With Gore playing Music Man and The Police copping some love for water issues, there’s already been quite a bit of eco-news to sing about this week, but I’ve got a few more tidbits to share. Here’s a quick roundup — a medley of green music news, as it were.
Warner Music Group — a major label boasting big-timers like Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Faith Hill — announced recently that through their partnership with NRDC they’ll be using “ecologically enhanced” packaging on all of their standard CDs and DVDs. They’ve also developed a company-wide program to reduce or offset (I’d vote more of the former) their greenhouse-gas emissions, which began with a “carbon-neutral” Grammy party. Yes, it’s a bit of a “something is better than nothing” situation, but based on what several artists have told me, getting major labels to do much of any budging on these issues is quite a feat.
Moving on, pop-punk band Fall Out Boy is headlining this year’s Honda Civic Tour, and as part of the deal, they’ve customized a Civic Hybrid to give away to one lucky fan. The vehicle, autographs and all, will be on display at each venue, so check it out if you go to the show. Says Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, “[T]o be able to give away a customized Honda Civic Hybrid to our fans is really insanely huge — if we had been able to get that from a band, I think we would have freaked out.”
And finally, Icelandic post-rock (?) band Sigur Rós will hold a special concert in Reykjavík on Sunday in an effort to raise funds to stop the construction of a highway in Álafoss, a small town near Reykjavík that’s home to the band’s swimming pool studio (??). Essentially the road would pave paradise, running through a grove of trees planted by children a century ago. Government officials have said an environmental impact study is unnecessary, a decision Sigur Rós has already questioned and appealed.
