Indie Rock Cafe

Against Me!'s Tom Gabel Goes Solo with EP and Tour

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:52:44 -0500

Against Me! singer Tom Gabel will hit the road for a solo tour at the end of October accompanied by Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Ben Nichols (Lucero), and Tim Barry (Avail) on the Revival Tour.

MP3: "Thrash Unreal" by Against Me!

The frontmen will trade off playing solo sets of their own songs as well as collaborating on each others material, according to a press release from Earshot Media. Gabel is launching the tour in support of his upcoming seven-song solo EP, entitled Heart Burns (see track listing below), which will be released on CD, digitally and on vinyl by Sire Records on October 28th.

The centerpiece of the EP is "Anna Is A Stool Pigeon," which Gabel wrote after reading about environmental activist Eric McDavid who was convicted in 2007 of conspiring to use explosives to damage corporate and government property after being implicated by an undercover FBI informant who posed as an activist. McDavid's defense has argued that he was the victim of entrapment. He currently faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

"What struck me most about the story was a sense of familiarity," Gabel says. "I know the scene he was a part of, I used to be a part of it myself. I've thought the same thoughts, talked the same talk. I've hung out with the same people, gone to similar protests. If Eric could have become the target of an FBI sting operation, then so could I. This could have been me."

The EP was recorded late August in Los Angeles on a short two week break in between Against Me! tours. Gabel co-produced the EP along with Billy Bush, while Butch Vig executive produced. The EP contains several guest appearances including Chuck Ragan and Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio).

Gabel's solo tour will begin once Against Me! complete their upcoming U.S. tour with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, which begins on October 1st. Against Me! have been touring non-stop in support of their current album, the Butch Vig-produced New Wave, which was released by Sire Records in July 2007.

Called "the most invigorating, zeitgeist-capturing rock album in years" by Spin Magazine, New Wave was named the magazine's "Album of the Year," and also appeared in the Top 10 on Rolling Stone, Blender, and MTV.com's year-end "Best Album" lists. New Wave has spawned two singles, "White People for Peace" and "Thrash Unreal," which became the band's first single to chart in the U.S. when it climbed to No. 11 on the Modern Rock chart.

Gabel has announced plans to post every Wednesday on his MySpace page, a video for each song on Heart Burns. These videos will not feature the album audio, but rather exclusive live audio of Gabel singing on camera.

The first (for the song "100 Years of War") is already up. View it at http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=43422974.

He is also keeping a blog at http://www.ifeelsicktomystomach.blogspot.com where fans can check in to get the latest info about the upcoming tour and EP.

Track-listing for Heart Burns:

"Random Hearts"
"Conceptual Paths"
"Cowards Sing at Night"
"Amputations"
"Anna Is A Stool Pigeon"
"Harsh Realms"
"100 Years of War"

Tom Gabel's upcoming solo dates on the Revival Tour:

10/31 Pomona, CA, The Glass House
11/01 Hollywood, CA, The Knitting Factory
11/02 San Diego, CA, The Casbah
11/04 Las Vegas, NV, The Beauty Bar
11/05 Tempe, AZ, The Clubhouse
11/07 Lubbock, TX, Tequila Jungle
11/08 Dallas, TX, The Door - Prophet Bar
11/09 Austin, TX, Waterloo Park
11/10 Houston, TX, Walter's on Washington
11/13 Little Rock, AR, Juanita's
11/14 Memphis, TN, Hi Tone Café
11/15 Birmingham, AL, Workplay Theatre
11/16 W. Columbia, SC, New Brookland Tavern

Headlining:

11/20 NYC, NY - The Knitting Factory

Tom Gabel's MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/tomgabelmusic

End of September 2008 Indie Rock MP3 Round-Up

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:43:07 -0500

New Indie and Alternative Rock

The usual flurry of indie and alternative rock album and single releases for return to school and pre-Christmas season is in full swing.

This week IRC has assembled another eclectic collection of new MP3 releases from already released and forthcoming releases of some of the best indie rock albums and songs of 2008.

Featured artists and bands include Ed Laurie, Jeremy, The Harvey Girls, The Trophy Fire, The Doleful Lions, Awesome Color, The New Up and others.

- "Albert" by Ed Laurie
- "Andalucia" (demo) by Ed Laurie

- "Silly Long Songs" by Jeremy
- "Hey Little Sprout" by The Harvey Girls
- "Fourteen" by The French Semester
- "White Lotus Day" by The Doleful Lions
- "Year of the Dog" by The Lovely Sparrows
- "Broken Machine" by The New Up
- "Already Down" by Awesome Color
- "Divide" by The Trophy Fire

- "Too Sweet" by And The Moneynotes

Major Music Festival in San Francisco Was Far Out, Man

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:01:38 -0500

The following is a report that was written after San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival, but was not published until now due to time constraints.

SAN FRANCISCO - The first major rock music festival to grace San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in nearly four decades was a huge success last month (August 22-24), drawing a crowd that organizers estimated at over 150,000 people.

Outside Lands celebrated its first year as the Bay Area's newest major rock festival with three days of music from artists and bands like Radiohead, Jack Johnson, Tom Petty, Beck, Andrew Bird, Widespread Panic, Wilco, Broken Social Scene, Rouge Wave, Manu Chao, Ben Harper, Primus and Rodrigo y Gabriela, among dozens of others.

Unlike most other summer rock festivals, there were no sun burns or cases of heat exhaustion at Outside Lands. San Francisco's famously reliable fog, that the city is known world-wide for, drenched Golden Gate Park's Polo Fields for most of the three-day music festival - probably not what the over-advertised Heineken vendors wanted, but what did they expect in August on the west side of San Francisco?

Believe it or not, Anchorage, Alaska has higher summertime temperatures, on average, than San Francisco, California (and it's not because of the hot air blowing from Sarah Palin's mouth).

But on the last day of the festival, Sunday August 24, the sun came out and blue skies replaced low-lying clouds and mist. Having been to plenty of outdoor concerts and festivals in the hot sun, it's easy to welcome and appreciate the cooling waves of continuous fog.

MP3s from Outside Lands lineup artists:

"KC Accidental" - Broken Social Scene
"Herectics" - Andrew Bird
"Sightlines" - Rogue Wave (check out the band's other music, they're awesome.)

When Radiohead took the stage late Friday evening, the lights surrounding the entire venue beamed up through the fog like lasers - a common site in northern California. Just ask anyone who has shone a flashlight or drove with their headlights on through the thick summer fog - you can literally cast a beam of light for as far as the eye can see.

Perhaps this is how Stars Wars director George Lucas, a native of northern California, came up with the idea for the famous laser weapons featured in the classic trilogy.

Anyways, the sets for good indie bands and artists - like Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene, M. Ward, Rogue Wave - were too short, and the time delay between various acts were too short for such a huge place - literally four football fields from end to end. Next time they should also do something about the dust - that really surprised me since most of the park is lush and green (thanks to the fog and irrigation); dust is just not something you see in San Francisco.

(photo by thegatos08 on Flickr)

For many festival goers, it was the first night's headliner, Radiohead, that proved to be the highlight of the entire festival (not that big on Petty and Jack Johnson as headliners). Not only did they put on an amazing light show, but they sounded spectacular - better than on vinyl - which is hard for me to believe in a way, but it's true.

There were two brief sound outages, but the band apologized for that. As if. No apology needed Thom, you guys were so awesome, everyone already had forgotten about it. It's the only reason the performance gets an A instead of an A-plus.

Next year, assuming the fest will be held again (all indications are that the greedy promoters and investors made plenty of money) they should step it up have more real headlining bands (it is San Francisco, man), not try to cram so much on so many stages in three days and definitely invest more in facilities, and lower the three-day pass price.

Outside the parameters of the fenced off event were hundreds, if not thousands of people, who were presumably not ticket holders but had no problem hanging out in or under trees and on strips of grass soaking in the many artists - for free, and they didn't have to wait in the lines for the disgusting portable toilets.

Also, it'd be nice if they could come up with some innovative ways to protect the park more from environmental damage. I can't help but to feel a little guilty for the digging up of the grass (grass - not talking about that kind people - is a rare thing in SF) and how the loud music affected wildlife in and around the park.

Nevertheless, the festival was considered a success to most who attended. Those who were most dissatisfied were area residents who lived within an earshot of the music blaring above the trees and throughout adjacent neighborhoods. The fog actually helps carry sound, so at times residents blocks and blocks away felt almost like they were part of the festival.

Indie Rock End of Summer MP3 Tardy Party

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:20:25 -0500

The following is an indie mixed tape of new songs and releases that came out this summer. Since they have already been released this summer, it seems right to call this tape the Tarty Party mix.

Just click the button on the cassette image below to start the stream featuring songs from Amazing Baby, Ratatat, Beaujolais, Hacienda, Sam Champion, Kings of Leon, I Heart Hiroshima, Awesome Color, Rainbow Arabia and The French Semester.

Here are some free MP3s from the mixed tape above. Others are available from the MP3 tab above.

MP3: "Headdress" by Amazing Baby from Infinite Fking Cross EP released on August 29, 2008

MP3: "Mirando" by Ratatat (via Pitchfork Media)

MP3: "Friday, The Thirteenth: The Loft" by Beaujolais from the Parasol Records Release Love at Thirty

MP3: "Be Mine Everyone" by Sam Champion

September Indie Rock New Releases

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:51:10 -0500

There is no shortage of exciting indie releases this September and the stack is already growing high for October.

Among the most talked about, and triumphant indie releases this September is Austin's indie sensations Okkervil River's The Stand Ins.

MP3: "Los Coastlines" from Okkervil River's newest release

Rock critic Will Sheff called The Stand Ins and its 2007 counterpart The Stage Names "essentially a fat-free double album. They're also striking in-progress documents of a band that continues to sharpen its bookish but brutally honest indie rock with every disc."

Other artists and bands releasing new work this month include The Broken West, Kings of Leon, Woodlands, I Heart Hiroshama, Broadfield Marchers and Mason Proper, among many others. (Check back as this page will be updated as new music arrives).

SEPTEMBER'S NEW INDIE RELEASES

MP3: "Sex On Fire" by Kings of Leon from the forthcoming September 23, 2008 release Only By The Night

MP3: "Auctioneer" by Broken West from the forthcoming album Now or Heaven, released on September 9, 2008 via Merge Records.

MP3: "I Wasn't Made For Fighting" by Woodlands from their album Heart Attack on Paper Bag Records. This is a great song for those of you who enjoy trip-hop trance mixed with rock-like interludes and vocals.

MP3: "Punks" and "Surgery" by I Heart Hiroshama from the new album Tuff Teef

MP3: "Warchful Hill People" by Broadfield Marchers from album The Inevitable Continuing, released on September 2, 2008.

MP3: - "Lock and Key" by Mason Proper off the album Olly Oxen Free due out September 23, 2008 on Dovecote Records.

IRC actively supports aspiring, and established, indie and alternative rock musicians, bands, artists and labels that make great music worthy of highlighting.

More releases coming soon. Get the Feed Me Indie RSS or email feed.

About Indie Rock Cafe

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:09:35 -0500

Thanks for your interest in the web site Indie Rock Café. First published in 2006, IRC is one of the most popular indie music blogs on the web with the mission is to publish excellent, virtually unknown music to a wider indie rock and alternative audience on the web.

Musicians and representatives of musicians and groups, advertisers, writers, photographers and readers, please read the following before considering contacting IRC.

Due to the overwhelming number of emails we receive, emails received that do not follow our guidelines (published below) will be automatically deleted and your email address will be blocked from our servers.

This is the only way to be fair to those who do follow our guidelines and to provide the best quality music and content for IRC readers.

Readers and site visitors

Thanks for your interest in IRC. We hope to continue to provide great new indie music for you year-round, but we need your help. You can help by adding links from IRC to your favorite social networking sites (like Facebook, Digg, Twitter and others), bookmarking the site, signing up for the “Feed Me Indie” RSS feed and sharing the site with friends.

To place a link on your website to IRC, simply use this code: Indie Rock Cafe.

Advertising

For advertisers interested in placement on IndieRockCafe.com, please reply to the verification email and put the word “Advertising” in the subject line of your original email (not the verification email, or the system will block your address and we won’t receive your message).

Once we review your email, you will be contacted by a representative for more information.

Music submissions

Musicians, band and those representing an artist, please submit valid link to one or more of your MP3s. Due to overwhelming number of contacts, failure to comply 100% to these guidelines will result in your email being automatically deleted and your email address blocked.

Each MP3 link must be hosted on your own server and direct (redirecting, spam-type of links will not be considered – meaning that clicking on the MP3 link you provide must start playing the song itself, or create a prompt to download or play it).

Links must be valid for the next two months and be available for visitors to listen to and download. Studies show that visitors to indie music blogs are not interested in streaming music links, and IRC will not publish such links. You must also type “I am the owner or representative of the owner of the following MP3 and give IRC all rights to publish”)

Emails that do not include at least one link to an MP3 on your own web server will be automatically deleted. Email attachments, links to streaming music (like MySpace or LastFM, among others) will be automatically deleted and your email address will be blocked permanently.

Make sure to include the artist name, song title, date of release and a link to your official website or a record label site (all other links, such as to MySpace, are prohibited).

Again, failure to follow all of the guidelines explained here for music submissions will result in your email being deleted and your email address permanently blocked on our server.

The best chance to catch our attention, and get your music published on IRC for thousands of potential fans, is to provide one or more valid MP3 links (that follow all of the guidelines established above) in your email along with a well-written, short profile in the third-person voice (no use of I, my, us, them, their, etc.) to good, solid songs that fit the type of music featured on IRC since 2006.

We strongly recommend that you check the MP3s page (http://www.indierockcafe.com/mp3s.html) on the site to get a feel for the type of music IRC readers enjoy. Links to quality (but under 30 kilobytes) photos will also increase chances of being featured on IRC.

Writers, Photographers and Illustrators

If you would like to contribute album, festival, artist, concert reviews to IRC, please send us valid links to your previous writings or other work and what you would like to write about. Since IRC makes virtually no profit, we are unable to pay, but do provide a byline.

Please do not submit any articles that are not your original work or that have been previously published. Our computer software can detect pirated, repurposed, unoriginal or previously published writings, photos and video. In addition, do not send attachments, such as files or images – our email system will automatically block such emails, so we’ll never see them.
How IRC helps musicians, labels and groups

Some artists have even written IRC to say that being featured on IRC has helped grow their fan base. That’s the whole idea – to make others aware of great music ‘out there’ that they may not otherwise know about or have access to.

If you are writing to become a contributor, please send me some samples of your writing and detail what you're interested in. Writing positions are unpaid and to help you create visibility and a portfolio with a high-profile music site endorsed by Spinner, Reuters and StereoGum.

Exchange links will be considered after we notice visitors coming from your site. Because of the high number of requests to place a link to another site on IRC, there has to be some quality control standards.

To leave a comment for a posting or a general comment, click on a post on the IRC website and then click on the Comments link. No login is required to leave a comment, but is encouraged.

Thanks again for your support and interest in IndieRockCafe.com. We have many more plans to bring you more unique great music you probably never heard, and more of the great music you already know from indie rock.

http://www.indierockcafe.com

Indie Rock Cafe's PlayThis! MP3 Playlist Series, Vol. I

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:07:35 -0500

Soon summer will pass the torch to autumn, leaves will deceive nature by coming alive as they die and people will plan holidays, take out sweaters and coats and harvest the last crops before winter ushers in its long chilly nights.

But let's not say goodbye to summer too fast; it's still with us, and in that spirit, Indie Rock Cafe
kicks off it's PlayThis! MP3 Playlist Series. The first installment is, you guessed it, songs about
summer. Here's a streaming version featuring ten songs, followed by an MP3 playlist. You can PlayThis Playlist now!

1. Summertime - Miles Davis

2. A Summer Wasting - Belle & Sebastian

3. A Sweet Summer's Night On Hammer Hill - Jens Lekman

4. Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady

5. Electric Music And The Summer People - Beck

6. Feel Good Hit Of The Summer - Queens of the Stone Age

7. It's Summertime - The Flaming Lips

8. Jogging Gorgeous Summer - Islands

9. My Summer Girl - The Rentals

10. Play In The Summer - Trans Am

11. Spring And By Summer Fall - Blonde Redhead

12. Summer Babe [Winter Version] - Pavement

13. Summer Days - Phoenix

14. Summer Dress (Live on KCRW) - Red House Painters

15. Summer Is Coming - Matt Pond PA

16. Summer Kids Go - Moonbabie

17. Summer On The Westhill - Kings of Convenience

18. Summer Party - Breakbot

19. Summer Seen - The High Llamas

20. Summer Skin - Death Cab For Cutie

21. Summer Snow - Fahrenheit

22. Summer Songs - Barcelona

23. Summer Wind Was Always Our Son - Ataris

24. Summer's Gone - The Kinks

25. Summer...It's Gone - Grandaddy

This is the first installment of the PlayThis! MP3 Playlist Series focused almost exclusively on indie and alternative rock.

Over the years, I have been sorting my favorites songs - thousands of them - into categorical and thematical playlists. During this time, a collection of more than 50 mostly indie rock, folk, pop playlists has been produced. Little by little, each playlist, in a trimmed down version of course, will be published on this blog.

Eardrums Music has a free 24-song compilation of summer songs available for download at:

http://eardrumsmusic.com/summershere_vol1/

Forthcoming PlayThis! Playlists

Autumn Fills The Air - Featuring songs about autumn time, fall and the change of seasons

Halloween Tracks and Treats - A playlist of Halloween-related songs. Think ghosts, ghouls and goblins.

Free Indie Album Download from Ashtmatic Kitty Records: "Interoceans" - Various Artists

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:07:31 -0500

A number of musicians and bands contributed to this free MP3 album download available from Asthmatic Kitty Records, a label that has produced favorite indie artists like Sufjan Stevens and Half Handed Cloud.

The album mainly consists of various remixes of the I Heart Lung's song "Interoceans" from artists like SugarLoaf, Strategy and Omid.

Download Interoceans from Asthmatic Kitty Records. You can also stream the album and buy the original from I Heart Lungs.

In case you missed...

IRC's first installment of the PlayThis! Indie MP3 Playlist series featuring MP3s with the word 'summer' in them from artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Kings of Convenience, Belle & Sebastian, Pavement, Queens of the Stone Age, The Kinks, Grandaddy and Beck.

Indie Band of the Month: The Spinto Band

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:36:22 -0500

I've always been a sucker for indie bands that have great web sites, especially those that are built with Flash, despite it's limitations (such as embedded audio tracks - MP3, please). But The Spinto Band's new website is something to behold.

The site has a starry-midnight-moon-glow theme going on, which is appropriate as Halloween is only two months away. Right now, the content is a bit thin, but the band plans to offer new material each Tuesday up to the October 7 release of their new album release, MoonWink.

MP3: "Summer Grof" - The Spinto Band from the forthcoming new album release MoonWink, due out on October 7.

Bonus Tracks (MP3 can expire at anytime)

MP3: "Vivian, Don't" - The Spinto Band
MP3: "Needlepoint" - The Spinto Band

The site design and navigation in Flash is awesome, so check it out if you a fan, or are curious about the band.

There are no official MP3s from MoonWink available, but there is a Flash stream for some songs on the album including "Summer Grof".

The band's new UK label calls the album "11 tracks of bendy indie pop behaviour that very occasionally sounds like ELO being played backwards." We shall see, fluff masters.

Last week, The Spinto Band signed with Fierce Panda Records after what the label calls "months of intense negotiations." The band exploded onto the indie rock scene in 2005 after their song "Oh Mandy" became an unexpected hit record.

Soon, the latest spring chickens of indie rock were opening for established rockers like The Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Art Brut and Rilo Kiley.

To up the ante for their latest release, The Spinto Band signed on producer/engineer Dave Trumfio (Wilco, Built To Spill, Billy Bragg, Mates of State) and mixing engineer Tchad Blake (Tom Waits, Los Lobos, Cibo Matto, Paul Simon).

+ The Spinto Band MySpace Page

Featured Indie Rock Artist Offering Free MP3s: The Octopus Project

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:54:01 -0500

I've always believed that if indie rock artists and bands want to attract a loyal following, one of the most important things they need to do is offer free, no-frills MP3s for download on their official website.

Evidence that this approach works follows a path of logic and a huge demand for such a service by music lovers searching to discover new bands.

During the past year, popular rock bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have offered for free to anyone a full download of their most recent albums. The response to both has been overwhelming.

Not only does an indie group or a more 'established' rock band get plenty of positive publicity for
offering their music for free download, but they also build and solidify coalitions of loyal fans who
will often promote the band via the irreplaceable WOM (word of mouth), purchasing merchandise, buying their other music and attending their shows.

We all know how much that can cost, especially after TicketMaster and LiveNation often charge in fees up to, and more, than half of the original price of the concert ticket itself.

Over the next year, IRC will be featuring artists and bands, ranging from indie rock to 'mainstream' rock, who offer free MP3 downloads of their music on their websites, whether individual songs or entire album downloads.

In the first installment, IRC spotlighted NIN's newest album, The Slip. After announcing that the entire album would be available to anyone for free after a simple registration, the album has been downloaded tens of thousands of times on NIN's official website.

Here is that story and information on how and where to download the album in MP3 format.

This installment features the popular Austin, Texas indie rock band The Octopus Project. While there are no full album downloads, nor no free downloads for their latest release, individual tracks from all of their albums dating back to 1999 are available at the following link:

Download Free Octopus Project MP3s:
http://www.theoctopusproject.com/mp3s.html

Enjoy.

Festivals So Far: From London to California

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:58:46 -0500

It is hard to believe that August is half over and soon we will be saying good-bye to another summer. If there was only a way to make the summers stretch out like they seemed to when we were kids.

In the past month, there have been dozens and dozens of major music festivals across the United States and the world.

The much-anticipated rock fests for August are Chicago's famed Lollapalooza, The Virgin Festival in Baltimore, the New York City metro area's (actually Jersey City, NJ, just across the river) new, major rock festival - the All Points Festival, aka "Coachella East", not to mention the much anticipated Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco's beautiful Golden Gate Park Polo Fields, just a few hundred feet from the ocean amongst the carpet green grounds and Monterey pine trees.

After years of trying, promoters were granted license to hold a major outdoor festival this year featuring dozens of top indie bands and artists, with Radiohead playing two nights of the three day festival.

Nearly two weekends ago, the Download Festival 'San Francisco' (actual location was Mt. View, CA, about 30 miles south of the city) was held at the Shoreline with disastorous results, giving a totally different meaning to "down" and "load". The attendance was shockingly down from the previous year, almost off 60 percent and it showed by the thin crowds. There was not much "load" to the fest as far as line-up, especially when you consider that there are so many major festivals this year (including the debut of the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in September).

hove festival - norway - june 23-26 - beck, the raconteurs, brain jonestown massacre, panic at the disco, the raconteurs, the kooks, yeasayer, foals, flogging molly, les savy fav, the cool kids, stars, dinosaur jr. and more.

rock werchter - july 3-6 - belgium - headliners: the national, rem, my morning jacket, the hives, panic at the disco, editors, beck, band of horses, air traffic, cool kids, hot chip, radiohead, the kooks, neil young and many others.

o2 wireless festival - july 3-6, london - jay z, hot chip, beck, the raconteurs, the national, morrissey, black kids, sea wolf, the whigs, cornershop, fatboy slim, goo goo dolls, counting crows, the hold steady and dozens more.

fib heineken 2008 - july 17-20 - the brian jonestown massacre, my morning jacket, gnarls barkley, the raconteurs, my bloody valentine, sigur ros, death cab for cutie, leonard cohen, spiritualized, justice and many others.

ruis rock 2008 festival - july 4-6 - finland - him, floggy molly, anti-flag, interpol, the national, bullet for my valentine, primal scream, the sounds and others.

optimus alive 2008 - july 10-12 - portugal - neil young, bob dylan, spiritualized, interpol, ben harper and the innocent, rage against the machine, galactic, the hives and a dozen others.

Indie Alternative Record Label of the Month: Dead Oceans Records

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:18:39 -0500

There are few things more enjoyable regarding online music experiences then to discover a great record label that you didn't already know of. This month's indie label honor goes to Dead Oceans Records.

The label is based in Austin, one of the country's top indie/alternative rock cities, where each year two of the music industry's biggest events - the South-by-Southwest Conference and the Austin City Limits Music and Arts Festival - are held. Smart place to start a record label if you don't mind the Texan heat.

Dead Oceans has a great line-up for a relatively small and new label, including indie and alternative rock bands like Explorers Club, Bishop Allen, White Hinterland, The Bower Birds and Evangelicals.

The label has just released The Explorer's Club new debut album, Freedom Wind. This is an interesting album and definitely worth a try, especially if you enjoy the following free track from the album.

MP3: Do You Love Me - Explorers Club

You can purchase Freedom Wind at from Dead Oceans

MP3: Skeleton - Evangelicals

Another recent release from the Dead Oceans indie record label worthy of checking out comes from The Bower Birds. This is a new and pleasant discovery here at IRC. Many fans are enticed by the band's Middle-Eastern influenced tracks that are adeptly mixed with a kind of indie rock that is rarely heard.

The band's song "In Our Talons" embodies this ecelectic offering of influences on The Bower Birds sound.

MP3: In Our Talons - The Bower Birds

View amazing artistic, albeit low budget, music video for "In Our Talons" featured on MTV2 and YouTube.

Canadian Director Alan Poon describes the making of the video to subterraneanblog:

"The images were created by taking individual snapshots of each animal in each position [for] approximately 5 seconds...per day...features three different nature vignettes - a crow (we think), a pair of preying mantises and a crab - and there are three members of Bowerbirds."

In a way coming upon the Dead Oceans Record label was a bit jarring and coincidental for me . Only two days earlier, I had heard a report on NPR about "dead ocean zones" increasing worldwide. The dead zones, a major concern of enviornmentalists and governments worldwide, are growing at an alarming rate worldwide.

The dead ocean zones take over when high concentrations of oxygen-sucking algae form at the mouths of major rivers. Fertilizer run-off from farms flow into streams and then major rivers where they amass in piles, choking the ocean zone's oxygen and killing marine life.

In places like Florida, Japan and Europe, there have been an alarming increase in the number and size of dead ocean zones during the past four decades. Marine environmentalists and oceanographers around the globe say that dead ocean zones are the greatest threat to the world's already threatened oceans.

Hopefully bringing this issue to your attention might get a few people to write their Congressional representatives (it's our democracy if we want to take it).

Download Free MP3 Album, The Slip, From Nine Inch Nails

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:34:41 -0500

After writing about Nine Inch Nails a few weeks ago, a number of you have written to me pointing out that I did not include the link to NIN's new album free download.

Oops! You're right, I did, and now after having listened The Slip by NIN's for a few weeks, I'm convinced it's worth downloading, especially for free.

There are few 'big name' indie and alternative bands out nowadays willing to offer their music for free, but if you think about it, the strategy is a smart one. Not only do you create loyalty with long-time fans, but it's also a great way to attract new fans. And thus, sell more concert tickets and merchandise.

Let's face it, the give-our-music-out-for-free approach is working, as bands like NIN have shown. Now it's up to many other music artists and bands to follow their lead, and in return, grow their base.

The record industry made windfall profits off CD sales for decades; but the formula has changed and the sooner they embrace it, the better off they will be in the long haul.

If you're a Nine Inch Nails fan, you probably already know that the band will be performing tomorrow, August 10th, at the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore. Check back later for YouTube and other videos from the 2008 Virgin Festival lineup.

Download The Slip for free at NIN official website.

The following is the official NIN's music video for the track "Lights in the Sky" from their latest free release, The Slip:

Lollapalooza 2008 Kicks off with Radiohead, Raconteurs, Bloc Party, Cat Power and Others

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:48:45 -0500

Lollapalooza 2008 kicked off today in Chicago's Grant Park. The event set for this weekend (August 1-3) features dozens of top indie artists and bands is expected to sell out of tickets, especially the high-priced three-day pass.

Friday's Lollapalooza 2008 line-up includes popular indie bands like Bloc Party, The Raconteurs, The Kills, Mates of State, Rogue Wave, Holy Fuk, Yeasayer, Gogol Bordello and Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks.For reasons unknown to IRC, Radiohead is not being webcasted during what is expected to be a nearly three-hour set.

Other artists performing on Friday (but not via the webcast) include Black Keys, The Black Lips, Cat Power, VHS or BETA, The Cool Kids, Manchester Orchestra, Louis XIV, Enemy UK, CSS and more.

If you've forgiven AT&T Blue Room for censoring Eddie Vedder (who called out Bush's ruinationof the world) at last year's Lollapalooza, then you can watch performances throughoutthe weekend (provided you have a beefy Internet connection and fast computer - and that AT&T has enough pipes set-up).

Saturday's Lolla line-up for the AT&T webcast includes The Gutter Twins, The Go! Team, DeVotchka,Explosions in the Sky, Broken Social Scene and Wilco. On Sunday, you can watch The Whigs, Office,G Love & Special Sauce, Blues Traveler, John Bulter Trio, Flogging Molly, Love and Rockets, The National.

Not featured on the Blue Room on Saturday are bands like Okkervil River, Battles, Brand New and for the hard rock fans, Rage Against the Machine. Sunday's Lollapalooza line-up also features The Weakerthans, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Iron & Wine, Nine Inch Nails, Love and Rockets and Kayne West.

All-in-all, the line-up is not as powerful as Lollapalooza 2007, but there's still enough power house rock and indie to keep fans entertained.

AT&T Blue Room webcast from Lollapalooza.

New Indie Rock Songs, July 2008: Conor Oberst, iForward, Russia!, Hot Little Hands, Cold War Kids and Others

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:18:43 -0500

The long-awaited solo album from Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes is set to be released on August 5, 2008.

The release will mark the talented Oberst's first solo project, and because of the success of Bright Eyes in recent years, there are rather big expectations, which can often be unfair to the artist.

But that's just one of many ironies that can happen to musicians who create a buzz with a band and then go solo.

mp3: "danny callahan" by conor oberst from his self-titled debut album

mp3: "spring is a condition" by iforward, russia! from the new CD life processes

mp3: "pink squares" by i was a cub scout from the new release i want you to know that there is always hope

mp3: "footloose" by thomas bartlett off the album doveman footloose

mp3: "scene of the crime" (download only) by hot little hands from the disc dynamite in black and white

advance mp3: "soloist in the living room" by cold war kids from forthcoming yet-to-be-named album (date of release unknown, but rumored for august)

mp3: "i kissed a girl (katy perry)" by false start from self-titled debut

note: some mp3s expire or are removed and become no longer available over a period of time; irc has no control over this since they are external media files. we also fully support indie artists and ask that you do too.

Hove Festival's Video Performances by Beck, Panic at the Disco, The Raconteurs, The Kooks and The Brian Jonestown Massacre

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:55:49 -0500

Norway's Hove Festival was held a few weeks ago featuring a powerful three-day line-up of musical acts, including Panic at the Disco, Beck, Foals, The Kooks, MGMT (formerly Management), The Raconteurs, and a rare performance by indie rock legends the Brian Jonestown Massacre (photo, above).

The BJM, who were featured with The Dandy Warhols in the compelling rockumentary film, DiG!, was, by all accounts, and considering a history of brawling and drug and alcohol abuse, awesome. This is how you want to see BJM in concert.

Beck performing at Norway's Hove Festival 2008
Other favorite rock and indie artists and bands at the 2008 Hove Festival included Yeasayer, Foals, Flogging Molly, Les Savy Fav, The Cool Kids, Stars, Dinosaur Jr., Paramore, The Go Team and a dozen others. Access the full video playlist.

We've all seen enough low-quality, hand-held videos of music concerts and festivals on YouTube and other popular social media networks. But it is rare to find high-quality video and audio, not to mention full sets, from some of indie's biggest groups and artists for free.

The videos are hosted by NRKP3 in Norway. There is no information listed about how long the shows, complete with thrilling crowd shots, roaming camera cranes and top-notch production, will be available for unlimited, free viewing. See 'em while you can.

New Indie Rock Songs, July 2008: Earlimart, Wolf Parade, The Great Northwest, Tilly and the Wall

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:15:57 -0500

There's been surprisingly few notable new indie releases so far this July. Still, there's some great music that has come out in the past two weeks, including new albums from artists like Earlimart, The Great Northwest, Tilly and the Wall, Girl Talk, Travis and Wolf Parade.

The two remaining band members of Los Angeles band Earlimart, Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray, have released their newest album, Hymn and Her, this month, building off the success of last year's Mentor Tormentor.

"Acoustic guitars chime over drum loops, keyboards bubble in the background, and harmonies thicken the melodies,' according to Allmusic.com.

"Yet Hymn and Her still sounds intimate, as if the band mates have discovered how to funnel their densely populated songs into warm, mellow washes of sound."

MP3: "Song For" by Earlimart off Hymn and Her

Following a three-year hiatus recording solo projects, Montreal's Wolf Parade band members Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner with a new album titled At Mount Zoomer, and an impressive follow-up to their 2005 hailed debut Apologies to the Queen Mary.

MP3: "Call It A Ritual" by Wolf Parade from At Mount Zoomer

MP3: "Chief John" by The Great Northwest from the new CD The Widespread Reign - available July 29, 2008

MP3: "Pot Kettle Black" by Tilly and the Wall from O

MP3: "Cacophony" by Tilly and the Wall from O

Here's the YouTube video for "Pot Kettle Black":