Coldplay - Violet Hill (download new single!), Album Cover and Setlist

Violet Hill is the first officially released single from Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends - Coldplay's 4th album to be released on June 17th.

Here's the confirmed set of songs

Stereogum's first perspective on Violet Hill: "Don't let the atmospheric and ambient noise swell out front scare you too much, "Violet Hill" is a rocker's march, with Brian Eno dialing Buckland's guitars into a more biting/less delayed crunch than A Rush Of Blood and X&Y (check the alarm siren bends, etc.). On the other hand, it looks like Brian's still OK with Mr. Martin's favored outro trick of gentle voice/piano chorus reprise. A few more notes to that guitar solo might've helped."

Enjoy it!

+ Link 1
+ Link 2

John Legend - Pride (In the Name of Love)

Some of you might have seen this before. Beautiful in its simplicity, John Legend covered the track for 'KING' a two hour TV special marking the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King which aired on the History Channel.

Billy Corgan - Half of Us (interview)

Great interview with Billy Corgan sharing intimate confessions about his life - difficulties his father, child abuse, growing up and the repercussions with Smashing Pumpkins success... Very interesting!
+ Check it out

Live - MTV Unplugged (1995)

Do you guys remember this? Boy, it's been such a long time since I've heard it... but there were so many good songs... Enjoy it!
+ Link 1

Thanks to Rock and Blues

Interpol - Live from Chile - 03/06/08

Interpol @ Teatro Caupolicán
Santiago, Chile
06.03.2008

01.Intro
02.Pioneer to the falls
03.Obstacle #1
04.NARC
05.C´mere
06.The scale
07.Say hello to angels
08.Mammoth
09.No i in threesome
10.Hands away
11.Slow hands
12.Rest my chemestry
13.Lighthouse
14.Evil
15.The Heinrich manouver
16.Not even Jail
17.Encore
18.Untitled
19.NYC
20.Improv
21.PDA

+ Part 1
+ Part 2

Thanks to mundomp3 Brasil

Foo Fighters - Live from Oracle Arena (Oakland, Ca - 02/02/08)

This was a 2 and 1/2 hour long show just with the Foo Fighters playing!!! Another fantastic Foo Fighters gig! Dave and the guys always put 100% into every show.

When () around song represents Acoustic Song

Set List:
Let it Die
The Pretender
Times Like These
Breakout
Learn to Fly
Cheer up Boys (Your make-up is running)
This is a Call
Guitar Battle!!
Stacked Actors
Taylor Hawkins solo
(Skin and Bones)
(Marigold)
(My Hero)
Band Member Intro's
(Cold day in the Sun)
(But, Honestly)
(Everlong [Starts acoustic])
Monkey Wrench
All My Life
Big Me
Long Road to Ruin
Best of you

++ Part 1
++ Part 2

Coldplay - Castles (B-Sides and Rarities Collection!)

Despite reports stating otherwise, their new album will not be called 'Prospekt'. Well, while the untitled new album gets into its the final mixing process, I share here a compillation of B-sides and rarities for all of us - true Coldplay fans. Enjoy it!
+ Get it here

Stone Temple Pilots - Live from Hammerstein Ballroom (NYC, April 23rd 2002)

As you might have heard, they are back!! In the meantime, let's share this GREAT concert NYC from the Shangri-La Dee Da tour. It includes covers from Pink Floyd to Led Zeppelin. Great recording makes this a must not only for fans but those that appreciate STP. Just listen to the crowd singing with Scott on Trippin' to understand what I'm talking about!

Courtesy of Below Empty

SETLIST
* Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Pink Floyd Cover)
* Vasoline
* Crackerman
* Hollywood Bitch
* Big Empty
* Dead And Bloated
* Atlanta (Acoustic)
* Sour Girl (Acoustic)
* Wonderful (Acoustic)
* Creep (Acoustic)
* Lounge Fly
* Too Cool Queenie
* Big Bang Baby
* Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
* Interstate Love Song
* Nobody's Fault But Mine (Led Zeppelin Cover, Partial)
* Plush
* Down (with Army Ants Intro)
* Kitchenware and Candybars
* Sex Type Thing
++ Link 1
++ Link 2 (coming soon!)

Why One Died Simply...

I've got a few emails this week asking "why the name One Died Simply!?". The reason comes from the name of the EP I recorded with my friends back in Brazil in 2003, right before coming to live in USA. It was a great way to document forever those songs that meant I lot to me. There are 3 songs in portuguese and 5 in english. Lyrics are enclosed.
+ Click here for the full album

Landon Pigg - Landon Pigg (2006)

Well, how I found him?? Easy, just Googling who was singing that commercial "A Diamond is Forever". Heralding from the inspirational streets of Nashville, Tennessee—Pigg is one of the most talented pop songwriters I’ve heard in a long, long time. There is not a lot of variety, but he is good at what he does. With all of that being said... and despite a very good vocal performance and an album rife with decent melodic hooks, this is an album that you are more than likely to forget.

Grade: A-
+ Eggshels
+ Great Companion (in this one his voice resembles a lot of Jeff Buckley's)
+ Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop

++ Best used CD deal I've found @ Amazon.com
++ MySpace.com website

Your Vegas - A Town and Two Cities (EP)

It's difficult to judge a band based only on three songs, but the EP still left me impressed and hoping for a full length album.
The sound in the first two songs, while electronic in the good 80s tradition, is actually more reminiscent of The Killers. If you like that act, make sure to check Your Vegas.
The third song, "the way the war was won" is a good quieter rock ballad heavily influenced by Keane.

iTunes is selling this album (as of Jan '08) for a total of 99c, so it's a better place to go.

+ MySpace Website
+ The Way the War Was Won video

The Police - Live from Brazil (2007)

Live from Rio de Janeiro - Dec 08th 2007

01 Message In A Bottle
02 Sychronicity II
03 Walking On The Moon
04 Voices Inside My Head
05 When The World Is Running Down
06 Don't Stand So Close To Me
07 Driven To Tears
08 Hole In My Life
09 Truth Hits Everybody
10 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
11 Wrapped Around Your Finger
12 De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
13 Invisible Sun
14 Walking In Your Footsteps
15 Can't Stand Losing You
16 Roxanne
17 King Of Pain
18 So Lonely
19 Every Breath You take
20 Next To You

+ Get it here

Plus/Minus - Let's Build a Fire (2006)

Plus/Minus (aka +/-) is a New York City-based indie-pop trio who surprised me with their great song "Leap Year" that was playing last night in the underground/indie internet-based radio Soma.fm. Their third album - Let's Build a Fire - presents an energetic and inventive set that combines melodic rock with carefully placed electronic touches and occasional stabs of noise (listen the propulsive "Steal the Blueprints"). Both in vocals and overall sound, the ensemble bears notable similarities to the Postal Service, but its guitar-based approach gives Plus/Minus an invitingly warm, fuzzed-out edge.
Grade: A+

Check these other ones:
+ Steal the Blueprints

+ Summer Dress 2 (iodine)

+ Time & Space

++ Myspace Website

Gregg Alexander - Michigan Rain (1989)

This is a SUPER rare CD... From 1989, released by A&M Records, here's "Michigan Rain" by the New Radicals wunderkid Gregg Alexander. Thanks to Gregg's community on Orkut.
+ Check it out!
+ The missing song - Sinner Times Ten

Cosmotone - Cosmotone

In my humble opinion, a good song always gets me for its melody rather than the lyrics. If anything, that's the first impression that "register". Whereas for other ones, music+lyrics share the same importance, for me a good melodic line, or a good riff that sticks out "pays off" the value of a good song.

Cosmotone is a band from my hometown - Fortaleza, Brazil - that I just got introduced by its own bassist - Fabricio Alves - who I recently met and... boy... what a surprise!

Their self-titled debut album (independent release) is full of great pop songs with well-thought arrangements that bring a solid musical consistency throughout the album... The lyrics are permeated of stories about broken relationships, loneliness, uncertainty, forgiveness. Feelings that certainly all of us have once experienced. But perhaps here is where I think they can expand more in a future album - creating a broader palette of themes to match the beautiful of songs they crafted so well in this CD.
Congrats Fabricio and his band for putting out such a great work which impressed me for the quality of its melodic "hooks" - which kept playing over and over in my head...

Grade: A+

+ Lembrança
+ Vazio Lugar

+ Não Faz Mal
+ Todas as Armas

++ MySpace Website

David Gray - The EP's 92-94

Like most of his work pre-White Ladder, Gray's approach here is sparser, often featuring only voice and guitar, and even more akin to the naked poetry of folk soulmates like Van Morrison. Birds Without Wings is just phenomenal!
+ Check it out

VA - Anyone Can Play Radiohead: a Tribute to Radiohead (2001)

1. Fitter Happier - Silent Gray

2. No Surprises - Paige

3. Creep - Aleister Einstein

4. Fake Plastic Trees - October Hill

5. Stop Whispering - Dotfash

6. Exit Music (For A Film) - Miranda Sex Garden

7. Planet Telex - Secret Society

8. Karma Police - Dragon Style

9. Climbing Up The Walls - Diva Destruction

10. Everything In Its Right Place - Meegs

11. Subterranean Homesick Alien - The Illuminati

12. Bulletproof, I Wish I Was - P.M. Project

13. How To Disappear Completely - Lunasect

This compilation brings the best tracks of Pablo Honey, The Bends and the classic OK Computer. Although no big names here, these college/indie bands do deserve some credit for making a very consistent CD overall.
Grade: B+
+ Check it out here

Keane - The Night Sky (CD Single)

The newest and greatest from Keane!
01. The Night Sky
02. Under Pressure (Queen cover)
03. Put It Behind You (Ffrisco Mix)

'THE NIGHT SKY'

ONE DAY I WILL BE
BACK IN OUR OLD STREET
SAFE FROM THE NOISE THAT'S
FALLING AROUND ME

AND WE'LL RELEASE THIS TOWN FROM THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE TRYING TO KNOCK IT DOWN
AND THEN ONLY CITY LIGHTS WILL BRIGHTEN THE NIGHT SKY
AND THERE WILL BE NO SOUND

OPEN THE BARS AND
OPEN THE MARKETS
OPEN THE BANKS AND
OPEN THE CHURCHES

AND WE'LL RELEASE THIS TOWN FROM THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE TRYING TO KNOCK IT DOWN
AND THEN ONLY CITY LIGHTS WILL BRIGHTEN THE NIGHT SKY
AND THERE WILL BE NO SOUND

WE'VE BEEN COWERING SO LONG
OH WHAT I WOULD GIVE
TO STAND AT THE BUS STOP
OR BROWSE IN A BOOKSHOP
TO SLEEP AND ALWAYS BE STILL

AND WE'LL RELEASE THIS TOWN FROM THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE TRYING TO KNOCK IT DOWN
AND THEN ONLY CITY LIGHTS WILL BRIGHTEN THE NIGHT SKY
AND I WILL BE SET FREE FROM THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE TRYING TO BURY ME
AND THEN ONLY FIREWORKS WILL LIGHT THE SKY AT NIGHT
FOR ALL THE WORLD CAN SEE

+ Get it here

The Killers - Live in Chile (Fenix Festival - 11/04/07)

01 - Intro
02 - Sam's Town
03 - Enterlude
04 - When You Were Young
05 - Intro Bones
06 - Bones
07 - Somebody Told Me
08 - Smile Like You Mean It
09 - Midnight Show
10 - Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
11 - Tranquilize
12 - Read My Mind
13 - Outro Read My Mind
14 - Bling (Confession Of A King)
15 - Intro Mr Brightside
16 - Mr Brightside
17 - My List
18 - Can't Take My Eyes Off You
19 - Shadowplay (Cover Joy Division)
20 - For Reasons Unknown
21 - All These Things That I've Done
22 - Exitlude
23 - Outro When You Were Young
** Thanks to Escaparate Sonico
+ Get it here

Muse - Live from Mexico - 04/12/07

CD 1
001 Take A Bow (4:29)
002 Hysteria (3:55)
003 Supermassive Black Hole (4:03)
004 Map Of The Problematique (5:25)
005 Butterflies & Hurricanes (6:11)
006 Assassin (6:21)
007 Sing Fo Absolution (5:27)
008 Citizen Erased (7:25)
009 Hoodoo (3:54)
010 Feeling Good (3:46)
011 Sunburn (4:18)
012 Starlight (4:30)
013 Blues Jam / Time Is Running Out (4:45)

CD 2
001 New Born (10:00)
002 Soldier's Poem (2:49)
003 Invincible (5:49)
004 Stockholm Syndrome (11:14)
005 City Of Delusion (5:34)
006 Plug In Baby (4:18)
007 Knights Of Cydonia (7:22)