Music News: New Phish CD, No More Radiohead Albums, Woodstock’s Forgotten Man, and Michael Jackson Concert

This week's developments in the music world involve everything from '60s classics to today's alt-rock groups.

Vermont jam-rock band Phish will release its new album "Joy" on Sept. 8th. Paste Magazine says that fans can buy the album in "CD, vinyl records, or splurge on the Joy Box, containing an explosion of Phish paraphernalia, including a second album, Party Time, just in case Joy alone doesn't cut it." Phish worked on the album with producer Steve Lillywhite, who also produced their 1996 album as well as recordings from U2, Dave Matthews, and other big names.

Thom Yorke has said in an interview that Radiohead will release no more full-length albums. The article in Believer quotes Yorke as saying that recording full-length albums had become "a drag" and that the band will instead focus on producing EPs and downloadable singles, such as their new “Harry Patch (In Memory Of),” a tribute to the recently deceased last British veteran of World War I.

It's the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, and the Wall Street Journal has an article on Bert Sommer, which it calls "Woodstock's Forgotten Man." The musician, who performed on the iconic festival's first day, wasn't represented on the Woodstock albums, and the article says his name was even omitted from the original commemorative plaque placed at the site of the concert. Though he recorded a few albums, he never became widely known, and died in 1990. A friend created a tribute Web site to him, www.BertSommer.com.

Michael Jackson will be getting a tribute concert fit for the King of Pop, an affair in the lavish Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna, home to the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Jermaine Jackson, the oldest brother of Michael, is lining up artists to perform at the gig, which may attract an audience of "at least 85,000."

British folk-rocker and activist Billy Bragg criticizes the record labels for trying to sic Internet providers on illegal music downloaders. In an article in The Guardian, Bragg says that while he is opposed to copyright infringement, record labels and Internet companies shouldn't be penalizing music fans. He suggests that "Clearly, some form of P2P subscription service is the way forward, if only because it provides the most convenient way for consumers to access music."

Blondie, Pat Benatar, and The Donnas to Play FREE Coney Island Show Thursday

A month after the Siren Festival, Coney Island is set to host another big concert event: the women-who-rock tripleheader of Blondie, Pat Benatar, and The Donnas. The three acts, who have been touring around the U.S. this summer, will be performing a free show in the Summer Seaside Concert Series at Asser Levy/Seaside Park in Coney Island/Brighton Beach, across the street from the New York Aquarium.

You can find directions to Asser Levy Park here, including subway and driving directions and a link to a map of the area. (Via subway: take the D to Stillwell Avenue/Coney Island Station; or take the Q or F to West 8th Street/NY Aquarium Station.)

See here for more Donnas tour dates, including some headlining shows. You can find Pat Benatar tour dates here. And here's the link for all the Blondie tour dates.

The free Blondie/Benatar/Donnas show in Brooklyn has been on my radar for some time, but I hadn't been aware of this concert series until just now. Which is too bad, because they've had some great classic acts: Credence Clearwater Revival, Gladys Knight and the O'Jays, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Daryl Hall and John Oates, and the last show of the season, Donna Summer on August 27th.

New Podcast Episodes: Frank Black, Newport Folk Concerts, The Clash Covers

The FrankBlack.net Podcast is out with an episode on Grand Duchy.

Some good new episodes are out this week in a number of long-running podcasts. Here are a few highlights.

The FrankBlack.net Podcast has been coming out sporadically this year, but they've got a new episode out devoted to Grand Duchy, the band featuring Black and his wife Violet. The band is currently on its first tour, and I caught of few songs during its set at Coney Island's Siren Festival.

If you didn't manage to hear any of NPR's live Webcasts from the Newport Folk Festival, you can still catch them... and keep them, in many cases. NPR Music has started to put up free podcast downloads of Newport Folk concerts, including Joan Baez, Gillian Welch, Fleet Foxes, Neko Case, Mavis Staples, and more.

If you'd prefer a sampling of the Newport Folk concerts, NPR also has a free podcast download up that covers day 1 of the festival, and there will probably be more to come.

And over at Coverville, the all-cover-songs podcast, you'll find a diverse range of covered artists, as usual. Episode 600 is devoted to covers of KISS, while number 599 tackles Cat Stevens and 598 features cover versions of The Clash's iconic album, "London Calling." And all three of those Coverville podcasts have come just since July 30th!

Enjoy...

Modest Mouse's New "King Rat" Video, Directed by Heath Ledger, is Released

Besides being an actor, the late Heath Ledger also directed several music videos, and his last one was released today. Ledger's six-minute video for Modest Mouse's song "King Rat" made its debut today exclusively on MySpace Video. (Embedding the video was disabled, but I've put a screen cap above and you can view the video at the link.)

Although the animated video features fish and other sea creatures piloting a fishing boat, which seems like standard cartoon fare, the video takes a dark turn as we see the "fishermen" hunting for (and killing) humans. (Which may explain why the video has a positive rating of only 25%.) It's said that the video reflects Ledger's interest in the issue of illegal commercial whaling, which is a controversial issue in the late actor's native Australia.

A press release says that Ledger had proposed the idea for the video in 2007, according to a blog post at SeattlePI.com. The video was unfinished at the time of his death, but was completed by a company that Ledger had worked with, in honor of the actor.

The release also said that, in keeping with Ledger's interests in protecting ocean life, proceeds from sales of the first month of the video's iTunes sales will go to an international marine wildlife organization.

All Points West: Sunday is Soggy But Now OPEN!

After a four-hour delay due to steady rain in the NY metro area, the All Points West Festival is now open for its third and final day.

Around 3:10 p.m. Liberty Event, the company that produces All Points West, sent a message from its Twitter account (@libertyevent) saying, "Doors are OPEN at #APW #AllPointsWest. A break in the skies."

Turns out that was premature, though; it seems the gates didn't actually open until almost an hour later. All Points West sent a message from its Twitter account about 4:10 reading, “THE DOORS ARE OPEN! Let the games BEGIN! RE-TWEET like craaazzyyyyyy!!!!!!”

No word yet on how this will affect the schedule. Sunday's show was to begin at Noon and headliners Coldplay were to take the stage at 9:35, with other bands going on later at the other stages. Another factor is that this is Sunday and many people will be going to their 9-to-5 jobs the next day.

Oh, and just to complicate things more, rain is forecast for tonight.

Festival Updates: from Newport Folk and All Points West

The 50-year-old Newport Folk Festival and the sophomore edition of the All Points West Festival in NJ are heading into their final day. APW experienced rain off and on during Friday, but the show went on. Saturday was sunny and rain free, but as the New York Times and other attendees reported, the fields were quite muddy.

Tomorrow's All Points West schedule features headliners Coldplay, along with MGMT, Echo and the Bunnymen, Mogwai, Elbow, and L.A.'s Silversun Pickups, among others.

The Newport Folk Festival seems to have been rain free, and I was able to listen to portions of some of the sets through NPR's live streaming, including the Avett Brothers and Fleet Foxes. They will be doing live audio tomorrow as well, and they say that all of the concerts will be archived online for later listening.

Here is the Newport Folk Festival live streaming schedule for Sunday:

11:30 a.m. Josh Ritter
12:30 p.m. Campbell Brothers
1:35 p.m. Neko Case
2:55 p.m. Arlo Guthrie
4:15 p.m. Joan Baez
6 p.m. Pete & Tao Seeger & friends with special guest Judy Collins