Vietnam Returns With Album and Tour

After five years off the radar, Vietnam has once more returned to the music scene. They’ve got a new LP out, an A.merican D.ream, and kicked off their nationwide tour and record release on Thursday, February 28^th at the Mercury Lounge in New York, NY. For the next three months, the band will travel cross-country to play on their own and alongside other bands.

Michael Gerner is the creative head of the band and has assembled an entirely new ensemble for the new album. Reminiscent of Kings of Leon, Vietnam performs “apocalyptic street blues,” which combine Gerner’s vocals with uncommon instruments in rock—the violin and a moog to start with. The album is dark but not heavy, graceful in its sad symphony.

Vietnam has been with several record labels to date, including Vice Records, The Social Registry, Kemado Records, and now Mexican Summer. Their 2007 self-titled debut LP with Andres Santo Domingo’s Kemado Records was critically acclaimed, and was the last record before Gerner’s five-year hiatus. Now Vietnam is signed on with Mexican Summer, which was founded by Kemado in 2008.

The new album is a collaboration between Gerner and guitarist Nathaniel “Lefty” Maynard, who worked to get Gerner back to Brooklyn for over three years after he had moved to LA to work on analog soundscapes.

“We put all of our budget into recording the record,” said Gerner. “It just didn’t leave us with any money.”

With less than a month to the release date and tour kickoff, Gerner started a KicStarter fundraising drive to earn enough money to take the band on tour. In just four days, they had raised about $5,000, which they say will be enough to pay for a van, gas, and some food rations for the band while they tour for the first few weeks. They’ll avoid hotels as much as possible and hopefully manage to make it through the whole tour before running out of cash.

The musicians are all nervous about the tour, but they are all excited as well. “I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever been a part of,” said Gerner. “I’m super proud of the record.”

98 Degrees Regroups For New Album

For all the girls who grew up with boy bands like N*SYNC, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees, there’s some exciting news on the music front: 98 Degrees is back together. That much, at least is old news, since rumors started last March and were confirmed in June. Then in August, MTV News hinted that 98 Degrees would be bringing some new music in the New Year.

Now that speculation has turned to fact. The group has announced that they are in the process of making a brand new album, which will be released on May 7^th. The album is appropriately titled 2.0 and will be the first studio release since Revelation in 2000.

“We’re definitely going to get back into the studio and make some new music. The next couple of months are kind of busy for us on different levels, but we are going to get in the studio and start making new music and see where the creative process takes us and then we will see what 2013 holds in store for us,” said Drew Lachey. “We are listening to songs, writing songs, so hopefully in the next couple of months.”

Shortly after the planned release for 2.0, 98 Degrees plans to take part in the Package Tour, which will be full of other boy bands from back in the day. They will open for New Kids on the Block, joined by Boyz II Men. The tour will last through the summer, beginning on May 31^st and ending on July 13^th.

“We are really excited to bring our fans new music and get out on the road,” said band member Nick Lachey. “This is a long time coming.”

Indeed, it’s been 12 full years since 98 Degrees has played a show. Boyz II Men have not played a solo act in three years and have never gone on an arena tour. Package Tour will be the perfect opportunity for the boy bands to regroup, get back in the game, and give fans a chance to reminisce about the good ol’ days.

Musical Fusion in 2013

Musical fusion will peak in 2013, says the American DJ, Diplo. Philadelphia-based, Diplo’s rise to fame was aided in part with his collaboration with the British artist, M.I.A. She is credited with helping to expose him to the public early on in his career, and together the two collaborated and created “Paper Planes,” which was nominated for a Grammy the year it was released.

During this year’s Grammy celebrations, Diplo spent time playing with friend and fellow DJ, Skrillex, as well as checking out other big parties. He says there’s a mingling of musical genres, people, and crews that’s happened in part because dance music is becoming more popular.

“I think 2013 is going to be all about musical fusion—everybody coming together,” he says. “All the lines have been crossed in the last year, so I’m glad to be a part of that.” This year, Diplo plans to continue the trend of collaborating with all types of musicians. His past repertoire includes big names like Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Usher, No Doubt, Chris Brown, Beyonce, the xx, and even Justin Bieber.

In his upcoming album, Diplo demonstrates that very thing. Free the Universe features artists like Bruno Mars, Myclef, Tyga, Shaggy, and Ezra Koenig—many from very different genres. “We have a big voice,” he said, according to Rolling Stone. “I think a lot of artists are willing to take a chance on working with us.”

“I’m always making things up and don’t know what I’m doing half the time,” Diplo admits in an interview. “So when people come to me, they don’t know what they want to sound like—they just want to sound like something from the future.”

For Diplo’s newest record, that future will hit live audiences starting in March when he goes on tour.

“Beautiful” Music is a Learned Trait, Study Claims

A recent study from the University of Melbourne has found evidence that what we perceive as beautiful music as compared to unpleasant music is a learned trait. This stands in stark contrast to hundreds of years’ worth of theories hypothesizing that sounds we find appealing are determined by the physical properties of our ears.

The researchers played pure tones and a variety of chords for participants, who were a mix of trained musicians and members of the general public. They rated the sounds on a five-point scale for both their dissonance and their familiarity. Results showed that when listeners heard unfamiliar chords, they were more likely to identify them as dissonant.

Trained musicians, who were more familiar with different chords and able to identify individual tones within them, tended to enjoy more harmonies than the general public.

Co-author of the study, Sarah Wilson says, “This showed us that even the ability to hear a musical pitch (or note) is learned.” Thus, it is possible to train ourselves to enjoy music—even music that is outside of our normal traditions.

A second study was conducted as a follow up to the first, in which 19 non-musician participants were trained to identify notes within specific chords. When tested several sessions later, not only could they identify specific tones in the chords, but they also reported that those chords sounded less dissonant than the ones they were unfamiliar with, regardless of whether or not they were technically harmonious.

This research makes sense when we consider how music differs from culture to culture. While we have one idea of what makes beautiful music, our idea is Western and not universally accepted. Traveling to other countries often reveals to us a different musical culture—which we may or may not perceive as beautiful.

We are creatures of habit and tend to gravitate toward what we know. But since we are also constantly learning and evolving, those tastes might change and adapt over the years. Given time and an open mind, we can find beauty anywhere. 

Warner Music Group Purchases EMI Assets

In a $765 million deal, the Warner Music Group has reached an agreement to purchase the Parlophone Label Group. Warner is the smallest of the three major record companies, and with this deal it adds significant assets to the brand. The deal includes EMI’s Parlophone, Chrysalis, and Ensign labels.

Warner will also gain control of many of EMI’s recorded music operations abroad, including those in Belguim, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, and Sweden. Artists and recordings will include Coldplay, Daft Punk, Danger Mouse, David Guetta, Duran Duran, Edith Piaf, Gorillaz, Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Tina Turner, and many more.

Universal Music Group, who made a $1.9 billion deal for EMI last year, will keep EMI’s Capitol and Virgin labels (which includes the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Katy Perry, and Lady Antebellum). Overally, Warner is likely happy with the deal since it significantly strengthens their international reach. And since Warner offered a much higher bid than any other potential purchasers—including Sony Music/BMG Rights Management, Simon Fuller/Chris Blackwell, and MacAndrews & Forbes—the deal will be good for Universal, too.

The deal must still be approved by the European Commission before it is set in stone, but it’s expected to hold up just fine against any scrutiny, especially since it helps lessen the hold of Universal and Sony in the music industry. Finalization of the transaction should occur sometime this summer.

“This is a very important milestone for Warner Music, reflecting our commitment to artist development by strengthening our worldwide roster, global footprint and executive talent,” said Len Blavatnic of the deal. Blavatnik is the founder of Warner’s parent company, Access Industries.

Beyonce Confirms Lip Sync

After the president’s second inauguration, everyone was abuzz about his speech, the goals for the next four years, and, of course, Beyonce’s lip-synced national anthem. The third doesn’t exactly make the cut for most important issues of the year, but it certainly made headlines—especially after the long waiting period before the singer’s reps either confirmed or denied the allegations.

But music-junkies can rest easy knowing that the truth is finally out there: Beyonce did lip sync to a pre-recorded track at the inauguration. Here’s what she said about the matter:

“I am a perfectionist and one thing about me is that I practice until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra,” she said, citing the weather and the lack of a proper sound check as her reasoning behind the decision. “It was a live television show and a very, very important emotional show for me and one of my proudest moments,” she said in a press conference.

“I did not feel comfortable taking a risk… I wanted to make him [President Obama] proud, so I decided to sing along with my pre-recorded track.” As way of apologizing and making amends, the singer opened the press conference with a live rendition of the National Anthem.

Beyonce is scheduled to perform at Sunday’s Superbowl game. But don’t toss those Superbowl tickets in the trash just yet—this time, she says, it’ll be the real deal.

When asked if she’d be singing live, Beyonce’s smile lit up her face. “I will absolutely be singing live,” she said. “I am well rehearsed, and I will absolutely be singing live. This is what I was born to do, it is what I was born for.”

So, there you have it. It’s a shame the Washington, D.C. performance wasn’t live, but given the common occurrence of pre-recording in the music industry and the weather conditions, one can certainly understand where she’s coming from. She’ll just have to hope that it didn’t cost her the trust and respect of her beloved fans.