Weekly News Recap, January 17, 2014

(Photo: courtesy of AMPAS)
photo: Weekly News Recap, January 17, 2014

The indie rock community received two 2014 Academy Award nominations on Thursday: William Butler of Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett (formerly known as Final Fantasy) are up for “Best Original Score” for the Spike Jonze film “Her,” while Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs got the nod for “Best Original Song” for “The Moon Song,” also from “Her.” The award ceremony takes place March 2nd.

photo: New Orleans Jazz Fest logo

The ten-day New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will take place April 25th to May 4, 2014. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the festival, and the music lineup is a memorable one. Headliners include Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, and Arcade Fire, and with additional performances from Vampire Weekend, Avett Brothers, and more. Full lineup available at the festival’s website.

photo: Lykke Li

Plenty of new albums were announced this week. Swedish chanteuse Lykke Li will release a yet to be titled album in May; New Jersey indie rockers Real Estate will release their third album Atlas on March 4; Tokyo Police Club announced Forcefield, out March 25; singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten’s sophomore full-length Are We There? comes out in May.

Neil Young and Jack White to record covers album together

Jack White and Neil Young have reportedly recorded an album of cover songs together. Possible tracks include versions of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”, Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain”, and Bert Jansch’s “Needle of Death.” The record would be released through Jack White’s Nashville-based Third Man Records. [via Consequence of Sound]

Thurston Moore lists his favorite songs of all time

Former Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore has compiled a list of his favorite songs of all time for British magazine The Fly. The list is heavy on ‘80s post-punk like Public Image Ltd, The Slits, and Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, along with classics like Lou Reed’s “Satellite of Love” and T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution.” See the whole list in The Fly’s interview.