Give Me A Moment

The Killers announced a new greatest hits package called Direct Hits. Two new tunes will be featured including a collaboration with M83 called Shot At The Night, which musically sounds exactly like what you'd expect from these two neo-New Wavers.



As retro and anthemic both artists are, I'd say they played it safe here. Bonus new tunes on greatest hits compilations tend to be rehashed demos that never found a home on a previous release so I'm underwhelmed but not surprised. It certainly sounds like a nearly unfinished outtake from their most recent album Battle Born, which has been one of my guilty pleasures for most of the year.

Direct Hits is out November 11 just in time for the holidays. More info here.

Official Site | iTunes

We Can't Wait 'Til Tomorrow

Holy effing 80s. The Killers are back with The Runaways from their new album Battle Born out this fall. There's no hiding it; this is a straight up 80s anthem if I ever heard one, which I've yet to decide is good or bad or meh.



Official Site | iTunes | Amazon MP3

I'm Coming Outta My Cage

The ego of Brandon Flowers can no longer be contained by The Killers! Yep, he's going solo with an album expected later this year called Flamingo. I'm skeptical, but I'm also intrigued by the nice little electronic ditty streaming on his site.

Put a Little Money in This Type of Thing

Kudos to Lollapalooza - another hell of a lineup:

Depeche Mode, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Lou Reed, Vampire Weekend, Ben Folds, Fleet Foxes, Silversun Pickups, Bon Iver, Peter Bjorn and John, The Raveonettes, Ra Ra Riot, Thenewno2, and the like.

Who's up for a road trip in August?! Tickets are on sale now.

Everybody Look Down

Killers are waging a killer tour with M83. Killer. North American dates below:

01-16 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre *
01-17 Denver, CO - Magness Arena *
01-19 Minneapolis, MN - Northrop Auditorium *
01-20 Chicago, IL - UIC Pavilion *
01-22 Ypsilanti, MI - EMU Convocation Center *
01-23 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre *
01-25 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden *
01-26 Boston, MA - Agganis Arena *
01-28 Fairfax, VA - Patriot Center at George Mason University *
01-29 North Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues *
01-30 Atlanta, GA - Atlanta Civic Center *
01-31 Nashville, TN - Grand Ole Opry House *
02-02 Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater *
02-03 Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center *
02-04 Grand Prairie, TX - Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie *
04-16 Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre
04-17 Las Vegas, NV - The Joint
04-19 San Jose, CA - San Jose Event Center
04-22 Seattle, WA - Wamu Theatre at Qwest Field Events Center
04-23 Victoria, British Columbia - Save on Foods Memorial Centre
04-24 Vancouver, British Columbia - UBC Thunderbird Arena
04-26 Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome
04-27 Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place
04-30 Milwaukee, WI - The Eagles Club
05-01 Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
05-02 Bonner Springs, KS - Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone
05-04 St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
05-05 Columbus, OH - Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
05-06 Cleveland, OH - Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre at Tower City
05-08 Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center
05-09 Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena * with M83

Been enjoying Spaceman on XM lately. I really need to pick up Day & Age. Need to pick up M83 too - listen to We Own the Sky. Talk about killer!

We Forward in This Generation Triumphantly

RED(WIRE) is a new digital magazine (what the hell does that even mean these days) that will feature exclusive songs and will ultimately benefit HIV-infected Africans. The nice thing about this venture - aside from the obvious good it's trying to do - is that it seems the songs will not be throwaways from third-rate artists.

U2, Coldplay, the Killers, the Dixie Chicks, John Legend, R.E.M. and Bob Dylan are on board for the initiative, which is an outgrowth of the Bono-reared activist organization (RED).

For $5, users will receive a new issue of RED(WIRE) every Wednesday, featuring an exclusive song from a major artist, a song from an artist (RED) aims to showcase, a multimedia piece that could encompass video or photography and a look at how proceeds are directly benefiting Africans in need. The materials will be downloaded to a custom player and automatically loaded into iTunes.

I don't know exactly what it means that it will be downloaded to a custom player and into iTunes (DRM-crippled?), but this thing has potential. The other feature is that you can forward two free issues to friends and if they join, you'll end up reaping some rewards from that.

Oh, and not mentioned are a couple tunes of Elvis Costello and the Police jamming. Good work!

More...

Are We Human or Are We Dancer?

Find out why when Killers' guitarist Dave Keuning recently met Paul McCartney it "was probably the weirdest thing [he'd] ever seen in [his] life." Alice Cooper has a minor role in this encounter.

Day and Age, the Killers' third album, is out today. Download it now and enjoy.

Stuck Inside These Four Walls

Been a long time since I've played Guitar Hero III - the only edition I own. Always a blast, but once you play and perfect the tunes (Even Flow, My Name Is Jonas, When You Were Young,) it's time for new ones! Activision revealed the tracklist for the game coming out 10/26 last week (link to pdf press release.) Here are my top ten tunes I'm most excited to play:

1. Wings - Band on the Run
2. Eagles - Hotel California
3. R.E.M. - The One I Love
4. Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
5. Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
6. Guess Who - American Woman
7. Stone Roses - Love Spreads
8. Oasis - Some Might Say
9. Nirvana - About a Girl (Unplugged)
10. Coldplay - Shiver

Considering I've played air guitar to most if not all these tunes at one or more times in my life, it will be rewarding to put those skills to good use.

I Swear I Told You the Truth

"Synth atmospherics"! "Powerful, chunky guitars and horn swells"! "Dazzling anthemic" songs! Bold statements like these in a press release can only precede one momentous occasion: a new Killers record!

Day & Age is due out November 25. I guess now I should download Sam's Town.

Previously...

Save You From Your Old Ways

According to NME.com, The Killers' new album will be "stripped down."

"This record is stripped down in a lot of ways," said bassist Mark Stoermer. "Each instrument has its place, and things aren't clouding anything up. We're not trying to be bombastic. It's our most poppy record but also our most experimental."

Poppy? That's my game! The album is "rumoured" to be called Day and Age and is expected out in November.

But It's Just the Price I Pay

Do we still care about The Killers? I can't remember. Still haven't picked up the new one, and here comes another. This time, they'll be releasing a b-sides album from all their singles in the UK and the occasional soundtrack tune. As a music fan who has spent far too many dollars on import singles, this is a much appreciated gesture.

Also of note, expect a new studio album tentatively in fall of 08.

What would you think if I sang out of tune

What do you think of a tribute for the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's? What if I told you the original engineer Geoff Emerick was using the same equipment as used on the famous album to record it? Intriqued now? Okay, how about if I told you Oasis, The Killers, Razorlight, James Morrison, the Fratellis, and Travis were all involved in the project? Got your attention now? BBC2 will be airing the special radio event on 02 June 2007. No word yet on which songs will be covered or when an album might surface, but regardless, it's pretty cool. I'm looking forward to it.

Tomorrow I Start in a New Direction

A bit of Iowa concert news:

Guster is finally coming to Iowa as part of its Campus Consciousness Tour. Guster might as well go to Minneapolis because Decorah is 4 hours away from Des Moines! Still, me gusta Guster.

The Killers show (with The Envy Corps opening) May 14 at Val-Air is sold out.

Linsey Buckingham (of Fleetwood Mac fame of course) is coming to the Val Air April 10. Tickets on sale today.

Tell Me What You Wanna Know

The Killers will play the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines on May 14. I would've been more excited about this following their debut album, but I haven't picked up Sam's Town so I shouldn't judge ... yet.

Tickets for the Val Air show cost $33.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Feb. 17 through Ticketmaster.

I Dreamt About a Tranquil Sunday Drive, a Sensory Lullaby

Love to share Jellyfish-related news!

First, I finally received my TV Eyes Japanese self-titled release. You may or may not remember that 2/3 of TV Eyes consists of former Jellyfishers Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and Jason Falkner. I'm only about halfway through and I already knew three of the songs I've listened to, but it's awesome. It's total 80s new wave synthy stylings, but it's much truer to that sound than newer bands like The Killers and Interpol. Very cool. Can't wait to listen to the rest.

Speaking of Jason Falkner, his new album is finished (as of October) and he's currently shopping it around in hopes of an early 2007 release. It's been a long time since his last one so this is definitely welcome news.

Finally, this summer we'll see a full-blown Jellyfish tribute album featuring Bellybutton and Spilt Milk in their entirety. No word yet on who and exactly when, and I wouldn't expect big names, but there is a special page on that MySpace everyone is talking about. Evidently, this will be one of the artists on the release. Sounds great! Might be an awesome way to discover new Jellyfish-loving talent!

This is a Thursday Afternoon

Man, it's so cool when a local band has the potential to hit it big. Nobody from Iowa has hit bigger than Slipknot, and that was and is a fun ride to watch (download here). Slipknot side project Stone Sour has done quite well nationally as well (download here). On the poppier side of life, The Nadas seems to be on the verge of something big after hitting it hard locally and regionally over the past ten years (download here).

Now, the latest great story is The Envy Corps, which was just signed to Vertigo Records based out of London. They've been tapped to open for The Killers on a few dates of their tour and they're heading into the studio (in Iowa!) to record their debut album. Listen to their tunes on theirspace and order their debut EP before it finds a permanent place on eBay at a price you may not be willing to spend.

Good luck, guys. Make us proud. Damn, now I feel dumb for never catching them live - yet.

He Doesn't Look a Thing Like Jesus

The Killers' second album Sam's Town is out October 3. I've only heard When You Were Young from theirspace. iTunes is offering some free downloads if you pre-order the album, including the single. It's ok. I hope the rest of the album is better though.

Previously...

UPDATE: Check out the trailer for the When You Were Young video. WTF?! A trailer for a video. Too much, fellas. Too much. Thanks, 'gum.