This Is Awesome... 'Muppets: The Green Album'

If you grew up watching the Muppets, then you'll love this album. It is all muppet songs redone by today's artist such as OK Go, My Morning Jacket, Andrew Bird, and many more. 

Check out the OK Go and Muppets video below or stream the entire album over at NPR Music's First Listen.

OK Go and The Muppets - 'Muppet Show Theme Song'

Bon Iver & James Blake Collaboration - 'Fall Creek Boys Choir'

I know I've already posted a Bon Iver video this week, but this collaboration just gives me chills. Luhhhhhhhhve this…

Bon Iver & James Blake - 'Fall Creek Boys Choir'

Bon Iver - 'Holocene'

BON IVER "Holocene" from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

Have You Heard?

I should have reported this a month ago, but I have been busy, busy, busy! 

Good news!! Music sales are up for the first time in seven years! The midyear report showed that album sales have risen for the first time since 2006. Now, not by very much, (only one percent), but a little is better than nothing, right? It is progress in the right direction, so maybe we can continue to increase the album sales and see a significant increase by the end of 2011.

Techcrunch explains that these numbers are actual whole album sales and do not include single song purchases. If you assume that an album has ten songs and calculate that with the single song purchases, then the percentage increase is actually around 3.6%.

That means that for the first six months of 2011 the number of “track equivalent albums” sold was 221.5 million, compared to the first half of 2010. In my opinion, that is something to celebrate!

All of this comes during the revelation of cloud technology. Amazon, Apple, and Google will all be offering their own form of cloud technology and users will be able to access their music from anywhere. Other cloud technology online, such as Soundcloud, allows users to easily find new music that they like, thus leading them to purchase the tracks.

This is all very exciting for the music industry. I, for one, am excited to see what the cloud technology will do for the industry. Will it cause more piracy issues? Or will it help dissolve a few issues?

And my fingers are surely crossed for the album sales to continuously rise. These artists work very hard for their music and they deserve to be recognized for it. I am all for those who willingly want to give their music out for free, but those who do not should still be given the credit they are due.

____

Sources:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/06/say-what-thanks-to-digital-music-album-sales-up-for-the-first-time-since-2004/
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/07/music-sales-up-in-first-half-of-2011.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20077357-261/nielsen-soundscan-album-sales-inching-up/

Why All the Stage Collapses?

Last week Belgian music festival, Pukkelpop 2011, was unfortunately cancelled due to a stage collapse. This sad event killed five people and injured around 140 people. The reason for the collapse was a very strong storm that blew into the area right before the Smith Westerns were about to play their scheduled show. Sadly, this is not the only stage collapse this year.

Pukkelpop 2011

In July a stage collapsed at the Ottawa Bluesfest held in Canada. Luckily, the event planners realized a big storm was headed their way and cancelled the Cheap Trick show minutes before the stage collapsed. Very few were injured and luckily no one was killed in the stage breakdown.

 Ottawa Bluesfest 2011

Earlier this month, another stage collapsed at the Indianapolis State Fair right before Sugarland was set to play. The fall killed six concert viewers and injured more than 40. This collapse, too, was caused by a shift in the weather. A heavy gust of wind set the stage on a crash course scattering the audience.

Indianapolis State Fair 2011

So, the question is…why aren’t the stages built better? Weather is an unpredictable beast, but we know this already. Shouldn’t that just teach us to prepare better and avoid these types of instances? Lives could have been saved if these types of outdoor stages were tested before released for use. I am not saying that those who built the stages are to blame here. I am saying that it is unfortunate that the sets were not secure enough to survive a large storm.

Hopefully, this will get those who construct stages thinking about the safety of concertgoers and do a bit more testing and securing before the stages go out. As a member of the audience, I would feel much safer knowing that these types of tests have been done.

For more information on each of these disastrous collapses, see the links in the “Sources” section.

____

Sources:
http://www.spinner.com/2011/08/19/pukkelpop-stage-collapse/
http://www.pukkelpop.be/en/blog/pukkelpop-2011-can-t-go-forth
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/07/18/bluesfest-stage-collapse.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/21/us-indiana-fair-lawsuits-idUSTRE77J1MP20110821

West Memphis 3 Release Shows Which Musicians Are Supporters

As some of you may know, I am from central Arkansas. I’ve grown up hearing about the West Memphis 3 (WM3), but never really following the story. I just want to throw out there that I am completely unbiased and take no side over the other.

That being said, after being imprisoned for 18 years Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin have been unexpectedly released on Friday, August 19^th. Over these 18 years, the WM3 have had tremendous support from people all over. This includes celebrities and musicians as well.

After the release of the three last Friday, Spinner put together a list of tweets from musicians that supported the trio.

"WM3 are free!" Pearl Jam's Mike McCready tweeted.

"Sending my best to the West Memphis 3," hip-hop star Sage Francis tweeted. "They may finally be set free. Watch 'Paradise Lost' if u haven't already. #wm3"

"Finally some great news wm3 released!!!!!" X's Exene Cervenka tweeted. "So many people worked so hard to help them, thank you all."

"Wow. The West Memphis 3 are free," Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian tweeted. "Raise a glass to freedom better late than never."

"I'm so happy that the WM3 are finally free," My Chemical Romance's Frank Lero tweeted. "I only wish someone could be held accountable for their injustice & the tragedy that spawned it."

"Beautiful things went down in Arkansas today. Beautiful beautiful things," Dixie Chicks' singer Natalie Maines, who was also at the court house, tweeted.

"The gag order has been lifted, so now I can tell you, I'm sitting in a holding room at the courthouse about to see three men walk free!" she continued, thanking Eddie Vedder who "worked hard on this and is an angel!"

"All 3 boys will be set free today and all 3 are completely innocent. They must plead guilty as a technicality so they can't sue AK for $$," she added before correcting her incorrect State abbreviation in a later post. "3 men are free after 18 years of wrongful imprisonment and you guys are giving me state abbreviation grief. Fine! Arkansas is AR not AK!"

"West Memphis 3 are free!!" Soul Coughing singer Mike Doughty also said via Twitter.

While pop princess Mandy Moore offered her own thoughts. "Incredible!! Justice served," she tweeted, "still such a sad story."

Even though I never followed the story, it is a sad story which ever side you are on. 


For more on the WM3, go here.

And more on the Spinner article, go here.

Best Coast - 'Our Deal' Video Directed by Drew Barrymore

Watch Best Coast's new video that was directed by Drew Barrymore. Of course the song is awesome and Drew did a great job making it come to life.

Get More: MTV Supervideo, Music, Best Coast

Best Coast - 'Our Deal'