I’ve been eagerly awaiting the new Coldplay release, Mylo Xyloto for sometime now. Call me soft, call me ladylike, call me simpleminded; I think they’re a great band that has constantly been able to re-invent themselves while somehow retaining the core elements of their identity as a group. Also… I like the music.

I was really perplexed when I opened up Spotify on Tuesday morning to find that Coldplay’s latest release was absent from the album library.

“That’s werid, I guess they released it early on iTunes…”

Wrong.

It came out yesterday on CNet that Coldplay will NOT be releasing the album on Spotify… like, ever.

This is so backwards on a few levels. Some people in the Coldplay camp are saying that the band wants their new work to be heard in its entirety as an album, rather than allowing listeners to pick and choose singles. If that’s the case, why can I pop on iTunes right now and buy any ONE track from the album? Not to mention the fact that the band let the album out one track at a time via iTunes last week anyway.

I think the true motive is that they want to collect more revenue from the songs now, rather than waiting for smaller payouts from streaming services. This solution is VERY short-sighted though.

Restricting your music to pay-only channels is going to drive certain consumers toward other free channels, since the legal ones are closed (and by “other free channels,” I mean piracy).

The public is moving toward streaming at a furious pace. Every time I open Spotify, my friends list seems to be multiplying faster than a nest of rabbits; and with saturation in every demographic on Facebook. Artists need to be where the people are.

EMI, the band’s label, is quiet on the matter and is continuing to hurt after losing Robbie Williams to Universal. Likely too scared to ruffle any more of their artists’ feathers, they’re content to allow their larger artists to do as they please.

As for me, I’ll have to wait until Monday when the vinyl comes in to my local shop to pick it up. Why they released that a week later, I’m not sure. Scratch that. I think they were hoping fanboys would need to hear the new album so bad that we’d buy it on iTunes this week, then get it on our preferred medium, vinyl, next week… kind of like when movies do the DVD release before the Blu-Ray or “collector’s edition.”

To clarify, I’m not against the band trying to make a buck. On the contrary, I want long-term success for them. A business model that at best ignores, and at worst spits in the face of, where trends in music acquisition are headed is exactly the model that will perpetuate the struggles of the music industry.

This goes for you too, Adele.

To be clear, this is not a debate over download vs. streaming. I’m an advocate for legal download channels, as well as streaming. I simply think that artists need to get behind streaming services if they hope to cut back on piracy.

Without the support of chart-topping artists, streaming services have no shot at overtaking downloaded content as the primary means of media consumption. While that may sound great to those rooting for the success of downloaded media, it basically puts us in the same place we’ve been for the better part of the past decade; extinguishing the one technological advance that could have saved the music industry.

Coldplay Snubs Spotify is a post from: wax&wires

I always find it funny when music periodicals and blogs start putting up their best albums of the year in early November, when we’ve still got 15% of the year left. Now, the final Tuesday has passed us, we’re two days out from 2011, and it is more than safe for me to assume that I will not have my mind blown by any new records over the next 48 hours.

The following are in no way “the best” albums of the year, or the “most important and influential” albums of the year. I won’t pretend to be the arbiter of taste; that’s for more pretentious and established (read: legitimate) publications to front. Albums on this list need only meet two criteria: 1) they came out in the calendar year 2010, and 2) I enjoyed them very much.

	10) Phantogram - Eyelid Movies I was actually kind of surprised to see this album on the list because there are probably only 3 or 4 songs on the whole thing that I really like a lot. When I look through my iTunes most played list though, this one creeps in as a top contender. Every time I tried to think of an album that I liked more or listened to more than this one, I was found without. So, sort of by default, here's number 10.
	9) Ratatat - LP4 Every now and then, you just need some good dirty electronic music to crank up and dance to. Ratatat, and what the Glitch Mob's album should have been, is the perfect soundtrack for driving fast through a city at night... (in my prius...?) Get some good subs and crank it up, it's swagger in a bottle.
	8) Jonsi - Go I didn't like the record as much as the live show, but nobody on earth is doing what Jonsi can do. Creative songwriting, unique instrumentation, and moving melodies create a landscape of timbres and emotion that transcends language.
	7) Oh Land - Oh Land Nanna's going to go big in 2011. This short EP redefined her sound from 2008's darker Fauna, and as a whole is a bouncy, poppy, feel-great album.
	6) Yeasayer - Odd Blood Yeasayer caught me off guard with Odd Blood. I had their previous album, All Hour Cymbals, and bought it mostly for the first track. Odd Blood showed up with song after song bringing the beat and begging me to put the album on repeat... I obliged.
	5) The Bird and The Bee - Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates Nobody does covers like Greg Kurstin. Beautiful chord voicing and arrangements give Hall and Oates fresh life. Inara's voice is as smooth as ever and I look forward to what she'll be up to post-baby.
	4) Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs - God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise Every now and then you need to get away from the noise of over-production and just hear a good song, sung well. Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ray LaMontagne and a host of others are the perfect candidates for such times. God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise gives listeners the simple and soulful craftsmanship that true songwriting is built on.
	3) Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More Mumford and Sons is on the list for the same reasons as Ray's album above. I'm in an interesting stage in life perhaps where I really enjoy tight vocal harmonies and folksy guitars. Give me some music that we could play on the front porch, in the backyard, or down by the river. No extras, and no effects needed. Just music, and every emotion, in its purest form.
	2) The National - High Violet This album had a lot of hype, and I really had to sit with it for a good few listens before I started to hear why. Once I "got it," it shot up my list quickly. The melancholy vocal delivery and somber mood really pull the listener into the lyrics, which are absolutely crushing at times. As my wife always says, "nothing makes me happy like a sad song."
	1) Beach House - Teen Dream The haunting vocals and original guitar work on Beach House's latest are delicious. All of the production and orchestration really serve to transport the listener to another space. The album as a whole has a very dreamy and nostalgic quality that I've yet to feel from any other album of 2010.

Music needs to make us feel something. So many albums on this list evoke strong emotional responses. I think that’s why I struggled with Phantogram, I wasn’t feeling anything when listening to the album… over and over. No joy, no sorrow, no awe, nothing. It’s like zombie robot music… or if they had been allowed to make music in Equilibrium, something like that.

Other albums that I beat myself up for leaving off:

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz

It’s not that I think those albums are worse than the ones that made the list, I just didn’t spend enough time with them on to really learn and enjoy them. Maybe I heard each one through from start to finish 4 times. I’m sure if I had another month or two with each one, they may well have stolen the throne, or definitely knocked off Phantogram. That’s another reason I don’t like other sites that put out ridiculous top 100 lists. Has anybody really had the time to contemplate 100 full albums and rank them during the year? And to make a list of 100 albums, that means you’ve listened to even more. Anyway, enough on that.

You have my list. Don’t get mad, just tell me what I missed.

My Favorite Records of 2010 is a post from: wax&wires

I kid, I kid; I’m not a hater. Seriously though, Zac and brother Josh Farro really did leave the chart-busting Paramore last week. You can hear a clip of Zac’s new band, Tunnel, below. Tunnel is a duo comprised of Zac Farro and Jason Clark. It has tinges of Coldplay-esque vocals and the melancholy electronic dirge of some Paper Route tracks. None of that should be surprising, as Paramore and Paper Route toured together for some time, developing relationships on the road.

Check out “Hide Your Eyes” here, and let me know what you think. I’m digging it. I’d pay for it, which is more than what I could say for all but a few of Paramore’s tunes.

Hide Your Eyes by tunnelmusic

Zac Farro Quits Paramore To Make Music is a post from: wax&wires

“I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun”

And I share the sentiment. I grew up in Northern California, not too far from the bay area. We had lush deciduous trees that changed in color and form with each passing season. Our attire reflected the time of year out of necessity more than nostalgia. I woke up early to scrape the frost off of the windshield in the biting cold of morning before driving to school. All that and I never even had to fight the snow that many of you might have.

I haven’t lived an ideal winter like that since moving to San Diego 8 years ago. I think a lot of people glamorize the year-round-sun of southern California, but all it does is make me miss the smell of rain and sight of my own breath in the air. Winter doesn’t really count when people are wearing flip-flops and dripping sweat because they’re hell-bent on wearing scarves and sweaters just to make it feel like December. Seasons remind us to appreciate change.

So the closest I can come in this climate utopia is to shut myself in and pull the drapes to convince myself it’s not sunny out. Then put on some music that will cast clouds overhead and usher in the cold. This song sits well in that mix.

I’m a sucker for sleigh bells this time of year… and not the bit crushing Brooklyn duo, though I’ve been rocking Treats for a while. Grab this track if you need a little visit from Jack Frost.

Free Beach House – I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun is a post from: wax&wires

I don’t really care too much about who actually ends up winning the thing, but I do care (and A LOT) about who you would vote for if you had a vote.

Still working out some of the cosmetics of this form, but you can still use it:

2010 Grammy Awards – You Decide is a post from: wax&wires

Here are the nominees: www.grammy.com/nominees

Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons are up against Bieber and Drake for Best New Artist. The clowns on E are talking about it right now and knocking Mumford and Sons all over. I’m sure Bieber will win it, but Florence gets my vote.

Any surprises? Who are your picks? Who’s missing from the list? Share your votes and opinions in our own little Grammy poll here.

The Grammy Noms Are Out is a post from: wax&wires

You can purchase the new song here.

Coldplay – Christmas Lights Video is a post from: wax&wires

Related posts:

1. Coldplay Snubs Spotify

New Jonsi Song – FREE Download is a post from: wax&wires

My buddy Joe Hartman just sent me this link for $3 credit at the Amazon MP3 store. With their Black Friday Deals going on right now, they’ve got several albums for $1.99, and they’re changing them up daily if you don’t find anything that suits your fancy.

Click here to snag it.

Amazon MP3 – $3 Free is a post from: wax&wires

If Blu, Dov Charney and Chuck Bartowski’s intersect all met at a rave, you’d end up with something like Sufjan’s new video. In other words, it’s two Excedrin looking for a place to happen.

So why do I love it so much? That’s easy: the sleeveless Nike shirt.

… and the music.

Snag a FREE download of the song, courtesy of the label, here. You can purchase the new album, The Age of Adz here.

VIDEO: Sufjan Stevens is “Too Much” is a post from: wax&wires

During the week or two of sound-checks leading up to the recording, we worked through the songs and attempted to rewrite them with fewer and different tones. Listeners can judge whether or not we were able to make these ‘stripped-down’ versions mean something.

- Alex Scally – Beach House

I like the new takes on a lot of the tracks, especially Real Love, which was one of my favorite songs from Teen Dream. The minimal approach to this EP brings the listeners ears right to Victoria Legrand’s vocal, a stark difference from the studio albums, which paint landscapes of textured sound with less of a strict focal point in the mix.

Check it out, and be sure to give White Moon a listen here:
Beach House – White Moon (Itunes Session) by subpop

New Beach House Track – White Moon is a post from: wax&wires

You can stream the new album, Ray Lamontagne and the Pariah Dogs – God Willin’ and The Creek Don’t Rise for free here. You can also buy it for just $3.99 on Amazon TODAY.

Ray will be touring with David Gray, both in support of new albums coming next Tuesday. You can be sure I’ll be catching that one.

[via Exclaim]

LaMontagne recently told Exclaim! that, while he’s not too keen on co-headlining bills, he feels the combo with Gray will give people their money’s worth. “We opened for [Gray] years ago, I think after our second record,” LaMontagne says. “I’ve never felt that fans really want to spend more money to see two shows when they can spend a little less to just see you. But in this case we were all hopeful that the fans of each of us would be into it. Judging by how ticket sales have been going, that appears to be the case. I’m excited about it just because I’m a fan of David’s. I think he’s amazing.”

So far, there’s only one Canadian stop, at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre on August 27. However, intrepid fans might want to hold out until November when LaMontagne has a handful of dates slated with roots rock legend Levon Helm.

“That will be a special co-billed tour, very short, on the East coast,” LaMontagne says. “I met Levon for the first time when we were both on Elvis Costello’s TV show, and then I played at his 70th birthday bash up at Mountain Jam. After that we started putting this tour together, some select places, and it’s something we’re all obviously very excited about doing.”

Ray LaMontagne – Stream The Upcoming Album FREE is a post from: wax&wires

From early Nirvana through Mudhoney and on to Fleet Foxes and The Postal Service, indie label Sup Pop has been putting out interesting and often fabulous music for decades.  But just like the rest of the recorded music industry, they’re having trouble these days getting people to pay for it.

To combat the problem, the venerable indie label is considering flipping the basic music sales proposition on its head. “Although Sub Pop is primarily known for its many fine artists and their really very fine recordings (also grunge), we’re not at all opposed to expanding into the fine world of t-shirts, hats, beer cozies, and key chains,” says Sub Pop general manager, Megan Jasper. “We used to give many of these tchotchke items away for free in an effort to entice people to pay for the music, but we’re considering flipping our strategy so that people pay for the toy and receive the music for free.”
Indie bands have already been experimenting with the concept of bundling downloads with a physical item, but this would be the first time that a substantial label made the shift.

Selling “A Thing Associated With The Music”

Jeff Kleinsmith, Sub Pop’s longtime art director already has a few unusual ideas for bringing Jasper’s sales strategy to market.  ”Regardless of age, there’s always going to be people who prefer to touch and make stuff that’s like, physical,” says Kleinsmith. “CDs may end up being little books. We’ve talked about this at work, where you might spend the time to do a cool package, it just doesn’t have a disc in it. And instead of a disc, you’ve got a little piece of paper that says ‘go here for your download.’ So you’re getting everything about it except for that plastic disc, you know. I would love to see that.”

But Kleinsmtih’s creative juices are just getting warmed up, “That could be a magazine, it could be a shirt, it could be a sticker on a banana, it could be anything, really, that has that download. It could be a poster, a thing associated with this music.”

SubPop Finally Realizes What Music is Worth: Nothing is a post from: wax&wires

All the music and none of the mud makes this the best way to experience Bonnaroo. YouTube and Ford have teamed up to stream (live and tape-delayed) video from this year’s Bonnaroo festival.

Artists include The National, Tori Amos, Tenacious D, Regina Spektor, John Fogerty, Weezer, Jay-Z, Kings of Leon, LCD Soundsystem, Norah Jones, and a ton more.

Check it out: youtube.com/bonnaroo

Bonnaroo Free Webcast is a post from: wax&wires

How To Destroy Angels – The Space in Between is a post from: wax&wires