Indie Music Universe

As you’re probably aware, commercial radio has been plagued by payola for quite a long time.  This is arguably the biggest reason why you don’t get to hear more independent music on the public airwaves.

To be fair, there are some commercial stations out there giving some indie airplay, but most of the spins are few and far between.  Some of these stations even have time slots where they play indie music exclusively.  The sad part is, these shows usually end up at the times and on the days where the least amount of listeners are tuning in, for example — 12am -3am or late night on Sundays.  But hey — at least they’re playing some indie music, right?

Remember back a couple of years ago when the FCC and the nation’s four largest radio station group owners came together and signed a voluntary agreement as a response to collected evidence and widespread allegations about payola influencing what gets played on the radio? 

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Popularity: 17% [?]

Here’s the short list of independent music releases for the week of April 27th, 2009:

Rebirth Of Venus by Ben Lee

Ben Lee dedicates his seventh studio recording to Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty. A bold move for a man, but Ben recognizes that the strongest feminine qualities "such as compassion, nurturing, creativity, spontaneity, intuition, playfulness, tenderness and warmth are qualities that we all, men and women, need to cultivate." The Rebirth of Venus was produced by Brad Wood, who also produced Ben’s breakout album Awake Is The New Sleep featuring the international hit "Catch My Disease". Ben Lee has been living as a working musician for over half his lifetime. Beginning at the age of 14, he has stayed grounded and spiritually focused. A portion of proceeds from albums sold will be donated to FINCA’s Village Banking program. FINCA offers financial services, not charity, to the world’s lowest-income women entrepreneurs.

Remind Me Where The Light Is by Great Northern

2009 sophomore album from this duo (Solon Bixler and Rachel Solte). Remind Me Where the Light Is is the work of a more seasoned group, one that has been on the road for months, missed home, seen the world, and returned, not entirely prepared to sit still and write. Wishing to expand their sound, Bixler and Stolte began working with producer Michael Patterson (Beck, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Puff Daddy, She Wants Revenge) and Nic Jodoin. The results being upbeat, guitar-driven songs, yet with the familiar layered vocals and sweeping panoramic sounds.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Kim Cameron and the Side FX band offer an eclectic blend of pop, rock and jazz into a smooth, groovy listening experience. Think Carly Simon with an attitude.

The group launched their first album, Contradictions, in the September 2008. Combining a fresh, genre-shifting sound with inspired and deeply personal lyrics, every song in the album is wrapped around a personal experience of lead singer/songwriter, Kim Cameron.

The songs reveal a surprising depth: from lyrics about disillusioned troops (My Hero), to the temptations of a budding romance (Come a Little Closer), to an intimate portrait of a trapped woman who would "rather hide under MySpace eyes" (Her Escape).

Singer/songwriter Kim Cameron gives the album a "get-up-and-dance" spirit with a seductive twist. In a voice reminiscent of Chrissie Hynde, Kim's sultry alto notes blends seamlessly among electric guitar riffs and saxophone solos.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Rhymesayers Entertainment and Rose Presents bring you the second annual Soundset Festival: the official Midwest kick-off of the summer with over eight hours of the best independent Hip Hop music in one day. It all goes down at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN (rain or shine).

Confirmed artists for Soundset 09 include: Atmosphere, The Pharcyde, MF Doom, Brother Ali, Freeway & Jake One, Sage Francis with B. Dolan, Immortal Technique, P.O.S, El P with Mr. Dibbs & TMQ, Eyedea & Abilities, Abstract Rude + Aceyalone & Myka 9 = Haiku D’Etat with DJ Drez, Prince Paul, Buck 65, Blueprint with DJ Rare Groove, DJ Numark, Heiruspecs, Cunninlynguists, Blue Scholars, Sims of Doomtree, One Be Lo, I Self Devine, Awol One, Mike Mictlan & Lazerbeak = Hand Over Fist of Doomtree, Toki Wright, Grieves, Unknown Prophets, Lil Buddy Mclain, Just.Live, Kristoff Krane, El Guante, Plain Ole Bill, BK One, King Otto, and DJ Nikoless. Head over to the Official Soundset Myspace Page to hear music and find out more about each artist!

In 2008, Rhymesayers and Rose Presents brought the first year of Soundset to an outdoor festival setting at the Metrodome parking lot in Minneapolis with over 14,000 people in attendance, including: two stages with over 40 artists performing, b-boy battles and live DJs throughout the day, live skateboard demos and a low rider car show.

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Popularity: 22% [?]

First of all, we’d like to thank all the artists and bands who have expressed their interest in being featured on our site.

To make things easier and more organized for you and us, we will now be accepting submissions through Sonicbids.  Sonicbids is the standard way for music industry professionals to send and receive press kits online.

We are primarily a resource for fans of indie music but realize that many of those fans include indie artists and bands.  So if you’re interested in a feature, head on over to the listing here.  If you know of any artists or bands that may be interested, please direct them to our contact page at http://indiemusicuniverse.com/contact-us.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Here’s the list of independent music albums that are being released this week:

My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura

As the title suggests, their new album shares with the listener an affectionate wit and a melancholy tendency towards life’s daily routines and relationships. Yet it also boasts and expands on the affected pop elements explored on their breakout album, "Let’s Get Out Of This Country". It’s no wonder Camera Obscura are often mentioned in the same sentences as fellow Scots Belle & Sebastian, indie rock faves The Lucksmiths, and music legends The Smiths

Maybe I’m Dreaming by Owl City

"It is distinctly obvious that Young has potential surpassed by few in his genre, and Maybe I’m Dreaming is an effective portrayal of how Young has progressed. The emotion is almost touchable, and the way Owl City picks you up, takes you on a journey of the sky and other surreal and abstract worlds, and then gently sets you down again, is amazing."

-AbsolutePunk.net

Touchdown by Brakesbrakesbrakes

Brighton, UK’s Brakes features former and current members of British Sea Power, Electric Soft Parade, and The Tenderfoot. Their third album polishes up their sound a bit without sacrificing any of the immediacy or jangle that makes their slightly countrified power-pop so appealing. An exuberant maelstrom of blazing riffs and relentless hooks, fuzz, and squall, with witty lyrics and sing along choruses that are sure to earn the band more devoted followers.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

If you’re new to independent music, you probably already know that it can be a pretty difficult task to find artists, groups, and bands that sound similar to your favorite mainstream artists.  Most of the recommendations you get from sites like Pandora or Amazon are for other mainstream artists and really don’t touch the indie genre too much.

Well there’s good news for those seeking a great resource for finding indie artist equivalents to mainstream songs — Newtunes.com.  When you get to the site, simply enter an artist name and a song title to get a list of artists and groups that sound similar.  Don’t worry, if you don’t have a particular song in mind, just enter the artist’s name and hit "go." On the next screen, you’ll get several song choices from the artist to choose from.  Once you figure out which song you’d like to see equivalents of, simply hit the "similar songs" link and see the results.

The nice thing about Newtunes is that the search results are based on user input, not by staff choice.  As you listen to song samples you find on the site, you can adjust their ranking according to how similar you feel they are to your original search term. And if you think a song doesn’t match at all, you can delete it from your search results entirely. Newtunes search engine will then store and apply that new data and weight it against what others have said about similar results, giving everyone increasingly relevant results, time after time after time.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

Celldweller is a Detroit, Michigan based rock band that was created by artist, performer, producer, songwriter, programmer, and remixer Klayton, the former frontman and songwriter of the bands Circle of Dust and Argyle Park.

Klayton began as a producer pseudonym in the early 90’s. Now, over a decade later, he uses the name to deliver his vision of progressively combining multiple genres of music. Taking a unique approach to mixing styles, Celldweller fuses the electronics of drum & bass and techno, with rock and orchestral elements, meshing the synthetic and the organic, darkness with beauty, into a cohesive blend entirely its own. Celldweller songs have frequently appeared in several movies, trailers, television shows, and video games.

Klayton had gained a devoted cult following in the mid 90s because of his industrial metal band Circle of Dust. After the dissolution of that band, Klayton concurrently released both a posthumous collection of reworked Circle of Dust leftovers titled Disengage and an album for a new project, Angeldust, created in conjunction with illusionist Criss Angel. Both albums demonstrated Klayton's shift away from industrial metal and towards more goth and darkwave influences, incorporating richer electronic instrumentation and greater emphasis on melody. This change in style was a major step toward the sound that would come to define Celldweller's output.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

By Kristin Anderson

Wake up in your crash pad, light your incense and turn up the volume on this one. The Diamond Center’s "My Only Companion" could wake the dead like the rhythm of hard rain.  Kyle Harris and Brandi Price’s self-released second album, due out June 9th, is melodic and made for the tragic movie ending. This independent Texas trio has delivered a musical intensity worthy of timeless praise. Mystical and sexy, "My Only Companion" resonates a sound from a different time, when music was not over-produced but soulful and gritty.

The title track, "Dos Fridas," hosts Brandi Price’s lyrical stylings. Brandi’s voice emulates a youthful yet soulful vibration that brings you through what seems like an infinite climax of creativity. Eliciting a Mazzy Star inspired sound, Brandi’s voice challenges the Nancy Sinatra boot pounding drumbeat, keeping you in time with fate and purpose. Jana Price’s possessed drumming, which is best described as sassy and surf worthy, can only be matched by that of a beating heart that wants to pound. Worthy of a Moroccan belly dance, "Dos Fridas" calls on a depth driven energy that could dig into the roots of any man’s soul. Cut to Jim Morrison, spinning around in a wild hallucination of tribal drumming and the sweet sound of a woman’s wanting. Are you with me?

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Popularity: 21% [?]

Here’s the list of independent music albums that are being released this week:

The Colors EP by Project Jenny Project Jan

Project Jenny, Project Jan is a two-man electro-rock band that are out to have a good time and want you to do the same. Their debut LP, Xoxoxoxoxo, is a blast of danceable pop music that’s goofy and fun, but also good enough that the duo are clearly asking to be taken seriously. Now, with The Colors EP, programmer/keyboardist Sammy Rubin and vocalist Jeremy Haines have teamed up with Fujiya & Miyagi, Mixel Pixel, So Percussion, Adam Matta, Clack Singles Club and vocalists Katie Hasty of Numbers and Letters and Kellie Rae Powell for a collaborative set of five catchy tracks that rival the band’s best work on their debut.

Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle by Bill Callahan

Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle is about as beautiful an album as you can expect to hear sung circa 2009. Unfolding like a first view of paradise, then a slightly less ecstatic second view of paradise and then finally a glance back over your shoulder at that stupid paradise bulls***, Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle surveys a landscape that grows organically, like the time two people spend together; or the time one person spends alone (with another). One way or another, it’s awfully pretty.

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Popularity: 10% [?]