In the world of music, some people just have their eyes and ears open to new sights and sounds. One such person is Vinnie of Less Than Jake, co-founder of Fueled by Ramen. He’s up to something very cool, fusing art and music together in a time where record labels are hurting. The label is called Paper + Plastick and it will focus on releasing limited edition vinyl records, artwork on paper, and digital music releases. It’s a cool concept, that I’m sure is going to find its home well in the hearts of many of todays indie insiders, whom already enjoy the mixture of two genres (ie: the velvet teen). Plastick Records is a side project that is very interesting to watch, especially in these preliminary steps, as the Less Than Jake drummer moves forward with plans to spotlight artists for what they are…makers of art. Check out the official Paper + Plastick Records myspace page, and support art and music and independence from the major record label world. You can also read the official announcement via CMJ by clicking here.
The Tampa Pro-Am is going on right now, and you can check into the live coverage via webcam courtesy of 411 Video Magazine. Click here, to see the latest heats from the event, as well as live coverage of the Tampa Pro-AM. The big event goes down this Sunday with pro’s coming in from all over. Will Koston win the #1 spot and take home 20,000 dollars in cash? Or will there be a new comer that throws it down like no other?
While a lot of people are speculating the future of music as a whole, some artists are releasing music for free, in small bits and pieces or whole albums. There are also labels dedicated to giving away music on a constant, consistent basis. One such musical endeavor is rcrdlbl.com giving out free music on a daily basis from artists around the world. This week they dished out a plethora of cool music and you can check it out by clicking here.
Free Music is always nice, and you can download mp3’s legally, and safely. This week’s updates include music from: Boo and Boo Too,Jet Black Crayon,The Submarines,Little Dragon,Surkin,The LimesRadio 4,Cassettes Won’t Listen,Adam Kesher,Maximo Park,Old Man River,Carla Bruni,MINK,Trifonic,The Subjects,The Subjects,Subtitle,Orouni,The Spiders,Borko,and The Fashion. Now that’s a lot of free music, so enjoy it! Click here to get free music from this weeks updates on rcrdlbl.com
Dvs shoes pulls out all the stops in this commercial for the new Zered shoe coming out. Dvs skate shoes has been pulling out all the stops, to try and compete with the Lakai Fully Flared hype that had the skate world frozen for the first half of this month. Now as we pick up our jaws off the floor, we see that the b footage is not reserved for shoe companies any longer.
The Seattle music scene might not be churning out multi-platinum recording artists in sets of two’s and three’s, but the mid 90’s alternative explosion still has some bands playing live and selling records. Pearl Jam is the latest band to be going on tour, and here are the latest dates from the guys that made it big, and survived the crash of the Seattle grunge explosion.
June 11: West Palm Beach, Fla. (Cruzan Amphitheatre)
June 12: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum)
June 13-15: Manchester, Tenn. (Bonnaroo Festival)
June 16: Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Center)
June 17: Virginia Beach, Va. (Verizon Wireless Center)
June 19: Camden, N.J. (Susquehanna Bank Center)
June 22: Washington, D.C. (Verizon Center)
June 24-25: New York (Madison Square Garden)
June 27: Hartford, Conn. (Dodge Music Center)
June 30: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center)
The guys over at Black Box Distro have updated their site with this sweet video. This is Vol. 2 featuring the hero’s in skateboarding from the Black Box Distribution world. Watch it, get hyped, go skate. Click here to check out the video action.
In light of the latest news that The Raconteurs is going to drop a record without any pre-promotion whatsoever, they have announced a string of tourdates which will be their only form of promotion at this point. This new scheme of things is one way that the bands and labels are trying to save their little industry. It might work, as The Raconteurs do have a multi-million dollar guitar player and member of The White Stripes in the band. Just on his publicity alone, he might be able to garner some recognition. Here are the dates:
April 20 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
April 21 Seattle, WA - Neumo’s
April 22 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom !
April 23 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo’s 365 Club !
April 25 Indio, CA - Coachella
April 26 Las Vegas, NV - The Joint
April 28 Denver, CO - The Fillmore Auditorium
April 29 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre
May 1 Dallas, TX - House of Blues !
May 2 Austin, TX - Stubb’s BBQ
May 3 Austin, TX - Stubb’s BBQ
May 4 New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
June 13 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
The swing craze might have lasted a short while in the late 90’s, as a booming ska hungry audience formed around major labels, but the bands that were around for that period of time are still kicking. Case in point: The Cherry Poppin Daddies, who are set to release a new album entitled, Susquehanna on June 10th, 2008. Swing fans will be glad to know that they are not ditching their horns, and not going into a more rocksteady sound, and this will be a great release in light of recent releases that have no staying power. A tour is most certainly to follow the release, so stay tuned here for more information on that. For now, check out the official Cherry Poppin Daddies myspace page or check them on tour now:
Apr 19 2008 portland, Oregon @ Wonder Ballroom
Apr 26 2008 Eugene, Oregon @ Wow Hall
May 9 2008 Seattle, Washington @ Triple door
Jun 4 2008 Los Angeles, California @ Crash Mansion
Jun 5 2008 San Juan Capistrano, California @ Coach House
Jun 6 2008 Long Beach, California @ The Blue Cafe
Jun 7 2008 Santa Ynez, California @ Chumash Casino
Jul 12 2008 Bend, Oregon @ Bend Summer Fest
Jul 19 2008 Chicago, Illinois @ Beverly Arts Center
Jul 20 2008 Vernon Hills, Illinois @ Summer Celebration @ Century Park
Jul 23 2008 Lewiston, New York @ Artpark
Jul 24 2008 New York, New York @ BB Kings Blues Club
Jul 25 2008 Falls Church, Virginia @ State Theatre
Jul 26 2008 Liberty Lake, Washington @ Pavilion Park
Aug 10 2008 Walker, Minnesota @ Northern Lights Casino
Aug 15 2008 Carson City, Nevada @ Brewery Arts Center/ Outdoor
Dec 30 2008 Maricopa, Arizona @ Harrah’s Ak-Chin-Oasis Lounge
Jan 31 2009 Ottawa, Ontario @ Centrepointe Theatre
Russian Circles is embarking on a tour, and you can catch them in the following west coast cities:
Mar 20 2008 Neumo’s Seattle, Washington
Mar 21 2008 Richards on Richards Vancouver, British Columbia
Mar 22 2008 Berbatis Pan Portland, Oregon
Mar 24 2008 Blue Lamp Sacramento, California
Mar 25 2008 The Crepe Place Santa Cruz, California
Mar 26 2008 Bottom of the Hill San Francisco, California
Mar 27 2008 Echoplex Los Angeles, California
Mar 28 2008 The Casbah San Diego, California
Mar 29 2008 The Brickhouse Pheonix, Arizona
For more information on Russian Circles, check out their official website.
Wilco is going to hit the road, and you can catch them playing the hits, and maybe even some new tracks if you’re lucky. Here’s the dates for the latest road trip for Wilco:
03-20 Byron Bay, Australia - East Coast Blues Festival
03-22 Whitianga, New Zealand - Bluesfest
03-23 Auckland, New Zealand - Bruce Mason Centre
03-24 Wellington, New Zealand - Opera House
03-26 Melbourne, Australia - Palace Theatre *
04-30 Rochester, MN - Mayo Civic Center
05-01 Fargo, ND - Fargo Civic Auditorium
05-02 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Burton Cummings Theatre
05-04 Bozeman, MT - Emerson Cultural Center
05-05 Missoula, MT - Adams Center
05-07 Grand Junction, CO - Avalon Theater
05-08 Colorado Springs, CO - Pikes Peak Center
05-09 Albuquerque, NM - Popejoy Hall
05-11 Austin, TX - Stubb’s
05-12 Austin, TX - Stubb’s
05-15 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
05-16 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
08-07 Charleston, SC - North Charleston PAC
