Music Video Update, News Roundup, BlogTrax

I would like to start with an apology to Doughnutman for preempting his last post of the year. It was an unfortunate miscalculation on my part. My bad, D! Now that we're all back on track and ready to ingest this new year like a five star buffet, let's get down to business.

An update on AtD's Notable Videos of 2006: Thanks to some great feedback, the criteria for evaluating nominated videos will be modified as follows (for the original criteria check here):

1) Originality and 2) A/V Congruity will remain as they are. However, 3) Coherence is being restructured and divided into 3) Message - the idea, plot, or theme being communicated and 4) Medium - the method/style/means of communicating said message. 5) Integrity is untouched.

Any questions? Hit the comments. Meanwhile the noms have been pouring in (big thanks to Doughnutman and RyTunes for their outstanding suggestions) and it's almost time for the big ceremony. But are we missing anything? It would be a true crime and tragedy to leave a brilliant video out just because it flew under our radar. So I'm setting the deadline of 12 midnight tonight (January 3, 2007 EST) for all potentials to be in. After that the judges will use a progressive point system spread out amongst themselves to weigh out the winners and the not-so winners. (We should note that every video nominated assuredly deserves the praise and adulation that merited its recognition.) Stay tuned!

Meanwhile around the biz, there's some big time stuff going down. Here is what you might have missed:

- Humanitarian, rock star, Irishman Bono has given us some early insight into the new U2 album, tentatively expected sometime this year:

Asked by interviewer Jo Whalley if that might mean a move away from rock'n'roll, Bono replied, "We're gonna continue to be a band, but maybe the rock will have to go; maybe the rock has to get a lot harder. But whatever it is, it's not gonna stay where it is."

He went on to reveal he'd like U2 to explore compositions featuring just voice and acoustic guitar. "I would like to do a couple of tunes in that direction, with just a lot of space around the voice," he said. "I'd like to strip things down; that's something I'd be very interested in at the moment."

- The ever prolific will.I.am, fresh off of his Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year, is lending his talents to Michael Jackson's hugely anticipated new album, Billboard reports:

will.i.am tells Billboard.com he has been doing "a lot of talking on the phone, a lot of brainstorming" with Jackson so far. Their conversations, he says, involve more than just music but also figuring out how Jackson can use new technology, particularly social networking sites and download outlets, to his advantage.

But Jackson's next musical direction remains a primary concern. "Man, he still sings like a bird," will.i.am says. "He could go anywhere. I think we have a real opportunity to do something here. It's either gonna be really big or nobody's gonna care. Ain't no middle ground on this one."

- Both Rolling Stone and Stereogum report on the newly leaked Modest Mouse track "Dashboard," featuring new guitarist (ex Smiths axe-man) Johnny Marr. Check out the link for more info, including how to grab an early listen. "Dashboard" is set to appear on Modest Mouse's new album, of which there will be a preview on AtD in the near future.

- Finally, Scott Weiland rules in the possibility of an eventual STP reunion, according to his MySpace blog. No clues as to when this might happen as Weiland is busy with Velvet Revolver and the DeLeo brothers just released their first album with Filter frontman, Richard Patrick, as Army of Anyone.

And in anticipation of a more stripped down U2, I present a brand new feature here on AtD - BlogTrax. BlogTrax will be individual songs discussed here on the site that we will be providing for your listening pleasure. Of course we're not lawbreakers so there will be rules governing what can and can't be shared, and official requests to remove the songs will be adhered to. But enough of that, let's get to the goods!

U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday (live acoustic)