Music Notes: Noel Gallagher promises refund, The Pretenders announce tour dates

- Noel Gallagher promised 70,000 Oasis fans their money back after power cuts plagued their show in Manchester last night. It was the first time the band had performed in Manchester in four years. After tech issues stalled the show for half an hour, Gallagher told the audience, "Thank you very very much, this is a free gig - let's have it. Anybody who has kept their ticket will get a full refund." [BBC]

- The Pretenders have announced details of their upcoming North American tour, which will kick off on August 4. Cat Power and Juliette Lewis will also join the band for select dates. More details here. [NME]

- Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 will be out on September 11, eight years after the original Blueprint came out. [MTV]

- August 18 will see the release of the Woodstock - 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm box set. The six-CD, 77 song set will feature 38 unreleased recordings from the original Woodstock festival. Performances by The Who, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joan Baez and more. Research has allowed the compilers to put the songs and artists in the correct order of performance. [Billboard]

- Coldplay might follow up last year's Viva La Vida with a concept record. That could be bad. Straight from Chris Martin's mouth. [SPIN]

bxAv110 bxAv110 bxAv110

Music Notes: Jay-Z leaves Def Jam, Massive Attack plan major world tour

- Jay-Z has left Def Jam, despite never actually recording the final album he owed them according to his contract. The rapper bought himself out of his own contract for $5 million, telling RapRadar.com, "I can honestly say, working with Doug Morris and LA Reid has been a unique and fulfilling experience and I respect them immensely. I've been in the family for almost my entire career.... I thank [Morris] for allowing me to be a completely independent artist. Not every artist can say they own or are given the opportunity to own all of their music." [MTV News]

- Massive Attack are back! A fifth album is due out in October, and the act has a huge world tour planned. More than forty dates are already planned for the UK and Europe, and it is likely that the full tour — which will include dates in the United States — could top 150 dates. [Billboard]

- Internet radio station-of-sorts/"music genome project" Pandora is launching a paid premium service. For $36 a year, users can get: all video and audio ads eliminated, 192 kbps streaming, five hours before timeout, a desktop app that allows play without a browser, mini web-based player, and custom player skins. [Hypebot]

- Cat Power will tour with The Pretenders and Juliette Lewis. [Pitchfork]

- And you won't find the latest Green Day album at Wal-Mart. Long story short? The chain wanted to sell "clean" versions of the album, which meant that some of the language and content would have been removed. Green Day said no. [Associated Press]

bxAv110 bxAv110 bxAv110