
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]

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

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…

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”.

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

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…
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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…
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.


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…

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…
By Jon Sevastra
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]

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…
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…
By Jon Sevastra

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…
By Mark Hurley


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…