Coming to a Festival Near You//Linking Buddies

By Elie Z. Perler

Check out the lineup for the upcoming 2008 Decibel Festival in Seattle.  The electronic dance event will take place Sept. 25 - 28. [Idolator]

In LA, the Sunset Junction Street Festival is slated for August 23rd and 24th.  Bands included on the bill are Cold War Kids, Black Keys, Isaac Hayes, and Langhorne Slim. [Hate Something Beautiful]

Violent Femmes cover Culture Club. [Vinyl Villain via Retro Music Snob]

Video of the Hold Steady performing their new track, “Stay Positive,” on a NYC rooftop. [Muzzle of Bees]

My Old Kentucky Blog interviews the Black Lips at Lollapalooza 2008 [MOKB]

Beach House Unveil New Single

By Shawn M. Smith

Beach House [Official Site, Myspace] are set to release their very first seven inch single! I hate to say that I told you so (no I really don’t) but vinyl is among the fastest growing music formats once again and soon enough, you’ll all be BEGGING me for my Frampton Comes Alive LP. After a strong summer of touring, this Baltimore duo will present a limited edition single featuring the new song “Used To Be” on Carpark Records on October 21st, which is sure to excite the indie masses, and our blogger buddies.

Test out some mp3s and see what you think “after the jump” …read full article…

Lollapalooza, Yahoo Music, Mountain Goats

By K Sawyer Paul

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This week on Soundloading, Éisee talks about the online experience for Lollapalooza, the blogosphere’s response to Dell announcing a new mp3 player, and the closing down of the Yahoo! Music Store. Video spotlight on the Mountain Goats.

Yahoo Music Dies, Online Concerts, Radiohead Doing Rather Well Actually

By K Sawyer Paul

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This week on Soundloading Audio, Yahoo’s music store shuts down and they try to appease their audience; Online concerts getting better, but are they good enough to actually watch?; Radiohead is doing fine, thanks for asking; and finally, Dell is probably coming out with a new Mp3 player. Yay?

Click here to listen to the podcast (or right-click to download)

Video Hook-Up: Ben Folds - “Hiroshima”

By Shawn M. Smith

One of my all-time favorite indie rock artists (and the only man I have ever seen bloody his fingertips on a piano) Ben Folds [Official Site, Myspace] has a new video for his latest single, “Hiroshima,” from his upcoming third solo album, Way to Normal. In this creative-as-hell stop-motion animation video (more dashes than your average sentence or your money back!), the animation follows a really loose plot that follows the narrative of the choruse and features a go-go dancing Kewpie doll and Ben’s little figure standing tall on a roulette wheel before a long, precipitous fall, all taking place at a diorama of an outdoor concert.

Huh? …read full article…

Dangerbird Picks The Dears

By Shawn M. Smith

Critically acclaimed Montreal indie poppers, The Dears [Official Site, Myspace] have signed on with Dangerbird Records [link] (yes! yesyesyes!) adding themselves to the already padded roster that includes such acts as Darker My Love [link], Eulogies [link], Dappled Cities [link], Silversun Pickups [link] and Sea Wolf [link]. Their new album, Missiles, will be released worldwide, starting October 21 in the U.S. and October 20 in the U.K. and Australia. Maple Records will release the album in Canada simultaneously with the U.S.

All of this is great news; we get a great new album from a band that has worked a long, hard time to distinguish themselves from the rest of the Canadian indie scene. In the process, they’ve created a solid body of work and a wicked reputation as killer touring band, so while we stew over what the business decision of signing with a management company affiliated with the label you’re on means for the act, let’s just praise them all for making a sweet business decision.

Check out some music “after the jump” …read full article…

Bloomington Gives Us Totally Michael

By Shawn M. Smith

IHEARTCOMIX is prepping for the October 14th release of the self-titled full-length of “one-man music machine,” Totally Michael [Official Site, Myspace]. Anyone following IHEARTCOMIX knows of their penchant for irreverent, wacky, fun music; so please be expecting a super fun time. Michael is definitely that kid in high school that writes the weird poems that sound like bad battle raps, but he ends up in some crazy Radiohead cover band that actually ends up kicking a bit of ass. He hears music where others see colors and pattern, weaving a musical tapestry of notes, whirrs and clicks.

It’s only fitting to finally have an answer to my question: what bands other than Murder by Death (and Impossible Shapes) have come out of Bloomington, IN and been worth my time? If you don’t know what to think just yet (if all the hyperbole is blowing your mind!), we’ll have some treats in here “after the jump”.

…read full article…

Collabos We Didn’t Need: Muse and The Streets

By Shawn M. Smith

Months back, the news was surreptitiously “leaked” (not unlike this track) that prog-space rockers Muse and The Streets (you know, Mike Skinner, the skinny Brit rapper who was among the musicians that beat us for BT DMA Blog of the Year) were trying to get together for a collaboration. Their goal: world domination. Actually, their true goal was to just have some fun as it turns out, which judging by this supposed “late night jam session,” mission accomplished.

Check out the track “after the jump” …read full article…

Video Hook-Up: Lykke Li - “Breaking It Up”

By Shawn M. Smith

Frequent this site long enough and you learn a few things. First, the two co-editors (myself and Windy) are both married. Also, Jon Sevastra is nicknamed “Salty”. Just call K. Sawyer Paul “Sawyer”. Things like that. Hang around enough to recognize the distinct tastes of each writer and you’ve become an addict. I am addicted to my own site, as any good blogger should be, but I find that when I am not tinkering with little presentation issues or content formatting, I really do this because I love the discovery of new music. The process reminds me of trading baseball cards as a kid; you never really know the value of what you have for quite some time, but it sure is fun to speculate and create hysteria.

That being said, one artist that I can’t seem to get enough of, and made me think of the baseball card analogy to begin with, is Lykke Li [Official Site, Myspace]. The Swedish singer-songwriter stole the hearts of so many of those in Oslo for by:Larm [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] this year, and with the North American release of her highly-acclaimed album, Youth Novels, just two weeks away, it feels like as good a time as any to go back and reexamine some sounds that made so many fall in love with her. …read full article…

Soundloading Video Conversation: Online concerts - yay or nay?

By K Sawyer Paul

Sign up to Seesmic to post a video response.

Lollapalooza//AT&T Blue Room is Live!

By Shawn M. Smith

Following up my post from the other afternoon [link], the AT&T Blue Room will be presenting performances from this year’s Lollapalooza at Grant Park in Chicago (today, Aug. 1st through the 3rd) so get over to the Lollapalooza Landing page [link] and check out what this year’s participants have to offer.

The show is starting right now, so head over there [AT&T Blue Room] and listen along.

I wish I was there but I am not. Eff it. I am going to watch it from work and home all weekend. Take THAT, establishment!

Check out the full schedule “after the jump” …read full article…

Outloud - Rockin’ Robert

By Dan Berkman

Howdy y’all. Welcome to Outloud. In this week’s installment I am going to be gracing you with a performance by a band formed by Link Wray and Robert Gordon. Hopefully the name Link Wray is familiar to you already, if not then it is definitely time to do some homework. Among Link’s many great achievements in rock and roll was inventing something that every rock band uses, no matter if they call themselves hardcore, emo, rockabilly, or punk rock - the power chord.

If you don’t know who Robert Gordon is then that is just fine by me, since even I didn’t know who he was until about two years ago, and I spent all day online digging up videos or reading music history books. …read full article…

From Bubblegum To Sky - A Soft Kill

By Holly L. Perry

A Soft Kill is what happens when you chase repeated shots of bourbon with NyQuil and apathy. From this, one of two things can happen: addiction or an ambulance. The moments of likeability are not worth the impending headache. From Bubblegum To Sky [Official Site, Myspace], also known as the Mario Ishii Hernandez (of Ciao Bella) show, recently released A Soft Kill, their third solo album. Unfortunately in this case, third times isn’t the charm. Here’s why: …read full article…

Lollapalooza News//AT&T Blue Room Schedule Unveiled

By Shawn M. Smith

Earlier today, the kindhearted folks behind AT&T’s Blue Room sessions released the performance schedule from this year’s Lollapalooza [link]. Yes, despite all the controversy surrounding last year’s Pearl Jam censorship/”where did Eddie’s comments re: Bush go”, AT&T Blue Room will again be broadcasting a number of this year’s weekends performances live, however, with the exception of Wilco, it appears that none of the biggest names will be participating in the webcast, which can be found here. Anyone caught complaining is a whining effer, as the first day alone is pretty clutch (with appearances by Holy F*ck, Rogue Wave, Yeasayer, Bloc Party, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, The Raconteurs, Mates of State and Gogol Bordello).

Check out the full schedule “after the jump” …read full article…

All Access: Earlimart

By Jon Sevastra

Earlimart - “God Loves You the Best” (Live from All Access)

In this week’s episode, Earlimart [Official Site, Myspace] perform their single, God Loves You The Best, from their latest album, Hymn and Her, on Major Domo/Shout! Factory. Hymn and Her is the first album on which the band, which has had a million different configurations over the years [Wiki], consists solely of the duo of Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray, and is a follow-up up to August 2007’s Mentor Tormentor.

For more info, check out All Access on ManiaTV [link]

Spotlight On: Wild Sweet Orange

By Shawn M. Smith

With their new album, We Have Cause To Be Uneasy, in stores yesterday, Birmingham, AL natives Wild Sweet Orange [Official Site, Myspace] are poised for some mainstream success in 2008. Playing Lollapalooza this weekend should be an honor in-and-of itself, but following the success of last winter’s EP, The Whale, the band is out on tour with another RE fave, What Made Milwaukee Famous, so do yourself a favor and catch the act that Entertainment Weekly called “your next favorite band”. It sounds like the type of hyperbole used to sell records and magazines, but it’s no bull. The songs that this quartet compose are equal parts awesome and infectious; the type of tunes that hold you firmly as you mindlessly sing along to whatever lyrics you can remember at that moment.

Yeah, see them immediately. I mean it.

Tour dates, mp3 and more “after the jump” …read full article…

Lollapalooza is Only a Few Days Away

By Jon Sevastra

For those of you lucky enough to have tickets to this weekends Lollapalooza, enjoy! For the rest of us, we will have to sulk around all weekend imagining what we are missing. For the sake of the headliners alone being Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine, it would be worth the trip. Wow, my favorite musical era of the 90’s revisited. …read full article…

Spotlight On: Lee “Scratch” Perry

By Jon Sevastra

Legendary, Grammy-winning Reggae icon—Lee “Scratch” Perry’s [Official, Myspace] name has become synonymous with experimentation and innovation as a producer as well as an influential performer and personality.

Rolling Stone recently listed him as one of their “100 Most Influential Artists of all time” and it’s no wonder why - he has collaborated across genres with the likes of Bob Marley, Junior Murvin, The Clash, The Beastie Boys - now get ready for his 54th (!) studio album, Repentence, with co-producer Andrew WK, with whom he struck up an unthinkable friendship at South by Southwest when they met in 2006. …read full article…

Mother Mother - O My Heart Review

By Mark Hurley

O My Heart, Mother Mother’s [Official Site, Myspace] hook happy sophomore effort has been eagerly anticipated by fans since the re-release of their debut Touch Up last year. In September the wait will be over, and the high profile critics that have made the Canadian Shins their darlings over the past year will have plenty to blog about. …read full article…

Albert Hammond, Jr. - ¿Cómo Te Llama? Review

By Holly L. Perry

You know the voice. You know the band. Now it’s time to meet the love child made by a man who wanted to veer slightly off the beaten path from his widely known musical affiliation, The Strokes. Albert Hammond, Jr.’s’s [Official Site, Myspace] solo album ¿Cómo Te Llama? is a crisp and successful spin-off, unlike many side projects (think Taylor Hawkins and the Foo Fighters). Hammond produced it with the help of engineer Gus Oberg in a speedy five weeks at Manhattan’s oldest recording studio, Electric Lady. This venue plays a role in the saturated, somewhat distorted sound familiarities, as The Strokes also record here. …read full article…