Music Notes: Watch Jack White's Webster Hall Webcast and The Baseball Project's Met Show

If you couldn't be at Jack White's show at Webster Hall last night, or be near a computer to watch the webcast, you can watch the entire webcast here. The show begins with a few brief pre-recorded video segments, including one in which White greets director Gary Oldman by running up to him and tackling him. (The two wrestle on the floor briefly, before chatting as if nothing had happened.)

If you'd like to see the proceedings in a setting that (somewhat) simulates being at the show, Brooklyn Bowl is showing the concert at what it's calling a "brunchcast" tomorrow. You can watch the Jack White Webster Hall show for free while you're having brunch. Doors open at 12 Noon, and the concert will be shown at 1 p.m. If you're into the communal experience or want to hang out with other Jack White fans, this might be for you.

There's another recent concert that you can view from your computer, the show that The Baseball Project performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art a few weeks back. R.E.M. posted the full concert on its website earlier this week, and you can view it at the link (TBP features two members of R.E.M., Peter Buck and Mike Mills).

You can also view the Baseball Project set below, but you're better off viewing it on YouTube in a larger format. If you're a baseball fan, you can also view the panel discussion that preceded the concert, which features Jackie Robinson's daughter Sharon and others.

Concert Notes: Schedules for SummerStage, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Other Free Concerts Are Out

Summer means lots of great free concerts in NYC, and several outdoor music festivals announced their line-ups for the season. These range from the sprawling SummerStage festival, the Lincoln Center Out of Doors series, and the intimate, low-key Hudson Square shows sponsored by (and held in back of) City Winery.

SummerStage once again stretches its wings far beyond Central Park with music, dance, poetry, and film in city parks in all five boroughs, from June through September. Among some of the highlights in Central Park on the first month (see the schedule here):

• rock and soul legend Bobby Womack in Central Park on June 7th; 
• the New York Pops with Ozomatli (also Central Park) on June 12th;  
• Dawes with Kurt Vile and the Violators (Central Park) on June 16th; 
• Alabama Shakes, Diamond Rugs, and Robert Ellis in Central Park on June 24th

 The outer boroughs feature some good shows, too, including Deer Tick with Jonny Corndog in Red Hook Park on June 21st.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors runs from July 25th to August 12th. The artists include: Nile Rodgers & The CHIC Organization on July 25th; a full day (and night) of Irish music and dancing on July 29th; events showcasing music around the world, from Central American to Finland.

There's also the popular Roots of American Music festival on August 11th and 12th, this year including:

• a revue "Celebrating The Music of Laura Nyro" featuring Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, Desmond Child & Rouge, and other guests
• Otis Clay & The Platinum Band
• singer-songwriters Tom Paxton and Erin McKeown
• an "An All-Star Gathering for Gil Scott-Heron" performed by Black Rock Coalition Orchestra & Guests
• the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls All-Stars Band

City Winery's Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival heads into its fourth year with early (5:30) Tuesday night performances that leave you plenty of time to go out afterwards. Some of the artists on this year's slate:

• Portland Cello Project on June 26th
• Sam Moore (of Sam and Dave) on July 17th
• Ollabelle on Juy 31st
• Marshall Crenshaw on August 14th
• Poundcake (featuring Teddy Thompson, Jeff Hill, and Ethan Eubanks) on August 28th

There are other free outdoors concerts in New York (such as those in Madison Square Park, the Lower Hudson Blues Festival, and others), and I'll give information on these in forthcoming posts. For now, look through these listings and start marking your calendars!

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Lower Dens, Peter Gabriel, Ryan Adams, & More

Like last week, there is an abundance of good new indie and alternative albums on preview this week. And Jack White's solo debut, "Blunderbuss," is available for streaming this week on Spinner, after having its exclusive preview on iTunes last week. (Read a review of "Blunderbuss" by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune here.)

White's bandmate from The Raconteurs, Brendan Benson, also has a new album streaming this week.



Also streaming this week is the "Nootropics," the new album by Baltimore's Lower Dens, the band featuring Jana Hunter, whose musical stylings tend toward folk or experimental, and who has been in a number of bands over the years. (See the video for "Brains," one of their new songs, above.)

Other notable albums including live albums from Peter Gabriel (in his orchestra-enhanced, "New Blood" configuration) and from Ryan Adams (the latest in the "iTunes Session" series). There are also new releases from Hey Rosetta!, Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, the Dandy Warhols, Megan Reilly, Rufus Wainwright, and Santigold. And The Raveonettes have a new EP which I'm enjoying, though it's only four songs and has me wishing for more.

NPR First Listen:
"Nootropics" by Lower Dens
"Out of the Game" by Rufus Wainwright
"Master Of My Make-Believe" by Santigold
"Dr. Dee" by Damon Albarn

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Blunderbuss" by Jack White
"This Machine" by Dandy Warhols
"Into the Night" EP by The Raveonettes
"iTunes Session" by Ryan Adams
"The Legendary Demos" by Carole King
"New Blood - Live in London" by Peter Gabriel
"We Could Be Arsonists" by Loquat
"Seeds" by Hey Rosetta!
"What Kind of World" by Brendan Benson
"Aloha Moon" by Magic Wands
"Creature Creature" by Aaron & the Sea
"The Well" by Megan Reilly
"The Body Wins" by Sarah Jaffe

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Secrets Don't Make Friends" by Rocky Loves Emily
"Year of the Lion" by Bury Me a Lion

2012 Record Store Day - NYC Events & Goodies!

 Saturday April 21st is Record Store Day for 2012, and that means plenty of live events at your local music shops as well as special vinyl releases. This year's RSD offerings include Bruce Springsteen "Rocky Ground," Iggy & the Stooges live at All Tomorrow's Parties, the David Bowie "Starman" picture disc, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals' "Live from the Legendary Sun Studios" CD & LP, and the Joey Ramone "Rock and Roll is the Answer" seven-inch.

And of course there's the much talked-about "Feistodon," a split seven-inch that features Feist covering a tune by metal band Mastodon on one side, and Mastodon covering Feist on the other. (Listen to Feist's Mastodon cover, "Black Tongue," here at Soundcloud.)

See the full Record Store Day release listing as a downloadable PDF or as a webpage.

Get ready for special vinyl releases galore at Record Store Day.

ScoutMob in New York lists its top five ways to celebrate Record Store Day in NYC. Among its choices (see websites for times, etc.):

• Generation Records in Greenwich Village has live music by The Paul Collins Beat (of The Nerves), Supertouch, and Joyce Manor (pop punk), as well as DJ sets by WFMU's Tom Scharpling and Three Chord Monte.
• Mates of State plays at Soundfix in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (7:30 p.m.)
• The Men perform at Other Music, where you'll also find Four Tet doing a DJ set

One of ScoutMob's choices deserves special attention, and that's J&R, NYC's huge (but still family owned) music/electronics complex. See the Record Store Day releases you'll find at J&R, and check out their live performances for Saturday, including:

• 12 Noon: Everest
• 1 p.m.: French musician Yann Tiersen
• 2 p.m.: Mike Doughty

J&R says it will have hundreds of RSD titles (some available for pre-order), including ...
Also, J&R will have a listening party for Jack White's new album "Blunderbuss"at 11 a.m.

Over in Jersey, Princeton Record Exchange will feature a performance by They Might Be Giants (in front of the town's public library) from 6 to 6:45 p.m., with record signing back at the store from around 7 to 8.

Also, see Paste Magazine's "21 Albums You Should Buy on Record Store Day" and its article "101 Musicians Discuss their Favorite Record Stores." And NPR Music weighs in with its "13 Reasons to Visit Your Local Record Store," surveying releases including the Iggy/Stooges offering, a Deerhoof/Of Montreal split seven-inch, and the T. Rex "Electric Warrior" seven-inch box set.

What are you doing for Record Store Day? Where will you be, and what special releases are you looking forward to picking up?

The Legendary Dick Clark Dies at 82

Dick Clark, the man who brought countless rock and pop bands into people's living rooms on "American Bandstand," died Wednesday of a massive heart attack at the age of 82 following a surgical procedure. He started the show in the mid 1950s in Philadelphia, then took it nationwide on ABC.



From Elvis Presley to Madonna, Chuck Berry to Talking Heads, all kinds of popular musical acts played on the "AB" stage, and in many cases the show gave them their first national exposure. Clark deserves a lot of credit for helping rock, pop, and soul gain legitimacy among the public. "American Bandstand" stayed on the air until 1989. Years before MTV or VH1, "AB" introduced us to many new acts and let us see the bands we had heard on the radio.

The death of Clark, who also hosted the annual "New Year's Rockin' Eve" and created the American Music Awards, is another sad moment in a one-year period that's seen the passing of the giant figures who brought popular music onto the young medium of television. Music producer and impresario Don Kirschner died in January of last year, and "Soul Train" creator and host Don Cornelius passed away on February 1st of this year.

(See reactions to the death of Dick Clark from celebrities ranging from to Smokey Robinson to Snoop Dogg here.)



Clark suffered a stroke in 2004, but returned to hosting "New Year's Rockin' Eve," though he had slurred speech and wasn't on the air during the show as much as before.

Rest in peace, Dick Clark. Thanks for making that little box in our living rooms rattle with the sounds of rock, pop, and soul for all those years.

P.S. And while we're remembering Dick Clark, let's keep in our thoughts the great Levon Helm of The Band, who recently announced that he's in his "last stages" of his battle with cancer. [Update, April 19th, 3 p.m.: Sad to hear that Levon Helm succumbed to cancer at around 1:30 this afternoon. He was 71 years old.]

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Jack White, Dry the River, Norah Jones, & More

Jack White's debut solo album "Blunderbuss" is the proverbial 800-pound gorilla of the new and upcoming releases available for streaming now. It's available not through one of the usual streaming websites but through iTunes, which says only that you can preview it for a "limited time only." Since that could only be a few days, head to this link soon to preview Jack White's "Blunderbuss," which comes out April 24th. (Below see his recent "Saturday Night Live" performance of "Sixteen Saltines," which is on the new album.)

Also, Jack White will performing at Webster Hall on April 27th; tickets go on sale on Ticketmaster to American Express cardholders at 12 Noon tomorrow, April 17th, and to the public at 3 p.m. In addition, the show will be streamed live on Vevo (at www.youtube.com/JackWhiteVEVO), with Gary Oldman directing the webcast. [Update: Read a review of "Blunderbuss" by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune here.]

What else is streaming this week? The latest album by Moonface (a.k.a. Spencer Krug, best known for his work in the bands Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown; see video below); new releases from indie bands the Arkells, Maps & Atlases, and Dry the River; Canadian alt-rockers Our Lady Peace, back with their first album in three years; And there's "The Pearl Sessions," a collection of music recorded by Janis Joplin during, as you'd no doubt guess, the sessions for her "Pearl" album.

NPR First Listen:

"Little Broken Hearts" by Norah Jones
"Orangefarben" by Sea of Bees
"The Body Wins" by Sarah Jaffe

Spinner.com's Listening Party:

"Beware and Be Grateful" by Maps & Atlases
"Shallow Bed" by Dry the River
"Cynic's New Year" by Horse Feathers

"Michigan Left" by the Arkells

"Signs and Signifiers" by JD McPherson
"With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery" by Moonface

"The Pearl Sessions" by Janis Joplin

"Butterfly Boucher" by Butterfly Boucher
"Transmissions From the Grand Stand" by King of Prussia
"To Walk Beside That Ghost" by Racing Heart
"Rescue" by The Commuters

AOL Music Listening Party: 

"Curve" by Our Lady Peace
"Poor Moon" by Hiss Golden Messenger
"Infinity" by Tatiana Kochkareva