posted by david on Wed 28 Feb 2001 @ 10:13 PM

Rumours have been kicking around for months but it's now official: Springsteen will be releasing a double live album titled "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Live in New York City". The album will be released on April 3 and will feature 19 songs recorded during the final shows of the 1999/2000 reunion tour. 13 songs on the release constitute the soundtrack of an upcoming TV broadcast on US cable network HBO while the remaining 6 will be exclusive to this release. When the list of 13 songs was leaked last week, the fans reacted angrily at the exclusion of tour standards like "Jungleland", "Born in the USA" (acoustic blues version) and "If I Should Fall Behind" but the full track listing should keep them happy. Other notable inclusions on this release are the new songs "Land of Hope And Dreams" and the controversial "American Skin (41 Shots)". So far there's no official word on a DVD release but I'd be surprised if that doesn't happen at some point. You can find a full track listing and more info at Backstreets.

posted by david on Mon 26 Feb 2001 @ 10:14 PM

I remember reading somewhere once that the Columbia record label would never ever consider dropping Bob Dylan, even if his albums consistently bombed in the marketplace. Why? Because part of what made Columbia a well known label was the fact that the Bob Dylan was on their label. Wouldn't it be nice if all record companies with hardcore talents had this attitude? Well, don't count Interscope amongst that group because when Ron Sexsmith handed in his latest album (produced by Steve Earle - yes, that one), they quietly decided to drop Ron altogether and not bother releasing the album at all. Naturally Ron is none too pleased and he's trying to work out how to get the album back from them for release elsewhere. There's more info about this and Ron's new (but old) "Grand Opera Lane" release over in this interview.

posted by david on Tue 20 Feb 2001 @ 10:17 PM

It seems that not only is Emmylou Harris due to grace Australian shores in April for an appearance at the East Coast Blues Festival, she'll also be taking the opportunity to dash around to some other parts of the country for shows with her band "Spyboy". See emmylou.net for the full list of dates. There was a rumour that John Hiatt might open for her but as her site lists Buddy Miller and Kasey Chambers, I guess that's not happening. Hopefully that means John will be doing some full shows of his own instead <fingers crossed>
update: tickets for Emmylou's first Melbourne show go on sale March 6 through Ticketmaster. Gerald has pointed out that John Hiatt is no longer listed on advertisements for the East Coast Blues Festival so I guess that means he ain't coming this way after all. D'oh!

posted by david on Tue 20 Feb 2001 @ 10:15 PM

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not ashamed of admitting to liking some supposedly dubious acts (eg. Roxette, Fleetwood Mac). But given the chance, I think I could probably attempt to make some sort of defence of them, not on high and might musical grounds but simply on the "they're very good at what they do" level. One act who I'm willing to defend at times is Elton John, a very capable musician who churned out some interesting stuff in the 70s (eg. "Funeral For A Friend"), some classic pop songs in the 80s ("I'm Still Standing") and some forgettable mush in the 90s (eg. the Lion King stuff). I believe that if he were confined to a studio for a month with a piano, a strong producer and a pile of decent lyrics to work from (does Taupin count?) Elton could still produce some interesting music. Unfortunately, I don't know whether he'd be prepared to take that sort of risk but it seems that there's at least one other out there willing to give him a break.

posted by david on Tue 13 Feb 2001 @ 10:21 PM

If anything, Deborah Conway should be one of the "in" acts of the moment - the combination of her pop sensibilities with a band that know how to rock is hardly an alien mix for modern ears to deal with. But for some reason radio is disinterested and Deborah is stuck promoting the songs from "Exquisite Stereo" on the live stage. This time it was another of the free "Summertime Rocks" gigs on the lawn of the Arts Centre and while perhaps the crowd didn't know what to make of songs like "Exquisite Stereo" or the jazz-styled "Bag of Sweets", they were at least left with the oh-so-funky fun of "It's Only The Beginning" (the dance version).

see the rest...

posted by david on Tue 13 Feb 2001 @ 10:18 PM

Here's a neat combination of stories for you. On one hand it looks like the big bad record companies may be finally winning the long battle against the evil Napster. On the other hand, ARIA have released the final sales figures for 2000 that indicate total sales were up 2% (apparently even vinyl sales were up). One day we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny.
update: it's probably safe to say Napster is now dead. The court case is finally bringing them to their knees and they've started banning long lists of songs. Of course, this means that Napster users are now mobilising to either circumvent the restrictions or they're turning to any of a number of alternative file-sharing technologies. Victories don't come much more hollow than that.

posted by david on Sun 11 Feb 2001 @ 10:22 PM

On Thursday evening I caught Richard Thompson playing a solo gig here in Melbourne. While there's no questioning his abilities as a guitarist and a songwriter, I think the venue effectively denied him the opportunity to properly engage with his audience. Sure, he played the songs we wanted to hear, he played guitar like only he can (how does he do that simultaneous soloing and rhythm stuff?) but the Melbourne Concert Hall isn't what you would call an intimate venue. Some amusing little ditties about Madonna and Kenny G helped lighten the mood but there was no escaping the fact that this was one man with a very big stage to fill. update: someone from The Age offers a different opinion.