Monday News Mash-Up

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. The Knack

The Knack, left to right:
Bruce Gary, Doug Fieger, Berton Averre and Prescott Niles

Sadly, Doug Fieger, frontman of New Wave trailblazers The Knack died yesterday after battling several years with cancer at age 57. Perhaps most famously, Fielder co-wrote and sang the 1979 hit “My Sharona” (revived in 1994 thanks to its inclusion on the Reality Bites soundtrack), but over the last few decades The Knack continued to release albums and perform periodically. A memorial service in LA is currently being planned. Read more here.

You may have heard the buzz on the blogs and Twitter lately about Jimmy Fallon touting Neon Indian upon first hearing them and using smartphone app Shazam to identify them. But did you know where he first heard the song? That’s right... KEXP! Thanks for the shout out, Jimmy!

Last week, several music blog operators using Google’s Blogger and Blogspot accounts lost all access to their accounts, in some cases losing years’ worth of archives. Among them are popular blogs Pop Tarts, Masala, I Rock Cleveland, To Die By Your Side, It’s a Rap, and Living Ears -- all of whom received messages upon deletion stating that their blogs had “repeatedly violated Blogger’s Terms of Service.” To the Guardian UK, Bill Lipold, the owner of I Rock Cleveland, gave a number of examples of label-approved postings that still somehow drew complaints as violations the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Calling it #musicblogocide2k10, readers and blog operators were outraged by the sudden closures, and as a result of the outcry at least Masala, which focuses mostly on World and remix culture, is back up and running on Blogspot. Apparently, Google’s Project Manager, Rick Klau, stated that in this case “the problem was that due to a processing error” that did not allow the blog operator to address complaints. Following its closure, I Rock Cleveland has moved to a new home. More largely read blogs My Old Kentucky Home and Gorilla vs. Bear remained unaffected.

The rock band that would make Sinatra proud, The Walkmen, have announced they have signed with venerable blues label-gone-reckless, Fat Possum. The band is already in the studio at work on the follow-up to You and Me with hopes of having the album out later this year.

Akron/Family have tapped into their love of dusty troubadour, Woody Guthrie, with the start of the Woody Project, which encourages fans to create their own version of the song, “Woody Guthrie’s America,” to share with the band and the world.

Akron/Family – Woody Guthrie’s America (MP3)

Sticking to the college hamlet of Bloomington, Indiana, Jagjaguwar have announced the signing of Small Black and the impending April 27th release of the duo’s remastered and expanded eponymous EP.

Small Black - Despicable Dogs (MP3)

Perhaps the next, great pure rock and roll sound will be the work of Jerusalem and the Starbaskets. The Columbia, Missouri, based duo will be releasing a 7-inch later this month via De Stijl as well as a full-length LP through The Great Pop Supplement.

In celebration of Valentine’s Day... and to forward promote his upcoming release, Joseph Arthur has made a new song, “Love Never Asks You To Lie,” available via YouTube:

Seattle native Jen Wood will be releasing her first album in nearly eight years, Finds You in Love, on March 2nd. The album will only available through Jen and her new label, New Granada.

Not content just releasing digital albums on holidays, former Grandaddy headmaster Jason Lytle is forming Admiral Radley (named with the inspiration of a Craigslist listing) with former bandmate, Aaron Burtch, and members of Earlimart.