insights from the digital future
I take my music seriously, and so should you.
Another stroke of brilliance from Radiohead is on the way… and in possibly their most genius move yet, it is being released independently by the band — that’s right, sans label, and one would assume sans DRM as well. The download can be pre-ordered for _.__ — or whatever you decide you want to pay! More genius, the CD will not be available until December, but the digital download releases October 10 — in ten days!
A long-awaited week off finds me among family and old friends in Chicago — and I can’t seem to get away from Wrigley Field, where my beloved Cubs have told me over the course of the past two days, that, yes, indeed, this is a special year, in spite of the slow, 4-9 start to August.
5 years $91 million for Big Z, Carlos Zambrano — add to that the fat contracts of our other young studs — Ramirez, Lee and Soriano — and whoever buys out the Cubbies from the Tribune this offseason will be investing in a winner (and maybe even a World Series champion?!?). Thanks Jim Hendry, according to Z, Hendry has been “his man” ever since drafting him as a 16 year old.
I was lucky to have seats in the 5th row behind the dugout today — and it was the dry run for the Chicago Air Show. Some photos on my flickr here.
Banged out some quality posts this morning for LAist, please read my Max Roach obit here and my editorial on the Crandall Canyon (Utah) mine disaster coverage here.
The greatest surprise performance at the 24-hour Live Earth was not Kanye West and John Mayer joining the Police on “Message in a Bottle.” Hell, no. It was Spinal Tap (reunited) with some help from Metallica (they actually laugh) bringing down London’s Wembley Stadium with hits like “Stonehenge” and “Big Bottom.” Madonna’s gypsy-hobo-punk performance — fully choreographed — of “La Isla Bonita” with Eugene and Serge from Gogol Bordello was also surprisingly excellent (watch after the jump).
MSN reports that the Live Earth Web simulcast resulted a single-day record 9 million streams launched. It will be interesting to see if it experiences continued traffic over the next few weeks as the Live 8 site did in 2005 — before viral video and YouTube embeds became viewer’s choice.
Good LA Times coverage of Live Earth here.
12 more videos after the jump include Live Earth performances from Smashing Pumpkins, The Police, Roger Waters, Beastie Boys, Corinne Bailey Rae & John Legend, Metallica, Snoop Dogg, and more…
Sky Blue Sky, the new album from Wilco, is severely growing on me. I admitted that I wasn’t in love with it upon early listens, thanks to day-long Web-streamings in March.
After purchasing the special edition CD w/ bonus DVD (of the songs performed and discussed in Wilco’s loft), and watching it with my nearly 1-year-old niece, I’m pretty hooked on many of these new songs. Yeah, the “angst” may not be there, but even Westerberg cooled out after a while and it didn’t make his songs any worse.
Awesome band shots from Shepherd’s Bush, London, May 20, 2007, by Mr Ush via flickr.
Below, listen to Wilco live at Northwestern University in Evanston, performing around an excellent interview with Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis for the excellent Sound Opinions program/podcast on American Public Media / Chicago Public Radio.
