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If you’ve ever been into punk music you will most likely have come across punk legends Strung Out. They’ve released a number of classic albums and their new album, Agents of the Underground is their 8th full length and mark the bands 20th anniversary. We caught up with Drummer Jordan Burns and got some of the bands current faves. These are fantastic because I haven’t heard of ANY of them! I’ll be checking them all out. Read more

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Brian’s taken ownership of this Themecast idea but I thought I would hijack it for this week. I’ve got 30 minutes worth of music and the rough theme throughout all of the songs will be revealed if you listen closely and figure out the song titles. I won’t be given them away at all.

• Sick Muse - Metric (Fantasies)
• Planet Health - Chairlift (Does You Inspire You)
• Mend (To Fix, To Repair) - Elsiane (Hybrid)
• There Are Some Remedies Worse Than The Disease - This Will Destroy You (Young Mountain)
• Subterranean Homesick Blues - Red Hot Chili Peppers (The Uplift Mofo Party Plan)
• Hymn For The Medical Oddity - The Weakerthans (Reunion Tour)
• Kings Of Medicine - Placebo (Battle For The Sun)

Once you think you may have the theme in my head post it down in the comments. If you guess it, you’ve just won yourself a $25 Amazon Gift Card. Good luck!

[EDIT] NOTE, this contest is now closed. I’ve added the song titles for your convenience. The answer was “Health Care Reform”.

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Each day for the rest of the week we are going to be giving away one of our prizes for you, the voters. Just as a refresh, here are the prizes we have to give away:

• 2 FourTrack iPhone Apps (value $10)
• 3 T-Shirts from Playback Clothing
• 10 limited edition American Evil T-shirts and a 5 pack of stickers.
• 10 $10 Amazon Gift Cards
• 2 Sticker packs
• CD Prizes (Sunset Rubdown, Foreign Born, Jens Lekman, Taking Back Sunday, LIghtning Dust, Datarock)

Remember, the sooner you get ALL three votes in to the ballot box, the better chance you’ll have on winning one of these great prizes.

First up, a Sunset Rubdown CD with a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

And the random winner is username: vialinez

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Story sourced from Yahoo! News

LONDON (AFP) – British singer Morrissey was in a stable condition on Sunday, a hospital said, after collapsing on stage with breathing problems.

The 50-year-old former frontman of 1980s pop band The Smiths fell ill just one song into his concert Saturday at the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon, southwest England.

Morrissey’s knees buckled and he slumped to the floor as he came to the end of opening song “This Charming Man”, The Smiths’ 1983 breakthrough hit, The Daily Telegraph newspaper’s website said. He was then dragged offstage.

“Just after 9:00 pm we got a call to a 50-year-old man who was reported to be suffering from respiratory problems and was unconscious,” said a spokeswoman for the Great Western Ambulance Service.

“We sent a paramedic in a doubled-crewed ambulance.

“When they arrived they found a conscious patient who was not feeling well at all. They made an initial assessment and took him to the Great Western Hospital (in Swindon) for further assessment.”

His condition was not thought to be life threatening, she added.

“The stage went dark and he was taken off the stage and then his band all left the stage,” The Daily Telegraph’s website quoted 40-year-old eyewitness Mark Taylor as saying.

“There was a wait of about 25 minutes before one of the stage crew came on and said Morrissey had left the building, and that he was seriously ill.

“Everybody started booing, thinking ‘here we go again’. He has a bit of a poor track record for cancelling his concerts.”

The Mancunian singer has been touring North America and Europe since releasing his ninth solo album, “Years of Refusal”, in February.

He has cancelled several concerts during the tour, including dates in Florida, North Carolina, California, Britain and France.

“Morrissey was brought in to the Accident and Emergency department,” said a Great Western Hospital spokeswoman.

“He has been seen by the medical team. At this stage his condition is stable.”

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Call me a tard if this guy is old news, but a friend of mine suggested him and I thought it to be spectacular. Here’s the very talented youngster, Zack Kim… Check out his covers of the Simpsons, and Mario Brothers lol.

Have a good weekend everyone!

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Thinks have just heated up in the online music world… or are about to. Google is teaming up with iLike and Lala (one of my favorite streaming sites) to bring band pages with pretty much everything you ever need on a band–pics, discography, lyrics, videos, song previews and yes, a way for you to purchase songs. They are calling the new feature One Box, Google Music or Google Audio, possibly competing with iTunes Album format.

Google won’t be the official retailer, only providing a nicely formatted page with all the above information which will be provided by the partners, Lala and iLike.

It should be officially announced next Wednesday.

Full story over at NME and CNN.com

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Christian Rockers Relient K have just released their new album, Forget and Not Slow Down. We caught up with Matt Hoopes (guitarist) to find out what music makes him tick:

1. David Bazan – “Curse Your Branches” – I have been a longtime Pedro the Lion fan, but this album is seriously amazing and more honest than ever.

2. House of Heroes – “The End Is Not The End” – This is one of my favorite records of all time, and it just needs to be heard to be appreciated!

3. Deas Vail – “Birds In Cages” – I have loved this band for years and I am excited to be able to help them put out this record.

4. Radical Face – “Ghost” – This guy is an amazing artist, also check out Electric President.

5. Discover America – Chris Staples – Twothirtyeight – Chris is one of my favorite songwriters and highly unheard of. I want to re-release every record he has done.

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Sorry for the delay my friends, computer problems are rampant, BODY, SOUL, MAC and PC!!!!!!!!!!!!! Regardless, welcome to another edition of Music Emissions podcast of the week. This week is leftover from last week…Enjoy!

Canada’s Miles Jones has confidence in his rhythm and blues. Very much for fans of Roy Hargrove, here is Jones featuring another M.E. artist Black Milk with “Never Too Late”

Brooklyn , NY natives My Cousin, The Emperor have come a long way since recording as The Populists. Here is the groove soaked “Broken Bottle Blues No. 2″.

Vacuity – Managing to have definitive sound in a cookie cutter genre isn’t easy. A raspy vocalist and grungy guitars are just some of their unique quality. I think we’ve only just now begun to hear of what should be a prosperous recording career for Vacuity. Fans of Jimmy Gnecco and Ours should flock immediately. Download for free, track three and the rest of their LP, “At The Command Of The Blanket Sky” at vacuity.net. Here is Vacuity with “The 5th of November”.

There’s a band whose vocals sound like 2007 IOTY winners Amplexus. Hailing from Leonardtown, MD, The Varsity Letter holds a firm grip on melodic metal. Music Emissions also holds these guys to a higher standard as Dan Thompson who occassionally writes a review for us, plays bass for these guys. Though they will go under the radar for a while due to some lineup changes, but we believe they have a strong future. The song we just heard from them is… “Lauren I could have seen this coming”.

URSA would have been next up, but again, problems with the file when I import guys. Tried a lot of things to get this file to work in my recording software! Despite being a very young band, URSA, now is in their second year of IOTY. With their second release, came a huge maturation process. Though they are going through some lineup changes at the moment as well, here is evidence of what is proving to be a band on the rise. Check out “Rocky vs. Rambo”

http://www.myspace.com/ursamass

Though something is off about Vonrenzo‘s voice, the overall atmospheric blend of traditional rock has a nice touch. Here is Vonrenzo off their album “Intention and the Adequacy of Delusion” with “Thorn Song”

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Blue Microphones was founded in 1995 to improve the front-end of audio recording by utilizing the increased bandwidth benefits enabled by digital technology. Advances in digital processing (e.g. extended frequency response, dynamic range, project recording capability) fundamentally changed the recording process as well as the potential for microphone performance. Basing many of their concepts, designs, and technology on knowledge gleaned from years of repairing and improving classic microphones from a wide variety of manufacturers, but by simultaneously integrating new technologies, materials and a first-hand knowledge of today’s recording process, Blue began to pioneer the perfect analog input devices for the digital age.

Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone –

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I’ve really been enjoying the new Evergreen Terrace album, Almost Home this past week. I found the video for Sending Signals on Youtube and felt it’s Karate Kid-esque video was worth sharing. If you like hardcore with a good dose of melody thrown in, check out the new Evergreen Terrace. It’s fantastic!