Reggae singer Eddie Grant has accused Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn of ripping off his 1981 song “Time Warp” for “Stylo,” a track off the latest Gorillaz album. Grant even goes so far as to say he thinks Albarn consulted with a musicologist to determine any similarities between the songs, so as to avoid having to ask Grant’s permission. [Stereogum.com]

Alicia Keys, John Legend, and the Black Eyed Peas are among the artists set to perform at the FIFA World Cup Kickoff Concert on June 10. The concert, which takes place the day before the World Cup tournament begins, will also feature a bevy of African and South American artists including Juanes, Shakira, Amadou & Mariam, Vieux Farka Touré, and Angelique Kidjo. [Billboard.com]

Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber has announced details of his first headlining tour. The 16-year-old “One Time” singer will kick things off June 23 in Hartford, CT, with singer Sean Kingston opening. Bieber is also set to appear twice on The View on March 22 and 23. [Hecklerspray.com] [NYTimes.com]

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Lesley Duncan, a British vocalist who penned Elton John’s “Love Song” and sang on landmark albums like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, passed away on Friday at age 66. Duncan had suffered from a cerebrovascular disease during recent years. [NME.com]

The Hollies, Jimmy Cliff, Genesis, ABBA, and the Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday evening. In addition to live performances and acceptance speeches, the awards ceremony was notable for the absence of several inductees, including former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel and ABBA members Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus. [Billboard.com]

Those looking for Passion Pit rarities can find them on the band’s reissued debut, which features new artwork and three bonus tracks. Included is an unreleased cover of the Cranberries’ “Dreams,” a recent staple of Passion Pit’s live shows. [Pitchfork.com]

To drum up support for his newest album with the Cairo Gang, The Wonder Show of the World, Bonnie “Prince” Billy is offering a limited-edition bottle stopper to 150 early customers. The wooden stoppers, which were individually carved by hand, are available on the Domino Records website. [DominoRecordCo.com]

After finding success with its Capitol Nashville imprint (whose roster includes Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, and Darius Rucker), EMI Music has launched a second country label: EMI Records Nashville. The first artist on the label’s roster is Troy Olsen, an Arizona native who previously wrote hit songs for Tim McGraw and Blake Shelton. [Variety.com]

2009’s biggest-selling artist, Michael Jackson, continues to break records eight months after his death. The singer’s estate and Sony Music have reportedly agreed to a $250 million deal, the largest such pact in music history, which includes reissues of Jackson’s albums, new compilations, and a possible Cirque du Soleil production based on his music. An official statement is expected sometime today. [RollingStone.com]

Omnipresent Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne made an appearance on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition last night, carting an armload of sod while volunteering his time to an Oklahoma housing project. Those interested in what Coyne’s own home looks like can find the wacky, semi-futuristic answer here. [Pitchfork.com]

Despite this shift, Grace’s lyrics have stayed true to his past, revealing character studies of dreamers, runaways, and the broken-hearted mix with tales of a life lived with poetry, fire, and desperation. It’s pretty far from the standard indie rock party line of mopey introspection, and it goes a long way in explaining why My Favorite had such devoted fans. It’s likely that they will fall in love with the Secret History, too, because The World That Never Was not only lives up to My Favorite’s legacy, but surpasses it. Apart from the warmer and more human sound, a big reason why are the vocals of Lisa Ronson. Grace was lucky when she answered the ad looking for a “tragic female voice,” she not only has that, but she gives the songs an emotional wallop a weaker vocalist may not have been able to deliver. When her voice twines with the group’s other vocalist, Erin Dermody, the harmonies are transcendent. Grace’s vocals are an important factor in the mix, too; his everyman vocals are a fine contrast to the rich vocals of the band’s females.

Together, the three singers give the songs the grace and strength the words and melodies deserve. Not since the first two New Pornographers records have the songs, vocals, and production come together so perfectly. In fact, you could take any song on The World, say the wrenching ballad “Sex with Ghosts” or the moody rocker “Sister Rose,” stack it up against a song on Mass Romantic, and the result would be a toss-up. An impressive feat but not a surprising one, given the band’s past. Yes, My Favorite was a tough act to follow but the Secret History do it with grace and style. On The World That Never Was, they’ve crafted one of the best, most lyrical, and emotionally powerful pop albums of the past however long.

“Love Theme (From The World That Never Was)”

“Johnny Anorak”

R.I.P. Micky Jones, guitarist for the Welsh psychedelic band Man, who some considered “the Grateful Dead of the British Isles.” The band’s expansive performances won them fans among peers like Quicksilver Messenger Service, whose John Cipollina performed with them on their 1975 live album Maximum Darkness. The band’s first artistic peak was in the early ’70s, but Man continued to perform even when Jones was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2002, first with his son George taking his place, and later with both of them playing. Jones succumbed to the cancer last week at age 63. [Blurt-Online.com]

R.I.P. also to rock writer Carol Clerk, who died Friday after battling cancer. Clerk was a Melody Maker writer and News Editor in the ’80s and ’90s, a contributor to UNCUT and Classic Rock magazines and the author of books on Hawkwind, the Pogues and the Damned, among others. [TheQuietus.com]

Digital music sales overtook the decline in sales of CDs and DVDs for the first time in the U.K. last year. According to PRS Music, a non-profit organization that represents 65,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers, online music sales totaled £30.4m, significantly more than £8.7m decrease in traditional format sales. This means more money for the people PRS represents: royalties grew from £608.3 million in 2008 to £623 million in 2009. [TheDailySwarm.com, TheIndependent.co.uk]

Ryan Adams will return from a self-imposed, year-long musical hiatus with Orion, his latest foray into heavy metal. Unlike previous attempts Werewolph and Sleazy Handshake, Orion bears Adams’ own name and will be released by his own Paxam label. Adams’ website also has a poll for fans to vote on whether or not they’d buy the album. [Guardian.co.uk]

MGMT are apologizing to disappointed fans for their very different-sounding new single “Flash Delirium,” the first taste of the band’s upcoming second album Congratulations. Said Ben Goldwasser in an interview with Spinner.com, “It’s not a single, but we thought it was a good way to entice people to listen to the whole record. I’m sure there are plenty of people who think it’s completely weird and not what they were expecting. I’m sorry.” [Spinner.com]

Listen to She & Him’s aptly named second album Volume Two, which is streaming at NPR’s site. [NPR.org]

Just who is viral musician iamamiwhoami? Popjustice.com thinks it has the answer. [PopJustice.com]

Check out the video to the Lonely Island’s “Boombox,” which premiered on Saturday Night Live last weekend and features the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. [Stereogum.com]

The B-52’s – “Rock Lobster”

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The B-52’s – “Dance This Mess Around” (Please click through to the video – You won’t be sorry!)

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The Fleshtones – “12 Months Later”

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Human Switchboard – “Maybe Somebody Wanted to Help”

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Pylon – “Gravity”

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Following a successful reunion tour, the members of Sunny Day Real Estate have begun working on a new album. The record, whose release details are still TBA, will mark the original lineup’s first studio appearance since 1995. [Pitchfork.com]

Phil Spector’s lawyers are appealing his murder conviction on grounds of “judicial error and prosecutorial misconduct,” claiming that Spector didn’t receive a fair trial. If they’re successful, Spector will receive a third trial for allegedly shooting actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. [News.BBC.co.uk]

For the third year in a row, Rachael Ray wins the AMG award for “hippest TV chef at SXSW.” The 30 Minute Meals star host her annual showcase, “Feedback Festival,” on March 20th, replete with gourmet catering and performances by She & Him, Jakob Dylan & Three Legs (featuring Neko Case and Kelly Hogan), Andrew W.K., Dr. Dog, Local Natives, and 13 other acts. John Cusimano, Ray’s husband and frontman of Cringe, will also perform. [Austinist.com]

Matthew Herbert’s One Pig — an upcoming album that “will be made up entirely of sounds made during the life cycle of a pig” — has drawn fire from PETA workers, who claim Herbert’s recording project mistakes cruelty for entertainment. In a recent reply, Herbert suggested the organization redirect its anger, explaining that the U.K.’s “perverse and secretive food system” prevented him from recording the pig’s actual death. “I don’t have the rights to see how my food is kept, killed or prepared,” he wrote, “and consequently I wasn’t allowed to record the actual death of my pig. I think that this is the real outrage. Should it not be a legal right to be allowed to see the conditions in which animals are kept?” [Stereogum.com]

Muse’s newest single, “Resistance,” has topped the Alternative Songs chart, while “Uprising” (which spent 17 weeks at number one last year) remains at number three. This makes Muse the first act in the chart’s 21-year history to claim two of the top three spots simultaneously. [Billboard.com]

American Idol will celebrate the Rolling Stones next week, with each contestant performing a song from the band’s catalog. 12 singers remain in the competition as of last night, when four contestants — including coffeehouse songwriter Lily Scott, previously hailed as the season’s frontrunner — were voted off. [RollingStone.com]

Contrary to popular belief, Slash did not play guitar during Michael Jackson’s “Black or White,” apparently deeming the song’s hook too “gay” for his own tastes. “I played on “Give in to Me,” he clarified during an interview with CNN, “and in the “Black and White” video, when Macaulay Culkin was trashing around, that’s me playing.” [Spinner.com]

Casiokids
When we dug up a bunch of Norwegian bands a few months ago, we totally forgot the best one! These fun-loving chaps are a little bit pop, a little bit electro and a whole bunch of wonderful!

Cults
The blogosphere has been showing a lot of love for Cults’ feel-good indie-pop, and it’s no secret why — the dreamy, girl-group pop feel of songs like “Go Outside” is irresistible. Download the band’s album for free!

Nice Face
Fans of Blank Dogs’ lo-fi synth-rock will grok what Nice Face’s Ian McGee is doing right away, but songs like “I Want Your Damage” are catchy enough to win fans in their own right.

Tanlines
One of the most buzzed-about bands appearing at SXSW, Tanlines’ electro-pop is as sleek and sweet as it is tribal and funky.

fm campers
Indie electronic pop grooves from Austin, TX.

Julianna Barwick
Moody, experimental atmospherics possibly channeling the ghosts of Grouper and Panda Bear.

Cop Shades
Armed with incredibly dense bass fuzz, Cop Shades evoke the sounds of fellow Canadians Death From Above 1979 and Shearing Pinx.

Chiddy Bang
Sampling MGMT and Belle And Sebastian, this Philly duo is helping to bridge the gap between the indie and hip-hop worlds.

Mama’s Moustache
The producer behind Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson” and Killer Mike’s “A.D.D.I.A.S.,” David “Mr. DJ” Sheats, is back with rapper Jeffery “Jeff B” Bowden dropping some light and breezy rap with real tite beats. Also, timely subject matter.

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Barber was born into a middle-class home in Westchester, Pa. He showed early musical promise, and his talents were nurtured by his aunt, the world famous contralto Louise Homer and his uncle, the song writer Sidney Homer. He was enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, studying composition, piano, and voice, when he was 14, the year the school was founded. In 1928, the 17-year-old Gian Carlo Menotti came to study at Curtis, and he and Barber formed a bond that would last most of Barber’s life. As a student, Barber wrote several songs that have entered the repertoire, including a setting of Dover Beach for baritone and string quartet, and vocal music continued to be a significant part of his work throughout his life. His graduation piece was Overture to The School for Scandal, one of his most frequently-performed orchestral works.
 
After graduation from Curtis, Barber and Menotti lived and worked for several years in Europe. It was there, during one of the happiest periods of his life, that Barber wrote a string quartet, the second movement of which became his most famous work, Adagio for Strings. Arturo Toscanini performed the Adagio with the NBC Symphony in 1938, and his career was effectively launched. His 1939 Violin Concerto further established his international reputation. After returning to the U.S., Barber and Menotti purchased a house, Capricorn, in Mount Kisco, New York in 1943, that would be their home for nearly 30 years. During the Second World War, Barber served in the Army Air Corps, where his duties included writing a symphony, his second.
 
He entered what could probably be called his most productive period, which continued into the mid-1960s, writing some of his most enduring pieces, including the Capricorn Concerto, for flute, oboe, trumpet, and strings; a Cello Concerto; a Piano Sonata (commissioned by Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers); Knoxville: Summer of 1915, an extended song for voice and orchestra with a text by James Agee; Mélodies passagères, for voice and piano; Hermit Songs, for voice and piano, using medieval texts; the chamber opera, A Hand of Bridge; Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, taken from the 1947 ballet, Cave of the Heart, written for Martha Graham; the cantata, Prayers of Kierkegaard; Summer Music, for wind quintet; the opera, Vanessa; a Piano Concerto, and Andromache’s Farewell, a concert scena for soprano and orchestra, the last two commissioned for the opening of Lincoln Center. Some of the most prestigious musicians in the world performed his music and became champions of his work, including Leontyne Price, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Eleanor Steber, Martina Arroyo, Vladimir Horowitz, John Browning, Arturo Toscanini, Eugene Ormandy, Bruno Walter, George Szell, and Sergey Koussevitsky.
 
Barber received his first Pulitzer Prize for Vanessa, which had been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera, and which had its premiere in 1958, with an all-star cast that included Eleanor Steber in the title role, Rosalind Elias, Nicolai Gedda, Regina Resnik, and Giorgio Tozzi. Menotti wrote the libretto, and Barber produced some of his most sweepingly Romantic and musically sophisticated work. Vanessa was hailed as the first great American “grand opera,” and while it has not entered the mainstream repertoire, it continues to receive a good number of productions for an American opera. Barber’s 1962 Piano Concerto won the composer his second Pulitzer Prize.
 
With his outstanding success as an opera composer, and because of the widespread popularity of his music, Barber was a natural choice when the Metropolitan Opera decided to commission a new American work to inaugurate its new opera house in Lincoln Center in 1966, and it would prove to be a turning point in his life. He chose the director Franco Zeffirelli to adapt the libretto from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, and he wrote the role of Cleopatra for Leontyne Price, one of his strongest interpreters. The premiere proved to be a colossal failure, and while there was plenty of fault to be spread around, including the overblown, grandiose sets, costumes, and staging; the malfunctioning stage machinery (which trapped Price inside a pyramid during what was supposed to be her opening aria); and the unrealistically high expectations created by the momentous occasion, much of the blame was laid on Barber’s music. (Barber later revised the work, and on the basis of the less overpowering productions it has received since, the quality of music itself is clearly evident.) Barber was so devastated by the intensity of the animosity toward his work after the premiere that he never regained his self confidence. He was temperamentally disposed to melancholy, which, after the failure of the opera, turned into clinical depression. Barber and Menotti had been drifting apart, and a further blow came when Menotti decided to move to Scotland, necessitating the sale of Capricorn in 1972. Barber wrote that he never again had a real home. Although he continued to compose sporadically, he produced only a few significant works, most notably the cantata, The Lovers, but they have not achieved the popularity of his earlier pieces.
 
Barber was always a highly sensitive individual, and while he remained fiercely committed to his artistic vision, he was deeply wounded by the attacks of critics who, with the ascendency of a more modernist aesthetic, dismissed his music as old-fashioned, naïve, and irrelevant. The seeds of his sense of estrangement from the musical establishment were planted early in his career, when Leopold Stokowski rejected a piano concerto he wrote as a student, calling it backward looking rather than forward looking. The wide popular enthusiasm for his music for much of his career, though, was a cushion against the critics who did not take him seriously. After the failure of Antony and Cleopatra, it was harder for him not to take to heart the virulence of the criticism of his work and his aesthetic, and he became increasingly bitter. He wrote that at his funeral, he wanted a performance of the final madrigal from The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore, Menotti’s own artfully couched polemic against modernism, that railed against “the indifferent killers of the poet’s dreams.…”
 
The tragedy of Barber’s life was that, at the end, he lost confidence that the melodic lyricism and warm expressiveness that he strove to convey in his music would continue to be appreciated. In fact, though, in spite of the changes in musical taste in the last 75 years, there hasn’t been a time when Barber’s music has not found appreciative and even adoring audiences. His songs continue to be sung and his piano music played on countless recitals. Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is firmly established on orchestra concerts as a classic of Americana. The number of productions and recordings of Vanessa continues to increase. The Violin Concerto is a favorite of soloists and audiences, and is considered essential to the repertoire. More than any of his other works, though, Adagio for Strings established Barber as one of the best known and beloved American composers. It has taken on iconic status as a profound and universally understood expression of grief, played at the funerals of royalty and heads of state, in times of crisis and suffering, and in memory of slain heroes. The piece is a testament that Barber’s musical vision — to write music of the highest artistic standards that can also touch the heart — has indeed been deeply valued, and shows every indication of continuing to flourish.
 
 

 
1927
The Daisies, for voice and piano
Thomas Hampson, baritone; John Browning, piano

 
 
1931
Dover Beach, for baritone and string quartet
Thomas Hampson, baritone; Emerson String Quartet

 

 
1933
Overture to The School for Scandal
Marin Alsop, cond., Royal Scottish National Orchestra

 
 
 
 
1935-1936
Symphony No. 1
Marin Alsop, cond.; Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Movement 2
Movement 3
 
 
1936
Adagio for Strings
Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra — Adagio for Strings

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1947
The Cave of the Heart
Miki Orihara, dancer; Martha Graham, choreographer

 
 
1949
Sonata for Piano
Paul Barnes, piano
1. Allegro energico

2. Allegro vivace e leggero

 
 
 
 

 
1947 -1950
Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Sylvia McNair, soprano; Yoel Levi, cond.

 
 
 
Leontyne Price, soprano, Thomas Schippers, cond. – Knoxville: Summer of 1915

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Promiscuity

The Monk and His Cat

Helen Semple, soprano; Polina Gerasimenko, piano – Hermit Songs 1-8

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Neeme Järvi, cond.; Detroit Symphony -
Under the Willow Tree

Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano; James Conlon, cond. – Must the winter come so soon

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Movement 2 – Canzone; Moderato

Movement 3 – Allegro molto

 
 
1966
Antony and Cleopatra
David Zinman, Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Give me some music

Leontyne Price, soprano; Thomas Schippers, cond.
Give me my robe

Christian Badea, cond. Spoleto Festival Orchestra and Westminster Chorus
The Death of Cleopatra

Carole Vaness, soprano; James Conlon, cond. – Give me my robe

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