Martin Scorsese and David Simon Lead HBO’s New Show Line-up

HBO has always been at the forefront of the cable television industry, having aired groundbreaking shows such as The Sopranos and Sex in the City and they are continuing to push the boundaries with several new additions to their line-up of new shows.

 

The new shows feature a post-Katrina New Orleans drama from The Wire creator David Simon and a 1920s piece on the history of New Jersey by Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese.

 

Treme, the dramatic story of the aftermath of Katrina and the road to recovery once again teams Simon with The Wire consulting producer Eric Overnyer.  The two produced phenomenal work on The Wire, so fans can expect a grittiy, heartfelt look at the situation in New Orleans.

 

Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City marks Scorsese’s first foray into scripted television. HBO is hedging its bets with this production, partnering the legendary director with “Sorpanos” writer-producer Terrence Winters.

 

In addition to the two new shows, HBO announced that Big Love will return for another season, Chris Rock will do his fifth Stand-up show, and Larry David will do another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

The Village Voice Siren Music Festival

If you live near New York City or the surrounding areas, you might want to check out the Siren Music Festival on Saturday July 19, 2008. Backed by the United States largest alternative weekly newspaper The Village Voice, this free event brings together a potent mixture of music to Coney Island.

 

Featuring two outdoor stages, concert goers will get to check out live performances from Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Broken Social Scene, Islands, Ra Ra Riot, The Helio Sequence, Beach House, Times New Viking, Jaguar Love, The Dodos, Annuals, Film School, Parts & Labor, Dragons of Zynth, These are the Powers, and DJs Ted Leo and Deadheat.

 

If that’s not enough for you, there is an after-party at Music Hall of Williamsburg featuring Apes & Androids, a Place to Bury Strangers, and more. You can get tickets for the after-party here.

Wolfgangs Vault Rocks

Over the weekend I came across a story about Wolfgang’s Vault. Created by Bill Sagan, this new site hosts over 500 live concert recordings from Universal Music Group (UMG) and features sick performances from artists such as Bob Marley and Lynyrd Skynard.

 

According to a recent Billboard article, Sagan bought the rights to the late concert promoter extraordinaire Bill Graham in 2003 and decided that the music was to good to go to waster. “This is a far-reaching agreement to make available what I would consider previously unreleased live performance recordings of Universal Music Group artists from the mid’60s on through today. It covers hundreds of UMG performers and thousands of live performance concerts,” said Sagan.

 

Here is the deal, if a concert is longer than 30 minutes, a full down-load is available for $9.98. For concerts less than 30 minutes, it is $5.98. There are a number of one/two song performances as well and they run $3.98.

 

Some of the artists include the Alarm, Fleetwood Mac, the Kinks, Billy Joel, Iggy Pop, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Lou Reed, Steve Millier, the Tubes, Warren Xevon, the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and numerous others.

 

Dedicated to improving the catalog, Sagan has been working feverously to add new material to the site. “Of the 1,424 concerts that are up on the site, 488 can be downloaded right now and some very major artists will be downloading within the next 30 to 60 days,” said Sagan.

 

In addition to the downloads, the site streams a monstrous catalog of music for free. This site is so worth checking out. To learn more or begin downloading from the site, click here.