Multiple Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Norah Jones will release The Fall, her fourth studio album on Blue Note Records on November 17, 2009. Jones wrote nearly all of the songs in the past two years since completing tours in support of her 2007 global chart-topping, U.S. double-platinum album Not Too Late.
Beloved by fans for her sultry vocals and jazz-informed, piano-driven pop songwriting, Jones has taken a new direction on The Fall, seeing it as a chance to experiment with different sounds and an opportunity to work with a new set of collaborators, including Jacquire King, a noted producer and engineer who has worked with Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, and Modest Mouse among others. Jones also enlisted several songwriting collaborators, including Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff, as well as her frequent partner Jesse Harris.
“I knew I wanted to try some different things on this album,” Jones says. “I’d been playing with the same musicians for a long time. We’re all still friendly and I hope we play together again, but it felt like a good time to work with new people and experiment with different sounds. As far as a producer, I wanted someone who could take me out of my comfort zone and find the right musicians to capture what I wanted to do with this collection of songs. I got in touch with Jacquire initially because he engineered one of my favorite records of all time, Tom Waits’ Mule Variations. He was really eager to do it and we got along really well, which was important.”
Stream The Fall album single “Chasing Pirates”
King helped Jones put together a new group of musicians to perform on the album, including drummers Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.) and James Gadson (Bill Withers), keyboardist James Poyser (Erykah Badu, Al Green), and guitarists Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello) and Smokey Hormel (Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer). Jones and King tailored the songs to the musicians’ strengths. “I think the record sounds different due to the variety of musicians we used,” Jones says, “I knew I wanted to play with grooves more than I have on previous albums. Some of these new songs lent themselves to having driving rhythms underneath.”
Another noticeable change on Jones’ upcoming album is that she plays mostly guitar. “I actually write more on guitar than I do on piano,” she says. “It just felt more natural for me to play it on these songs.”
Since coming on the scene in 2002, Jones’ has sold a collective 36 million albums worldwide. Her three studio albums, 2002’s eight-time Grammy Award-winning Come Away With Me, 2004’s Feels Like Home, and 2007’s Not Too Late have each topped the Billboard top 200 album charts in the U.S. and gone to No. 1 around the world. All three have been certified multi-platinum, while Come Away With Me has been certified diamond.
Since 2007, Jones has collaborated with a number of artists, including Herbie Hancock, Talib Kweli, Willie Nelson, Q-Tip, Irma Thomas, and Andy Samberg’s comedy troupe The Lonely Island. She has also contributed to various soundtracks, including Ken Burns’ The War, Ethan Hawke’s The Hottest State, and Wong Kar-wai’s My Blueberry Nights, as well as the Fats Domino tribute album Goin’ Home. In 2007, Jones starred opposite Jude Law in My Blueberry Nights and made a cameo in this year’s season finale of 30 Rock. Also this year, Jones was featured as a flagship artist on Apple’s GarageBand, presenting a tutorial on how to perform her song “Thinking About You.”
The track listing for The Fall is as follows:
1. Chasing Pirates (Norah Jones)
2. Even Though (Norah Jones/Jesse Harris)
3. Light As a Feather (Norah Jones/Ryan Adams)
4. Young Blood (Norah Jones/Mike Martin)
5. I Wouldn’t Need You (Norah Jones)
6. Waiting (Norah Jones)
7. It’s Gonna Be (Norah Jones)
8. You’ve Ruined Me (Norah Jones)
9. Back To Manhattan (Norah Jones)
10. Stuck (Norah Jones/Will Sheff)
11. December (Norah Jones)
12. Tell Yer Mama (Norah Jones/Jesse Harris/Richard Julian)
13. Man Of The Hour (Norah Jones)
Official site link, MySpace:
The Avett Brothers are a unique band of 2 brothers who play a fusion of Bluegrass, Punk and Rock who are set to release their major label debut I and Love and You, which was produced by super producer Rick Rubin. That’s right, the same guy who produced records for Jay-Z, Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers to name a few. The band definitely has something special going on and word is that their live show is transcendent. The album is officially released on September 29th, but you can listen to it in advance over at NPR.org.
“Like many songs on I and Love and You, “The Perfect Space” captures the Avetts’ willingness to infuse their words with genuine insight: “I wanna have friends that I can trust,” Scott Avett sings, adding, “that love me for the man I’ve become, not the man that I was.” It’s a kind, comfortable song that feels not only lived-in, but also lived. That’s how it is with The Avett Brothers’ music: Moving and smart, catchy and warm, it’s a band — and an album — that anyone could love.” - NPR.org
Paolo Nutini is a mystery. Obviously a talented singer/songwriter, its very hard to pin him down to one genre and his new music video for “Coming Up Easy” doesn’t do anything to help define him. Unless you expected to see him hanging out with a gigantic white rabbit… Watch the new video:
Multi-platinum recording artist Mika will release his sophomore album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much, on September 22nd via Casablanca/Universal Republic Records. Produced by Mika and Greg Wells (Katy Perry, P!nk), this record is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2007’s Life in Cartoon Motion, which sold over 5 million copies worldwide. The new album features guest contributions by Imogen Heap and Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett, and contains brilliant first single, “We Are Golden,” which was unveiled with an exclusive first play on England’s Radio 1 on July 20th. A video for the track, helmed by acclaimed Swedish director Jonas Akerlund, is currently streaming on Mika’s website – http://www.mikasounds.com
Check out the new single “We Are Golden” (Calvin Harris Remix)
Life has moved in accelerated motion for Mika, a Beirut-born, London-bred songwriter, since releasing his debut album in 2007. Claiming the space between Freddie Mercury, Elton John, David Bowie and ABBA, Mika’s infectious songs – pop anthems such as “Grace Kelly,” “Love Today,” and “Relax” – rocketed the singer to international acclaim within months of his album’s release. Critical praise landed squarely on his shoulders across the globe for his keenly-honed choruses and unmistakable three-octave range, unlike any other voice in pop music. Award nominations followed throughout 2007 and 2008, garnering Mika Grammy’s, Brit Awards, World Music Awards, and the UK’s most prestigious songwriting honor, The Ivor Novello Award. Fashion designers such as Matthew Williamson and Christian Louboutin designed bright, dazzling stage attire for him to match his own color-soaked, exuberant live show. When the dust finally settled – closing a world tour in Paris, France, where he played to an arena packed with 65,000 people – Mika began to set his sights on his next record.
Following the age-old motto “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Mika returned to Los Angeles, where he made his first record, and loaded his recording studio with visual inspiration, toys, posters, 60’s children’s books, trinkets and more to create a world entirely of his own where the songs could grow. The resulting album, a firecracker explosion of effervescent, gorgeous piano pop, shows Mika building upon the strengths of his debut (every chorus is instantly memorable) while expanding arrangements and styles to create a record that is even more joyous and unique than his first. The Boy Who Knew Too Much straddles a line between childish naïvete and world-worn sophistication; Mika likens this transformation as the shift from childhood and Life in Cartoon Motion’s innocence to something more akin to adolescence. As such, the songs on The Boy Who Knew Too Much are ebulliently bold, embracing the mysteries, melodramas, adrenaline and vitality of one’s teenage years to startling affect. The arrangements are bigger and more beautiful than ever before, and the album is underpinned by an open-hearted and accepting idea of what living in the 21st century means in all its contradictory, complicated glory.
Opening track “We Are Golden” starts the album with a chorus that could only be described as “absolutely amazing,” featuring a massive choir, defiant declarations and a driving beat. “Blame It On the Girls” marries skittering percussion with floor-stomping piano and a swoon-worthy chorus, while “Rain” – featuring droplets of violin plucks from Owen Pallett and additional programming by Stuart Price – is a bona fide dancefloor anthem, Mika’s stunning voice floating effortlessly over pillows of synths. “Toy Boy” features sweeping, 40’s Disney orchestration, and “Dr. John” mixes a 60’s sunlit, hand-clapped chorus with a plea for clarity from confusion. Indeed, from stirring ballads to candy-coated choruses, The Boy Who Knew Too Much retains a breadth of vision that speaks not only to Mika’s extraordinary melodic sensibilities, but also to the incredible stories he tells within his songs. From Mika, we would expect nothing less.
Track listing for The Boy Who Knew Too Much:
1. We Are Golden
2. Blame It On The Girls
3. Rain
4. Dr. John
5. I See You
6. Blue Eyes
7. Good Gone Girl
8. Touches You
9. By The Time
10. One Foot Boy
11. Toy Boy
12. Pick Up Off The Floor
It has been four years since Life in Slow Motion from the acclaimed songwriter and storyteller David Gray. The September release Draw the Line is rich with new sounds and outward-looking lyrics. After years of touring and living without recording, David felt hungry and holed up in his studio in 2007 to record the title track “Draw the Line.” The album flowed from that point and starts a new chapter for David’s career. The self-produced album includes duets with Jolie Holland and on the album’s epic closer “Full Steam Ahead, Annie Lennox.
With the heart of folk music at his core, David Gray’s mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation has established him as one of the UK’s leading music artists both at home and overseas. With a career now spanning over fifteen years and nearly 12 million album sales, David’s commercial success is also backed up by a critical consensus and countless accolades, including a BAFTA nomination (for his soundtrack work on Amma Assante’s 2004 film A Way Of Life), two Ivor Novello awards for songwriting, a Q Award for “Best Single,” two Brit nominations for “Best Male,” and a GRAMMY nomination for “Best New Artist.”
Confirmed Tour Dates for David Gray:
August 7 - Boulder Theater - Boulder, Colorado (PRE RELEASE)
August 15 - Mountain Music Fest - Redmond, Washington (PRE RELEASE)
October 23rd - Boston, MA - Wang Theatre
October 24th - New York, NY - WAMU Theater
October 26th - Toronto, Canada - Massey Hall
October 27th - Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theatre
October 29th - Chicago, IL - Chicago Auditorium Theatre
October 30th - Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre
November 1st - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
November 2nd - Salt Lake City, UT - Kingsbury Hall
November 4th - Portland, OR - Arlene Schnizer Concert Hall
November 7th - Oakland, CA - Paramount Theatre
November 9th - Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre
“Here,” a new original song by legendary singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, will officially debut on July 24, 2009 with the release of the motion picture Shrink, starring Academy Award® winning actor Kevin Spacey. As dramatic punctuation, “Here” runs over the end title credits, beginning when the screen goes dark at the narrative’s conclusion. Following limited release in select theatres in New York and Los Angeles, Shrink—from Roadside Attractions— opened in Limited release in NY and Los Angeles on July 24, 2009 and will expand to 12 major cities on July 31st, 2009.
Jackson Browne is regularly cited as contemporary music’s quintessential confessional singer-songwriter, making his contribution to Shrink an ideal fit. Talking about “Here,” Browne said, “The song is really about trying to be here in the present, even if you don’t really care for the present—even if you’re kind of locked up in the past.”
Directed by Jonas Pate (Deceiver) and written by Thomas Moffett, the film centers on Spacey as pot-smoking “shrink-to-the-stars” Henry Carter, the connecting point between what Variety called, “an impressive cast playing an asylum’s worth of disturbed Hollywood types.” Personal tragedy and a challenging pro bono case has Carter spinning off-balance and losing control, both in his own life and in relation to his A-list clientele.
Shrink premiered in January 2009 at Sundance; the festival’s write-up said, “Performed by a well-matched cast at the top of their form, the result is both satisfying and exhilarating. Watching Shrink makes us feel like voyeurs looking through a window into the lives of people who look great, feel worse, and end up behaving badly.” In addition to Spacey, the cast features Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Robert Loggia, Keke Palmer and Dallas Roberts, among others.
Jackson Browne signed on to compose the closing song for Shrink after seeing a cut of the film following its Sundance premiere. Written on the road, “Here” was recorded in early 2009 during a break from Browne’s world tour in support of his 2008 album Time The Conqueror. The album is out on the artist’s own independent label Inside Recordings, and was produced by Browne and Paul Dieter.
Since kicking off in the U.S. in September 2008, the Time The Conqueror World Tour has encompassed legs in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and Europe. Currently, Browne is in the middle of a two-month summer 2009 North American itinerary, which will conclude the tour. Also in ’09, Browne and his band were featured as the summer season opener for PBS Television’s nationally syndicated program Soundstage, which noted, “Rock’s poet laureate Jackson Browne delivers a remarkable performance featuring tracks from his latest recording…as well as hits from his previous 11 studio albums.”
Since his acclaimed 1972 self-titled debut album, Jackson Browne has defined a genre of songwriting and performing that is charged with honesty, emotion and personal politics. Two of his albums, Late For the Sky and The Pretender, are on Rolling Stone’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” He’s been recognized with inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2004) and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame (2007), with recent humanitarian honors including the John Steinbeck Award and the Chapin-World Hunger Year Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award. www.jacksonbrowne.com
Below you can download the new music video, key art, and find a link to the official website.
I’d say no… but don’t tell that to the UK press! Reason #1 would be that he’s opening up for Lady Gaga… nothing against her, but the love-child comparison and Lady Gaga doesn’t seem to synch up. Decide for yourself:
With his geek-chic style and earnest, heartfelt ballads, Gary Go is quickly becoming the newest hero of the UK pop scene with rave reviews and a fiercely devoted following. His self-produced first album and the lead single “Wonderful”, which the BBC calls a “shimmering slice of sing-along song craft”, are climbing the charts and have earned him the opening spot on Lady Gaga’s upcoming European tour.
June 2, 2009 – (New York, NY) – Bespectacled, London-born Gary Go, who is fast becoming a major new vocalist and rising star, is the toast of England right now and bringing his self-titled debut album to America for release on September 15th on Decca. Teaming a striking voice with a sharp sense of storytelling, Gary’s guitar and piano-led, hook-driven sounds balance a unique edginess with universal appeal.
Go, the son of a producer for Jim Henson’s Muppets, is a gifted narrator who is equally influenced by writers Paul Auster and Arthur Miller as by David Bowie and Trent Reznor. Highlights from Go’s album include the endearingly reflective, “So-So” and “Open Arms,” an ode to self-acceptance that blends beautiful production and a soaring chorus. Musicians joining Go include Living Colour’s Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbush (who was also in the legendary Sugar Hill Gang), and eclectic songstress Carina Round.
This self-taught multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter has generated an explosion of press acclaim in the UK. Q Magazine declares the album is a “gigantic pop debut” while Red Magazine raves that Go’s self-titled debut is a “Must-Hear Album… If you like Coldplay, you’ll like this!” The Sun describes Go as “the musical love child of Chris Martin and David Gary, with an added dash of bespectacled charm.”
Go’s uphill climb to success has included jobs at numerous studios as well as a life-altering rejection from Peter Gabriel for a job at Real World studio in Bath. Told by Gabriel to “concentrate on songwriting,” Go took that advice and immersed himself in his music, leading him to record his debut album and make the line-up for Wembley Stadium this July where he’ll hit the stage with just one instrument in tow: his iPhone.
For more information, visit www.whoisgarygo.com
“His Way, Our Way” features 13 different artists including Maroon 5, The Kills, A Fine Frenzy, and The Kooks recording exclusive covers of their favorite Sinatra songs. All of the artists are listed below.
The 13 cover versions will sit alongside their classic Sinatra counterparts on the following page www.iTunes.com/hiswayourway. You can listen to the 13 original Sinatra versions on the following page http://www.sinatra.com/quicktime-listening-party. You can also Stream of The Kill version of “Willow Weep for Me” HERE.
Created with the support of Frank Sinatra Enterprises, “His Way, Our Way” pays tribute to the timeless quality of the Frank Sinatra songbook. For more information on Frank Sinatra, please visit www.sinatra.com.
The full track listing is here:
HIS WAY, OUR WAY
1. The Way You Look Tonight/Maroon 5
2. One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)/John Rich
3. The Things We Did Last Summer/A Fine Frenzy
4. Stormy Weather/The Kooks
5. Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)/Josh Radin
6. I’ll Never Smile Again/Priscilla Ahn
7. I’ve Got You Under My Skin/Seether
8. Something Stupid/The Fashion
9. London By Night/Greg Laswell
10. Strangers in the Night/The Morning Benders
11. All of Me/Meiko
12. The Impossible Dream (The Quest)/Republic Tigers
13. Willow Weep For Me/The Kills
As music legend George Harrison is celebrated with a new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Capitol/EMI announces Harrison’s first ever career-spanning solo hits collection, Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison. To be released June 16, the new title will feature digitally remastered tracks in deluxe packaging, including an extensive booklet featuring previously unseen and rare photos. The collection will also be available for download from all major digital service providers.
Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison is the first release that will span his entire solo recording career, including the #1 Billboard Pop singles “My Sweet Lord,” “Isn’t It A Pity,” “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth),” and “Got My Mind Set On You.” The new title will also feature live recordings of three Harrison-penned Beatles songs, “Something,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and “Here Comes The Sun” from his 1971 all-star Concert For Bangladesh benefit at Madison Square Garden. The complete track list will soon be announced.
George Harrison is a twice-inducted member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a solo artist and as a member of The Beatles, and an 11-time Grammy Award winner for his recordings with The Beatles, Traveling Wilburys and as a solo artist.
Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison Audio Streams:
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” -
“Isn’t It A Pity” -
Scarlett Johansson is really making a go of this music career I guess… This collaboration with Pete Yorn is a bit more understandable compared to her odd Tom Waits cover album of a few years ago.
LOS ANGELES — In 2006, critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Pete Yorn contacted actress and Atco recording artist Scarlett Johansson with the idea to record a duets album in the spirit of Serge Gainsbourg’s 1960s recordings with Brigitte Bardot. “I was having a strange week of insomnia and when I finally passed out, it came to me in a dream,” says Yorn. “I woke up and the whole thing was in my head, fully formed.” Johansson was intrigued by Yorn’s out-of-the-blue invitation. “It sounded like an interesting little adventure,” she explains. “The idea of two people vocalizing their relationship through duets.”
Check out the first single here
BREAK UP includes eight original compositions by Yorn, ranging in tone from the lilting opener “Relator” to the disarming, retro/futuristic “I Don’t Know What to Do” to the climactic “Someday.” Completing the collection is a powerful interpretation of the art-rock classic “I Am The Cosmos” by the late Chris Bell, co-founder of quintessential cult band Big Star. Produced by Sunny Levine, with Yorn and Max Goldblatt as executive producers, the album features contributions from guitarist Robert Francis; bassist Giuseppe Patane; and violinist Amir Yaghmai, with Goldblatt on banjo, synth bass and backing vocals, and Levine handling programming and mixing.
Predating Johansson’s debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, by nearly two years; BREAK UP was conceived and recorded in 2006, in Levine’s garage studio. “I always thought of it as just a small project between friends,” explains Johansson. “I’ve loved the album ever since I heard it completed. It perfectly captured where I was in my life at the time.” Yorn was as protective of BREAK UP as a father of his daughter, playing it for no one until last year. When those close to him finally heard BREAK UP, the overwhelming response convinced Yorn that it was simply too strong a work to remain under lock and key.
BREAK UP
Track Listing
1. Relator
2. Wear And Tear
3. I Don’t Know What To Do
4. Search Your Heart
5. Blackie’s Dead
6. I Am The Cosmos
7. Shampoo
8. Clean
9. Someday
MySpace Page:
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