Backstage Pass

Who knew Bruce Springsteen was such a Halloween fan? To make up for not having a Halloween display this year, The Boss has handed out a surprising treat, "A Night With the Jersey Devil," a harmonica-filled blues-stomper, to his fans, making it a free download on his website.

    Before Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was plucked from near-obscurity to become Sen. John McCain’s running mate, indie-rockers Portugal. The Man were the most important pop cultural thing to ever hail from Wasilla, Alaska.
    It’ll take some doing for the quartet – singer/guitarist John Baldwin Gourley, bassist Zachary Scott Carothers, drummer Jason Sechrist, and keyboardist Ryan Neighbors – to catch up again, but their new album “Censored Colors” (Equal Vision) certainly won’t hurt. A mix of Beatlesque indie rock and dreamier soundscapes, “Censored Colors” should hook anyone who might check them out as “the band from that place.”
    Gourley told Newsday’s Glenn Gamboa about the weirdness of that dynamic, as well as growing up in Wasilla, as the band left New Orleans on their current tour, which stops at Bowery Ballroom Friday night.

It’s a weird thing to say, but a lot of people will owe their discovery of you to Sarah Palin. How do you feel about that?

What a bummer! We immediately got associated with her the second she jumped on the scene. We didn’t really have a choice... But I’d rather not be associated with her. It’s crazy, but how many people come from Wasilla? We posted that blog [where Gourley outlines why he’s against Palin] and we got so many emails saying, “Oh, now you’re trying to cash in. Your album comes out in two weeks and you’re playing it up.” We were like, “[Expletive] man, that is the biggest [expletive] coincidence of all time.”

As if you knew she was going to be picked as a VP candidate all along.

Right. I don’t even think McCain knew she was going to be the candidate until it was announced.

    Are the days of deep-discounting new music releases coming back?
    It wasn’t that long ago that music fans could count on low, low prices –  sometimes as low as $6.99 – for hot new albums, as retailers tried to use them as ways to draw customers into stores to buy other things. Before that, you could find new cassette singles discounted as much as 85 percent – down to 39 cents, in many cases – so superstars could make big splashes on the charts with big initial sales. (For a while, every Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston single was 39 cents in its first week.)
    As part of the music industry’s ongoing collapse, those sale prices have gone the way of, well, sales. This year’s trend, in fact, has been to try to get fans to pay more, with some hoping that they could raise album sales by curbing the availability of singles.
    But maybe that’s about to change. This week, Snow Patrol’s new album “A Hundred Million Suns” became Amazon.com’s Daily Deal, a deep-discount designation usually reserved for older catalog albums, making the British rockers’ latest release available for $3.99. The move worked, pushing the album into Amazon’s Top 10, which, like the iTunes Top 10, tends to influence new sales, as casual visitors check out the top-sellers.
    Given the country’s current economic state, offering music fans legal bargains – instead of pushing them toward illegal downloading by raising prices – could be the industry’s way to help boost sales.

PHOTO: Snow Patrol for Geffen Records.

Billy Joel and Elton John plan to tour together in 2009, Joel told fans gathered at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square tonight for a charity benefit.

Joel even played John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," saying that he had to start practicing John's music again to get ready for the tour.

Joel and John last toured together in 2003 for the "Face to Face" outing, which grossed more than $100 million, making them the most successful touring duo of all time.

No dates have been announced, but rumors have had their initial run lasting 10 weeks in America.

The eponymous debut from England's Friendly Fires is nice enough, a sleek mix of Euro-influenced dance music, cut with new wave references from Devo to Spandau Ballet. But it doesn't telegraph the irresistible, all-out party that the band creates live. Singer Ed Macfarlane's wild, whirling dervish dance moves are remarkably inspiring -- not in substance, but in exuberance. His frantic dancing makes the soaring "Paris" that much more exciting, while the New Romantic-fueled "In the Hospital" becomes gloriously nonsensical... Little Jackie's gonna be, er, stars. In the wake of Amy Winehouse's retro-soul success, it's only natural that others would follow in her high-heeled steps. But Little Jackie, led by Long Island's Imani Coppola, not only bites the hand that got them this far, they rip it off, taunting Winehouse in "Cryin' for the Queen." Instead of lost-love laments, Coppola fills the gorgeous, retro-soul backdrops with her unique tales of determination and self-empowerment and her showcase was delightfully pretense-free, complaining about foot cramps while knocking out "The World Should Revolve Around Me" and the rest of the winning tracks from the band's debut "The Stoop" like a champion.... Sparks the Rescue, a quintet from Portland, Maine, has honed the best of what the Genre Formerly Known As Emo had to offer and amped up the melodies, making for a catchy mix that still packs a wallop. Their new album "Eyes to the Sun" deserves a bigger audience, especially the single "Autumn."

PHOTO: Friendly Fires for XL Recordings

Videos of the bands below....

Lights Resolve used its CMJ showcase as proof it was ready to keep making big moves. The trio from Lawrence showed off some new songs that took their power pop base and added some U2-styled atmospherics and a heightened sense of drama, which should serve Matthew Reich and the guys well when they play the Prudential Center on Nov. 2, opening for Dashboard Confessional and Panic at the Disco... Envy on the Coast showed that they’re ready for bigger things as well, with the great songs from “Lucy Gray” getting stronger and tighter the more they get performed. “The Gift of Paralysis” has sounded epic for a while, but it has gotten more sharper and more aggressive, and a wild crowd screaming along never hurts. It’s no wonder why Taking Back Sunday picked them to open their upcoming theater tour... Patent Pending can pretty much win over any crowd it wants to, using a mix of its friendly punk-pop and guitarist Joe Ragosta’s sense of humor. The unusual 21-and-over CMJ crowd was no exception, especially after the band busted out a punk-ish cover of Cascada’s “Everytime We Touch,” which Ragosta dedicated to Sarah Palin, and some Backstreet Boys-inspired dance moves. After all, who could resist the metal epic “M.C. Hammer Is Playing The Bamboozle”? Twice.

PHOTO: Lights Resolve at 205 Chrystie by Newsday's Ari Mintz.

Little Jackie, "The World Should Revolve Around Me"

6:45 p.m. PATENT PENDING. The Long Island good-time punk-popsters unveil some new stuff. (Crash Mansion)
7:45 p.m. LITTLE JACKIE. One of the best of the year’s retro-soul outfits, the Brooklyn duo, including Long Island’s Imani Coppola, is set to breakout with “The World Should Revolve Around Me.” (Bowery Ballroom)
7:45 p.m. ANNUALS. The experimental pop from the Raleigh band is getting catchier and dreamier with each release. (Webster Hall)
9:30 p.m. MONOTONIX. The wild rockers from Tel Aviv bring the big stage show, the Zeppelin riffs, and the fire. Dude, actual fire. (Blender Theater at Gramercy)
10 p.m. PORTASTATIC. Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan’s side project has grown into a power of its own, as the recent collection “Some Small History” proves. (Mercury Lounge)

The Mai Shi, "Run to Your Grave"

8:15 p.m. SAVES THE DAY. The great Chris Conley has been taking requests online and in person for this tour, pulling songs from throughout his career. With Kevin Devine. (Highline Ballroom)
9:15 p.m. BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE. The Canadian collective has grown into one of indie rock’s most successful, with Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew. (Brooklyn Masonic Temple)
9:15 p.m. ROISIN MURPHY. The singer from Moloko has gone solo and turned up the bpms. (Ultra Lounge)
10 p.m. OXFORD COLLAPSE. Three Brooklyn guys building epic indie-rock sounds. (Pianos)
12 a.m. THE MAE SHI. The L.A. indie-popsters somehow make “Run to Your Grave” sound like lots of fun, with gang vocals and crashing guitars. (Knitting Factory)

George Clinton, "Atomic Dog"

6 p.m. ENVY ON THE COAST. The ever-powerful Long Island rockers warm up for their upcoming tour with Taking Back Sunday on a hot showcase with Recover and Anthony Green. (Knitting Factory)
7:30 p.m. JULIANA HATFIELD. With her own label and guests including Richard Butler and Matthew Caws, Hatfield is still indie in her sound and business. (Housing Works)
8 p.m. LIGHTS RESOLVE. Long Island’s up-and-comers get ready for their date opening for Dashboard Confessional at the Prudential Center with a showcase. (205 Chrystie)
8 p.m. - 11 p.m. GEORGE CLINTON AND THE GANGSTERS OF LOVE. The P-Funk legend shows off his new band and there are rumors of a possible Sly Stone sighting. (B.B. King’s)
10 p.m. DONAVON FRANKENREITER. Still riding that Jack Johnson groove, Frankenreiter is looking for “Life, Love and Laughter.” (Highline Ballroom)

Forget all the hype about Lykke Li being the Swedish Bjork. She's both more grounded -- as evidenced by her occasional cat-cat-cat hip-hop dance moves and the effortless way she busted out a version of A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It?" -- and more ethereal -- as her breathy vocals and Stevie Nicks-y shawl would suggest.

Li pulled out one surprise after another in her 50-minute set, from her live mash-up of Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa" with her own "Dance Dance Dance," to a stirring cover of the Wendy Rene Stax soul nugget "After Laughter Comes Tears." And she served up songs from her own "Youth Novels" debut far more passionately than the recorded version, both in the dancey "Complaint Department" and the touching ballad "Tonight."

SETLIST: Dance Dance Dance / Let It Fall / I'm Good, I'm Gone / Hanging High / Cape Cod Kwassa / Little Bit / Complaint Department / After Laughter Comes Tears / Window Blues / I Don’t Mind (Jump On It) / Breaking It Up // ENCORES: Tonight / Can I Kick It?

As Tall as Lions, "Love Love Love"

8 p.m./12:15 a.m. AS TALL AS LIONS. Long Island’s most promising indie rockers take a break from writing their new album to do double duty at CMJ. (Music Hall of Williamsburg, Canal Room)
8 p.m. TOBIAS FRIEBERG. Part of the massive Swedish contingent this year, the singer-songwriter blends playful, sweet pop. (Living Room)
9 p.m. FUJIYA AND MIYAGI. The British electro-pop wizards named themselves after their synthesizers. (Mercury Lounge)
9:30 p.m. COHEED AND CAMBRIA. The prog rockers are part of the centerpiece of CMJ, playing a different album in its entirety each night for four nights. (Terminal 5)
11 p.m. SCOUTING FOR GIRLS. The British indie-popsters do a lot of wishing on their catchy debut, including “I Wish I Was James Bond.” (The Annex)

Lykke Li, "I'm Good, I'm Gone"

8 p.m. THE MORNING BENDERS. Their dreamy pop is sweet and clever without trying too hard. (Puma Store)
9 p.m. MARK RONSON. The British producer behind Amy Winehouse and much of the retro-soul movement does an increasingly rare DJ set. (SOB’s)
10 p.m. DEERHOOF. The Bay Area outfit combine Japanese pop and indie-rock tension. (Spiegelworld)
11 p.m. LYKKE LI. The Swedish sensation, with her clever videos and Bjorkish twist on electronic music, is set to be one of the festival’s breakthroughs. (Bowery Ballroom)
11:30 p.m. MAGNETIC MORNING. The side project of Swervedriver’s Adam Franklin and Interpol’s Sam Fogarino celebrates the release of its debut. (Southpaw)
1 a.m. THE BRONX. Take the SoCal edginess of Jane’s Addiction and add the ferocity of their namesake borough and lots of guitars. (Fontana’s)

Well, well. Apparently, “Saturday Night Live”’s current hot streak isn’t just helping generate publicity for presidential candidates or aiding NBC’s Thursday night’s ratings. (Maybe it’ll even help Tina Fey with “30 Rock”!) This Saturday’s ratings bonanza, thanks to an appearance by Gov. Sarah Palin and a gangsta rap from Amy Poehler, also ended up helping musical guest Adele.

The singer hasn’t matched the success of fellow British newcomers Leona Lewis and Duffy so far, even though her “19" album and live show is just as powerful. But that may be changing thanks to “SNL.” The day after her appearance, Adele’s “19" album rocketed to No. 1 on iTunes and the Top 5 on Amazon.com, while her single “Chasing Pavements” jumped into the Top 25.

It’s almost like the good ol’ days, back in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s when there was always a noticeable “SNL” bump, when even reruns of the show could push an album into the Top 10. The pop culture landscape is more fractured now, but as Adele’s boost shows, it’s still possible to unite it every now and then.

PHOTO: adele.tv

Amy Poehler channels Chuck D. as she delivers an old-school gangsta rap as Gov. Sarah Palin, including lines like "Jeremiah Wright, 'cause tonight I'm the preacher/I got a bookish look and you all hot for teacher" and the call-and-response "When I say 'Obama,' y'all say 'Ayres.'" As amazing as it sounds, made better by Poehler shaking her very pregnant belly as she rhymes, "In Wasilla, we just chill, baby, chilla/But when I see oil, it's 'Drill baby drilla!'"

Levi Stubbs, the dynamic frontman of The Four Tops, died today in his Detroit home after a recent illness, according to the AP.

Four Tops, Baby I Need Your Lovin'

So Aubrey O’Day and D. Woods are out of Danity Kane. Or something.
    Last night’s finale of “Making the Band 4" really didn’t offer a lot of answers beyond confirming what the Internet has been buzzing about for a couple of months.
    But is their exit permanent? Or are they gonna fix it, fix it, fix it?
    After declaring, “I am not the bad guy,” Diddy was a bit noncommittal. “If there was a situation where the Aubrey that I signed ever showed up, I don’t know what the future could hold,” he said in a live interview with MTV’s Sway. “That young lady that was in front of me, that wasn’t really respectful of me and respectful of everybody else, I didn’t have any interest of going forward and working with that person.”
    He went on to say that he had no problem with working with D. Woods again. Um, OK.
    When O’Day arrived (Woods was a no-show), she was styled in the same colors as the rest of the group and mysteriously said, “There is something that is going on with us that y’all will never know.”
    That was after she said she had walked out of the building after hearing what Diddy had to say about her. But then she came back to say, “This isn’t about me. This is about life. We’re all trying our best every day. I know how many people are out there – people are criticizing you at your job, your friends are calling you things, people are telling you you’re something you’re not – and you fight those struggles every day to just prove who you are.”
    Her confrontation (via satellite) with Diddy was also odd, as he told her she was heading to a cold and lonely place because of her attitude, while she complimented his “I Heart Michelle Obama T-shirt.
    It all feels like some sort of WWE stunt. Or at least drama for drama's sake, especially after Sway announced there would be another season of “Making the Band 4,” meaning that this could all just be some sort of manufactured cliffhanger. Or not.
    Diddy said his focus was Levittown’s Donnie Klang. “I love Donnie Klang,” he said. “Donnie Klang is about his business. Y’all need to get that Donnie Klang album. He works hard. He ain’t got no ----  in the game.”

PHOTO: Atlantic Records

Fall Out Boy has pushed back the release of its "Folie a Deux" CD from Nov. 4 to Dec. 16 to steer clear from what the band felt could be seen as an Election Day gimmick.

"Six months ago we thought it would be a fun idea to release our album on Election Day but this is not the election to be cute," the band said on its Web site. "This is the most important election of our time and, as much as the record is a social commentary and the term 'folie a deux' is relevant to the candidates, we felt as though rather than making a commentary we were only riding the wave of the election. This seemed less and less like what we intended to do and more of a gimmick."

Because release dates are packed this year in the run-up to the holidays, Fall Out Boy's decision to move the album's release off its original date resulted in a serious delay. However, the band says it will make up for the switch by playing "extremely small clubs" in November, with shows being announced the same day they take place. The delay may also mean that a rumored Elvis Costello collaboration may make the final album.

"While we have all individually expressed our positions on the candidates that we support we feel that many of the interviews and press for the record have skewed us into a partisan band," the band said. "While it may be obvious where we standm we never intended to be the band that shoved our ideas down peoples throats. We only hope people look at the bigger picture and investigate the issues further on their own."

Fall Out Boy plans to continue its rollout, which has already resulted in a strong first single "I Don't Care" and an even stronger follow-up, "Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet," which is a fantastic collection of rock surprises, from Patrick Stump sounding like Duran Duran's Simon LeBon on verses to unexpected horn sections and a powerful chorus.

"We are extremely sorry but we feel that we are doing this for reasons that suit our ideals and are unselfish," the band said.

PHOTO: Fall Out Boy by Pamela Littky for Island Records

For Danity Kane fans, last week’s cliffhanger on “Making The Band 4" was a doozy. Diddy has a summit with the “Damaged” gals and tells Aubrey O’Day, “I don’t want you in the group no more... Anybody else that want to go with her can go with her.” Then, in the previews for Tuesday’s episode, he says, “She’s not going to be in Danity Kane. There’s nothing else to talk about.”

Did Diddy really ax Aubrey, arguably the group’s most recognizable member? Or is it a stunt for publicity. I’d bet on the latter, but who knows? When I talked to Danity’s Dawn Richard in August – around the same time this meeting went down – the plan was for the group to be on the road in October. They aren’t.

At the time we were talking, I obviously didn’t know about the meeting. But looking back on our conversation, there really weren’t any signs of a breakup. Here are some highlights:

Q: You’ve got some stuff on your own coming up. Is that where you’re heading or will it always be the group first?

A: I always put Danity Kane first. I speak for myself with this, but I will always put Danity Kane first. Danity Kane will be here as long as Danity Kane wants to be here. It’s hard for me and the girls, for everybody, to have the same agenda, but for me, no matter what, it’ll be the group... It’s my baby. There’s so much to conquer in this industry.

Q: What’s up next?

A: We have a tour that we’re supposed to get on in October. We’re working with Dollhouse Jeans. The Danity Kane comic book is coming out. We’ve got a lot going on. Agendas. Between us as a group and individually, Danity Kane as a brand is doing great things.

Q: With all that you’ve accomplished, when Diddy comes around and starts giving you guys grief ...

A: Everybody has a different relationship with Diddy. I don’t really get grief from Diddy. When we talk, we’re cool. He’s like “What’s the next project you’re working on? Do this with this hook or do that.” When I have a conversation with Diddy, it’s always musical. Everybody knows the relationship between him and Aubrey. They have the headbutt-to-headbutt relationship. Everyone’s different. It may be the boss to client. It may be just a faraway kind of thing. Either way, he’s always going to bother us because he’s Puff. (Laughs)

PHOTO: Danity Kane for Bad Boy Records/Atlantic.

In case you missed its debut on "20/20" (?!) Friday night, here's Britney Spears' video for "Womanizer," seemingly a continuation of the super-successful "Toxic" video only with more (sorta) nudity in the sauna. Isn't it weird how just a few smart decisions can turn an entire career around?

It's been a great week for T.I.

Not only did his album "Paper Trail" debut become his third straight No. 1 album, on sales of 568,000 copies, but he replaced himself at the top of the singles chart. His single "Live Your Life," leaped from 80 to No. 1, knocking his own "Whatever You Like" down to No. 2.

His successes led a big week for debuts on both charts. The top 4 spots on the albums charts were all new entries, with Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut arriving at No. 2 on sales of 217,000, Robin Thicke's new "Something Else" album starting at No. 3 on sales of 137,000 and James Taylor's new "Covers" album at No. 4 on sales of 95,000. Metallica slid down to No. 5, ending its three-week reign at No. 1.

Long Island rockers Bayside made its highest chart debut ever with its "Shudder" album, its 11,240 sales landing it at No. 52. The album also landed them at No. 7 on Soundscan's Alternative album charts.

On the singles charts, Pink slipped a notch to No. 3 with "So What," Rihanna held at No. 4 with "Disturbia" and newcomer Kevin Rudolf jumps to No. 5 with his single "Let It Rock," with help from Lil Wayne.

PHOTO: T.I. from Grand Hustle/Atlantic Records

Janet Jackson plans to restart her tour on Saturday in Uncasville, Conn., but she has postponed her Madison Square Garden show on Oct. 16 until Nov. 1. Her show on Oct. 17 at the Izod Center is so to go on as scheduled.

Jackson has postponed several dates on the tour due to an unspecified illness. She said in a statement released yesterday that she is excited about getting back on the road and  "being able to share with her fans what she feels is one of her best stage shows ever."

Like Heart before them, the Foo Fighters are calling for Sen. John McCain to stop using their song "My Hero" in his presidential campaign without their permission.

"It's frustrating and infuriating that someone who claims to speak for the American people would repeatedly show such little respect for creativity and intellectual property," the band said in a statement. "The saddest thing about this is that 'My Hero' was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential. have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song. We hope that the McCain campaign will do the right thing and stop using our song--and start asking artists' permission in general!"

What does it say about McCain's campaign that they have such a hard time finding suitable music from artists who support him that they have to stoop to using songs from artists who are actively against him?

PHOTO: Foo Fighters -- Chris Shiflett, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel -- by Ben Watts.

Considering how overwhelming Beyonce’s lead singles usually are, her new single “If I Were a Boy,” which world premiered this morning on Elvis Duran’s show on Z100, is stunningly understated. (Hear it here.)

Even back to her days with Destiny’s Child, Beyonce has always picked the biggest, brassiest songs to trumpet the arrival of her albums – “Crazy in Love,” “Deja Vu,” “Lose My Breath,” “Independent Women,” “Bills, Bills, Bills.” At the very least, those songs were so distinctive they stuck out in their surroundings, either sonically, lyrically or in production. At their best, they changed the way radio sounded for months at a time.

That’s what makes “If I Were a Boy” so unusual. It’s, well, normal. It’s a midtempo, acoustic number, in the “Irreplaceable” vein, but much smaller-sounding, about how men and women approach relationships differently. “If I were a boy, I think I could understand/How it feels to be a girl, I swear I’d be a better man,” she sings.

It’s pretty and quiet and understated and a perfectly fine little song. Eventually, B stands up for herself, as she always does, but it’s done without the usual sass, without coining new catch phrases and without the usual dominant strutting that generally comes with her lead singles. “Boy” isn’t uniquely B, it could be sung by any number of today’s hitmakers on the pop, R&B or even country charts.

Up to now, Beyonce has kept her new album, still untitled, under wraps, not releasing info on producers or co-writers or guest stars, aside from, possibly, Justin Timberlake. She recently wrote on her website, “I have taken risks here. I am not afraid and my music will explain it all. There is no label or tag on my sound.”

Perhaps the risks will show up on the other lead single, “Single Ladies,” which is scheduled to debut on Oct. 14. (UPDATE: Ryan Seacrest at KIIS (and soon to be of Z100 as well) debuted "Single Ladies" today. He has it here. It's upbeat and dancey, but not exactly risky.) Her album is set to drop on Nov. 18.

PHOTO: Columbia Records