The Box –
From the director of Donnie Darko, Cameron Diaz sets out to answer the age old question about the devil you know being better than the devil you don’t in The Box. Push the button on a box and kill some stranger you don’t know and receive one million dollars. 24 hours, make the decision.
IMDB

Out Now

Men Who Stare At Goats -
A reporter, trying to lose himself in the romance of war after his marriage fails, gets more than he bargains for when he meets a Special Forces agent who reveals the existence of a secret, psychic military unit whose goal is to end war as we know it. The founder of the unit has gone missing and the trail leads to another psychic soldier who has distorted the mission to serve his own ends. (taken from IMDB)
IMDB

Out Now

Pirate Radio (aka The Boat That Rocked) -
A crazy comedy about an illegal radio station in the North Sea in the 60’s. Feel good movie for all us music fans. They were really able to catch the 60’s pirate radio feel in the movie and Philip Seymour Hoffman was excellent as always.
IMDB


Old Dogs -
Two friends and business partners find their lives turned upside down when strange circumstances lead to them being placed in the care of 7-year-old twins. From the director of Wild Hogs starring Robin Williams and John Travolta.
IMDB

Out November 25th

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe –
Now for some the more serious stuff. New Documentary film depicting the life and challenges of William Kunstler the most loved and hated lawyer in America. The man that once stood next to Dr. King and protested later represented terrorists and rapists. His two daughters took on the mission and created this film.
IMDB

Out Now

Ninja Assassin –
This one is for us action loving guys out there. A story of a young boy with no family to mention, who was raised up to be the fastest meanest ninja of them all. It was all good until one day he is betrayed by his orphanage and seeks the ultimate revenge.
IMDB

Coming November 23rd

Of the 13m songs available for sale on the internet last year, more than 10m failed to find a single buyer and only 173,000 of the 1.23m available albums were ever purchased – leaving 85% without a single copy sold [source].  Established artists are touring constantly to compensate for their recorded music sales deficit and emerging artists can’t seem to get enough attention to justify a gig, let alone a tour.

With that said, some artists think beyond the realm of music sales and live shows to get ahead of the curve.  Sometimes, with limited resources and public awareness, artists conceive of multi-media experiences that capture the hearts and minds of even the most fickle music fans, providing an unobtrusive yet enticing gateway to their music.  The Polyphonic Spree got my undivided attention for at least 10 minutes this way.

In an effort to promote and celebrate the release of their new album, “Together We’re Heavy”, The Polyphonic Spree created a three-level internet adventure game to the soundtrack of their music called The Quest For The Rest.  The journey, albeit tediously long with me at the helm, was as wondrous and enjoyable as their blend of a 10 person choir, horn and string section, and various cross-genre instrumentation.

It began this way:

Welcome to the new interactive adventure from The Polyphonic Spree featuring brand new music from their forthcoming album, “Together We’re Heavy”, coming July 13th.  Help the three lost members reunite with the rest of their group by guiding them through three different environments and you will be rewarded.

Unfortunately, when I completed all three levels and “reunited with my group”, the reward (two live track downloads, a video, plus lyrics) produced a “Page Load Error”.  Otherwise, really good fun!  Try it…

Source: Getting Your Fans Undivided Attention on Music Industry Blog

Israeli based, Buffalo Boots, have been making quite a buzz in the local market lately as the next promising alt/rock/country indie act as they assumably plan on paving their way to the mass indie market in the States. Their debut album which is due August 2009, was mixed by legendary producer Kramer (Butthole Surfers) and includes a variety of tracks I briefly heard  online that vary from quirky indie tunes to PJ Harveyesque songs.

Their new single Happy With A Secret is finally out, give it a spin below. Looks very promising.

[Buffalo Boots on Myspace]

Here are a few of my favorites lately:

TV Show: Chuck on NBC,
Episode: Chuck vs. The ring - 04/27/2009
Song: Gramercy Arms - Looking At the Sun

With the mix of an amazing season finale of Chuck and NYC based super group, Gramercy Arms which comprises members of Guided By Voices, Luna and Joan as Police Woman with a special guest appearance of Sarah Silverman on “Looking at the Sun” this has to be my number one song of the week.

TV Show: Dollhouse on FOX,
Episode: Needs - 04/03/2009
Song: O+S - A Lonely Ghost

O+S is the musical collaboration between Orenda Fink (Azure Ray, Art in Manila) and Scalpelist (aka Cedric LeMoyne of Remy Zero). Their Debut album just came out on Saddle Creek Records – highly recommended, it brought a great vibe to the scene on Dollhouse.

TV Show: Lie To Me on FOX,
Episode: Undercover - 04/29/09
Song: Joseph Arthur – Walk Away

(listen to sample on Last.fm)

One of my new favorite shows, Tim Roth is an absolute genius even though the schtick for the all knowing detective has been used over and over again this series hit the spot. Arthur Joseph has never been a regular on my playlists but now I’m considering adding him to my daily runs.

TV Show: Gossip Girl on The CW,
Episode: Southern Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - 04/27/09
Song: Coconut Records – Is This Sound Ok?

(Listen to full track here)

I’m a big fan of Jason Schwartzman and Coconut Records and it seems he finds his way in to many TV shows since he started this band. I guess something about the minimalistic sounds and melodic tunes that draws the music supervisors to him.

In the end of the 90s if your band’s name wasn’t “Radiohead” and you resided in the UK, most chances were that you were busy producing pale Beatles or Stones imitations and receiving high praise from publications that should have known better. Over at Scotland exceptions were being made to the rule. One band in particular was set to liven up the dreary reality with catchy pop tunes coupled with crazy fuzzed out madness. They were called Urusei Yatsura and they only lasted for 3 great albums before they called it quits.

Urusei Yatsura - Hello Tiger

Skip over a decade or so and Projekt A-Ko rises from the ashes of Urusei Yatsura. It seems that not much has changed. The madness is still there and the pop sensibility still hides behind the walls of screeching guitar mayhem. Projekt A-Ko’s debut album Yoyodyne sounds like Sonic Youth on happy pills and definitely deserves a spin.

Projekt A-Ko - Molten Hearts

[Get the Album]
[Projekt A-Ko on MySpace]

Pearl Woods was 28 years old and recording with Little Richard’s backup band The Upsetters. She could sing as well as any Motown star, with soul and feeling, and Sipping Sorrow was a great catchy number. This was her ticket, now the world would know her name, and her talent.
Sipping Sorrow was released in 1961 on Charge Records and promptly zoomed off into the ether, unheard and uncared for. Sometimes life is cruel to the manifestly deserving.

Pearl Woods - Sippin’ Sorrow

It was a cold morning in Camden Market, when I entered a local CD shop and browsed through the shelves and the CDs on the display. The year was 2003. I left my homeland Israel to live in London for some time, and to see what life would bring me.

I had a cheap Epiphone acoustic guitar, which I took with me for the lonely moments, and my Rickenbacker bass, that came all the way with me, in order to find a psychedelic rock band, join them, get signed, make records, destroy hotel rooms and live a John Bonham lifestyle, including the fancy cars.
What I didn’t know, was that I’d be in for a big surprise and what they’d call – a lifetime changing moment. That moment happened when I saw, Bert Jansch’s first album on display. He was sitting with a guitar in hand, looking at the occasional consumer in the shop. He had been staring at them  like that since 1965, the year it was released. I had no idea who he was, and no idea why I decided to pick the CD up and take a look at it. It was far from my musical taste back then, which was focused mainly on psych rock bands and singer/songwriters.

Next to his album, there was another album, again, with a guy and a guitar in hand. He wasn’t staring at me, but the two CDs were there next to each other, and something talked me into getting them both. I never took a CD because of a cover, and let’s say it wasn’t THAT pretty of a cover–just plain pictures of musicians that looked, well, plain.

When I came back to my flat, the CDs remained in their plastic bag for three days before that Saturday morning when I decided to play Jansch’s first album. The first three notes on the record, of the song “Strolling Down The Highway”, immediately grabbed my attention. One minute into the song and I knew I’ve never heard anyone playing like that. I was literally, under a spell. After the first listen of the album, I was in such a shock, that I had to check the other CD I bought right away. It was Jackson C. Frank’s sole record. My jaw, couldn’t face the tension, and dropped eventually.

That following week I decided to switch my position. I put the bass guitar in the closet and started thinking of how much I’d get for it and if it would be enough for a Martin D-28. Lucky for me, I didn’t end up selling it  and I still play bass in several of projects and especially in my band Buffalo Boots. But the day I heard Bert Jansch, was the day my life had changed. Completely. I started investigating the fingerpicking world, got to know the alternating bass technique, and practiced endlessly on playing ‘Angie’. From there, it was a rollercoaster.  I compulsively started gathering everything Jansch had ever recorded, and moved onward to more and more guitar players who used that style, like Richard Thompson, Wizz Jones, John Renbourn, Steve Tilston and more and more.

Last month, I released my first album ‘Remember’. It’s a mixture of all the influences I gathered in the past 6 years, moving from British folk to British blues to  Mississippi Delta blues. John Fahey and Robbie Basho are my heroes on the American side of things, and the album combines all of them.

For those of you who aren’t into playing fingerpicking guitar, or who want to investigate the playing of Nick Drake or Paul Simon and even Neil Young’s acoustic guitar playing – go ahead and listen to the names I’ve mentioned, and especially to Bert Jansch. He is THE music for me. Him, and Coltrane of course, but we’ll get to that some other time…

Yair Yona - Broken Rockin’ Chair

[Yair Yona on MySpace]

Matador records has just made available a spanking new track by Sonic Youth. It’s as good as anything SY has ever done. The guys have also added Mark Ibold (Pavement) on bass, making the upcoming album ‘The Eternal’ even more promising.

Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster

[Download]

Sonic Youth has also anounced a secret gig in the UK along with the ability to pre-order the album if you’re willing to go leave the house and visit an actual good old fashioned record shop.

I personally can’t wait for the next album. Sonic Youth has been producing brilliant albums this decade, and ‘The Eternal’ is sure to be another masterpiece.

One Eyed Monster Trailer