Indie Bands Clean Up At Grammy Awards; Does That Sound Weird To Anyone Else?

By Scott Lauer on

Independent music hasn't been a "best kept secret" for years. Of course, it's great that independent musicians are finally getting mainstream recognition and making a living off their music, but it just sort of feels like The Twilight Zone lately. Indeed, the independent is no longer independent.

Case in point: independent musicians netted 56 of the overall 110 awards at this year's Grammy Awards. Notable independent wins include Robert Plant and Alison Krauss with their album Raising Sand earning Album of the Year, and of course now-indie favorites Radiohead grabbing Best Alternative Album with their pay-what-you-please album In Rainbows (TMT Review). Good work, team indie!

Now, it will really be time to reconsider the state of “indie music” when Animal Collective get what they deserve and take home next year's Album of the Year Grammy for Merriweather Post Pavilion (TMT Review) and when Stephen Malkmus serves as MC of the show.

Justice Design New Coca-Cola Bottle; Crystal Castles Stuck Trying To Revive Crystal Pepsi

By Annapocalypse on 02-16-2009

Being the biggest electronica duo in the world does have its perks -- in this case, teaming up with major soft drink companies to design a new bottle, for example. Thankfully, Justice totally prefers Coke to Pepsi, and so does So Me, the designer who helped them out (and also the same guy that designs Ed Banger Records cover art and directed Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.” and Kanye West’s “Good Life” videos).

Unfortunately, Justice’s new Coke design is only available for sale in European dance clubs and the unveiling of the new bottle already happened last week at the VIP Room in Paris. Bummer! But if you still want to get in on all of this action, here is a list of other musicians who have decided to jump on the $oda-pop bandwagon:

- Crystal Castles are trying to revive Crystal Pepsi.
- Juggalo’s unite! Insane Clown Posse is still shilling for Faygo.
- Limp Bizkit’s reunion tour is going to be sponsored by EXTREME Mountain EXTREME Dew EXTREME BRO!
- Guns N' Roses are giving away free Dr. Pep—oh, shit, nevermind.

Art Brut’s Art Brut Vs. Satan Due in Late Spring

By Brom on 02-16-2009

The religious right have found an unlikely hero in Eddie Argos, Art Brut’s frontman who glorifies in sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Songs about erectile dysfunction, pills that “taste like shit,” and “bending and folding” one’s girlfriend haven’t been enough to dampen Southerners’ enthusiasm for the British band’s bout with the devil on May 12.

Argos hopes to overwhelm Satan with punky guitars, vivid lyrics, and a “fuck you” attitude, directed by Black Francis’ “do whatever the fuck you want” conduction. Satan was unavailable for comment, but a spokesperson did say His Wickedness hoped to defeat Art Brut with a combination of The Velvet Underground, some rusted guns of Milan, the citizens of the St Pauli district of Hamburg, and a secretary at Holden & Sons named Emily Kane.

1. Alcoholics Unanimous
2. DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake
3. The Passenger
4. Am I Normal?
5. What a Rush.
6. Demons Out!
7. Slap Dash for No Cash
8. The Replacements
9. Twist and Shout
10. Summer Job
11. Mysterious Bruises

Björk’s Voltaic Box Set Combines Thrill of Volta Live Show with Great New Way to Spend Lots of Money

By Liz Louche on 02-16-2009

Attention Björk completists! Did you not get enough of her latest full-length Volta in album format? Was experiencing the Icelandic superstar's live show awesome, yet somehow lacking? Well, ladies and germs, allow me to present you with the astonishing news of Voltaic, the unholy combination of Volta and several live performances of material from Volta, all in one beautifully packaged, ultra comprehensive box set.

Voltaic currently has a mystery release date, although the official Björk website says probably sometime in March. The release will be available in standard, deluxe, and deluxe vinyl versions. What exactly this reallllly means is currently up in the air, but details are promised soon. What we do know is that the release has material from live shows in Paris and Reykjavik, as well as a studio recording OF the live set, done in London. Wrap your mind around that! Voltaic will be formatted in the following ways:

- Disc One (CD) Songs From The Volta Tour Performed Live At Olympic Studios
- Disc Two (DVD) The Volta Tour Live In Paris, Live in Reykjavik
- Disc Three (DVD) The Volta Videos and the video competition
- Disc Four (CD) The Volta Mixes.

And bonus: If you make your way through the entire four-disc set during the hours between midnight and sunrise on the Summer Solstice, a mystical troll will guide you through a magical land of neon geysers and talking trees! That's only with the deluxe edition, though.

Mario Speedwagon’s Under The Radar News Roundup: Fischerspooner Still Exist, Mastodon Release Limited-Edition Set, Meat Puppets To Release New Album, Athens PopFest Cancelled

By Mario Speedwagon on 02-13-2009

Hey ya’ll. Today is a good day. It’s Friday. I ate some awesome Korean food. I’m going to see Dr. Dog and some of my friends' bands play. And today I found out that Neil Diamond has a Twitter. (I also follow MC Hammer and Chris Cornell.) Anyway, on to the news!

- May 5, 2009 marks the release of Fischerspooner’s LP Entertainment, four years after what's-it-called came out. Yo, it’s been a while. It was produced by Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, Sounds) and will be released on their label, FS Studios.

- Mastodon has created a special Deluxe Limited “Tunnel Book” Edition of their new LP Crack The Skye, due March 24 on Warner Bros. The set includes Crack The Skye on CD, a DVD documenting the making of the new record, a photo gallery, and track-by-track band commentary. You can pre-order the set at the band's website. Meanwhile, if you happen to live in Atlanta or near by, you can catch them at the Rock Fest, which also features Neurosis, High On Fire, Harvey Milk, Boris, and a bunch of other shit that will make your face melt off. While I only live an hour a way, I can’t go because my mom is in town. Ugh.

- The Meat Puppets will release their new album Sewn Together on May 12, 2009 via Megaforce Records. If you happen to be at SXSW next month, you can catch some new stuff at Stubbs on March 19.

- And finally, Athens PopFest 2009 has been cancelled. I heard they planned on taking a year off anyway, and it seems this would be the year to do it (gotta save some green, yo). So if you planned on packing your teddy-bear backpack and slipping on your argyle socks to head down to Athens this summer and rock out to some twee, don’t. But it will be back next year!

Till next week, chumps.

Times New Viking Hearts The Velvet Undergound

By Jon Lorenz on 02-13-2009

Times New Viking, leaders of the newest made-up genre, shit-gaze, will be paying tribute tomorrow (Saturday) to one of the genre's pioneers, The Velvet Undground. Most people may not think of the Velvet Underground as a shit-gaze band, but their first two records, along with maybe records by the Godz, were among the most poorly-recorded records of the ’60s. Why? Because you had people like Lou Reed messin' shit up behind the mixing board. Today? In Times New Viking's case, we have Matt Horsehit, or Mike "Rep."

Times New Viking will take the stage tomorrow night, February 14, at the Mershon Auditorium in Columbus's Wexner Center, as part of the closing party for the "Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms" exhibition. They will be joined by a few local legends, including C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core) and Mike "Rep"(Mike "Rep" and the Quotas) to fill out the Velvets' sound. The night will kick off with fellow shit-gaze jammers Psychedelic Horseshit.

Anyone wanna be my valentine's date?

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