Indie Rock Cafe - Independent alternative music blog

Popular Internet Series 'Chad Vader' May Make Cash on YouTube

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Over the last year or so, a popular spoof series loosely based on "Star Wars" protagonist villain Darth Vader's less competent brother Chad, has caused a bit of a sensation on the Internet.

The indie cartoon series, "Chad Vader", created by Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan of Madison, Wisconsin, has been viewed nearly 10 million times!! on YouTube alone since first appearing on the Internet.

The two men have made virtually no money from the millions of views of their series on YouTube, claiming to be significant contributors to the astronomical success of YouTube and its recent acquisition by Google for $1.4 billion dollars.

But now the force may be with the "Chad Vader" creators.

Last week YouTube announced it will share its advertising revenue with indie film makers like Yonda and Sloan.

The new revenue sharing could be a windfall for indie filmmakers, but YouTube is not disclosing the details of the plan and say it make not be launched for another year.

"We always wanted to make money doing these videos but we just thought that it was impossible," Yonda said.

"I think anyone who's an artist wants to be compensated for what they do," Sloan said, "It would have been nice if YouTube would have announced revenue sharing 9 million hits ago for us."

Nevertheless, Yonda said, their exposure is opening new doors, claiming the duo are "like this close to getting paid for doing a network series, a web series."

As for future "Chad Vader" episodes, the sixth episode is set to be released on Feb. 16. There's even a cameo from Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. Watch and listen to the guys comment on the upcoming episode and read letters from viewers about past episodes:

Labels: Chad Vader, Darth Vadar, Star Wars, Star Wars Spoof, YouTube, YouTube Revenue Sharing

The Police Add More Dates to North American Reunion Tour

The reunion of The Police, who were definitely trail blazers in the post punk rock era of the late 1970's and much of the 1980's, has millions of fans around the world waiting for the first moment to grab tickets. Stay tune for more new on pre-order ticket sales for The Police concerts. I'm on it!

There are all kinds of dates swirling around the Internet, but this is the official, most updated Police reunion tour concert listing:

5/28, Vancouver, British Columbia (GM Place)
6/6, Seattle, WA (Key Arena)
6/9, Denver, CO (Pepsi Center)
6/15, Las Vegas, NV (MGM Grand Garden Arena)
6/16, Manchester, TN (Bonnaroo Festival) *
6/18, Phoenix, AZ (US Airways Center)
6/26, Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center)
6/30, New Orleans, LA (New Orleans Arena)
7/2, St. Louis, MO (Scottrade Center)
7/22, Toronto, Ontario (Air Canada Centre)
7/25, Montreal, Ontario (Bell Centre) *
7/28, Boston, MA (Fenway Park)
8/1, New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)
8/3, New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)

Fans in the Bay Area of California are blogging like crazy trying to find out why there are no concert dates for Northern California. According to the band's publicist, Bay Area concert dates will be announced soon.

As for me, I'm flying home to Massachusetts to see the band play Fenway Park (if my dreams come true).

While they may not have exactly performed at their best at the Grammys, drummer Stewart Copeland said they needed to rehearse more. Well, yeah, after 24 years!

Labels: Police Concerts, Police Tickets, Rock Concerts, The Police, The Police Reunion Tour

Surf's Up in Santa Cruz

Friday, February 09, 2007

Surf's Up in Santa Cruz, California everyone. This post is mostly for some friends that wanted to see some groovy surfing, but why not let anyone watch.

This was filmed Jan. 24 at the world-famous Steamer's Lane in Santa Cruz with the return of the monarchs and the migration of tens of thousands of grey whales. You'll hear the woofing of seal lions in the distance as well.

Enjoy

Labels: Beach, Santa Cruz, Steamer's Lane, Surf, Surf Videos, Surfing, Surfing Videos, Waves

Fall Out Boy Kicks Off New Album Release on Letterman

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Fall Out Boy rocked the David Letterman Show Monday night (video below) to launch a series of appearances in coming weeks to promote their new CD Infinity on High, officially released Feb. 6.

A couple of weeks ago, the band and its label, Island Records, were reeling after FOB's new album was leaked on the Internet by an unknown source.

In response, the band posted a video and audio sample of the single "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race".

span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">But the label has a different approach to counteract the breach (record labels nowadays are suffering because of the Internet and are fighting tooth and nail to regain control and make music less able to be copied and distributed online illegally).

To sweeten the deal and attract fans to buy the new CD, rather than download it by some other means, the label has added a previously unreleased live EP performance of the band's new CD.

Rumors ran rampant on message boards over the past weekend that the new album would be released today on Jan. 30. But the band's singer and bassist Peter Wentz dispelled those rumors, telling MTV News International in London the album will not be officially released until Feb. 6.

[Subscribers: Make sure to check the IRC website at http://indierockcafe.com/ to gain access to special MP3s, streams and videos which are sometimes added to stories after they have gone out on the wires.]

Not a free IRC subscriber? Click here to add IRC's feed to your newsreader.

Labels: Best Indie Artists, Fall Out Boy, Fall Out Boy Concerts, Fall Out Boy Tickets, Fall Out Boy Videos, Peter Wentz

Stream Bloc Party's New CD Out Tuesday, New Tour Dates

Monday, February 05, 2007

Bloc Party's new CD, A Weekend in the City, won't be in the stores until Tuesday (Feb. 6), but you can stream the entire album on the band's MySpace site right now.

In addition, each track has been listed individually so you can pick and choose. Most full album streams play the full album in one big chunk, not list every individual track.

Therefore, Bloc Party may be setting a new trend here in online exclusives.

Also, we're still looking out for concert updates from Bloc Party.

Here is there current tour schedule as of Feb. 4:

Feb 5 2007 8:00P Reading Hexagon Reading
Feb 6 2007 8:00P Cardiff University Cardiff
Feb 7 2007 8:00P Carling Academy Bristol Bristol
Feb 9 2007 8:00P Exeter University Exeter
Feb 10 2007 8:00P Birmingham Academy Birmingham
Feb 11 2007 8:00P Rock City Nottingham
Feb 13 2007 8:00P Corn Exchange Cambridge
Feb 14 2007 8:00P Manchester Academy Manchester
Feb 16 2007 8:00P Dublin Ambassador Theatre Dublin
Feb 17 2007 8:00P Glasgow Barrowland Glasgow
Feb 18 2007 8:00P Aberdeen Music Hall Aberdeen
Feb 20 2007 8:00P Edinburgh Corn Exchange Edinburgh
Feb 21 2007 8:00P Newcastle Academy Newcastle
Feb 22 2007 8:00P Sheffield Octagon Sheffield
Mar 11 2007 8:00P Paramount Theatre Seattle, Virginia
Mar 12 2007 8:00P Orpheum Theatre Vancouver, Alberta
Mar 13 2007 8:00P Crystal Ballroom Portland, Oklahoma
Mar 15 2007 8:00P SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 17 2007 8:00P Concourse Exhibition San Francisco, Arkansas
Mar 19 2007 8:00P The Wiltern Los Angeles, Arkansas
Mar 20 2007 7:30P The Wiltern Los Angeles, Arkansas
Mar 23 2007 8:00P Congress Theatre Chicago, Illinois
Mar 24 2007 8:00P Royal Oak Theatre Detroit, Michigan
Mar 25 2007 8:00P Kool Haus Toronto, Ontario
Mar 27 2007 8:00P Metropolis Montreal, Quebec
Mar 28 2007 8:00P Orpheum Theatre Boston, Massachusetts
Mar 30 2007 8:00P United Palace Theatre New York, New York
Mar 31 2007 8:00P United Palace Theatre New York, New York

These dates have just been added (don't have the concert time yet) but do not yet appear on the band's official website (for whatever reason).

April 4 2007 - Bourges Festival
April 23 2007 - Nantes Le Carriere
April 24 2007 - Lille Aeronef
April 25 2007 - Brussels AB
April 27 2007 - Paris Olympic
April 28 2007 - Utrecht Music Centre
April 30 2007 - Copenhagen Vega
May 1 2007 - Stockholm Cirkus
May 2 2007 - Oslo Sentrum Scene
May 4 2007 - Berlin Columbiahalle
May 5 2007 - Vienna Gasometer
May 6 2007 - Dresden Schlachthof
May 8 2007 - Cologne E-Werk
May 9 2007 - Munich Tonhalle
May 10 2007 - Lausanne Metropole
May 12 2007 - Bologna Estragon
May 13 2007 - Milan Alcatraz
May 14 2007 - Lyon Transbordeur
May 15 2007 - Barcelona Razzmatazz
May 17 2007 - Madrid Riviera
May 18 2007 - Lisbon Coleseum

Labels: A Weekend in the City, Best Indie Artists, Bloc Party, Bloc Party Concerts, Bloc Party Tour Dates, Indie Bands

Broken Social Scene Score a Bunch of Films

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Some members of the many revolving members of Broken Social Scene took a break last fall from touring to work on other projects.

Now the fruits of their labor are all over the indie film scene of early 2007.

The projects include composing the score for the upcoming indie film The Tracey Fragments, which will debut at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival on February 8.

The film's main character, Tracy Berkowitz (played by Ellen Page) searches for her brother who thinks he is a dog. The film is based on the acclaimed novel by Vancouver author Maureen Medved.

This is the band's third score for the year. Their work has also appeared in Bruce McDonald's film The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess, on the Wicker Park soundtrack and for Clement Virgo's film Lie With Me and the upcoming film Snow Cake, which is already receiving critical acclaim.

In addition, they scored the indie film Half Nelson starring Ryan Gosling as an inner city teacher with a drug addiction.

Gosling, who joined Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake in the early 1990's as Mouseketeers, is an Academy Award winner and has also appeared in movies like The Slaughter Rule, Murder by Numbers, Remember the Titans, The United States of Leland, The Notebook, and The Believer.

Other stuff to check out for BSS:

K.C. Accidental mp3
Lover's Spit mp3
Compilation of tour videos over the past three years.
BSS official website

Video of BSS playing "7/4 Shoreline"

Labels: Berlin International Film Festival, Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene Film Scores, Snow Cake, The Notebook

Live

stream:
NPR Session (Live) - Band of Horses

Newest

mp3:
Too Drunk To Dream - Magnetic Fields

Classics

album:
Parachutes - by Coldplay

2008 Music Festivals

- Coachella
- Glastonbury
- Lollapalooza
- Bonnaroo Festival

more festival news »

Arctic Monkeys - Rare Christmas Booklet

During Arctic Monkeys' 12-show, sold-out U.K. tour last December, Big Issue magazine handed out a limited Christmas edition that included a ten-page spread featuring mainly of photos of the group taken during their 2007 world tour.

see it here»

New Release of the Week
listen to all the tracks at EMI

Hot Chip: Made in the Dark

MP3: Ready For The Floor

IRC on LastFM

Listen now to IRC's recently played songs, song recommendations, top playlists and see who's listening to IRC right now.

Essential Music Tools

Comprehensive resource of music, MP3, recording, audio and social networking links, plus promotional and other resources to help musicians and bands get exposure on the Internet.

check it out... »

Popular Indie Blogs

Links

Previous Posts

Arctic Monkeys - Rare Christmas Booklet

Essential Music Tools

Featured Links

Digging the Archives

Archives