Concert Notes: Tickets for Bob Mould, Fleetwood Mac, Stars, & More Going on Sale Soon

Now that the 12/12/12 Concert is over (and what did you all think of it?), you're probably revved up to go and see some live music. And at prices a bit more affordable than that big show at the Garden. Fortunately, there are a lot of great shows going on sale in the coming days, including Bob Mould, Stars, Fleetwood Mac, two nights of the Don Giovanni Records Showcase, and an added show of Tegan and Sara.

Below is information on just some of the quality shows going on sale this weekend.

Don Giovanni Records presents a two-night showcase in Feb.

* Tegan and Sara at the Beacon Theatre, Jan. 28th (already on sale) and Jan 29th (on sale Friday at 11 a.m.)

*  Don Giovanni Records Showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Feb. 8th (featuring Laura Stevenson & the Cans, Jeffrey Lewis, Waxahatchee, Lemuria, and Hilly Eye) and Feb. 9th (featuring Screaming Females, Black Wine, Stormshadow, Home Blitz, and Shellshag) (both on sale Friday at 12 Noon)

* Bob Mould at Bowery Ballroom, Feb. 26th and 27th (both on sale Friday at 12 Noon)

* Stars at Music Hall of Williamsburg, March 8th and March 9th (both on sale Friday at 12 Noon)

* Brandi Carlile at the Beacon, March 22nd and 23rd (rescheduled dates; original shows postponed due to Hurricane Sandy) (on sale now)

* Frightened Rabbit at Terminal 5, April 4th (on sale Friday at 12 Noon)

* Fleetwood Mac at Madison Square Garden, April 8th and the Prudential Center, April 24th (on sale Monday, Dec. 17th, 10 a.m.)

* Rod Stewart with Steve Winwood at Madison Square Garden, April 19th, and Prudential Center, April 21st (both on sale Sat. at 10 a.m.)

* Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band with the Felice Brothers at Terminal 5, May 18th (on sale Friday at 12 Noon)

In case you didn't stay awake for the ending of the 12/12/12 Concert, Alicia Keys finished "Empire State of Mind" sometime after 1 a.m., with Paul McCartney and a large gathering of are police, fire, and other workers on stage. And the much-dreaded teaming of Paul McCartney with the members of Nirvana actually was pretty rocking. The combo some have dubbed "Sirvana" played just one tune, a new song called "Cut Me Some Slack."

(See a recap of the 12/12/12 Concert by Spinner's Dan Reilly, and a review by veteran music writer Caryn Rose.)

The concert is said to have raised $30 to $35 million in ticket sales alone (though it's not clear if that's the total take or the amount that will go to charity). Figures aren't yet available for how much money was raised by people offering donations via phone or Internet (you can still make contributions at www.121212concert.org).

NYC Concert Notes: Tickets for K'Naan, Fun., David Johansen On Sale Friday

Here are links to tickets for a few upcoming concerts in New York City that are going on sale Friday, Sept. 7th. (And if you're in the New York area, a reminder that you can see Bob Mould and Cymbals Eat Guitars FREE at Williamsburg Park in Brooklyn that night.)

Some of the interesting shows going on sale Friday:

• Fun. at Irving Plaza, Tues., Oct. 30th (on sale: 12 Noon)
• K'Naan at Highline Ballroom, Thurs., Nov. 1st (on sale: 12 Noon)
• David Johansen at Highline Ballroom with The Last Bison, Los Texmaniacs, and Eliana Burki, Sun., Jan. 13th (on sale: 12 Noon)

And for music fans in the upper Westchester area, there's good news in that the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester has reopened and has a full slate of concerts. Bob Dylan opened the new Bowery Presents venue earlier this week, and upcoming events include Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang (Sept. 9th), The Roots and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (Sept. 14th), The J. Geils Band (Sept. 19th), and Regina Spektor and Only Son (Oct. 3rd). (See Capitol Theatre upcoming shows here.)

Although Port Chester isn't very close to me (unless I'm visiting friends in Westchester or Connecticut), it's great to see another music venue opening in the greater NYC area. For a long time in New York, you only heard about clubs closing down; it's good to hear of new ones coming online.

Stream Bob Mould's New Album; See Him Live FREE in Brooklyn on Friday

Bob Mould and band performing "The Descent" on Letterman last night (via Stereogum).

Rolling Stone is streaming Bob Mould's new album "Silver Age," and you can listen to it here. The album dropped on Sept. 4th. (RS has apparently had this up since Aug. 27th; don't know how I missed it, but the stream still works.) I got the album the other day and it definitely rocks; this isn't one of Mould's albums of quiet, introspective songs. It should be great to hear these songs live.

Speaking of which: If you're a Mould fan in the New York area, you'll want to catch his free show this Friday, Sept. 7th at the Williamsburg Park, at East River State Park (see their Facebook page). It's address is listed as 50 Kent Avenue and North 12th St.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, and Cymbals Eat Guitars has been added to the lineup.

As previously mentioned here, Mould and his band (Jon Wurster and Jason Narducy) will play Sugar's classic album "Copper Blue" in its entirety to mark its 20th anniversary. The concert is now being billed as "Bob Mould Plays Copper Blue and Silver Age," so you can expect to hear much of the new album. And, no doubt, some tunes from the catalog of Hüsker Dü and Mould's solo career. 

If you're a Bob Mould fan (like me) this is a great week, especially if you're in New York. In case you're not in the NYC area, Mould appears next in Washington, D.C. (Sept. 8th), Boston (the 10th), and Philadelphia (the 11th). See all Bob Mould tour dates here.

Now Streaming: New CDs from Dead Can Dance, Mexican Institute of Sound, & More

There are no big blockbuster albums among those streaming this week, but you'll find some interesting new releases nonetheless. There's a new album by the reunited Dead Can Dance, which coincides with its world tour beginning this week (they'll play two shows at the Beacon Theatre August 29th and 30th). You can download a free track from the album, "Amnesia," at the Dead Can Dance website.  (Update, Aug. 10th: review of DCD's "Anastatis" at Consequence of Sound.)

There's also a new release from Mexican Institute of Sound, the Latin electronic-music group spearheaded by Camilo Lara, the producer who's also head of EMI Mexico. I'm not generally a fan of electronica but I've liked some of the catchy music the group has put out in the past, so I'll be giving "Politico" a listen.



The British group Django Django refreshes the psychedelic sounds of the 1960s for today on its self-titled album, which features some sweet harmonies as well. It's streaming on NPR Music this week. (Django Django plays the Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 2nd.)

There are other albums to check out; see the titles below. And my semi-regular notice: albums generally stream for one week, starting on Mondays. And each of the sites below usually has more albums than I've given; see the links for their complete offerings.

Also: Bob Mould's new album doesn't come out until Sept. 4th, but you can listen to a song from it, "The Descent," here at SoundCloud.

Enjoy!

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Anastasis" by Dead Can Dance
"Politico" by Mexican Institute of Sound

NPR First Listen:
"Django Django" by Django Django

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Instinct" by Niki & The Dove
"Live in London" by Birdy
"Masked Intruder" by Masked Intruder
"Dig. Sow. Love. Grow." by Buffalo Killers
"Something About The Summer" by Koko Beware
"Between the Ditches" by Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
"Remember When" by The Orwells
Stray Light by Bird & Batteries
"Last Goodbye" by Nightmare River Band

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Never Trust the Dead" by The Wicked

Music Notes: Download New Corin Tucker Song, Muse Goes for Gold, Free Williamsburg Concerts, & More

Here's a roundup of news from around the music world: new songs, free concerts, & various other things.

* Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney has a new song out, "Groundhog Day," and you can download it here, (via Consequence of Sound and Pitchfork). It's the lead-off track from the group's forthcoming second album, "Kill My Blues" (cover below) which will come out on Sept. 18th on Kill Rock Stars.

Album cover of the second full-length from the Corin Tucker Band.

* Muse has also released a new song, "Survival," which has been tapped as the official song of the 2012 London Olympics (listen below). You're going to be hearing it everywhere; get used to it now.



* The schedule for free concerts at the Williamsburg waterfront have been released, and there are three solid shows:
July 19th: Pretty Good Friends with Eugene Mirman and special musical guest OK Go
August 18th: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings with Antibalas
Sept. 7th: Bob Mould (performing Sugar's "Copper Blue" as well as songs from his new album, "Silver Age," as well as tunes from Husker Du, Sugar, and his solo career).

The shows take place at Williamsburg Park at N. 12th St. and Kent Ave. See Free Williamsburg for more information on free and ticketed concerts and links to buying tickets.

* Mumford & Sons announced summer tour dates, and they're coming to Hoboken on August 1st. They'll be playing at Pier A park, and tickets are $55 (but have no additional fees). For that price, I'll wait to see if there's a good opening act on the bill. Tickets go on sale here on Friday the 29th (presale is the 28th).

See here for tickets for all other summer Mumford shows.

Music Notes: New Bob Mould Album & Tour, Amanda Palmer Raises $1 Mil; IUMA Revived;

Veteran rockers are back on the road and a newer artist has raised a record-breaking bundle of cash online in this edition of Music Notes:

* Bob Mould has announced a new set of tour dates, as well as more details on his new album. The new release, "Silver Age," will be released Sept. 4th on his new record label, Merge. Mould's website say the 10 new tunes on the album are "in the punishingly loud melodically sparkling pop/rock vein of the Sugar catalogue being reissued on Merge July 24."

The cover of Bob Mould's new album, "Silver Age."

Speaking of the Sugar releases, this is the 20th anniversary of the band's "Copper Blue," and Mould and his band (Jon Wurster and Jason Narducy) will be performing the album in its entirety, as well as songs from other Sugar albums, Hüsker Dü tunes, and selections from Mould's solo albums, depending on the date.

The Bob Mould tour comes to New York on September 7th with a gig at Webster Hall.



* Like many musicians these days who split from major labels, Amanda Palmer set up a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for her new album. Unlike most of them, however, Palmer (who now seems to be calling herself Amanda F*cking Palmer) not only exceeded her funding goal but blew it out of the water. Instead of raising $100,000, the campaign raised over one million dollars (from close to 21,000 different backers). She passed the initial $100,000 goal on the campaign's first day, and raised a Kickstarter record $379,000 in two days.

What's the money being used for? For one thing, manufacturing and promotion. And artwork: Palmer says she's "been working in secret with OVER THIRTY visual artist friends of mine... to create a massive explosion of song-inspired album art, in all different kinds of media."

As with any Kickstarter campaign, people can choose to contribute a variety of dollar amounts, and get progressively more valuable goodies as the amount increases. (Palmer's campaign was distinctive for offering nearly two dozen donation amounts and accompanying goodies.) If you just want the MP3 version of the new album (which is what I chose), the cost is only $1.

It's baaack: The Internet Underground Music Archive returns!

* Before MP3.com, eMusic, etc., the Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA) was the place to discover new music with licensed downloads. As a "GigaOm" article notes, "the site also struggled to pioneer a business model for online music, and eventually shut down in 2006, with hundreds of thousands of songs going offline – until now." (At one point, IUMA was actually bought by eMusic, which is still going today.)

Jason Scott, the man behind Textfiles.com, eventually rescued IUMA by uploading a large portion of it to the Internet Archive, Archive.org. Browse through IUMA and take a trip back in time, musically speaking. To learn more about IUMA's history, read Scott's description here, which includes a link to a CNN video on IUMA (from 1994!).

Music Notes: The Civil Wars Make Billboard Cover, Imperial Teen Contest, & More

The Civil Wars are the subject of a recent cover story in Billboard.

This edition of news from the music world includes another big accomplishment for an acclaimed duo, a unique contest to get attention for a returning indie-pop band, a new signing for an established rocker, and more concert podcast downloads from South by Southwest.

* The run of good luck just keeps on going for The Civil Wars, with the duo making the cover of last week's Billboard. The accompanying story describes their other accomplishments, including scoring a movie, having one of their songs featured on the "Hunger Games" soundtrack, and co-writing a song with megastar Taylor Swift. Oh, and that's all besides their one-minute appearance on this year's Grammys, which gave them the show's second-largest bump in sales after the telecast (trailing only Adele).

* Imperial Teen has come up with a novel way to drum up attention for its latest album, "Feel the Sound": it's encouraging fans to download and print out masks of the band members, and then create videos of themselves wearing them. The idea came from fans' requesting their own copies of the masks that appear in Imperial Teen's "Runaway" video. And that led to a full-blown contest.



"Feel the Sound"(Merge Records) is Imperial Teen's fifth album, and the first in five years for the San Francisco band that features Roddy Bottum, formerly of Faith No More. See reviews of the album in Rolling Stone and Spin.

* Speaking of Merge, the indie label added another prestigious name when it announced during South by Southwest that it had signed Bob Mould. The former member of Hüsker Dü and Sugar is working on a new album, which will be out on Merge in the Fall. According to Mould's website, the album will be "recorded with his current bandmates, Jon Wurster (Superchunk, The Mountain Goats), and Jason Narducy (Robert Pollard, Verbow)."

As noted here before, Mould is planning a limited number of shows in the coming months at which he'll perform Sugar's album "Copper Blue"(which was released 20 years ago). He was scheduled to perform "Copper Blue" at South by Southwest last night (March 17th).

* There are more SXSW concert downloads available from NPR Music, including Sugar Tongue Slim, Lower Dens, and Poliça. The set by The Magnetic Fields will be posted sometime later, NPR says. And if you didn't hear or see Bruce Springsteen's SXSW keynote address, make sure you check it out; it's a great discussion on the history and meaning of music, and is definitely worth your time.

* WFMU has posted the archives from its March 17th live show at Beerland for SXSW, featuring performances from The Men, Jason Sigal and Brian Turner, Electric Jellyfish, and more.

Bob Mould Plays Songs Old & New at City Winery

Bob Mould has never been one to rest on his laurels, as he indicated once again at one-and-three-quarters-hour sold-out show Thursday night at New York's City Winery. Though he was the leader of the influential and much-loved Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü, Mould has forged his own career since then that has lasted a good deal longer than the group he is best known for.


Above: Bob Mould performs "Make No Sense at All" in Los Angeles in 2008.

Though I wasn't able to take any photos or video at the show, the video above gives a pretty good idea of the sound and look of a Bob Mould show. There's no stage show or effects, no band, no frequent guitar changes, just Mould and his Stratocaster (though sometimes he may play an acoustic guitar as well). Even the clothing is pretty similar to that seen below: Mould in a black or gray t-shirt and blue jeans.

Although Mould has been doing shows that combined song and talking (to promote his recent autobiography, "See a Little Light"), he was all about the music at City Winery, which was fine with me and what seemed to be most of the other fans there. Starting with "Wishing Well" from his first solo album "Workbook," Mould played song after song from his now-lengthy catalog.

There were other songs from "Workbook" ("See a Little Light" and "Brasilia Crossed with Trenton") as well as tunes from his more recent solo efforts (including "The Silence Between Us" and "I'm Sorry, Baby, But You Can't Stand in My Light Anymore") and selections from his post-Husker Du band Sugar (including "Hoover Dam" and "My Favorite Thing").

He closed the show with an encore of "If I Can't Change Your Mind" and Hüsker Dü's "Makes No Sense at All."

Mould occasionally stopped between songs to briefly add context to a song or tell a story. Among other things, he mentioned that he enjoyed playing with the Foo Fighters; he performed on a song on their latest album and also performed it with them in concert a few times.

And in what will be good news for Bob Mould fans, he plans to play some upcoming dates with a trio. A note on his website reads, "In honor of the 20-year anniversary of Sugar's "Copper Blue," Bob along with his band, Jon Wurster (Superchunk, The Mountain Goats), and Jason Narducy (Robert Pollard, Verbow) will be performing the album in its entirety for the first time ever."

Mould mentioned at the show that he'd be playing some upcoming dates with the trio and would begin with some European and later dates, but I don't recall him specifically mentioning that they were to be "Copper Blue" shows. Nevertheless, the notice on Mould's website mentions several European dates for the "Copper Blue" show as well as a show in San Francisco Feb. 24th.

Also in the future for Mould is a new album (he played at least one new song on Thursday night).  To hear what a Bob Mould solo show sounds like, you can stream his set from last year's Sasquatch festival.

If you're a fan of Bob Mould or any of his various musical incarnations, check out his website for news of his shows with the trio. Although Mould can rock out with just his Stratocaster, there's nothing like hearing him the the full sound of a band.

Music Notes: Go-Go's & The Cars Playing NYC, Google's Music Cloud, Prince's 21 Nights in L.A., Bob Mould Memoir

Video for "Blue Tip," a song from "Move Like This," the forthcoming album from The Cars.

There's music news from the cutting edge of technology and the punk and new-wave days of the 1980s this week:

* The Go-Go's have rescheduled their reunion tour, which was cancelled last year when guitarist Jane Wiedlin suffered a knee injury while hiking. The Go-Go's and their "Ladies Gone Wild" tour hits New York's Irving Plaza on June 3rd; tickets are available here. Their planned tour last year was billed as a farewell tour, but this one isn't—I'm hoping that means that the band isn't planning on this run of shows to be its last. The tour coincides with the 30th anniversary of their blockbuster debut album, "Beauty and the Beat."

* The Cars on tour: I mentioned a couple of months ago that The Cars were coming out with a new album, "Move Like This," in May, and now they've got some tour dates planned. They're playing New York's Roseland Ballroom on May 25th, and you can look for tickets here.

* Google's cloud music player being tested: Amazon.com launched its cloud media player last week, and apparently Google's entry into the market is undergoing testing by the company's employees. Although Amazon's service seems to have run afoul of the music companies by not getting licensing rights, CNet wrote a few weeks ago that Google is in negotiations with the companies for rights to stream music from the cloud.

* Prince will play a 21-night residency in Los Angeles, starting this Thursday, April 14th at the Forum in Inglewood (where the Lakers used to play). The next shows will be April 21st and 22nd; the rest have yet to be announced. Tickets for the shows went on sale this morning. It's unclear where the rest of the Prince concerts will be; info on dates and locations are being made public on short notice. But here's a nice, fan-friendly twist to Prince's "21 Nite Stand": supposedly close to 85% of the tickets will go for $25, including fees.

* Bob Mould autobiography coming: I didn't know that the Minneapolis rock icon was working on a memoir, but someone mentioned it on Twitter today and there it was on Amazon.com: "See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody"comes out on June 15th and is available for pre-order. From the description (which I'm guessing comes from the publisher):

For the first time, Mould tells his dramatic story, opening up to describe life inside that furnace and beyond. Revealing the struggles with his own homosexuality, the complexities of his intimate relationships, as well as his own drug and alcohol addiction, Mould takes us on a whirlwind ride through achieving sobriety, his acclaimed solo career, creating the hit band Sugar, a surprising detour into the world of pro wrestling, and most of all, finally finding his place in the world.

That's definitely a book I'll want to read.

Live Tonight: Bob Mould & Lenny Kaye at City Winery

If you're in New York tonight and want some rock & roll to shake off the rainy weather, you might want to check out former Husker Du member Bob Mould at City Winery. also on the bill is Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith band member and much more) at City Winery. Tickets are still available, according to the website, and range from $30 to $40.

As I noted a couple of weeks ago, Bob Mould is at City Winery again tomorrow night, with Marshall Crenshaw (seems like that show is sold out or close to it).

City Winery is a nice, intimate venue that recalls bygone spaces like The Bottom Line. And as its name suggests, they make and serve a wide range of wines.

Happy 50th Birthday to Bob Mould

A Twitter message from Wall Street Journal rock critic Jim Fusilli on Saturday noted that Oct. 16th is the 50th birthday of Bob Mould. Although he's best known as the leader of the hard-rocking 1980s Minneapolis trio Husker Du, Mould has been making a lot of good music since that group's demise with bands including Sugar and his current group, called simply the Bob Mould Band.

Above is an example of the fast and furious sound of Husker Du doing "Makes No Sense at All" (with "Love Is All Around," the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore show, at the end. Below is the Bob Mould Band performing "A Good Idea," from Mould's 2007 live DVD "Circle of Friends."

Bob Mould has two New York shows coming up, Nov. 4th and 5th at City Winery. (See all Mould tour dates here.)

Happy birthday, Bob Mould, and here's to many more years of rocking.

Bob Mould Plays Maxwell's Solo (But Not Acoustic)

Bob Mould put on a rocking show with his band back in March in New York, and last Thursday he played a couple of intimate solo shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Solo, yes, but definitely not acoustic: Mould and his electric guitar were strumming and howling through a selection of songs from his entire catalog, much like his NYC show in March.

That show was in one of a much larger venue, Irving Plaza, and Mould probably wouldn't play a club the size of Maxwell's except for its historical value. Maxwell's was one of the clubs that Mould's seminal band Husker Du played at, and onstage at the club Mould even seemed to recall the first time he played there (1984). Mould's two-night stand at Maxwell's was part of the club's 30th anniversary, and the 10th anniversary of the club's current ownership (which rescued the club from a brief, unfortunate incarnation as an Italian restaurant and brewpub).

There definitely seemed to be a sameness to the songs when heard only on one electric guitar, but to hear a legend like Bob Mould in a place as intimate as Maxwell's, with a capacity of about 200, was a rare treat I didn't want to miss.

And good news for Mould fans: he played a few new songs at Maxwell's and said that he was working on a new album, which is scheduled to be out next Spring. Considering that District Line is still a pretty recent album, that's good news indeed.

Bob Mould Live in NYC: Husker Du, Sugar, and More

After rocking hard most of his career, Bob Mould stepped back away from the world of rock and touring, as indicated by the title of his album “Last Dog and Pony Show.”

He still put out solo albums, though, and recently came out with a new album, "District Line." A couple of weeks ago he brought his new tour to New York's Irving Plaza. If he's lost any intensity or guitar skills since the last time I saw him live with Sugar a few years back, he sure didn't show it. (I never did see Husker Du when they were around, so I can't make a comparison to those days.)

Mould and his band ripped through a solid, hard-rocking set with no lulls. As a review of his recent show in Philadelphia noted, "Mould proved he could bring the rock whenever he felt like it - very loud, very hard and very fast." He played a number of tunes from the new album, District Line, as well as from Mould solo albums (including one of my favorites, “See a Little Light” from the Workbook album), Sugar (including “My Favorite Thing” and “Hoover Dam”), and of course some old Husker Du favs such as “Makes No Sense at All” and “Divide and Conquer.”

“District Line” is a solid album, and while it has the familiar Bob Mould guitar-driven sound, it also includes some sounds that reflects his work experimenting with electronic music and spinning DJ sets with Richard Morel (who's playing keyboards in Mould's current band).