It wasn’t until Peter Gabriel abruptly canceled his scheduled Academy Awards performance (after they demanded he cut his song down to 65 seconds earlier this year) that I realized what an awesome artist he truly is. Late to the party, I know, but it looks like he’s going to start getting respect all over very shortly. The tracklist to his upcoming album of orchestral cover songs was leaked by the distributor in Japan and it’s a doozy.
All we knew before today was what collaborator John Metcalfe had teased on Gabriel’s official site: that Scratch My Back (due out early next year) consisted of “song swap[s] with some of the world’s most legendary artists.”
Does that mean that Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Bowie and more will be covering Gabriel’s songs in return? We can’t confirm that, but here’s the tracklist, which Metcalfe refused to confirm or deny to the Guardian. All he would say is that “there are some very, very famous singers and bands involved,” and “there should be something in there for everybody.”
“I think this is probably the weirdest thing any of us have ever done,” Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon announced for fans at his sunrise concert at LA’s Hollywood Forever Cemetery this morning, according to IndieMuse. And based on the couple videos/reviews trickling onto the internet today, I’d say it was well worth any potential weirdness. The best thing about the videos I’ve come across is that every scene and every song is painted in a different shade of dawn, as they kicked off the set in the predawn darkness and closed in full view of the day.
The first video here or embedded below shows Vernon and friends singing without microphones or a PA system:
Bon Iver plays “Stacks” in this video. It’s shot very far from the stage, but the audio quality is top notch:
Lastly, the band closed the set with “The Wolves (Act I and II)”. If you weren’t already jealous of the attendees at this point, you will be after hearing this triumphant coda:
“Let’s do it again maybe or maybe never again,” Vernon said when it was over.
Keats and Yeats won’t be on his side, but Rudolph Valentino, Jayne Mansfield, and other deceased residents of LA’s Hollywood Forever Cemetery will be nearby at Bon Iver’s sunrise performance/slumber party next month, Consequence of Sound reports.
According to CoS’s Alex Young, a $25 dollar fee includes admission to the cemetery at midnight on Sept. 26th, breakfast, and a lucky spot at Justin Vernon’s performance at 6AM on the 27th.
It sure looks like New Moon director Chris Weitz is trying to build anticipation for the second installment of the Twilight series by boasting about its awesome soundtrack. As previously reported, Thom Yorke has shown interest in submitting a song, as well as Radiohead, Muse, and Band of Skulls. Now HitFix.com confirms (via Pitchfork) that Yorke has in fact submitted a tune, as well as Bon Iver.
Strangely, Weitz claims he hasn’t even listened to the Yorke song yet, but “unless it’s sounds of him belching,” he said, “I think I’ll put it in.”
What’s more, last year’s breakout singer/songwriter dude Bon Iver is also on board. “I think [Bon Iver] is fantastic,” Weitz added. “He says he wrote it for the film, but who ever knows if it might just be something laying around in his cupboard.”
I think he should be happy with the playlist so far, but Weitz is still shooting for a Kings of Leon track as well. No worries though, folks, as soon as he books KOL, I’m sure we’ll be hearing all about it.
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold posted a video on his site today, talking about his favorite music for when he’s on the road. It’s kind of funny to see him try to act young, hip, and “in the know” with his music choices.
“As I get close to a speech or an appearance, I like to be sort of pumped up from the music,” Feingold said. “There’s a lot of [Bob] Dylan in the van with me. I’ve got about 25 Dylan CDs alone. And I have a number of CDs from Africa that my other staff members don’t seem to appreciate. My mother would’ve said, ‘They don’t know what’s good.’ So I’m trying to inform my staff members that there are other kinds of music that are good too.”
Feingold must have realized that he could hit two birds with one stone and pander to his Wisconsin constituents with a the selection of indie’s new star Bon Iver.
“I gotta tell you,” he continued, “the idea of listening to Bon Iver, Justin Vernon’s album, a guy from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has been the one that I’ve chosen to put up as my first choice for what I’m listening to on ‘Fein’ tunes. This guy went up to his Dad’s hunting cabin and brought some Northern Exposure DVDs and apparently some Vienna Boys Choir tapes and listened to this and came up with this beautiful album. It comes right out of Au Clair, Wisconsin and that area where my daughter went to college, so try it out yourselves. I’ll be listening to that on the road. [I’m] very proud of this wonderful Wisconsin music.”
It wasn’t until Peter Gabriel abruptly canceled his scheduled Academy Awards performance (after they demanded he cut his song down to 65 seconds earlier this year) that I realized what an awesome artist he truly is. Late to the party, I know, but it looks like he’s going to start getting respect all over very shortly. The tracklist to his upcoming album of orchestral cover songs was leaked by the distributor in Japan and it’s a doozy.
“I think this is probably the weirdest thing any of us have ever done,” Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon announced for fans at his sunrise concert at LA’s Hollywood Forever Cemetery this morning, according to 
Keats and Yeats won’t be on his side, but Rudolph Valentino, Jayne Mansfield, and other deceased residents of LA’s 
Wisconsin Senator 
