Williamsburg's Barack Rock to feature Andrew Bird, Eugene Mirman, more
If American voters valued musical taste as much as political prestige, Barack Obama would win a landslide presidential victory this November. On that note, Andrew Bird, The Fiery Furnaces, Guster and others (including some "special secret musical guests") will play at the Barack Rock fundraiser tomorrow at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg to help Obama and VP nominee Joe Biden on their way to the White House.... read more
Watch James Taylor perform live on The Colbert Report
Yesterday was a big day for James Taylor. Along with the release of his album of cover songs (appropriately titled Covers) he performed last night on The Colbert Report.... read more
CLIF Greennotes adds artists, releases benefit album
CLIF Greennotes, a CLIF Energy Bar-sponsored program that helps musicians to green up their tours, has recently added five artists to the list of participants. The non-profit is in its fourth year, and plans to celebrate the growth of the endeavor with a benefit album, and a handful of neighborhood clean-up events.... read more
Celebs launch YouTube campaign to fight poverty
Elle MacPherson, Kristin Davis, Bono, Queen Rania al Abdullah of Jordan, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, economist Jeffrey Sachs and musician Angelique Kidjo convened outside the UN on Thursday. They participated in a call-to-action style event, promoting the In My Name program, which has pledged to cut global poverty in half by the year 2015.... read more
Amidst busy and tour-filled year, Hot Chip unloads new EP's
The boys of Hot Chip sure have had a massively busy 2008. They just put out a new album in February and have been touring ever since. Now, they're talking new EP's, tour dates and songs. Nope, you're not confusing them with Coldplay (though you'd be forgiven, those boys have a lot going on as well.) Hopefully new live drummer Leo Taylor, who recently finished a solo album, isn't ready to run for the hills quite yet.... read more
Bruce Springsteen to play 2009 Super Bowl halftime
The Boss has been signed as next year's Super Bowl halftime headliner. The XLIII game will be hosted in Tampa, FL on Feb. 1, and will broadcast in more than 230 countries.... read more
Nicole Atkins continues tour, releases covers EP
Earlier this month, Nicole Atkins released a digital EP of covers, Dig Other People's Songs, which she originally played on her summer tour with Chris Isaak.... read more
Broken Social Scene extend "Something For All Of Us" tour
In July we told you all about the fall Broken Social Scene tour. Then in August we told you about how they extended into October. Now those crazy Canadians have extended into November. The eight-piece from Toronto (who also recently launched their new site) follow openers Land of Talk on a run of gigs named after BSS member Brendan Canning's new solo album, Something For All Of Us.... read more
The Thermals are on the road and in the air
Good news if you're a Thermals fan in the Pacific Northwest or Western Europe! The Portland, Ore.-based band has set a few December tour dates in just those regions.... read more
The Rosebuds to tour on Life Like
The term Team Love might already be claimed by Conor Oberst's record label, but it's also pretty applicable to describe bands whose members' musicianship and personal lives are delightfully compossible. The Rosebuds' Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp are, yes, a couple (see similar inclinations in Mates of State, KaiserCartel, Quasi, The Handsome Family) whose fourth album, Life Like, comes this Oct. 7 from Merge Records. They're also a two-headed tour-machine whose fall will include as much nuzzling on the open road as it will, well, nuzzling on the stages played along that road.... read more
Built to Spill, Dinosaur Jr., Meat Puppets begin two-night stint at Terminal 5
Fresh off their weekend getaway at All Tomorrow's Parties 2008 in upstate New York (where it's apparently always 1992), Built To Spill, Dinosaur Jr., and Meat Puppets are prepping for their two night stint at Terminal 5. The doubleheader starts tonight, and we're unofficially dubbing it the Monsters of '90s Indie Rock Tour-- where the Rock Gods of yesteryear will perform for this decade's creative underclass.... read more
Neil Young drafts Wilco, DCFC, more for Bridge School
Reaffirming that Neil Young really does have a "Heart of Gold," the venerable singer/songwriter will once again headline the 2008 Bridge School Benefit concert, in honor of the California school he co-founded to provide assistance for children with severe physical and speech impairments.... read more
The Little Ones release Morning Tide, tour with Walkmen
Los Angeles indie-pop squad The Little Ones explain on their website how they realized once upon a time "that their only weapon against reality was their imagination." So what did they do? All that a group can, really. "They embarked on a radical experiment: to see if they could convince themselves that everything was going to be all right."... read more
Liam Finn heads back stateside with more tour dates
Liam Finn has had a long year. Newly minted as among the Best of What’s Next in the September issue of Paste, he put out his solo debut, I’ll Be Lightning, in January, and proceeded with an intense tour of trans-continental dates that took him to the U.S., U.K. and back to his native New Zealand.... read more
Michael Phelps picked up for SNL and VMAs
Michael Phelps’ Olympic screen time is up for now, but viewer interest has persisted beyond the 14-time gold medalist’s sports coverage. In the last week, he’s been picked up as a presenter on MTV's Video Music Awards, and on Sept. 13 he will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, accompanied by musical guest Lil Wayne.... read more
Ra Ra Riot tours on The Rhumb Line
New(ish)ly signed to Barsuk Records, Syracuse, N.Y.-based band Ra Ra Riot will be at the helm of an extensive North American tour, with Walter Meego supporting, reports Brooklyn Vegan.... read more
Watch the Tron sequel trailer
If Paste had existed back in the early '80s, it's probable that the P4ST3 51GN5 of L1F3 4 1982 would have featured a little movie about video games and virtual reality called Tron, starring a relatively unknown actor named Jeff Bridges.... read more
Death Cab For Cutie will never stop touring
In his cover-story essay for Paste back in May, Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard mulled over Kerouac's On The Road. "I thought," Gibbard wrote then, "'that’s the way, that’s the ideal life, that’s great. You get in a car and you drive and you see your friends and you end up in a city for a night and you go out drinking and you catch up and you share these really intense experiences. And then you’re on the road and you’re doing it again.'"... read more
Atmosphere announces first leg of "Paint the Nation" tour
Before its sixth studio album was even released to the public, Atmosphere solidified its membership in Club Badass by bestowing upon us one of the best record titles of 2008, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold. Now, the Minneapolis duo is giving fans a chance to bask in the flow of Slug and Ant's hip-hop artistry first hand with the "Paint the Nation" tour.... read more
Jay Sweet talks Newport Folk Festival with Fox, NPR
A year shy of the mid-century mark, The Newport Folk Festival kicks off today in Rhode Island. This year's line-up features a refreshingly eclectic mix of artists, ranging from indie darlings She & Him to tried and true veterans of the Americana scene Levon Helm and Steve Earle.... read more
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B.O.B. - Put Me On
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
David Bazan - Hard To Be
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
