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

Camera Obscura, one of the most popular indie pop bands over the last few years, has released the dates and venues for an ambitious tour across the United States and Australia, kicking off their first show January 17 at The Earl in Atlanta.

According to their official website, there may be more dates added later.

If you get a chance to see them, IRC strongly recommends that you get your tickets early; they will sell out just about everywhere and you don't want to be dishing out double the price for concert tickets on eBay.

Meanwhile, listen to song samples and view the tour dates. You may also want to check out their official homepage, featuring streaming audio and music videos, MP3s and easy-to-use media formats, creating an interactive experience.

Listen now:

- If Looks Could Kill (official release in UK/Europe is set for Jan. 29)
- Let's Get Out of This Country - (one of the song's that got them noticed)

Note: Support the group and buy Camera Obscura music from Emusic.com or anywhere on the Internet.


TOUR DATES - January to March 2007

Jan 17 2007 8:00P	The Earl	Atlanta, Georgia
Jan 18 2007 8:00P	The Club Downunder	Talahasee, Florida
Jan 19 2007 8:00P	40 Watt Club	Athens, Georgia
Jan 20 2007 8:00P	Cat's Cradle	Carborro, North Carolina
Jan 21 2007 8:00P	Sun Satellite Ballroom	Charlottesville, Virginia
Jan 22 2007 8:00P	9:30 Club	Washington, Washington DC
Jan 24 2007 8:00P	Warsaw	Brooklyn, New York
Jan 26 2007 8:00P	Pearl Street	Northampton, Massachusetts
Jan 27 2007 8:00P	Paradise Rock Club	Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 29 2007 8:00P	La Sala Rossa	Montreal, Quebec
Jan 30 2007 8:00P	Barrymore's Music Hall	Ottawa, Ontario
Jan 31 2007 8:00P	Opera House	Toronto, Ontario
Feb 1 2007 8:00P	Blind Pig	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Feb 2 2007 8:00P	Kraftbrau Brewery	Kalamazoo, Michigan
Feb 3 2007 8:00P	Logan Square Auditorium	Chicago, Illinois
Feb 5 2007 8:00P	The Blue Note	Columbia, Missouri
Feb 8 2007 8:00P	The Bluebird Theatre	Denver, Colorado
Feb 9 2007 8:00P	The Record Bar	Kansas City, Kansas
Feb 10 2007 8:00P	Polyforum Siqueiros	Mexico City
Feb 12 2007 8:00P	Neumos	Seattle, Washington
Feb 13 2007 8:00P	Richard's On Richard's	Vancouver, British Columbia
Feb 14 2007 8:00P	Wonder Ballroom	Portland, Oregon
Feb 16 2007 8:00P	Bimbo's	San Francisco, California
Feb 17 2007 8:00P	El Ray Theatre	Los Angeles, California
Feb 22 2007 8:00P	Troubadour	Brisbane, Northern Territory
Feb 23 2007 8:00P	Laneway Festival	Melbourne, Victoria
Feb 23 2007 8:00P	Northcote Social Club	Melbourne, Western Australia
Feb 24 2007 8:00P	Laneway Festival	Melbourne
Mar 2 2007 8:00P	Perth International Arts Centre	Perth, Western Australia
Mar 3 2007 8:00P	Laneway Festival	Brisbane
Mar 4 2007 8:00P	Laneway Festival	Sydney
Mar 5 2007 8:00P	Annandale Hotel	Sydney, New South Wales

Labels: Best Indie Artists, Camera Obscura Concert Tour Dates, Indie Bands, Music Samples, Scottish Bands

The talented indie rock band Of Montreal are handing out some earlier Christmas gifts.

The five-piecehave uploaded MP3s from their upcoming record, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

The band decided to upload MP3s of songs from their yet to be released CD to their My Space page.

If that's not enough, fans can listen to a free music stream for Of Montreal's new CD album, set for release in February on Polyvinyl. The band's front man, Kevin Barnes, has also provided free MP3s of of album tracks.

Labels: i, Indie Artist/Group Profiles, Indie Bands, Indie MP3s, Of Montreal, Of Montreal MP3s, Of Montreal Music. Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer?, Of Montreal Songs

Each week, in addition to our Top 20 Indie Countdown, IRC will highlight artists that we like and want to share with the world. (We are always amazed by how many wonderful artists who make simply great music are under appreciated.)

This is the first installment of IRC's Highlighted Indie Artists of the Week series.

Note: Highlighted artists in this series are not necessarily new on the scene, and some have gone on to sign with big labels and enjoy success that some indie fans claim makes them no longer "indie" (the never-ending debate).

Nevertheless, Indie Rock Cafe endeavors to showcase the best "up and coming" artists, and those that have been around but have been under appreciated. Please leave comments or send us email about new artists.

IRC needs contributors to send artist and group profiles for this feature. Eventually you could take over this IRC service, which we'd like to become a Podcast radio show. Send an email expressing your interests for more information.

Enjoy.

The Starting Line - They are not exactly unknown, but it's hard not to get drawn in by The Starting Line's catchy, polished, high-octane pop rock songs. And there has to be something said for the dynamics of such a young band. In fact, lead singer, Ken Vasoli, was only 15 (he said at the time he was 16) when they were signed to their first record deal in 2003.

The band's sound is potentially commercial radio level - tight and well engineered, but they also offer songs that are more free and dominated by acoustic baselines, musical shifts and right-on-key choruses.

This is one of the best "indie" bands we've heard and to some their songs could easily turn up on a soundtrack for "Grey's Anatomy" or "The OC". The best comparison of their sound would be Blink 182. And still The Starting Line stands out on their own as one of the best rock/pop bands on the scene.

Related: Interesting story about the band's formation.

Check out some of the group's music.

Labels: Blink 182, Indie Artist/Group Profiles, Indie Bands, The Starting Line