AltWeeklies Wire
Good Records Recordings Returns In A Big Waynew
When TVT went under and the Polyphonic Spree's 2007 release The Fragile Army was purchased by digital music label The Orchard, Tim DeLaughter and his wife Julie decided to revert things back to before they went the major-label route.
Dallas Observer |
Pete Freedman |
09-28-2009 |
Music
VIP FTW! Bands are Using VIP Packages to Give Fans More Bang for Their Bucknew
As the music industry struggles to (re)invent itself, more touring bands are tapping a new revenue source: themselves. From European cult bands to arena-size superstars, premium-package ticket deals are an increasingly popular part of the concert-business model.
Riverfront Times |
D.X. Ferris |
09-25-2009 |
Music
Texas Pickers Strum Germans to Set Recordnew
On an August afternoon hotter than Jerry Jeff Walker's temper, two extraordinary things transpired: I played two songs with 1,867 other guitar pickers to set a Guinness world record. And I rekindled a subliminal inner joy buried for years.
The Texas Observer |
Robert McCorkle |
09-23-2009 |
Music
How Trikont is Saving the World, One Compilation at a Timenew
It's safe to say that Achim Bergmann of Trikont, Germany's oldest independent record label, has an affinity for the underdog. The label's eclectic catalog has been transcending language boundaries and international borders long before "world music" became a Billboard buzzword.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Nicole Gluckstern |
09-22-2009 |
Music
Celebrating the 35th Anniversary of 'KISS Alive'new
I say to you snobs who stayed away from "the greatest live album ever re-recorded" because you were too busy, I dunno, reading books or getting indoctrinated into disco or est, here's a track-by-track re-creation of what you missed (which poses no danger for you of hearing even a single note of it).
Metro Times |
Serene Dominic |
09-22-2009 |
Music
Will Gossip Blog Notoriety Translate into Music Industry Clout for Perez Hilton?new
You could almost hear universal snickering in the music industry a few months ago when Perez Hilton announced his intention to start a label and become the next Jimmy Iovine. Now the industry watches to see what the Perezcious Music label will bring.
NOW Magazine |
Jason Keller |
09-21-2009 |
Music
Sub Pop Offshoot Hardly Art is Hardly Starvingnew
Like the now-defunct Sub Pop offshoot label Die Young Stay Pretty, Hardly Art receives financial backing from Sub Pop. But unlike DYSP, Hardly Art is determined to live to see middle age on its own dime.
Seattle Weekly |
Sara Brickner |
09-21-2009 |
Music
Why is Modest Mouse Frontman Isaac Brock Starting from Scratch With Obscure Portland Bands?new
Brock, 34, acknowledges that his new role as an indie label kingpin is a departure, though he's quick to add that he's always been interested in the business side of music.
Willamette Week |
Casey Jarman |
09-16-2009 |
Music
We Found the First Jackson Five Recording, and It's Earlier Than Anyone Thoughtnew
This was supposed to be the story of the Jackson Five's first single, cut in Chicago in 1967. But while writing it, we picked up the trail of a tape nobody knew existed: the earliest known studio recording of Michael Jackson and his brothers.
Chicago Reader |
Jake Austen |
09-14-2009 |
Music
After DJ Nights and Day-Glo, the Band-Band Makes a Comeback in Baltimorenew
This "new" breed is influenced by groups as disparate as uncompromising postpunk band Shellac, psych-pop favorite Animal Collective, and Baltimore's own art-aggro trio Double Dagger, but they don't sound like them, or, for that matter, each other. And they're churning out a sound as exciting and unbound as early Dan Deacon-in-a-warehouse -- as un-retro as the Wham City scene, but working with the DNA of far more deeply rooted music.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michael Byrne |
09-08-2009 |
Music
The 1969 Texas International Pop Festival is History's Forgotten Festivalnew
This entire summer, pop culture has been inundated with Woodstock nostalgia. But another landmark festival happened just weeks later. While Texas International Pop Festival's attendance was quite a bit smaller than Woodstock's, it was still a lot of folks, perhaps the largest public gathering in the state to date.
Houston Press |
Chris Gray |
09-08-2009 |
Music
Three Hot Nashville Acts Present a New Breed of Female Songwriternew
Those Darlins, Caitlin Rose and Tristen are songwriters who draw on decades-old traditional folk, country and pop to tell provocative tales from an unabashedly female perspective.
Nashville Scene |
Tracy Moore |
08-21-2009 |
Music
Neurosis' Scott Kelly Taps East Bay Musicians to Helm His Internet Radio Stationnew
While Kelly's numbers are nowhere near sites like Pandora, he hopes one day for the site to become profitable. For now, the show is sponsored solely by donations and Kelly's pocket. But despite the fact that the station is "just noise," as Kelly describes it, it is gaining popularity -- in the true spirit of "good ol' fashion punk rock."
East Bay Express |
Paula Lehman |
08-19-2009 |
Music
Newport Jazz Comes Back With a Bangnew
The biggest news made by the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals the past two weekends was that they happened at all.
Boston Phoenix |
Jon Garelick |
08-12-2009 |
Music
Eric 'Mean' Melin is a Real Musician, but it's Air Guitar That Might Make Him a Starnew
"Mean Melin. Mean Melin. Mean Melin," the crowd chants. They're cheering for a guy who just pretended to play guitar -- and rocked their fucking faces off. Mean Melin throws up the devil horns. He's going to the U.S. Air Guitar Championships in Washington, D.C.
