New Music: White Stripes, Coldplay, John Lennon…

Three, music heavyweights, a superstar hip hop duo and a few indie darlings in the spotlight today, which means more New Music to look forward to in the coming months. So let’s take a quick peek at a most excellent batch of new music in the pipeline.

• The White Stripes 2007 tour of Canada was put to tape, which means fans get to enjoy Under Great White Northern Lights, a limited-edition box set curated from the Canada shows that will be released on March 16. The box set contains a DVD of the Under Great White Northern Lights documentary about the tour; a 16-track live album recorded during the Canadian trek on 180-gram vinyl and CD; a live seven-inch single featuring “Icky Thump” and “The Wheels On The Bus”; a 208-page book of Autumn De Wilde’s photos from the tour; and a silk screen print.
• Just a few days since we marked the 29th anniversary of John Lennon’s untimely death, there is news of never-before-heard audio tapes of Lennon warming up during the making of the Double Fantasy album. Via MusicRadar, the website Lennontapes.com has begun selling the 13-minute recording, which it claims was tracked on August 19, 1980, at The Hit Factory in New York City. The music clips are reportedly authentic. They contain Lennon warming up in the sound booth on covers that were possibly recorded by never released – like Elvis Presley’s “Mystery Train.” To hear snippets and read the story, click here.
• Coldplay and their Viva La Vida producer Brian Eno are back together again for a new Coldplay album. According to Yahoo! News, Chris Martin is said to be worried about alienating fans with their trademark stadium rock sound and hopes the legendary music producer can help make their next album more intimate.
• She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward had such a good time working on their 2008 debut album Volume One that they’ve decided to name their follow-up collection Volume Two. The new album, available March 23, 2010, features 13 tracks, one being a cover of NRBQ’s “Ridin’ In My Car.” Should be good.
• Jón Pór Birgisson, the singer for Sigur Ros, is planning a solo album. Go is set to hit stores March 22, 2010. Go ahead and grab a free download of the track “Boy Lilikoi“ – off the upcoming solo album – now via his official website, Jonsi.com.
• According to Glide, Outkast’s Big Boi has said the band are planning to release a new album in 2010. Big Boi and bandmate Andre 3000 are releasing solo albums next year and, according to the story, if both are well-received, Outkast will also release a new record. Wow, talk about pressure on a fan base.