Viva La March

Prospekt's March, the Coldplay EP that's released on Tuesday, can be streamed in its entirety HERE. Enjoy.

A Dream Come True

It's official! The new Bruce Springsteen album will be coming out in January -- January 27th to be exact. This will surely coincide nicely with the little Super Bowl halftime gig everyone's been talking about. The record AND first single will be called Working On A Dream. According to Rolling Stone, the album was records relatively quickly and even used some first takes for some tunes. This WILL be an E-Street Band record, so everyone is back in full tow. Here is the confirmed tracklisting:

1. “Outlaw Pete”
2. “My Lucky Day”
3. “Working on a Dream”
4. “Queen of the Supermarket”
5. “What Love Can Do”
6. “This Life”
7. “Good Eye”
8. “Tomorrow Never Knows”
9. “Life Itself”
10. “Kingdom of Days”
11. “Surprise, Surprise”
12. “The Last Carnival”

*The album will also contain two bonus tracks: “The Wrestler” and “A Night with the Jersey Devil.”

Smiley Smile

While we are on the topic of free downloads, I was perusing some of the Daytrotter sessions the other day when I fortuitously stumbled across a nice little gem Aimee Mann did for them not too long ago. You might remember her for the string of songs she contributed to the excellent Magnolia soundtrack a decade ago. This helped to define her as an aclaimed solo artist, and she has never since looked back. She released a stellar album this past year called @#%&*! Smilers , which will undoubtedly be listed on many critics' top ten lists when they come out next month.

Download the Daytrotter session HERE.

Anthemic

I had the privilege of seeing the Gaslight Anthem at Roseland last month on a bill that included Thrice, Alkaline Trio, and Rise Against. Gaslight was easily the show-stealer and was every bit as exciting as I predicted they'd be. As mentioned in my review of their latest offering, The '59 Sound, these Jersey Boys perfectly combine the heart wrenching maudlin storytelling of an early Springsteen with the brashness of today's premiere punk acts. Thought I'd give them another shout out. Right now, this band is battling it out with the Fleet Foxes for my breakthrough band of the year. I guess I missed the boat on some of Gaslight's really tiny gigs at the Knitting Factory, so here's hoping they'll throw together a top-billing club tour in the near future.

Anyway, if you go over to FuelFriends, you can download a (free) great acoustic set of some of 59's offerings. Please take advantage of this. You won't be sorry.

In other Gaslight Anthem news, lead singer Brian Fallon will be the opening act for Jesse Malin's Christmas show at the Bowery Ballroom next month (12/19).

Marching Onward

As mentioned a little while ago, we haven't heard the last of Coldplay for 2008. Months after releasing the tremendously successful Viva La Vida, Chris Martin and crew announced their intention of releasing an additional companion EP by year's end. Weeks ago, we learned that the EP's title would be Prospekt's March, and would feature some new tracks along with "Lost+" -- the plus of course being Jay-Z's touch to the original Viva track. The album artowrk was revealed today, and well, corresponds VERY nicely to their most recent offering. Prospekt's March hits shelves November 25th. Here's the confirmed tracklisting:

1. "Life in Technicolor II"
2. "Postcards from Far Away"
3. "Glass of Water"
4. "Rainy Day"
5. "Prospekt's March/Poppyfields"
   1. "Prospekt's March"
   2. "Poppyfields"
6. "Lost+" (featuring Jay-Z)
7. "Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)"
8. "Now My Feet Won't Touch the Ground"

Magic, Indeed

Um, how did this manage to slip under my radar? Apparently, Bruce Springsteen will be premiering a new song this Sunday during the Cowboys/Skins game. The song, "Workin' On A Dream" (I know, very Bruce-like), was debuted last month acoustically at a Cleveland Obama rally. But here's the better news. "Workin'" will likely be the leadoff single to Magic's follow-up, due out in JANUARY! Didn't even know the boss was in the studio, much less nearly complete with an album that's going to be in my hands in less than two months! The Boss never ceases to impress me.

The Cover And The Shape

Kudos to Stereogum for posting this. Coming off the heals of a superb New York Halloween date, Ryan Adams recently headed over in jolly old England for a brief British tour. In his downtime, the magnificent one paid a visit to BBC studios, where he got all modern rock on us (sort of). Rather than playing the standard Grateful Dead or Jerry Garcia cover, Adams opted to bust out a very solid, very Neil Young-sounding acoustic version of Foo Fighters' favorite "Times Like These." You can listen or download HERE.