the bird and the bee announces digital-only release of their new Valentine’s Day EP ‘One Too Many Hearts’.

The past year has been an eventful one for the bird and the bee, the Los Angeles band made up of singer Inara George and multi-instrumentalist/producer Greg Kurstin. The Los Angeles Times named them one of “10 Bands on the Horizon for 2007″ and their self-titled debut, a deliciously subversive indie-pop album, was released in January to rave reviews. The New Yorker called it “a sure delight” and Rolling Stone described their distinct sound as “audible sunshine.” Their music could be heard on shows like Grey’s Anatomy, and they toured throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, both as a headliner and opening band for such artists as Lily Allen, Sia and Rilo Kiley.

Always enchanting, the bird and the bee are now releasing the ‘One Too Many Hearts’ EP just in time for Valentine’s Day! The four-song EP includes three new songs by the duo: “Birthday”, “The Last Day Of Our Lives”, which Inara George describes as “kind of a flower child-funk/Serge Gainsbourg-thing”, and “Come As You Were”.

The EP’s closer, “Tonight You Belong to Me” is a duet sung by George and Gus Seyffert (a multi-instrumentalist who has toured with the band playing guitar and autoharp). The song was originally written in 1926 and was most famously made a Country hit by Dottie West in 1977 and later performed as a duet by Bernadette Peters and Steve Martin in the 1979 film The Jerk.

the bird and the bee – ‘One Too Many Hearts’ EP
(Released February 12, 2008; Metro Blue/Blue Note Records)

Have a listen to the first track on the ‘One Too Many Hearts’ EP, “Birthday” via the streams below:

QuickTime

Windows Media

Real Player

Also, if you haven’t already seen the video for “Polite Dance Song,” a single off of the bird and the bee’s EP ‘Please Clap Your Hands’, you can take a look at the link below. In this cute video, the duo’s quirky, sweet and old-fashioned charm is stylistically portrayed through outrageous costumes and extreme dance moves by director Eric Wareheim, creator and director for Adult Swim’s Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!.

Watch “Polite Dance Song” video:

For more information about the ‘Please Clap Your Hands’ EP, check out the e-card

the bird and the bee on Myspace
the bird and the bee Official Website

“It’s a new day for our company, DRUM! itself, and the drumming community,” says editor in chief, Andy Doerschuk. “Over the lifespan of DRUM!, we’ve always tried to be open to change in terms of content, design, and now distribution. DRUM! Digital carries on our editorial philosophy and will make it possible for us to extend our worldwide readership.”

The first issue of DRUM! Digital features stories from the magazine’s special Urban Music October issue, featuring The Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson on the cover. It includes all of the features from that special issue. In addition, there are multimedia extras that make this version of the magazine more useful to an online audience.

As with all of Enter Music Publishing’s print magazines, DRUM! Digital is diverse and loaded with innovative, content-rich material. “There are ten embedded videos in the issue,” says publisher Phil Hood. “And most of the ads are linked, so an online user can visit the advertiser’s web sites, view instructional videos and interviews, or zoom in and read the stories.”

DRUM! Digital is produced using technology developed by iDigital Editions, a Temecula, California-based software company. iDigital’s technology made it possible to publish DRUM! Digital to look just like the print version with the editorial advantage of being viewed by anyone, anywhere, anytime over the Internet. “We looked at many software solutions but felt that iDigital provided a better reading experience than competing solutions, as well as superior marketing and advertising opportunities for our clients,” says Hood.

The iDigital Edition digital magazine does not require users to download and install additional client reader software. They can access it through their current Internet browser and the standard flash plug-in already present in nearly every Internet-enabled computer today!

DRUM! Digital versions of the magazine will be available approximately 45 days after subscribers receive their print copies. Plans call for print subscribers to get early notification as to when an issue is available and, eventually, exclusive access to certain DRUM! Digital features.

“I don’t see the digital magazine as a replacement for print or for the web site,” says Hood. “In many ways, it’s completely separate, offering the great writing of print along with some of the interactivity of the web. As we post more issues, readers will have an easier time finding archived features. Also, advertisers will have a chance for their ads to keep pulling response, long after the print edition has been removed from newsstand shelves.”

With the launch of DRUM! Digital, Enter Music Publishing is well positioned to capitalize on the growing drum industry. According to figures from the American Music Conference and Music Trades magazine, the drum industry has annual global sales of approximately $1.25 billion, and the United States accounts for up to 45 percent of that total.

About Enter Music Publishing
Founded in San Jose, CA in 1992, Enter Music Publishing, Inc. is a leading publisher of drum/percussion magazines, with distribution in 40 countries. DRUM! is the flagship publication of Enter Music Publishing, Inc. and continues to set the industry standard for editorial quality and innovation. In addition to DRUM! And DRUM! Digital, the company publishes TRAPS and HOW TO PLAY DRUMS. Additional information about the company can be found at:

drummagazine.com
trapsmagazine.com

drumdigital.com

Powered by VeriSign’s global mobile content delivery network, the VeriSign Mobile Media Cast is a channel based subscription service allowing users to enjoy rich audio and video content such as television programs, professional or user-generated video clips, music, news and other long or short digital content. Optimized for simple handset operability, the solution leverages a unique “push-store-&-play” mobile delivery technology for dynamic content delivery to mobile phones with no user intervention, completely in the background.

“The VeriSign Mobile Media Cast is the next leap in podcasting and mobile entertainment. Mobile operators can now offer their customers a mobile podcast experience, turning the phone into their portable media device of choice, making it more competitive with industry-leading portable media devices,” explained Guy Morag, CEO of Bamboo MediaCasting, Inc.

The service utilizes existing cellular networks and facilitates economic off-peak delivery to minimize network congestion, data costs, and disruption to traditional phone usage. The channel based subscription model allows subscribers to select the content they desire, and then enjoy the media without browsing or network connection.

“The VeriSign Mobile Media Cast makes it very simple for end users to enjoy the entertainment they choose on their mobile device,” said Alexander Igelsboeck, vice president for Media Solutions, VeriSign. “The versatility of this solution, as well as the efficient use of existing network resources makes it simple and affordable for wireless operators to immediately access the growing mobile entertainment market,” continued Igelsboeck.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN ), operates digital infrastructure services that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the world’s voice, video and data networks. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.

About Bamboo MediaCasting

Bamboo MediaCasting Inc. (www.bamboomc.com) provides solutions that facilitate the aggregation and automatic regular delivery of rich audio and video content and podcasts to users’ handsets. The solutions are intended to overcome the complex and time-consuming handset browsing, streaming and viewing process as well as quality-control limitations that were stalling the podcast phenomenon from successfully penetrating the mobile domain.

“Push The Ghosts” is, essentially, the start of The Twang. The first song written by the band after guitarist Stu Hartland joined, the first song on which Phil gave up the bass guitar (to John) and concentrated purely on singing. The first song to be written by the five lads we now know as The Twang. It was the first song the band demoed with producer Gavin Monaghan, who went on to man the desk for the gold certified debut, ‘Love It When I Feel Like This’. For the band, “Push The Ghosts” was the moment when The Twang really seemed like a possibility, the point at which being in the band could replace the workaday lives they were stuck with at the time.

Watch The Twang – “Push The Ghosts” video:

The album version, which features as part of this bundle, is that moment on record. Written by John and Saunders whilst Phil was on holiday with impetus from (now) band photographer Lee, the tune started with Lee playing a bassline on a keyboard in the studio. As with some songs, the verses and choruses flowed and, on Phil’s return, not only did he find he no longer played bass in The Twang, he also found a basic new song that all agreed would be their first real moment. The five then worked this into the song you hear in very quick time, John recalling the whole thing came together in under an hour, Phil remarking that Stu’s guitar line was nailed within 20 minutes of that. As with all band’s signature moments, it all came together so easily it felt like it was writing itself. The Salt ‘n’ Pepa moment is courtesy of John. There’s no big story here, like the rest of the history of the song, he had a moment, tried it and all agreed it worked perfectly.

The acoustic version, in a rare Twang moment, came after the album version. Most Twang tunes are written on acoustic and then fleshed out and re-interpreted by the band. “Push The Ghosts” worked the other way, Stu doing his thing in double quick time, as ever basing the version on an acoustic guitar line that is inaudible in the original.

For the single, the band elected to change the song slightly to re-interpret it more as a dance floor tune. Taking the sample as a reference, the single version loses none of the swagger and majesty of the original but marries it with a more rhythmically strict beat and sparing use of the Salt ‘n’ Pepa “Push It” sample to create a new version of this most important of Twang tunes.

Also part of the package is the video for “Push The Ghosts”, which sees the urban fox of the album cover on the rampage with a friend, the remix of the track by TCS (including one of the world famous Miss Moneypenny’s DJs), and an audio commentary from the band on the importance and history of “Push The Ghosts” for The Twang.

“Push the Ghosts” digital EP is released on November 26th, 2007.

Pre-order Here

“Push the Ghosts” is also available on CD, 7″ and 7″ picture disc.

“Push The Ghosts” video link

The Twang Official Website
The Twang on Myspace

Sony BMG Music is proud to announce Celine Dion’s new single, “Taking Chances”. The single is set for release digitally on October 24th, 2007 in the UK. “Taking Chances” was written by Kara Dioguardi and the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, and produced by John Shanks.

Read the Celine Dion “Taking Chances” single review + watch video!

Celine Dion ‘Taking Chances’ album + DVD review

“Taking Chances” is the lead single to be lifted from Celine Dion’s forthcoming album also entitled ‘Taking Chances’ – her first English studio album in over three years and which marks the beginning of a new era in Celine’s extraordinary career.

Celine Dion, who is the biggest selling female artist of all time, selling over 180 million albums, opens her first worldwide tour in 10 years on February 14th, 2008 in Johannesburg, giving a benefit concert for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. Following on from South Africa Celine will take on a further seven shows in South Africa during February, contributing additional proceeds from these shows to Mr. Mandela’s Children’s Fund. From South Africa the tour makes stops in the Middle East, Japan, Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand, Europe and North America, playing both stadiums and arenas throughout. The year-long tour will visit 5 continents, over 25 countries, and more than 100 cities.

On December 15th 2007, Celine Dion will take her final bows on the Colosseum stage at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, where she has enjoyed a record-breaking five-year run of sold-out performances to critical acclaim, with her spectacular show, A New Day… The show which has been documented in a deluxe High-Definition DVD, will be released later this year by SonyBMG Music worldwide.

“These past five years have been a wonderful experience for me”, says Celine. “To perform every night with such an amazing cast of dancers and musicians on this beautiful show created by Franco Dragone, has been a dream come true. The fans have been so incredibly supportive, coming to see us every night, year after year…it will be difficult to say goodbye, but I’m also ready for the next adventure…I’m looking forward to a new chapter.”

Album: ‘Taking Chances’ is set for release in the UK on November 12th, 2007 (US – November 13th).

Buy Celine Dion – Taking Chances on amazon.com

Celine Dion Official Website

“The music industry is moving faster than it ever has before,” Eric was quoted in MIDEM ‘The News’ magazine. “You now need to innovate on a continuous basis, and not all music industry professionals are wired to do that. Music has been at the forefront of having to respond to the challenges posed by technological change. It’s like a game of chess: you always need to be two steps ahead.”

MusicDish will also be hosting a ‘10th Anniversary’ showcase as part of the NewMusicWest festival, following the first in a series that was held at Canadian Music Week 2007 in March. NewMusicWest is the largest and most influential new music festival on the West Coast, attracting businesses and individuals from all over North America. NMW showcases 200 bands, in 25 venues over 5 nights and invites the public and the music industry to attend.

About The Workshop
There is broad consensus that progressive digitization of the music industry, from the studio to the retail product and finally the marketplace itself, is transforming the way music is produced, packaged and distributed. At the same time, digitization is changing traditional media markets. With the explosion in new distribution platforms, from satellite radio to MySpace, consumers are enjoying greater flexibility, choice and control over music products, a process that started with the 8-Track and has culminated in peer-to-peer file sharing and the iPod.

But there is much less consensus with regard to how the industry must react and transform in response to these market changes, in part because technological changes are challenging the industry’s fundamental approach to marketing and selling music. For example, the shift from broadcast platforms (radio/TV) to digital platforms, such as social network sites, has fundamentally changed the flow of communication between music providers and music consumers. What once was a one-to-many, unidirectional monologue controlled by music providers has transformed into a to many-to-many, multidirectional conversation between music providers and music consumers as well as between music consumers, and no one appears to have much control.

The workshop will go beyond a synthesis of the market changes created by digitization to a discussion about how labels, artists and others in the music industry must now approach marketing and selling music during a dramatic market transition. Concrete and practical strategies on how to tackle some of the important choices facing today’s music industry decision maker will be presented. As such, the workshop is meant to provide a framework for decision makers considering how to internally innovate to succeed.

For more information on MusicDish at New Music West 2007, visit http://www.musicdish.net/nmw/