New Bruce Springsteen Album Details; Single "We Take Care of Our Own" Out Now

Bruce Springsteen is back, and he's back with a vengeance. You can buy his new single "We Take Care of Our Own" now (it went on sale at 12 Midnight on Jan. 19th). The song is available for sale on Amazon.com and iTunes here in the U.S. It's also on sale in the U.K. (and possibly other places as well). [UPDATE, 1/19 11 a.m.: Springsteen has posted a video version of "We Take Care of Our Own" at his website... complete with lyrics (uh, for doing sing-alongs?).]

(For a first impression of "We Take Care of Our Own," see the comments of NYC music writer and Backstreets contributor Caryn Rose on her Tumblr, Jukebox Graduate.)



The new Bruce Springteeen album, to be called "Wrecking Ball," will be released on March 6th in the U.S. A batch of European tour dates have been announced for the spring and summer for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (U.S. tour dates and more European gigs will be announced later [see U.S. tour dates below]). If the album's name sounds familiar, it's the name of a song Springsteen wrote to commemorate his run of shows at New Jersey's Giants Stadium (he was the last performer to play there before it was demolished).

[UPDATE: See initial series of Bruce Springsteen U.S. tour dates here.]

Rolling Stone quotes Springsteen's manager, Jon Landau, as saying that "Wrecking Ball" is a "big-picture piece of work" that has, as one source who's heard it described, "unexpected textures–loops, electronic percussion... influences and rhythms from hip-hop to Irish folk rhythms." Landau says the album touches on issues of politics and social justice, and RS quotes him has saying that Springsteen feels it is "the angriest album he's ever made."

"Wrecking Ball" was produced by Ron Aniello. Here is the track listing:

1. We Take Care of Our Own
2. Easy Money
3. Shackled and Drawn
4. Jack of All Trades
5. Death to My Hometown
6. This Depression
7. Wrecking Ball
8. You've Got It
9. Rocky Ground
10. Land of Hope and Dreams
11. We Are Alive

The Springsteen European tour begins May 13th in Seville, Spain and includes stops in Barcelona, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Berlin, London, and Oslo, among other places before wrapping up in late July. (See all the current Bruce Springsteen tour dates here.)

Music Notes: Wild Flag Played Letterman; Matisyahu Shaves His Beard; D Generation to Record; More

Here are some tidbits of music news from far and wide:

• Wild Flag made its network TV debut last night, playing "Romance" on Letterman (video below).

•  Trent Reznor "feels at home" with "Dragon Tattoo": the L.A. Times looks at how the Nine Inch Nails frontman fit right in writing the music for one of the year's most anticipated movies.

• Hasidic rap/reggae star Matisyahu shaved off his trademark beard and posted a photo of his cleanly shorn face on Twitter. He explained on his website that he is "reclaiming himself" from the many rules he used to follow, and tells his fans to "Get ready for an amazing year filled with music of rebirth." 

•  D Generation to record new music: before Jesse Malin was a solo singer-songwriter, he was in the punk band D Generation, which reformed to play a few gigs recently. Now it seems they are going to record some new tunes in 2012. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

• Rolling Stone's recent issue named its 100 greatest guitarists of all time, but the list was, not surprisingly, short on women. Grrrlbeat.com mentions some of the women axe players that RS forgot.

• Visqueen disbands, but Rachel Flotard plays on: I was sad to hear that the band broke up, but was glad to learn that its leader, Bergen County, NJ native Flotard, is already at work with another project, called Cobirds Unite, with singer-songwriter Rusty Willoughby and others (including Barbara Hunter, Visqueen's cello player).

• Google Music vs. Amazon vs. iTunes: a reporter put the three major cloud music players to the test, telling who came out on top and why.

The Year's Best Tunes? Here's a Whole Bunch of "Best Music of 2009" Lists...

The end of the year is a time to reflect on the best (and sometimes worst) music of the past year. And in the case of 2009, it's also the end of a decade (or not, as some would argue), so there are a lot of lists tallying up the best of the '00s, or aughts, or whatever the hell this decade is to be called.

Here's a sampling of some best-of lists of the year and the decade, from music business sources and the general-interest press.

* L.A.'s KCRW considers the top 10 live performances that took place on its flagship program, Morning Becomes Eclectic.

* Also, KCRW's music librarian, Eric J. Lawrence, offers a preview of music forthcoming in 2010.

* At another one of my favorite radio stations, New York's WFUV, the DJs and staff weigh in on their favorite songs and albums of the year.

* MTV, which now seems more of a reality TV network than a music channel, surveys the best music (and artists, and films, etc.) from 2009 (which they have dubbed "The Year of Gaga")

* NPR Music, which produces a number of fine music podcasts, live concerts, and more, offers several lists detailing different staff members' favorite music of the year.

* The Dallas Observer reviews the year in Latin music.

* Time magazine's top 10 albums of 2009.

* Entertainment Weekly's 10 best albums of the decade

* Amazon.com lists 88 "Outstanding 2009 Albums You Might Have Missed." Looking through the first page of the listing, I can honestly say I've heard of only one or two of these albums/artists. Will have to check them out.

* Rolling Stone gives its picks for the best albums and songs of the Aughts... I mean, 2000s ... you know, the still-unnamed first decade of the 21st century.

* NME magazine offers its 50 top tracks of the year.

* And Idolator lists the top-selling songs and albums of the year at iTunes, along with its editors' picks.

Onward to 2010...