News Corp. admits defeat, gives Myspace mere months to improve

By Annapocalypse on

News Corp. admits defeat, gives Myspace mere months to improve http://www.tinymixtapes.com/sites/default/files/news-10-11-myspace_1.jpg

Just when things appeared to be on the upswing for good ol’ Myspace! Despite the fact that it recently rebranded its name from “MySpace” to “Myspace,” it seems that making a single letter lowercase doesn’t exactly draw in tons of internet traffic. In fact, News Corp. executives have put the social network on notice, giving them less than a year to save the ailing website.

In a recent statement, Chase Carey, News Corp.’s president, called Myspace “a problem” and noted that the most important issue was building interest with consumers. (You don’t say!) Unfortunately, with quarterly losses increasing by $30 million to $156 million, it might be too little, too late for the aging social network. If the next few quarters don’t improve, a sale rather than a shutdown is expected. Your hear that, Zuck? Looks like you might be able to afford a second pair of sandals after all.

• Myspace: http://www.myspace.com

Girl Talk announces new tour that stretches until the end of time

By Annapocalypse on Nov 8 2010

Not many bands can announce a 40+ date US tour, that’s pretty much guaranteed to sell out when they haven’t released a new album in over two years. In fact, I can’t think of any other than Gregg Gillis a.k.a. Girl Talk, who just revealed this week that he will most likely be coming to a city near you at some point between now and the end of time. It’s hard to make show plans for, uh, March, when you haven’t even figured out your New Year’s Eve plans yet, but be sure to pencil in some time to check out Girl Talk’s nonstop danceathon in the next coming months:

11.12.10 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
11.19.10 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Hot Festival
11.20.10 - Sao Paulo, Brasil - Planeta Terra Festival
12.03.10 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
12.04.10 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
01.05.11 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
01.06.11 - Columbus, OH - LC Pavillion
01.07.11 - Covington, KY - Madison Theater
01.08.11 - Louisville, KY - Expo Five
01.10.11 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
01.13.11 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
01.14.11 - Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall
01.15.11 - Dallas, TX - Palladium
01.17.11 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall
01.18.11 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
01.20.11 - Birmingham, AL - Workplay
01.21.11 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
01.22.11 - Charleston, SC - Gaillard Municipal Auditorium
01.24.11 - Knoxville, TN - Valarium
01.25.11 - Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore
01.27.11 - Raleigh, NC - Disco Rodeo
01.28.11 - Norfolk, VA - NorVa
01.29.11 - Richmond, VA - The National
01.31.11 - Baltimore, MD - Ram’s Head
02.01.11 - Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club
02.04.11 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
02.05.11 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre
02.24.11 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
02.25.11 - Providence, RI - Lupo’s
02.26.11 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
02.28.11 - Portland, ME - State Theater
03.01.11 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis
03.03.11 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Hall
03.04.11 - Chicago, IL - Congress Theater
03.07.11 - Madison, WI - Orpheum
03.08.11 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
03.11.11 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
03.14.11 - Missoula, MT - Wilma Theater
03.15.11 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
03.17.11 - Portland, OR - Roseland
03.18.11 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
03.19.11 - Pomona, CA - Fox Theatre
03.21.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Palladium
03.22.10 - San Diego, CA - SOMA
03.23.10 - Tempe, AX - Marquee Theater

• Girl Talk: http://www.myspace.com/girltalk

Bert Jansch is back on his feet and back on tour, announces December dates in the US

By Erika H on Nov 8 2010

This last September, Bert Jansch cancelled a large portion of his tourdates with Neil Young and those on the East Coast with Neil’s wife’s, Pegi Young, after an unexpected operation linked to lung cancer. The folk legend with the name no one can remember how to pronounce is now fit as a fiddle (more or less — he just turned 67), and is happy to announce his return to the road.

In a way, it’s like he never left — Jansch will begin his dates in the US with The Pegi Young Band, resuming what never was back in October. Meg Baird from Espers will accompany him one night in Philadelphia, and while she’s no Neil Young, I’m sure Bert and Neil can catch up over beers sometime soon. Now everything’s come back full pentangle — er, circle.

Tourdates:

12.08.10 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s *
12.09.10 - Boston, MA - Johnny D’s ^
12.11.10 - Hartford, CT - Wadswoth Atheneum ^
12.13.10 - Vienna, VA - Jammin Java ^
12.15.10 - Brooklyn, NY - Bel House ^
12.17.10 - Pittsburgh, PA - First Unitarian Church ^
12.18.10 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom ^

* Meg Baird
^ Pegi Young Band

• Bert Jansch: http://www.bertjansch.com

[Photo: Sarah Lee]

The most expensive song in the world: file-swapper Jammie Thomas-Rasset must pay RIAA $1.5M

By Liz Louche on Nov 8 2010

Duluth, MN fileswapper Jammie Thomas-Rasset just got the lawsuit version of one of those out-of-control ALL CAPS rant-y emails people send around from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), in the form of a $1.5 million lawsuit. That’s $62,500 per song! Ms. Thomas, you see, once shared 24 songs online, a copyright infringement that did not make Capitol happy. In the second trial — this is Thomas-Rasset’s third — the judge lowered her damages from $1.92 million to $54,000, calling the initial amount from the second trial “shocking.”

“We are again thankful to the jury for its service in this matter and that they recognized the severity of the defendant’s misconduct,” the RIAA said in a statement. “Now with three jury decisions behind us along with a clear affirmation of Ms. Thomas-Rasset’s willful liability, it is our hope that she finally accepts responsibility for her actions.”

This latest trial was purely to re-determine the amount of damages after unsuccessful negotiations, so it’s likely that Thomas-Rasset’s lawyers will argue once again for this amount to be reduced. After all, the first trial saw damages of “only” $222,000 ($9,250/song)!

USAISAMONSTER disband, release final album R.I.P.

By Mr P on Nov 5 2010

Formed roughly 10 years ago by Colin Langenus and Tom Hohmann, USAISAMONSTER have officially disbanded. Bummer. Actually, they officially disbanded last year, but I’ve sorely missed their psychedelic, proggy, Native American mythological songs ever since. The good news, however, is that the group has joined together one last time for the appropriately titled R.I.P., which also marks the first release off Brooklyn’s Northern-Spy, a new label formed by the team that resurrected ESP-Disk’. The disc sees Colin (guitars, vocals, keys, percussion) and Tom (drums, vocals) playing with Maxx Katz (keys, vocals, flute) and Peter Schuette (keys), with additional help from Jeremy Danneman (Parade of One) and TMT dreamboat Matt Mottel (Talibam!).

Check out “Grey Owl” (and the cover art) from R.I.P. over at the Chocolate Grinder, and pre-order the album here. The official release date is November 16.

R.I.P. tracklist:

01. Grey Owl
02. Ranald MacDonald
03. No Drugs Til Now
04. Heavner
05. Four More Years
06. Dynamite Day

In related news, Colin has a new project called the Colin L Orchestra. Don’t think we’ll forget whose orchestra that is. Check out their Myspace here.

• Northern-Spy: http://northern-spy.com

Tom Waits heads back to the Asylum to reissue albums and pick up the wallet he left there in 1975

By Kid Midnight on Nov 5 2010

Tom Waits is all about respecting the past and taking old ideas and making them new again. However, instead of New Orleans Jazz music, old German musicals, dusty accordions, or whatever else grabs his fancy, this time Waits is concerned with his own past.

On December 21, Rhino Records will reissue Tom Waits’ first four albums, originally released on Asylum Records, as 180-gram vinyl LPs. If you’ve had a hard time building up the Waits section in your record collection, then you better get ready to add Closing Time, The Heart of Saturday Night, Nighthawks at the Diner, and Small Change, which will all be available for the low, low price of $24.98 each (except Nighthawks, which is a double LP and costs 10 bucks more) and will all include the original album artwork.

If you fancy yourself a “Die-Hard Tom Waits Fan” then you’d better knock it off because your elitism is a real turn-off, and your tattoo doesn’t actually look that cool. Tom’s face looks way too rubbery. Also, you should think about throwing down the extra cash for special, limited-edition versions of all the albums, because they’re pressed on red vinyl, are limited to 1000 copies, and can only be purchased at Tom Waits’ handmade, vintage website. I’ve also heard that everyone who buys a copy will get to drink from a cup of coffee that Tom put his lips on (don’t worry normal Tom Waits fans, I’m just saying this to rile up all those hardcore fans who think that getting a job as a taxi driver or wearing pasties makes them super-cool).

• Tom Waits: http://www.tomwaits.com
• Rhino: http://www.rhino.com

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