"After Hours with Daniel," the HD show featuring chef Daniel Boulud hanging out with friends in restaurants after they close for the night, has added a music element that might kickstart some good conversation.
The new season on Mojo finds "Daniel" headed to South Florida and New Orleans beginning  March 16 at 9 p.m. The Miami shows have the usual collection of athletes, cooks, models and a couple of DJs.
New Orleans is, naturally, a better story. Trumpeter Irvin Mayfield will be dining at Commander’s Palace; chef John Besh's August will be host to 12 Stones lead singer Paul McCoy and trombonist Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews; attending the party at Scott Boswell's Stella! will be trumpeter/vocalist Jeremy Davenport and Spinal Tap's Harry Shearer; and Art Neville and  George Porter Jr. of the Meters will dine at Donald Link's Cochon.
Andrews and Davenport broke out their horns at  the dinners they attended.
Show is basically Boulud meeting up with a chef and planning an afterhours dinner with invited guests.
The show is a great idea but the ones shot in L.A. were a bit stilted once the party began; the non-chef, non-journalist friends seemed guarded or unsure of what to say and the quick-cut editing eliminated some of the potnetially interestign banter.
For those of us who live for dining and wine experiences, this has the potential to be the be-all, end-all show.

"World Without Love" is: a) a Sundance entry about a poverty-stricken Romania couple attempting to start a new life in Marrakesh; b) a reality show featuring freshly divorced women from Orange County; or c) the song you overheard three months ago emanating from the idling SUV parked outside a kids' soccer field. There is no film by that name in this year's Sundance fest and no TV schedule has a show by that moniker. But it is highly likely that the reunited Peter & Gordon will perform the tune on Jan. 22 at Sundance's  Music Cafe.
Peter Asher and Gordon Waller, who had a No. 1 hit with the Paul McCartney-penned tune in 1964, re-formed in 2005 after a 37-year absence and have been making sporadic appearances. The duo has nine dates so far on their calendar this year. (For the last 30-odd years, Asher's day job has been record producer; Gordon has stuck with performing).
Rest of the music lineup for Sundance, Jan. 17-27 in Park City, Utah, is more on the modern side.
AM, Ingrid Michaelson, Jessica Hoop, Sea Wolf, Paddy Casey, Eef Barzelay, Pat Monahan, Artists
from the film Slingshot Hip Hop, Ben's Brother, Sondre Lerche, Patti Smith, Charlotte Sometimes,
Jessie Baylin, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, Butch Walker, Tim Finn, Josh Hisle,
Everest, Missy Higgins, Meiko, Will Dailey, Brett Dennen and Johnny Lloyd Rollins & The All Nighters will appear at ASCAP's Music Cafe.
BMI, a founding sponsor of the Sundance Composers Lab, will present BMI Snowball, featuring the Aggrolites and Nick Urata from DeVotchKa.
Gold Streets, Ha Ha Tonka and Meridian West play at Music on Main on Jan. 24.
DJ Spooky will headline at New Frontier on Main along with Sundance Institute Composers Lab alum Shahzad Ali Ismaily.
Music-oriented films in fest include "Anvil! The Story of Anvil," "CSNY Deja Vu," "The Drummer," "The Guitar," "Patti Smith: Dream of Life," "U2 3D" and "Young@Heart."
Elsewhere, speculation has begun on who might be performing at March's SXSW Music Festival.
Peter and Gordon - back in the day:

Between congratulating the Boston Red Sox, compiling a "best of David Lynch" list and DJ'ing in London, Moby is using his website to offer music for free to independent and non-profit filmmakers, plus "film students, and anyone in need of free music for their independent, non-profit film, video, or short."
Users register at his site where they can download the tunes.
Creators of a commercial film or short, can apply for "an easy license, with any money that's generated being given to the humane society."

Radiohead is making history, or at least writing another chapter in artists taking control of their work. Off the top of my head, some landmarks:
In 1951, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball created Desilu to produce and own “I Love Lucy” instead of CBS, thereby inventing the Hollywood filmed TV business..
In 1959, Ray Charles tells Ahmet Ertegun he wants to own his own master recordings and the publishing. When Ertegun’s Atlantic Records stands firm with its no, a desperate ABC-Paramount sign him to a deal, giving in to all his wishes. Any act that doesn’t follow that pattern ultimately regrets it.
The  Beatles create Apple Records in 1968 and soon thereafter the Rolling Stones follow suit. No act has as firm a control on their catalog as those two.
Ani DiFranco creates her own label, Righteous Babe Records, in Buffalo, N.Y., and after she releases about seven albums — 1997 or so — her name gets bandied about not because she has built a fan base or makes artistically brilliant music. She  was in the news - and pissed off by it - because she was seeing a profit of nearly $5 per CD sold, a rate that dwarfed the amount made even by major stars. In the dot-com era, CDbaby.com has made a living selling music by the folks following her model; Pitchforkmedia.com has become a critical clearinghouse writing about those acts.
On Oct. 1, Radiohead announces that its next album will be released in three stages, beginning with a digital download version for which each consumer decides what they will pay. Cost of recording, marketing and distribution are covered by the band. It’s a risk, but it eliminates a collection of steps. This is a true downsizing of the business, but one that, if navigated properly, brings fans closer to the artist. The music website Stereogum, which has been around about half as long as Radiohead, declared it the coolest thing a band has ever done.
As much as the Radiohead news was greeted with praise for its decision to go DIY, they have not truly created a model for the future. This is an enormously popular band that only continues to grow commercially. And as they have done in the past, Radiohead is controlling the way their music gets leaked; years ago, the band sent out review cassettes in a Walkman that had been glued shut.
The band has an enormous fan base  that buys into everything the band releases – and that’s the true rarity. (Just thinking out loud: could Beck pull this off? Is this a better option than what Starbucks offers acts? If you're establish and flush, how soon does one need to recoup their investment?)
Radiohead struck at the right time — when fans are still clamoring for new music and musical heroes are few and far between. And in contrast to the major labels and the RIAA, which got a jury to rule Thursday that a woman owed them $200K for making her music collection available online, they look like the good guys. They’re there for the fans.
The move, though, does not herald the imminent decline of the music labels as we know them. Radiohead is in a unique place. And while much of that is based on music, there has been a corporate outfit – EMI’s Capitol Records – marketing, publicizing and selling their six albums. Radiohead did not happen overnight and there is no act that has ascended to similar heights in the last 30 years without a major label behind them.
Not that I am jumping on some pro-EMI bandwagon here. Sold recently to a private investment house whose leader blamed  EMI’s troubles on its seven-year focus on a merger with Warner Music rather than releasing and supporting top-notch music, EMI has been cut to the bone in staffing. Leadership is an important commodity at a label: Capitol broke Radiohead and Coldplay in the boyband era; it is struggling with Interpol (200,000 in sales from a July release) in an age when everyone is thirsty for great indie rock.
Radiohead’s move is about half as significant as that of Brother Ray and if it becomes a future template for the music business, we will forever wallow in a sea of Pussycat Dolls imitations, novelty rap and variations on whatever last year’s surprise hit might have been. Once a year, we’ll have a Kanye vs. 50 type square off and everyone will lament that they don’t make music like they used to  and long for the days of Blues Traveler and Hootie.
Radiohead's move will be an exception to the rule and labels may grow increasingly reticent to sign bands looking forward to the day they become free agents.
The windows for bands like Radiohead to get signed and receive support while they develop seem to close at every turn. Rap, R&B, country — the acts that get signed in those genres are the ones that look ready to make hits, not someone who is three albums and five years away from a hit.
During rock’s album heyday — “Highway 61 Revisited” through “OK Computer” — labels had two agendas: Create catalog titles and create stars. As it shifts back to a song-driven business, as it was from 1900s to the late ‘50s, there is little motivation for labels to attempt to develop an act like Radiohead from the ground up. It used to be a Warner Music specialty; now it has been virtually abandoned at the music group.
Countless acts have experimented in the way Radiohead is now – expecially with live albums. But having to watch over the business and finance a recording can be a burdensome task. They eventually return to the label old even if it means the indie route.
Nearly four  years ago, Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno announced the creation of  Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artists at the Midem conference in Cannes.
"Unless artists quickly grasp the possibilities that are available to them, then the rules will get written, and they'll get written without much input from artists," Eno said at the time.
What Gabriel and Eno envisioned was star artists stepping out of the album format and releasing EPs, demos, single songs, even sketches of songs. At the time they said this was not an alternative to label deals, just a way for musicians to take control and release music they way they see fit.
But it is obviously easier said than done: We’re still waiting for Gabriel and Eno to take advantage of digital possibilities — beyond quietly using their own websites. Radiohead will get the nod as the innovator.

If given a choice on how much to pay for music, as Radiohead will do with their next album, one might wonder how cheap or generous an act's fans might be. Jane  Siberry has an idea.
Siberry, who now goes by the name Issa, is getting $1.18 per song through her "self-determined pricing" system. She gives the listener the option to download music for free as a gift, pay the standard rate of 99 cents, pay now or pay later based on what you think of a tune.
Data from her website states that 19% of the people go for the freebie and 57% opt to pay later. Once they have the music, 80% pay 99 cents,  14% pay above suggested and 6% pay below.
Siberry even breaks down the costs of making music on her own:
STUDIO TIME
* 35-50/hour = 300/day
* So far for 33 songs: about 140 days in brussels/australia/toronto/vancouver
* Studio Patrons to date = $10,099

TOUR CD
disc = $1
sleeves = .25 (100% recycled envelope with window)

SELF-DETERMINED STORE PROTOTYPE
costs directly incurred to create model for other artists to use = $3500

SHEET MUSIC
$150/song

MP3 STORE
Set-up mp3s/artwork 10 songs = 3 hours@ $65

Sheeba, the name of the Siberry store and site, explains its philosophy:

"the principles of music are also principles for good living. expansive, generous and harmony-seeking.
goodness is a core human quality.
we are treating others as we wish be treated."

Morrissey will start recording a new album in November for a  2008 release.
He told the  BBC News, "the plan is to make a new album after this tour (which ends Nov. 8 in Miami). It's absolutely written and completely ready."
The singer, a free agent, has not yet decided on a label though an offer from Warners is reportedly on the table. His last two albums were on Sanctuary Records; his deal there expired and the label is defunct.
NME has the story.

Django Reinhardt's grandson David will be appearing at the eighth annual Django Reinhardt Festival at New York's Birdland, running Nov. 6-11, and appearing at a handful of shows across the country.
David Reinhardt will be making his first trip to the U.S.  (One hopes that, unlike his esteemed grandfather, he brings a guitar). He will perform with guitarists Dorado Schmitt, his son Samson and Kruno, who have made a career playing the hot jazz that Reinhardt pioneered in France in the 1930s and '40s.
Playing Stephane Grappelli parts will be violinist Florin Nicuescu, a Romanian who lives  in Paris.
Bassist Brian Torf serves as musical director.
Each night will feature a guest artist: Saxophonist Houston Person on Nov. 6; harmonica player Howard Levy on Nov. 7; saxophonist Joel Frahm on the eighth and 11th; Itallian singer Roberta Gambarini on Nov. 9; and Colombian jazz harpist Edmar Castaneda on Nov. 10.
The Django Festival also has dates beyond Gotham: Oct. 26 at Chicago Symphony Hall; Nov. 2 at Kimmel Center in Philadelphia; Nov. 3 at the Napa Opera House in Napa, Calif.; Nov. 4 at the SF Jazz Festival in Herbst Hall; and Nov. 16 and 17 at D.C.'s Kennedy Center.
The real deal:

writes some fascinating music for the theater and his between-scene music in the Geffen Playhouse's production of Wendy Wasserstein's "Third" grows progressively intriguing as the evening wears on. Play takes place during the course of a school year, beginning with breezy autumnal themes that teeter toward new-age stream of conscious composing. Guitar and acoustic bass are the key instruments with  strings adding textures, as the drama develops and winter sets in, Roth's music ushers in moods that not only echo the previous scene but hint at the action about to come. It is music that deserves a future.

Michael Stipe appeared on Jane Pratt’s Friday night Sirius Satellite Radio show and discussed his love of the band Interpol, a songwriting trick from Bono and the brilliance of Sean Penn's "Into the Wild."
Most importantly, there are 14 songs recorded for the next R.E.M. album, which might be released in March.
"It’s been a really tough 10 years for us," Stipe told Pratt. "We at times, we’re not communicating on the level that we should have been and we were trying to keep a real brave face publicly, and kind of hold through it, but I have to say I think we finally found a place of communication. We’re talking to each other, we’ve written a bunch of great songs, we’ve recorded 14, I’ve written 14,  I’ve got another four songs to present to the guys next week when we go back in the studio and one of those is really going to surprise them.  I can’t wait to see them."
Stipe, who will head to Europe for an October press tour supporting the band's live DVD, credits Bono with showing him to use voice memo on the phone. "If you have a melody idea or a lyric idea, a melody idea really, you can go to voice memo and you can just sing into your phone. And then later you can transfer it to whatever you need to, or remember the melody like that. So that helps out a lot."
Stipe was in New York hoping to catch Interpol's performance at Madison square Garden. 
Earlier int he week he had seen
"Into the Wild," which Penn wrote and directed.
"I was completely blown away by this film. It’s one of the heaviest. ... This film has not left me in a week, I am still thinking about it.  I wake up and think of the different levels of what was going on in this movie and the story itself, which is pretty arresting, but there’s all this other stuff. It’s a masterful film and I would recommend it to anyone."

Stevie Wonder is predicting a January release date for his next album, "The Gospel Inspired by Lula," which he says will include various languages and exotic instruments.

The news that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been cheating did not surprise many in the NFL, but it inspired Bengals-loving songwriter Ryan Parker to come up with one fine tune. The song gives a tip o' the hat to Mangenius (that would be Eric Mangini for the non-believers), for exposing the coach's corrupt ways.

Brian Wilson unveiled a commissioned work Monday in London. It seems that the Times of London enjoyed it; Uncut call the songs "beautiful"; NME compared it to "Smile"; and we hinted that it just might, overall, be an improvement on that legendary "lost masterpiece."

Neil Young's manager Elliot Roberts took Neil's "Chrome Dreams II" Warner Bros' headquarters in England and France where the response was enthusiastic according to Young's website.
Apparently, their enjoyment means Young may very well head across the pond to do a press tour along the Seine and the Thames.
Seeing as how this album was generated by an archival search that reminded him he had never finished the first "Chrome Dreams," Young is now prepared to add one of his earliest live recordings to his Neil Young Archive series. Young has dug up tapes made at the Riverboat, a Toronto coffee house he played soon after the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. Young and his Reprise are looking at an early 2008 release date.
Young also plans to use tracks from "The Riverboat" as bonus material for different incarnations of "Chrome Dreams II" being offered at different retailers. The Archive series has seen two releases of concerts from 1971, an electric set in New York and an acoustic show in Toronto.   

On his website, Neil Young reports that last week he took his latest recording, "Chrome Dreams II,"  to label execs in Burbank and let them hear it.
The site reports: Continuing a tradition that goes back to 1969, Neil Young played his latest recording for Reprise yesterday. The recording was played for about 100 people in Burbank. Produced by "The Volume Dealers," NY and Niko Bolas, the recording runs 60+ minutes and includes two giant songs that time in at 18:30 and 13:00, respectively.
      Drawing from three songs written previously, and 7 new songs, the latest Neil Young is a very diverse recording. A release date is unknown at this time. The title is Chrome Dreams II.
      Chrome Dreams is a legendary NY album from 1977 that had originally been scheduled for release but was shelved. The original cover for Chrome Dreams was created by Neil's long-time producer and friend, the late David Briggs. Unfortunately, all original documentation and art for this album was lost in a fire that destroyed Neil's Malibu home in early 1978.
Here's a story about the original, which includes tunes that appeared on "American Stars 'n' Bars" and "Rust never Sleeps."

John Mellencamp has begun recording his 22nd album, this time working with producer T Bone Burnett. Recording is taking place at Belmont Mall, Mellencamp's studio outside Bloomington, Ind.
Mellencamp has self-produced his last four albums. He brought in Junior Vasquez to assist in the production of 1996's "Mr. Happy Go Lucky."
Mellencamp is using his touring band for the sessions: guitarists Mike Wanchic and Andy York, bassist John Gunnell, drummer Dane Clark, violinist Miriam Sturm and keyboardist Troye Kinnett. Most of the musicians were in Mellencamp's band on his highly successful 2005 tour in support of the hits compilation "Words and Music."

Forty years ago this week, while the nation was dealing with race riots and their aftermath, Variety was touting the hot singles being released that week. The list: Eric Burdon & the Animals’ “San Franciscan Nights,” Frank Sinatra’s “The Word We Knew,” Beach Boys’ “Heroes and Villains,” the Byrds’ “Lady Friend,” the Youngbloods’ “Get Together,” Traffic’s “Paper Sun,” Jackie Wilson’s “(You’re Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” and Otis Redding’s “Glory of Love.” Takes your breath away. It’s a reminder there are no slates of releases like that anymore.
On a positive note, though, Variety has resumed reviewing albums after decades of sticking to concerts. Reviews of albums by Nicole Atkins, Corey Harris, U.N.K.L.E. and others are found on the Variety music page.

When the inventive and genre-busting guitarist Nels Cline is not playing with Jeff Tweedy and pals, he leads his instrumental band the Nels Cline Singers. Cline has a gem of a new album, "Draw Breath," on Cryptogramophone, a worthy successor to his album of interpretations of Andrew Hill compositions. He does his thing on this video. Cline also has an mp3 page. 

Everybody sing: The weather is terrible! There are too many drunk Iowans! Rex Grossman sucks!
International artists Tellervo Kalleinen (Finland) and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen (Germany) are extending an invitation to all Chicagoans to complain about any topic they like and to sing their complaints out loud with fellow complainers.
People may submit complaints and register to participate by visiting Smog Veil Records online at SmogVeil.com or by emailing complaintschoir@yahoo.com. All of the participants, along with Chicago-based musician and conductor Jeremy Jacobsen, will write the song together.  This process will be realized in a workshop consisting of five rehearsals (Oct.16-­Nov. 2).
The premiere performance will take place at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art on Nov.3.
The first Complaints Choir performance took place in Birmingham, England two years ago and since then Complaints Choirs have sung in  Helsinki, Hamburg and St. Petersburg.
Smog Veil Records, in collaboration with the artists and the Danish production company Fine & Mellow are working on a documentary film of the project which will debut in 2009.

Apples in Stereo albums used to be tough to find and chances to see the band were sadly infrequent. That may continue as head Apple-ist Robert Schneider is landing other employment and making money  apart from CD sales.
Schneider, whose leads  one the country's great modern pop bands, will  pen the theme song and score music for  Disney's "Special Agent Oso." Twenty six episodes  have been ordered.
Schneider will also be a featured guest at  MathFest, hosted by the Mathematics Assn. of America. Seems his work as an amateur mathematician impressed the Math guys to say math and music "convey structure, harmony and beauty.”
Band's recent single "Energy" has been used in commercials for Microsoft, Saturn, New Balance and the A&E Channel, among others.

So why can't he get his acoustic or electric bands booked into Los Angeles, where he is the Philharmonic's creative chair for jazz?  His is the sort of music that keeps jazz alive, but apparently only New Yorkers get to experience it.