Through the years, Parisian-based Mike Ladd has fused a combination of genres, from hip hop to poetry to rock to electronic music, to form his own incredible incarnation of afro punk. Whether spitting searing freestyle polemics, rocking punked out jams or teaching at universities, this is an artist who knows very few bounds. And we’d have it no other way. Ladd’s music is equally fearless yet sensitive, raw yet sophisticated,…
Music Video Distributors has been around since 1986, when it was founded by Tom Seaman, who had floated around the music industry for years before that. In the twenty-plus years since the company was founded, they have rapidly become one of the most premiere companies in producing and distributing band videos. 2006 saw the company grow even further, as MVD opened up a record label of sorts, making available albums…
HeadCount, the volunteer-run voter registration organization that registered nearly 50,000 voters in 2004 through alliances with Dave Matthews Band and other artists, has announced an ambitious plan to stage voter registration drives at more than 500 concerts over the next year, with a goal of registering 200,000 new voters.
Nice guy punk rock with 5 members. This fits in perfectly with bands on Epitaph and Fat Wreck. They had some talent, but they sold their soul to Epic, was canned, and then signed to Interscope. None of the instruments stand out much because they are too clean sounding, so they mix together. Unwritten Law is not without its charm however, because the songs are not that bad sounding, but…
Emily Jane White Embarks On West Coast Tour; Haunted Debut “Dark Undercoat” Out Now Much anticipated California folk singer’s debut album out November 6th With California’s sunny new folk movement in full swing with recent releases by Devendra Banhart and Brightblack Morning Light, 26 year old California native Emily Jane White’s gothic blues are taking the movement down a darker path. Armed with little more than an acoustic guitar and…
The Die Vol.3, No.1 / :30 / 12L / Red Roach Press, PO Box 764, College Park, MD 20740 / redroachpress@yahoo.com / The Die is the closest thing to a serious journal that I read, and yet it skillfully defies the tedium and dry writing of that form of art time and time again. This time, a few key subjects are broached: the removal of solitude in the age of…
Shalini – The Surface And The Shine – Shalini, formerly of San Francisco’s Vinyl Devotion, has been recording solo albums for the past few years and November 9th marked the release of her third solo album, The Surface and the Shine (Electric Devil). You can really hear all of Shalini’s influences on this one – especially power pop icons like Mitch Easter, Cheap Trick, and the Go-Gos. TSATS is definitely…
12 song CD on jiffi pop records. Nice guy pop punk in the vein of $parechange of JFT with a little better guitar playing then the former. The bass is audible with well written lines. The guitarist isn’t afraid to some good wailing riffs .The vocals sound like a few other pop punk bands , and the lyrics usually deal with lost love. Some of the songs are actually different…
November kicks off with Silversun Pickups ruling MTV and radio. The quartet has been named the “Artist of the Week” on the channel’s ongoing, year-long series. They’re in good company, alongside recently featured musicians Common, Tegan & Sara, Beastie Boys, and Rilo Kiley.
The Die Vol 2 Issue 3 / Free / 11×14 / 12 Pages / Red Roach Press, PO Box 764, College Park, MD 20740 / redroachpress@yahoo.com / http://www.redroachpress.tripod.com / I signed up for The Die a few months ago, and haven’t really had time to read any of Joe’s zines until this period. However, I should be kicking myself, as The Die is one of the better-written reads I’ve had…
Coming off DJ Sabzi’s victory last week at The Redbull Beat Battle Championship and winning a chance to record with his choice of Redman, Young Buc, or Talib Kweli, Blue Scholars are quickly becoming the propagators of the Northwest hip-hop scene taking it national.
The album has 10 songs, and was released in 1999. It cost me nothing. From down in Dayton, 12 tribes kick some serious ass with their unique style of hardcore/metal punk. Screaming seems to mix with good guitar playing and lots of high hat hitting drums. What is really frightening are the lyrics, ranging from love to rejection to nothingness. By far, the best party of 12T is the killer…
Check out the illustrious HORSE the Band on maniaTV’s Drop D on Thursday, November 22 at 1:00am EST / 10:00pm PST. After you have your fill from the Thanksgiving Fest, tune on to http://www.maniatv.com/live to catch the band discussing their August 2007 release A NATURAL DEATH, human bone jewelry, their choice of dueling weaponry and much, much more.
Individuals that have had their ear to the ground in independent music during the last decade will be familiar with the name Julie Moffitt. Moffitt released her first album in 1995 (Labyrinth), and sporadically released follow-up efforts in 2001 (dancerdemonloveranswer) and 2002 (Yules). “Cover to Cover” represents Moffitt’s fourth release, a blend of Moffitt’s interpretations of the songs that have molded her into the performer that she is today, along…
Eastern Conference Champions – Home Away EP / 2007 Suretone / 4 Tracks / http://www.eccmusic.com / http://www.suretone.com / It has been a few years since we last reviewed the Eastern Conference Champions, and the “Home Away†EP marks the first tracks off of their “Ameritown†album. The vocals that stop off “The Box†have a lot in common with a Dave Matthews, while the rock created by the rest of…
When I turned sixteen, Mark Mansfield threw a party for me at his parents’ house in the Hollywood Hills and my band was all set to play. For my birthday, my girlfriend, Melissa, gave me a gram of coke and that night I learned a valuable lesson: I do not like to combine cocaine and guitar. I did a few lines just before we went on and I could hardly…
This is a 12 song CD, released on Popular Records in 1996 by this 5 piece band. All but one of these songs are over 4 minutes long. Odd style of hard rock in the blues vein (read: Bryan Adams and Lynard Skynard) but more musical. Great guitar riffs combine with a gruff voice to make a rough sounding set of songs. The songs are very well written and very…
Seattle’s The Protocol are back with a diverse sophomore release called Recess out on Parlor Records. Recess is a journey through the indie pop, pop punk and pop rock genres and first release for Parlor Records, the upstart indie label also based out of wonderful city of Seattle.
Fuzz is excited to announce the creation of the first of its kind 3D commercial application on the internet for music sharing and discovery- the Fuzz Mixtape. Capturing the nostalgic feel of passing around cassettes until the tape wore thin, the Mixtape allows anyone- fans, artists, labels- to distribute their own personalized creations to the masses. The streaming Mixtapes are featured on Fuzz.com with a widget available for placement across…
This Holiday Life – The Beginning of the End of the World / 2007 Self / 10 Tracks / http://www.thisholidaylife.com / This Holiday Life start out their “The Beginning of the End of the World†with “A Yes, Not A Noâ€. During “A Yes, Not A Noâ€, This Holiday Life show that they are consummate professionals, creating a style of music that is simultaneously catchy and intricate. The band puts…