Believe The Hype - Eskimo Joe

What happens when your album goes quadruple platinum in your native Australia? You take it to US of course. By our estimates a copy of Eskimo Joe’s latest album Black Fingernails Red Wine is in the hands of one in five Australians. After hearing the title track from the album we can say theses Aussies will get their platinum plaque for US sales as well, just probobly not as quickly.

With haunting piano sounds and Kav Temperley’s voice cutting straight through the music in the intro Eskimo Joe begins to remind us of She Wants Revenge. The band quickly breaks free of this comparison though with Stu MacLeod and Joel Quartermain’s driving guitar riffs and Kav’s soaring voice. The rest of the track is great and has a sound comparable to U2. All in All we can’t wait for the release of Black Fingernails Red Wine (out September 25th on Rykodisc). Check out the title track below and let us know what you think and Gander on for US tour dates.

Listen to Eskimo Joe – “Black Fingernails Red Wine”

August

10 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's Uptown
15 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
16 - Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber
17 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
21 - LA, CA - Viper Room
25 - San Francisco, CA - Bay Area Indie Fest. (3:30pm) Gander On!

Universal May Pull Catalogue From ITunes

Courtesy of NME

Universal Music Group of Vivendi - the world's biggest music corporation and home to the likes of U2 and Amy Winehouse- has told Apple it would not renew its annual contract to sell music through the company, according to leaked reports.

Instead Universal said that it would market music to Apple at will, a move that could allow Universal to remove its songs from iTunes on short notice, reports New York Times.

It has been suggested that this is due to the fact that the two sides do not agree on pricing and other terms for the future.

If Universal pull their catalogue, iTunes would lose access to record labels that collectively account for one out of every three new releases sold in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan data.

Equally, sales of digital music through iTunes accounts for more than 15 per-cent of Universal's worldwide revenue in the first quarter of 2007.

Insiders see the move as the culmination of growing tensions between Apple founder Steve Jobs and the record industry.

In the four years since iTunes popularised the sale of music online, many in the music business have become discouraged by what they consider the be the near monopoly that Jobs has held in the digital sector, the one area of the music business that is showing significant growth.

In particular Jobs stance on song pricing and the iPod's lack of compatibility and music services other than iTunes have become points of contention. Gander On!