The Low Anthem began in Providence in 2006 as a collaboration between Ben Knox Miller, a folk musician and painter from New York's Hudson Valley and Jeff Prystowsky, a jazz bassist and baseball scholar from New Jersey. The duo met at Brown University as on-air personalities for the college's commercial alternative formatted station WBRU.Having played together since 2002 in various ensembles ranging from rock, to electronica, to classical, their mutual interest in Americana, baseball, and morally agnostic narrative necessitated the formation of The Low Anthem. Dan Lefkowitz, a bluesman from Strasburg, VA joined the band in September 2006 and amicably left the band in March 2007, with his song "This God Damn Ho...

The Swell Season, the Oscar-winning duo of Frames frontman Glen Hansard and Czech ingenue Marketa Irglova, are putting the finishing touches on 'Strict
Joy,' (Sept 29/Anti- Records), the follow-up to their beloved, surprise hit
2007 film and gold-certified soundtrack 'Once.' The twelve new, original songs on 'Strict Joy' were recorded last year and document a time of great change and tumult.
'Strict Joy,' which borrows its name from a work by Irish poet James Stephens, was co-produced by Hansard and Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), and recorded mostly at Katis' Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, CT. In addition to Hansard and Irglova, the album features Frames members Colm Mac Iomaire (violin), Joe Doyle (bass), Rob Bo...

Hard luck stories.  Everybody's got them or heard them, but it takes a special mind and wit to share them with the lyrical dexterity and aplomb that have become the hallmarks (and trademarks) of Ike Reilly's critically-lauded records.  Reilly's a raconteur; to be sure, his songs ache and explode with a gritty realism to which everyone can relate on some level.  His latest solo offering, entitled "Hard Luck Stories" - a more groove-oriented and melodic album than previous recordings - is a combination of corroded R & B, furious punk-blues, lounge-pop and classic rock, all laced with giant choruses.Even in light of the melodic assault of "Hard Luck Stories,&qu...

In this crazy modern world where life moves at breakneck speed and a constant array of distractions threatens to pull us away from the things that truly matter, it’s a rare gift to find an emerging singer/songwriter who finds a magical moment in the madness to look around, give thanks and boldly declare, to quote the title of Alexandra Celano’s stirring debut, I’m Overcome. Whether fans connect with her deep faith in the divine or simply enjoy her exuberant country/Americana pop/rock from a secular perspective, they’re bound to be moved and inspired by the infectious vibe and soulful energy she brings to the 11 tracks that truly take listeners on the journey of her life.Helping the Or...

Film composer Mason Daring has explored many paths on the way to his current career -entertainment lawyer, folk singer, cabbie and truck driver, commercial director, and potential rock star among them. But his professional life has always returned to the world of music.Born into the family of a GE lifer, Daring’s childhood was spent criss-crossing the Northeast as his father’s jobs with GE moved about. He attended schools twice each in three different...

Curtains For You is a five piece retro-pop band from Seattle, Washington. Heavily influenced by British Invasion music of the 1960s, the band relies on memorable melodies, intricate three- and four-part harmonies, and hooks to land whales on. Musically, the band betrays the gloomy and grungy Seattle for sunnier places. Lyrically, the band is firmly rooted in rainy days and darker dramas. They self-describe their sound as “The Beatles meets Vaudeville meets the Muppet Show.”The band recently signed to Spark & Shine records, and will release their new album, “What a Lovely Surprise to Wake Up Here” in Oc...

Gary Tipping is a British singer/songwriter and an accomplished musician playing guitars and keyboards. He is an independent music artist who writes and produces his own songs and music videos that are played on television and radio stations all over the world.music downloads are available at www.myspace.com/garytipping...

The three members of Band of Skulls, Russell Marsden (guitar & vocals), Emma Richardson (bass & vocals) & Matt Hayward (drums), first met at college and quickly discovered that having two lead singers and three songwriters in a band was always going to present unlimited possibilities. With their creative process and sonic path fully intact the band quickly established themselves in the music and art community with a series of culturally inspired club nights in Southampton, London and further a field in Moscow and Tokyo.The band, previously known as Fleeing New York, were working on new demo's in late November 2008 at Courtyard Studios in Oxfordshire when their paths crossed with an international collec...

A fusion of the words "tactile" and "dactylics", Tactylics is a New York-based, funk-rock band dedicated to making music people can feel--combining rich lyrics, melodic hooks, and hard-hitting grooves to produce a powerful rock sound steeped in funk. With New Jersey roots, the group is quickly garnering attention on the local NYC scene, having performed at the coveted "From the Penthouse: Artist Loft Series" at Tainted Blue Studios in October of 2008. Tactylics was also named winner of the International Music Festival for the New York market in March of 2009. Influences include Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, The Roots, Bob Marley, The Rolling Stones, Prince, Chili Peppers, Depe...

New Zealand's reggae/funk sensations The Black Seeds are ready to take listeners one step deeper into the Other Down Under with infectious grooves, slamming brass, and booty shaking beats on the group's first North American release, Solid Ground (Easy Star Records; Released exclusively on iTunes September 15; everywhere else September 29, 2009), and on their debut U.S. tour with John Brown's Body this September. The Black Seeds have their roots in the coastal capital city of Wellington, New Zealand - a small, tight-knit creative community that in recent years has produced such things as The Lord Of The Rings films and the comedy duo Flight Of The Conchords (one of whom, Bret McKenzie, was a member of The Black Seeds unti...

At the time of its 1989 release, De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, was hailed as the future of hip-hop. With its colorful, neo-psychedelic collage of samples and styles, plus the Long Island trio's low-key, clever rhymes and goofy humor, the album sounded like nothing else in hip-hop. Where most of their contemporaries drew directly from old-school rap, funk, or Public Enemy's dense sonic barrage, De La Soul were gentler and more eclectic, taking in not only funk and soul, but also pop, jazz, reggae, and psychedelia. Though their style initially earned both critical raves and strong sales, De La Soul found it hard to sustain their ...

I was born in Victoria, BC, Canada. I started my music career by busking in the streets of Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, England, etc, drawing crowds ranging in size from zero (character building) to 50 (which drew the local police). I have countless cool stories from busking and hitchhiking, but this bio is going to be long enough without them. Catch me after a show sometime and I'll share a story or two.Press the little >> button on the life-playback machine and I found myself in the U.S.A. working on some basic demo recordings and playing at a few venues in Los Angeles. A woman at one of my shows fell in love with ‘No Way Home' and wanted to use it in her independent movie. For what seemed to be a good amount of ...

Armed with inspirational lyrics and world class musicianship, NEWWORLDSON rescues soul music from being a mere genre and returns the art form to its sacred roots.Singer Joel Parisien says "if you trace back the roots of 'roots' music, of 'soul' music, of 'folk' music, it's about folks; it's social music. We hope our fans become our family. We hope they leave our shows feeling inspired. Our ministry is about uplifting people."With the force of an orchestra, Josh Toal (guitar, vocals), Rich Moore (bass, vocals), Mark Rogers (drums) and Parisien (vocals, keys) come together to form a revolutionary four-piece gospel combo.Individually, each member began his professional career entertaining mainstream music fans in clu...

Five years ago, when Jim James, Mike Mogis, Conor Oberst and M. Ward first toured together, they were a study in contrasts as well as in camaraderie. Ward, hauntingly delivering his own blues and folk-based tunes, took a spare, intimate approach. My Morning Jacket vocalist and guitarist James, on the other hand, was already reaching for the rafters with his keening, echo-laden voice. Oberst - with his long-time producer, multi-instrumentalist and Bright Eyes mainstay Mogis - offered both candor and drama in songs that fell somewhere between confession and fever dream. "It was never a question of where or how - it was just when," say Ward of Monsters of Folk's studio debut. "We knew we wanted to record an album after...

In this singles-driven, instant-gratification iTunes era, it’s hard to believe an indie band would dare to dream up a real deal, gotta-listen-to-the-whole-thing, concept album. The Jesus Rehab is ready to test that collective attention span on their heart-piercing full length debut, The Highest Highs and the Lowest Lows. A follow-up to The Jesus Rehab’s 2007 EP Scatterbrained, The Highest Highs and the Lowest Lows is a captivating experience that brilliantly delivers instantly infectious, radio-ready tracks (for those with shorter attention spans who take life one...

The Clientele formed a long time ago in the backwoods of suburban Hampshire, playing together as kids at school, rehearsing in a thatched cottage remote from any kind of music scene, but hypnotized by the magical strangeness of Galaxie 500 and Felt and the psych pop of Love and the Zombies. Singer Alasdair MacLean still recalls a pub conversation where the band collectively voted that it was OK to be influenced by Surrealist poetry but not OK to have any shouting or blues guitar solos. From that moment on, they put their stamp on a kind of eerie, distanced pure pop, stripped to its essentials and recorded quickly to 4-track analogue tape. These recordings were released as lovingly packaged 7" sing...

At their core, heroes are trailblazers, engulfed by a spirit that is unafraid to break outside the constraints of conformity to innovate and improve the space in which they exist. And their path is a rocky one - some of the greatest minds of our time have been plagued by the pioneer's curse. All too often, the rest of the world greets these ahead-of-their-time individuals with a blind eye (or even worse, hostility). Unfortunately, tangible genius is rarely recognized until it is no longer with us.With the release of their sophomore album No More Heroes (the second in a trilogy of conceptually-linked records for Anti-), Orlando-based hip hop quartet Solillaquists of Sound have accomplished the rare feat of...

Tom Morello and Boots Riley have joined forces to form Street Sweeper Social Club. The group's anticipated self-titled debut album will be released June 16th through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. The 11-song set was produced by Tom Morello and features Boots Riley on vocals, Morello on guitar and bass, and Stanton Moore (Galactic) on drums."It's revolutionary party jams," said Morello of Street Sweeper Social Club. "It's got huge steamroller riffs combined with depth, charge, funk, while Boots unloads clip after clip of incendiary rhymes rich with satire and venom." Riley added, "This is a time when the working class is being fleeced left and right. More families will ...

Brother Ali has no reservations in saying that he's "trying to be one of the greatest of all time" (on the Molemen track "Life Sentence"). Inspired by golden era legends like KRS-One and Rakim, this undisputed Master of Ceremony began rapping as a means of survival. Growing up albino (colorless hair, skin and eyes, poor vision, and extreme sensitivity to the sun) in a world of cruel kids made it strikingly obvious to Ali that he needed a high-powered way to earn some respect and prestige among his peers. As a result, ever since elementary school he hasn't slowed down with his lyrical grind. In his rare moments of silence these days, if you catch his eyes, you'll notice that this Minneapolis denizen is rapping...

Hi. I'm Meaghan Smith. I am a singer. I've always been a singer. My parents say I was born screaming and hollering, but I like to think I was born singing.With three sisters, my mum, dad, and myself all under one roof, our home was bursting at the seams with people and, most importantly, music. My mum was a piano teacher and my dad played bass in different bands. Each of my three sisters is a gifted piano player and singer. I am the only one in my family who cannot read music. Oddly enough, I'm the only one who is pursuing a musical career. You'd think that with a mother as a piano teacher, one would learn all sorts of things about scales, timing, intervals, and arpeggios. Let's just say that I learned to play by ...

Manchester Orchestra; Conducting Honesty Since starting out in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia the dusty, thoughtful rockers Manchester Orchestra have been expressing themselves with some delving lyrics that are delivered with accessible belief by lead man, Andy Hull. Although, having officially only released two albums, their very first full length 'Nobody Sings Anymore', remains the domain of their growing number of ardent fans. Who appreciate the approach of this serious, focused and ranging band. For their first official album, 'I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child' they accompanied it with a collection of videos to help you visual their thoughts and for their most ...

Formed in 2003 as Friday Morning's Regret, the Canadian alt-country boys now known as The Wooden Sky have gone through a few name changes and a lot of experimentation to get their sound. The original trio consisted of Gavin Gardiner on vocals, bassist Andrew Wyatt and guitarist Chris Cocca, (who left the band in 2007 following their first full-length EP 'When Lost At Sea') and the band has since expanded a great deal. It's current members stand at Gavin Gardiner, Andrew Wyatt, Simon Walker, Anissa Hart, Peter Krpan and Andrew Kekewich and their collective musical talents range all way through cello and harmonica, along with the more conventional instruments.This transformation has turned The Wooden Sky into a very...

Oilcan Art has finally opened his extensive audio archive collection to the population at large! We are blessed-and truthfully, well, relieved-to see that these works are finally being made available to the public. The collection, My Palpitations, is the stunning work of a man far ahead of his time and far behind in his rent, whose only daily exercise is his morning panic attack. My Palpitations is the first installment from the Oilcan archives: previously unreleased gems from one of the most reclusive (and handsome) figures of the turn of the 21st century. Hopefully, you are in the privileged position of possessing said artistry as a result of having paid the full list price. Art is a man with many ...

DJ Sledge, aka Cassie Van Zyl, hails from Durbanville, Cape Town. His love for DJing and music production started at the age of 18 and in the year 2000 he created his first track. Since then he has not stopped and inspired by this love he released his first album, a collection of his best, in the spring of 2010 on Bushmen Records.His forte is funky house, electro and trance. And he's good at what he does, making people wanna party....

The story so far…The X-Structure is a virtual electronic band that was formed in the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town, South Africa, during the dark winter months of 2008.The bands consists of four wild and adventurous members who all share a passion for life and a flair for exploration and adventure. Their style progresses back and forth and takes inspiration from all parts of life, both now and back then. A common thread howeve...

Music. Romance. Music. Marriage. Music and more music. Eva & Thomas might be the 21st century's answer to Sonny & Cher, Ike & Tina, Paul & Linda, Womack & Womack, and Anita Skorgan & Jahn Teigen. Together they are Eva & The Heartmaker, a duo that is so ready to be stars that your eyes hurt. On September 22nd they are releasing their album "Let's Keep This Up Forever," and all their dreams will come true.Eva Weel Skram grew up in Sogndal, Norway, with her folk singer dad, whose record collection she blames for her confusing dialect. In 2004 she moved to Oslo and met Thomas Stenersen from Bardufoss (also in Norway), a guitarist for hire who had played in a country music duo. Together ...

JOEL PLASKETT TURNS THREEIt all started simply enough. Joel Plaskett noticed that he had three songs coming together where each title was one word repeated three times: the hillbilly stomper "Rolling, Rolling, Rolling"; the soulful electric-piano ballad "Rewind, Rewind, Rewind"; and the aching folk-pop of "Gone, Gone, Gone." "I was like, well, I've got these songs that roll in threes," says Plaskett. "Maybe I should do a whole album of songs where every song title is the same word three times. Then I thought, well, I've got all these other songs that aren't like that, but I also want to put on a record... so I'll just make a triple record! The idea came...

It's not often you come across a group of twenty-two year olds as humble as those that comprise Mississauga's The Paint Movement. Considering their music is so deeply mature and well developed, you could easily expect at least one of the four members to have an ego, but have a conversation with the boys and you'll see this is far from the case. Within the first 30 seconds of their debut full length, Our Eurythmy (Nevado Records), it becomes apparent that it's possible they simply have no idea how genius their organic whimsical jazz, soul, indie rock blends truly is. It's what makes listening to such an inviting mixture of sounds so comforting and natural.The making of Our Eurythmy, was more of a musical b...

"There are times in our set where I am so pissed off just because of a line I'm singing, or I'm almost in tears because of certain words," says Cove Reber, lead singer/lyricist of the quintet Saosin, "and that's the emotion I wanted to give on our new record. When kids hear it, I want them to feel everything that I've felt over the past three years."With In Search Of Solid Ground, those emotions explode into an album that's so intense you may want to trade the ear buds for an old-fashioned set of headphones that can capture its sonic nuances. The follow-up to Saosin's 2006 self-titled full-length debut, which bowed at No. 22 on The Billboard 200 and peaked at No....

Boomset is the collaboration of 2 indiviuals from 2 cities, with the same direction in music. Consisting of DJ/Producer:Centrifik and MC: Seres.... Centrifik has been on many local Fort Worth projects, doing cuts and providing beats. Using golden era technics, he utilizes the mpc2000xl and S950 to craft his beats, keeping that old grimey 16/12 bit sound, muddy drums and chopped samples with well balanced and seamless scratches, he lays the foundation for the Boomset dojo. Once the melodies have been layed, Seres continues building on the rest. A long time veteren from Austin aka ATX, which is a part of known groups from the area: E.P.K., FOOLS inc., Elephants Grave Yard. Active in the ATX scene, he has done collabs with oth...