Indie Music Universe

Dirty Projectors are embarking on a North American tour this fall in support of their latest release, Bitte Orca.  The band consists of David Longstreth (lead vocals, guitar), Amber Coffman (vocals, guitar), Angel Deradoorian (vocals, keyboard, guitar, bass), Brian Mcomber (drums), Nat Baldwin (bass) and vocalist Haley Dekle.

Dirty Projectors will be performing on the Late Show with David Letterman next Monday, August 31st.

Praise for Bitte Orca:

“…the most thoroughly engaging entry in the Dirty Projectors catalog and one of the most singularly engrossing albums likely to be released this year, a triumph in sustained creative restlessness.” – Paste

 

“Over nine indispensable tracks, Bitte Orca forges a more perfect union between eccentricity and accessibility.” – The Onion

 

“In an era of scripted and calculated music, the fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants Dirty Projectors thrill at every blind turn they barrel through.” – Under The Radar

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Sti-Lo Reel proves he is a heavyweight to be reckoned with in the field of lyricism and Independent hip-hop artists.

Sti-Lo Reel is the lyrical genius on the Minneapolis based independent label named Pledge Empire Records. Born and raised in Minneapolis Sti-Lo name rings bells in just about every corner of the Twin Cities because of his sharp delivery and witty punch lines. With this August release of the long awaited “Soul Through the Speakers” mixtape Sti-Lo’s name will continue to grow rapidly not only across Minneapolis but the whole U.S.

Sti-Lo begins his lyrical assault on the opening track titled “Soul through the Speakers” letting the world know that he has finally arrived saying “I’m here haters witness the livest and the greatest” again showing his confidence in his lyrical ability. On the hard hitting track “Bacc to Business” Sti-Lo Reel really shows his audience that there is no contender when it comes to flows and style at the same time letting everyone know that he is focused on his business and his hustle is first and foremost. This is definitely Hip-Hop on a higher level!

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Popularity: 15% [?]

This Philadelphia band's first album on A&M, entitled "The Reds," is a ferocious attack, total and relentless.  It's textures are dense with electronic chaos brought to the edge of madness, then resolved into piercing clarity.  The album showed the band's most impressive achievement — a sound that blends Rick Shaffer's guitar and Bruce Cohen's keyboards into an interestingly textured drone, short guitar and keyboard figures, rising then disappearing back into the drone, while Shaffer's voice provides the punch and definition for the overall sound.  The album was supported with live appearances with such diverse acts as The Police, Joe Jackson, The Psychedelic Furs, and Public Image.

"The Reds" was followed by an A&M released EP featuring The Doors song, "Break On Through," which suggests some of the band's roots.  After leaving A&M, The Reds went forward with two independent albums, "Stronger Silence" and "Fatal Slide."  These two records continued The Reds sound, receiving critical acclaim internationally, and were supported with extensive tours.

They next recorded a tense and powerful album for Sire/WB entitled, "Shake Appeal," produced by Mike Thorne (Blur, Soft Cell, Wire).  This forcible record led the band to work with director/producer, Michael Mann.  Mann incorporated numerous Reds songs into episodes of Miami Vice, and was so impressed with the impact of the songs that he hired Shaffer and Cohen to write songs and score for two motion pictures, "Band of the Hand" (Tri-Star) and "Manhunter" (De Laurentiis), based on the novel "Red Dragon."  Soundtracks from both films were released on MCA.  Shaffer and Cohen also contributed a song, "Terror In My Heart," to the film "Nightmare On Elm Street 2" (New Line), directed by Jack Shoulder.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

By Deborah Diak

New music always excites me.  I crack open the CD or watch the bar move as the download is delivered from my wireless.  Today, I’m breaking down a new track from Anwar Robinson, called “Night’s Hot”.

The song is a perfect romantic ballad-like tune that draws you into the night.  It has an earthy aphrodisiac quality that wafts around you like a fine perfume.  Before you know it, you’re knee deep in the mood of the song.  Even after the song ends, you’ll notice a lasting romantic state of mind.

Anwar blows out some great riffs…urban and earthy.  The background vocals are smooth, sweet and sexy. Impressive from the first note, “Night’s Hot” is mixed to perfection. The instrumentals are flawless and you get an old school soul vibe juxtaposed with Anwar’s trademark style – polished and steamy.  It’s no accident that Robinson was a Top Ten finalist on Idol.

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Popularity: 18% [?]

By Kristin Anderson

Festie fans unite.

If you have survived your summer festivals and are up to some fall excitement, I have put together a list of some favorite fall festivals you may want to check out. The fall festival line up includes indoor and outdoor festivals. They're perfect for anyone — whether you wanna party in New York City or get down at the Red Rocks in Colorado. Cooler weather aside, these fall festivals are sure to satisfy, and a long cold festivaless winter is on its way. Who doesn't love hoodie weather anyway?

Break your piggy banks, get your tickets and use up the last of this year's vacation time. The party's not over yet, and festie goers never say die.

Fall Music Festivals Lineup 2009

Bumbershoot 2009

Where: Bumbershoot takes place at the Seattle Center, between Mercer Street, Denny Way, 5th Avenue North and 1st Avenue North, in the lower Queen Anne neighborhood, just north of downtown Seattle Washington.

When: September 5-7th

Bumbershoot®: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival is now in its 39th year. Since 1971, Bumbershoot has drawn artists representing the best in music, film, comedy, spoken word, dance, theatre, performance, and visual arts to the Seattle Center over Labor Day weekend. North America's largest urban arts festival, Bumbershoot takes place in the heart of the city at the 74-acre Seattle Center. Over 150,000 visitors from near and far spend the weekend reveling in the world of Bumbershoot, experiencing everything from regional favorites to international superstars across all arts disciplines.

Get more info at http://www.bumbershoot.org

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Popularity: 39% [?]

It began in a field. THE LIGHTHOUSE AND THE WHALER began in 2008 when Michael LoPresti, Evan Storey, and Aaron Smith went to a park in Cleveland, Ohio to play music together. They wrote their first song in fifteen minutes. As they played it, people began to stop and listen. The boys realized they were on to something and THE LIGHTHOUSE AND THE WHALER was born. Nick Wise went on to join the band in early 2009.

THE LIGHTHOUSE AND THE WHALER blends sweeping vocals with shimmering melodies and orchestral soundscapes.

THE LIGHTHOUSE AND THE WHALER released its first EP, A WHISPER, A CLAMOUR in the winter of 2008. The four track EP is the culmination of that single moment in the field. The EP is now available on iTunes and Amazon. The Lighthouse and The Whaler is currently recording it's highly anticipated, self-titled, full length album. The LP is slated for release in September. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 18% [?]

MELBOURNE based musician Sam Pollard started playing the piano at the age of five and never looked back.  As well as writing all of his own music, Sam plays piano and keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, cornet, trumpet and trombone, and sings in various styles.

Raised in the UK but relocated to Australia, Sam's musical influences include the best of British rock as well as classical and jazz styles.  Classically trained, with live experience ranging from rock to big band jazz and improv, Sam's excitement for music shines through in his performances.  “Sam Pollard blew us away when he did a couple of live acoustic tracks in the studio” said Mark Missen, President of Southern FM Radio in Melbourne.  “It was a sensational off the cuff effort and shows just how talented this performer is”. Sam’s songs have received extensive radio play in Australia and internationally.

Sam has recently completed a professional studio recording of his album "World of Difference" with his band and producer Jimi Maroudas at "Sing Sing" studios in Melbourne. The album received a GrIndie award from RadioIndy who said “Pollard’s vocals are rhythmical and have a fashionable flair of alternative pop/rock.  His lyrics are narrative and bouncy and he delivers a message within each song as a chronicle of events.”

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Popularity: 34% [?]

Pioneering indie web radio station Future Perfect Radio will be backstage at Lollapalooza this weekend, bringing listeners on-demand interviews directly from the festival.

Music director Michael Schmitt and correspondent Scott Fleischer will be at the festival all weekend, interviewing groups from The Builders and the Butchers to Chairlift. These interviews will be available almost instantly from the Future Perfect Radio website (http://futureperfectradio.com), where listeners can listen in on-demand.

These backstage interviews will break new ground for Internet radio and fill a gap left by traditional media. Few if any broadcasters bring their listeners into the midst of such music festivals. In an innovative move, Future Perfect Radio will deliver unique, on-demand content straight from Lollapalooza’s stages to music fans who can’t find such programming anywhere else. While many blogs and publications will be covering the event, Future Perfect Radio will bring Internet users from around the world straight to Grant Park in Chicago through on-demand audio interviews.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Assjack by Assjack

Considering his lineage, it’s not surprising that Hank Williams III is a rebel. Even fans of his irreverent country material may be shocked, however, when confronted with ASSJACK. Raw, brutal death/thrash metal is the name of game here and anyone …    Full Descriptionlooking for steel guitars and weepy sentiment should run for the door. Often sounding like a combination of Pantera and G.G. Allin, this is punky music, made punkier by the fact that Williams played all the instruments himself. From the start-stop riffs and machine gun guitar picking of "Choking" to the Butthole Surfers-style aural insanity of "Redneck Ride," this is the sort of aggressive, in-your-face music that only a Hank Williams could make.

Troubled, Shaken Etc. by Sian Alice Group

Sian Alice Group, a collective of UK musicians Sian Ahern, Rupert Clervaux and Ben Crook, amongst other collaborators – are back with their sophomore album, Troubled, Shaken Etc. The band hones in on a genre-busting combination of organic improvisation, process-driven experimentation and the focused strength earned from a year of extensive traveling and touring the world together. You get your minimalist trances, electronic experimentation, techno thump, jazz motifs and Eastern music tropes in a joyous and complete listening experience.

Dark Rift by Pictureplane

Grimy synths, broken beats, and bucolic vocals collide somewhere between early 90s house music and the gnarly soundscapes of Black Dice to forge a sound that’s wholly unique and endlessly exciting. It’s exceedlingly rare to find dance music that transcends the cold and robotic, but on "Dark Rift" Pictureplane does just that: churning out intricate electronic jams out of his Denver bedroom. It feels at once personal and cosmically expansive. In Pictureplane’s own words: "once every 26,000 years our planet crosses through the eliptical plane at the center of our galaxy known as the dark rift.

Evolove by JayBezz

Evolove is an overall eclectic dance/pop/synth concept album that has its beats and vocal delivery style pulled from the fun, MTV-powered 80’s decade.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Acafool (pronounced Ak-a-Fool), born and raised in the Little Haiti area of Miami, FL and currently representing Tampa, FL, is the definition of a true artist, one that marches to the beat of a different drum, a man in his own lane, defying both description and logic.  Acafool’s talents encompass many facets including singing/rapping, song writing, engineering and producing which has lead to the creation of some of the hottest sounds coming out of the south.  Additionally Acafool's creative business ideas have his team Dream Chasers Entertainment moving in all the right directions.

Within his music, Acafool takes his listeners on a musical journey that knows no boundaries, and eagerly pushes the parameters of Hip-Hop, Soul, Pop and R&B. He is rapidly generating interest for the daring, innovative and fresh perspective he takes in his music. While performing invigorating live shows his fans can fully experience Acafool at his best. Whether performing at major events or local clubs, Acafool can't be anyone but himself, a cool and humble brother.  This real, genuine quality he possesses has helped him to establish a strong and diverse fan base by serving up his music with the power to enlighten, entertain, educate, and elevate. Instead of all the wars, crime, suffering, stress and strife, wouldn't it be great if from time-to-time, we could all just ACAFOOL…

Acafool is no stranger to the industry, his buzz has stretched across the globe; including landing in XXL Magazine in December 2006 (Show and Prove) and again in July 2008 (10 Florida MC’s on the Rise). Acafool has also been busy at work making major moves, with a 2008 feature on the remix of Hitz Committee / Jive Recording Artist Asia Cruise’s hit single “SELFISH” and “PUT ON – Bay to the Bottom Remix” along with major recording artists Plies, 2 Pistols, Ace Hood and DJ Khaled.

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Popularity: 16% [?]