Great Music Cheap: Last Call for Amazon's $5 MP3 Albums for Oct. (Plus a FREE Halloween Music Mix)

Today is the last day to scarf up $5 MP3 albumsfrom Amazon.com for October. Since I bought a number of CDs this month, I'm going to have to restrain myself in getting some of these Amazon $5 specials. Too bad, since there are some classic titles and some new favorites.

(One album that I will be buying: through the end of today, Amazon is offering one of my favorite albums of 2010,"The Five Ghosts" by Canadian band Stars, for only $3.99.)

Among the $5 MP3 albums from Amazonfor October:

"The Five Ghosts" by Stars
"Myth Takes" by !!! (Chk Chik Chick)
"Thief" by Destroyer (Dan Behar from The New Pornographers)
"Momento" by Bebel Gilberto
"Isolation Drills" by Guided By Voices
"Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91)" by Superchunk
"Who Is This America?" by Antibalas
"Fidelity!" by Chrissie & The Fairground Boys JP (Chrissie Hynde's latest project)
"Passing Strange" - Original Cast Recording
"Rio" by Aterciopelados
"The Suburbs" by Arcade Fire
"Dookie" by Green Day
"The Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance
"Transference" by Spoon
"Under The Blacklight" by Rilo Kiley
"See You On The Moon" by Tift Merritt
"Exile In Guyville" by Liz Phair
"Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
"Shaking The Tree - 16 Golden Greats (Remastered)" by Peter Gabriel

On a totally different subject, today is Halloween and if you're looking for some free music to stream for a party, or to get yourself in a spooky mood, check out the 2009 Creative Commons Halloween Mix from the Free Music Archive. It has a selection of interesting folk, industrial, and rock music; it's not your typical "Monster Mash" selection of familiar Halloween cliches.

There's a 2010 mix too, but it seems to have less music and more noise, sound effects, etc.

Prince to Perform First NYC Shows in Six Years - Tickets on Sale Sat.

Prince has been making catchy pop tunes for several decades now, but he doesn't tour very often. And I've heard that he hasn't toured on the East Coast since 2004.

But Prince is rectifying that in December with five shows in the New York area, two at Madison Square Garden and three at the Izod Center, across the river in East Rutherford, NJ (where the Nets and Devils used to play).

Prince is calling this his "Welcome 2 America" tour, which is to support his latest album "20Ten," which came out over the summer. Tickets for all five New York area Prince shows go on sales Saturday, October 30th at 10 a.m.

On Saturday you can buy Prince tickets for the New York area concerts:

* IZOD Center, Dec. 14
* IZOD Center, Dec. 15
* IZOD Center, Dec. 17
* Madison Square Garden, Dec. 18
* Madison Square Garden, Dec. 29

Japandroids End Their Long Tour with a Rousing Maxwell's Show

Brian King (left) and David Prowse of Japandroids at Maxwell's Wednesday night.

During Wednesday night's show at Maxwell's in Hoboken, Brian King of Japandroids announced that this was their first ever show in New Jersey. As it turns out, he and bandmate Dave Prowse couldn't have chosen a more appropriate place for their first concert in the Garden State, which also happened to be the last date on their lengthy tour.

After more than a year and around 250 gigs, Japandroids wrapped things up with sore voices but energy to spare at the club that for more than 30 years has hosted a who's who of up-and-coming artists. R.E.M. played there in 1981 (back when Michael Stipe still had hair), and since then the Maxwell's stage has hosted performers ranging from Beck to The Fall to Throwing Muses, The Donnas, and Sleater-Kinney.

I had heard lots of good things about Japandroids over the last year and a half, but had never seen them live until last night, having missed three previous shows for a variety of reason. The show had all the sound and fury I expected, and though Japandroids have gotten enough acclaim and great press to have developed swelled heads, Brian King sounded remarkably modest onstage, several times thanking the crowd for coming out for a mid-week show.

By the time Japandroids tour again, their popularity may preclude them playing a venue as small as Maxwell's (which holds about 200); they've already played much larger venues in New York. But it was great to see them in such an intimate space.

Live Music Tonight: Japandroids Wrap Up Their Tour at Maxwell's; Oberhofer Opens

Japandroids, Canada's dynamic duo of garage rock, bring their glorious lo-fi racket to Hoboken with a gig at Maxwell's. Brooklyn-based Oberhofer opens the show, which begins at 9 p.m. This is the last stop on the Japandroids' 250-show tour, NJ.com says.

You can listen to 20 Japandroids songs at the CBC Radio 3 website to get a taste of the band. Brian King (guitar and vocals) and David Prowse (drums and vocals) formed the group in 2006 and have released a number of EPs and 7" singles since then. And they've done a lot of touring—supposedly 250 dates since mid-2009 (the tour was supposed to start earlier, but was delayed when King needed emergency surgery for a perforated ulcer).

I first heard of Oberhofer last month when their WNYC radio featured them in their "gig alert" series and offered a free download of their song "OOooOOooOO." The group, led by 19-year-old Tacoma, Washington native Brad Oberhofer, was among those that CMJ Showcase Director Matt McDonald suggested checking out.

As of this afternoon, tickets were still available for the show.

Japandroids with Oberhofer
Maxwell's, 1039 Washington Street, Hoboken
Doors: 8 p.m.; show: 9 p.m.

Music News: Screaming Females Interview, More on Corin Tucker, LimeWire Shutdown Ordered, Sony Pulls Plug on Cassette Walkman

"Castle Talk," the new Screaming Females album.

Some random notes on music and technology from all over:

* New Brunswick, NJ's Screaming Females were featured on public radio the other day. There was an interview with singer Marissa Paternoster, who talked about her own musical roots and the thriving underground music scene in New Brunswick. You can stream a couple of Screaming Females songs at the link. I have just missed seeing the band a few times now, most recently Saturday when they played a CMJ showcase with Corin Tucker.

* Speaking of Tucker, I've written a couple of times about the former Sleater-Kinney member and her new band. You can read more about Corin Tucker and her work in a couple of recent articles, one in the Village Voice and another in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Among other things, you'll learn about the songs she wrote for the "Twilight" movies (that didn't get used).

* A U.S. federal judge ordered the shutdown of the LimeWire file-sharing service Tuesday, granting the request made by the music industry. The judge said that LimeWire engaged in a "massive scale of infringement" and that record companies have suffered "irreparable harm." One article points out that it's not clear if LimeWire is required to just stop distributing new software, or disable software currently in use.

* Sony has announced it will stop selling the Walkman portable cassette player in Japan in June. Folks in the U.S. can will still be able to buy the iconic music player, though; Sony says it will keep manufacturing the units in China for the U.S. and other markets.

Weekend Recap: Corin Tucker Steps Out at Maxwell's; Muse Puts on a Rock Show at The Rock

This weekend I saw concerts by two very different acts in two settings that couldn't be further apart. But both shows were very enjoyable: The Corin Tucker Band at Maxwell's in Hoboken and Muse at Newark's Prudential Center (a.k.a. The Rock).


Tucker, part of the much-loved past (and probably future) trio Sleater-Kinney, is on her first tour with her own band and a new album, emerging after taking several years off to raise her children. She headlined an early CMJ showcase at Maxwell's, playing tunes from TCTB's new album "1,000 Years." It was a high-energy set, often capturing the power of S-K.

Corin Tucker and Sara Lund of The Corin Tucker Band at Maxwell's on Saturday. 

If you're a fan of Sleater-Kinney or Tucker, you'll want to catch The Corin Tucker Band at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, Oct. 26th. Opening are Darren Hanlon and Hungry Ghost, which features Sara Lund, the drummer in TCTB.

The British trio Muse played Newark Sunday night and put on an old-fashioned rock show spectacle, complete with lasers, individual stages that moved up and down, and giant confetti-filled "eyeball" balloons bouncing through the crowd.

From its opening song, Muse made it clear that Prudential Center fans were in for a rock spectacle.

Although Muse is a huge international success I hadn't heard many songs by them; I went to the show partly to check them out and partly to see the opener, Metric, one of my favorite bands of recent years. (Metric played only half an hour, but it was well worth showing up early to see them.)

Matthew Bellamy takes a turn at the piano.

Muse during its finale at the Prudential Center Sunday.

Special effects aside, Muse put on a very enjoyable show. They play catchy rockers that are often reminiscent of Radiohead, mixing elements of alt rock with prog rock and other genres. I've heard that Jimi Hendrix was an influence on guitarist and singer Matthew Bellamy, and at one point he even played  "The Star-Spangled Banner" solo on his guitar. Muse played songs from its latest album "The Resistance" as well as previous works.

Although most live music I see these days is in clubs or small- to medium-sized venues, it's fun to see an old-style extravagant arena-rock show, and Muse certainly delivered.