Music Snitch

Looks like The White Stripes have split as a duo (sad). They posted the announcement on their website:

“The White Stripes would like to announce that today, February 2nd, 2011, their band has officially ended and will make no further new recordings or perform live.

The reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health issues as both Meg and Jack are feeling fine and in good health. It is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve What is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way.

Meg and Jack want to thank every one of their fans and admirers for the incredible support they have given throughout the 13 plus years of the White Stripes’ intense and incredible career.  Third Man Records will continue to put out unreleased live and studio recordings from The White Stripes in their Vault Subscription record club, as well as through regular channels.

Both Meg and Jack hope this decision isn’t met with sorrow by their fans but that it is seen as a positive move done out of respect for the art and music that the band has created.  It is also done with the utmost respect to those fans who’ve shared in those creations, with their feelings considered greatly.

With that in mind the band have this to say:

“The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to.  Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”

Sincerely,
Meg and Jack White
The White Stripes

Looks like music videos from Universal’s vast catalog of artists will no longer be available on MTV.com.  This comes after VEVO, which is partially owed by Universal, and MTV were unable to reach a licensing agreement.  You can see more details here.

The National’s latest album, ‘High Violet’, was released in the states today, along with their new music video for the track, “Bloodbuzz Ohio”.  In other Nacional news, the band’s performance @ Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 15th is being streamed live on YouTube in benefit of the Red Hot Organization.  Here is the link.

Video: Bloodbuzz Ohio from The National

Looks like Apple Inc. is shutting down their recently acquired web-based music streaming service, Lala (Apple bought Lala in December).  According to the notice on Lala’s site, their services will no longer be available as of May 31st.   There is speculation that Apple plans on using Lala’s “cloud” technology to develop a web-based iTunes product that would allow users (mobile) to access their music library from various locations.

Lala sent out an email to their customers that included some additional information:

“In appreciation of your support over the last five years, you will receive a credit in the amount of your Lala web song purchases for use on Apple’s iTunes Store.  If you purchased and downloaded mp3 songs from Lala, those songs will continue to play as part of your local music library.

Remaining wallet balances and unredeemed gift cards will be converted to iTunes Store credit (or can be refunded upon request).  Gift cards can be redeemed on Lala until May 31st.”

The Lollapalooza 2010 line-up guessing game just concluded and you can now check out the entire roster.  The line-up is pretty stacked!

Here are a few of this year’s Lolla artists: The Strokes, Phoenix, Hot Chip, The Black Keys, The National, Spoon, Grizzly Bear, Wolfmother, Yeasayer, MuteMath, The xx, Drive-By Truckers, Frightened Rabbit,  F**k Buttons, Deer Tick, Blitzen Trapper, Stars, The Antlers, The Soft Pack…

For more details head over to the official Lollapalooza site.

Thom Yorke posted a message this morning on Radiohead’s website that read:

hey everyone

ok so in April the other band.. that i got together to do the eraser and other stuff u know .. Mauro, Flea, Me, Joey and Nigel is going back out to do some shows in the US.. ending with playing with Coachella. we had too much fun to just leave it there…

it has been decided that we call ourselves Atoms For Peace. hope you like the name.. it seemed bleedin’ obvious.

these are the shows & Flying Lotus is opening for us -
New York Roseland Ballroom 5th & 6th
Boston Citi Wang Theatre 8th
Chicago Aragon Ballroom 10th & 11th
Oakland Fox Theatre 14th & 15th
Santa Barbara Bowl 17th

for further details follow this link

all warmth – Thom

Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., the Memphis musician better known as, Jay Reatard, passed away early this morning.  Although the cause of death isn’t officially known, it has been reported that he died in his sleep.

Reatard’s label, Matador Records, released a statement regarding Jay’s untimely death: “We are devastated by the death of Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., aka Jay Reatard. Jay was as full of life as anyone we’ve ever met, and responsible for so many memorable moments as a person and artist. We’re honored to have known and worked with him, and we will miss him terribly.

Matador Records, the indie label which seems to have exploded this year, has just purchased the True Panther Sounds label (home to ‘Girls’).

The Matador Records Blog: After months of speculation (much of it in our own corridors), we can happily announce that Matador Records has purchased the True Panther Sounds label. TPS, best known to many of you as the imprint behind Girls‘ recent rise to prominence, will continue to be managed by label founder Dean Bein. What would possess Matador to become involved with another label in this capacity? As Victor Kiam once explained his decision to purchase the Remington Shaver operation, “I liked it so much, I bought the company.” Needless to say, we like Dean, Girls, Glasser, Tanlines, Lemonade and Hunx & His Punx much more than than Mr. Kiam appreciated those razor blades.