Morning Music Notes – Putting the Fun in Funeral Music
The Rolling Stones Are Playing Some Live Shows, Wheelchairs Not Required
The Rolling Stones, fresh off releasing a new track, have announced a couple of shows in London, England, and a couple shows in the equally glamorous Newark, New Jersey (via NME). The London shows will be at the O2 Arena on November 25 and 29, while they will jet across the pond for shows at the Prudential Center on December 13 and 15. The band’s concert poster revealed Mick Jagger’s not-so-secret gorilla fetish.
The band will also release a greatest hits album called GRRR!, which I’m guessing was a misinterpreted sound in a conversation and the band just stuck with it. The album coincides with the band’s 50th anniversary, and will have a couple of new tracks, including Doom and Gloom, and One More Shot. Both of these tracks were recorded in Paris last month, and is their first new material in 7 years, and their first decent material in about 40.
Xbox Music Launches, Are Other Services Scared?
A new potential force has emerged to the online music streaming market – Xbox Music. The Microsoft service starts off as free, with ad-supported streaming music ala Spotify. For $9.99 a month (or $99 a year), you can remove the ads, receive artist-based radio stations, and also get a cloud locker in the Xbox Music Pass payment tier.
All of this will give you access to about 30 million songs, depending on your country. Is it coming to Canada? The answer is YES! Xbox Music GM Jerry Johnson said “Today we’re announcing we’re going into 22 markets. That number will continue to grow over this year. It’s hundreds of licensing deals we’re doing globally. We should be the first one to have free streaming of ad-supported content in Canada” (via Hollywood Reporter).
Xbox Music arrives on Xbox today, Windows 8 tablets and PCs on October 26, Windows Phone 8 after that (date not known), and other platforms at another unknown date. Sounds like the typical Microsoft reliability. However, the ability to pick a song, stream it (and also purchase it), all for free (with ads) is something Canadians have been missing. Check out how it works below.
Goodbye Hymns, Hello Pop Music (and Heaven, Hopefully)
A survey of Co-operative Funeralcare in Britain has found that pop music has replaced hymns at two thirds of funerals (via Guardian). The first time I died, music wasn’t even invented yet.
The most popular song at a funeral was Frank Sinatra’s My Way, which has been number 1 for 7 straight years. Amazingly, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life was number 13. What would I have played at my funeral? See what I told the Guardian in our interview with them.
Listen to the new Bat For Lashes Album
Courtesy of those fine folks at NPR, comes a preview of the new Bat For Lashes album, The Haunted Man. It doesn’t hit shelves (and the Internet, legally) until October 23, but give it a listen right now. You’ve heard the excellent Laura, Marilyn, and also All Your Gold, so why not hear the whole thing? Exactly – you have no excuses.
