Morning Music Notes – Not in the Same City!

Amy Winehouse Album Sales, One Year After Her Death

Yesterday marked one year since Amy Winehouse suddenly passed away. A look at the charts shows she had a great year for record sales but not a great year for living (via Hollywood Reporter). Winehouse sold 855,000 albums in the United States in the past year, compared to 44,000 before her death in 2011, and 58,000 the year before that. Digitally, she sold 1.15 million tracks since she died, compared to 170,000 in 2011 before she died, and 239,000 in 2010. Winehouse has made a couple of posthumous song appearances, notably with Tony Bennett and more recently with Nas.

Call in the Army: Noel and Liam Gallagher On Same Rock Bill This Weekend

Liam and Noel Gallagher are both in Japan this weekend, AND playing at the same festival (Fuji Rock) – look out, Japan! However, they play on different days (via NME). Points deducted for a misleading headline. Oddly, Noel says that he wouldn’t play the same day as Liam to avoid rumours of an Oasis reunion, not because they want to beat each other to a bloody pulp. Fans of Oasis will get to hear Oasis songs on 2 days though, so that’s a plus.

Adult Fiction eBooks Outselling Old Fashioned Paper Books

Add this to the list of things children born in the 2000s will likely not experience: physical books. Actually, that’s a ridiculous statement, given the millions of books that exist in this world. What I’m trying (and failing) to say is this: eBooks are on the rise. In fact, adult fiction eBooks outsold hard cover adult fiction books for the first time ever (via Tech Crunch). Book sales dropped 2.5% in 2011, from $27.9 to $27.2 billion. eBooks had $2 billion worth of revenue, showing they have a long way to go, but will likely catch physical books within 5 years. You can quote me on that, too – only because I won’t be around in 5 years to be mocked.

Listen! Ben Gibbard – Ichiro’s Theme

Super fast Japanese baseball player Ichiro Suzuki was traded from the Seattle Mariners to everyone’s favourite team, the New York Yankees. As the Death Cab for Cutie frontman prepares his debut solo, he has revealed a song paying homage to the hit machine Ichiro, appropriately named Ichiro’s Theme. The lyrics are very direct and definitely b-side quality, but the song isn’t half bad. Check out Ben Gibbard’s song below, and maybe hear it at a Yankee Stadium near you soon.

Ben Gibbard – Ichiro’s Theme
Ichiro’s Theme by Gibbstack