Quick hits: Prince, Bruce, Wilco, Dead

 -- Prince told the Los Angeles Times that he has three new albums in the works for 2009: the "electro-flavored" "MPLSOUND"; the guitar-oriented "Lotus Flower," which will include a cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson & Clover"; and an album from his protege, Bria Valente. On the latter, Prince said he was tired of waiting for Sade to release a new album.

-- Looks like a nice spring for Wilco fans. The band will release its first concert DVD, "Ashes of American Flags," in February or March. It features footage from the February 2008 shows at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and Tulsa, Okla.'s Cain Ballroom tour. A new album will follow later in the spring.

-- The Dead, who performed two reunion gigs last year in support of Barack Obama (one in San Francisco, one at State College), is reuniting for a spring tour that will not stop in Pittsburgh. Boo! The closest it gets is Buffalo (April 21), Wilkes-Barre (April 22) and Uniondale, NY (April 24).

-- Wait...huh? Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will release a "Greatest Hits" exclusively through Wal-Mart on Jan. 13. Springsteen? Wal-Mart? What's wrong with this picture? Oh yeah, working-class hero meets community-smashing retailer. Two weeks after the "Greatest Hits," the Boss drops the new album, "Working on a Dream." And then it's on to Tampa for the Super Bowl, where we hope he's posing with Hines Ward.

Taylor Swift, Lil Wayne are biggest sellers

People can't enough Taylor Swift, vintage metal lives, and Lil Wayne and T.I. rule the rap world.

Those are the conclusions we can draw from the Nielsen Soundscan list of the top-selling albums of 2008. Lil Wayne topped the list, but young pop-country singer Swift was the biggest-selling artist, with combined sales of 3.71 million in the States.

AC/DC and Metallica bolstered the metal scene, while Guns ‘N Roses failed to register in the Top 10 with "Chinese Democracy."

Looking at the top 10, it's hard to detect where things are trending, with seven different genres surfacing: rap, alt-rock, metal, R&B, jam-rock, pop-country and whatever you want to call Kid Rock.

It is unusual to see only one country artist on the list -- if you even consider Swift country artist, in light of her more polished pop sound on "Fearless."

Album sales in the U.S., including CDs and full-album downloads, were 428 million, a 14 percent drop from the previous year.

The Top-Selling Albums of 2008 

1. LIL WAYNE, "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money/Universal Motown); 2.87 million

2. COLDPLAY, "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Capitol); 2.14 million

3. TAYLOR SWIFT, "Fearless" (Big Machine); 2.11 million

4. KID ROCK, "Rock N Roll Jesus" (Atlantic); 2.02 million

5. AC/DC, "Black Ice" (Columbia); 1.92 million

6. TAYLOR SWIFT, "Taylor Swift" (Big Machine); 1.6 million

7. METALLICA, "Death Magnetic" (Warner Brothers); 1.57 million

8. T. I., "Paper Trail" (Grand Hustle/Atlantic); 1.52 million

9. JACK JOHNSON, "Sleep Through the Static" (Brushfire/Universal); 1.49 million

10. BEYONCé, "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" (Music World/Columbia); 1.46 million 

Show us your list! Best Concerts

These were my favorite concerts in Pittsburgh in 2008.

To see the descriptions, click here.

Now let's see your lists or comments:

1. The Swell Season (Byham, Sept. 21)

2. The Foo Fighters (Petersen Events Center, July 26)

3. North American Music Union Festival (Aug. 8-9, SouthSide Works)

4. X (Rex Theatre, May 24)

5. David Byrne (Nov. 7, Carnegie Music Hall)

6. New York Dolls/Avett Brothers (Three Rivers Arts Festival)

7. New Pornographers/Okkervil River (April 12, Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead)

8. The Eagles (Mellon Arena, Nov. 21)

9. The Hold Steady/Drive-By Truckers (Carnegie Music Hall Library of Homestead, Nov. 12)

10. Roger McGuinn (Carnegie Lecture Hall, March 29)

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Show us your list! Best CDs

So, I posted my Best of 2008 list, now let's see yours.

Here's a place where you can post your list or make of, complain about, or praise my own.

To review, here are my picks.

Best CDs of 2008 (with shortened descriptions)

1. TV on the Radio, "Dear Science": Like the Yankees, there's so much talent on this team, it's not even fair. 

2. Eddy Current Suppression Ring, "Primary Colours": It's like a long-lost album from 1980, in the best way.

3. David Byrne and Brian Eno, "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today": You know the quality you're going to get when you put these two gentlemen together. 

4. Vampire Weekend, "Vampire Weekend": It's hard to resist the perky township jive of "Graceland" stripped down to four pieces with a kid who sounds like a young Sting.

5. [Expletive-d] Up, "The Chemistry of Common Life": With the screams, windmill guitar strokes and drum clatter, it's a bit like The Who discovering hardcore.

6. The Hold Steady, "Stay Positive": Stories of desperate characters, missing persons, murder and mayhem.

7. Deerhunter, "Microcastle": A sense of weird dudes making pop.

8. Fleet Foxes, "Fleet Foxes": Dreamy melodies and high lonesome vocals. 

9. Santogold, "Santogold": This singer-rapper who formerly fronted a punk band goes beyond grime with better songs and a hint of New Wave.

10. Atmosphere, "When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That [Stuff] Gold": A huge sonic leap for the Minneapolis duo.

Best singles

1. The Hold Steady, "Constructive Summer": A punk-rock anthem about the redemptive powers of ... punk rock, and friends drinking on water towers.

2. Santogold, "Les Artistes": Chilling put-down is the best New Wave song in years.

3. TV on the Radio, "Golden Age": Try to remain still for this beat and then try to not melt when that falsetto rolls in with "there's a golden age ... comin' 'round."

4. MGMT, "Time to Pretend": Monster-size pop hit is a hilarious, poignant send-up of rock-star lifestyle.

5. Eddy Current Suppression Ring, "Which Way to Go": Delicious throwback to the Buzzcocks.6. Vampire Weekend, "M79": Perky pop music from the baroque period.

7. Fleet Foxes, "White Winter Hymnal": Harmonies worthy of the Beach Boys or CSN.

8. Al Green, "Lay it Down": The world's greatest soul singer back in his groove.

9. Mudcrutch, "Scare Easy": One of the 'DVE crowd, this is the best Tom Petty stuff in years.

10. Donora, "Shhh": I like ... when Casey does that whisper and stutter.

Best of the 'Burgh

1. Allies, "Invisible Spectrum": A sonic storm reminiscent of early And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead with smart, passionate lyrics, starting with a lead-off track that could be the protest anthem for the corporate bailouts.

2.The Modey Lemon, "Season of Sweets": Nine songs demonstrating how the trio could easily go off on a garage-punk bender, challenge the metal or stoner-rock scenes or just become the world's most aggressive jam band.

3.Centipede Eest, "Confluence": A dangerous collision of heavy groovage, shredding psychedelic guitar noise, chanted vocals and a fearlessness to bust through any and all borders.

4.Girl Talk, "Feed the Animals": Another mind-blowing party mashup with more samples, more ingenuity, more intensity.

5. Don Caballero, "Punkgasm": Same pummeling yet intricate math-rock, now with vocals!

6. Grand Buffet, "King Vision": Prankster duo shape-shifts between hip-hop, New Wave and metallic rock.

7.Tobacco, "[Expletive] Friends": Black Moth Super Rainbow leader flies solo with endlessly groovy psychedelic space jam.

8. Lohio, "History, the Destroyer": Sophomore effort shifts from Americana toward power-pop with '60s flavor and gorgeous harmonies.

9. Donora, "Donora": Glorious New Wave-y pop with peppy beats and sing-song cheerleader choruses.

10. Burndowns, "Burndowns": Former Radio Beats frontman strikes back with more punk-rock that blows the garage door right off. 

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'Chinese Democracy' on tour?

Update: Rolling Stone reports that Richard Fortus now denies that he said GNR might tour.

2009 in Pittsburgh gets off to great start, hard-rock wise, with AC/DC on Jan. 7.

Could Guns 'N Roses be a little further down the road?

Rolling Stone quotes guitarist Richard Fortus that a GNR tour should start in late March and is expected to last "at least two years."

This tour, of course, would be a bit dicier than AC/DC considering that "Chinese Democracy" was a bust and Guns 'N Roses is really like Axl Rose and whoever else shows up.

Plus, there's that whole deal with Axl being on hip-hop time, hitting the stage whenever he feels like it.

Memo to Axl: The only way we're hanging around Mellon Arena till 1 a.m. is if the Penguins go into triple overtime in the playoffs.

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I would like to take full responsibility...

...for the success of Girl Talk.

Can I get my check now?

In response to the Year in Local Rock story on Thursday I've heard from local artists happy to be included and others who felt snubbed.

But the most interesting reaction of all came from anonymous@yahoo.com, who credits me for the rise of laptop sensation Girl Talk... for his sold-out concerts, his appearance on Best of 2008 album lists, etc.:

"As a long-time subscriber to the PG, and respected member of the Pittsburgh music scene, I, (along with many others), was appalled by the sight of Girl Talk on the cover of the weekend magazine- furthermore he being rated the number 1 most important person/band in Pittsburgh music.  GIRL TALK IS NOT A MEMBER OF THE PITTSBURGH MUSIC SCENE, NEVER WAS, AND NEVER WILL BE.  Scott Mervis in particular, is out of touch with the music scene in Pittsburgh.  Mr. Mervis' personal taste is the only thing that has led to the smattering of Girl Talk.    I think that the PG should get rid of Scott Mervis and find some real writers who talk about real bands- Girl Talk does not fit with the title "The year in Rock", he is not rock, and he is not a band, and he does nothing for Pittsburgh, and neither did Scott Mervis by publishing such pratty trash."

Of course, I can't reach "anonymous," but I'm dying to know who the "many others" are. If you're one of them, let me know.

In the meantime, a colleague offered some details on Girl Talk's credentials: "Gregg Gillis [Girl Talk] went to Chartiers Valley High School, went to local concerts starting around '95, starting playing shows in the area with the Joysticks around '98, started playing out solo as Girl Talk in 2000, and played many smaller scene shows as Girl Talk for almost four years before gaining any attention. During that time, Gregg represented Pittsburgh twice in 2002 and 2003 on the nationwide Circuits of Steel tour which showcased Pittsburgh's creative live electronic music scene. He also attended many smaller club shows and continues to do so whenever he's in town, which is a lot, because he lives here and bought a house here. Gregg Gillis takes the name of Pittsburgh out on the road whenever he goes, and also takes bands from Pittsburgh with him, such as Grand Buffet, giving them a chance to play to thousands they would never play to otherwise. Therefore, Girl Talk is a member of the Pittsburgh music scene."

A rare coup for TV on the Radio

When it didn't turn up on the top 10 of Paste and Amazon, it wasn't looking good for former Pittsburghers Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone, who front the innovative Brooklyn band.

But now Rolling Stone and Spin have weighed in, and in a rare coup TV on the Radio is on top of both lists. Rolling Stone wrote, "These Brooklynites greeted the historical moment with awe - and responded with art-rock party music. Call it the audacity of hope."

Spin said, " ‘Dear Science' is a document of the absurd, oft-contradictory realities that have governed American lives over the past 12 years, during which waxing anxiety was offset by irrational optimism."

Now, the Post-Gazette top 10 doesn't come out till Jan. 1, but right now that album is not No. 1.

THE ROLLING STONE TOP 10 ALBUMS

1 | TV on the Radio: Dear Science

2 | Bob Dylan: Tell Tale Signs - The Bootleg

Series Vol. 8

3 | Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III

4 | My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges

5 | John Mellencamp: Life, Death, Love

and Freedom

6 | Santogold: Santogold

7 | Coldplay: Viva la Vida or

Death and All His Friends

8 | Beck: Modern Guilt

9 | Metallica: Death Magnetic

10 | Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend

THE SPIN TOP 10

1 TV on the Radio: Dear Science

2. Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III

3. Portishead: Third

4. F-----d Up: The Chemistry of Common Life

5. Fleet Foxes: s/t

6. Santogold: s/t

7. Deerhunter: Microcastle

8. Hot Chip: Made in the Dark

9. Coldplay: Viva la Vida

10. MGMT: Oracular Spectacular

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Bon Jovi and Bruce tops for '08

Billboard has released its list of 10 top-grossing concert tours for 2008 and topping the list are two New Jersey boys: Bon Jovi, grossing $210.6 million, and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, grossing $204.5 million.

Bon Jovi did 99 shows and 99 of them were sellouts, as opposed to Springsteen's 46 sellouts over 82 shows.

The Police, coming in fourth, did 71 sellouts in 78 shows, but only drew slightly more than half the capacity of the Post-Gazette Pavilion. Reports that this isn't a Police town must be true.

Of the top 10, all of seven guys played here, but none of the ladies. No Madonna, no Celine, no Spice Girls.

Rounding out the top 10:

1. Bon Jovi ($210.6 million)

2. Bruce Springsteen ($204.5 million)

3. Madonna ($162 million)

4. The Police ($150 million)

5. Celine Dion ($91 million)

6. Kenny Chesney ($86 million)

7. Neil Diamond ($81.2 million)

8. Spice Girls ($70 million)

9. Eagles ($56.6 million)

10. Rascal Flatts ($55.8 million).

Note that the Billboard year runs from Nov. 14, 2007 through Nov. 11, 2008, and Springsteen played the arena on that very first day of eligibility.

Whatever happened to Jim Carroll?

Last week a friend of mine was showing me how the Genius program worked on his iPhone (really cool) when the song "People Who Died" popped up in a magically created playlist that also included "Psycho Killer" and "Bela Lugosi's Dead."

Hearing that 1980 hit brought back all kinds of memories of the Jim Carroll Band's fleeting years in the rock scene, including the show they did at the club Heaven Downtown.

I picked up a CD copy of "Catholic Boy," which I only had on vinyl, a little nervous about how it might sound all these years later. No worries. The band's debut - with its heavy influences of the Ramones, Bowie, Lou Reed and Patti Smith - still rocks hard and the songs about drugs, sex and death hold up after all these years.

It was almost comical when I loaned it to a friend at work who had never heard it and a debate ensued about the the song "People Who Died" (which, remember, oddly enough, was used in the opening scene of "E.T."). There we were, having that same discussion people were having 28 years ago when some people were offended by the "flippant" or matter-of-fact nature of the song.

It still seems strange to me that Carroll, also a poet and diarist who authored "The Basketball Diaries," and those musicians virtually disappeared off the map after the band's third album in 1983 (although there was a little-heard rock/spoken-word album in 1998 and an EP after that).

A Web search revealed that Carroll's Web site, catholicboy.com, has been down for construction for more than a year and the last graph of his Wikipedia page says, "In the mid-1980s, Carroll returned to writing full time and began to appear regularly on the spoken word circuit. Since 1991, Carroll has performed readings from his unfinished first novel, tentatively titled ‘The Petting Zoo.' "

That kind of exit is probably more punk than hanging around.

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Yes... no

No, Yes isn't coming.

There was a concert listing Sunday in the PG for Yes at the Rex Theater on Thursday, but showing up there will only put you in the Roundabout (rim shot).

The show had been moved to the Palace Theater in Greensburg and then off the calendar entirely. Reason is that guitarist Steve Howe travels not in the tour bus but separately by car, and there were reasonable concerns that Chicago to Pittsburgh in December would be a hell ride. So, it should happen sometime here in 2009.

A Yes tour with singer Jon Anderson joined by longtime members Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White and keyboardist Oliver Wakeman (son of Rick), would have required a hockey rink, at least, a college gym.

But with Anderson sidelined by respiratory problems and Benoit David, from a Canadian Yes tribute band, filling in on vocals, this can squeeze into a thousand-seater.

Word from the road is that David is a convincing replacement. The Albany Times Union wrote that he "effortlessly recreated Anderson's trademark sound. And he did so with a confidence that suggested he was born for the job."