Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Skinny Puppy and Star Wars? !!

Welcome to today's WTF.



As if my day couldn't get any more surreal lo and behold an interview with Skinny Puppy frontman Nivek Ogre was just posted at Star Wars dot com.

Yes, you read that right. Star Wars dot com.

I kinda just feel like two of my worlds just joined in an awkward sort of way.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Joy Division "Love Will Tear us Apart"

Has been re-released as a cd single. Do you REALLY need any reason at all to purchase it other than it being available again?

No. Seriously.




It is among the most seminal singles you can own, and is a great teaser for the new re-issues from rhino

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Saul Williams track "leaked"



Hmm... I wonder who could have let this one go? Nobody is naming names but if you would like to have a listen either head on over to the pirate bay or grab it here

Enjoy!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Trent Reznor and Saul Wiliams team up to bring you Niggt Tardust

It looks like TR is putting his money where his mouth is... sorta. The new Saul Williams album (which he produced) is being delivered in a Radiohead esque content delivery system. Here is Trent's letter to fans:

As many of you know, I've been working closely with Saul Williams on his new record. We've spent many hours together in hotel rooms, busses, backstages and studios around the world working on something we knew was great. This is the most involved I've been with any project outside NIN since Antichrist Superstar, and I've been impatiently waiting for the chance for you to hear it. Well... guess what?

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! has arrived! After my own recent dealings with record labels we decided to release it directly to you. Head over to http://www.niggytardust.comfor all the details. Register now and you can download the record November 1st. Working on this project was a real pleasure. Saul was interested in breaking boundaries / crossing genres / defying expectations and we learned a great deal from one another in the process. When asked about the sound of the record, I've had to resort to "... I really don't know HOW to describe it." That's a good thing more than ever these days.

A word on the way we've chosen to release this. There are obvious similarities in how Radiohead just released their new record and the way we've chosen to. After thinking about this way too much, I feel we've improved upon their idea in a few profound ways that benefit you, the consumer. You obviously will be the judge of this in the end. One thing that IS very different in our situation is that Saul's not the household name (yet!) that Radiohead is, and that means we need your support on this more than ever. If you like what you hear, spread the word.

I hope you enjoy the music,

TR


I hopped on over to the site and was presented two choices. Pay nothing and get the album. Or I could pay $5.00 and have my choice of 192kbs or 320kbs mp3 OR a lossless FLAC version (which would require reformatting to play in iTunes or on an iPod).

So now we have somebody who is as well established of an artist as Trent Reznor helping to get a record out there for a really deserving artist. I REALLY hope more people follow suit and push this new model forward. It's the only way that artists will break free of the label system.

You can pre-order the album below. I urge you to do so.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

PITTSBURGH IS GETTING CONTROL!

According to a recent announcement Control will play here beginning November 9th.

I am happier than you can imagine!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Just as a reminder

Control is now playing at select theaters in the US. If it is in your town please go see it. The better it does the larger of a snowball's chance in hell it will play in Pittsburgh.



Links: Official website

Monday, October 15, 2007

Downliners Sekt does set your own pricing for EP

HOW did I miss this?

Downliners Sekt (who I covered in my VERY FIRST BLOG POST) released a new ep IN JUNE that is using Radiohead's pay what you want model. or Radiohead is using their model...



I was a very big fan of their last release, and I would highly suggest that everybody who is reading this and is into indie electronic music to download the ep and throw a few dollars to the band.

By supporting these models it will really open up doors for other artists to do the same thing, and it will send a clear message to the RIAA that artists don't need them, but they need artists!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Happy Radiohead day!



I really can't imagine why you would want to spend any part of today reading blogs when a new Radiohead album is available for download.

So in honor of the new record this is all I am writing.

Look for a review tomorrow.


-_A

Monday, October 08, 2007

Happy he ended the slavery




Currently posted on the front page of nine inch nails dot com:


08 October 2007: Big News

Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed.
posted by Trent Reznor at 10:45 AM.


First Radiohead and now this.

Truly shaping up to be an interesting year in the music world even with the RIAA winning a case that is nothing more than an abusive show of power

GOOD ON YOU TRENT!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Portishead album done !!

Let me repeat that for you. The Portishead album is DONE. I'll give you a moment to pick yourself up out of your chair.



This was posted October 2nd on their blog

hello we have mixed all the tracks and the whole album is shit, so were going to start all over again. ok only kidding...sorry ! its sound pretty good but we have to go back to a few things in the next few weeks though. it sound pretty different from what we have done before i dont think the fondue society will be happy oh well , like the bee joke ends....... fuk em bye geoff

This is the kind of news that really just knocks down. I could safely bet that most of the people who read this blog probably have the same love for the band that I do. Between Dummy and Portishead there are so many memories, raw emotions, lost loves and all night talks that those albums provided the soundtracks for. (not to mention countless makeouts, but I digress.)

In the 10 years since they released their last album the landscape of music has changed. I am very interested to hear if things will have gone full circle for the band with these recordings being influenced by the late period recordings of the bands that influenced them, or if we get a pure album that really makes people drop everything and listen. Not just hear, but really listen just like their last two records did.

With the amount of anticipation that is built up around this record it may not ever live up to any expectations, but after a decade of being MIA there are so many people that are excited just to have them back that it may not matter what the album sounds like, but that Portishead have finally come back.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

New Limited Edition cd by Phil Western of Download/Plateau

There are way to many music related things for me to play catch up on, and they keep coming.

This was posted a bit ago by Phil Western on his Myspace blog on the 22nd of September:

I will be releasing a limited edition CD of 10 new songs on a release scheduled for October. The cd will be limited to 250 numbered copies and will be a joint Record Company/DHsound release. I will be taking preorders through here, and also through paypal for early birds (15 dollars, musicatdhsound@paypal.com)

tracklisting so far (three songs still in production)

electric death
crackheads
stalker
where
san julian
no to gladys
ja bay (original mix)
creeper tech
thieves suffer



Pretty cool, no? This was a busy year for Phil with the first new download and plateau recordings since the early 2000's. I can't wait to get the disc!

Be on the lookout for an email interview with Phil soon.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Tor Lundvall Sampler CD

Completely forgot to post this! Considering Empty City was the whole reason I started the blog in the first place!

Tor Lundvall Sampler CD Available the 1st of Autumn 2007



A surprise underground success of the last year has been the evocative "ghost ambient" music of Tor Lundvall, his _Empty City_ album (2006) attracting his widest and most enthusiastic attention to date.

Tor has lately been written up by magazines from Terrascope to Terrorizer, and his music has been heard nationally on NPR radio stations on the "Echoes" and "Hearts of Space" radio programs.

While for many listeners _Empty City_ came as a first glimpse of Tor Lundvall's distinctive world, his unmistakable ambient soundscape craft happens to stretch back a few years.

Following the buzz of _Empty City_, Tor Lundvall and Strange Fortune have decided to make available a special sampler CD that offers a taste of some of Tor's most delicious tracks from his earlier years.

The new sampler CD is called Tor Lundvall's _The Seasons Unfold Sampler_, and it takes the listener on a journey through four seasons of deep and hazy, reverb-loaded "ghost ambient" sonics.

Tor Lundvall's _The Seasons Unfold Sampler_ is offered free to Strange Fortune customers placing orders at strangefortune.com, starting the first day of Autumn (September 23rd, 2007) and lasting until supplies run out.

Tor's next major release in the works is a deluxe box set to be entitled _The Seasons Unfold_ (release date TBA), that will present his first four ambient solo albums together in one package for the first time.

Now might be a great time to head on over to Strange Fortune to place an order!