NEWS
----
From last month was all about free music we now have a plethora of legal music for your burning ears.
Amazon.com has recently started seliing music in DRM-free format, which means you'll be able to copy/burn/share your music as much as you like, good news if you ask me and will hopefully be the prod in the back the apple needs to do a similar thing for it's all seeing eye, the I-tunes store. The current downside though, is that it's only for USA customers. But at it's current prices ($7 for the Vampire Weekend album) is a bargain for people in the UK. However you can't use it, yet you can buy the CD for the exact same price. So, putting the future of the eco system aside I quickly clicked 'buy' and am having a couple of CD's shipped all the way to me from the states. Though I will have to wait for anything up to a month before I see it.
Q-trax has recently hit the news too, claiming to be the first legal peer2peer software, basically it allows you to share music with other, much like Kazzar and Napster back in the days of yonder, but revenue is generated from ad banners which goes directly to the artists that you're sharing. Or something along those lines. What made the news though was the false claim to have signed up 4 of the big music labels, when infact it had only signed on the dotted line with two of them. Which isn't surprising since this is pretty much how Pandora raises it's money but failed to get a deal with any company outside America. However the software's available to download, and is clearly overwhelmed since i've yet to get past the download and register stage to actually see if I can do anything else.
There's also RCRD.LBL which releases free downloads of upcoming unsigned bands and independent labels. It's really worth checking out as there is a mountain of downloadable content on there.
Black Kids are giving away their latest EP to download from the official Black Kids website.
Everyones favourite Might Boosh extras; Robots in disguise, have released their new album and are resorting to myspace friends to phone/txt into radio stations to get there single played, kinda desperate if you ask me, anyway, if you want to listen to the song In the Music Biz. Take a listen My first listen opinion is it sucks lollies, but it might be a grower....I doubt it though.
Voting for Indie Music Awards is now on: You can listen to a track of each band plus there are links to myspace pages and the like.
UPCOMING
--------
Glastonbury Registration has started, get your name down to be in with a chance of buying a ticket. Registration ends on 14th March. The festival takes place from 27-29 June at Worthy Farm, Somerset.
Operator Please have got a few gigs lined up, alas none of them are in London. Tickets and more info.
Bell X1 Play KCLSU, London on Tuesday 04 March 2008. Listen
MEETUPS
-------
15th March Button Down Disco @ Koko. A good excuse to drink lots, and dance around to DJ's playing great music, and if we're lucky a live band or two...though to be honest I've no idea if there will be any live music. Keep your eyes peeled on facebook and meetup.
STUFF YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO
--------------------------
Wolf Parade - Shine a light.
I've no idea how Shine a light ended up on my player, infact I can't even remember buying or downloading their songs, however when Shine a light came on it just blows me away everytime. Download it
Charlot Webster
While it seems that every tom, dick and harry is now a female singer/songwriter like Adele. This is one you wont know about and probably far more talented than most that spring out of the big studios band wagons.
Metronomy
They've been about a while now, playing festivals such as the O2 last year. Though there weird light boxes work best in smaller dark venues...worth checking out.
...and if that's not enough, have a listen to The Moths (only 1 song but more of them at RCRD.LBL)
END
---
Mixtape of the month
Friday, 8 February 2008
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Pandora is dead, long live Pandora!
Well, it's not often I find myself even remotely wanting to write a newsletter, but lots of events lately have made me feel the need to get typing and letting you guys know about them. So here is the first (of probably not many) Indie meetup newsletters.
NEWS
----------
Pandora is dead, long live Pandora! This month saw the death of Pandora for anyone outside the USA due to legal reasons. However some clever bloke has made an identical copy, now called Global Pandora which is quite possibly an inside job by someone at Pandora...who knows how long it will stay up for.
If you're ears are still yearning for more then there's a few other sites floating about. Last.fm is 'okay' for their radio service but it's much better to just keep tabs on what you've been playing on your i-tunes. Then there's Seeqpod which does a good version and searching down music and streaming it to you.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have relased a brand spanking new website going down the 'our mate made it for us' look, even though they probably spent a few grand on the website. Check out the shop section for some truly awesome looking t-shirts.
For those of you that are old enough to remember them, Mix tapes are sorely missed, though I quite enjoyed getting sent one this week and rummaging around to find my old walkman to try and play it. However the bright folks at Fuzz have created a virtual mix tape online, allowing you to add 12 tracks from either their own library or by uploading your own, you can then style how your mix tape looks and send it to all your mates who don't need to worry about spending 2 hours trying to find some AA batteries to listen to it.
Here's my first mix tape attempt.
Make your own and post them up on our facebook group discussion.
UPCOMING
------------------
Tickets are already out for the Fields festival, which I was quite gutted about not making to last year. Based in Victoria park it's one of the few festivals you don't need to travel outside of the M25 to get to. The line up has yet to be announce but keep checking the website for more info. Tickets from ticketweb.
NME shockwaves tour have come around again, showcasing those 'about to be big any moment now (promise)' bands. Playing Brixton Academy on the 22 Feb.
For something a little sooner why not try New Young Pony Club @ koko on the 12th Feb.
or
Sohodolls play at the debut night of BLITZKREIG BOP! @ Sin on the 2nd Feb.
Then there's the Foals Antidotes album due to be released on March the 24th, which is oh-so-long away in my books, but available to pre-order.
MEETUPS
----------------
The Jan meetup is Tomorrow...Amersham Arms, tickets are all sold out but there will be some avalible on the door if you want to take the risk. More info @ meetup and facebook
Vice Tour Live is on at the begining of March. It's free too, though we'll have to que early to make sure we get in. More info @ meetup and facebook
Just a heads up about the March meetup, we'll be going to Button down Disco @ KOKO, BDD have been well known for doing secret monthly club nights at venues all around London, but have now taken up residency at koko. For about a year i've wanted to do a meetup at BDD but due to the last minute details have never been able to, but now with their new residency means they're releasing the which nights they're doing well ahead of schedule.
STUFF YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO
--------------------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/lesacvspip - Scroobius Pip made a big splash with Thou Shalt Always Kill last year, however there's a free track from him and Dan le Sac on their myspace page.
http://www.myspace.com/samisaac - I only found out about Sam Isaac because my friend ended up being tagged in a music video on facebook..very random I know. Check out the Sideways video. It's really good, but kinda makes you want to eat cake though.
http://www.myspace.com/operatorplease - A fantastic band from down under. Yes Yes Vindictive is a great album, and i'm very thankful for my Aussie friend for sending it to me in the post. While the CD might not be available over here just yet you can get a taster of them from myspace. They're even playing in Brighton on the 25th of Feb.
END
-------
Thats it for now..quite a big email really, hope you made it to the end. - Phil
NEWS
----------
Pandora is dead, long live Pandora! This month saw the death of Pandora for anyone outside the USA due to legal reasons. However some clever bloke has made an identical copy, now called Global Pandora which is quite possibly an inside job by someone at Pandora...who knows how long it will stay up for.
If you're ears are still yearning for more then there's a few other sites floating about. Last.fm is 'okay' for their radio service but it's much better to just keep tabs on what you've been playing on your i-tunes. Then there's Seeqpod which does a good version and searching down music and streaming it to you.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have relased a brand spanking new website going down the 'our mate made it for us' look, even though they probably spent a few grand on the website. Check out the shop section for some truly awesome looking t-shirts.
For those of you that are old enough to remember them, Mix tapes are sorely missed, though I quite enjoyed getting sent one this week and rummaging around to find my old walkman to try and play it. However the bright folks at Fuzz have created a virtual mix tape online, allowing you to add 12 tracks from either their own library or by uploading your own, you can then style how your mix tape looks and send it to all your mates who don't need to worry about spending 2 hours trying to find some AA batteries to listen to it.
Here's my first mix tape attempt.
Make your own and post them up on our facebook group discussion.
UPCOMING
------------------
Tickets are already out for the Fields festival, which I was quite gutted about not making to last year. Based in Victoria park it's one of the few festivals you don't need to travel outside of the M25 to get to. The line up has yet to be announce but keep checking the website for more info. Tickets from ticketweb.
NME shockwaves tour have come around again, showcasing those 'about to be big any moment now (promise)' bands. Playing Brixton Academy on the 22 Feb.
For something a little sooner why not try New Young Pony Club @ koko on the 12th Feb.
or
Sohodolls play at the debut night of BLITZKREIG BOP! @ Sin on the 2nd Feb.
Then there's the Foals Antidotes album due to be released on March the 24th, which is oh-so-long away in my books, but available to pre-order.
MEETUPS
----------------
The Jan meetup is Tomorrow...Amersham Arms, tickets are all sold out but there will be some avalible on the door if you want to take the risk. More info @ meetup and facebook
Vice Tour Live is on at the begining of March. It's free too, though we'll have to que early to make sure we get in. More info @ meetup and facebook
Just a heads up about the March meetup, we'll be going to Button down Disco @ KOKO, BDD have been well known for doing secret monthly club nights at venues all around London, but have now taken up residency at koko. For about a year i've wanted to do a meetup at BDD but due to the last minute details have never been able to, but now with their new residency means they're releasing the which nights they're doing well ahead of schedule.
STUFF YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO
--------------------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/lesacvspip - Scroobius Pip made a big splash with Thou Shalt Always Kill last year, however there's a free track from him and Dan le Sac on their myspace page.
http://www.myspace.com/samisaac - I only found out about Sam Isaac because my friend ended up being tagged in a music video on facebook..very random I know. Check out the Sideways video. It's really good, but kinda makes you want to eat cake though.
http://www.myspace.com/operatorplease - A fantastic band from down under. Yes Yes Vindictive is a great album, and i'm very thankful for my Aussie friend for sending it to me in the post. While the CD might not be available over here just yet you can get a taster of them from myspace. They're even playing in Brighton on the 25th of Feb.
END
-------
Thats it for now..quite a big email really, hope you made it to the end. - Phil
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