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- This week begins with a veritable hurricane of news or non-news for fans of the long-defunct dance-rock group The Stone Roses. Rumors of a band reunion began circulating Friday, when a mass of press invitations were sent out for a “special announcement” at a London hotel later in the week. When contacted, a PR representative refused to confirm or deny the possibility of a band reformation, which pretty much only poured gas on the flames. Then, NME was reportedly contacted by original drummer Alan Wren, first of the band to break the ranks, with a message that read “Not before 9T will I wear the hat 4 the Roses again.” All of this follows April news that feuding members Ian Brown and John Squire had met up following the death of bassist Mani’s mother. Stay tuned.
- Heineken City Arts Fest kicks off this week, starting on Thursday with headlining performances by Robyn, Crystal Castles, The Long Winters, Mad Rad, and The Cops at venues all around Seattle. The festival continues through Saturday night, and includes highlights such as Ryan Adams, Ozomatli, Built to Spill, Mudhoney, The Helio Sequence, Thao With The Get Down Stay Down, Shabazz Palaces, Man Man, Fences, The Hold Steady, Pickwick, and many, many more. Head on over to the City Arts Fest website to set your schedule or buy tickets, and leave us your itinerary in the comments! See you there!
- If you’re into music at all, then you’ve listened to Sonic Youth. The seminal no-wave project were forerunners of the modern indie rock movement, building on a foundation of DIY-style hardcore punk, noise, and experimentation. Founding members Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon married in 1984, and became the iconic indie couple. But Friday saw the announcement of their impending separation, after 27 years of marriage and fourteen albums. A statement issued by the pair reads, “Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved, will proceed with its South American tour dates in November. Plans beyond that tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment.” Sounds like their relationship has become Rather Ripped.
- Not content to remain on the sidelines during the Cloud Age, Google is reportedly preparing to launch a music store to run in conjunction with their Google Music Beta cloud service. The corporate giant is in negotiations with major record labels in an effort to expand their service and open an MP3 store, in direct competition with Apple’s iTunes and Amazon. This would connect to Google’s cloud, allowing users to back up their files in “lockers” and stream them to mobile phones and other devices. According to the New York Times, Google may be aiming for a quiet subversion of iTunes’ latest cloud feature Match (out end of October), which will link users’ MP3s to the iTunes database. Of course, this is all speculation, so maybe they’re just talking about how awesome the new William Shatner album is. His cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody”? Killer.
- M83 has a new video for his single “Midnight City,” off of his newest album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. The clip, directed by Fleur & Manu, involves a bunch of freaky kids in a freaky school from which they escape to freak out. Fun stuff. Find the video here.
