April 2004

Online file-sharing and other digital piracy persist, but a gradual turnaround in U.S. music sales that began last fall picked up in the first quarter of this year, resulting in the industry’s best domestic sales in years.

Overall U.S. music sales — CDs, legal downloads, DVDs — rose 9.1 percent in the first three months of the year over the same period in 2003, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Album sales were up 9.2 percent. Sales of CDs, which represent 96 percent of album sales, rose 10.6 percent. For the first time since 2000, two recording artists — Norah Jones and Usher — managed to sell more than 1 million copies of their albums in a single week.

U.S. album sales declined annually in the three years following 2000, the biggest year since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking U.S. music sales.

In 2001, sales were down 3 percent. The next year, sales dropped 11 percent. Last year, until September, sales were down 8.5 percent, but the pickup in sales at the end of the year narrowed the total decline for 2003 to less than 4 percent.

The burgeoning online music market accounted for the sale of more than 25 million tracks between January and March, eclipsing the 19.2 million tracks purchased in the last six months of 2003, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Source canoe.ca.

In an evening billed as a “Vermont Easter Jam” a special surprise live concert treat awaited music fans at Winooski, Vermont

While Maynard James Keenan is on the road with A Perfect Circle, his Tool bandmates are hard at work on their next project.

The Who look to perform all over the world this summer, with dates rolling in from all corners of the globe.

The classic rockers are booked for the U.K.’s Isle of Wight Festival June 12. Come late July, they’ll be playing the Yokohama and Osaka Festivals in Japan, before heading downunder for a string of Australian arena gigs.

The band has not played in Australia in more than 35 years. During their 1968 tour with Small Faces, they were arrested after an airline pilot complained of misbehavior by the group and their entourage. Then-Prime Minister John Gorton asked the band not to return to the continent and the band promised they never would.

Time heals all wounds, evidently, and they’ll follow the Aussie stint with two California gigs – August 7 at Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheatre and August 9 at the Hollywood Bowl. No word yet on whether these dates are the beginning of a larger U.S. tour.

The band features original members Roger Daltrey (vocals) and Pete Townshend (guitar), along with Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey on drums. Pino Palladino played bass on the band’s 2002 tour, but it is unclear who will be filling the late John Entwistle’s shoes this summer.

Source pollstar.com.

As expected, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Gomez have joined the lineup for this year’s Lollapalooza festival. The tour will kick off July 14 at White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Wash., with a two-day bill that also includes Morrissey, Sonic Youth, Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, the Polyphonic Spree and String Cheese Incident.

Morrissey will close the first night’s show, while String Cheese Incident will wrap things up on day two. A host of additional acts, as well as the full tour routing, have yet to be announced.

Source billboard.com.

Elvis Costello will simultaneously release two diverse albums later this year. The ever-prolific veteran artist is in the midst of recording a new rock album backed by his band the Imposters. In addition, the London Symphony Orchestra has recorded his composition “Il Sogno.” Both albums will be issued in the fall by Universal labels; an exact release date has not yet been determined.

Currently being recorded in Oxford, Miss., and Memphis, the as-yet-untitled rock album will come out on Lost Highway Records.

“Il Sogno” is Costello first full-length orchestral composition. Deutsche Grammophon will release the London Symphony Orchestra’s recording, conducted by Michael Tilson-Thomas. Plans are for the set to include a bonus disc that will be recorded at this summer’s North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, Holland.

Costello is to open the four-day event with a July 8 performance at North Sea’s Buhrmann Midsummer Jazz Gala. Longtime collaborator Steve Nieve (the Attractions, the Imposters) and the Metropole Orkest will accompany Costello in solo piano, big band, string quartet and full orchestra settings.

In addition, the 52-member Metropole Orkest is scheduled to make its North American debut July 13 during the first of three Costello performances at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival 2004. Costello and the Imposters will perform two nights later, while on July 17, “Il Songo” will receive its continental premiere as performed by the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Additionally, Costello is providing new liner notes and combing through possible bonus material for his next set of catalog reissues. Due in August from Rhino are revamped versions of his 1981 country-leaning album “Almost Blue,” 1984’s bittersweet and slickly produced “Goodbye Cruel World” and the 1995 covers album, “Kojak Variety.” As with the label’s past updates of Costello albums, each will comprise the remastered and remixed original album on one disc and a full complement of related bonus material on a second.

As previously reported, Costello will publish two books next year through a deal with Simon & Schuster. One will center around “styles, themes and characters” in the artist’s lyrics, while the other is described as a “work of comic philosophy. ” That set carries the title “How to Play the Guitar, Sing Loudly and Impress Girls… or Boys.”

Source billboard.com.

Tori Amos will release her first live DVD next month. Due May 18 via Epic, “Welcome to Sunny Florida” was recorded Sept. 4, 2003 at the Sound Advice Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, Fla. The 18-track release is augmented with an interview with Amos, behind-the-scenes footage, a tour yearbook and a live version of “Past the Mission.”

“Welcome to Sunny Florida” is further enriched by a six-song CD featuring the previously unreleased tracks “Ruby through the Looking-Glass,” “Seaside,” “Bug a Martini,” “Apollo’s Frock,” “Indian Summer” and “Tombigbee.” The latter track is performed live on the DVD.

The show goes heavy on Amos’ more recent work, including her 2002 album “Scarlet’s Walk,” while her back catalog is represented by such favorites as “Crucify,” “Cornflake Girl” and “Leather.” Amos’ previous live release was “Still Orbiting,” part of the 1999 two-disc set “To Venus and Back.”

The artist has no appearances on her schedule at present. Her latest release was last year’s “Tales of a Librarian,” which chronicled her tenure recording for Atlantic.

Here is the track list for “Welcome to Sunny Florida”:

“A Sorta Fairytale”
“Sugar”
“Crucify”
“Cornflake Girl”
“Bells for Her”
“Concertina”
“Take to the Sky”
“Leather”
“Cloud on My Tongue”
“Cooling”

“Your Cloud”
“Father Lucifer”
“Professional Widow”
“I Can’t See New York”
“Precious Things”

Encore:
“Tombigbee”
“Amber Waves”
“Hey Jupiter”

Source billboard.com.

More than two years have passed since Rich and Chris Robinson grounded the Black Crowes after six albums and the better part of two decades. Chris was out of the gate first with a solo record in 2002, and out of the gate second too, as his next album, This Magnificent Distance, is due in June. Rich Robinson’s next phase has been a bit longer coming, as his band Hookah Brown derailed in May 2003 due to financial disagreements, just months after assembling. But the younger Robinson sib has decided to go it alone and is mixing twenty-two songs at New York’s Hit Factory studio, some of which will appear on his own solo debut this summer.

Robinson hasn’t settled on a title or even a format yet — the batch of songs could be whittled down to a single CD, two separate discs or a double — but the new tunes find Robinson untethered in the realm of epic rock, with some of the Crowesy Seventies-inspired riffing, flourishes of country, a bit of honkin’ on the blues and anything else the guitarist sees fit.

Visit rollingstone.com to read more in detail about this upcoming release.

TV On The Radio are carrying on New York City’s avant-garde tradition with their eclectic brand of experimental art rock, which incorporates elements of post-punk, doo-wop, jazz and more.

Their Young Liars EP kicked off a firestorm of hype last summer, and they’ve dropped a stick of dynamite in the buzzbin with their debut full-length, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes.

They’re looking to keep the talkers talking and win some new fans with a nationwide tour this spring. They just kicked off in New York City and they’ll be art-rocking their way to California and back, finishing up May 13 at Supreme Imperial in Boston.

The band consists of Tunde Adepimbe, David Sitek and Kyp Malone, and their live performances often feature a guest rhythm section. Adepimbe and Sitek, both visual artists, met in their apartment building and discovered an affinity for pushing musical boundaries, adding Malone soon after.

The group has strong connections with other hot New Yorkers – Adepimbe created the video for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Pin,” and Sitek has produced albums by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Liars. Several members of those bands have reciprocated by appearing live and on tape with TV On The Radio.

Source pollstar.com.