Music Notes: Stones Added to 12/12/12 Concert; Breeders to Tour; Grammy Nominations; Shazam Predicts 2013 Hits?

Here's a round-up of music news from the last few days:

* The star-studded 12/12/12 concert got another star today, as it was announced that the Rolling Stones will be joining the line-up. But if you didn't get in on tickets and don't want to pay the ridiculously high prices being charged at ticket broker websites, don't worry: the show will be televised on CBS and streaming on many websites. (via Consequence of Sound). If you're willing to spend $900 and up per seat, check out the 12/12/12 tickets for sale on StubHub.

[UPDATE, Dec. 11th: Concert organizers have announced that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will open the 12/12/12 concert, and will go on at 7:30 p.m. sharp]




* Dang, has it really been nearly 20 years since the Breeders' "Last Splash"? Apparently so, and the band is re-assembling its line-up from that album and undertaking a play-the-album-in-its-entirety tour next year. (That means drummer Jim MacPherson and bassist Josephine Wiggs, in addition to the Deal twins, Kim and Kelley.) So far the only confirmed Breeders dates are the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in the U.K., in June. There'll be a 20th-anniversary reissue of "Last Splash" too, to be called "LSXX." (via Brooklyn Vegan)

* The Grammy nominations were announced the other night, and despite the usual head-scratchers and predictably bland choices, there was some good news. The Black Keys got five nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Rock Album, and Dan Auerbach (who produced not only his own band but Dr. John and Hacienda) was nominated for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. (via Rolling Stone)

In other worthy Grammy nominations, The Lumineers and Alabama Shakes got nods for Best New Artist, Jack White picked up a few nominations, and even Aimee Mann's "Charmer" was nominated (though it was for Best Recording Package). See the full list of Grammy nominations here.

* While everyone is assembling their best-of-2012 lists, the people behind the music-tagging software Shazam are issuing their predictions for the top songs of 2013. Several of its predictions for 2012 did well, so there's some science behind the prognosticating. Read the article to see how they make their predictions. Among their top 2013 songs: Haim, Angel Haze, and Tito Lopez. (via Billboard)

Rolling Stones Classic "Exile on Main Street" Gets Reissue; Hear It Online Free

The Rolling Stones have gotten into the reissue business, last week reissuing its 1972 classic "Exile on Main Street." According to an article in Billboard, "Exile" is the first Stones album to be released in this latest series of reissues of the band's extensive catalog. 

The remastered "Exile on Main Street" is available in a number of configurations, including the original 18-track set and a deluxe edition that includes 10 additional tracks. Billboard is offering free streaming of the remastered "Exile on Main Street" (the 18-track version) at this link.

Don Was, who has long been a producer for the Rolling Stones, was in charge of the "Exile" reissue, which meant not only cleaning up and improving the existing tracks but going through the extra tracks on the old master recordings and identifying unknown gems and alternate takes worthy of inclusion on the reissue.

You can hear a 35-minute interview with Don Was about the "Exile on Main Street" project and hear some of the previously unreleased tracks at NPR Music.