January, 2010

Listening to ‘Beat The Devils Tattoo’ is akin to going on a journey through the highlights of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s back catalogue, where you arrive at a place of familiarity and relief. That’s the relief that they haven’t gone all Kings Of Leon on us, and instead have stayed sat comfortably in their position just under the radar, maintaining their artistic credibility yet still delivering the goods. Now on their sixth album, they’ve knocked up another dirty, stomping tune that sits confidently alongside their best material.

Bet you did not know that it’s often cheaper to buy albums on CD than via Internet download?

Bargain hunting website Tunechecker.com aids music fans at finding the best deal available by returning prices from 14 shops including Amazon and iTunes. Simply enter the name of the album or single and the site’s software searches and returns with your pricing and vendor options. The Site even has a list of Mp3′s which are legally available for free download on the web.

Despite the additional cost of manufacturing the CD and Sleeve artwork it will come as a surprise that eight of the current top 40 UK albums can be purchased on CD for a lower price than they can be legally downloaded

A spokesman for tunechecker.com said: “MP3s often win but downloading isn’t always cheaper.”

As this current example shows the buying hard copies can still save you money: You can buy the Very Best of Fleetwood Mac on CD – currently number 35 in the charts – for 4.43 pounds including delivery.

That is 2.54 pounds less than the cheapest download price currently available.

Jeff Beck and Imelda May (photo) will be featured in a special tribute to Les Paul at tomorrow’s 52 annual Grammy Award spectacular, broadcast live on CBS (8pm EST)

Other nominees and stars slated to perform are Jamie Foxx, T-Pain who will perform with Slash and Doug E. Fresh , as well as nominees Drake, Eminem and Lil Wayne in a special performance with rock drummer Travis Barker. Legends Roberta Flack, Elton John and Jeniffer Nettles have also been added to the stellar lineup.

Long Beach California Indie rockers Cold War Kids played two sold-out shows in NYC at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday and  last night (Friday,29th) at Manhattan’s  west-side venue, who everyone seems to love to hate, Terminal 5 .

As a special treat for fans the official Cold War Kids site is offering a free bootleg recording  of the show for download at www.coldwarkids.com/terminal5.  You’ll be able to login with the password the-la-river , but only for the next 48 hours, so hurry.

For younger generations in the UK, there has long been an enviable awe surrounding all things New York – the centre of style and the bastion of ‘cool’. Whether it’s for the latest fashion, TV shows or the newest musical trends, it seems the UK has always had an insatiable desire to latch on to the NYC ethos and take a bite of the Big Apple. And it would be fair to say that there are plenty of attractions in this imitable metropolis that can’t be found on the other side of the pond – the city’s music scene for one.

Frightened Rabbit will make their Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival debut when they perform alongside Muse, MGMT, the Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo and many others on day two of the three-day desert fest taking place April 16-18 in Indio, Calif. SXSW in March will launch their first set of U.S. appearances in support of forthcoming third LP, The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, due March 9 on FatCat Records, and offer an opportunity to warm up for the Festival and six-week North American tour to follow. The extensive run will commence April 19 in Tempe, Ariz., hit NYC’s Webster Hall on April 28 and conclude on the West Coast in May. The band is currently warming up in Australia where they have traded in a frigid UK winter for a sunny summer tour in the down under.

This coming Saturday will be the anniversary of the legendary Rooftop Concert by The Beatles in 1969. To mark the event please help us count down 10 of the most important and significant live performances  of all time:

Alan McGee, the former Creation Records boss who discovered bands such as Oasis and Primal Scream, has said the Brit Awards should be scrapped.

The annual industry get-together will take place at London’s Earls Court next month, but it seems McGee is one member of the music industry who won’t be in London that night. Speaking to the Daily Record newspaper, McGee said: “They should get rid of the Brits, start again with 20 music journalists who actually care about music getting together, instead of a bunch of self-interested record company people who just vote for their own acts.”

New Rock-umentary to screen  on Tuesday 2^nd February, for ONE NIGHT ONLY in UK & Ireland cinemas.

Julien Temple’s Oil City Confidential is the last film in his trilogy on British music of the 1970s. It is a prequel to his landmark films about punk figureheads the Sex Pistols in The Filth & The Fury and JoeStrummer in The Future Is Unwritten.

Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Trio will embark on a UK and European tour on April 17th, when they perform what is described as “A Night of Deep Noise.”

Featuring Lou Reed (processed & unprocessed guitars & mini continuum), Ulrich Krieger (tenor sax & live-electronics), and Sarth Calhoun (live processing & continuum fingerboard), the Metal Machine Trio concerts, although influenced and inspired by Reed’s seminal 1975 album ‘Metal Machine Music‘, won’t duplicate the original album, but will instead opt for entirely new unique music, noise and soundscapes.