Music Notes: Adele's "Skyfall" Drops, Peter Buck Releases Solo Album, Titus Andronicus Tours, & More

There are random music notes from all over this week, from James Bond to Peter Buck to a mandolin player who's now half a million dollars richer. Read on...

* Adele's "Skyfall," the theme from the forthcoming James Bond movie of the same name, was released today. You can see the official video (with lyrics) below, and buy the single here at iTunes. It's a good tune, and a fitting theme song for a Bond movie. "Skyfall" opens in the U.S. on Nov. 9th.



* Titus Andronicus has released tour dates to support its third album, "Local Business," which drops Oct. 22nd. The band will play Maxwell's in Hoboken on December 1st, and the next night at Webster Hall in NYC.

* The first solo album by Peter Buck, R.E.M.'s guitarist for its entire history, comes out Oct. 5th. The self-titled album features vocals by "R.E.M. bandmate Mike Mills, friend/collaborator Scott McCaughey, Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker, The Decemberists’ Jenny Conlee, Lenny Kaye, and Bill Rieflin," according to Consequence of Sound (which has a previously released single from the album). Read Buck's post about the album on R.E.M.'s website. Note: though the album will be released Oct. 5th, Buck says it will be available at first only on a vinyl pressing of 2,000 copies.

* And finally, big congratulations are due to singer/songwriter/mandolin player Chris Thile, who this week was named one of the winners of the MacArthur Foundation grants. The former member of Nickel Creek, who is currently in the Punch Brothers, will get $500,000 dollars over a period of a few years to spend however he wishes.

2012 Grammys Recap: The Boss, a Beatle, Glen Campbell, an Exorcism, & More

Nicki Minaj's Grammys performance was the #1 WTF moment of the night, featuring exorcism, dancing monks, and a Red Riding Hood outfit, among other things.

Yesterday's Grammys telecast wasn't as wacky as last year's, but it did have its highlights, lowlights, touching moments, and downright oddball stuff. A brief rundown:

• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened the show, performing their new single, "We Take Care of Our Own"
• Host LL Cool J offered a prayer for Whitney Houston, who died the day before. (Jennifer Hudson later sang "I Will Always Love You" in tribute.)
• Adele proved her voice was back, belting out a tune (and taking home six Grammys on the night)
• Paul McCartney performed a new Valentine's Day tune, and ended the show with a rousing version of "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End," with guitarists Springsteen, Joe Walsh, and Dave Grohl, among others
• Glen Campbell received a touching tribute, singing his old hit "Rhinestone Cowboy" after two of his other hits were covered by Blake Shelton and The Band Perry
• With Lady Gaga not performing this year, Nicki Minaj took up the bizarre-performance mantle with a lengthy song/dramatic piece featuring an exorcism
• The Allman Brothers Band was one of the artists honored with the lifetime achievement award (see video below)

Also, the Foo Fighters performed two songs and took home an armful of awards; Chris Brown made a controversial return to the Grammy stage; and Lady Gaga sat in the audience wearing what looked like a black basketball net over her face. And what would the Grammys be without some unusual musical collaborations, a couple of which didn't work at all (to me): Rihanna and Coldplay and the Beach Boys with Maroon 5 and Foster the People (though the latter wasn't a bad fit with Brian Wilson and band).

Of course, most of the awards (including the lifetime achievement honors) were handed out before the TV show (view the pre-telecast Grammys ceremony here).
 



You can find the full list of 2012 Grammy winners and nominees here.

Music Notes: Adele on Letterman Tonight; The Cars Record New Album; Music Exec. Rails Against Grammys

* A day ahead of the U.S. release of her new album "21," Adele is performing on the Letterman show tonight, Feb. 21st. She performed a live webcast tonight for the show, which I didn't know about until it had already happened. You might be able to find the Adele live webcast archived here. (See the video for "Rolling in the Deep," the first single from "21," above.)

* New Wave rockers The Cars have recorded a new album. Rolling Stone says that "Move Like This," the band's first album in 24 years, will be released on May 10th. The album features all the original surviving members of The Cars—Ric Ocasek, drummer David Robinson, guitarist Elliot Easton, and keyboardist Greg Hawkes. Original bassist Benjamin Orr (who sang two of their top hits, "Just What I Needed" and "Drive") died in 2000. No word on whether they'll play any concerts, though Ocasek says in the article that it "might be fun to do a couple of shows."

* A longtime record exec is cranky over some of the Grammy Awards given out last week. Steve Stoute, who seems to be especially known for his experience in hip-hop, took out a full-page ad in the New York Times Sunday to slam the ceremony as an “awards show [that] has become a series of hypocrisies and contradictions.” He was miffed that artists like Eminen and Kanye West didn't win more, citing their longtime influence, and also complained that teen pop star Justin Bieber didn't win. "How is it that Justin Bieber, an artist that defines what it means to be a modern artist, did not win Best New Artist?"

Stoute's argument seems to be that sales and popularity should win out over artistic merit. Isn't that the opposite of what the Grammys are supposed to be about? (OK, we know they don't live up to that ideal all that often, but still, his complaint seems pretty off base.)

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from PJ Harvey, Adele, Nicole Atkins, Foo Fighters (Sort of), & More

Above: Foo Fighters performing "Rope," from their forthcoming album. You can preview live versions of what's said to be all the songs on the new album at the link at the bottom of this post.

Some much-anticipated new albums are up for free streaming, including Adele's follow-up to her acclaimed "19," the latest twist in the ever-changing musical journey of PJ Harvey, the sophomore album from New Jersey native Nicole Atkins, and the new work from Bright Eyes. And you can preview the new Foo Fighters album (sort of: a blog has put together videos of live versions of what it says are every song on the band's new album).

See the respective websites for a full listing of album previews being offered. The date that streaming ends is given, when known.

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Let England Shake" by PJ Harvey (streaming until March 8; release date: Feb. 15)
"21" by Adele (streaming until March 8; release date: Feb. 22)
"Bella" by Teddy Thompson (streaming until March 1; album out now)

NPR First Listen:
"The People's Key" by Bright Eyes (streaming until Feb. 15, its release date)

Spinner.com's Listening Party has albums including:
"Mondo Amore" by Nicole Atkins"Tao of the Dead" by ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
"The Long Surrender" by Over the Rhine
... and three albums by legendary Nigerian singer, songwriter, and activist Fela Kuti

AOL Music Listening Party has album previews including: 
"Now That's What I Call Music! #37" by Various Artists
"Now That's What I Call Music! Modern Songbook" by Various Artists
"The Sing-Off: The Best of Season 2" by Various Artists
"The Music Inside - A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Vol. I" by Various Artists

Music blog Consequence of Sound has put together videos of what it believes to be all the songs on the new, so-far-untitled Foo Fighters album, which comes out in April, in the order they'll appear. These videos were made at different times and places by different people, so the quality may vary widely.

British Singer Adele Appears on SNL

Adele is the latest British female singer to take the U.S. by storm, following the success of women like Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse, and Duffy. Some of Adele's songs you might have heard include "Cold Shoulder," "Chasing Pavements," and "Make You Feel My Love." (The video for "Cold Shoulder" is below.)

Adele appeared on Saturday Night Live on Oct. 18th, and you can hear her songs, view her videos, and learn all about Adele at her official Web site. You can also hear tunes and view videos, and buy songs online from her album "19" at Adele's MySpace page. Unfortunately, NBC doesn't have Adele's performances from her 2008 SNL appearance archived on its website (or the rest of the show, for that matter).

Adele has had to cancel planned performances in the U.S. and elsewhere but will be touring the U.S. starting in January 2009.