Eddie Vedder is releasing an exclusive 7" single for people who buy tickets to see his beloved Chicago Cubs play the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field on July 6. Fans who buy the Vinyl Record Ticket Package will each get a limited edition blue-and-red 7" with Vedder's 2007 Cubs anthem "All the Way" on one side and a 1984 Steve Goodman recording of "Go, Cubs, Go" on the other.

The release is similar to what Jack White did last year with the Detroit Tigers, and non-coincidentally, White's label Third Man Records is also behind the Vedder 7". (Pitchfork)

Remembering Lorraine Gordon

Lorraine Gordon, longtime proprietor of the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York, has died due to complications of a stroke at age 95. Gordon was the widow of the club's founder, Max Gordon, who died in 1989. Lorraine Gordon took over the club, and kept its flame strong. As the New York Times describes:

Ms. Gordon, often nursing a glass of vodka, presided over the scene with a personal brand of tough love. She played her role like the wisecracking star of a black-and-white movie, and she helped make the Vanguard an unfailing fountain of late-night music. But she was also a hard-driving manager; she had to be.

Gordon, whose first husband was Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion, first met her second husband in 1948, when she was promoting an up-and-coming Blue Note artist named Thelonious Monk.

Far-right French outcry over booking of Muslim rapper at Bataclan

Far-right French politician Marine Le Pen is backing an effort to block a French Muslim rapper named Médine from playing the Bataclan, the Paris venue attacked by ISIS terrorists in 2015. Critics cite a Médine song with lyrics including "I put fatwas on the heads of idiots," but the artist and the concert's promoter say the song promotes freedom of religion; Médine has frequently criticized fundamentalism. Tickets for Médine's Bataclan shows have been selling quickly: a second date was added after one show sold out, and there's already talk about adding a third show. (New York Times)

Amoeba Music pot dispensary opens

After six years of planning, the Berkeley, California location of Amoeba Music has finally opened its recreational marijuana dispensary. The pot shop, called Hi-Fidelity, is technically a standalone business neighboring the record store, but it has the same ownership and occupies what was formerly part of that store. Despite regulatory wrangles, Berkeley mayor Jesse Arreguín got behind the idea and attended a ribbon cutting ceremony. Now, Amoeba hopes to expand its pot business to its other two locations: in Hollywood and San Francisco. (Billboard)

Arcade Fire release animated "Chemistry" video

Arcade Fire have released a new animated video for their Everything Now song "Chemistry."

"Directed by Ray Tintori," notes Billboard, "and animated by Starburns Industries (Rick & Morty), the visuals delightfully expand on the track's theme of chemical attraction as it follows a dog and a cat who meet and fall in love."