Mario Speedwagon’s Under The Radar News Roundup: Ticketmaster Takes Over The World, 4AD Signs Some Bitches, Crystal Antlers To Release LP, Decemberists Debut New Album At SXSW

Hey ya’ll.

- Ticketmaster (ugh) and Live Nation are close to merging into one, big, corporate mess. The company will be called Live Nation Ticketmaster and would be a concert promoter and ticket supplier all-in-one kinda management company. One potential problem would be that, since the new company would be, like, some sort of superpower, they’d have to be under review by antitrust authorities. Ticketmaster sucks, by the way. The Boss thinks so too.

- 4AD signed a shit-ton of bands: the latest signings to the label are The Big Pink, Broken Records, and Camera Obscura.

- Crystal Antlers are going to be dropping their LP, Tentacles, via Touch and Go on April 7, 2009. I dug their EP, so I’m excited to hear it. Meanwhile, the band is currently on tour in Europe and has a few dates in the states afterwards with the Cold War Kids. Check it out.

- So, if you happen to be going to SXSW this March and also like The Decemberists (one of these two things apply to me; I’ll let you guess), you can check out a full performance of their latest album The Hazards of Love at the NPR showcase on March 18, 2009 at Stubbs. NPR will broadcast and webcast the entire concert, which will be anchored by Bob “All Songs Considered” Boilen, Carrie “Sleater-Kinney/NPR BLGGR” Brownstein, and David “KUT” Brown.

Yep, that’s it. Oh also, check this out. HILARIOUS.

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