Message from Josh Homme, 2010 Record Store Day Ambassador

This is What All CD Packaging Should Look Like

New Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in a cool, cardboard slipcase with a pullout sleeve for the CD and a poster/lyric sheet. Packaged like an album. Very cool.

Under the Radar: Fang Island

Pitchfork just gave them a Best New Music rating, a solid 8.3. Here is part of their write up:

Brooklyn's Fang Island describe their aesthetic as "everyone high-fiving everyone." So it's appropriate that the band's website features a video of them jamming out with kindergartners and another with Andrew WK-- people so caught up in having a good time that you sometimes wonder if they're bullshitting you. What helps Fang Island steamroll past cynicism is how "fun" isn't just an ornament for them, it's embedded in the band's musical DNA.

Fang Island's self-titled second album is joyous despite its general lack of verses or choruses. It's fractured like any post-punk record while also speaking the language of classic rock, yet often feels like an intricate collage pieced together from elements that make songs memorable-- palm-muted power chords following wide-open intros, blistering solos, double-time outros. Pretty much all of that is crammed into the deleriously infectious "Daisy", an emphatic crossbreed of the Go! Team and the Promise Ring's "Is This Thing On?" The dance routine in the song's video feels like the only natural reaction to hearing it.

Album out now on Sargent House thru Redeye.

Under the Radar: Acrassicauda

Acrassicauda is an Iraqi thrash metal band formed in 2001. They are often credited as being the first heavy metal group to emerge from Iraq. They became well known outside of the local Iraqi metal scene after Vice magazine did a profile of them. They received even greater coverage when they were profiled in a feature length documentary about the band and their troubles in Iraq called, Heavy Metal in Baghdad.

Fun fact: Acrassicauda (the scientific name for black scorpion).

Only The Dead See The End Of The War EP out now on Vice Records

Under the Radar: Zeus

Zeus was born from the musical friendship of Mike O'Brien and Carlin Nicholson. The two Toronto-based musicians have been living on the road for the past few years as the backing band for singer/songwriter and Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett. With a lineup rounded out by longtime friends and musical compatriots Rob Drake and Neil Quin, Zeus draws upon classic influences to craft timeless songs, complete with fuzzed out guitars and shimmering harmonies. As astute students of the history of rock n' roll and purveyors of a sound that cross-references the British Invasion with `70s southern U.S. rock, these producer extraordinaires create powerful and infectious music and do so as though it's an entirely natural process.

CD & LP out now on Arts & Crafts.

Under the Radar: The Heart is a Drum Machine DVD

The movie was made by the same folks who created the quirky, popular 2006 doc Moog, and features a long list of musicians and actors, including Wayne Coyne, Jason Schwartzman, Elijah Wood, Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT, Britt Daniel of Spoon, Juliette Lewis, John Frusciante, Maynard James Keenan, etc. The original score was created by The Flaming Lips' Steven Drozd.

DVD out now.

Wired Magazine review here:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/03/review-heart-is-a-drum-machine/

Cool Article About 6 Record Stores in Seattle.

MATT VAUGHAN AT EASY STREET WEST SEATTLE “The days of ordering 1,000 copies of a Modest Mouse CD… are over.”

Are We in a Music Retailspin? An Interview with Six Seattle Record Store Heads on How Their Stores are Surviving: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/are-we-in-a-music-retailspin/Content?oid=3581853

OK Go Leaving Capitol Records

Courtesty of LAtimes.com:

On Feb. 20, Damian Kulash of OK Go published an op-ed piece in the New York Times expressing annoyance at his label, Capitol/EMI, that his band’s wildly popular videos are forbidden from being embedded on sites other than YouTube. He’s not going to have that problem in the future -- the band officially announced today that it's parted ways with Capitol to go it alone on its own label.

“Major labels are facing a difficult future,” Kulash told Pop & Hiss. “The conditions we were signed under have passed, and we were likely to wind up funding ourselves anyway. I just didn’t think we were going to be able to do this so quickly. I don’t feel bilious about it. They’re not bad people at Capitol. They’re really doing us a favor.”

Kulash stressed that there was no tension between band and label over the op-ed piece. He said that OK Go had been more or less seriously planning to leave Capitol for months, and that the New York Times just happened to schedule his piece at a moment when the band had begun earnestly pursuing a dissolution of its contract. His list of difficulties with the label was more prosaic -- slashed budgets for the band’s much-beloved videos, less tour support and small, infuriating gestures such as unembeddable videos. (A representative for EMI was unable to comment yet.)

“All the people we worked with at the label wanted to see our videos embeddable. They aren’t morons,” Kulash said. “That was just a decision that made its way down the chain. Now, it’s just having one less useless cook in the kitchen.”
The band has a new album, “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky,” to promote, and OK Go's members admit that the burden of self-financing is simultaneously liberating and daunting. But they feel that the goodwill they’ve built up from their videos and constant touring will be enough to carry them forward.

“We’re one of the small percentage of bands that are actually fiscally solvent,” Kulash said. “The issue is just start-up capital; the business is already running well. A larger business like Capitol needs to aggregate its risk, and while we’re sorry not to have access to their pockets, they were only really available to the biggest acts anyways, and we’re not Coldplay.”
The band will release new material through its own new label, Paracadute, and the group's marketing savvy (the band’s embeddable clip for “This Too Shall Pass” pulled more than 6 million views in its first week online) makes it as likely a candidate as any to survive as a self-sustaining act. But Kulash also has a creeping fear that the new necessity for business savvy among young artists might distort the question of who gets to make art.

“We only want to understand the logistics of the record business as long as it keeps us afloat creatively,” Kulash said. “Whenever I read music business magazines or blogs, I get nauseous. With the op-eds, we’re usually just chugging along as band, and when something gets in the way, I’ll say, ‘This counters common sense’ and write about it. But my great fear now is that if every musician is their own business, we’ll be self-selective towards very calculating musicians. I don’t think that being a clear thinker and being a great musician are mutually exclusive, but that’s not historically the trend."

-- August Brown

Band of Horses "Infinite Arms" Due Out May 18th

Animal Collective DVD Due Out June 29th

Details courtesy of Pitchfork.com:

You have until June 29 to get yourself some really comfortable floor pillows. That's when the DVD version of ODDSAC, the new movie (or, if you prefer, "visual album") from Animal Collective and frequent collaborator Danny Perez, will be released.

The DVD will include some bonus content besides just the film, though we don't yet know what that bonus content will be. In the meantime, the film will screen in various cities around the U.S. during the month of March, with Perez and members of the band on hand at all screenings. Check below for the list of screenings, and for the film's freaked-out trailer.

Meanwhile, Animal Collective and Perez teamed up to take over New York's Guggenheim Museum last week. We've got a bunch of photos of the big event here. Oh, and A.C. member Panda Bear is totally playing the Pitchfork Music Festival.

ODDSAC screenings:

03-17 Chicago IL - Music Box Theatre
03-20 Minneapolis MN - The Cedar
03-22 Los Angeles CA - ArcLight Cinerama Dome
03-25 San Francisco CA - Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
03-29 Portland OR - Cinema 21
03-30 Seattle WA - The Egyptian Theatre

Record Store Day 2010 Titles

Record Store Day Titles 2010 (probably something or somethings on this list won't end up being released but here is the most exhaustive, up to date list I've found so far):

Beach House “Zebra” 12”

The Album Leaf “There Is a Wind” 12”

Dum Dum Girls/ Male Bonding 7”

Happy Birthday “Shampoo” 7”

Soundgarden “Hunted Down” 7” Reissue

CocoRosie “Lemonade” 7”

SP20: Casual Nostalgia Fest CD

telekenesis - dirty thing 7"

superchunk -misfits & mistakes (AUTOGRAPHED) 7"

Hundred in the Hands-Undressed in Dresden 7"

Jamie Lidell-Compass 7"

Deerhoof-Apple O-LP

Deerhoof-Green Cosmos-LP

Daedelius-Righteous Fist of Harmony 12"

Bonobo-Eyesdown 12"

Josh Ritter-So Runs the World Away LP+CD

Dave Holland Octet-Pathways LP

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez-Solar Gambling LP

RX Bandits-Live at Park Avenue CD

Budos Band/Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Day Tripper/Money 7"

David Bazan-Live at Electrical Audio-LP

David Bazan-Live at Electrical Audio-CD

Menomena+Helio Sequence-Pilgrim's Progress/Converter 7"

Thermals/Cribs - split 7"

Apples in Stereo-Future Vintage Covers of the Apples in Stereo-LP (with Ted Leo, Elf Power, Maps & Atlases, more...)

let's wrestle/love language 7"

Integrity - brand new 7" w/etched B-side

This Will Destroy You "Moving on the Edges of Things" 10"

The All-American Rejects "Bad Eggs" 12"

Bouncing Souls - some record - no info yet

HOLD STEADY / HEAVEN IS WHENEVER LP 24.98

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY ( WYLDE,ZAKK ) / SKULLAGE LP 29.98

LENNON,JOHN / SINGLES BAG: 7 INCH BOXSET 7” 18.98

SEX PISTOLS / GREAT ROCK N ROLL SWINDEL LP 25.98

SICK PUPPIES / LIVE & UNPLUGGED CD 4.98

BIRD & THE BEE / INTERPRETING THE MASTERS 1: A TRIBUTE LP 17.98

GABRIEL,PETER / BOOK OF LOVE 7” 6.98

GOLDFRAPP / HEAD FIRST LP 16.98

LACUNA COIL / SHALLOW LIFE: ACOUSTIC... 7” 6.98

MARY ONETTES / NIGHT BEFORE THE FUNERAL 7” 6.98

BAEZ,JOAN / JOAN BAEZ LP 20.98

MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT / TODAY LP 20.98

FAHEY,JOHN / YELLOW PRINCESS LP 20.98

WATSON,DOC / DOC WATSON LP 20.98

GUY,BUDDY / MAN & THE BLUES LP 20.98

PLANTS & ANIMALS / LA LA LAND LP 15.98

RADIO GALAXIA / VARIOUS LP 17.98

BIRD SONGS / VARIOUS LP 15.98

CYPRESS HILL / RISE UP LP 20.98

SPRINGSTEEN,BRUCE/WRECKING BALL,GHOST OF TOM JOAD 10” 6.98

COHEED AND CAMBRIA/GUNS OF SUMMER 7” 6.98

MATTHEWS,DAVE-REYNOLDS,TIM/SQUIRM-LYING IN… 7” 3.49

PRESLEY,ELVIS/THAT’S ALL RIGHT 7” 7.98

FUN/AIM AND IGNITE 12” 29.98

GOGOL BORDELLO/WE COMIN’ ROUGHER... 7” 4.98

GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS/LEGION SESSIONS CD 6.98

DYLAN,JAKOB & COURTYARD HOUNDS/SEE YOU IN SPRING 7” 4.98

HENDRIX,JIMI/LIVE AT CLARK UNIV 1968 12” 10.98

COSTELLO,ELVIS / LIVE AT HOLLYWOOD HIGH 7” 7.98

GODSMACK / GODSMACK RECORD STORE DAY 7” 4.98

LA ROUX / BULLETPROOF: LIVE & REMIXED 7” 4.98

OWL CITY / OWL CITY RECORD STORE DAY 7” 4.98

Exclusive Record Store Day titles available, more TBA...

POTTER,GRACE & NOCTURNALS / LIVE IN SKOWHEGAN CD 6.99

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE / FEEL GOOD HIT... (PICTURE DISC) LP 15.98

REM / CHRONIC TOWN LP 15.98

SONIC YOUTH / HITS ARE FOR SQUARES LP 29.98

THEM CROOKED VULTURES / MIND ERASER...(PICTURE DISC) LP 15.98

TV ON THE RADIO / DEAR SCIENCE LP 15.98

WEEZER / WEEZER RADITUDE: HAPPY RECORD STORE DAY CD 5.98

WHITE LIES / REMIX EP CD 5.98

YEAH YEAH YEAH’S / SKELETONS 7” 4.98

PHOENIX / FENCES (X2) 12” 4.98

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS / YOUR WOMAN IS A LIVING THING... 7” 7.98

CAGE THE ELEPHANT / LIVE AT GRIMEY’S CD 6.98

JENNINGS,SHOOTER & HIEROPHANT / DON’T FEED... CD 4.98

WHITE RABBITS / ANTLERS / LIVE FROM DAYTROTTER 7” 7.98

ASTEROIDS GALAXY TOUR / FRUIT LP 16.98

KUTI,FELA / FELA KUTI (10”) 12” 14.98

INFECTED MUSHROOM / KILLING TIME (X5) 12” 6.98

JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY / SENSATION OF SEEING LIGHT 7” 7.98

JENNINGS,MASON / FINGER PRINTS: SEPTEMBER 20 2009 CD 10.98

GET UP KIDS / SIMPLE SCIENCE CD 4.98

ROYCE DA 5’9” / STREET HOP LP 19.98

DIFRANCO,ANI / LIVE AT BULL MOOSE 4-17-2009 CD 0.98

RODRIGUEZ / INNER CITY BLUES / I’M GONNA LIVE TILL I DIE 7” 6.98

DIOS / WE ARE DIOS CD 7.98

CASABLANCAS,JULIAN/11TH DIMENSION-LONG ISLAND BLUES 7” 3.49

MANCHESTER ORCH/LIVE AT PARK AVE CD 9.98

MGMT/SIBERIAN BREAKS 12” 11.98

MODEST MOUSE/MOON AND ANTARCTICA LP 29.98

HAWKINS,TAYLOR & COATTAIL RIDERS/RED LIGHT FEVER LP 19.98

PASSION PIT/LITTLE SECRETS 7” 4.98

VARIOUS ARTISTS • FRAGMENTS FROM A WORK IN PROGRESS 12” 9.98

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS • THE LIFE OF THE WORLD TO COME: DVD 18.98

ARTHUR RUSSELL • CALLING OUT OF CONTEXT LP 19.98

FUCKED UP • DAYTROTTER SESSION 7” 5.98

TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS • THE OLDEST HOUSE 7” 5.98

PAVEMENT • QUARANTINE THE PAST: THE BEST OF PAVEMENT LP 18.98

NIRVANA • IN UTERO LP (COLORED VINYL)

NIRVANA • NEVERMIND LP (COLORED VINYL)

NIRVANA • UNPLUGGED LP (COLORED VINYL)

JASON COLLETT • TO WIT TO WOO CDEP

BADLY DRAWN BOY • IS THERE NOTHING WE COULD DO? CD

Sparklehorse R.I.P.

Mark Linkous, avid collaborator and creator of four solo albums as Sparklehorse, committed suicide Saturday by shooting himself in the heart outside a friend’s home in Knoxville, Tenn. He was 47.

Under the Radar: Various Artists: Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas

'Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas: Tropicalia Psychedelic Masterpieces 1967-1976' is the title of a newly issued compilation CD containing 16 extremely rare recordings from the heyday of early heavy Brazilian rock. Released on Tropicalia in Furs Records, the collection, compiled by Joel Stones, includes what is described in a press release as "some of the rarest and best examples of fuzzy, funky Brazilian psychedelia," all of it previously un-reissued and newly remastered.

The package also includes a 36-page full-color booklet stuffed with detailed annotation (in both English and Portuguese) and vivid images. In addition, also included is an enhanced CD, 'What are Fuzz Bananas?,' a documentary on the making of the album. A vinyl two-LP gatefold edition includes a 48-page booklet and 3-D glasses. Examples of the artwork can be found here and the album in either configuration can be purchased here.

(photo is the vinyl packaging)