the GRAY KID

His website describes him equal parts Mick Jagger, L.L. Cool J, Noel Gallagher and Eminem and I would say Gray Kid could probably appeal to each of those guys and the genre of music they speak to. 'Bang' will pull in the rockers, and 'Lonely Love' can pull in the hip hoppers. From what I have seen of his gigs, the guy does it all: tweaks the knobs, rocks the mic, samples the beats, plays the chords and writes the hooks. This guy is a MACHINE and he kicks ass so be sure to check him out.

Lonely Love
Bang ft My Brightest Diamond (YYYs/B-52s/Nas Vocal Mashup)

Stream a few more songs at Gray Kid's website and BUY ...5, 6, 7, 8... HERE or on iTunes.

Gray Kid MySpace page

UPDATE: Check out Gray Kid's redux of JT with 'Paxil Back'.
MP3
VIDEO

MARIE ANTOINETTE trailer with GANG of FOUR and NEW ORDER

Real Player trailer

Uh...I'm not quite sure what to make of this trailer for the new Sofia Coppola movie, Marie Antoinette. I admittedly don't know much about the character and this trailer makes it look like some coming of age, 80's rock'n'roll film. Jason Schwartzman looks pretty funny as Louis XVI. Could be cool, maybe not.

The official site looks pretty sweet. It will be released October 20th on Sony/Columbia Pictures.

iTunes 7.0.0 TRICKERY?

UPDATE: Below is a response I received from a Eliot Van Buskirk at Wired.com's music blog. I won't say he has any hard answers from he doesn't sound as concerned as I initially felt.
Well, in order to send you the right artwork, they 'd need to have the ID3 tag info from your songs -- otherwise there's no way to know which image to send back. The only thing that makes me a little suspicious is that you need an iTunes account to do it. However, the reason for that could just be that Apple wants to use the feature to increase registration.

Ultimately, even if they were tracking files in this way, the fact that album art is missing wouldn't be enough to prove that you stole the files. You could have ripped them all from CD, for instance.

Thanks for pointing this out, though,
Eliot


So, I downloaded the latest version of iTunes, 7.0.0 and see there is a change of how to view your library. It now plays with a area up top like a juke box, where you can view the album art work. So you start thinking, shat, I don't have most of my music artwork, this will be great...but then when you install the software, you are greeted with this:

Download Album Artwork:
iTunes can automatically download album artwork when you add songs to your library. iTunes can also download album artwork for songs in your library that don't already have artwork. You need a iTunes store account to utilize this.

GREAT. A very easy way to get all the missing album artwork you have. BUT, then you see...

Information about songs with missing artwork will be sent to Apple. Apple does not keep any information related to the contents if your music library.

OH SHAT. I can't guarantee it, but I have heard that this is a new way Apple will fight file sharing and report the music you don't own. They can now track you through your iTunes account and you might be getting in trouble.

I am trying to find out if this is fact or not but buyer beware. Some have suggested that the information going back to Apple is how much album art Apple actually has vs needs to still find.

For now, I am not going to use that feature until I know for sure.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

I fully endore this movie and soundtrack.

I took Louise to see it, as she is not one who will want to see depressing indie movies over something more upbeat but we both found it very endearing, emotional and hilarious. I am not sure why I am drawn to movies that show darker aspects of people and families but I think seeing what is really happening between families instead of sugar coated stuff is real. Like The Royal Tennenbaums and i heart huckabees, this movie brings the laughs and tugs the heartstrings.

Devotchaka - How it Ends

Watch a extended trailer

The SUBMARINES

Downloading a few tracks on a whim, I quickly found the husband and wife couple that makes up the Submarines unbelievably catchy pop.

The story of the Submarines goes something like this: super-hottie wife (I am obligated to say so, really) Blake Hazard and later boyfriend, John Dragonetti (Jack Drag), were working seperately and decided to put some things together, here and there. They ended up together and moving to LA. There, things went into the shitter, courtesy of John wanting to get his hands into a lot of other projects, namel film. The couple broke up and started recording a lot of songs about the break up and after getting back together, heard the songs and combined them, making THE BEST break-up/get back together album of 2006.

What I like best about the Submarines is the mix of guy-girl pop. When Blake makes you feel too sensitive, John will rough it back up and then they come together for a great blend. These two need to compose the OC soundtracks from here on out!

Peace & Hate
This Conversation

Download more tracks and get tour dates at the Submarines MySpace page

Buy the album Declare A New State here.

Watch the bands performance on KCRW and get the full story of them falling apart and getting back together HERE.

TIM WILLIAMS

I received a nice package from Dovecote records with some excellent EPs from Aberdeen City but more importantly, Tim Williams. With a sound that is quiet and sincere like Nick Drake but more upbeat and pop with xylophone, reverbrating guitar and strings, Tim has a distinct sound. Much like Paul Duncan did earlier this year, creating quiet, strummed pop pieces, Tim weaves his hushed voice, with all of its emotion into each track.

The Novel
I Am Wearing It

The album is available through Dovecote Records for only $7 bones.
Tim Williams MySpace page

The BLACK KEYS

The Black Keys to me are like that one day when I was a kid and I had a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles with chocolate milk followed by a chocolate covered donut that was filled with chocolate cream. BOY, did that seem like a good idea to start with - I love chocolate and this was my dream come true. However, about halway through the donut after that bowl of cereal, I think my choco-buds started to go numb and I didn't even know what I was eating by the end of the cream filling, other than straight sugar.

What I am trying to say is, the Black Keys for me are a band best heard on 'Shuffle' on my iPod. I sure do dig the phat, booming sounds the boys shred from song to song but listening to a full CD of it, track after track, my mind goes numb and wonders when TV on the Radio is going to start playing.

The new album, Magic Potion brings it like the band has in the past. I don't know if the haters will come down on me for the White Stripes and Raconteurs references, but if you like that sound, you will continue to like this record.

Elevator
Black Door

Buy the new album, Magic Potion HERE.
The Black Keys MySpace Page

NEW BLOC PARTY SONG

*ALL INFO taken from Good Weather for Airstrikes who seems to be on the tip for Bloc Party info. HOWEVER, it seems they took the track and post down...?

It appears a track from the new Bloc Party album has been leaked. While all notes say this is a 'demo', this is a very produced sounding DEMO! The track is called Song For Clay, formerly titled “Merge On The Freeway”, leaked from an April demo session and is based on the life of Clay, the central character in Brett Easton Ellis’ novel, Less Than Zero.

BlocParty.net goes on to elaborate on Clay’s character:
“[Clay is] a rich young college student who returns to his hometown of Los Angeles for the winter break. Clay subsequently becomes bored and turns to drugs and cheap thrills to keep him occupied, resulting in further boredom. This dizzying spiral of desperation takes him to relentless parties in glitzy mansions, seedy bars, and underground rock clubs as he seeks inner direction.”

I don't think the song sounds anything like what we know from Silent Alarm but is still solid GOLD in its own right.

In other Bloc Party news, Kele is said to have told London’s XFM that the new album will be called A Weekend In The City, which is consistent with his previous statements that the album will be thematically centered on life in the city. The album is still said to be slated for an early 2007 release.

Song for Clay

iPOD NEWS: movie store on it's way despite decreasing sales!?

Here is the full article from UK's the Observer:LINK.

Here is the gist: Apple's iPod has slumping sales, down from 14 million last Christmas to 8.5 mil in the first quarter of 2006 to 8.1 mil in the second quarter. Quoting the writer, "If I were the manager, I would be wanting my people to explain what is going on. The iPod is wilting away before our eyes." The article sites new cell phones with enhanced mp3 players being a key factor to the declining sales. In a attempt to continue the growth of the iPod, Apple is suspected to launch the iTunes Movie Store to compete with the already launched Amazon.com Unbox Video and a future site by Wal-Mart.

Also rumored is the iPhone, Apple's take on the cell phone with the design and appeal of a iPod.

*image from engadget who also rumors we may or may not see an updated nano, a new version of iTunes, a new Airport Express-type video streaming device, a new iMac.

TV on the RADIO: Return to Cookie Mountain

This is definitely my first exposure to the 'experimental rock' of TV on the Radio. Seeing that they won the coveted, indie Shortlist Music Prize after little exposure and also having been championed by the blogger community, the new album, Return to Cookie Mountain was on my list to check out.

At first listen, the sound is a bit scattered and doesn't seem cohesive, with rock, electronica, hip hop and turntables doing as they please. A few listens in and you find the sound works as its own animal and their are plenty of gems within.

I Was A Lover
Province

The North American release date is Sept 12th so preorder Return to Cookie Mountain here.

The A-SIDES

The A-Sides have a new CD record, Silver Storms. Unfortunately, they have no label to release it on so the album has no release date for now and all we have to go off of is this preview single, 'Cinematic'. I first heard it and dug, leading me on a quest for their older material. That stuff sounds a lot poppier to me whereas the new single sounds more Sound Team with some Beach Boys tossed in. Download it below or at the A-Sides official site.

Cinematic

Buy the old album, Hello, Hello at Amazon.

A-Sides MySpace page

M. WARD

After much egging by my friends to check out M.Ward's last album, Transistor Radio, I gave in and loved much of the album. The thumping bath tub drums, guitar sounds that range from lo-fi to plugged in electrics sound like they are wafting out of a Dixeland dive bar are wonderful and are taken to another level on his new album, Post-War. From what I have read, Transistor Radio was a exploration or homage to the sounds heard before World War II, starting out of the depression but still have fun where they could. This new CD is a look at the sounds heard following the war and how music helped people then and we can benefit now, during the war in Iraq.

The song that I have seemingly fallen in love with is Chinese Translation. I liked it originally for it's fast-paced, guitar bopping story of a broken heart. Following seeing Matt and his band perform on David Letterman last week, I have fallen more in love with the song, especially the brushed drums and choir girl voices that kick in at the end. The rest of the album seems a bit scattered to me, moving from slow stories of losing a good buddy to jumpy stories of asking a lover to wait for you to come back. I think it would have worked better if it was a full arc of stories but I am not giving up on it yet.

Chinese Translation
Requiem

SEE THE LETTERMAN APPEARNCE


Preview more tracks and get tour dates at M. Ward's MySpace page

Buy the album Post-War here.