alternative artists bands groups

Noise Pop Festival 08 Wrapping Up This Weekend with a Bang

Friday, February 29, 2008

The Noise Pop Festival 2008 in San Francisco is coming to a close this weekend after an amazingly successful run (Feb. 26-March 3, 2008).

Some of the most anticipated shows of Noise Pop are happening this weekend, including British Sea Power, The Mountain Goats, Vampire Weekend, Cursive, Gutter Twins, Holy Fuck, Tilly and the Wall and She & Him - all of which are sold out and nearly impossible to find tickets for (check Craigslist - there are plenty of RE: Wanted ticket pleas, hardly any for sale though).

In fact tickets for shows that originally sold for $15-$30 are now selling (where you can find them) for $75 and up. Check out the Noise Pop lineup, locations and show times for the remainder of the fest.

Here's a video clip from the Magnetic Fields playing "California Girls" last night - 2/28/08 - at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Notice the audience laugh at the band's dissing them, well at least the girls. The show has been sold out for weeks.



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Bamboozle Left Festival 08 Headliners My Chemical Romance, All American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World and Saves The Day

Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Bamboozle Left Festival will take place during the weekend of April 5-6, 2008 in Irvine, California. The Bam Left lineup is pretty much set, but of course new artists can be pulled or added at the last minute.

Some of the most popular indie rock and pop artists set to perform at BLF include (the following links will take you to each artist and band profiles on LastFM - see IRC's page on LastFM):

My Chemical Romance, The All-American Rejects, Billy Talent, Alkaline Trio, New Found Glory, Paramore, Finch, Reel Big Fish, Saves the Day, Anti-Flag, Armor for Sleep, The Starting Line, MxPx, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Bouncing Souls and nearly two dozen others.

If you are interested in more information about the Bamboozle Left Festival, including dates, locations and venues, check out the official Bamboozle Left Festival website.

There is also the Bamboozle Roadshow 2008 touring the U.S. and headlining groups like Saves the Day [ tickets ], Armor for Sleep [ tickets ], Set Your Goals and Metro Station.



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Bamboozle Festival 2008 Lineups, Tickets and the U.S. Roadshow

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

In the chatter and noise about Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lolla and other major festivals, it's easy for the 'other fests' of 2008 to get lost in the crowd.

Hopefully not taking their name too seriously, promoters of the Bamboozle Festival, both east and west, have finalized the lineups, dates and ticket sales information for each festival.

Jimmy Eat World, Panic at the Disco, Alesana, MXPX, Motion City Soundtrack, Phantom Planet, Bret Michaels, Academy Is..., Red Jumpsuit Apparatuas and nearly two dozen other indie artists and groups playing during the two-day Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford, New Jersey, May 3-4, 2008.

Here's the lineup, ticket details and videos from Bamboozle East Festival 2007. (Bamboozle West post coming soon)

MP3s from Bamboozle East Performers:

Jimmy Eat World - Praise a Chorus (mp3)

Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me (mp3)

Gym Class Heroes - Cupid's Chokehold (mp3)

Phantom Planet - The Happy Ending (mp3)

Here's Phantom Planet's music video for "California":


Bamboozle has a Roadshow tour traveling around the continental United States as well, but the lineup is no where close to the festivals.

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Still No Lineup for Lollapalooza 2008; Wait Game and Rumors Might Kill Ticket Sales

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

For months now, festival and music lovers, bloggers, musicians and the mainstream media have speculated, floated rumors, predicted and even made false 'confirmations' about 2008's Lollapalooza's lineup. Rumored artists include Black Lips, Bloc Party and MGMT.

Bottom line: There has not been one artist or group confirmed for the Chicago-based festival in 2008 by Lollapalooza organizers.

Apparently, part of the reason for the delay is to keep 'the buzz' going to help sell tickets (when they go on sale) and to try to drown out all the chatter surrounding many other music festivals this year, two of which are new festivals for 2008: Rothbury (more on that later) and Coachella East (aka APW).

Radiohead will headline two of the three nights of Coachella East, so that should be amazing. The fest is being held Aug. 8-10, 2008 at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey.

It is very possible that Lolla organizers' delay in announcing a lineup could ultimately kill ticket sales, so if the delay is to keep fest goers in suspense to sell more tickets, that strategy may just end up doing the opposite.

Closer Look at Lolla

In 2004, the Lollapalooza music festival tour was canceled due to low ticket sales. Since then, the fest has stopped touring and landed in Chicago for an annual festival.

While Lollapalooza 2007 was considered a come-back of sorts, organizers of the event must be nervous about ticket sales for 2008. What they seem to fail to realize is that the sooner they announce the lineup and ticket sales, music lovers around the country - and world - can start making their plans to go.

On the other hand, and this is not hypothesizing, waiting much longer than the end of February to announce the lineup - or even a headliner tease - means that many people will either make plans to go to another music festival (some already have), or just forget it altogether (others have already done this).

Nevertheless, the rumors and speculation continue (when the lineup is announced, it will be published here first).

You can also check out more about the Lolla fest 08 and sign up to get the latest news, plus artist profiles, tour schedules, MP3s, articles and more from artists and groups playing at music festivals in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Europe and around the world.


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Artist of the Week: Vicious Vicious (Well Not Really, But Dang Good Music)

Sunday, February 24, 2008

With a new album out and an eclectic and exciting discography behind them - albeit it's only a few dozen songs over six years - IRC's artist of the week is Minneapolis band Vicious Vicious. (photo above: the band looking really vicious.)

Originally a solo project and moniker of musician Erik Applewick, who recorded a set of songs on a four-track 2002 self released album titled Blood and Clover, Vicious Vicious sparked a passionate reaction from their hometown Minneapolis indie community, thanks to the additions of band members Darren Jackson, Alex Oa, and Martin Dosh, who helped provide the musical talent that made Applewick's songs even more impossible to ignore.

Since then, Vicious Vicious, an unlikely name for a band that is about as vicious as a poodle, has released only two additional albums. Nevertheless, the wait paid off with each release demonstrating a maturing, exciting and eclectic mix of pop, funk, psychedelic and rock influences that essentially make the band's sound stand out among so many other indie groups that are praised but really aren't half as good as Vicious Vicious are.

Parade was released in September of 2007 to rave reviews - even making the 2007 best album lists of many popular blogs and music sites.

You can stream many of the songs from Parade, and their other releases, on the band's official website. Don't be surprised if you find yourself listening to the entire stream of songs more than once - they are just that good.

Vicious Vicious first caught the attention of the indie underground fan base and bloggers in a significant way with the release of their 2005 album Don't Look So Surprised, which contains a number of memorable songs, not the least being the catchy, 'play that again' song "2 Much Time on My Hands" (not a cover of the 70's band Styx's song by the same name).

Vicious Vicious - 2 Much Time on My Hands

Since the release of their latest album Parade in September 2007, songs like "Rain Parade", "Ho Baby" and other well-produced indie pop songs have increased the band's popularity.

According to Vicious Vicious' official website, Applewick and the others are working on new material for yet another album to possibly be released in 2008. Let's hope so, because these guys are on a serious roll.


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Vineyard Fest Was Coachella'd for All Points West Festival

Friday, February 22, 2008


The organizers of Coachella, Goldenvoice/AEG Live, announced a few weeks ago the formation of a new east coast major music festival, dubbed “Coachella East”.

The festival, now officially the All Points West Festival (Aug. 8-10), just released the lineup - including Radiohead , Underworld, Cat Power, Jack Johnson, Black Kids, CSS, Animal Collective (shown below), Andrew Bird, Metric, The Go! Team, Rodrigo Y Gabriel, The New Pornographers, Kings of Leon and many others.

Animal Collective - Fireworks

Jack Johnson - Flake

Andrew Bird -
Dark Matter

Kings of Leon -
Knocked Up

(Notice a theme in the song selection? Subscribe to the IRC Feed, use the Comments section to guess the theme and win a chance to win free iTunes downloads!)

Some festival fans in the New York City metro area (which includes the venue location of Jersey City - just across the river from lower Manhattan - with amazing views of the city and Statue of Liberty) are calling a coup of the historically annual Vineyard Festival.

Vineyard has been cancelled because it was Coachella’d from Liberty State Park (photo; bottom left) until 2009.

From a money-making and fan-demand perspective, it only makes sense to create a “Coachella East” based on the enormous success of the famous west coast, three-day outdoor camping Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the desert of Indio, California (read the latest on Coachella lineup, tickets and breaking news), which has attracted some of the biggest names of indie and mainstream rock for the past half decade.

Apparently, the announcement of 'Coachella East' by Goldenvoice/AEG Live effectively forced Vineyard promoters Festival Republic and C3 Productions (who also produce Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Glastonbury and others) to cancel the Vineyard Music Festival for 2008.

Perhaps more telling is the fact that 'Coachella East' was in the works for months now, and through the online rumor mill was scheduled a couple of months ago – deliberately or not – on the very same dates as Vineyard, August 8 to August 10.

Among many speculators, Rolling Stone magazine recently reported - incorrectly - the dates of the Vineyard Music Festival, or 'Coachella East' would be August 10-12, 2008.

"We had to get our egos in check and say, 'Let's do [sic] the smart decision, get off these dates and go for an isolated (date) so we can build this thing without having to look over our shoulders,"' C3 partner Charles Attal said.

"We don't want to be compared to all the other festivals and who's playing where. We want to build this thing right, organically from the ground up."

Organically? Ticket prices for a single day pass are $89 a pop. Three-day passes sell at a hefty $258, plus Ticketmaster's ridiculous fees (but they are the sole distributor of the tickets; Coachella organizers, along with Goldenvoice/AEG Live, must have a deal with Ticketmaster on both coasts it appears.

While the tickets don't go on sale until Feb. 29 at noon EST, the following fees have been added to tickets for Coachella West (not including the $55 camping fee):

Convenience charge: $22.20
Building facility charge: $12.00

(These do not include whatever other fees, such as delivery and such, are added when tickets go on sale. Note: Opt for the $2.50 online tickets to print when you want).

Flashback: Thank goodness to Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam (photo; bottom, right) for taking a stand against Ticketmaster's exorbitant fees and services charges more than a decade ago, even though they knew it would mean losing millions of dollars. Now that's putting your money where your mouth is.

Check out this rare 2003 RS interview in which Vedder talks for the first time in a long time about the Ticketmaster fight that left some fans bitter and caused others to entrench deeper with the band).



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Radiohead Will Headline Two Nights at All Points West Fest, "Coachella East"

For the first time in major music festival history, one band - the iconic Radiohead - will headline two of the three nights of the All Points West Festival, commonly referred to as APW and "Coachella East".

Get the full story (released on 2/21), plus the full lineup, ticket sale dates and prices, transportation and the whole skinny at a new site ironically called CoachellaEast.com.

+ Radiohead - House of Cards


+ Radiohead - Videotape (Mojib Remix)


Radiohead 2008 Tour Dates:

05-05 West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre
05-06 Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre
05-08 Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre
05-09 Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
05-11 Bristow, VA - Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge
05-14 St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
05-17 Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
05-18 Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center
06-06 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide
06-07 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide
06-09 Paris, France - Bercy
06-10 Paris, France - Bercy
06-12 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum
06-14 Nimes, France - Arenes
06-15 Nimes, France - Arenes
06-17 Milan, Italy - Civica Arena
06-18 Milan, Italy - Civica Arena
06-20 Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany - Southside Festival
06-22 Scheeßel, Germany - Hurricane Festival
06-24 London, England - Victoria Park
06-25 London, England - Victoria Park
06-27 Glasgow, Scotland - Glasgow Green
06-29 Manchester, England - Lancashire County Cricket Club
07-01 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Westerpark
07-03 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-04-05 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-06 Arras, France - Main Square Festival
07-08 Berlin, Germany - Wuhlheide


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Tokyo Police Club On Tour to Promote Second Album Due Out April 22 on Saddlecreek Records

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

One of the notable indie label Saddlecreek Record's (home to Bright Eyes, Two Gallants, The Faint) hottest artists right now is the Toronto band Tokyo Police Club.

The band's 2006 debut album, A Lesson in Crime, was well received by music critics and indie rock bloggers. The album was so popular that it has nearly carried the band for the past 18 months while they have been touring and working on their sophomore release.

The new album, which the band's official website has announced will be released on April 22, is called Elephant Shell. In Europe, it will the new TPC release will be available May 5th on Memphis Industries.

Here is the reported track listing for the new album:

01 Centennial
02 In A Cave
03 Graves
04 Juno
05 Tessellate
06 Sixties Remake
07 The Harrowing Adventures Of…
08 Nursery Academy
09 Your English Is Good
10 Listen To The Math
11 The Baskervilles

TCP concert and show listings (by date, location and venue) are listed below.

Tokyo Police Club Tour Dates


03-18 - Call The Office - London, ONT
03-19 - Birdy’s Bar and Grill - Indianapolis, IN
03-20 - Jackpot Saloon - Lawrence, KS
03-22 - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, UT
03-24 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
03-25 - The Glass House - Pomona, CA
03-26 - Troubadour - Hollywood, CA
03-27 - Troubadour - Hollywood, CA
03-28 - Soma - San Diego, CA
03-29 - The Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ
03-31 - Meridian Red Room - Houston, TX
04-01 - House of Blues - Dallas, TX
04-03 - Club Downunder - Tallahassee, FL
04-04 - Studio A - Miami, FL
04-05 - Backbooth - Orlando, FL
04-08 - Exit/In - Nashville, TN
04-09 - The Spot - Cleveland, OH
04-18 - Barrymore’s Music Hall - Ottawa, ON
04-19 - Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire - Montreal, QC
04-20 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
04-21 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
04-22 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
04-24 - Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA
04-26 - Pearl Street Night Club - Northampton, MA
04-28 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA
04-29 - Black Cat - Washington, DC
04-30 - Big Orbit’s Soundlab - Buffalo, NY
05-04 - Magic Stick - Detroit, MI
05-05 - Metro - Chicago, IL
05-06 - Varsity Theatre - Minneapolis, MN
05-08 - Garrick Theatre - Winnipeg, MB
05-09 - Louis’ Pub - Saskatoon, SK
05-10 - The Warehouse - Calgary, AB
05-11 - The Warehouse - Calgary, AB
05-12 - Starlite Room - Edmonton, AB
05-16 - Plaza Club - Vancouver, BC
05-17 - Sugar Nightclub - Victoria, BC
05-18 - Neumos - Seattle, WA
05-19 - Hawthorne Theatre - Portland, OR
05-22 - Bluebird Theatre - Denver, CO
05-23 - Slowdown - Omaha, NE



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Lollapalooza 2008: Lineup Rumors Abound, First Indications from Lolla Boards and Six Months Ago

Monday, February 18, 2008

Over the next couple of days, IRC will publish complete updates on the latest news for 2008 music festivals, including Bonnaroo, SXSW, Coachella, Rothbury, Bamboozle, Sziget, Glastonbury, Austin City Limits, Virgin Festival and many others.

Next month, a comprehensive guide will be published and feature all of 2008's indie-relevant music festivals including the latest news, ticket info, line-ups, artist profiles, discussions, photos, MP3s and videos of past performances.

Lollapalooza (August 1-3, 2008) - While ticket sale dates and the line-up for Lollapalooza 2008 have yet to be announced (as of 2/26/08), rumors are flying everywhere about which artists and groups might be playing at this year's Lolllapalooza.

If the lineup is anything like last year's (see flashback to 07 below), there will be more lolla than looza.

The following artists are rumored to be set for Lollapalooza, according to the official website's board moderator sixtimes:

Rhymefest f/ Mucca Pazza
MGMT
Dierks Bentley
Bloc Party
Flogging Molly

The rumor mill seems to be favoring the following artists as headliners: The Smashing Pumpkins (not a SP reunion, so it's really Billy Corgan and the band), Radiohead (who wouldn't love that, especially since In Rainbows is crazy popular in and of itself with a whole new generation), Wilco, Bjork, The National, Tom Petty and The Police.

Rumor mongering is dangerous, so let's just say that as soon as the line-up is announced, it will be published here (got folks in the mix but they are staying mum right now).

In the meantime, let's warp back to six months go for a memory fest of 2007's killer lineup:

Headlining Lollapalooza 2007 was an eclectic mix of popular alternative, indie, rock, mainstream and electronica artists like Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Modest Mouse, Ben Harper, Muse, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Patti Smith, The Roots, Amy Winehouse, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon and others.

The headliners did not come at the expense of 'second-bill' artists and groups Tokyo Police Club, !!!, My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo, Ted Leo and Pharmacists, Snow Patrol, CSS, Annuals, Blue October and many other indie artists who rocked Grant Park.

MP3s of 2007 Lollapalooza Artists:

Daft Punk - One More Time
LCD Soundsystem -
Someone Great
Yo La Tengo -
You Can Have It All
Tokyo Police Club -
Cheer It On
Interpol -
Specialist

Where is Lollapalooza? The annual event is held in Chicago's Grant Park on the shores Lake Michigan right off the Miracle Mile. Here's a map of last year's festival grounds.

Last year, festival goers endured blistering heat and suffocating humidity (as did festival attendees at the Austin City Limits fest in Austin).

Some folks may not realize this, but it's a fact that festival organizers deliberately schedule such outdoor summer events during the 'doggiest' days of summer. Why? They sell more drinks at ridiculous prices.

Now, in fairness to event organizers, there are tremendous costs to put events like popular music festivals together. Still, don't shed a tear for the organizers, corporate sponsors and vendors, they are raking in money.

The other point is that most music festivals are attended by students - whether college age or under - who obviously have the most free time during the summer months.

Stay tuned to this site's feed for updates on Lollapalooza 2008 line-up and ticket sales dates. Coachella single-day tickets sold out in hours.

Check out the Lollapalooza tickets site.




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Valentine's Day Indie, Alternative and Rock Songs of Love with Artwork from Milk

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

This amazing illustration (above) is the work of a stunning Tucson artist simply named Milk. Her gallery of semi-avante garde artwork intricately blends elements of classic art styles with symbols of modernism that often reflect the darker and more disturbing side of love, loneliness and apparently substance abuse. Milk's art is simply memorizing, and it is no surprise that she is a favorite among indie bloggers, 'underground' artists and digital art enthusiasts. Milk rises above the sea of wanna-be artists and stakes her claim - even if it's with a pitchfork or a needle - as an accomplished, brilliant artist at a caliber worthy of being presented at trendy art galleries in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, Paris, Tokyo and London.

Now on to the playlist of Valentine's tracks. For a number of years, I have been building numerous playlists categorized from alt country to world music, and every other possible category/theme in between - punk/hardrock; feel good; interstate; bad girls; acoustic; live; dark; pop, etc.

Most of the playlists published on IRC feature indie and alternative rock artists and bands. In December, IRC ran an extremely popular series of alternative Christmas song playlists, so it makes sense to do the same for Valentine's Day weekend 2008.

The following tracks recall 'first times', relationships, break-ups, broken hearts, jealousy, longing and everything else that falls under the umbrella of love - or, if you will, "lovabyes".

Lovabyes is a play on words of course - well more like a made-up word - meant to represent the highs and lows of love without being too cynical. You may have not heard many of the songs on this playlist, and if you have, you really know your indie, alternative, rock and pop music.

Watch out for many more upcoming playlists, including the upcoming "They Stood Up" - a collection of indie and alt songs to pay tribute to Black History Month, Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama and countless others who have fought for what is right, just and moral.

Now, for the love of music and the music of love, IRC presents:

Indie Love Songs 2008, Playlist I

Bright Eyes - I Will Be Grateful For This Day

Lucky Souls (website) - Add Your Light To Mine, Baby

Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken

Broken Social Scene - Lover's Spit

Bill Richinni - Angela

Architecture in Helsinki - Heart It Races

The Clientele - I Hope I Know You

Jens Lekman - And I Remember Every Kiss
(photo, bottom left)

Josh Rouse - It Looks Like Love

Beirut - Postcards From Italy


Add the Feed Me Indie feed to get Indie Love Songs II and many more playlists throughout 2008.

Other recent posts:
- Cat Power's new release Jukebox, MP3s and concert tour
- Bonnaroo music festival, line-up and tickets
- The low-down on Coachella: Tickets, line-up, maps, camping

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Cat Power's Newest Release "Jukebox", MP3s, Concert Dates and Videos

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Have Cat Power fans been let down by the band’s newest release, Jukebox? Some have been, but the honest music critic has to appreciate the bold step, especially since, in my opinion, the final result is that it's another step-up in the career of the mysterious Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power).

For starters, Jukebox, officially released on Jan. 28, 2008, is a bland title for such an inspiration work, but it makes sense in the end because the tracks represent a cross-section and blend of music genres from blues to jazz and soul to country.

The feel of the album is much more like a tour de musique of Americana than the hauntingly anguished sound that made Chan (pronounced "Shawn") so beloved in the alternative and indie music community. Moreso, Jukebox demonstrates Chan's maturation musically, lyrically and spiritually.

With a set of songs ready to go, Chan marshaled together some of the finest musicians in soul, blues, jazz and country music, coralling folks like Jim White, drummer for The Dirty Dozen, Matt Sweeney of Chavez, Judah Bauer of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, members of the Dirty Delta Blues Band, and others.

The biggest question of all may have been answered when Gregg Foreman, who played piano and organ on Jukebox with Chan, and is currently on tour with Cat Power, was asked by the Philadelphia City Paper to shed some light on the “grittiness” of the sound on Jukebox compared to their previous works.

Foreman acknowledged a shift in sound from the brilliant release MoonPix - an album filled with hearting-wrenching, melancholic songs of failed love - and put it this way:

Yeah, well, we've had a few complaints from fans that want to hear [more of the sound found on Moon Pix]…It'll take time.”
As for Chan’s feelings about the “new” sound, Foreman said:

“She's happy. There hasn't been one show where she's left the stage. She's smiling. The "old sad Chan" is nowhere to be found. And this album's the biggest-selling CD in Matador history. She's blessed.”

Download, listen and upload to any MP3 player the following free and legal MP3s off of Jukebox, curiousity of the great Matador Records:


MP3: Cat Power – "Song to Bobby"
MP3: Cat Power – "Metal Heart"

- Cat Power's official website (I think this is the official site)
- Matador Record's Cat Power profile
- All Music Guide's profile of Cat Power

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Bonnaroo Announces Line-up of Artists and Ticket Sale Date

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

There is so much music festival news coming out right now that it's like trying to watch three horses races at once.

To some people it may seem early in the year to be planning for summer rock festivals, but just the opposite is true. This is the time.

In the case of the south's popular Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, plenty of music fest fans have been holding their breath waiting for ticket and artist line-up news. Bonnaroo 2008 has been set to take place June 12-15.

Breaking now: Bonnaroo tickets are set to go on sale Feb. 19, 2008 at 10 a.m. EST and the first list of confirmed artists has just been issued.

Someone should write a song to this next block of text (the challenge is on) and put it on YouTube or wherever.

Anyways, artists from the official line-up that are linked are artists that have been featured on this blog and those in bold print are artists I like and plan to write about soon. Regretably, I must admit, like any music blogger, there are probably excellent artists in the line-up that I have yet to discover.

Artists listed in bold are artists and groups that will be featured in the weeks to come.



Official Bonnaroo Fest line-up (no times yet)

Pearl Jam, Metallica, Jack Johnson, Kanye West, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Phil Lesh & Friends, My Morning Jacket, The Allman Brothers Band, The Raconteurs, Willie Nelson, Death Cab for Cutie, B.B. King, Sigur Rós , Levon Helm and the Ramble on the Road, Ben Folds, O.A.R., The Bluegrass Allstars Feat. Luke Bulla, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Bryan Sutton, M.I.A., Umphrey's McGee, Iron & Wine, Yonder Mountain String Band, Swell Season, Talib Kweli, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi’s Soul Stew Revival, Gogol Bordello, Broken Social Scene (pictured at right), Robert Randolph’s Revival, Rilo Kiley, Mastodon, Lupe Fiasco, Against Me!, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Pat Green, Ozomatli, Tegan & Sara

Solomon Burke, Drive-By Truckers, !!!, The Avett Brothers, Israel Vibration, Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck, Larry Campbell, Jackie Greene, Aimee Mann, Ladytron, The Fiery Furnaces, Orchestra Baobab, Ghostland Observatory, José González, Dark Star Orchestra, Minus the Bear, Donavon Frankenreiter, State Radio, Battles, Jakob Dylan, Two Gallants, The Sword, Vampire Weekend, Little Feat, Nicole Atkins, The Felice Brothers, Mason Jennings, MGMT, The Lee Boys, Black Kids, Serena Ryder, Steel Train, Grupo Fantasma, Back Door Slam.

The folks at Bonnaroo have yet to release the schedule, times and stages for where and when the artists will be playing, but stay tuned and the details will be posted as soon as they are available.

During the next few months, there will be more profiles published of artists appearing at various festivals around the world in 2008.

The following MP3s are from three indie outfits scheduled to place this year:

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Iron & Wine - Boy With A Coin

Ladytron - AMTV

IRC MP3 Policy: All MP3s are for evaluation and to help promote the artists. MP3s featured on this site are the property of their owner. If any musicians or labels want a particular MP3 removed, please contact me and it will be done immediately.

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The Low-Down on Coachella: Tickets, Maps and Where To Sleep

When single-day tickets for Coachella 2008 went on sale two weeks ago, they were gone in a matter of hours.

But there's hope, if you're willing to throw it down.

For folks only interested in single-day tickets, competitive bidding is underway on eBay, and for sale on Craigslist. Of course you can expect people to hold out in posting for sale their tickets until closer to the festival opening day (April 24).

Even in a recession, people will decide to go at the last minute and shell out for the so-called 'once-in-a-lifetime' experience of Coachella (even though logic says it'll be around for years to come).

If you simply cannot find, or do not want to pay the inflated prices for single tickets, I strongly recommend getting a three-day pass now before they sell out. It is a pisser that the three-day passes are a ridiculous $269 each.

Nevertheless, once they are gone for the official price, they will be much more valuable in the next couple of months.

Also, when you are buying the three-day pass from the official website, you have the option to add the flat fee of $55 for a three-day camp site, if they are still available. Campsites, because they are reasonably priced (but have many restrictions and security), also usually sell out quickly.

MP3s of Artists Performing at Coachella 2008:

Portishead - "Kissing The Day"
My Morning Jacket - "Strangulation"
Animal Collective - "Bees"

A big part for this is because the average hotel room in the area, if you can find one at this point goes for almost $300 a night right now. As the scalpers do, hotels will take advantage of 'last minuters' and block out a set of rooms so that in the days leading up to the opening of the festival they can sell them for twice as much.

Here's Coachella 2008's complete line-up of confirmed artists. Check out the line-up, dates and poster.

Head's up: Rooms in the Indio area are almost gone. See map of town with accommodations listed and a map of the region.

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Best 2007 Music Videos: Arcade Fire Performs in Elevator and Crowd of Fans

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

As one of the most popular new bands to hit the music scene in the past few years - so much so that they made the cover of Time magazine - the many band members of Arcade Fire sure don't appear to act like musical super stars.

One example of this is the band's genuine nature, spontaneity and innovativeness, as the following video clearly shows.

In this 15-minute video, Arcade Fire members take their eclectic mix of instruments into an elevator (but it's not that kind of elevator music) to play "Neon Bible" and then proceed to walk out into the middle of a crowd of their fans using a megaphone and strings to pump out a sing-a-long version of "Wake Up".

If you are not an AF fan, maybe you will be after you see and hear them play the title track from their 2007 hit album, Neon Bible in a Parisian elevator. (mp3s for sampling below)



MP3s:

Arcade Fire - No Car Go

Arcade Fire - Intervention

Arcade Fire - Black Mirror (OH SNAP!! Remix)

Arcade Fire - Black Mirror (Full-Source Remix)

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Best Alternative, Indie and Rock Songs of 2007 - The List of Lists

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Despite the fact that it is somewhat pretentious and plain nutty to say that any one song was the "best song of 2007", there are still dozens of music websites, news and entertainment organizations and blogs that are relentless in their self-righteous pursuit to announce to the world '2007's best song!'

Beyond that, to assemble a top songs list in order of No.1 to No. 20, for example, is literally impossible and disingenuous, especially when anyone connected to the music world needs to listen to hundreds, if not thousands, of songs in a given year. (photo, top left: Spoon)

After weeks, and many hours, searching and reviewing a few dozen list of lists for the 'best songs' of 2007, I whittled it all down to just the best, with a deliberate effort, of course, to weed out lists that focus purely on chart-topping songs. If you're looking for Britney Spears or Carrie Underwood, you're not going to find them here.

List of Lists: The Top Songs of 2007

NPR Music - Songs of the Year - 2007's Best Music - List includes Iron and Wine, Stars, New Pornographers, The National and Lonely, Dear, the 'new' Swed pop sensation.

Gorilla vs. Bear - Favorite Songs 2007 - A great list featuring many indie artists including White Williams, Deerhoof, Brazos and Yeasayer.

Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good - Top 50 of 2007 - Popular indie blogger features top songs of 2007 from artists like Panda Bear, Bright Eyes, Beirut, LCD Soundsystem, Shout Out Louds and Cloud Cult.

BrooklynVegan - Best Music of 2007 - While some fans of this popular music blog retreated after the blogger began blatantly posting links to Amazon and iTunes (abandoning its legal and free MP3 download links to various official sites and so forth), it still offers a good view of the underground music scene as it is happening.

The Muso Blog - Best Tracks of 2007 - South African indie blogger's list features Arcade Fire, Alaska in Winter, Feist, Stars, Kid 606, Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene) and The Handsome Furs among others.

Rolling Stone - Top 100 of 2007 - RS's list includes Spoon, The White Stripes, Radiohead, Feist, Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Of Montreal and others.

IRC's on-going 'Best' and Favorite Songs of 2007

IRC's on-going 'best', or favorite, songs playlist series allows music fans to sample, download and discover some of my favorite songs from 2007.

The series, which you can easily subscribe to in any format you wish, features songs by well-known artists, popular in alternative and indie genre groups and many treasure songs by virtually unknown independent musicians - some of which may be new to you.

Easily access my favorite songs collection of 2007 using the links listed below. By the way, I do not rank the songs in the playlists; that's up for all of you to decide which are the best. Looking at the site's traffic stats, you all are gobbling them up!

- 2007 Playlist I - Includes MP3s from Arctic Monkeys, Stars, Apostle of Hustle, Broken Social Scene, Stereophonics, Tokyo Police Club, Ray Davies, The Octopus Project and many more including The Shins' magnetic "Sleeping Lessons" [mp3] remix.

- 2007 Playlist II - Listen and download notable songs from Arcade Fire, Andrew Bird, Panda Bear, Modest Mouse, Western States Motel, Starlet, All American Rejects and Rouge Wave's enchanting and memorable "Lake Michigan" [mp3].

- 2007 Playlist III - Features Of Montreal, Architecture in Helsinki, White Rabbits, Okkervil River, Beirut, Lucky Souls, The Raveonettes, St. Vincent, Oh No! Oh My!, The National, Interpol and Bright Eyes' 2007 indie classic "No One Would Riot For Less" [mp3].

More top songs of 2007 lists:

Time - Top 10 Songs of 2007

New York Post - 207 Best Songs to Download from 2007

The Rawking Refuses to Stop - Top 63 Songs of the Year

The Hype Machine - Best Tracks of 2007


Ryan's Smashing Life - Who Did It For You in 2007


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