Lucky

Happy Thanksgiving, Too Poppers.

Best news I've seen all day: Amazon.com is having a hell of a saletomorrow now on their top 50 MP3 albums. Five bucks for several on my "to-get" list: Raveonettes, Fleet Foxes, She & Him, Dr. Dog, and Ra Ra Riot, plus favorites by Mates of State, R.E.M., Nada Surf, Radiohead, Coldplay, and Mariah Carey.

Man, I just can't wait to hear that new Mariah Carey.

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.

Perfect Endlessness

In honor of Thanksgiving - so they say - Matt Pond PA is giving away a free EP. It's called The Freeep - not a typo.

1. Hearts and Minds
2. Our Braided Lives
3. #5
4. One and Only
5. Imperfect
6. #3
7. First Light
8. Amazing Life
9. #1

Download each song here or click here for the full EP. And a Happy Thanksgiving to you, Matt.

Like a Serenade of Sound

Coldplay's new EP Prospekt's March is now out.

Six tracks are leftovers from the Brian Eno-produced "Vida" sessions, many of which make noticeable, if not exactly terrifying, departures from the band's swelling rockery. "Life in Technicolor ii" (which is a song, Chris Martin cracks on the band's Web page) gets words, "Glass of Water" is unusually bombastic, and "Rainy Day" sports a jittery electro beat in the vein of U2's "Zooropa."

I don't get the collaboration with Jay-Z, but I guess everybody needs a gimmick. I actually quite enjoy Viva La Vida - especially the title track and Strawberry Swing - so I'll likely pick this up as well.

Did I Tell You I Need You?

In promoting his new Fireman album (out tomorrow in the states), Paul McCartney provided an update on when The Beatles' catalog(ue) might hit iTunes:

"We are very for it, we've been pushing it. But there are a couple of sticking points, I understand. So the last word I got back was that it had stalled, the whole process.

"They [EMI] want something we're not prepared to give them. Hey, sounds like the music business.

"It's between EMI and The Beatles. What else is new."

Right, so, in the meantime, just rip those crappy-sounding CDs you already have and get by for a while.

Update: Here's a decent write-up of the situation at Apple 2.0. I'd have the agree that the window is rapidly passing for the digital Beatles to be a huge success unless they just knock it out of the park with marketing, extras, etc. I think most casual fans already have the songs they want ripped from CD's or "borrowed" from friends.

I've Waited So Long

Billboard.com recently spoke with Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger to get a progress report on the next FOW album:

"We still have a ways to go, but we have eight songs that are relatively close to complete now. We're looking to regroup after the New Year and do the second batch," Schlesinger tells Billboard.com. "I think we're trying some different things on this record, but we're still the same band, to me. It's kind of too early to say what direction it's going to as a whole."

I hope doing "different things" means getting away from the Stacy's Mom FOW and back to the Troubled Times FOW - or at least finding the right balance of the two. The last album faded fast for me because it seemed too gimmicky.

He also reported he's working on a new Ivy album as well. It'll be a long while before that one's out, though.