THE TEST PILOT

STILL KICKING...

2009-08-10T16:40:00.004-04:00

If there are any of you left out there... I've moved over to The Awesome Train.

The Awesome Train is a ridiculously awesome (to the power of rad) podcast with your hosts Jonathan and Greg. Come join us as we discuss the pop culture circus, the latest viral video hits and all your favorite indie rock bands. Featuring only top of the line state of the art recording equipment, for sure.

INTERPOL - OUR LOVE TO ADMIRE

2007-06-22T09:44:00.000-04:00

I applaud the efforts made to keep this album from leaking but I am very thankful that it is finally here. Links below from a few people who have uploaded it.

~~Sharebee link~~
~~Rapidshare link~~

...and there gone. I guess we couldn't expect them to linger for long. Regardless, the album is out July 10th.

BATTLE of the OFFICE(s)

2007-05-31T13:37:00.001-04:00

STYLUS posts this article comparing the UK's original tv series "the Office" against the US vesion. In the article, they battle out the Receptionsists, the Music, Embaressing Situations, etc.

Itis much too long for me to read now but if you want to jump ahead to the spoiler.....UK wins 5 to 4.

The Office (UK) vs. The Office (US)

Acoustic BLOC PARTY

2007-04-02T14:13:00.000-04:00

Good Weather For Airstrikes points us to VW Greenroom, who has some Bloc Party acoustic tracks up for download. Full versions of 'I Still Remember', 'This Modern Love' and 'Sunday' are available.

Check out the site for the other acts, Brand New, Placebo, andKlaxons New as well.

SNL HIGHLIGHTS with PEYTON MANNING

2007-03-26T22:44:00.000-04:00

I think Peyton did a decent job and held his own despite being a non-actor. Considering the recent show with the talented Julia Louis-Dreyfus bombed, this guy soared. Get the clips while their HOT - it looks like NBC Legal is all over YouTube's links.

PEYTON MANNING for the UNITED WAY

LOCKER ROOM DANCING

300 SKETCH

BULLLLLLLLLLLLSHIT

2007-03-26T13:07:00.000-04:00

Bloc Party extend their US tour...the State of Ohio is still left behind.

03-27 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis *
03-28 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre *
03-30 New York, NY - United Palace Theatre *
03-31 New York, NY - United Palace Theatre *
04-14 Glasgow, Scotland – Academy #
04-15 Wolverhampton, England – Civic #
04-16 Plymouth, England – Pavilions #
04-18 Blackpool, England – Empress Ballroom #
04-19 London, England – Brixton Academy #
04-20 London, England – Brixton Academy #
04-21 Bourges, France – Bourges Festival
04-23 Nantes, France – Le Carriere
04-24 Lille, France – Aeronef
04-25 Brussels, Belgium – AB
04-27 Paris, France – Olympic
04-28 Utrecht, Netherlands – Music Centre
04-30 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
05-01 Stockholm, Sweden – Cirkus
05-02 Oslo, Norway – Sentrum Scene
05-04 Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle
05-05 Vienna, Austria – Gasometer
05-06 Dresden, Germany – Schlachthof
05-08 Cologne, Germany – E-Werk
05-09 Munich, Germany – Tonhalle
05-10 Lausanne, Switzerland – Metropolis
05-12 Bologna, Italy - Estragon
05-13 Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
05-14 Lyon, France – Transbordeur
05-15 Barcelona, Spain – Razzmatazz
05-17 Madrid, Spain – Riviera
05-18 Lisbon, Portugal - Coliseum
05-27 Pompano Beach, FL - Pompano Beach Amphitheatre
05-28 Tampa, FL - USF Sun Dome
05-29 Orlando, FL - UCF Arena
05-31 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
06-01 Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
06-03 Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall
06-05 Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre
06-06 Boston, MA - WFNX Radio Show
06-07 Asbury Park, NJ - Convention Hall
06-09 San Francisco, CA - Live 105 Radio Show
06-11 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre
06-12 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
06-13 Las Vegas, NV - Palms Casino Hotel
06-16 San Diego, CA - Concerts in the Park
07-01 Gdynia, Poland - Open'er Festival
08-03 Melbourne, Australia - Festival Hall
08-04 Sydney, Australia - Hordern Pavilion
08-25 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-26 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival

BEST of the REST

2007-03-26T10:22:00.001-04:00

These are the new bands I listened to that were OK but didn't get the full post treatment.

BATTLES: If you watch LOST, I would say this the music they are playing when Sawyer and Kate found that guy in the brain washing room. Off the wall, non-stop, noise. Sometimes ambient, sometimes driving, sometimes loopy as hell.
Ddiamondd

COCO ROSIE: More rainbow colored sprinkles by the way of Animal Collective-ish weirdness, this time, more centered by the 'rap' stylings of the ladies. A nice mix of Bjork and Antony and the Johnsons.
Japan

MIKE: Is it hetero to listen to a conglomeration of Freddie Mercury and the Scissor Sisters? As much as I enjoy the good qualities of those artists (seen in his track, 'Grace Kelly'), I get a bit skeeved listening to MIKA's voice never leave the helium-induced atmosphere as on 'Relax, Take It Easy'.

POSTING on HOLD...

2007-03-14T09:53:00.000-04:00

The Test Pilot family just welcomed a baby girl so posting will be even less regular than normal til the end of the week. Thanks to those who stay tuned...

A look at new college hoops uniforms

2007-03-07T13:39:00.000-05:00

'Starting tomorrow night, four top schools—Arizona, Florida, Ohio State, and Syracuse—will don Nike's System of Dress, a radical new look that brings ....baggy shorts.....form fitting jerseys (ten inches smaller in the torso), resulting in a second-skin look that's more Bode Miller than Ben Wallace. Players will also be able to customize their uniforms by adding options like padded shorts (to protect against the errant knee or elbow) and Dwyane Wade–style leg wraps.

Read the full story at Men.Style.com

KINGS of LEON Video - 'On Call'

2007-03-07T13:33:00.000-05:00

Another way to sample some new Kings of Leon, the video for 'On Call', another great track from the upcoming album, 'Because of the Times'.

7 minute SPIDERMAN 3 clip

2007-03-06T10:22:00.000-05:00

If you haven't checked out this exclusive, 7-minute Spiderman 3 clip up on NBC.com for only 24 hours, YouTube has it.

I knw this exclusive to NBC but I tried to stream the HD version they offer and it skips and stutters (probably due to high traffic) so this was my best result.

Say what!?

2007-02-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

I saw this footnote on Indie Blog Heaven today after a Postal Service post....BTW, the new Postal Service album, Dumb Luck drops April 24th.

WHAT!? That just sort of slipped out. Good news though I guess.

***UPDATE: Well darn. Thanks to reader Samantha, it turns out the Dumb Luck release is actually a DNTEL album. Check HERE for the full story from Sub-Pop.

SNL HIGHLIGHTS with RAINN WILSON

2007-02-26T15:42:00.000-05:00

A pretty bad showing overall. Darn. Pretty much the only decent stuff below...

SNL Digital Short - BUSINESS MEETING

RAINN WILSON's Monologue

The MAGIC NUMBERS - Those the Brokes

2007-02-23T14:41:00.000-05:00

The Magic Numbers have built on their self-titled first effort, pushing the envelope further for melodic rock and boy-girl group harmonies. You can't go wrong with the Magic Numbers in my book. Anyone looking for great verses, a soundtrack to fall in love to or something to get their butts moving need look no further.

The Magic Numbers - This is a Song
The Magic Numbers - Let Somebody In

Those The Brokes was released in the UK back in Nov of 2006 and it looks like it had a Feb 20th release date here in the States but Amazon only lists imports available. Nonetheless, you can buy a version of it HERE.

KINGS of LEON - Because of the Times

2007-02-21T10:01:00.000-05:00

'Knocked Up' a sick, 7 minute intro song combined with the nasty, scattered guitar of 'McFearless' make the new Kings of Leon album, Because of the Times KILLER. The boys have definitely developed in their off time for a much more aggressive sound that gets darker and pretty fierce at times.

Knocked Up
McFearless

Pre-Order Because of the Times HERE, due out April 5th, 2007.

DARLA ROSE

2007-02-18T00:04:00.000-05:00

Playful and cute yet mature and different. Those are the words I would use to describe Darla Rose, the first premiere from label The Modern Mega State. A 21 year old East Village performer and writer who plays the autoharp, Darla Rose fills her music with "bubbly nostalgia and ...infectious melody".

Number One
I Tried

Check out Darla Rose's MySpace to stream another and arguably better track.

***UPDATE***: the links I was passed were MySpace links and don't appear to be working. HOWEVER, if you go to her Mysapce page, you can download all the songs there.

VANDAVEER

2007-02-17T23:48:00.000-05:00

All singer-folk-songwriter, a little James Taylor and Bob Dylan, a little Jack Johnson makes Vandaveer. Dig those New Orleans gypsy horns on 'Marianne, You've Done It Now' and the very folk influenced, 70's sounds on 'However Many It Takes'. Quite a variety of sounds here.

However Many It Takes
Marianne, You've Done It Now

Vandaveer.com

The PHOTO ATLAS

2007-02-17T23:39:00.000-05:00

For fans of Bloc Party and the Voom Blooms. Rough guitars that sound straight out of Russell Lissack's portfolio and shouty lyrics that feel like they are burning through all the gas of the song.
Handshake Heart Attack

The Photo Atlas MySpace

THE HUMAN GIANT

2007-02-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

I cannot WAIT til this show goes LEGIT on MTV. Aziz Ansari, Paul Sheer and more guys from VH1's Best Week Ever take on Criss Angel/David Blane's street magic and goth attitudes and make it DAMN FUNNY. My favorites are the lighting they emit from their hands and 'TELEPORT'!

THE ILLUSIONATORS

***UPDATE***: Officially, the Human Giant show begins on MTV April 5th @ 10:30PM.

PEEL

2007-02-16T13:07:00.001-05:00

Stereogum and I Guess I'm Floating have both posted on a new free software, Peel. Peel scours the blogs you subscribe to for any mp3's posted and downloads them all into a friendly iTunes interface. You can stream the songs, download if you like it and also check out the bloated reviews everyone writes.

I can only hope that this will alleviate the task of using my lunch hour to go through all my blogs to see what is new out there. The word is it will cost $14.95 soon so get it while it's free.

PEEL

SNL HIGHLIGHT - SLOTHS!!!

2007-02-15T14:11:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, the gist of the show with Forrest Whitaker sucked.

BUT THIS WAS AWESOME!

ROMEO & JULIET: 10th ANNIVERSARY SOUNDTRACK

2007-02-10T14:21:00.000-05:00

I got into this movie BIG TIME and it pretty much defines my freshman year of college. The music, the visuals, everything. The Romeo & Juliet soundtrack introduced me to one of my favorite Radiohead tracks, Talk Show Host and also began a long relationship with the band, the Cardigans. I loved the soundtrack so much I went out and bought the second soundtrack they released which consisted of a lot of the score plus other tidbits.

As luck/irony/time would have it, the director Baz Luhrman is releasing a 10th ANNIVERSARY soundtrack that includes all the originals that made it great plus a few new tracks. Stream the old favorites below plus Baz Luhrman's new track, Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

FULL ALBUM STREAMS
QT
WIN

Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
QT
WIN

Radiohead - Talk Show Host
QT
WIN

Cardigans - Love Fool
QT
WIN

BLOC PARTY B-SIDES FALLIN' OUT YO' ASS

2007-02-07T20:59:00.000-05:00

Man, I am like a kid on Christmas Day!!!

Following the recent release of Bloc Party's A Weekend in the City, we are now inundated with a SLEW of B-Sides. According to Blog Party and Wikipedia, these are what is out there as of now...

BONUS TRACKS
We Were Lovers (Japanese Edition)
England (Japanese Edition)
Cain Said To Abel (iTunes US only)
Atonement (iTunes US pre-order only)
I Still Remember [Video] (iTunes download only)
The Prayer (Does it Offend You, Yeah? remix) (iTunes UK only)
Version 2.0 (Best Buy version only)
Emma Kate's Accident (Best Buy version only)
Secrets (Canadian version & Target version only)
The Once And Future King (Canadian version & Target version only)
Rhododendron (eMusic US only)
Selfish Son (Napster and Rhapsody)
Vision Of Heaven (Free Purevolume exclusive)

Here are a few places you can find them at the moment...
*Download Vision of Heaven FOR FREE at PureVolume.com
*Neiles Life is offering up Version 2.0, Emma Kate's Accident, Secret and Once And Future King.
*And, uh...check HERE and HERE!

I was able to get my hands on all of them BUT Selfish Son. Please, if anyone has it, please leave a link in comments!

SNL HIGHLIGHTS with DREW BARRYMORE

2007-02-05T12:21:00.000-05:00

First and foremost, our new crush who performed: LILY ALLEN
LDN

SMILE

JOJO the VALET: probably my favorite of the night. Amy Poehler as a dude is good especially JoJo talking to himself and getting psyched up.

BODY FUSION: a SNL digital short with Drew and the girl cast making a 80's workout video. I think I appreciate this more for the replciation of bad VCR tapes than anything.

The DAKOTA FANNING SHOW: Amy Poehler as Dakota Fanning and Drew Barrymore as Abigal Breslin from 'Little Miss Sunshine' going head to head over their talents and Oscar nominations.

There was a American Idol opening and a job interview skit she did that I thought was funny that aren't on YouTube. I will post them if they appear.

THE FADER

2007-02-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

I have been checking out "the FADER for a few months now. I first actually heard of them through their podcast they have available on iTunes and they are the first place I heard Peter Bjorn & John's "Young Folks" and became addicted. If you subscribe to the podcast you also get a FREE PDF of the magazine every issue. For a designer like myself, it is pretty cool to flip through and read the stories but also appreciate the design.

Check out the recent issue and podcast HERE. This issue features Nas, "Where Are They Now" as well as The Good, the Bad and the Queen, "Kingdom Of Doom"

THE ELECTED on DAYTROTTER

2007-02-02T16:06:00.000-05:00

One of my top bands of 2006, The Elected has a session up at Daytrotter. From what I have heard, it is a pretty stripped back, acoustic set.

Setlist as follows with Daytrotter descriptions:
Would You Come With Me
...this song was recorded first...and. set the tone for what was to come next. The band was in fine mode and Sennett seemed to be feeling the songs all over again. The way he whispers “leave right now” gets me every time.

Fireflies in a Steel Mill
Disappearing ink and gold teeth come into play. There’s also a little sexual friskiness with the linens wiped from the bed and onto the floor, where they lie fresh-pressed.

Bank and Trust
It makes me wonder who told him his songs suck. Why the fuck did that? I feel my temper rise each and every time he sings that line.

Not Going Home
At once confused and certain. It’s about wandering and finding home in a lot of places.

NEWS: Neon Bible has leaked

2007-01-28T15:52:00.000-05:00

You can pretty much find Arcade Fire's Neon Bible all over the net as of yesterday/today. I had hoped it would leak but I am surprised. You would think the hype around this would have kept it down or maybe the honor among everyone for AF would keep it quiet.....not so.

Two sites I found it on had this in the comment section, apparently from AF's manager:

"My name is Scott Rodger. I manage the Arcade Fire. Can I ask you to remove your link to the Arcade Fire album. Why? It’s just not cool.

I don’t get lawyers involved or our publishers and labels for stuff like this. I simply like to ask politely for it to be removed.
The band have worked hard for a year to make this album. They are very proud of it. They paid for it themselves. No label our outside corporate funding. Just their own hard earned cash.
The only way for them to get their investment back is by hopefully selling a few cd’s. It would be great if you, as a music fan, could possibly try and respect this.

When this album is released, it will be everywhere for free online and there really isn’t much we can do about that. Until that time, I’d like to ask for you to take down the link.

You’re lucky enough to have this album. Enjoy it, but don’t share it yet.

Thank you.

Scott Rodger"

I am still not sure where I stand on leaks and album downloading. I check out a lot of CDs pre-release and I am still weighing whether or not the public should have a opportunity to 'try the milk before buying the cow'. In a lot of ways, I think we should hear/see what we are buying before unloading the wallet. It can't easily be compared to a car (because that is a $20,00 investment instead of $10) but think of the test drives and market research you (should) do before buying a car. Should the same chance be given with music? A lot of our jobs we have to show that we can handle the task before someone pays us for it. Is the first album by a band the equivalent of showing a portfolio or seeing a business pitch? I don't know yet. Maybe I am just talking out of my ass.

Another perspective I recently heard on this is that the music industry for a long time got away with putting out crap. They would release a CD with 2 songs you wanted and 11 you didn't but you still ended up paying $14.99. For a long time, you the consumer got screwed and now we happened to find a way around that. We listen to the CD first and decide if the entire album is worth our $14.99, worth just a dollar for a single or worth nothing at all.

What do you think?

UPDATE: On the flipside of this, sites like AOL offer full CD previews so the option is out there to fully check out a CD before buying it. The difference being that they offer streaming of the album VS a download is portable and you can’t take it with you and listen to it when and where you can instead of being chained to the computer. In the end though, the stream stays online and you don't keep it whereas with the download, it is yours to keep and decide whether to pay up or not.

BLOC PARTY: Black Session 01/22/2007

2007-01-25T09:48:00.000-05:00

I saw that the VERY recent Bloc Party Black Session was up on a torrent site. I ended up getting the mp3's downloaded but BlocParty.net already has them up.

Their first Black Session was pretty killer so dig in and enjoy the new tracks!

BlocParty.net

(*Thanks to Derek at Good Weather for Air Strikes for pointing me to the site.)

NEW TRAVIS!?

2007-01-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

NEWS: Maximo Park waste no time

2007-01-23T11:11:00.000-05:00

A new Maximo Park album, titled 'Our Earthly Pleasures', will hit US shores on May 1 via Warp, and rumor has it that the band will be around at some point this summer for a tour. The first single, 'Our Velocity', is due out March 19th. Check out the letter from Paul, and the track listing below.

Our Earthly Pleasures:
01. "Girls Who Play Guitars"
02. "Our Velocity"
03. "Books From Boxes"
04. "Russian Literature"
05. "Karaoke Plays"
06. "Your Urge"
07. "The Unshockable"
08. "By The Moment"
09. "Nosebleed"
10. "A Fortnight's Time"
11. "Sandblasted And Set Free"
12. "Parisian Skies"

Maximo Park
MySpace

SNL HIGHLIGHTS with JEREMY PIVEN

2007-01-22T11:43:00.000-05:00

I seem to have taken to posting a lot of YouTube clips following SNL so I will make this a weekly thing.

Mike Vick - REALLY!?
A new segment on the news where Amy and Seth ask Mike Vick "REALLY!?"

Two A-holes at a Adoption Agency
My favorite characters, this time at a Adoption Agency. I love when Jason Sudekis asks if Piven "gets rim".

'Urigrow' commercial
"Thick, ropey streams of urine"

Blizzard Man helps out Common
Andy Samberg returns as Blizzard Man to help Common on his album.

MacGruber
Not that funny but kinda...a take off on MacGyver
Skit 1
Skit 2
Skit 3

SNOWFIELD editors SNOWFIELD

2007-01-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

In a nutshell, before they were known as editors they were first (The) Pride...and then they changed the line-up to become Snowfield (Ed Lay replaced Geraint Owen on drums as he began to focus on his Welsh band The Heights). They played their debut gig at the request of Fused Magazine under the name Snowfield before becoming a popular unsigned band and signing with Kitchenware Records in September 2004.*

SO, that brings us here to today to dwell upon some early demos of editors when they still Snowfield. Got that? A good mix for the editors collector to check out and compare. You'll find mostly less-electronic-compared-to-what-was-released songs (checkout 'Distance') as well as 3 songs that weren't featured on the Back Room, (the recently released 'the Diplomat' as well as 'Chome Share the View', and 'Every Little Piece of your life').

01 - Every Little Piece Of Your Life
02 - Fall
03 - The Diplomat
04 - Distance
05 - Bullets
06 - Come Share The View

Photo from SophieJarryOnStageAndBack
*Info taken from Wikipedia

STEADICAM SHOT FROM 'CHILDREN OF MEN'

2007-01-16T03:21:00.000-05:00

Cinematically, a great movie. Otherwise, confusing and depressing. This is the CONTINUOUS, 10-minute Steadicam shot from the movie. Unbelievable.

BLOC PARTY The Prayer

2007-01-11T17:13:00.001-05:00

First video from the new CD.

BLOC PARTY - I Still Remember

2007-01-11T17:13:00.000-05:00

Second video from the new CD.

DAVID VANDERVELDE

2007-01-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

My knowledge of '70s rock, Marc Bolan and David Bowie is limited to just about zero. The fact that David Vandervelde sounds awesome, is supposedly part of a revival and sounds spot-on to those guys, makes me think I should start looking into the past

At only 22 and out of Chicago, Vandervelde is getting praised for being dead-on with his influlences and bringing back the coming-of-age rock n' roll. Come January 23rd, Secretly Canadian is releasing his self-recorded debut, The Moonstation House Band. I don't know Ziggy-era Bowie/glam sounds but I like what I hear. Gorilla vs Bear says it best: If you're too young to know/care about '70s revivalism, consider the fact that this song would sound right at home on the Almost Famous (or any other Cameron Crowe) soundtrack.

David Vandervelde - Nothin No
David Vandervelde - Murder in Michigan

Also check out his recent Daytrotter session for 4 FREE downloads.
David Vandervelde MySpace

NEWS: Apple unveils shloads of killer new products

2007-01-09T15:23:00.000-05:00

Dang. The 2007 Macworld Conference was held today in San Francisco and Steve Jobs blew the roof off with three new products.

iPhone
Take your iPod in one hand and your cell phone in the other...now put them together. Basically a a kick ass phone that syncs with Address Book and iTunes, lets you watch movies, listen to music, text or call someone, surf the net, etc. all running on OSX. The downside is that it is only available to Cingular people out of the box in June and costs $499 for the 4Gb version and $599 for the 6Gb version.
HIGHLIGHTS:
3.5" color TOUCH screen, no stylus needed, just use your thumbs
Sensors know when you flip it from vertical to horizontal to watch movies/look at pictures

Apple TV
$299 for a AirPort Express basically that lets you watch content on your computer - movies, TV shows, music - on your home TV. So basically, anything downloaded can now be on your TV. Downside is that you have to have a widescreen TV and wireless network
HIGHLIGHTS:
Not that pricey and works with a lot of TVs
I don't have to watch downloaded content in my basement anymore

I had heard also about a wide-screen iPod with a touch-screen but the Apple site doesn't show anything yet.

Check Apple.com for full demos of the iPhone and details on Apple TV.

NEWS: Bloc Party tour US, Kele might be coming out of the closet

2007-01-09T15:20:00.000-05:00

From Pitchfork

Bloc Party have announced a North American tour, but that isn't the biggest piece of Bloc Party news today. It seems that frontman Kele Okereke kinda sorta came out of the closet in an interview published yesterday in The Guardian.

Apparently, some songs on Bloc Party's forthcoming second album A Weekend in the City (due March 6 on Vice), are about homosexual love, which leads writer Craig McLean to ask about Okereke's sexuality, a topic he usually dances around. And while Okereke seems to be on the verge of some sort of confession, he ultimately states, "It's not something that I'd be inclined to talk...It isn't black and white. It isn't clear-cut."

So maybe he's bisexual? Who knows? Who cares? (A lot of people, obviously. Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Anyway, none of that has anything to do with the matter at hand: that Bloc Party are headed Stateside for the first time since their aborted tour with Panic! At the Disco. And this time, they're bringing along some much hipper friends: the Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr., Final Fantasy, Sebastien Grangier (formerly of Death From Above 1979), the Like, and Smoosh, are all slated to open various dates of the trek, which takes up much of March. British and Japanese tours precede the North American jaunt.

Tomorrow, January 9, "The Prayer" remix EP will become available exclusively on iTunes, featuring remixes by Paul "Phones" Epworth and Does It Offend You, Yeah?, among others. Also, "The Prayer" 7", including the b-side "England", will be given away for free with purchase of A Weekend in the City by certain independent music stores. So support yr local mom 'n' pop.

Dates:

01-25 London, England - Mean Fiddler
01-27 Southampton, England - Guild Hall
01-28 Norwich, England - UEA
01-31 London, England - Astoria
02-01 London, England - Astoria
02-02 London, England - Astoria
02-03 Folkestone, England - Leas Cliff Hall
02-05 Reading, England - Hexagon
02-06 Cardiff, Wales - University
02-07 Bristol, England - Academy
02-09 Exeter, England - Great Hall at University
02-10 Birmingham, England - Academy
02-11 Nottingham, England - Rock City
02-13 Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange
02-14 Manchester, England - Academy
02-16 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theatre
02-17 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowland
02-18 Aberdeen, Scotland - Music Hall
02-20 Edinburgh, Scotland - Corn Exchange
02-21 Newcastle, England - Academy
02-22 Sheffield, England - Octagon
03-04 Tokyo, Japan - Studio Coast
03-05 Nagoya, Japan - Diamond Hall
03-06 Osaka, Japan - Namba Hatch
03-11 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
03-12 Vancouver, British Columbia - Orpheum Theatre
03-13 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
03-15 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-17 San Francisco, CA - Concourse Exhibition
03-19 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre
03-20 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre
03-23 Chicago, IL - Congress Theatre
03-24 Detroit, MI - Royal Oak Theatre
03-25 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus
03-27 Montreal, Ontario - Metropolis
03-28 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
03-30 New York, NY - United Palace Theatre
03-31 New York, NY - United Palace Theatre
05-12 Bologna, Italy - Estragon
05-13 Milan, Italy - Alcatraz

Where should I buy my CDs?

2007-01-08T11:30:00.000-05:00

Anyone have any insider places to buy CDs online for cheap? I usually use Amazon.com but found under the 'New and Used' link that Newbury Comics has a online site with all of their prices beating Amazon by a few bucks.

I checked InSound.com as well bcause I know they specialize in indie but they were the same price or higher than Amazon.

Any good sites I should know of?

Yet another cool SONY BRAVIA commercial

2007-01-08T09:58:00.000-05:00

Way back when, we posted the first commercial for the SONY Bravia LCD television that featured Jose Gonzales' cover of The Knife's Heartbeats while 250,000 plus super balls bounced down San Francisco streets.

NOW, SONY is back with another great commercial. This time, they are having a fireworks show around a building...EXCEPT they are using the full spectrum of PAINT instead of fireworks.

(Stick around and watch the Behind the Scenes footage as well. It takes a bit of the magic away to see it wasn't necessarily one shot but it is still cool.)

SEINFELD: The Lost Episode

2007-01-08T09:46:00.000-05:00

Funny and smart editing. Who would have thought Kramer said all of that stuff during the show.

MARILYN MANSON GETTING 'VON-DITCHED'

2007-01-05T10:56:00.000-05:00

It is amazing the details these magazines get. They know the DAY the papers will be served and exactly WHERE Marilyn Manson will be when he is served.

(via Page Six) Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson is about to get one of the biggest shocks of his bizarre life - his stunning stripper-wife, Dita Von Teese, is dumping him after only a year of marriage.

Page Six has learned that the pasty-faced Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, will be served with divorce papers today at a Los Angeles recording studio where he's working on his next album, with Von Teese citing "irreconcilable differences" in giving him the boot.

"He's not been responsive," a friend said. "She loved him so much, but he has too many demons. He can't even communicate with her at this point. She tried to tell him she was divorcing him, but she can't even get him on the phone. She moved out of the house and he hasn't even noticed."

INTERPOL, BLOC PARTY, Stooges, Lily Allen PLAY SXSW

2007-01-03T14:37:00.001-05:00

This headline made my nethers twitch. Why, since I won't be going, I don't know, but maybe because two of my favorite bands will be back on the circuit this year woke me up the dead inside me. Courtesy of your friends at Pitchfork.

Matt & Kim, Cold War Kids, the Watson Twins also on board

Struggling to find vacancy at a convenient Austin hotel for South by Southwest 07? It's no wonder. Tucked away in a handy brochure offering hotel information on the festival's website is the fest's star-studded initial lineup.

The Stooges, Interpol, Bloc Party, Lily Allen, Matt & Kim, the Watson Twins, Cold War Kids, Devin the Dude, Hoodoo Gurus, Ghostland Observatory, Stax 50th Anniversary Soul Review, Ozomatli, and Turbonegro are slated to play the music portion of the mega-event, which runs from March 14-18 (the full extravaganza, including film and "interactive" festivals, runs from March 9-18). As previously reported, Under Byen are also scheduled to perform.

Following the announcement is a line of small italic text reading, "everything subject to change," and while hope nothing changes, we're letting you know anyway.

In addition, Pete Townshend will appear as the keynote speaker for SXSW's Music Conference. Following the keynote, which takes place on March 14, Townshend and "Attic Jam" partner Rachel Fuller will put on a March 15 show featuring some special guests. Other SXSW speakers and interviewees include David Bryne (with his presentation "Record Labels: Who Needs Them?"), Emmylou Harris, Gilberto Gil, Terry McBride, Rickie Lee Jones, Booker T, and Joe Boyd.

SIMPSONS MOVIE TRAILER

2007-01-03T09:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry to inundate you with trailers the last few weeks, hopefully new music is coming.

The intros for the Simpsons movie are both the same but there are short clips after that.

Trailer 1
Trailer 2

HEROES ONLINE COMICS RECAP

2007-01-02T10:52:00.000-05:00

I have had some free time today and have been reading through the HEROES comics online today. Thus far I can tell you that:

There is a new character, a girl named Hana. Her grandmother was a part of the resistance that fought Nazi's in WWII. Her mother was a fighter pilot in the Israel Armed Forces. One day, as a young child, she boards a bus with her Grandmother and Mother as they travel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the bus becomes the first suicide attack. Grandmother and Mother die, leaving her behind to fulfill a legacy. Hana tries to enlist in the Paratroopers but everyone knows she is only full of vengeance and a potential disaster in the field. She excels at her desk job, breaking codes and busting up attack plans but is still unsatisfied. One night, while walking the perimeter, she is approached by a man with Horn Rimmed Glasses, hesitates too long and is knocked to the ground....

HRM guy tells her he will change her life and takes her to a secret facility where she is told she was hand picked to be a part of a secret operation. She is physically pushed above and beyond her limits and her brain is tested and she is given 'vitamins' to help. One day she has had enough and attacks HRM, wanting to know what is going on and why she he was just sent a text message that says, "When will she manifest?" HRM says his phone hasn't rang and suddenly it does with that message. In a instant, Hana sees billions of codes, emails and text messages flying around her and she realizes that she can find any code or secret out there and HRM knocks her out. She wakes up and is told by HRM that they haven't been able to get any emails in or out except ones with the word "Kadina". Without speaking, Hana text messages HRM the word means "attack" and he tells her she is ready to go.

There are supposed to be two more parts to her story before the show starts back.

The guys Nikki buried in the desert are DL's old crew. After he went to prison, she joined up with them but they had no idea she was related to DL apparently. She helped them do a heist, they pulled guns on her after they had the money so they wouldn't have to give her any, she killed them and buried them.

DL realized his powers after he was arrested for being a part of said heist Nikki was in and they found a gun in his house that matched the crime. DL was really upset with a detective questioning him and suddenly slipped out of his cuffs. Later in prison he learned how to turn his power on at will and slipped out.

Eden did kill herself before Sylar could get her power. Following that showdown, HRM glasses guy and the Haitian shot Sylar up with drugs to knock him out and the Haitian did his part.

Parkman, in an effort to clear his head of all the wacky thoughts he hears, hops in his patrol car and ends up chasing a suspect. He feels pretty confident in chasing him because he can hear the guys thoughts before he makes them so he knows his every move. Eventually he does catch him and is happy to put his 'guessing' and 'doubts' of every one and their thoughts to rest with this 'black and white', clear cut conviction.

Isaac had his first vision while shooting up before a gallery show. It was some large, blue, rock like creature with horns saying, "Isaac! What have you done!!!" He then goes to his show where everyone is very pleased with his work but some random blond girl comes up and punches him saying "How could you!" as she points to some painting of her getting hit head on by a city bus as she crosses a street. He says, "I don't even know you!" and she runs out the door as he chases after her. In the midst of the chase, she ios hit by the bus that he painted and his first vision/painting comes true.

Eden came from a very fugged up family. Drunk for a Dad, Step mom who hated her and blamed her for everything. She kept her mouth shut and blamed herself for everything that went wrong. Her Dad left and she was left a life of servitude under her Step mother, hoping that if she did a good job her Dad would be back. Time went by and she grew up, still in her life of work under Step mom. One day she was pushed to far by Step mom and Eden said, "I wish you would die." and there it was, her heart listened to Eden's command she died. Her Step mom's cigarette fell out of her mouth and eventually engulfed the house in flames and Eden took flight.

After one of Sylar's crimes in Chicago, he goes back to the scene of the crime to watch Audrey (Parkman's partner). Like a peeping tom, he stands in the crowd watching the police and she eventually sees him watching and gives chase. They both jump on top a speeding commuter train and jump off at a train station where she pulls her gun on him and fires. Oops, it is the wrong guy, a old man that Sylar had passed his coat and hat off to. Sylar is off again.

Peter is in the hospital following is collapse outside the police station following his vision of him blowing up NYC. He sees himself in a dream, not as the bad guy but of course, as the good guy, flying around with a suit and cape, stopping crimes. He finally brings the guy he is chasing to the ground and is told by the bad guy that he can't stop him and he can't change who he is - truly a bad guy.

FANTASTIC FOUR TEASER TRAILER

2006-12-29T10:52:00.000-05:00

While the wife and I marginally enjoyed the first one so hopefully this is better. I love comic book movies even if they do tend to suck. This teaser is really just Johnny chasing after the Silver Surfer and you get to see SS's all CGI abilities. Get it while it's hot!

Fantastic Four trailer at Apple

ALBUMS WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO IN '07

2006-12-29T10:20:00.000-05:00

Next year looks to be a pretty stellar for us musically, with most of our top bands putting a CD out. Good for 2007, bad for the withdrawl the next few years will bring.

The Good, The Bad, The Queen - The Good, The Bad, The Queen: Out January 22nd

The Shins - Wincing the Night Away: Out January 22nd

Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City: Out February 7th

Arcade Fire's Neon Bible out March or April with European dates in January

Interpol: Recording now in NYC, hopefully a 2007 date.

DOVES "We’re hoping to get in the studio proper Feb '07 to record these songs fast (that’s the plan anyway) & we’re aiming, all being well, for summer/autumn 2007 release."

Stars Maybe a new album by Fall

Maybe some Radiohead, Postal Service?

* I started this last week but Stereogum beat me to it with a more comprehensive list. Check there for more releases.

TESTPILOT ALBUMS of 2006

2006-12-26T22:39:00.000-05:00

The albums that tickled me this year In no particular order. Possible mp3's to come.

The DEARS Gang of Losers
BUY IT

The ELECTED Sun, Sun, Sun
BUY IT

M. WARD Post-War
BUY IT

The RACONTEURS Broken Boy Soldiers
BUY IT

WOLFMOTHER Wolfmother
BUY IT

COLD WAR KIDS Up in Rags EP and Mulberry Street EP
BUY IT

EDITORS the Back Room
BUY IT

HOT CHIP The Warning
BUY IT

the DECEMBERISTS the Crane Wife
BUY IT

BAND of HORSES Everything All the Time
BUY IT

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
TV on the RADIO Return to Cookie Mountain
SUFJAN STEVENS The Avalance
MUSE Black Holes And Revelations

My Christmas Gift to You

2006-12-22T15:15:00.000-05:00

If your office is not closing down for the holidays like mine and you need something to do, head over to VirtualNES for a major time killer. Tons and TONS of NES games are made avaialble to you after you download some handy dandy Java player-AND IT WORKS FOR MAC's TOO!

The controllers are anything but intuitive and it is really awkward with my directional controllers on the right instead of the left and the buttons are vice versa but heck, you KNOW I will be mastering Contra by the end of next week!

PS - You have to double click on the title screen for nearly every game to get it to work properly.

BLOC PARTY Video Podcast

2006-12-22T12:13:00.000-05:00

Hey there! Did you hear that Bloc Party has a videocast available through iTunes for free? So far they have the first one out that will be from a series of 6. The first was only about 5 minutes long and showcased footage of the band recording their A Weekend in the City while their first single The Prayer played over it. Pretty decent - chegg it out.

Subscribe to Bloc Party Video Podcast at iTunes

TRANSFORMERS TRAILER IS OUT!!!

2006-12-20T13:48:00.000-05:00

Too much picture, fade to black, picture, fade to black but still...friggin... SICK.

TRANSFORMERS TRAILER

REIGN OVER ME

2006-12-19T14:01:00.000-05:00

Adam Sandler gets damn serious for his next movie, Reign Over Me. Pearl Jam covers the Who track of the same name at the end of the trailer.

Reign Over Me trailer

NEW 300 TRAILER

2006-12-19T09:49:00.000-05:00

What looks to be the most visually stunning movie of 2007, 300 now has the theatrical trailer out. Check it out for more jaw dropping effects and visuals. Awesome.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE on SNL

2006-12-18T09:43:00.000-05:00

If you saw JT's performance on SNL the weekend, then you witnessed a pretty funny show as well as one of the greatest songs ever.

DICK IN A BOX - INSTANT CLASSIC SNL digital short

Also watch these:
HOMELESSVILLE

JT performing MY LOVE

TESTPILOT JAMS of 2006

2006-12-16T15:30:00.000-05:00

These artists might not have had a album that fully engulfed me BUT DAMN, I could not get these songs out of my head or off the playlists this year.

Thoughts Of Rena The VOOM BLOOMS (20 repeats)
Saint John COLD WAR KIDS (18 repeats)
Chinese Translation. M. WARD (18 repeats)
Pittsfield SUFJAN STEVENS (15 repeats)
Boys from School HOT CHIP (13 repeats)
Young Folks PETER BJORN & JOHN (13 repeats)
You And I Are A Gang Of Losers The DEARS (12 repeats)
My Love ft T.I. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (11 repeats)
Mattresses Underwater COLOUR REVOLT (11 repeats)
Cinematic The A-SIDES (9 repeats)
Lonely Love The GRAY KID (8 repeats)

Honorable Mentions:
I Ain't Saying She's Better Than You - Donovan Woods (8)
Fergilicious - Fergie (8)

NOTE: This was surprisingly scientific. I basically read through my songs added in the year 2006 and saw what had the highest playcounts - THANK YOU, iTUNES! Also, I limited the countdown to 1 song per artist to keep from getting saturated and kept the stuff that I remembered being of personal significance. And of course, stuff in the last half of 2006 was recalled much easier than the first half but we do what we can!

Christmas Movies

2006-12-15T09:17:00.000-05:00

Herein, a list of Christmas movies I always look forward to seeing every year but don't always catch:

1. It's A Wonderful Life - A long, long movie but I love it. "Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight!"

2. A Christmas Story - personally, I liked it better when TBS didn't run it for 24 hours on Christmas day. In my life, I don't have 2 hours to sit around during a day of travel and family time to watch this classic.

3. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - I seem to be able to catch this every year, usually airing on a Monday or Saturday.

4. Scrooged - I think this airs on TBS or TNT or USA. They haven't showed it in recent years as far as I know.

5. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - We have this on DVD now and watch it with our son all the time but I still enjoy it every year.

6. White Christmas - This has became a annual ritual. The movie feels like it is 3 hours long but I try and not fall asleep.

7. Love Actually - not really a Christmas movie but it takes place at Christmas time and my wife and I love it.

8. Elf - We own it on DVD but I think it is coming to television this year. Hilarious!

9. Charlie Brown Christmas - I don’t know why I find this appealing but I try and watch it every year. I think it really isn't funny at all and I think I miss the point of it.

10. Frosty the Snowman - If it's on, I'll watch it.

What am I missing?

NEW CYHSY TRACKS

2006-12-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

2005's buzz band, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are prepping for their 2007 release, Some Loud Thunder, and have released 2 NEW TRACKS on their website as well as streaming at their MySpace page.

For those of you who can't wait until the official release January 30th, you can buy the album in mp3 format, at Insound, starting on January 16th. Then they'll send you a real-life copy of the record soon after for free.

if you decide to buy the record directly from the band's website, they'll also have an exclusive t-shirt available.

NEW BLOC PARTY VIDEO: The Prayer

2006-12-07T13:33:00.000-05:00

BBC Radio 1/Zane Lowe have the new video from Kele and the Bloc Party boys the Prayer, up for viewing.

It continues with the theme of 'boredeom in urban life' that Kele has said they are focusing on for their upcoming album, A Weekend in the City. The video features the boys sitting around with complete apathy to the dancing, strobe lights and thumping music in a late night club. Eventually Kele trips out and shat gets wierd.

the TEST PILOT HOLIDAY MIX 2006

2006-12-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

Back for another year, the TestPilot Holiday Mix. Combining more indie Christmas tunes with a healthy dose of Sufjan, check it out and have a good Holiday season. Don't forget the original artwork as well.

Download the tracks individually OR take it all home in this handy, dandy ZIP file here or here. It is a YouSendIt file so follow the link. ALSO, it has a limit of 100 downloads so I will check back frequently and see if it has expired so I can re-up.

The Ice Storm - The GO! Team
Sufjan Stevens - Hey Guys Its Christmas Time
Magnet-Let It Snow
The Arcade Fire - The Christmas Song
Beck - Little Drum Machine Boy
Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Sufjan Stevens - Holy, Holy, Holy
Coldplay - 2000 Miles
Jimmy Eat World - 12_23_95
Run DMC - Christmas In Hollis
Travis - The River
Sufjan Stevens - Sister Winter
Ron Sexsmith - Maybe This Christmas
Sufjan Stevens - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!

JAY Z and CLIPSE

2006-11-20T14:43:00.000-05:00

After more listens, the final thought is Clipse has better beats but is too rough for TheTestPilot library and Jay Z has a few solid songs but if you have already heard Show Me What Ya Got, you have heard the best.

Clipse-Mr. Me Too ft Pharrell

Jay-Z-Beach Chair(feat chris martin).mp3

Apparently Pitchfork agrees, giving Jay'z Kingdom Come a 5.0 out of 10. Highlights of the review:
"...we didn't expect the young, brash Jigga ... would be dropping Gwyneth Paltrow's name in a rap song. Twice he addresses his recent heavily publicized boycott of Cristal champagne which even he acknowledges is unimportant. But that's Kingdom Come: Jay boringly rapping about boring stuff and being totally comfortable with it."

"Just Blaze's flip of the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post" on "Oh My God" is a pretty good example of his new stadium rap sound, and his "Kingdom Come" take on Rick James is pretty clever. But the latter has been sitting on the internet for a long time which means Jay-Z now gets Just sorta Blaze instead full-on Blaze."

"It's never a good sign when Chris Martin of Coldplay makes the best track on your record, but that may be the case with Kingdom Come."

"It is the first album in Jay-Z's career that doesn't sound like he got first choice from his producers, and one has to wonder where the much-talked-about Timbaland songs went (FutureSex/LoveSound, perhaps?)."

UPDATE

2006-11-16T22:59:00.000-05:00

Not a ton of new music to report. This week I started off in a MAD frenzy for the leaked Bloc Party album, A Weekend in the City. I finally found it and was honestly let down. Overall, completely laid back compared to Silent Alarm and not at all what Song for Clay promised. And speaking of Song for Clay, it has been tweaked severely and I don't like it. Instead of Kele saying, "these days I'm only bored" he now says "disappear here" and honestly, those few words destroy the song for me. Outside of that, the album has very few new Like Eating Glass or Banquets. The immediacy of Silent Alarm is gone, replaced by a reserved, lethargic BP. If you want a depressed and bored Bloc Party, this is the album. I understand the concept is about boring, drone-like city life but damn, these guys must be really fuggin bored for this result. As Darrell Hammond's Bill O'Reilly would say, Tell me where I'm wrong.

I then moved onto looking for the leaked Jay-Z album, Kingdom Come. Again, another wash out but I have spent less time with this so I may be jumping to a opinion too soon. Still, for a out-of-retirement CD, I thought there would be more bumpin' jams on there.

I wrapped up the week with the leaked Clipse album which sounds a bit better than Jay. Time will tell.

In THE MEANTIME, here are two singles I have been rocking. M.I.A.'s new jam, XR2 and Margot and the Nuclear So-and-So's Skeleton Key. With regards to MIA, I love the song. It's a bumping jam and definitely stays in your craw all day. I don't know if this is from a upcoming album release or not. With MatNSaS's, I decided to check them out since they were opening for the Elected back in October. I had listened to them before but didn't get far. I found that still holds true - this song I love but I can't get into anything else by them.

M.I.A. - XR 2
Margot and the Nuclear So-and-So's - Skeleton Key

NEWS: Bloc Party Drummer Suffers Collapsed Lung

2006-11-10T14:04:00.000-05:00

Via Pitchfork. Hopefully all will be well.

Last night, Bloc Party drummer Matt Tong suffered a collapsed lung following his band's gig with Panic! at the Disco and Jack's Mannequin at Atlanta, Georgia's HiFi Buys Amphitheatre. He is currently being treated in one of the city's hospitals and, according to a statement on the band's website, is in stable, "comfortable condition" and "not in any danger."
Tong will remain at the hospital under observation for the next three days, and as it stands, it is unclear when he will be well enough to play again.

So far, four Bloc Party dates have been cancelled: Charlotte, NC, Fairfax, VA, and both New York City shows.

According to the BBC, a spokeswoman for the band said Tong may have been injured while drumming.

"Matt is known for his energetic drumming style," she said. "It's not clear at this stage when he will be fit to resume performing."

Our thoughts are with Matt, his friends, and his family.

The GOOD, the BAD and the QUEEN

2006-11-09T23:57:00.000-05:00

Here is the new single from Damon Albarn's next supergroup, The Good The Bad And The Queen that was released Oct 30th. This band consists of Damon Albarn, (Blur), Tony Allen-beats, (Afrobeat), Paul Simonon-bass,(The Clash), and Simon Tong-guitar,(Verve/Gorillaz). The album is due out January 2007.

Sounds very Gorillaz-ish to me.

UPDATE: Here is a direct download link. The Good The Bad and The Queen - Herculean.mp3"

Herculean
This is uploaded using ZShare again. Still trying to figure out direct download hosting. A reader suggested SnapDrive but that didn't work very well this evening. So, follow the links.

The Good, The Bad and The Queen online.

NEW SPIDERMAN 3 TRAILER

2006-11-09T23:50:00.000-05:00

Here at iFilm.

Some pretty juicy stuff in there - the symbiote taking over Spiderman, Sandman's origin, Spidey vs Sandman and Harry taking over as Green Goblin. I am still waiting for the 30 seconds of film that they shot here in Cleveland that I stood around for 3 hours to not see but hopefully something will make it into the movie.

COLOUR REVOLT

2006-11-06T21:58:00.000-05:00

COLOUR REVOLT band comprises 5 rockers out of Jackson, Mississippi and starts last fall as Hurricane Katrina hit the weekend they were to record. With a lack of recording space and equipment, they threw together a recording booth of cardboard boxes and set up ProTools to get going.

Combine the three-guitars and their cascading notes that bounce across the atmosphere like a ping pong and Isaac Brock/Wolf Parade-ish quiet to raging lyrics, and I am sold. My favourite new band. (Did you see how I threw a 'u' into favorite, like they did with Colour? GENIUS!)

UPDATE: Here is a direct download link. Colour Revolt - Mattresses Underwater

Mattresses Underwater (follow link)

Head over to the Colour Revolt MySpace page to listen to another great track, New Family, as well as a remix of that song. You can also buy the Colour Revolt EP at iTunes.

FYI: This is my first attempt at using a different file sharing source, ZShare. You have to follow 2 or so links unfortunately but I bandwidth is free. If you hate following links, suggest something else.

EZ ARCHIVE UPDATES

2006-10-30T11:18:00.000-05:00

If any of you check blogs regularly, you probably encounter the irregular hosting service known as EZ Archive. As that seems to be the mp3 hosting service of choice, you have inevitably known the bad links that come with it as well as the site being down for hours or days at a time with no mention as to why.

WELL, hopefully all that will be fixed soon. They are 'upgrading' and that requires the bloggers to re-register, re-post links, etc, etc. They said that audio files would play at a lower quality but I have yet to hear what that is. I made the transition at the end of last week and thought everything was running smoothly until I recently checked out the mp3 links and keep getting some foreign voice telling me "We're sorry. This account has been very popular today and has reached the maximum transfer amount allowed. Please check back tomorrow." WTF!?

I will be looking into this soon and either changing providers or upgrading.

UPDATE: Looking through the stable of blogs I check, it appears Ez Archive has screwed the entire cottage industry of blogging over and everyone is having a exodus of EZ and their new, 'upgraded', awful services. I am considering changing to these providers: zSHARE, FileDen, FileLodge and Box.net. Hopefully I will find a service that allows direct linking instead of sites like YouSendIt that are great but you have to go to a extra site to download.

if ANYONE can make a suggestion on the above providers or a different one, please leave a comment.

BECK on SNL

2006-10-30T11:11:00.000-05:00

I would like to say Thank You and Congratulations to BECK for his performance this past weekend on SNL. For the first time in a LONG time, I actually didn't fast forward through the musical act and watched both songs in their entirety. Beck and the band performed 'Nausea' and 'Clap Hands', not only with the fun marionettes on a side stage but also mixed up the performance to give each song a different, namely the band all playing percussion on dining ware for 'Clap Hands'.

Really a good showing and is making me want to go back to the new Beck album and check it out again. Too bad for you though. From what I Stereogum says, Interscope and NBC won't let it on You Tube. If it shows up though, I will definitely post.

Instead, enjoy Borat's marginally funny intro. I hope that movie is good. I love Borat but I heard the other day that it is not tracking well outside of NYC and LA and they dropped the screens it was running on from 1200 to 800.

DAMIEN RICE - stream it at AOL

2006-10-24T18:39:00.000-04:00

I have heard a few songs off the new album and I my first impression is that it is not up to par with O. Go to the link and click on 'Listen to 9 Crimes'.

Stream it here on AOL LINK FIXED

HOT SINGLES

2006-10-24T18:22:00.000-04:00

Like I said in the previous post, not a lot of new bands or full CDs are grabbing me these days. Instead, these are the HOT SINGLES (that's radio talk) out there right now.

JAY-Z Show Me What You Got
Hova is back! And like the man says in the song, "What you want me to do?! I'm sorry!" We all knew the guy couldn't stay away, beginning the comeback with Public Enemy/Wrexx n Effect horns and a sweet full band.
Show Me What You Got

RYAN ADAMS Look Who's Got A Website
I don't normally listen to Ryan Adams...but when he drops some sweet rhymes like this to take a break from recording, I am all over it. Combining his best Beastie Boys and 80's rap sound FX, this song keeps me laughing and singing through out the day. Listen to the lyrics: "This website's updated by witches!" (in a witch voice) AND "I sold 3 records and went balsa wood or something, in a place I'm not from." Crazy fun. "Kevin Costner - WTF!?"
Look Who's Got A Website

PETER BJORN Young Folks
I think I was destined to find this song. That or it haunted me. I first heard it in GAP pushing my son around and the whistling stuck with me for the rest of the day. Then I heard it in a FADER podcast and got down to researching it. Turns out it belongs to this guy. Sign-up for the bopping intro percussion, stay for the addictive whistling.
Young Folks

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS ...

2006-10-23T16:49:00.000-04:00

... that I have been listening to A LOT of music lately...and I am not impressed by any of it. These titles include: the new Killers CD; the new Kooks CD; the new JET CD; the new Shins CD; the new Muse CD; and the new Beck CD I don't know if I am in a funk or what, but none of them lit a fire in me and made me want to post on them.

The best I have head lately is a few singles and I will be posting them here later tonight. Hopefully more good stuff is too come soon.

MARIE ANTOINETTE: AND THE WINNER IS....

2006-10-20T12:52:00.000-04:00

Apoligies that I have dragged my feet on this. I am home with my son tonight so a winner will be declared! Thanks for all who entered.

-Management-

UPDATE: SOAPBOXHERO is the winner of the CD contest. Thanks to all who entered!

I wish I could fork out the cash and hook all of you up. Thanks for reading - glad to see some people do stop by. Hopefully we can have more contests like this down the road so stay tuned.

MARIE ANTOINETTE CONTEST!

2006-10-16T13:51:00.000-04:00

Again, don't forget the Marie Antoinette soundtrack contest we have going on. I WILL BE PICKING A WINNER WEDNESDAY so if you are interested in winning the 2-disc soundtrack, leave your email address in the comments of the attached post. I will probably throw the names out on the ground and have my son pick one - very scientific - so do enter.

And of course, don't forget Marie Antoinette hits theaters Oct. 20th!
Official site and trailer

CONTEST LINK!

HOWARD STERN Will Go Online Free for Two Days

2006-10-16T13:47:00.000-04:00

WIRED's blog, Listening Post reports:

Mark your calendars, Howard Stern fans; you'll be able to hear the king of all media half of satellite radio, for free, October 24th and 25th on Sirius.com, as Sirius follows my advice (not literally, of course), launching a version of its service that uses the efficient Internet rather than expensive satellites to distribute its shows, called Sirius Internet Radio.

You will no longer have to pay for a satellite receiver/service in order to access Stern's show online, as well as all of their other programming. Despite its lack of satellite usage, the online-only version will cost the same as the satellite radio subscription -- $13 per month -- so Internet-only subscribers will be subsidizing satellite listeners to a certain extent.

At least they won't have to buy proprietary hardware in order to use it (unless Sirius start selling a specially branded computer for accessing their online stream). Kidding aside, this is a step in the right direction. It can only be a good thing that for the first time since 2005, you'll be able to hear the Howard Stern Show for free. *$&%(*^ yeah!

You can pre-register to listen to the shows here.

COLD WAR KIDS on KCRW mp3s

2006-10-13T13:49:00.000-04:00

The blog Smudge of Ashen Fluff has Cold War Kids recent appearance on KCRW up for mp3 downloads. Get it while it's hot!

I am in the process of trying to download the entire show from Trader's Den but it is taking forever. Hopefully it will come through and I can get the interviews as well.

Cold War Kids on KCRW 10-11-2006

OR stream the show at KCRW.com. They have a new site up as well since I was last there.

Band of Horses, Pinback Do Covers for "O.C."

2006-10-13T09:32:00.000-04:00

Pitchfork reports...
On December 5, Warner Bros. will release the sixth in its series of companion soundtracks for the popular Fox television program "The O.C." Titled OC Mix 6: Covering Our Tracks, it features twelve acts of the "indie" persuasion covering twelve other acts, some of the "indie" persuasion and some not.

As previously reported, Lady Sovereign takes on the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant", while Band of Horses do the New Year's "The End's Not Near", the M's do Clinic's "Come Into Our Room", Rogue Wave handle the Pixies' "Debaser", Pinback take a shot at Black Flag's "Wasted", Mates of State confront "The O.C." theme song, Phantom Planet's "California", and a bunch of other bands destined to fill future record store bargain bins do some other stuff.

Tracklist:
01 Goldspot - "Float On" (Modest Mouse)
02 Rock Kills Kid - "I Turn My Camera On" (Spoon)
03 Lady Sovereign - "Pretty Vacant" (The Sex Pistols)
04 Mates of State - "California" (Phantom Planet)
05 Pinback - "Wasted" (Black Flag)
06 John Paul White - "Can't Get It out of My Head" (ELO)
07 Rogue Wave - "Debaser" (The Pixies)
08 Syd Matters "Hello Sunshine" (Super Furry Animals)
09 Tally Hall - "Smile Like You Mean It" (The Killers)
10 The M's - "Come Into Our Room" (Clinic)
11 Band of Horses - "The End's Not Near" (The New Year)
12 Chris Holmes "Into Dust" (Mazzy Star)

MARIE ANTOINETTE CONTEST!

2006-10-12T14:13:00.000-04:00

Kiddies, don't forget the Marie Antoinette soundtrack contest we have going. If you are interested in winning the 2-disc soundtrack, leave your email address in the comments of the attached post and I will pick a winner next Wed, October 18th. I will probably throw the names out on the ground and have my son pick one - very scientific - so do enter.

And of course, don't forget Marie Antoinette hits theaters Oct. 20th!
Official site and trailer

CONTEST LINK!

ARCHITECTURE in HELSINKI REMIX

2006-10-11T12:43:00.000-04:00

The TEST PILOT are big fans of Architecture in Helsinki and if you are as well, head over to their My Space page to sample songs from the TOUR ONLY remix album, called We Died, They Remixed.

Also preview, 'Do The Whirlwind (Metronomy Remix' from the AiH site
Do The Whirlwind (Metronomy Remix

MARIE ANTOINETTE CONTEST!

2006-10-09T19:29:00.000-04:00

A TEST PILOT first!

I have been enjoying the music since the original trailer sent me to iTunes to by the New Order single way back in March. Lucky us, we will now be having a CONTEST to win the 2-CD Soundtrack including songs by TEST PILOT fave the Radio Dept., the Strokes, and of course the original hit makers, Gang of Four and The Cure. (complete tracklist below).

SO... if you are interested, leave your email address in the comments and I will pick a winner next Wed, October 18th. I don't think I get a ton of hits so this might be a chance for you few loyal readers (thanks Greg and Mark!) to win some loot!

And of course, don't forget Marie Antoinette hits theaters Oct. 20th!
Official site and trailer

DISC 1
01. "Hong Kong Garden" - Siouxsie & The Banshees
02. "Aphrodisiac" - Bow Wow Wow
03. "What Ever Happened" - The Strokes
04. "Pulling Our Weight" - The Radio Dept.
05. "Ceremony" - New Order
06. "Natural's Not In It" - Gang of Four
07. "I Want Candy (Kevin Shields Remix)" - Bow Wow Wow
08. "Kings Of The Wild Frontier" - Adam & The Ants
09. "Concerto in G" * - Antonio Vivaldi / Reitzell
10. "The Melody Of A Fallen Tree" - Windsor For The Derby
11. "I Don't Like It Like This" - The Radio Dept.
12. "Plainsong" - The Cure

DISC 2
01. "Intro Versailles"* - Reitzell / Beggs
02. "Jynweythek Ylow" - Aphex Twin
03. "Opus 17" - Dustin O'Halloran
04. "Il Secondo Giorno (Instrumental)" - Air
05. "Keen On Boys" - The Radio Dept.
06. "Opus 23" *- Dustin O'Halloran
07. "Les Baricades Misterieuses"* - Francois Couperin / Reitzell
08. "Fools Rush In (Kevin Shields Remix)" - Bow Wow Wow
09. "Avril 14th" - Aphex Twin
10. "K. 213" * - Domenico Scarlatti / Reitzell
11. "Tommib Help Buss" - Squarepusher
12. "Tristes Apprets.." - Jean Philippe Rameau / W. Christie
13. "Opus 36"*- Dustin O'Halloran
14. "All Cat's Are Grey" - The Cure

ANNUALS

2006-10-09T15:09:00.000-04:00

I tried to write my own words on this band but Pitchfork nails it on the head.

"...if their forthcoming Be He Me album lives up to what this track promises, North Carolina-based Annuals might be the label's best find yet. Like some fantasy hybrid of Animal Collective, the Arcade Fire, and Broken Social Scene, "Brother" opens on a whisper before exploding at the halfpoint with colossal percussion, twisting guitars, feather-fall violins, and exultant, emphatic shouts that puncture the mix like they're trying to break in from another dimension.

Brother
Dry Clothes

BUY the album at Amazon or at iTunes.
Annuals MySpace page for tour dates.

the GRAY KID

2006-09-26T13:28:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-21T14:17:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-09-15T09:43:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-13T11:19:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-12T21:05:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-12T21:03:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-12T21:02:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-12T17:01:00.000-04:00

*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!?

2006-09-11T13:36:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-10T12:45:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-08T16:06:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-05T18:40:00.000-04:00

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.

WOLF PARADE: I'll Believe in Anything video

2006-08-31T13:03:00.000-04:00

CANON DUEL! Does anyone know the rules of duels? If neither person gets hit, do you just keep loading and firing until it happens or do you go hand-to-hand?

SYD MATTERS

2006-08-30T14:12:00.000-04:00

What has been referred to as 'the blend and gap between Radiohead and Nick Drake, is Jonathan Morali's electro/alternate persona, Syd Matters. Paris-based and making their American debut, Someday We Will Forsee Obstacles, is a blend of "folk guitar over electronic production brings to mind Iron & Wine as produced by Air" - The Big Takeover.

That description alone should be enough to attract a heavy cross-pollination of listeners. Listen for yourself.

To All of You
Obstacles

More tracks at Syd Matters MySpace page

Buy the album here.

SAM ROBERTS

2006-08-30T14:10:00.000-04:00

I first heard of Sam Roberts on a recent Paste Magazine CD sampler I received. 'Bridge to Nowhere' starts as a bouncy track, mixing acoustic guitar and keys that turns into what feels like a handclap sing-a-long, souding a bit Rogue Wave-ish. Soon after, I saw the grizzly haired lead singer and entire band give a good show on David Letterman and looked for a few more tracks.

I ended up with the entire, new album from the band, Chemical City. A recent review explained that Sam Roberts has had a lot of success in his native Montreal, Canada and this album was his experimental wandering into doing whatever he felt like. Given that comment, the album as a whole didn't have what drew me in initially, like 'Bridget to Nowhere' did and I only found one extra track worth holding onto. I might look into the past successful records that were mentioned but for now, this is what I've got.

Bridge to Nowhere
Uprising Down Under

Download more tracks and get tour dates at Sam Roberts MySpace page

Buy the album Chemical City here.

WOLFMOTHER

2006-08-28T20:48:00.000-04:00

I admittedly took a long time to find out about/check out Wolfmother. The album cover alone made me think 'lame hair band' and dismiss them. I was scared off at the thought of some 60's psychadelia retread like the Darkness and ran quickly away. LITTLE DID I KNOW how easily I would get into them and love them.

After much hype in magazines about them, I had to check them. Awesome stuff. I think the best description of them is from Paste magazine - ' the Aussie Led Sabbath/Black Zepplin', and while my knowledge of those two bands is minimal, the connection is totally there and well done at that. Not to mention the swirly flutes and organs used throughout that give a Jethro Tull nod.

This CD brings the rock that us Indie's have been without for so long and will most likely make my End of Year list!

Love Train
Joker & The Thief

Buy the Wolfmother CD here.

Listen to more Wolfmother at their MySpace page

MEW

2006-08-28T20:46:00.002-04:00

I had heard of Mew in passing but never gave them much thought til I found they were opening up for the Bloc Party concert I was going to in Brooklyn last month. I downloaded a few tracks and got a weird, pixie-like (not the band) sound mixed with some bizarro Starship and Air Supply twist. It was mostly the spacey, high-pitched, vibrating vocals that led me to this absurd conclusion and I more or less called it a day.

When I got back from the BP concert, I gave them another shot and was happy to find their unique sound wasn't as off the charts as I first thought and was really approachable. It really is much more progressive rock with some shoe gazer that everyone loves, tossed in.

LINKS REMOVED UPON REQUEST OF RECORD LABEL
Why Are You Looking So Grave
the Chinaberry Tree

I believe their new CD coming out, And The Glass Handed Kites is a combo from other albums that didn't see a US appearance but I could definitely be wrong. Anyways, buy it here.

Hear more Mew at their MySpace page

NEWS: Help: A Day in the Life II

2006-08-23T14:25:00.000-04:00

War Child Canada is back at the charity thing again, coming out with another blockbuster CD this fall. The release last fall had solid tracks by Coldplay, Bloc Party and Gorillaz and this round looks to have those great artists back as well as others.

On September 5, Help: A Day In The Life, a benefit compilation featuring eighteen exclusive tracks from really great bands will be released.

The full line-up for Help: A Day In The Life is: Bedouin Soundclash, Bloc Party, Buck 65, City and Color, Coldplay, Damien Rice, The Dears, Gorillaz, Jets Overhead, Kaiser Chiefs, Keane and Faultline, Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk, Metric, Payolas, Radiohead, Sam Roberts, Surefire and The Weakerthans.

The album is a fundraising endeavour designed to directly benefit war-affected children. War Child Canada is a
registered charity dedicated to providing timely, effective and sustainable support to communities ravaged by war.
100% of proceeds from the album will go toward War Child Canada's humanitarian work in war zones around the
world.

The last War Child Canada benefit album, Peace Songs, raised $500,000. With your help, Help: A Day In The Life will prove an even bigger success. For more information, see War Child Canada.

the DEARS

2006-08-22T19:10:00.000-04:00

I latched onto the Dears after their last album when they were caught up in the whirlwind of all the fun Canadian bands coming out (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, etc.). Their first album, Lost in the Plot had it's good moments but I definitely feel the sounds have been flushed out and are more precise this go round, all directed by singer Murray Lightburn. Still following in the sound steps of The Smiths and Joy Division, Lightburn's singing voice can be likened to that of Blur's Damon Albarn. Chegg out these solid mp3s for a taste.

Hate Then Love
You and I Are a Gang of Losers

Pre-order the new Dears album, Gang of Losers here

The Dears MySpace page

DEATH SHIPS

2006-08-22T19:08:00.000-04:00

Out of Iowa, Death Ships first caught my attention with the track 'Little Mystery', what with the Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket echo chamber vocals, acoustic guitar and kick-in drums after the quiet lull. With some searching, I found a few other tracks by them that I think get more pop oriented, but you might still be able to find your fix.

No major distribution of the CD is available just yet (unless you live in Iowa City!) but you can send 12 dollars through paypal to deathships@gmail.com and get the hook up.

A few more tracks as well as tour dates here at The Death Ships MySpace page

Little Mystery
Symmetrical Smiles

THE TEST PILOT

STILL KICKING...

INTERPOL - OUR LOVE TO ADMIRE

BATTLE of the OFFICE(s)

Acoustic BLOC PARTY

SNL HIGHLIGHTS with PEYTON MANNING

BULLLLLLLLLLLLSHIT

BEST of the REST

POSTING on HOLD...

A look at new college hoops uniforms

KINGS of LEON Video - 'On Call'

7 minute SPIDERMAN 3 clip

More HUMAN GIANT videos

Say what!?

SNL HIGHLIGHTS with RAINN WILSON

The MAGIC NUMBERS - Those the Brokes

KINGS of LEON - Because of the Times

DARLA ROSE

VANDAVEER

The PHOTO ATLAS

THE HUMAN GIANT

PEEL

SNL HIGHLIGHT - SLOTHS!!!

ROMEO & JULIET: 10th ANNIVERSARY SOUNDTRACK

BLOC PARTY B-SIDES FALLIN' OUT YO' ASS

SNL HIGHLIGHTS with DREW BARRYMORE

THE FADER

THE ELECTED on DAYTROTTER

NEWS: Neon Bible has leaked

BLOC PARTY: Black Session 01/22/2007

NEW TRAVIS!?

NEWS: Maximo Park waste no time

SNL HIGHLIGHTS with JEREMY PIVEN

SNOWFIELD editors SNOWFIELD

STEADICAM SHOT FROM 'CHILDREN OF MEN'

BLOC PARTY The Prayer

BLOC PARTY - I Still Remember

DAVID VANDERVELDE

NEWS: Apple unveils shloads of killer new products

NEWS: Bloc Party tour US, Kele might be coming out of the closet

Where should I buy my CDs?

Yet another cool SONY BRAVIA commercial

SEINFELD: The Lost Episode

MARILYN MANSON GETTING 'VON-DITCHED'

INTERPOL, BLOC PARTY, Stooges, Lily Allen PLAY SXSW

SIMPSONS MOVIE TRAILER

HEROES ONLINE COMICS RECAP

FANTASTIC FOUR TEASER TRAILER

ALBUMS WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO IN '07

TESTPILOT ALBUMS of 2006

My Christmas Gift to You

BLOC PARTY Video Podcast

TRANSFORMERS TRAILER IS OUT!!!

REIGN OVER ME

NEW 300 TRAILER

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE on SNL

TESTPILOT JAMS of 2006

Christmas Movies

NEW CYHSY TRACKS

NEW BLOC PARTY VIDEO: The Prayer

the TEST PILOT HOLIDAY MIX 2006

JAY Z and CLIPSE

UPDATE

NEWS: Bloc Party Drummer Suffers Collapsed Lung

The GOOD, the BAD and the QUEEN

NEW SPIDERMAN 3 TRAILER

COLOUR REVOLT

EZ ARCHIVE UPDATES

BECK on SNL

DAMIEN RICE - stream it at AOL

HOT SINGLES

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS ...

MARIE ANTOINETTE: AND THE WINNER IS....

MARIE ANTOINETTE CONTEST!

HOWARD STERN Will Go Online Free for Two Days

COLD WAR KIDS on KCRW mp3s

Band of Horses, Pinback Do Covers for "O.C."

MARIE ANTOINETTE CONTEST!

ARCHITECTURE in HELSINKI REMIX

MARIE ANTOINETTE CONTEST!