Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Music News: New Phish CD, No More Radiohead Albums, Woodstock’s Forgotten Man, and Michael Jackson Concert

This week's developments in the music world involve everything from '60s classics to today's alt-rock groups.

Vermont jam-rock band Phish will release its new album "Joy" on Sept. 8th. Paste Magazine says that fans can buy the album in "CD, vinyl records, or splurge on the Joy Box, containing an explosion of Phish paraphernalia, including a second album, Party Time, just in case Joy alone doesn't cut it." Phish worked on the album with producer Steve Lillywhite, who also produced their 1996 album as well as recordings from U2, Dave Matthews, and other big names.

Thom Yorke has said in an interview that Radiohead will release no more full-length albums. The article in Believer quotes Yorke as saying that recording full-length albums had become "a drag" and that the band will instead focus on producing EPs and downloadable singles, such as their new “Harry Patch (In Memory Of),” a tribute to the recently deceased last British veteran of World War I.

It's the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, and the Wall Street Journal has an article on Bert Sommer, which it calls "Woodstock's Forgotten Man." The musician, who performed on the iconic festival's first day, wasn't represented on the Woodstock albums, and the article says his name was even omitted from the original commemorative plaque placed at the site of the concert. Though he recorded a few albums, he never became widely known, and died in 1990. A friend created a tribute Web site to him, www.BertSommer.com.

Michael Jackson will be getting a tribute concert fit for the King of Pop, an affair in the lavish Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna, home to the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Jermaine Jackson, the oldest brother of Michael, is lining up artists to perform at the gig, which may attract an audience of "at least 85,000."

British folk-rocker and activist Billy Bragg criticizes the record labels for trying to sic Internet providers on illegal music downloaders. In an article in The Guardian, Bragg says that while he is opposed to copyright infringement, record labels and Internet companies shouldn't be penalizing music fans. He suggests that "Clearly, some form of P2P subscription service is the way forward, if only because it provides the most convenient way for consumers to access music."

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