Morning Music Notes – I Thought Morrissey Loved Meat, Though?

The National Are Playing a Free Show in Toronto As part of NXNE

As I tweeted yesterday, The National have announced a new album due for release in May. This is great news, since their last album (High Violet) was my favourite album in 2010. The icing on the cake? The National will play a free show at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto as part of North By Northeast (via Spinner). The show is Friday, June 14 and will probably be awesome. Last year’s free show at Yonge-Dundas Square featured The Flaming Lips.

Morrissey Cancels Show Not Because of Health Conditions, But Because of His Crazy Anti-Meat Agenda

I’m all for believing in a cause. But when you are always shoving it in someone’s face, it gets a bit tiresome. Morrissey won’t play in Canada because of seal clubbing. He walked off the stage at Coachella because he could smell the burning meat. Now, festivals and venues are luring him there with the promises of meat-free gigs. The latest anti-meat / pro-animal discussion for Morrissey involves his return from his health problems to play Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show. However, the former Smiths man has cancelled his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as the scheduled guest on the show is the cast of A&E’s reality TV show Duck Dynasty, a show about the Robertson family and their duck hunting-related product business (via Consequence of Sound). Oops.

Morrissey’s official statement (presumably issued from his publicist, unless he talks in the third person): “Morrissey is thankful for being invited to perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live tomorrow, February 26. However, he cannot morally be on a television program where the cast members of Duck Dynasty will also be guests. Morrissey would be honored to play the show, if Duck Dynasty were removed.”

Harlem Shake Tops Billboard Hot 100 – Thanks YouTube!

Remember when we told you about Billboard’s charts now looking at YouTube views for their Hot 100 lists? The shake up is paying immediate dividends for Harlem Shake producer, Baauer, as he has found himself atop the charts (via Spinner).

The 23-year-old producer has over 100 million YouTube views this month, which is equivalent to video-influenced sales of 262,000 downloads, according to some new magic formula. Soon enough, hilarious cat videos will rule the music charts!

Watch! STRFKR – Atlantis

Another track from upcoming STRFKR album, Miracle Mile, following that of Leave It All Behind and Say to You. We get the slow, poppy number Atlantis. We have vampires with blood stands (instead of lemonade stands), lots of weird costumes, and fruit smashing. Yes, this is all in the same video, and no, it might not make sense to you either. But that’s not a pre-requisite for a good video or good song, thankfully. Check it out below.

STRFKR – Atlantis