene" below. Word of warning: while the song itself still sounds great, the video is definitely very dated and almost dizzying to watch. But ultimately, it's probably all part of its charm!

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