Underground Bands and Indie Music Reviews

Happy Groundhog’s Day!  Looks like we have another 6 weeks of winter! Today groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow  and is ready to get back to some more of his hibernation.

In celebration of this famous groundhog, underground instrumental band, The Opposite of a Train, is holding a benefit concert tonight! They are hoping to raise money for the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston, South Carolina. The concert will be held tonight in the Memminger Auditorium at 8pm.

The Opposite of a Train, has a unique sound.  I just listened to them for the first time today and find them quite enticing.  Obviously their music has no lyrics,but it has a very interesting jazz, Cuban, rock sound to it. It seems that what makes this band worth while, is the fact that they are playing really unique and fascinating instruments. Their music takes you into a new way of thinking.

The band is composed of three members: Bill Carson on guitar and tenor banjo, Nathan Koci on accordion, brass and keyboards, and Ron Wiltrout on marimba, drums, and crash cymbols.

If you are interested, check them out on their myspace to hear their unique sound yourself and then let me know what you think. I am curious of the feedback.

And get a chance to watch Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day, just to celebrate and to hibernate.

Sunday, January 31st, 2010 was an eventful night for the 52nd annual Grammy awards. Not only did we have Elton John and Lady Gaga team up for a duet song, Taylor win her first grammy for her album Fearless, which was given the title “album of the year,” but we also had Carrie  Underwood, Keri Hudson, Usher, Celine Dion, and Smokey Robinson joined in a Michael Jackson “Earth Song” tribute!

The song was in 3D and many celebrities, such as Beyonce were seen wearing glasses and you could have been too if you happened to have some glasses with you at home.

At the conclusion of the song, all the performers turned to look at the many pictures of Michael Jackson. It was a great tribute.

Lastly, Michael Jackson’s children, Prince Michael and Paris accepted their father’s lifetime achievement award.It was weird seeing the children so soon after their father’s passing, however they made a great speech, saying, “Our father was always concerned about the planet and humanity,” and continued with, “Throughout his songs, his message was simple: love. We will continue to spread his message and help the world. Thank you. We love you, Daddy.”

Seeing as tonight I also just saw, Michael Jackson’s documentary video, “This Is It” tonight, I thought this was a fabulous night! Michael Jackson has such great talent and I thought it was great to tribute him at the Grammys. Rest in peace MJ!

I hope you check out the new “This Is It” album on itunes. I LOVE the song, This is it.

1977 brought a whole new sound that people had never heard, and a sound that many people didn’t want to hear.  But that is exactly the thing that appealed to punk rockers.  They wrote and played music because it’s what they loved, not to get fame and money.

Punk rock has evolved since then, and the big question now remains is punk rock dead?

(more…)

Friday, January 22, 2010 many well -known celebrities and musicians helped out with Hope For Haiti Now, a global benefit concert for earthquake relief.  This telethon took place in in 3 cities: Los Angeles, New York, and London.

George Clooney organized this concert with MTV to help earn more relief for Haiti, which has already lost roughly 200, 000 people.

During the benefit concert, celebrities and musicians answered phones and performed music to get people to call in and donate money to the hope for Haiti Now earthquake relief.

Coldplay, Beyonce, as well as a joint efforts with Bono, Jay-Z, Rhianna, and the Edge, performed in London.  The latter four musicians performed together a new song, “Stranded– Haiti mon Amour.”   Their collaboration turned out to be successful, giving the world a catchy song and Haiti relief money.  Check out  their song below!

In New York, Haitian-born, Wycleaf Jean hosted and sang.  With him Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Shakira, and Sting performed.

And in LA, George Clooney took charge and was joined by musicians: Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, and Kid Rock.

I have to say Clooney actually did a great job getting great artists to join together in a great cause. I wish I could have personally been at the benefit concert, but then again I wouldn’t know which one I would have wanted to be at!!

Good news: you can purchase the songs from the concert on itunes and all the proceeds will go the earthquake relief in Haiti.

If you want to help Haiti out and missed the Hope For Haiti Now benefit concert, you still can.  Just visit Hope For Haiti Now to donate.

Unfortunately Imagine Dragons will no longer be able to join Provo for the concert this Saturday, because of a death in the family.

The bands who will be playing now are: The Vibrant Sound, Elizabethan Report, Can’t Stop Wont Stop, and One Man Short.

Remember the concert starts at 8:30pm Saturday, January 23, 2010.

The Bands there will be filming a live DVD so please join them for some great dancing. And Imagine Dragons promises to join their Provo following with a concert at Velour February 6th.

Don’t know what to do with your Monday nights? Muse Music Cafe in Provo has the perfect solution.

During 2010 January through April, every Monday night at 9 pm Muse Music Cafe will be showing free Rock documentaries. The first Rockumentary video started three weeks ago with a documentary on Arcade Fire’s 2007 album, “Neon Bible.”

If you want to start the night even earlier, Muse will be holding a free open-mic night at 7 pm before each Monday movie night. And don’t forget, Muse has a cafe!

Get the 2010 Rockumentary schedule below:

1/25: Hype! (Seattle Music Scene)
2/1: Heima (Sigur Ros)
2/8: Genghis Blues (throat singing in Mongolia)
2/15: Meeting People is Easy (Radiohead)
2/22: Directions (Death Cab For Cutie)
3/1: Anvil: The Story of Anvil
3/8: It Might Get Loud (Jack White/Jimmy Page/The Edge)
3/15: DiG! (The Dandy Warhols/Brian Jonestown Massacre)
3/22: Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek
3/29: You May Need A Murderer (Low)
4/5: New York Doll
4/12: The Carter (Lil Wayne)
4/19: Kurt Cobain: About a Son
4/26: Spinal Tap

Provo are you ready for another great concert?  Two of my favorite bands in the Provo area, The Vibrant Sound and Imagine Dragons are coming back from their Vegas tour to give  their Utah fans a treat.

When:    Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 8:00pm -12:00pm

Where:  Velour Live Music Gallery (of course):

315 N UniversityAve.  Provo, UT

How Much: $7.00 (but it is worth it for all the great dancing, music,

and crowd you will be enjoying)

Many of these bands have played together before and will continue   to.                                  The chemistry between the bands is great and the show is smooth.

Hope to see you guys there!

Looking for a way to crank up your ipod? Here are a few of the best musical iphone apps that anyone with musical talent or taste would enjoy:

1. Guitar Toolkit ($9.99)

If you love to jam, this app is worth the ten bucks it costs. This rockin’ iphone app is equipped with an accurate chromatic tuner, adjustable metronome and complete chord library of over 1500 chord variations.

(more…)

Good news everyone, the Who, will be rocking the Super Bowl 2010 half-time show, releasing a new studio album, and have live performances in the near future.

The two surviving band members of the Who, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, will be performing on Dec. 7th, at the Miami Dolphin’s stadium. With over 100 million viewers, the Super Bowl will be sure to give the band a huge commercial boost.

(more…)

For those of you who don’t know much about Pandora.com, here is a quick Pandora radio review.

Pandora Radio is a music discovery service that allows you to discover new music online, while listening to music you already love. Pandora is powered by the “Music Genome Project”: a comprehensive analysis of music that sought to match you up with similar musical sounds and styles based on what you say you already like.

(more…)