Happy Birthday Paul Simon! Spoon Covers "Peace Like A River"

Just Like A Paper Tiger

From TNOP Worldwide Headquarters, here's the news . . .

The last of the Rick Rubin produced acoustic compilations from the late Johnny Cash, American VI: Ain't No Grave, arrives in stores and on-line on 26 February. Two pieces on the record and its origins are worth your time: James Reed in The Boston Globe and Greg Kot in the Chicago Tribune.

The reviews on the new Peter Gabriel album have been quite positive, and now the focus will switch to the "flip side" of the Scratch My Back project, presumably titled I'll Scratch Yours. Gabriel talks to Uncut about one particular song, Radiohead's "Street Spirit," and whether Thom Yorke intends to return the favor. Stay tuned.

One of our musical heroes, Randy Newman, took the stage in Los Angeles Friday night for one of his all-too-rare live performances. Pop & Hiss was there.

When we first were introduced to Billy Bragg back in the early 1980s, he was rattling The Man's cage. Not surprisingly, he still is now that he's "some grey-haired 52 year old geezer." The Times of London provides a lengthy profile on the British singer-songwriter who was selected to bring the long-ago lyrics of Woody Guthrie to the public with Wilco.

And speaking of Standing Up To The Man, Part II: Bruce Springsteen fans went to court and successfully obtained a judgment against Ticketmaster for over one million (pinky finger to lips here, please) dollars. Seems the company most known to fans for charging mysterious fees essentially scalped their own tickets. Maybe that's why the moment you log on to try to get tickets when they go on sale you're locked out . . .

And speaking of Sticking It To The Man, Part III . . .

And speaking of Trying To Stick It To The Man IV: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Gil Scott-Heron is back with a new album. And he's got alot to say to the Telegraph.

Spoon's Brit Daniel and Jim Eno talk to NPR's Bob Boilen about the band's new record, Transference.

Crawdaddy remembers gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson on the fifth anniversary of his death. Obligatory Dylan mention included.

Saunter over to MBV and take a listen to the new single from Tracey Thorn, one of favorite voices from her days with Everything But The Girl and Massive Attack. "Oh The Divorces!" takes a nice Joni Mitchell route, accompanied by piano and strings. We're looking forward to Love and Its Opposite, dropping on 18 May (Merge).

Spinner brings us "In Living Color: 20 Important Black Rockers Past and Present."

Santogold and Devo together on record? So says clashmusic.com.

And on that odd note, TNOP signs off, but not without wishing our friends at Muzzle of Bees a very Happy 5th Birthday.

Press Room Briefing

News update with The Night Owl . . .

TNOP Patron Saint Bob Dylan showed up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue last night - a day early. Seems as though all the snow you folks out East have been putting up with moved the Civil Rights music celebration at the White House up one calendar date. Jon Pareles of The New York Times reports he sang "The Times They Are A-Changin'" in waltz time. TwentyFourBit adds that "[a]ccompanied by stand-up bass and piano, Dylan sang his 1964 anthem loud and clear, highlighting the song's many apropos lyrical moments (Come senators, congressmen/Please heed the call/Don't stand in the doorway/Don't block up the hall). Then he stepped from the stage, shook President Obama's hand and left.

Bonnaroo has announced the bulk of its summertime festival lineup, to be held 10-13 June on a 700 acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Notables (as far as we're concerned) include: Stevie Wonder, The Flaming Lips, Tenacious D, Jay-Z, Phoenix, John Fogerty, LCD Soundsystem, The National, John Prine, The Black Keys, Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers, The xx, Miike Snow, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Calexico, Blitzen Trapper, Dave Rawlings Machine, and Mumford & Sons.

Our own Celtic Ray reports that Irishman Damien Rice introduced a stunning new tune the other night in Santa Monica, California at the opening of the Tibet documentary When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun. Contributors to the movie soundtrack also include Thom Yorke and Philip Glass. Give "What If I'm Wrong" a listen:



Aquarium Drunkard remembers Doug Sahm and The Sir Douglas Quintet on the occasion of the publication of Texas Tornado: The Times and Music of Doug Sahm, by Jan Reed (University of Texas Press).

No Depression gives us a nice sneak preview of some of the acts that will be appearing at their SXSW Showcase. Bands include Vandaveer, The Maldives and The Deadstring Brothers.

Jim Carroll of The Irish Times stirs the pot by taking on the album reviewers at Pitchfork. While that in of itself is (really) nothing new, alot of readers take the bait anyway. And if it adds to the discussion among bloggers as to the merits of various album releases, why not?

Josh Ritter's new album, titled So Runs The World Away, is to be released in Ireland on 23 April and in the States and the rest of the world on 4 May. He's also offering a free mp3 download of one of the songs, "Change of Time." Tours dates for April (Ireland) and May (United States) have been announced as well.

The Peter Gabriel covers project Scratch My Back that we previously reported on is available for free streaming at The Guardian. You can also download for free his version of Bon Iver's "Flume."

In the "we kid you not" category, The Grateful Dead Archive will soon be open to the public at the University of California at Santa Cruz. The Atlantic tells us about it and manages to proselytize that business students can learn from the band's management style.

Eric Clapton brings his guitar hero Crossroads Festival back to Chicago this summer on 26 June. Tickets - sales benefit his center in Antigua that helps the chemically dependent - are a cool $100, but check out some of the lineup confirmed so far: Albert King, The Allman Brothers Band, B. B. King, Buddy Guy, James Burton, Jeff Beck, Robert Cray, Joao Gilberto, Jimmie Vaughn, John Mayer and Vince Gill. Serious guitar slingers, all.

Speaking of B. B. King, next time you are in Las Vegas, TNOP says check out his new Blues Club at The Mirage. It's a refreshing change of pace - live music anchored by a fantastic house band, The B. B. King All-Stars, a rollicking 13-piece soul revue complete with three lead vocalists and a dynamite horn section. Highly recommended.

Rolling Stone reports on Wilco's Portland show last night, with special guest Peter Buck. And our friends at Muzzle of Bees bring us the boys' cover of Neil Young's "Broken Arrow" from the concert.

That's it from the news desk. TNOP has still got the new Spoon record on heavy rotation, so we'll leave you with their appearnce on Conan O'Brien singing "Written In Reverse":

Every Single One's Got A Story To Tell

TNOP once again finds for you all the news that's fit to print . . .

Jack White talks with Rolling Stone about the state of the music industry, starting his own record label in Nashville, the genesis of "Seven Nation Army," how Jay-Z is cool and a bunch of other stuff.

The Fader provides you with a chance to download with no charge the "digital 7-inch" of two outtakes from Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca sessions: "Ascending Melody" and "Emblem of the World."

Lights Out! Former J. Geils Band frontman Peter Wolf will soon be releasing his first record in eight years. Paste reports that Neko Case, Merle Haggard and Shelby Lynne are contributors to Midnight Souvenirs, set for release on April 6.

Roseanne Cash visits with Gwen Orel of The Village Voice. The Times of London runs a profile of Johnny's daughter, too.

"Sam Cooke: Crossing Over," a new documentary, airs starting tonight on PBS' American Masters series. Check local listings for showings over the next week. The Washington Post previews the show, which focuses on Cooke's cross over not only from the gospel realm to R&B, but also to the (mostly at the time) Lilly white pop charts, as well as his untimely death at the age of 33. Twelve years in the making, the film features interviews with alot of music heavyweights who have now left the scene. This also gives us a chance to highly recommend the fine biography by Peter Guralnick, "Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke."

Greg Kot follows up on the rumors that Pavement may be headlining this summer's Pitchfork Festival in Chicago's Union Park.

We guess the trove of old Jimi Hendrix recordings is endless. His sister Janie breaks the news that on March 9, the Hendrix Estate and Sony will release a "new" album, called Valleys of Neptune. It will feature 12 unreleased recordings. What makes this interesting is the comments of noted Hendrix biographer Charles Cross to the Los Angeles Times: “With so many different ‘official’ albums so far, and hundreds of bootlegs, very little Hendrix is truly ‘unheard’ or ‘unreleased’ these days," Cross said Sunday. "But to listen to some of Jimi’s final Experience recordings in their original versions, with quality remastering, is enough to get any Hendrix fan excited, particularly when the songs are as good as ‘Hear My Train,’ one of Jimi’s best ever tracks. Though this song was released before, it was on a posthumous album with awful overdubs, so to hear Jimi’s pristine recording is a joy.” So, maybe a slight return once again in the offing.

The Quietus went looking for Elvis Presley covers on YouTube and came up with some pretty varied - and good - performances, from The Dead Kennedys to Robert Plant and much in between.

The newest Daytrotter session features the American singer, songwriter and artist Daniel Johnston.

You can stream the entire new Spoon album, Transference, at NPR.

Passion Pit is hitting the road. On the heels of its acclaimed CD Manners, the band is covering most of the U.S. with some dates in Australia, Japan, the U.K. and Ireland sandwiched in between.

That's it from the TNOP news desk. While we're thinking about it, let's go listen to "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit.

Some Things Read On A Dollar Bill

In anticipation of their big New Year's Eve show at Milwaukee's Riverside Theater, Britt Daniel of Spoon talks to the Journal-Sentinel about the band's new album Transference (to be released 19 January) and its allegiance to indie label Merge.

Two noteworthy birth dates of 28 December: (1) Bandleader Johnny Otis, known as the "Godfather of Rhythm & Blues," born 1921. The son of Greek immigrants, Otis blended in with the black community in the Los Angeles area easily and produced a number of hits. The Johnny Otis Show's crossover into pop territory, going all the way to #3, was "Willie And The Hand Jive" (a live TV performance can be accessed here - watch for Lionel Hampton at the end on vibes). Later, Eric Clapton revived the tune on his album 461 Ocean Boulevard. (2) Roebuck "Pops" Staples, patriarch of The Staple Singers, was born on this date on a Mississippi plantation in 1914 (he died in 2000). Together with his children, Staples started in the gospel realm and kept that socially conscious edge even when the group crossed over into the popular music charts with smashes like "Respect Yourself" (here's a live version from the Wattstax festival featuring the one-two dynamism of Pops and daughter Mavis), "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again."

David Fricke talks to Ed O'Brien about Radiohead's musical output over the past ten years.

Over the next week, BBC 6 Music Programmes is offering a chance to listen to a three part series titled "Bob Dylan: Changing Times." The episodes, each one hour in length, delve into three seminal albums: Nashville Skyline (1969), Slow Train Running (1979) and Oh, Mercy (1989).

The latest Take-Away Show from La Blogotheque is with critically praised band The Antlers.

Like 'em or not, Vampire Weekend is on deck with their second record. The Times of London visits with the New York band.

Step right up: Pop & Hiss chats with Tom Waits. The singer hints at a studio release in 2010.

Adam Sheets of No Depression lists the considerable production credits to date of T-Bone Burnett. (And we'll add one more - the fine Martinis & Bikinis by Sam Phillips).

And since we're thinking about Sam Phillips, TNOP invites you to enjoy the Rubber Soul vibe of "Baby I Can't Please You" from Martinis & Bikinis.

Carry The News

The Thin White Duke helps all the boogaloo dudes at TNOP troll the web for the latest news. . .

Sufjan Stevens gives a lengthy interview with Brandon Stosuy in Interview magazine, discussing his new work The BQE, why he doesn't perform on TV and whether there will ever be anymore "state" records.

The seventh CD from TNOP faves Spoon will be released on January 18 in Europe on Anti- and on January 19 on Merge. It's called Transference and both NPR and Stereogum have a stream of the first single, "Written in Reverse." Sounds cool to us. The new material will probably get a workout when they ring in the New Year with Jay Reatard at The Riverside in Milwaukee on December 31.

Overdosing on the decade and year end "best of" lists? (We hope not, because TNOP's are still to come.) In addition to the Spoon record, here are some of the releases we are looking forward to in 2010:
The National (TBA)
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks (March 9)
MGMT - Congratulations (Spring)
Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring (January 26)
LCD Soundsystem (March)
++++ Ten Questions for James Murphy (Drowned In Sound)
Interpol (Early 2010)
Midlake - The Courage of Others (February 1)
The Hold Steady (TBA)
Massive Attack - Heligoland (February 9)
Arcade Fire (TBA)

Jim DeRogatis profiles Matthew Santos in advance of his appearance at Lincoln Hall in Chicago this Friday.

The Times of London catches up with Brian Ferry and finds him pretty grumpy. But he still looks good and offers you a free download for putting up with him.

Paul McCartney wrote the closing song for the new Robert DeNiro movie, "Everybody's Fine." He talks about it as well as his recent CitiField shows in New York and the coming Gershwin Prize For Popular Song, which Macca will receive in the spring at the Library of Congress.

A few weeks ago we wrote about the pending release of Ben Sidran's album of Bob Dylan covers. Dylan Different is released tomorrow. Rob Thomas of The Capitol Times talks with the Madison based jazz pianist about his passing encounters with the Patron Saint of TNOP. Sidran's put his own stamp on familiar, but sometimes daunting, material.

Paste continues its list-o-mania with the 30 Best Covers of the Decade. Audio included.

And happy birthday to John Densmore, drummer with The Doors. Instead of a cake, this dynamic live performance of "Love Me Two Times" is served up for your listening pleasure.

Oh Boy! The News Today

Thanks much to our friend Ryan for linking us at Muzzle of Bees. Bookmark and visit his site daily to stay ahead of the curve on up and coming artists, along with mp3 downloads, videos and concert dates.

The Decemberists have released an animated video for "The Rake's Song," a very likable tune from their latest The Hazards of Love.

The new iPhone app Concert Vault allows you to access the huge collection of live performances that are available on line at Wolfgang's Vault. And it's free.

One of our favorite American bands, Spoon, just announced a New Year's Eve show at The Riverside in Milwaukee. The Austin outfit is preparing their sixth studio release, the EP Got Nuffin. The single of the same name has been out for a couple of months and still sounds fresh.

Buy it.

The Flaming Lips first album in three years, Embryonic, comes out tomorrow (Tuesday) and Paste Magazine reports that they will perform for the last time in 2009 in Los Angeles Wednesday night at the Nike/Ricardo Montalban (we kid you not) Theater in Hollywood. Good luck scoring tickets.

TNOP patron saint Bob Dylan keeps finding ways to stay in the news. First, the Christmas album arrives in stores October 13. Now it is reported that a never released song from the 1965 Bringing It All Back Home sessions titled "California" will be released on (again, we kid you not) NCIS: The Official Soundtrack Album - Volume 2 from CBS Records on November 3.

Be sure to check out the video reminiscences of LA Times rock critic Robert Hilburn on Dylan, John Lennon, Bono, Kurt Cobain, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin and Michael Jackson. It's part of the media push behind his recently published memoir Corn Flakes With John Lennon. Watch for our review of the book in future weeks to come.

Pitchfork embedded the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack yesterday, including the songs from Thom Yorke, Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver & St. Vincent and Lykke Li. Unfortunately, the audio was quickly taken down. Album release set for October 20 on Chop Shop/Atlantic. Set list:

01 Death Cab for Cutie: "Meet Me on the Equinox"
02 Band of Skulls: "Friends"
03 Thom Yorke: "Hearing Damage"
04 Lykke Li: "Possibility"
05 The Killers: "A White Demon Love Song"
06 Anya Marina: "Satellite Heart"
07 Muse: "I Belong to You (New Moon Remix)"
08 Bon Iver and St. Vincent: "Rosyln"
09 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: "Done All Wrong"
10 Hurricane Bells: "Monsters"
11 Sea Wolf: "The Violet Hour"
12 OK Go: "Shooting the Moon"
13 Grizzly Bear: "Slow Life" [ft. Beach House's Victoria Legrand]
14 Editors: "No Sound But the Wind"
15 Alexandre Desplat: "New Moon (The Meadow)"