ChordStrike

Radiohead Gets Orchestral Treatment in Seattle

 

While the music cognoscenti are abuzz about Radiohead’s new album, King of Limbs, and vocalist Thom Yorke’s mad dancing skills, last weekend the Seattle Rock Orchestra dug into Radiohead’s back catalog performing the entirety of both The Bends and OK Computer.

Seattle newsweekly The Stranger described the show, “A different singer came out every three or four songs, and while the whole premise seemed kinda strange at first, like a very lush version of karaoke, the singers got better and better.”The Seattle Rock Orchestra is a self-described “volunteer community orchestra that collaborates with local bands and artists to produce one-of-a-kind symphonic shows.”

Founded in 2009, the collective has worked with orchestral-pop group Grand Hallway to produce a tribute to Arcade Fire’s 2004 album, Funeral. Early 2010 saw the group perform a David Bowie tribute as well a show devoted to The Beach Boys’ hugely influential 1966 recording, Pet Sounds.

The Radiohead show sold out Seattle’s Moore Theatre, which has us thinking we should probably snap up some tix for their performance of Queen’s breakout 4th album, A Night at the Opera, this coming May.

Watch the group perform “Paranoid Android” last weekend here.

-Court @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

New Music Tuesday: The Decemberists, The King Is Dead

 

With their sixth album, The King Is Dead,The Decemberists put forth a collection of compact, pared-down country-based songs. More concise and accessible than their previous intellectual storytelling, the ten-track effort is a snapshot of Americana; unadorned and reminiscent of 1970’s singer-songwriter pairings. The quintet is joined by singer Gillian Welch on seven of the tracks and REM’s Peter Buck on another.

De facto leader Colin Meloy explains, “For all my talk about how complex [previous] records were, this one may have been harder to do,” he says. “It’s a real challenge to make simple music.” Only one of the songs clocks in over five minutes in length and the entire album is a spare 40 minutes.

“Sometimes I kind of miss the epic-ness of the other albums, but it’s nice to get all of the information across in three minutes. It’s like going from reading a novel to reading a bunch of short stories,” says Meloy.The King Is Dead was recorded in a barn at the remote Pendarvis Farm, a 80-acre estate outside of Portland, Oregon. The pastoral imagery was influential; plants, and water and are featured throughout the lyrics. “The syntax of The Decemberists is definitely still there,” says Meloy. “I didn’t want it to be too much of a departure.”

Buy it here.

-Court @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

The Class of 98 Returns and It Is Heaven

After a four year hiatus to pursue other interests including marriages, starting companies, and having a few babies, melodic rockers The Class of 98 are back with a new full length record, Heaven. The band put out a teaser E.P. on Bandcamp in the spring of 2010 called Eye of the Needle and quickly discovered that their fan base was itching for more. Fans flooded the AbsolutePunk message boards with posts like “…their record is a great makeout record…” and “Yes they're back!”

 

In case you don’t remember them, The Class of 98 is the band behind the catchy song Hundreds and Thousands of Stars featured on a plethora of MTV shows in 2006. (Just try to not hum that one for the rest of the day.)

Their first full-length release Touch This and Die was released by The Militia Group, however their sophomore effort will be released on founder and lead singer Steve Wilson’s new label, Legion of Boom. Check out Heaven on Bandcamp here.

Fun fact: not one member of the band graduated in 1998. The band was named for the year that Wilson arrived in Nashville.

- Erin O. @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

The Smiths Say No, Prime Minister

The Smiths perform "Meat Is Murder" in Madrid, in 1985.

Music has a magical ability to connect people from across social divides; occasionally, however, musicians aren't happy with the people they've connected with. The Smiths' famous guitarist Johnny Marr wants British Prime Minister David Cameron to stop name-dropping his band. "Stop saying that you like The Smiths," Marr insisted last week, "no you don't. I forbid you to like it."

In a rare display of unity with his guitarist, the band's former frontman Morrissey has also denounced Cameron's fandom. In a lengthy blog post, he said "I would like to, if I may, offer support to Johnny Marr who has spoken out to the media this week against David Cameron... I think Johnny is right not to be flattered [even though] it is true that music is a universal language." As with most of his public statements these days, Morrissey's main concern is with animal rights. Although hundreds of thousands of carnivores enjoy The Smiths' second album Meat Is Murder, Morrissey's beef with Cameron goes further than vegetarianism.

"David Cameron hunts and shoots and kills stags – apparently for pleasure," Morrissey said. "It was not for such people that either Meat Is Murder or The Queen Is Dead were recorded; in fact, they were made as a reaction against such violence." Prime Minister Cameron might choose a new band to name-check next time he's asked about the contents of his iPod.

--Ally @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Britpop Heroes Pulp Reform For 2011

Pulp - Do You Remember The First Time?

The original lineup for iconic British pop-rock band Pulp have reformed for a series of concerts next year. The Jarvis Cocker-fronted band were formed in 1978 but remained relatively unknown until the mid-1990s, when they were one of the central groups of the Britpop scene.

"Pulp have decided to get together and play some concerts next summer," a press release confirmed. "The shows will involve all the original members of the band (Nick Banks, Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Steve MacKey, Russell Senior and Mark Webber) and they will play songs from all periods of their career. Yes, that means they'll be playing your favorites."

Their first two confirmed dates are the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, Spain next May, and the Wireless festival in London in July, but they'll be strongly tipped to play at other major festivals such as Coachella and Glastonbury. Though never a chart success in the U.S., their 1995 album Different Class went quadruple-platinum in the U.K., and singles such as "Common People" and "Disco 2000" were popular across Europe.

--Ally @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Die Antwoord Enter The Guggenheim

(Warning: the above video is pretty weird; and it contains some swearing)

“Zef Side,” the premier viral communiqué from the enigmatic South African rave-rap trio Die Antwoord, was shown at New York's Guggenheim last week as part of a global video art competition titled YouTube Play.

Though the band’s name translates to "the answer" in Afrikaans, their cultivated mystery leaves one with an abundance of questions. Given the group’s pre-Die Antwoord past as members of a jokey “corporate” rap group and an experimental music collective, when Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek preach ghettofabulous Afrikaner “Zef” to the world: Are they being sincere?

They’ve grown comfortable fueling the confusion. “It's alien, all right?” Vi$$er said to LA Times. “It's not really our problem. And not everyone's confused.”

Yet it’s this obfuscation that causes critics to wonder if Die Antwoord is punking the world, similar to Ali G, if they’re akin to discovering some new music species, or if they’re a conceptual art project. Their haunting video “Enter the Ninja” racked up 11 million YouTube views, and their controversial “Evil Boy” video, which features talking breasts, an explicit rap verse about male circumcision and an overabundance of penile imagery, was removed.

One thing is certain: whether it’s an installment in the Guggenheim or their considerable internet presence, Die Antwoord has become part of a cultural conversation that we can scarcely ignore.

--Court @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Pixies Honor Rescued Chilean Miners

(Above: Pixies perform "Vamos" at Eurockeenes festival, Belfort, France, in 2007)

In honor of the dramatic rescue of 33 trapped Chilean miners on October 13, the Pixies concocted a special 33-song set for their concert at Santiago’s Teatro la Cupla. Front man Black Francis  greeted the enthusiastic 1100 person crowd, introducing the set in Spanish. In a subsequent statement released he said, "We wanted to do something to show how affected we were by this, so we played a special set at tonight's show; 33 songs for the 33 miners."

Spanning their 25-year career, the epic show was the band’s first-ever headlining concert in Chile, and their longest ever set. The 33 songs and two encores included “Wave of Mutilation,” “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” and “Here Comes Your Man.” The main set’s closer was “Vamos,” whose chorus “Vamos a jugar por la playa,” ("Let’s go play by the beach") one can only imagine, must’ve been enthusiastically embraced.

The miners had been trapped 2300 feet below ground -- nearly half a mile -- for 69 days after the San Jose gold and copper mine in which they worked collapsed. It took two months of planning and careful drilling of a relief tunnel to get to them, and then a 22-hour rescue mission for each man to be lifted to safety.

"We found out five minutes before we went on stage that all of the miners had safely reached the surface," Francis continued. "This was definitely one of the most meaningful shows we've ever played."

--Court @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Belle and Sebastian: Fans, Write About Love

At first glance, the cover of Belle and Sebastian's new album seems to describe what they do: Belle and Sebastian Write About Love.

But a new competition run by the band to encourage fans to purchase a hard copy of the record suggests the title is more an exhortation for others than a description of themselves.

According to the band's record label Matador, there's a unique code inside every copy of the album which can be entered in an online form along with "300 words about love, in any sense of the word. Why you love. Who you love. What you love. Where you love. Anything. Just write about love."

The group will choose a winning entry, and lead singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch will fly to the winner's hometown, hang out for a while, and then write a song based on the competition winner and the blurb that will be released as a 7" single next year.

The contest is "the coolest thing ever," according to the not entirely unbiased Matador; but we're inclined to agree.

 

--Ally @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

 

Alpine Kat's Large Hadron Collider Rap

Few things go as well together as hip-hop and science. The lexicon of bleeding-edge theoretical physics is practically overflowing with rhyme-ready particles (real, virtual, anti-, and otherwise), and from Dr. Octagon to The Sounds of Science, the rap canon abounds with more-or-less learned verses.

So if you're like me and have trouble finding enough to time in your life to nurture your twin loves of hip-hop and quantum cosmology, let Alpine Kat grab the mic for a minute. Science writer by day and science rapper in her spare time, Alpine Kat has recorded a number of "science raps," the most notorious of which serves as a primer on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), an immense subterranean machine on the Franco-Swiss border designed to slam protons together at near-light speeds in order to see what happens.

If you like what you hear, check out more of Alpine Kat's science raps.

Either way, let us know about the best science-based hip-hop we might have missed...

     --Jason Kirk

Thurston's Lesson For Sonic Youth

If your kids aren’t already noisy enough, why not take them to a lecture explaining the artfulness of white noise? This Sunday, April 11, precocious young music lovers can make their way to Partners & Spade Gallery in New York City for a very special hour-long event featuring Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore. For a mere $30 attendees will be able to listen to Moore presenting “A Dissertation on White Noise,” though quite what the eight-to-twelve year-old target audience will make of the subject matter is anyone’s guess.

The event forms part of the gallery’s Avant Garde Preschool series, which aims to nurture the interests of the upcoming generation in art, though it seems likely that the event might be anticipated rather more eagerly by the parental chaperons. The preschool series of events is the brainchild of Andy Spade, a co-owner of the gallery who is also the father of a – probably achingly art-aware – 4 year-old.

As for Moore, he is due back on the road with Sonic Youth on April 16, when his grown-up fans in Barcelona will surely honor him with a more ecstatic reception than the bewildered eight year-olds of New York.

--Hazel @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Joanna Newsom: Have Three On Me

Criticizing an album before anyone's ever heard it would be a bizarre thing to do. Bizarrely, I think I'm going do just that.

Y'see, I'm just a little concerned about one of my favorite artists.

Joanna Newsom's Ys was one of my favorite albums of the last ten years, but she's announced her follow up, Have One On Me, is going to be a triple. There's no track listing yet, but whatever it is will be released on 3xCDs, or 3xLPs.

Is there actually such a thing as a great triple album? Serious question, I'd like to know. There must be a few, but even still - wouldn't they be improved by having a few lesser tracks chopped off to make it a more manageable double album? In fact, wouldn't the vast majority of double albums be improved by being edited down to a single?

I tend to feel that 35-50 minutes is the best length for an album, because shorter than that feels a little too short, but longer is kinda tiring. But how tiring a record is depends on what kind of music it is, too.

Aphex Twin's triple LP (or double CD) Selected Ambient Works II is over two-and-a-half hours of featureless ambiance. Even though that's a long time to do anything (a long time to have headphones on, say), it's easy to let it wash through you and only pick up on the broad movements of mood. On the other hand, Tupac's double-disc All Eyez On Me is 132 minutes --  nearly two-and-a-quarter hours -- and it's exhausting, because you have to listen much closer to hip-hop, to follow the lyrics. That kind of concentration is tough to keep up!

Joanna Newsom is not exactly easy to listen to in the first place. Her voice is polarizing, but even for those of us who like it, Ys, at 55 minutes long, was quite long enough, because her lyrics are so densely arranged that you really have to focus to keep up with them. We don't yet know how long Have One On Me will be, but if it's roughly three hours then that's surely too long to digest in one sitting. And if it's not meant for one sitting, why release it at all together under one name?

Joanna Newsom's music always seems very deliberate: every syllable is carefully measured, every flourish and flair under complete control. You can be sure that there's an explanation for the placing of every antique and animal figure on that cover, above, so the length of the album itself is no half-thought or accident. I imagine she must have some complex conceptual justification, I just can't imagine what it is!

Do you agree that triple albums are a bad idea? Or are you happier to get more songs from longer albums?

Have One On Me will be released on February 23rd. A new song, "Good Intentions Paving Company," is already streaming from her label Drag City's website.

Animal Collective: A Perfect 10

This just in: Pitchfork has given the new Animal Collective song "What Would I Want? Sky," releasing on December 15 on the Fall Be Kind [EP], a perfect 10 rating. We wanted to mark the occasion since the music blog is stingy with its perfect rating (rightly so). And even though we at Chordstrike fawned all over the band and included them in our Best of the Year list, we're not quite sure if the favorable comments in the review fully justify the rarefied rating. Sure, "consistently different," and sounding like "new age or yoga or the 1990s" (things that make you go hmm), and the ability to "take a sound and turn it inside out to make something new, but something recognizable, even familiar" are all admirable if not altogether coherent qualities in a song. But are those really the things that merit a perfect 10? Indie bands take notice -- there's your new playbook for success.

--Lucas HIlbert

The Best Music of 2009

It may feel a little early for this sort of thing, but we on the Amazon music team have pooled our collective knowledge and taste to determine the best music of 2009.

We spent 2009 soothed by Neko Case's wail, moved to dance by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' turn towards big beats, intrigued by Somali hip-hop Troubadour K'naan, and ready to hear three key words from neo-twangsters the Avett Brothers.

On the songs side, French popsters Phoenix went nutty for a composer and we went nutty for Phoenix. La Roux made us feel invincible, Jay-Z officially crushed an awful trend, and Passion Pit sent us reeling.

Voting with their wallets, our customers told us they really like U2, as it was both our bestselling CD and MP3 album of 2009. Black Eyed Peas also popped up in plenty of playlists, as they locked down the top two slots on our songs chart.

Every year, great albums slip through the cracks. This year, our editors wanted to save some from that unfair fate. We shine a spotlight on excellent underheard CD and MP3 albums across all genres, and we've even made a playlist featuring a single song from each record, so you can sample 'til you find something you like.

Dig into the lists and see which lists line up most closely with your personal tastes:

Best Albums of 2009

1. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
3. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
5. the Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
6. Girls - Album
7. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
8. K'naan - Troubadour
9. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
10. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career

> See all top 100 best albums of 2009
> See the list at Amazon MP3

Best Songs of 2009

1. Phoenix - "Lisztomania"
2. La Roux - "Bulletproof"
3. Jay-Z - "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)"
4. Animal Collective - "My Girls"
5. Neko Case - "People Got a Lotta Nerve"
6. Passion Pit - "The Reeling"
7. Girls - "Lust for Life"
8. Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
9. The Avett Brothers - "I and Love and You"
10. Lily Allen - "The Fear"

> See all top 100 best songs of 2009
> Sample songs 1-50
> Sample songs 51-100

Bestselling CDs of 2009 (through October, including pre-orders)

1. U2 - No Line on the Horizon
2. Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream
3. Diana Krall - Quiet Nights
4. Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
5. Bob Dylan - Together through Life

> See all 100 bestselling CDs of 2009

Bestselling MP3 Albums of 2009 (through October)

1. U2 - No Line on the Horizon
2. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
3. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
4. Paramore - Brand New Eyes
5. Lily Allen - The Fear

> See all 100 bestselling MP3 albums of 2009

Bestselling Songs of 2009 (through October)

1. Black Eyed Peas - "Boom Boom Pow"
2. Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling"
3. Flo Rida - "Right Round"
4. Miley Cyrus - "The Climb"
5. Pitbull - "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho"

> See all 100 bestselling songs of 2009
> Sample songs 1-50
> Sample songs 51-100

Outstanding 2009 Albums You Might Have Missed

1. Throw Me the Statue - Creaturesque
2. Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band
3. The Legends - Over and Over
4. Lushlife - Cassette City
5. Point Juncture, Wa - Heart to Elk

> See all 100 2009 albums you might have missed at Amazon MP3
> Sample songs from albums 1-50
> Sample songs from albums 51-100

Head over to our best music of 2009 store to find complete lists, plus the best in everything from Latin music to Gospel to comedy and all points between.

We're aware there's still a decent chunk of the year left. We'll be adding a latecomers and honorable mentions feature over the next few weeks. Hit the comments, let us know what we missed, and perhaps it'll make an appearance.

-- Jeff Reguilon

An Interview with Alice in Chains

I have to admit, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I got on the phone with Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, and Sean Kinney of Alice in Chains (William DuVall was unfortunately unable to make it, but the guys had plenty of good things to say about their friend and fellow band member.) 

I wanted to ask them about Layne Staley, and reforming as a band, and adding a new member (William), and their new album (Black Gives Way to Blue), but I thought they might be tired of answering the same old interview questions.  Fortunately, however, conversation flowed freely, and the guys were a lot of fun to chat with.  They were genuine, honest, and engaging, and it shows.

What I found most eye-opening was their story of how Black Gives Way to Blue came into being (it wasn't planned!).  Listen to this story and more in the 17-minute interview, and check out song samples from the new album below. 

--Bri Nguyen

Best Music of October, 2009: La Roux

Now that the ‘80s music revival is in full swing, those of us who were lucky enough to experience the original decade, and who were sad to see its musical demise, have a lot to be thankful for--and nobody has re-imagined the clean, danceable pop of the ‘80s for the new millennium better than British synthophiles La Roux. Sporting artistic influences of the highest order, including Prince’s dark electro funk, Eurythmics’ shocking visual and melodic style, and a heavy dose of the sharp songwriting and synthtastic sounds  of Yaz (or Yazoo to you Brits) , the team of Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid have created an anachronistic gem of an album that’s so strong, it could have brought back the ‘80s all on its own.

So much synthpop from past decades, as well as from today, has a plastic, disposable feel to it, and truly, much of it is just that—but not La Roux. What’s so salient about this debut release is not only its sharp attention to sonic detail and stylistic flair, but, as with all of the best pop music, its top-tier songwriting. These songs are catchy, deeply felt, full of attitude, and just the right length. Every listen leaves me begging for the back button, and check my iTunes library—of all the records I’ve loved and obsessed over this year, nothing has had more play than La Roux. Tracks like “Bulletproof” are undeniable, amplifying the most ‘80s elements of the ‘80s into a distilled and concentrated dose of thoughtful, dark, pop perfection that feel like they’d be perfect for everything from exercising and dancing to road-tripping and relaxing.

But honestly, you don’t need to be a fan of ‘80s music, or even pop to appreciate what this album really is—a timeless, quality work of art created by talented people who feel what they’re doing so much that every synthesized note feels completely natural.

Check out La Roux's video for their latest single, "I'm Not Your Toy," as well as the classic "Bulletproof," below.

--Alan Wiley

The 100 Greatest Live Albums of All Time

There are plenty of live albums issued solely as afterthoughts or contract fulfillments, but there are plenty that are as transcendent as the best in-person concert experiences, only with zero lines at the bathroom. For this particular list we came up with the following criteria:

• Only one album per artist.
• Albums were been performed live in front of an audience, but don't necessarily have to be culled from a single performance.
• No EPs or singles—this list is about albums
• We decided to limit this list to music, which means no comedy. We wanted to save those records for a separate list for laffers.

Of course, we exercise their judgment regarding quality and/or historical significance. If you disagree with our choices (and there's a good chance you will), let us know in the comments.

Here goes:

1. James Brown - Live At The Apollo, 1962
2. Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
3. Frank Sinatra - Sinatra at the Sands
4. Bill Withers - Live at Carnegie Hall
5. Judy Garland - Judy At Carnegie Hall
6. Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Live, 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert
7. Ella Fitzgerald - Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert
8. Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won
9. MC5 - Kick Out the Jams
10. Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert
11. Neil Young - Live Rust
12. Otis Redding - Live in Europe
13. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
14. Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York
15. Bob Marley - Live
16. The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out
17. Roy Orbison - Black and White Night
18. The Who - Live at Leeds
19. Simon and Garfunkel - The Concert in Central Park
20. Jimi Hendrix - Live at Monterey
21. Cheap Trick - At Budokan
22. John Coltrane & Thelonious Monk - At Carnegie Hall
23. Paco de Lucia, Rodrigo, and Orchestra De Cadaques - Concierto de Aranjuez
24. Maceo Parker - Life On Planet Groove
25. Portishead - Live: Roseland NYC
26. Elvis Presley - From Elvis in Memphis
27. Leonard Cohen - Live in London
28. Kiss - Alive!
29. Eric Clapton - Unplugged
30. Queen - Live Killers
31. Nina Simone - Nina Simone at Town Hall
32. Gram Parsons - Live 1973
33. Jeff Buckley - Live at Sin-é
34. U2 - Under a Blood Red Sky
35. Lucinda Williams - Live at the Fillmore
36. Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
37. Dead Can Dance - Toward the Within
38. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Live in New York City
39. BB King - Live at the Regal
40. Aretha Franklin - Live at Fillmore West
41. David Bowie - Stage
42. Miles Davis - Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live At The Fillmore East
43. Art Blakey - A Night At Birdland, Vol. 1
44. Ani Difranco - Living in Clip
45. Mavis Staples - Live: Hope at the Hideout
46. Muddy Waters - At Newport 1960
47. Depeche Mode - 101
48. Deep Purple - Made in Japan
49. Isaac Hayes - Live at Wattstax
50. Sam Cooke - At the Copa
51. Parliament - Live: P-funk Earth Tour
52. Grateful Dead - Europe '72
53. Laurie Anderson - United States Live
54. Alison Krauss and Union Station - Live
55. Velvet Underground - 1969
56. Pink Floyd - Pulse
57. The Roots - Come Alive
58. Bill Evans Trio - Sunday at the Village Vanguard
59. Sarah Vaughn - Live At The 1971 Monterey Jazz Festival
60. George Harrison - Live in Japan
61. Peter Gabriel - Plays Live
62. Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea
63. Thelonius Monk - Thelonious in Action: Live at the Five Spot Cafe
64. Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Live at Luther College
65. Janis Joplin - Janis in Concert
66. Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
67. Willie Nelson - Stars and Guitars
68. John Coltrane - Live at the Village Vanguard
69. The Clash - From Here To Eternity Live
70. Eartha Kitt - Live from the Café Carlyle
71. Ravi Shankar - Live: Ravi Shankar at the Monteray International Pop Festival
72. Wilco - Kicking Television: Live In Chicago
73. Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken
74. Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East
75. Jay-Z - Unplugged
76. The Orb - Live '93
77. The Ramones - It's Alive
78. Etta James - Rocks the House
79. Soweto Gospel Choir - Live at Nelson Mandela Theatre
80. Pearl Jam - Live on Two Legs
81. Björk - Live Box Set
82. Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum
83. Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings
84. Lou Reed - Rock 'n' Roll Animal
85. Jill Scott - Live in Paris
86. Carole King - Carole King The Carnegie Hall Concert June 18, 1971
87. Alice in Chains - Live
88. John Denver - The Wildlife Concert
89. Eva Cassidy - Live at Blues Alley
90. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Live at Carnegie Hall
91. Rush - Rush in Rio
92. Police - Live!
93. Daft Punk - Alive 2007
94. James Taylor - James Taylor Live
95. Neil Diamond - Hot August Night
96. Guns N' Roses - Live Era '87-'93
97. Lyle Lovett - Lyle Lovett Live In Texas
98. Blue Oyster Cult - Extraterrestrial Live
99. Aerosmith - Live! Bootleg
100. J. Geils Band - Live: Blow Your Face Out

-- Jeff Reguilon

La Roux: Interviewed

Earlier this summer, on one of the hottest days in the history of Seattle, I sat down with Mercury Prize-nominated artist Elly Jackson, half of British electronic pop sensation La Roux, before one of just a handful of stateside club shows she played prior to her band's domestic release. With her partner-in-music Ben Langmaid, the 21-year-old Ms. Jackson has created one of my favorite records of the year, La Roux's self-titled debut, which made its much-anticipated appearance on American shores just this week.

With a bevy of UK top 10 singles ("Bulletproof," "In For The Kill," "Quicksand"), critical acclaim, and superstar status across the pond, La Roux is poised to make a big splash here in the states. We talked about songwriting, the '80s, and the band's international potential, among other things. Check out the interview below.

--Alan Wiley

30 Second To Mars LP Will Feature 2000 Fans on 2000 Covers

Determined to give a little back to their fans, 30 Seconds To Mars invited willing travelers to mass recording sessions in April so that fans could sing on their forthcoming release, This Is War. For those fans who couldn’t make it, or who know they can’t carry a tune, the band has created another opportunity to be on the album. Fans are invited to take mugshots of themselves and upload them to the official 30 Seconds To Mars website; the first two thousand who do so will have their picture featured on one of two thousand different album covers. In an interview with AOL Spinner, frontman Jared Leto said “I thought that the ‘Faces of Mars’ campaign would be a way to acknowledge all the people who have supported us throughout the years.”

The album itself has already caused a great deal of controversy, with their record label Virgin filing a $30m lawsuit against the band last year because the lateness of the record allowed the band to terminate their contract. The lawsuit was eventually halted, resulting in renewed expectations for an imminent release: it was initially expected in April, then September, then October; now it’s been put back to the end of November. Is that enough time to design and manufacture an album with two thousand different covers? Eager fans may have to wait quite a while before they get their fractional moments of fame.

--Hazel @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Singles Report: Foo Fighters, Consequence, Melissa Laveaux

Foo Fighters - "Wheels"
Even though their last couple albums have been spotty enough to make me almost lose interest, I've always felt like the Foos had it in them to assemble a pretty stacked greatest hits collection, which they've VERY CONVENIENTLY done just in time for the holidays. Unfortunately for us, the band tacked on two new jams, of which, "Wheels" is one. Listening to the beginning, I felt like the MP3 was mislabled and I accidentally downloaded some Keith Urban. What followed was a generic smear of limp, slick, unfortunate, late-period Tom Petty impersonation. I'm not against the new stuff, but I'm pretty sure I would have been happier if they had clipped this from the tracklist in favor of "I'll Stick Around" or "Walking After You."

Suggested if you like: Tom Petty, an extremely competent cover band performing Tom Petty songs, "mediocre-of" material appearing on a "best-of"
Rating:  13/69 Full Moon Fevers

Consequence (feat. Kanye West and John Legend) - "Whatever U Want"
Because he has but one flow and a steadfast refusal to vary his rhyme schemes, Consequence is best taken in small doses. For a number of IMMA-LET-YOU-FINISH-related reasons, our old pal Yeezy has, as of late, also been getting his mail forwarded to an address in the best-in-small-doses zip code. As such, you'll be satisfied to know that they're each limited to four bars at a pass in this slinky Gin and Tonic of a tune. With its low-key vibe and 2:37 run time, it feels more like the suggestion of a song than an actual song. Still, I've listened to it five times in short succession, mostly because I'm left wanting more each time. When was the last time you could say that about anything involving any of these parties?

Suggested if you like: "I'm Good" by the Clipse, "Love Hangover" by Kidz in the Hall, surprise awesome
Rating: 26/30 prefunk cocktails

Melissa Laveaux - "Crazy in Love"
I have no idea who this person is and I'm generally against covers of songs I like (TWO STRIKES, LADY), but this thumpy, acoustic reinvention of the Beyonce ultrajam is-- no exaggeration-- the best new song I've heard in months. Should you decide to scoot over to her MySpace page, you can listen to, along with some of her originals, another unique cover, this time of Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay." Her version of "Crazy in Love," however, is so good I don't even miss the Jay-Z verse. A++++ NEW ARTIST. WOULD BUY FROM AGAIN.

Suggested if you like: Lykke Li, Emiliana Torrini, making a great thing even better
Rating: 93/100 oh-no-nos

-- Jeff Reguilon

Who Will Sign Pomplamoose?

19,000 YouTube channel subscribers, 5000 MySpace friends, and some serious buzz building... Let the bidding begin.

--Courtney Powell