Sounds Of The Universe From Depeche Mode

Legendary British band Depeche Mode had announced the track list from their upcoming album “Sounds Of The Universe”, said Billboard. This disc is going to include thirteen songs written by Martin Gore and Dave Gahan. Gore is traditionally the major guy behind song and music writing in Depeche Mode since the beginning of this band, so it seems that the rest of musicians is on the level of “quite advisors”. Basically, it all means that Gahan who previously did not really participate in the process of songwriting, now was built into the process. Previously he wrote a few songs for the album “Playing The Angel” and released two solo discs. Now it’s interesting wheather his artistic qualities will influence Depeche Mode and particularly it’s new album.

“Sounds Of The Universe” is going to be their twelfth studio album, which should be released by Mute Records on April 20. A lot of rumours keep on roaring that the first single will be a third track called “Wrong”, and it’s release is planned for April 6. Ben Heller who has produced their previous album, and co-worked with Blur, Elbow and Doves turned to be Depeche Mode’s producer/sound director again. In May Depeche Mode shall start the world tour in support of this new release. Here is the full track list: 

"In Chains"
"Hole To Feed"
"Wrong"
"Fragile Tension"
"Little Soul"
"In Sympathy"
"Peace"
"Come Back"
"Spacewalker"
"Perfect"
"Miles Away" / "The Truth Is"
"Jezebel"
"Corrupt"

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Scarlett Covers It All

Popular actress and since the recent times a singer Scarlett Johansson had recorded a cover version of Jeff Buckley’s “Last Goodbye”. This song is going to be included as a soundtrack into her new movie “He’s Just Not That Into You”, which is about to be released in April this year. A song is available on Stereogum.com. Besides Johansson’s song, a soundtrack shall incorporate a lot more music written by The Cure, R.E.M., Talking Heads, My Morning Jacket, Wilco and The Replacements. “Last Goodbye” was recorded by Buckley in 1994 for the album “Grace”. Three years later he had drowned in the Mississippi river. The whole tragedy of his end made an impact on the rest of his art while reflecting all of it onto this song. 

Scarlett Johansson’s music debut began in May 2008 when she released the album with many cover versions of Tom Waits’ song “Anywhere I Lay My Head”. Soon Scarlett recorded the concert mini-album, were she covered The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry”. Actresses often become singers and vice versa, but in this case it would be very interesting if a girl like her will join some hard rock band or even something more powerful like Metallica. In the future Johansson is planning to write and produce her own songs.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Jade Is On The Rise

Mick Jagger’s daughter Jade has made her first public performance as a DJ on January 22, said ContactMusic. This awesome event took place in Barcelona. It’s totally new for her, and literally unbelievable, especially if taking into consideration the style of her sound. Currently, a 37–years old Jade had left her previous jewellery designer’s work and created a personal company called Jezebel, which is going to organise concerts and design clothing with various things of art. In other words, her artistic talent is now exploding in every direction anyone can imagine, so music is just one of them. She is planning to use Jezebel as the driving force behind her music career. Right after this company was set up, she had already made some contacts with the British singer Lily Allen and a rapper Estelle. If Jade will start rapping it may be quite expected, hence it turns out that she can do everything. Mick Jagger had definitely left a lot of qualities to his daughter.

The Rolling Stones vocalist Mick Jagger had seven children with four women. Jade became his second and the only child with his first official wife Bjanka whom he divorced in 1979. Jade’s full name is Jade Sheena Jezebel Jagger.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Bowie Doesn't Want To Be Ziggy Again

Legendary British rock musician David Bowie has denied rumours about his wish to reappear with an image of Ziggy Stardust on Coachella music festival in America, said AFP. As Bowie noted, he even has no plans to perform at this event, which is going to take place this year in California. Recently, various publications have issued numerous articles on Bowie’s plans to fully perform his 1972 conceptual album “The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars”. In 2008 Coachella managers have already asked him to make it happen, but he rejected their offering and right now this story keeps on repeating itself. The last time when David Bowie had performed ‘Ziggy’ was way back on July 3, 1973 at Hammersmith Odeon. Right before the last song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” he said that he will never repeat similar shows again and kept these words true. Wheather all these rumours about the return of ‘Ziggy’ were supported by his real words cannot be proved, simply because Bowie didn’t say it openly in any publication or an interview.

The last Bowie’s album “Reality” came out in 2003. Lately Twiiter blog posted an information under the nickname “David Bowie”, which said that he is currently working with the new album in Berlin. However, label’s representatives didn’t say anything to support or deny it.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Australia's Big Day Out

More than one hundred visitors who have participated at the Sydney Big Day Out music festival, which takes place annually in Australia, were caught by police due to an excessive drug use, said AAP. Police representatives have announced that out of 258 suspects, 107 had controlled substances with them. Most of these people possessed ‘traditional music drug’ marijuana, and it looks quite the same practically on every major festival of this kind. The last year’s Big Day Out was noted with eighty six drug related arrests, and of course weed stood on the first place. Dutch experience in handling of such things is definitely not working with almost every authority in the world, even though their experience is probably the most successful. Heavy drug abusers should be monitored and given all kinds of necessary help, marijuana smokers must be controlled like alcohol drinkers. This year’s Big Day Out sold fifty five thousand tickets, and in order to limit drugs related crimes, the New South Wales police sent numerous undercover agents. Security matters a lot, especially on such events, but when following marijuana they often miss heavy drugs, and they’re the top priority.

Traditionally, Big Day Out goes on by the end of January, and it is considered to be one of the biggest music events in Australia/New Zealand. 2009’s festival includes Neil Young, Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy, TV On The Radio, Serge Tankian, Hot Chip, My Morning Jacket, and many others.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Valentine's Day With Starbucks

Starbucks Entertainment record label which belongs to the infamous coffee shop network is about to release the album full of cover songs dedicated to the Valentine’s Day. This album will be incorporating all kinds of indie artists who decided to participate in the project and sing a lot of love songs. “Sweetheart: Our Favorite Artists Sing Their Favorite Love Songs” will be out on January 30 (the US release), said New Musical Express. Among many bands who are participating in the project one of the most popular is Death Cab For Cutie. This group shall cover The Cure’s “Love Song” (1989) and it will be the first track on the album. Department of Eagles had covered Elvis Presley’s “Love Me”, and The New Pornographers leader A.C. Newman took A-ha’s “Take On Me”.

This is the second compilation of this sort made by Starbucks. The last one was released in 2005. Here is the full track list of an upcoming album:

Death Cab for Cutie - 'Love Song' (Cure cover)
Katy Perry - 'Black and Gold' (Sam Sparro cover)
DeVotchKa - 'Hot Burrito #1 (I'm Your Toy)' (Flying Burrito Brothers cover)
Department of Eagles - 'Love Me' (Elvis Presley cover)
Jessica Lea Mayfield - 'Words of Love' (Buddy Holly cover)
Ben Bridwell - 'Your Love Is Forever' (George Harrison cover)
Kate Tucker - 'I'm on Fire' (Bruce Springsteen cover)
Rogue Wave - 'Maps' (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover)
A.C. Newman - 'Take on Me' (a-ha cover)
Jem - 'Yellow' (Coldplay cover)
Richard Hawley - 'Early Morning Rain' (Gordon Lightfoot cover)
Daniel Martin Moore - 'I Hear Music' (Billie Holiday cover)
She & Him - 'I Put a Spell on You' (Screamin' Jay Hawkins cover)
Lila Downs - 'My One and Only Love' (Frank Sinatra cover)

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Love Parade 2009

Love Parade which is considered to be one of the biggest rave – electronic – techno music festivals in the world is not going to take place this year, said DPA. An event had to occur in the German city of Bochum (located in the industrial Ruhr region), but was cancelled due to the fact that this place is not big enough for it. Bochum authorities have announced their total incapability to sustain and maintain so many people that are going to visit their city during the festival. Another reason is that there is some unexpected difficulty with the railway tracks, which are located somewhere near the city, and there is no way the city authorities will be able to fix them before the festival. Love Parade’s organizers have noted that during the recent years more and more people are trying to go to this event. In 2008 1,6 million people have visited the festival, in 1998 it absorbed nearly 800,000 visitors. Certainly, Bochum cannot sustain so many rave fans, even though some people may accuse local conservatives in halting an event.

The first Love Parade took place on July 14, 1989 in Berlin collecting only one hundred and fifty people. The late 80’s was just the beginning of the rave movement and these numbers show how everything changed since that time.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Lego + Mp3

Major toy producer Lego will start making mp3 players together with Digital Blue, said Gigwise. The design of a brand new product will replicate the traditional Lego ‘brick’ meccano style. It will definitely trigger some subconscious memories in many people, even though this particular thing shall be made particularly for children. Lego representatives say that a major idea behind all of this is to restore their popularity among the numerous fans all around the world. Popularity was always somewhere with them, but music can never make it worse for any company including Lego. Practically, they would like to make children follow this new brand, and therefore move the whole company upwards because the future belongs to kids. However, some older people may definitely pay attention to it as well, hence that subconscious factor always stays with people. Digital Blue spokesman told the press that his company is very happy about cooperating with Lego, “We’re extremely proud to team up with Lego, a highly regarded brand among generations of parents and kids throughout the world.”

Besides mp3 players the new line of digital products will incorporate cameras, portable radio transmitters, and alarm clocks. All these electronic gadgets will most likely go for 20 to 60 dollars a piece.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Beautiful South Will Reunite

Ex-members of the British pop group Beautiful South, which fell apart in 2007 told the press about their wish to reunite, said New Musical Express. However, vocalist Paul Heaton, guitarist David Rotheray and bassist Sean Welch are not planning to share the same wish with the rest of them. Practically, another half and maybe the most influential half shall not be there again. The band should now be called The New Beautiful South and will include singers Alison Wheeler and David Hemingway, plus  drummer David Stead. Their first concert is going to take place in Hull, (Yorkshire, England) on March 29. Following various remarks given by them it’s easy to understand that their track list will incorporate not only the old hits. Also, it seems that this band had never really fell apart, “We never really split up – all that happened was Paul made the decision to leave,” added Stead. So, this band seems to roll on again.

Beautiful South was created in Hull back in 1989 and since then they’ve released ten albums which smoothly “paraglide” into the 90’s music scene. Their last release “Superbi” came out in 2006 counquering number six on the British charts. The most successful ones are “Blue Is the Colour” (1996) and “Quench” (1998).

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Serge Tankian And The Orchestra

System Of A Down leader Serge Tankian said that he is planning to organize a live performance together with the symphony orchestra, notes Blabbermouth. In an open letter Tankian wrote to his fans that this event is going to be made up with the Auckland symphony orchestra on March 16, 2009 in New Zealand. Musician is planning to perform many songs from his solo album “Elect The Dead” including a lot of previously unreleased tracks. The stage will be occupied exclusively by him and the orchestra, anyone else shall not be presented, even the band which helped him to record “Elect The Dead” F.C.C. will not be there.  All the music arrangements were written by a composer from New Zealand John Psathas, who basically turned the album into something completely different, and surprisingly Tankian supports such changes. The whole album will be most likely released on DVD quite soon in order to expose it’s innovations.

Besides that Serge Tankian will also take a part in the Big Day Out festival which started in Auckland on January 16 and shall end on February 1 in Perth. The last System Of A Down concert took place in August 2006 and since then each member of the band is involved in the variety of solo projects.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Sharon Is The Winner

A wife of the legendary Ozzy Osbourne Miss Sharon Osbourne won the legal battle against The Sun tabloid, said New Musical Express. Issue’s representatives have agreed with the court’s decision and accepted the fact that they’ve made a negative moral impact on her family by publishing an article about Sharon’s horrible methods of doing business when she was Black Sabbath’s manager. In October 2007 The Sun wrote an article were it said that Sharon was “driving her frail husband Ozzy Osbourne to destruction… so hard she will kill him.” Practically, an accusation which is quite popular among those who generally dislike her. The Sun’s piece of writing made it very clear that Sharon forced her husband to perform live, even when he did not feel very good. It is possible though that Ozzy could feel a bit weak after his parties, but saying that she kept on using him as a slave is definitely not true. She would never do something horrible to Ozzy even when their relationship suffered his excessive drinking and the rock n’ roll wilderness.

Following a court’s decision The Sun will pay a lot of money for the moral damage and shall financially cover everything she has spent on lawyers. At the same time The Sun had to appologize and officially disprove everything what was said in that article.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Old Faces, New Legends

Metallica and Run DMC are going to be placed into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. The ceremony in dedication to this historical event will take place on April 4, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. Besides that, all celebrations that are somehow connected to this affair will continue for at least seven days. Also, the Hall of Fame shall welcome Jeff Beck, Little Anthony & The Imperials, and Bobby Womack. “These artists demonstrate the rich diversity of rock and roll itself. We are proud to honor these artists and celebrate their contribution to rock and roll’s place in our culture”, said the Hall’s director Joel Peresman. In order to get into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame it takes not less than twenty five years after the release of the first album, in other words continuity, age and of course talent make it all happen. For the last two decades Metallica is considered to be the most successful metal band. Their debut album “Kill ‘Em All” was recorded in 1983 (Megaforce Records).

Run DMC is going to be the second rap group to enter the Hall. The first one went to the hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five in 2007. Jeff Beck is practically already there because in 1992 he made it to the list together with The Yardbirds.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Pavement May Come Back

Former Pavement guitarist Scott Kannberg has noted that he is about to reunite with his ex-bandmates in order to celebrate their group’s twentieth anniversary, said Gigwise.  The American indie-rock band which was formed in 1989 and fell apart in 1999 is now following the old tradition of reunions once again.  Also, Kannberg added that by the end of 2009 Pavement may begin it’s first since the late 90’s full blown tour. “I don’t see why not, you know, it could be a fun thing to do, go and play your favourite songs every night,” he said. However, the exact decision on this event is still hanging in the air. They’re planning to perform at the Coachella festival, which should take place on April 17–19 in LA. “Coachella keep asking our booking agent but our booking agent’s pretty strong. He’s waiting for the right number, I think”. In 2006 and 2008 guys from Pavement kept on saying that their reunion is quite realistic, and not just in dedication to their anniversary, but also to Matador Records’ 20th anniversary as well (they’ve co-worked with them).

Pavement was founded by Steven Malkmus and Scott Kannberg in California. They have released five studio albums, out of which the most successful was “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain” (1994). The last one was released in 1999 – “Terror Twilight”.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Madonna Is Facing Threats

Madonna has hired two additional bodyguards who have previously served in the Israeli special forces, said The People tabloid. These measures were taken right after she had received a number of threats from the Muslim religious fanatics who have promised to behead her for supporting Israel. Recently, one of the Islamic-fundamentalist websites had posted a message written by one of the Palestinian terrorists named Muhammad Abdel-Al. It says, “If I meet these whores I will have the honor to be the first one to cut the head off Madonna if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam.” It is obvious that these words are aimed at her love of Kabbalah, and her general stance for Israel. In recent years she had visited that country for many times. It is also well known that currently she is more than anyone else would like to see the end to the conflict in Gaza, but definitely terrorists just hate her for her beliefs no matter what. Her friendly stance to all religions was also not taken into consideration.

Due to these threats Madonna is specifically worried for her kids. Her ex-husband and an infamous movie director Guy Ritchie is planning to step up the security of his house in order to make their children safer. After their divorce they’ve negotiated to share time with them in New York (where Madonna lives) and in London (Ritchie’s place).

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Don Randall "Stratocaster" Has Died

Don Randall who has given the name to an infamous guitar model Fender Stratocaster died at the age of ninety one, said Associated Press. It happened at his home in California on December 23, but the information about it came out only on January 11. Randall had develeped the name “Stratocaster” in 1954 by giving an idea to Fender’s founder Leo Fender to change and re-develop an older version of it called “Telecaster”. This name had to associate with the cutting edge technologies and reflect Fender’s new ideas on it’s design. “Guitar Player” magazine editor Tom Willer used to say that without Randall the Stratocaster’s commercial success would never take place. In 1965 Randall was one of those who helped to sell Fender to CBS, practically he was the key negotiator. After this deal Stratocaster sort of lost it’s powerful popularity, but began to come back right after Jimmy Hendrix became it’s biggest fan. Eventually, it became tremendously popular and legendary. This model was used by Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Ritchie Blackmore, Mark Knopfler, Jimmy Page, Billy Corgan and many others. Currently, Fender Stratocaster remains to be one of the most popular guitars in the world without any plans to go down.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Trent Reznor Has Something To Say

Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor had placed an exclusive information on the band’s official website, which says that he possesses more than 400 gigabytes of the video material. All this stuff was recorded during his band’s recent concerts in Portland, Victoria and Sacramento within their Lights In The Sky tour. All the files are absolutely free. In an article called “Your Gift” Trent has noticed that he was in contact with some fans who respectfully gave him all this material, recorded in the HD format. “The internet is full of surprises these days. I was contacted by a mysterious, shadowy group of subversives who somehow managed to film a substantial amount of raw, unedited HD footage”, he said. Here is a link to the curious and cool works – http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?18,378166. At the end of his message Reznor politely proposes everyone who is interested to organize these videos and turn them into something like a documentary. He believes that there are many talented fans who are capable of making a movie about NIN.

This is not the first time when Reznor has decided to use Internet as the advertisement ground, earlier this year “The Slip” album was given out for free with the help of nin.com. The same thing was done with  the “Ghosts I-IV” album.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

iTunes And Prices

Apple’s marketing vice-president Phil Schiller said that iTunes online music store is reducing prices. Right now it went down from 99 cents per track to 69 cents. The best quality tracks will be standing on $ 1,29. The cost reduction is possibly connected with the world financial crisis and a huge demand for the online music. Industry is changing as quick as the eye can see. Besides that, by now eight million songs were freed from the copyright law, and by April all the tracks should follow the same regulation. The most sensitive part of it all is going into the past within the iTunes and it looks quite unbelievable. Some journalists wrote about this innovation in the beginning of December, but they thought that it shall never happen in the near future. Everyone could not think of the fact that the major record labels will allow iTunes move toward this step due the legal difficulties and their money interests. Also, Schiller has noted that by the beginning of 2009 iTunes was able to sell six billion songs with the clientele rising up to seventy five million regular users. iTines is growing and it looks like all these changes will only double it’s profits.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Ron Asheton Is Gone

The Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton who is considered to be the one of those who have literally laid the foundation of the punk music has died, said AP. Police representatives have reported that a body of the 60 years old Asheton was found on Tuesday morning in his own house in Ann-Arbor, Michigan. They’re saying that his death took place over the natural causes without telling any details.

The Stooges was found way back in 1967 by Iggy Pop (vocals), Ron and Scott Ashetons (bass), and drummer Dave Alexander. Between 1967 and 1973 The Stooges which are often characterized as ‘proto-punk’ and the alternative rock have released three albums. Their lineup was often changed, but Asheton brothers kept on playing in there until 1974 when the band fell apart. In 2003 following Iggy Pop’s idea they’ve came back together again in their original standing, but without Dave Alexander who died in 1975. Also, in 2003 Ron Asheton had reached 29^th place among the best guitar players according to the Rolling Stone magazine’s charts. In 2007 The Stooges have released their fourth album.

After hearing of Asheton’s death Iggy Pop said that Ron used to be his best friend, while the other The Stooges musicians have told the press that they’re totally shocked by this loss.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Kraftwerk Is Changing It's Lineup

One of the participants of the legendary German electronic band Kraftwerk Florian Schneider has left the group, said New Musical Express. There is no explonation of why he did this, but it’s known that during the last few years he did not really participate in the band while paying more attention to his personal side projects. Also, Schneider did not take part in Kraftwerk’s 2008 world tour. His place was taken by Stefan Pfaffe. This news may be upsetting to many of their fans because Florian is one of the founders of Kraftwerk. This band had a tremendous influence on the electronic music, and today there is no trance, techno, progressive group or DJ which is not going to mention Kraftwerk as their original insipiration. It was created in 1970 by Schneider and Ralf Hütter. The most famous and cool albums are “Autobahn” (1970), “Radio-Activity” (1975), “Trans-Europe Express” (1977) and “The Man Machine” (1978).

Right now it means that Ralf Hütter is going to be the only musician who is left from the original lineup. The good news is coming for the Kraftwerk’s Latin American fans that are going to see them performing together with Radiohead in March-April 2009 during their Central and South American tour. Let’s see what Schneider will do with his side projects, and may it be as good as Kraftwerk.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Grateful Dead Is About To Reunite

Legendary American rock band Grateful Dead is planning to start a tour in April. It’s going to be their first concert voyage in four years, said EOnline. The band’s official website also reported that from April 12 to May 10 they’re considering to orginize nineteen concerts in the various US cities. In October 2008 four Grateful Dead musicians have performed together in order to collect some money for Obama’s presidential campaign, and of course to show themselves again. In November one of the guys Mickey Hart has said in an interview that “ice began to melt, and their band is getting rid off some skeleton’s in the closet.”

Greateful Dead was created back in 1965 and lasted until 1995 when the band’s influential leader Jerry Garcia had died. Since that time this great band kept on reuniting once in a while, but failed to come together on a full scale. They were participating in many other prominent music projects such as, The Other Ones, The Dead, RatDog, Phil Lesh and Friends, Donna Jean and the Tricksters.

April 12 Greensboro NC Greensboro Coliseum
April 14 Washington DC Verizon Center
April 15 Charlottesville VA John Paul Jones Arena
April 17 Albany NY Times Union Center
April 18 Worcester MA DCU Center
April 19 Worcester MA DCU Center
April 21 Buffalo NY HSBC Arena
April 22 Wilkes-Barre PA Wachovia Arena @
Casey Plaza
April 24 Uniondale NY Nassau Coliseum
April 25 New York NY Madison Square Garden
April 26 Hartford CT XL Center
April 28 E. Rutherford NJ IZOD Center
April 29 E. Rutherford NJ IZOD Center
May 1 Philadelphia PA Wachovia Spectrum
May 2 Philadelphia PA Wachovia Spectrum
May 5 Chicago IL All State Arena
May 7 Denver CO Pepsi Center
May 9 Los Angeles CA The Forum
May 10 Mountain View CA Shoreline Amphitheater

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com

Amy Winehouse vs. Norwegian Court

British singer Amy Winehouse was summoned to attend the court hearings in Norway due to her previous legal problem with drugs, said Associated Press. She is suppose to make it there on January 12 this year. Winehouse had appealed against the court’s decision right after she and her husband Blake Fielder Civil were arrested and forced to pay fines for possessing marijuana. She believes that policemen have made a lot of procedural mistakes due to which these fines cannot be fare. A girl is trying to fight back, and even if this case seems to be very clear, it’s still quite possible that her lawyers and the celebrity status will help. Just for a reminder, Amy was hiding seven grams of weed. Come on it’s not that bad. Previously it was reported that her lawyers were already informed about the fact that if she will not attend such a “happy” event on time then nothing shall be changed in a previous court decision.

Due to this Norwegian incident she was refused of getting an American visa in February 2008, and couldn’t participate at the Grammy Awards ceremony. Later she was able to attain it, but her performance in Los Angeles didn’t happen.

A Source: ThatsJustMusic.com