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Vote Empires!

Posted on by Kristen

I am pleased to see that my favorite Chicago band, Empires, has made it to Round 3 (of 4) of the Rolling Stone cover competition for unsigned bands. This is most exciting to me because it means they are one step closer to being at Bonnaroo (AKA when I could see them play again). I’m actually really happy with all of the bands that made it to round 3. You can download new songs from all four groups here.

Below are a couple Empires tunes. If you have a few seconds, please go to their page and rank them five stars!

 

~ Kristen

Song of the Day: “Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham

Posted on by Kristen

Since its release, I’ve been listening to a lot of Hugo’s Old Tyme Religion. It’s a great CD and I’ve been enjoying it…but driving into work the other day, my roommate and I made the decision that the general tone of the album was just too positive for our current state. Posing questions like “what in the world were you born to do” was just too much…

I needed to find a song that more accurately reflected my current outlook on life. I flipped through my Ipod until I landed on this song. Tracy Bonham’s “Mother Mother” fit so perfectly I put it on repeat.  Tracy may scream “everything’s fine” but we all know what she really means. Plus, it’s highly cathartic to join in.

I’ve seen The Veronicas do a version of this song live. Jess does a fine job with the screaming…

 

 

~ Kristen

Hanson’s 12 hour SXSW4Japan Benefit: Album now Available!

Posted on by Kristen

So many things were going on in Austin the week of SXSW that it’s impossible to do/see/even know about it all. One thing I was tangentially aware of was Hanson’s efforts to raise money for those in Japan suffering from the tsunami fallout. Apparently the brothers put together a fundraiser in less than 24 hours that brought in over $100,000 worth of donations for the Red Cross.  The fundraiser was in the form of a telethon that took place on the last Saturday of SXSW and featured so many wonderful artists coming in and giving exclusive performances that were then streamed live.

Sxsw4japan.org is re-streaming the performances RIGHT NOW!: http://sxsw4japan.org/

Even more exciting, ITunes and Amazon.com are now selling a digital album called SXSW4Japan featuring nearly 50 tracks from the artists that participated. All proceeds are going to the Red Cross.

So, what are you waiting for? GO and get it!

http://www.amazon.com/Sxsw4japan/dp/B004UY1TSY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302031272&sr=8-1

Some of my favorite artists featured include: Hanson, The Lonely Forest, Cary Brothers, The Boxer Rebellion, Laura Jansen, Alpha Rev, Jenny O, Keaton Simons, Anna Nalick, The Parlotones, Kina Grannis, Michelle Branch, and Rooney…but there are SOOOOOO many more!

Charlie Mars at the SXSW4Japan benefit:

Hanson covers “Lean on Me”

~ Kristen

Watch live streaming video from sxsw4japan at livestream.com

SXSW Highlight: Queen Caveat

Posted on by Kristen

One of my favorite aspects of my SXSW ’11 experience was getting to share it with some of my very favorite bands. Queen Caveat also drove out from LA to spend the week in Texas. I saw them play four times in as many days and they never failed to impress.  I watched them fight lost voices, broken bass guitars, and stages like saunas. They overcame it all with their amazing energy and general enthusiasm for their craft, garnering plenty of new fans who flocked to the stage for each performance eager to get a hold of one of the EPs the band was tossing into the crowd.

Having watched this band grow from an early stage, I couldn’t help but feel immensely proud of them and their accomplishments…and that was definitely a highlight of my own SXSW experience.

While in Austin they stopped by 5th Street Studios to record a version of “Bullet” which happens to be one of my favorite Queen Caveat tunes.

Check it out:

 

~ Kristen

p.s. if you’re in LA, Queen Caveat is playing a FREE show this Friday at Bardot (11:30). Don’t miss it!

SXSW Day 3: Recap

Posted on by Kristen

Sorry for the delay in posting…it’s been crazy. I wrote this as a recap of Friday’s events:

I’m sitting down at the end of the day thinking about all that I just accomplished in the previous 24 hours and I’m simply floored. I refuse to believe that it was this morning that I ventured into the British Music Embassay for some breakfast (egg buttys and chips) and tunes, yet I don’t recall a breakfast I’ve had since, so it must have been! Today was particularly special because it was my birthday (YAY!) and honestly I can’t think of a better way to have spent it. Here are some highlights

* the aforementioned breakfast (seriously the food here in Austin has been amazing)

* the aforementioned British bands (ie The Good Natured)

* meeting Bob Geldof on a random park bench

* Dancing for every single band on the amazing lineup at The Force launch party at Red Eye Fly (included Little Red Radio, My Cousin The Emperor, Purple Melon, The Silent Comedy, Taylor Locke & The Roughs, Viva City, Hugo, and Deluka among others…I mean seriously I have never danced that hard for that long)

* dancing on stage with The Silent Comedy

* FINALLY seeing SINAI (jaw on the ground)

* discovering another band from Philly that blew my mind (Meriwether)

* Keaton Simons (who just makes any day a much better one)

* finally getting to see Liam Finn

* again, all the really cool and interesting people met out on the street or at the venues

* fried pickles

 

Amanda’s typing up the Day 4 recap as I post this…coming soon!

 

~ Kristen

New Band Alert: The PreZcotts

Posted on by Kristen

Looking for the next young pop stars? Check out The PreZcotts! Covering the likes of Heart and Metallica, these singing sisters (aged 11-16) seem to have something special. Check out the video they just released for their cover of “Nothing Else Matters” featuring the 10 year old Japanese guitar phenom, Yuto Miyazawa…wow!

 

~ Kristen

Shiny Toy Guns: Carah’s Back!!

Posted on by Kristen

For those of you who have been a fan of Shiny Toy Guns since We Are Pilots, this should be very exciting news. Carah Faye, the female vocalist on that album, is returning to the band as they gear up to record and release album number 3. Also joining Chad Petree, Jeremy Dawson, and Mikey Martin is Daniel Johannson, Carah’s husband and bandmate from the Swedish group, Versant.

I have nothing against their second album, Season of Poison. In fact, I LOVE it. However, when the band replaced Carah with Sisely Treasure, I felt something was lost in their live performance (what made me fall in love with them in the first place). I’m looking forward to this third album, but I’m really looking forward to seeing them play again.

In honor of their forthcoming album, the band is giving away a FREE download of their new song, “The Sun”.

 

Go to their website to see the dramatic video re-introducing the band…it’s fairly epic

http://shinytoyguns.com/

 

And, if you don’t know who Shiny Toy Guns are, here are some tunes from their first CD, We Are Pilots.

 

 

~ Kristen