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).

Now Streaming: New CDs from David Byrne and St. Vincent, Dave Stewart, Ian Hunter, & More

This Labor Day is a happy one indeed, with plenty of tasty, high-profile new albums up for streaming. One of the most anticipated is "Love This Giant," the collaboration between David Byrne and Annie Clark, the singer-songwriter-guitarist better known by her stage name, St. Vincent.

This latest musical odd couple doesn't sound quite as unusual as the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss collaboration, but I'll definitely be interested in hearing what these two have come up with in the studio. They're out on tour now, so if you like the album, by all means check them out live.


Video for "Girl in a Catsuit" by Dave Stewart, featuring Orianthi.

Also new this week: the latest solo albums by two veteran British artists, Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter and Eurythmics member Dave Stewart; and brand-new collections by Two Door Cinema Club, The xx, Azure Ray, Jens Lekman, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Sheepdogs, and Black Mountain (the soundtrack for the post-apocalyptic film, "Year Zero").

And there's a new album by Tanita Tikaram, the British singer best known for the haunting 1980s hit "Twist in My Sobriety." She's back with her first new release in seven years.

You also get second chances to hear the new albums by Stars, Deerhoof, and the Avett Brothers.

Summer may be over, but that means the Fall crop of record releases is coming on strong. Happy listening, all.

NPR First Listen:
"Love This Giant" by David Byrne and Annie Clark

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"When I'm President" by Ian Hunter
"The Ringmaster General" by Dave Stewart
"Year Zero: The Original Soundtrack" by Black Mountain
"Beacon" by Two Door Cinema Club
"As Above So Below" by Azure Ray
"The North" by Stars
"Breakup Song" by Deerhoof
"Bootlegs" by Sondre Lerche
"I Know What Love Isn't" by Jens Lekman
"The Sheepdogs" by The Sheepdogs
"Paperback Lover" by Karlie Bruce
"Rattle Them Bones" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Magic" by Smash Mouth
"Sweat Like The Old Days" by Holy Ghost Tent Revival
"The Sky Road" by Jessie Kilguss & Radio Gold
"Can't Go Back" by Tanita Tikaram

KCRW Album Preview: 
"The Carpenter" by the Avett Brothers
"Coexist" by The xx

Now Streaming: New CDs from Stars, Animal Collective, the Avett Brothers, & More

Podcast Party is back from its coastal vacation, and not a moment too soon: there's a boatload of great albums available for streaming this week. Stars, Animal Collective, the Avett Brothers, Deerhoof, Minus the Bear, Alanis Morissette, and Cat Power all have new CDs streaming this week.

After overdosing on most of the above during vacation, we're back to music.

And there are new discs from some veteran artists who haven't been heard from for some time: Art Garfunkel and Triumph. Though these albums are new, the music isn't: the latter is a live album, while the former is a 34-track "compilation of songs personally selected by Art Garfunkel from his life's work," and includes two new songs. (One-quarter of them are Simon & Garfunkel numbers, while the rest are Art Garfunkel.)

What else is streaming? A sampler of the complete studio recordings by Roxy Music, and the soundtrack to the new movie "Lawless," about gangsters in Prohibition-era Virginia, starring Shia Labeouf and featuring music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. (Cave also wrote the movie's screenplay.)

Let's hope that this week's streaming albums means the summer doldrums are over and lots of blockbuster Fall releases are on the way.



Video for "Today's Supernatural," from the new Animal Collective album.

NPR First Listen:
"The North" by Stars (also streaming at CBC)
"The Carpenter" by the Avett Brothers
"Centipede Hz" by Animal Collective
"Sun" by Cat Power
"Breakup Song" by Deerhoof

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Infinity Overhead" by Minus the Bear
"The Singer" by Art Garfunkel
"Lawless: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
"Poor Moon" by Poor Moon
"The Complete Studio Recordings (Sampler)" by Roxy Music
"Havoc and Bright Lights" by Alanis Morissette
"Sublime Currency" by Abandoned Pools
"feathers & fishHooks" by Rayland Baxter
"Montage" EP by City Rain
"The Circle in the Square" EP by Flobots
"All I Did Was Tell Them The Truth And They Thought It Was Hell" by King of Spain
"Volume One" by Paul Cook & The Chronicles

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"My Bonneville" by Annie and the Beekeepers
"Live at Sweden Rock Festival" by Triumph
"Apologies" by David Ramirez
"Ingram Hill" by Ingram Hill
"Noble Stranger" by Nuala Kennedy
"New Day Dawning" by The Roys
"The Rain Is A Handsome Animal" by Tin Hat
"Shout It Loud And Clear" by Una Jensen
"And You Are Me" by Uncle Lucius

Neil Young, Foo Fighters, Others to Play Free Central Park Concert; New Songs by Mumford & Sons & More

It's new songs galore this week, and you'll find a few of them (or links to them) below. And there's news on a blockbuster free concert in Central Park (see details on how to view the live webcast below).

Find out how to get free tickets to the latest blockbuster Central Park concert.

Neil Young, Foo Fighters, the Black Keys, & more to play FREE Central Park concert: 
Yep, those big-name acts, as well as K'Naan and Band of Horses, will play a big FREE Central Park charity concert on Sept. 29th. Called Global Festival, the show, which also features is meant to focus on ending extreme poverty. To enter the drawing for free tickets, you'll need to register at GlobalCitizen.org and earn a few "points" by signing petitions, tweeting, etc. You can also buy tickets outright for the concert (for about $190), which will be held on the Great Lawn. (via Village Voice)
[UPDATE: You can watch the Global Festival concert via live webcast here; just click on "View Live Stream." There will be three showings for different parts of the world.]

Listen to new songs from Stars, the xx, Mumford & Sons, and Thee Oh Sees:
 As for the new songs, one of them is from Mumford and Sons, who played to 15,000-plus fans last week on Hoboken's Pier A park. The band played a number of new tunes there, attendees said, and the one may well have been one of them. (The group also played a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer.")

* "Backlines" by Stars, from their forthcoming album "North," due Sept. 4th (via NPR Music)


* "I Will Wait" by Mumford and Sons, from their forthcoming album "Babel," due Sept. 24th


* "Chained" by The xx, from their new album "Coexist" (via Consequence of Sound)

* "Flood's New Light" by Thee Oh Sees, from their new album "Putrifiers II," due Sept. 11th (via Consequence of Sound)

* "Ireland" by Jess Klein (free download), part of her project to re-record some of her fans' favorite songs in new acoustic versions

Free Music Downloads & Streaming: Live Sets by The Wailin' Jennys, Adele, & More

It's no secret that I like female singer-songwriters and female-fronted bands, so I was happy to find live sets by a number of artists I admire. The downside is that only a couple run more than a half hour.

* The Wailin' Jennys - one-hour concert at McDougall United Church in Edmonton, Alberta, from CBC Radio 2 (listen online or download podcast). (The Wailin' Jennys have a new album, "Bright Morning Stars," coming out on Feb. 8th)

* Adele - the young British singer performs for Philadelphia's World Cafe, 31-minute set (listen online)

* Stars (featuring singer Amy Millan) - 10-minute live set in NPR offices, Washington (watch above, listen online, or download podcast)

* Joan Osborne - live set at WNYC's studios, New York - (listen online or download podcast). Osborne talked about her career and performed a few songs from her latest work, the song cycle "Love and Hate," which she played for the "American Songbook" series at Lincoln Center's Allen Room on Feb. 4th.

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Sarah McLachlan, Tom Petty, Devo, Gaslight Anthem, Stars, Chemical Brothers, More

Left: Devo is offering free previews of its new album, with cats or without.

A lot of veteran artists are among those releasing new albums this week and in the near future, and many of them are available for free online streaming. Besides current artists such as Sarah McLachlan and Oasis coming out with new releases, some musicians from the past are streaming their new projects, including '70s rockers Foghat, Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere, and of course Devo.

Speaking of Devo, the band is hosting a "cat listening party" on Ustream today to preview its new CD, "Something for Everyone." From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific time, you can listen to the album while watching a live video of cats playing in a room. The highlight of the cat pen: a big, fuzzy energy dome for the kitties to climb and romp on.

As for the other streaming CD choices, which presumably don't have live cats...

Spinner.com's Listening Party currently features about 20 albums including:
* "American Slang" by The Gaslight Anthem
* "Mojo" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
* "Barbara" by We Are Scientists
* "Laws of Illusion" by Sarah McLachlan
* "Time Flies" by Oasis
* "Release Me" by The Like
* "Goodbye, Killer" by the Pernice Brothers
* "Last Train Home" by Foghat
* "Something for Everyone" by Devo (if you missed the cat listening party)

AOL Music free album previews, which have some overlap with Spinner: 
* "Playing for Change" by various artists
* "Love Like Crazy" by Lee Brice
* "Red Dog Speaks" by Elvin Bishop
* "Out of the Tunnel's Mouth" by Steve Hackett
* "Existential" by Grupo Fantasma
* "Midnight Flyer" by Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere
* "Live at the Fillmore" by Chris Isaak

NPR First Listen (all streaming until June 22):
* "Homeland" by Laurie Anderson
* "The Five Ghosts" by Stars
* "Broken Hearts And Dirty Windows: Songs Of John Prine" by Josh Ritter, Conor Oberst, and others
* "Further" by The Chemical Brothers
* "I Mean To Live Here Still" by David Karsten Daniels And Fight The Big Bull
* "The Imagine Project" by Herbie Hancock
* "Ten" by Jason Moran