Feist

News now from Comedy Central (via Stereogum) that the Colbert Report will be puttin’ on one hell of a Christmas special this year. The November 23rd show will feature Feist, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Willie Nelson, even “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” Toby Keith—all singing tunes written by Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger. Except for Feist and Keith, each will sing accompanied by Colbert himself, and all will take part in the show’s own rendition of “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.” Here’s what Santa’s bringing this year:

• "Another Christmas Song" – Stephen Colbert
• "Have I Got A Present For You" – Toby Keith
• "Little Dealer Boy" – Stephen Colbert and Willie Nelson
• "Hannukah" – Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart
• "Nutmeg" – Stephen Colbert and John Legend
• "Please Be Patient" – Feist
• "There Are Much Worse Things to Believe In" – Stephen Colbert and Elvis Costello
• "(What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love And Understanding" – Stephen Colbert, Elvis Costello, Feist, Toby Keith, John Legend and Willie Nelson

The photos from the already-taped episode—one of Feist in an angel custom blowing Stephen a kiss, the other of Colbert and Costello at the piano (the former looking like Lawrence Welk, the later like Abe Lincoln)—are just priceless.  read more »

America's breathy-voiced sweetheart Feist will "Feel It All" at Prospect Park on July 9. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster. She'll be playing a benefit show to fund all those free Celebrate Brooklyn concerts at the bandshell. This season's concert series will open with Isaac Hayes on June 12.  read more »

Like many music-obsessed New Yorkers, Oliver Truman navigates the honeycomb of city streets with headphones plugged into his ears. Mr. Truman, a 26-year-old marketing assistant with a beanstalk frame and curly-q’d chestnut hair, has a playlist called “walking” on his iPod, loaded with songs ranging from The Buzzcocks to The Four Tops.

On a recent weekend afternoon, he listened to The Jam while flipping through a magazine and Screwdriver while depositing a check at the bank.  read more »

THEATER

Ernest Hemingway only wrote one play during this literary career: The Fifth Column, a Spanish Civil War-era drama of espionage and romace that he penned while covering the war in Madrid. The off-Broadway Mint Theater will be presenting the play starting Feb. 26, marking the production's first faithful performance on the stage. [On Sale Now!]

CONCERTS

If Colin Meloy's forthcoming EP of Sam Cooke covers is anywhere near as good as the EP of Morrissey covers he did a few years back, then you won't want to miss the Decemberists front man's April 16 and 17 shows at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The EP will only be available on Mr. Meloy's spring tour, and like his Moz disc, it will probably sell out like hot cakes. [On Sale: Saturday, Feb. 9 at 12 p.m.]  read more »

Feist's Grammy-nominated The Reminder has won the 2007 Shortlist Prize, which "recognizes albums released between January and November 2007 that have yet to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of 500,000 units," according to Billboard. It's basically a pat on the back by industry folks and musicians, including Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, the Killers' Ronnie Vannucci, journalist Rev. Moose, KCRW DJ Chris Douridas and the hosts of Hunnypot Internet Radio. They're telling you they "love you more," Leslie!

Feist also announced tour dates today and she's holding an internet presale (bonus!). To get tickets to her April 29 and April 30th performances at the Hammerstein Ballroom, go to this site.

Secret passwords after the jump!  read more »

My dad recently emailed me for help identifying a song he "really liked." It was female singer, a medium pop type of song, a light swing to it," he wrote. "The refrain had in it words something about 'change your heart' or 'changing your heart.'" Of course, it was Feist's "1 2 3 4," which is nominated for best female pop vocal performance at this year's Grammys. I immediately replied with a link to Feist's MySpace. Then I felt that ping in the pit of my stomach; that feeling of, well, aging, now that me and my father have similar taste in music. Dad never approved of Black Flag! Sigh.  read more »

The most popular artists today on Amazon’s new mp3 download service are, in order:  read more »

The big dogs of publishing might have Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club, but the little ones have indie rock. Unclear when the flirtation became a marriage, but the benefit concert held Sunday night at Beacon Theater for 826 NYC, the McSweeney’s-sponsored reading-and-writing program for kids, seems a good indication that independent literature and independent music are happily locked in a warm, wordy bear hug.  read more »