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Welcome to another edition of Unsigned and Wound Up, volume 10 ladies and gents. The top three vote-getters will receive a professional review from a staff writer. The top vote-getter receives an interview feature.
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Very few can deny the 90’s yielded some of the best hip-hop trios and quartets ever. The East Coast definitely repped during the era but the West equally held it down (including Vancouver and the Pacific NW) with groups like Juno-winning, platinum-selling Swollen Members (including Prevail, Mad Child and Rob The Viking) immediately coming to mind. Weathering the storm of drug addiction, dark periods and legal issues remaining together, the group released their tenth album, Beautiful Death Machine in March. Collaborating over the years with respected heavy-hitters like Everlast, Talib Kweli, Tech N9ne, La Coka Nostra, Dilated Peoples and Saigon, they’ve cemented their places in indie hip-hop history.

I caught up with Prevail a few weeks ago to chat about the storied Swollen Members’ legacy, his solo lifestyle site venture, touring plans and crazy fan experiences potentially involving fangs. Peep the videos and check out our interview clips below! Connect with Prevail on Twitter and Facebook !

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Cold War Kids shared a special moment with a sold-out crowd at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio April 9.It’s not a band, which interacts much with the audience. But the crowd was prepared to be wowed by their heroes. And the fans were rewarded for their devotion. Cold War Kids rock hard. “Mexican Dogs,” the second song, was where the they started to cut loose.

Nathan Willett put on a good show whether he was singing vocals sans instrument, playing guitar, sitting at the piano or shaking the maracas. The new album, Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, was well represented in the set, which took a little more than an hour. Among the new songs, “Miracle Mile” was the biggest hit with the crowd. The band was entertaining throughout the night, moving about the stage effortlessly. Read more

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Founders Entertainment is thrilled to announce the lineup for the 2013 Governors Ball Music Festival. The 3rd annual edition of New York City’s marquee live music event is expanding to three days of Music, Art, and Entertainment. Held Friday June 7th through Sunday June 9th in Randall’s Island Park, the festival will feature over 60 world class performers, showcasing a wide spectrum of Dance, Indie Rock, Hip Hop, Americana, Electronica and Pop all weekend long. Only 1 day tickets are left available for purchase, the 3 day general admission have already sold out.

But now you can now enter to win a pair of general admission tickets to Governor’s Ball Fest! It’s a Facebook contest, don’t wait enter here now!

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Tilly’s is sending 5 winners to this summer’s Vans Warped Tour! Fill it out now, don’t wait–enter here now!

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As a kid on the 70’s/80’s cusp, classic rock played an integral part of my childhood. Artists like Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Free rattled from our car’s speakers crisscrossing the country on frequent road trips and their songs remain imprinted on my cerebellum permanently. Nerdily scoping the regular late night show music schedule in Los Angeles (like I am prone to do) to see who’d be coming soon, I stumbled upon Rival Sons playing Jimmy Kimmel and gravitated to their latest album Head Down along with their previous one, Pressure and Time with songs like pointed “Burn Down Los Angeles” and sorrowful “Jordan” that now stay on repeat automatically. They took me right back to my favorite period of time blending modern and classic folk, rock, blues and funk, making me want to dance immediately. Live clips of these Long Beach, CA natives (who’ve opened for AC/DC, Judas Priest and Alice Cooper) playing live sealed the deal that this band was f-in dope.

I chatted with Rival Sons’ frontman and lead singer Jay Buchanan right before he left for their latest European tour about “standing on the shoulders of giants”, the band’s secret name for him, working with noted producer Dave Cobb, his love of books and hidden wealth of knowledge that could possibly keep us alive on a stranded island and more. Check out the videos and interview clips below!

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Black Sabbath annouces June 11th release of album “13″ and first set of North American tour dates

13 MARCH 2013 (Toronto, ON) – BLACK SABBATH today announce June 11 as the release date for their upcoming album, 13, through Vertigo/Republic/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company. As the countdown to release continues, the second Jack Osbourne-directed clip of the rock legends at work on their album can now be seen at blacksabbath.com.  13 was recorded primarily in Los Angeles and features the original BLACK SABBATH–OZZY OSBOURNE (vocals), TONY IOMMI (guitar) and GEEZER BUTLER (bass)–who were joined at the sessions by drummer Brad Wilk (Rage Against The Machine).  The album is produced by Rick Rubin (seven-time Grammy winner, two of those as Producer of the Year) and marks the Grammy-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees’ first studio album together since 1978’s Never Say Die!. They have sold over 70 million albums together.

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Once upon a time, Indie legend Aesop Rock joined El-P’s label Definitive Jux and proceeded to drop five of the greatest albums of the 00’s (which sound even better revisited now), even getting mainstream attention being called one of the top 100 Artists of the Decade by Rolling Stone. Since the beginning, he’s continued to keep us guessing. Just when we think we have this instrumental scorer, superior lyricist and visual artist pegged, he will announce a brilliant left field project that shows his versatility and blows preconceptions to pieces yet again. Case in point, his latest collaboration forms a new duo called The Uncluded with Kimya Dawson and will drop their first project on May 7th, Hokey Fright.

During a break on the road for his latest tour, he took the time to answer some of my weird questions below. Peep his answers and videos below and follow Aesop Rock on Twitter and Facebook for more info on his new project. Catch him live next at the Coachella Music Festival in April!

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Interviewing DJ Toure of the Bay Area Hieroglyphics crew a few weeks ago, I luckily connected with another member of the crew, the ringleader, legend and most colorful member, Del Tha Funkee (or The Funky) Homosapien during a tour stop through Southern California recently. One of the best freestylers in the game, which he proved, making the crowd go nuts during his packed show at the Constellation Room, his albums I Wish My Brother George Was Here and No Need for Alarm were two of the my favorite albums of the 90’s. As a member of futuristic Deltron 3030 and Gorillaz multi-platinum “Clint Eastwood” collaborator, his musical history has been varied and full of influential tracks. Watching his documentary , “The 11th Hour”, before the show, a portrait of a gaming, funny creative genius (peep the scene when he talks about porn) emerges.

Taking the stage that night with A-Plus from the Souls of Mischief, they rocked for 90 minutes before I got to catch up with Del after the show. Check the videos and interview clips below and follow Del on Twitter for more deets on his new album!

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Listening to artist Beach’s new track In Us We Trust , I immediately loved the hype dance and frenetic energy of the song. Hooked by the 80’s alt electro-pop and modern day EDM influences, I had to hear more. Collaborating with Billie Jo (who goes by Alligator) to form Beach, Beach’s new album, In Us We Trust drops on July 16th and has garnered attention from outlets like Vibe Magazine already. Insistently picking up the violin at just four years old, her career has taken several interesting paths, leading her to form her own label, Short Story Records, in 2008. She’s toured with The Indigo Girls and Ani DiFranco and produced albums for Canadian folk legend, Ferron.

I chatted with Beach (formerly Bitch) before her last residency date in Los Angeles at Genghis Cohen and had a lively discussion about Debbie Gibson, her label, her controversial artist name, her new music, her Shortbus film and more. Check out the video and soundclips below! To pre-order In Us We Trust, click here . Follow Beach/Bitch on Twitter and like her on Facebook !

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Damn.

I just heard my all-time favorite song by The Doors the other day on my local classic rock station, and was just thinking about how I need to introduce my piano-playing daughter to their timeless rock, especially as it pertains to keyboardist Ray Manzarek‘s contributions. Jim Morrison of course received the bulk of the glory, but Manzarek was a big reason why The Doors were such a unique band from 1965 to 1973, and one of the leaders of the psychedelic era. They eschewed a traditional bass guitarist, relying on Manzarek’s talents on the organ to drive the rhythm section along with drummer John Densmore and axeman Robby Krieger.

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For the remainder of the month, Video of the Week has been taken over by a Deadbolt wine. They believe they have the chops to knock our socks off. Deadbolt isn’t just a new wine, it’s making its own rules and creating a new type of wine culture through great music promotions, sponsorships, and even a series of concerts to lend aid to these musicians giving them a voice to a larger audience. So let’s see what kind of chops they have. Read more

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Music Emissions would like to wish both Trent Reznor and Josh Homme a very Happy Birthday today, May 17th!

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Boston Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys have just released a three song EP Rose Tattoo: For Boston Charity EP to help support Boston Marathon bombing victims affected by the recent terrorist attack tragedy that occurred a few weeks ago. Known for their philanthropic and political support for various causes, this latest effort is no different. The EP includes the title track “Rose Tattoo” , assisted by classic rock legend Bruce Springsteen and two live versions of two other tracks, “Don’t Tear Us Apart” and “Jimmy Collins’ Wake”. All proceeds will be donated to The Claddagh Fund.

For more info on how to purchase the EP, click here.

Check out this video below of Dropkick Murphys performing “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” with “The Boss”.

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We all knew it was only be a matter of time before Franz Ferdinand revealed the details of their eagerly anticipated fourth studio album. It’s entitled Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, and will be released by the band’s longtime label Domino on Tuesday, August 27th. Preorders are being taken as we speak here.

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As explained in the artist bio, Malkovich is not your oridnary group formation. Additionally, we find this latest video and concept to be plain dope. Enjoy.

Irangeles (Iran/Los Angeles) lyricist Malkovich presents the Hashim Thomas-directed music video for “Lies”, his Evilldewer-produced single from his new album Great Expectations, written and recorded in New York City, New Orleans, Atlanta and Los Angeles after giving up his home and possessions to travel indefinitely. Expectations is the followup to his Ayatollah Presley mixtape hosted by deejay/producer House Shoes (watch the video to the Dibia$e-produced “WTF”), and videos to two Expectations tracks – “What I Know” (watch) and “Palms” (watch) have already been released. “Malkovich is owning everyone in the current scene, and you better believe it” says Hit The Floor Magazine. Great Expectations is available on his Bandcamp page as a free download for a limited time.

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Being an entertainment writing aspiring Angeleno, a lucky opportunity arose recently to attend the Digital Hollywood Los Angeles spring conference at the end of April. For four days, music, TV, movie, advertising and communications execs got together to share advice on breaking into the biz, where to obtain funding for your indie movie or music projects, getting more bang for your marketing buck and leveraging different platforms for your content. All things as an indie artist, filmmaker or writer can be forgotten but you should know, trying to make a decent living in the wonderful fickle and unforgiving entertainment biz, reaching as many supporters as possible.

With press access, I floated (or ran) between conference track discussions dedicated to women marketers and entertainers, Hollywood power players, Hispanic media and communication opportunities and more. My head swirled with lots of info on metadata, retweets, likes and audience reaches, Oh My (or Oh Sh-t!, depending on you look at it)! As a fan of “In Living Color” and “My Wife and Kids”, I happily met Damon Wayans the second night of the conference and nerdily said “Homey don’t play that!” which made him laugh, before his panel on using digital broadband distributors to create original content. He was just as funny and engaging in person as he is on screen.

I also got the chance to connect 1-on-1 with Malcolm CasSelle, the CEO of MediaPass which offers media outlets, TV personalities and artists a paywall interface flexible enough to offer certain pages free but charge subscribers a customizable fee for exclusive content. A novel and smart idea for artist, blogging and media sites with a lot of user traffic. Would this make sense for you? Check out the video below and visit the MediaPass site for more info!

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Dayton, Ohio rockers Hawthorne Heights can’t wait for summer to come. Not only are they on this year’s Vans Warped Tour, they have a brand new album coming out called Zero, their fifth as a band.

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Guitarist/vocalist Chip King and drummer Lee Buford keep moving up the ladder of duos that manage to sound like seven angry metal beasts. As The Body, the Portland twosome creates some massive, teeth-shaking mayhem. Their new EP on At A Loss, “Master, We Perish,” features three longish tracks that stomp and grind and satisfy on more than just a cathartic level.

For a track that times out in less than three minutes, “The Ebb And Flow Of Tides In A Sea Of Ash” still manages to sound epic, and the tension created by enigmatic, air siren sound effects that slowly but surely explode into massive sludge blended and heightened by metallic percussion.
“The Blessed Lay Down And Writhe In Agony,” with operatic female voices ( a trio of guests that includes Chrissy Wolpert of Assembly Of Light Choir) (that straddle really close to the line of self-parody, coupled with a single, insistent riff and sound effects of domestic chaos, the song then moves into a similar pattern as “Ebb…:” heavy, surging sludge with drumming that supports as well as stands alone as its own harsh, unpredictable voice. Finally, “Worship” builds off of Buford’s tribal drumming, with more muffled sound bites and late night TV bickering (or is it some Gospel show?) and again with the single riff providing the bridge from the abstract to the visceral, which kicks in about six minutes in with a massive power chord.
On the heels of their stunning sophomore release, All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood, The Body continue to amaze and hone their majestic sound to diamond-hard clarity. Master, We Perish is one of those EP’s that has a mind of its own. It is not filler, a place-holder or pointless quickie: it will surely stand as one of their best releases, though I’m sure they will give it plenty of competition in the future.