Follow music news

If you follow music news, I'm sure you've heard that the new U2 album, or at least a rough cut of it was stolen last Friday during the band's photo shoot in the South of France. Someone apparently made off with The Edge's copy of the album and now the French police are searching for suspects.

My first action upon learning about this was to fire up the ol' P2P app and start searching. So far nothing, but it's just a matter of time. As eager as I am to hear the new material, it will be difficult not to overplay it, thus ruining my chances for a fresh opinion on the final product. Maybe I'll play it once or twice and then delete it from my harddrive? I don't know if I have that much self-control.

So tomorrow is the big Siren Festival out at Coney Island. Quality hot dogs and rock n' roll. This year's line-up is pretty stellar - the Voice has the full schedule of bands. I'm most looking forward to the Fiery Furnaces (of course), who have an early 2 PM slot on the main stage. I can't wait to see how they pull off the Blueberry Boat songs live. I heard one live MP3 that suggests they tweak the arrangements quite a bit. Very curious, very psyched.

TV on the Radio is also on the main stage, at 4 PM, but their Mercury Lounge gig a few months didn't do much for me. I might give them a second chance, or I might just check out the Constantines instead - "Fugazi meets Bruce Springsteen" I hear. Probably the hardest call of the day will be Blonde Redhead vs. Mission of Burma. I barely know MoB, but they get endless respect and the Matador folks are calling them the best live band on the planet right now. (And I put a lot of stock in Matador's word.) So we shall see.