The way we Listen

I just read this incredible news! A Pittsburgh publisher, Paul Mawhinney, was selling his tremendous collection of music records. He started his collection 50 years ago, which contains more than 3 million records and 300,000 compact discs!

On his ebay page, Mawhinney explains that he wants to sell his collection to someone who will “preserve the music for future generations”.

I found this initiative incredibly great because it is a way to keep the music in its original form, that is to say like the artists meant to diffuse it.

On February 21st, the bid ended (7 bids in total) : the winner got the collection for $3,002,150.00 exactly. I wonder how much are the shipping fees ! : )

We have all been waiting for that… and it should happen in 2008. U2 is currently working on a new album and hopefully will announce soon when it will be released.

I would just like to quickly remind you the information we had about this album over the last few months…

December 2006 : The Irish band closes the Vertigo Tour in Honolulu, Hawaii. This world tour lasted for almost two years (it was interrupted in the beginning of 2006 due to family problems with one band member).

April 2007 : First news ! The Edge states in an interview for ABC News that U2 is working on new songs, but they are not specifically preparing the new album. They just get in the music and play for hours… composing new songs without thinking of the obstacles that are brought with the release of a new disc (which song would be the first single? do we have to find a coherence between the songs?)

June 2007 : Several sources reveal that Bono and U2 are in Fez, Morocco, in order to record some material for the new album. They are working with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, with whom they worked for a lot of albums (The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, All That You Can’t Leave Behind).

August 2007 : Daniel Lanois reveals filmed footage from the recording sessions in Morocco, in his new documentary “Here Is What Is“.

December 2007 : In an interview with The Independent, Bono talks about the new album and how different the sound and style will be, compared to what U2 has done before… He talks about african music influences, as well as trance influences, and metal guitar riffs. The article says that the band is currently working on this album in South of France. This is one hard-to-follow story!

January 2008 : Daniel Lanois, about the new album, tells us that there is  a lot of innovation in the band’s music. Some Jimi Hendrix influences. He and Brian Eno are fully part of the writing and composing process.

So what can we expect? There’s a strong chance that in the following month we will hear more official statements from the band. Even the date of release. My opinion is that, like in 2004, they release the album in late 2008 (october, most likely), and will begin touring in 2009. Keep connected, as soon as I know something, it would be posted here !

According to french blogger Zegut, Led Zeppelin might be thinking of preparing a world tour in 2008… Jimmy Page announced in an interview in Tokyo that “the amount of work that we put into the O2 concert for ourselves rehearsing and the staging of it, was probably what you put into a world tour”. He adds that “Robert Plant also has a parallel project running, and he’s really busy with that project, certainly until September, so I can’t give you any news.”

Zegut also adds that a “great band” has booked the Stade de France in Paris on September 6th… Are both rumours linked? Wait and see…