Bloc Party Touring North America in March

Toronto: Kool Haus (March 14)
London (Ontario): Centennial Hall (15)
Ottawa: Bronson Centre (17)
Montreal: Metropolis (18)
New York City: Terminal 5 (24)
Miami: Ultra Music Festival (27, 28)

Of Music and Politics

It looks like Howard Wolfson, former Communications Director to Hillary Clinton's campaign, is a fan of The Last Shadow Puppets. Their big hit, The Age of the Understatement, made Wolfson's list of best music in 2008. You can see his post here, and the video below:



And yes, you've seen that guy in the video before. It's Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys. The Last Shadow Puppets is his side project.

Featured Song: Vuitton Blues - Laurel Collective

Well It's Officially Over...

I featured the song Deadwood on December 15th, and a mere five days later, Dirty Pretty Things played their last show in London last night. While it's sad that the band is officially over, I am sure that we will see these talented musicians land somewhere else in the near future.

Featured Song: The Great Escape - The Rifles

Yay! Free Stuff: Franz Ferdinand Download

Franz Ferdinand has released a free live download of their newest song, What She Came For. This song is off of their upcoming album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, which will be released January 26th (UK). I will have a full review of the album soon. You can get the download through NME.

Featured Song: Deadwood - Dirty Pretty Things

Even though Dirty Pretty Things broke up in November announced their decision to break up on October 1st, I still want to highlight this excellent song. Deadwood comes from Dirty Pretty Things' first album, Waterloo to Anywhere (2006). The lead singer, Carl Barat, is a former member of The Libertines. Just FYI, this video does contain some nudity.

Looking at the Numbers

I found this a couple of weeks ago, but I thought it might be interesting to share. On April 25, 2008, The British Recorded Music Industry released information on British music sales in America for 2007. Here are some interesting findings:

•2007 was the third consecutive year of growth for UK artists.
•Back to Black was the best selling album by a UK artist in the US for 2007.
•Snow Patrol had the biggest airplay hit in the US and Canada.

Below you will see a list of the top 40 UK artist albums sold in the USA for 2007:

1 Amy Winehouse (Back To Black)
2 Corinne Bailey Rae (Corinne Bailey Rae)
3 Led Zeppelin (Mothership Atlantic)
4 R.Plant & A.Krauss* (Raising Sand Rounder)
5 Paul McCartney (Memory Almost Full Hear Music)
6 Joss Stone (Introducing Joss Stone)
7 The Beatles (Love Capitol)
8 Lily Allen (Alright Still Capitol)
9 Ozzy Osbourne (Black Rain Epic)
10 Pink Floyd (Dark Side Of The Moon)
11 Elton John (Rocket Man-Number)
13 The Police* (The Police)
14 AC/DC* (Back In Black)
15 Paul Potts (One Chance)
16 KT Tunstall (Eye To The Telescope)
17 Queen (Greatest Hits)
18 Snow Patrol (Eyes Open)
19 The Beatles (1)
20 Traveling Wilburys* (Traveling Wilburys)
21 Eric Clapton (Complete Clapton)
22 Def Leppard (Vault-Greatest Hits)
23 Mika (Life In Cartoon Motion)
24 Annie Lennox (Songs Of Mass Destruction)
25 James Blunt (Back To Bedlam)
26 Van Morrison (Van Morrison At The Movies)
27 The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely...)
28 Paolo Nutini (These Streets Atlantic)
29 Muse (Black Holes & Revelations)
30 Bullet For My Valentine (Poison)
31 KT Tunstall (Drastic Fantastic)
32 The Police* (Every Breath You Take)
33 The Beatles (Abbey Road Capitol)
34 Led Zeppelin (Vol 1&2 Early Days & Latter)
35 Genesis (Turn It On Again-Hits)
36 JJ Cale & Eric Clapton* (Road To Escondido)
37 Eric Clapton (Cream Of Polydor)
38 Eric Clapton (Best Of MillenniumColl.)
39 Arctic Monkeys (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
40 James Morrison (Undiscovered)
* Dual nationality
Source: Nielsen

While this list is a little outdated, and the majority of these artists don't fit the genre that I typically cover here, I still think it is interesting to see what types of British music Americans consume. Many of these artists are not new, but they have loyal fanbases that buy their music over decades, and contribute to their rank on this list. I will make sure to post the 2008 report when it is released.