Here's a wallet-friendly offer from the Beatles - 4, a new digital EP from the fab four for free (get it?). "Taste the individual brilliance" of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Love by John, Call Me Back Again by Paul, Let It Down from George, and Walk With You from Ringo. Of course you probably already have these songs, but hey - they're free.
If last Tuesday was Super Tuesday, yesterday certainly could be considered its faithful sidekick.
The stellar new album from Guster called Easy Wonderful was finally released. Guster was quite generous in previewing many of the tunes via downloads, videos, and streams, yet it's great to finally hear it all put together. After one full listen, I'll go out on a limb and say I think it's their best since Lost and Gone Forever - or at a minimum it's their Too Poppiest!
iTunes / Amazon.com MP3
The superdupergroup of Joseph Arthur, Ben Harper, and Dhani Harrison - collectively known as Fistful of Mercy - dropped their new full-length As I Call You Down yesterday as well. The iTunes reviewers are expressing widely divergent views on the album. Check it out for yourself.
iTunes / Amazon.com MP3
Finally, most of John Lennon's catalog has been remastered and rereleased to commemorate what would have been his 70th birthday on October 9. There's never been a better time to fully explore the genius of solo Lennon. Check out the new compilation Power to the People, the questionable "Stripped Down" version of Double Fantasy, and the Signature Box, a new box set featuring the vast majority of his music.
iTunes / Amazon.com MP3
Big news for John Lennon fans today. In honor of what would have been his 70th birthday this year, a new campaign called Gimme Some Truth hopes to net Yoko some more big bucks. His eight classic solo albums are being remastered and rereleased:
· John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)Double Fantasy is the most curious one in the collected. Stripped Down? Was anybody really clamoring for a stripped down version ala Let It Be Naked? Feels like a bit of a money grab to me. Nonetheless, it'll be great to hear the classic remastered. Other notable releases in the campaign:
· Imagine (1971)
· Some Time In New York City (1972)
· Mind Games (1973)
· Walls and Bridges (1974)
· Rock ‘n’ Roll (1975)
· Double Fantasy Stripped Down (2010) / Double Fantasy (1980)
· Milk and Honey (1984)
· A hits compilation in two editions titled Power To The People: The HitsIt'll be a good year for Lennon fans. Hopefully we McCartney fans won't have to wait 20 years after his death for his catalog to get similar treatment.
· A 4CD set of themed discs titled Gimme Some Truth
· A deluxe 11CD collectors box with the remastered albums, rarities, and non-album singles, titled the John Lennon Signature Box
"Julian Lennon is going to write music to go with lyrics dad John wrote in 1960s"
So reads the Internet headline connected with "bizarre" tabloid news via The Sun. If you actually read the story, the reality is a bit different:
Julian said: ... "If the time was right, if it felt right, then I would consider looking at the lyrics and maybe trying to work with them and write something."IF, IF, CONSIDER, MAYBE, and TRYING do not equal IS! True journalism right there, friends.
Looks like John Lennon's tumultuous childhood makes for good entertainment. As unseemly as it may be, I can't say I won't want to see it. But Kristin Scott Thomas as Aunt Mimi?!
People can finally rest easy and breath now that the vatican has forgiven John Lennon for his "more popular than Jesus" remark over 40 years ago. Phew, I was holding my breath.
Paul McCartney is lobbying for a legendary unreleased Beatles "tune" to be released, but considering the others vetoed its inclusion on the comprehensive Anthology series, I'm not too hopeful. Carnival of Light is a 14-minute experimental piece the boys recorded in 1967.
It reportedly includes distorted guitar, organ sounds, gargling and shouts of "Barcelona!" and "Are you all right?" from McCartney and John Lennon.I appreciate efforts to release every last note the Beatles ever recorded, so let's make this a two-fer and release it with the mythical 27-minute version of Helter Skelter.
Looks like John Lennon is getting the biopic treatment:
Produced by U.K. shingle Ecosse Films and with a script from "Control" screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh, "Nowhere [Boy]" will focus on the Beatles legend's childhood and subsequent journey to icon status. Filming is set to take place on location in Lennon's hometown of Liverpool, England.Speaking of icon status, Lennon was/is larger than life - so can a biopic do him justice? Imagine was great because it was told in his own words. Backbeat was great because the focus was on a relatively unknown piece of the Beatles story. I guess we'll have to keep checking here to get a better sense.
This sounds interesting:"...the Flaming Lips are at work on new music that sounds "something like if John Lennon got together with Miles Davis and they discovered computers," according to frontman Wayne Coyne."
No timetable for a release just yet, but you can be sure it'll be fun.
Paul McCartney has performed some Lennon-penned tunes on past tours, but evidently he's never touched A Day in the Life ... until NOW (dun dun dah!) Rolling Stone has the pathetically short video to prove it. I think Macca is sounding great!
Congratulations, Lennon Murphy. Baring your ass on Suicide Girls wasn't enough to get attention so now you are requesting exclusive rights to use the name Lennon as a musical performer? I think he, he, and his estate have every reason to cry foul. No one says you can't use your name, you just can't have exclusive performing rights to it. You got your attention (yet I refuse to link to your pages here) now go away.
Advantage: Yoko.
Read more at BoingBoing.
John Lennon is releasing his video collection next month via iTunes. Well, ok, Lennon isn't actually releasing the collection because he's dead and all. So, yeah, the John Lennon Video Album (I'm blown away by this title by the way) comes out December 4.
Tracklist:'Imagine'
Yes, I see there are two Working Class Hero listings. Silly Brits. Here's one evidently not in the collection:
'Woman'
'Watching The Wheels'
'Mind Games'
'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)'
'Whatever Gets You Thru The Night'
'(Just Like) Starting Over'
'#9 Dream'
'Give Peace A Chance'
'Beautiful Boy'
'Jealous Guy'
'Nobody Told Me'
'Cold Turkey'
'Power To The People'
'Working Class Hero'
'Working Class Hero'
'Love'
'Mother'
'Borrowed Time'
'Slippin' And Slidin'
'Stand By Me'
The rare Lennon and McCartney reunion album recorded in '74? Check it out for yourself and don't expect the White Album or anything.
Following Macca's lead, John Lennon just released his solo catalog digitally via iTunes. Lennon Legend and Acoustic are both available today for the first time digitally. Plus, they're EMI so you can get them DRM-free! Beatles next?
iTunes has released an exclusive version of Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur with 11 extra tunes. Download here.
Related
Learn more about what you can do in addition to downloading John Lennon covers here.
Congrats to REM, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night (along with Stipe's hero Patti Smith, Van Halen, Grandmaster Flash, and the Ronettes.) Man, you know you're old when your favorites are even eligible to be in the Hall.
In new release news, Jacknife Lee (no relation) has been tapped to be the producer on REM's next album, which they will begin recording this spring. Let's hope for a 2007 release, and perhaps a newfound surge in overall relevance for a band whose popularity has waned despite releasing some highly underrated albums (except Around the Sun, which never did much for me.)
And finally, REM has released a cover of John Lennon's #9 Dream for The Campaign to Save Darfur. It was released on iTunes today. All proceeds will go to the campaign, which is entirely worthy of your $.99 -- at least. A full album is coming out June 12 with many other artists covering Lennon tunes. You can watch the video below.
