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…
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”.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
So what was all this hew and cry and Sic Alps going pop? The three songs on this 12 inch may have a bit more coherent melodic sense that some other tracks in the band’s basket, but they also are so firmly rooted in muddy psych and backwoods improvisation that fans of last year’s debut record have little to worry about. Even they may find deeper levels into Sic Alps’ sound as new ears join them for the ride.
“She’s On Top” is pure grinding, garage pop, and the most similar to their signature sound. With “Carrie Jean,” the band focuses on the beat: martial drums are the anchor, with Mike Donovan’s vocals heavy on the reverb; this could be an outtake from a Count Five record or “Jean Genie” era Bowie: glam trash with muddy, ie sinister production values. The final track, the spare, driving rocker “Biz Bag,” features the occasional, cheeky, falsetto interlude, a nod both to pop and a parody of it.
Sic Alps proved on their self-titled debut that they are a band comfortable in atmospheres spooky, murky, and wired with psychedelic power. “She’s on Top” reinforces that power, while adding more humor and evidence of continued growth as artists.
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