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.

Put two classic greats together, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and The Muppets and what do you get?    A Muppet Rhapsody full of brilliance, childhood memories, and great laughs.

I grew up watching The Muppets and always listening to Bohemian Rhapsody.  This is yet again another obviously brilliantly executed video put out by  The Muppets.  I absolutely love this video and so does my family; we got plenty of kicks and giggles out of this.

Check out your favorite Muppet characters in this magnificent bohemian parody.

And remember The Muppets really have been connected to many great musicians. Some such artists are: Elton John, Paul Simon, Alice Cooper, Johnny Cash, and Arlo Guthrie.

It looks like the web’s largest music site Myspace may be moving to a pay-to-listen model.

Myspace is one of the largest music streaming websites, allowing its users to listen to artists for free to find out if they have talent or not. Apparently Myspace is paying somewhere in the area of 20 million dollars a month to pay for the streaming rights. With such large fees to pay for their music streaming capabilities it looks like the site will almost definitely move to a paying model.

The question now is how many people are actually going to pay to listen to music on Myspace? I know that I use the site as a means of finding good new artists, whose music I later can purchase on Itunes or other sites. If Myspace makes me pay to stream music, I will probably just take them out of my bookmarks list, but that’s just me.

Let us know what you would do if Myspace wanted you to pay to stream their music in the comments section.

Urban Outfitters, doesn’t just offer a sweet indie style; they are now giving away 25 free indie tracks on itunes.  This week they are featuring bands like “The Very Best,” “White Denim,” and “Le Loup.” Check out the rest of the bands featured in their 7th installment here.

Keep checking out our blog to know when the next Urban Outfitters, LSTN Installment arrives.  We’ll be doing a feature story on one of the bands.

This Thursday Berlin will be hosting the MTV Europe Music Awards. The event is being hosted in Germany to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. Even though the event is supposed to be about European musicians, the show is mainly controlled and dominated by artists from the United States. Here are a few of the nominations for this Thursdays event:

Best Song
Beyonce – “Halo”
Black Eyed Peas – “I Got A Feeling”
David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland – “When Love Takes Over”
Kings Of Leon – “Use Somebody”
Lady Gaga – “Pokerface”

Best Group
Kings of Leon
Black Eyed Peas
Green Day
Jonas Brothers
Tokio Hotel

Best Male
Eminem
Jay-Z
Kanye West
Mika
Robbie Williams

Best Female
Beyonce
Katy Perry
Lady Gaga
Leona Lewis
Shakira

Let us know who you think should win by adding your comments to the post.

Google gets millions of search queries relating to music everyday. Since people around the world are constantly searching albums, artists, songs, and lyrics, Google decided to make their music searches more user-friendly. They have teamed up with Pandora, imeem, Myspace and Rhapsody to help searchers find and discover music easier and with more accuracy. With the help of Google’s music partners, your searches will now include short music-preview links so you can listen to the song right there….

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Lil Wayne is set to release his new mixtape “No Ceiling” this upcoming Halloween. A few of his songs on the mixtape have already leaked onto the internet, which means a few of you have probably already heard them… Reports say that Lil Wayne isn’t finished quite yet, but is on track to have it in your hands by the end of the week.  Here is a list of the songs that will be found on his upcoming release:

- Swag Surfin’
- Ice Cream Paint Job
- D.O.A.
- Interlude
- Wasted
- Watch My Shoes
- Break Up
- Banned From TV
- Throw It In The Bag (Remix)
- I Think I Love Her
- Interlude #2
- Wetter
- I’m Good
- Poke Her Face
- Run This Town
- I Gotta Feeling
- Outro

Enjoy it folks, Lil Wayne won’t be coming out with anything new for a while. He was sentenced to jail for about a year due to gun charges placed a few months ago. But let us know what you think about the upcoming mixtape and if you’re planning on buying it.

Chuck Biscuits, a well known heavy metal/hard rock drummer, died last Saturday at age 44 due to throat cancer. This legendary rocker was best known for playing the drums in bands like Black Flag, Danzig, and Social Distortion.

Check Biscuits was born on April 17, 1965, under the name of Charles Montgomery, in British Columbia. Biscuits moved to California in 1982 to join Black Flag, but left after five months. He then proceed to jump around from band to band, playing with classic punk-rock acts like the Circle Jerks, Fear, and the Weirdos. Chuck is best known for playing with Danzig in 1988. He was with Danszig for the band’s first four albums, as well as their 1993 EP release, Thrall: Demonsweatlive.It was during this time that Biscuits started to make a name for himself  in the underground-music world. Rumor has it that he was even at the top of Nirvana’s drummer “wish list” for awhile.

In 1996 Biscuits played with Social Distortion for their 1998 release, Live at the Roxy. He then left the band a year later for unknown reasons. Some speculate his sudden departure was due to the beginnings of the cancer that later claimed his life.

“Chuck was one of the best of the original wave of punk drummers,” Descendants drummer Bill Stevenson said to a source. “His style was easily recognizable, and he seemed to have just a ton of extra energy when playing drums. He is one of those people who did not have to practice a lot to play really well.”

“It came very natural to him,” Stevenson continued. “He was hugely influential without really being as ‘famous’ as drummers who were actually much less influential musically.”

It’s a tragedy that someone, who contributed so much to the rock and music world, had to die so young. His work will live on and his talent won’t be forgotten.

Here’s a video of Chuck Biscuits with Circle Jerks: Enjoy!

Perez Hilton, the infamous celebrity blogger, has struck out against Will.i.Am by publicly dissing him on Billboard.com.

As you guys know, Perez Hilton was invited to be a presenter at the the MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto. Hilton claims that he was assaulted by Black-Eyed Peas member, Will.i.Am, while partying after the show. The alleged attack stemmed from Perez’s negative posts/opinions about the band and their latest single. Though reports and claims have been filed, nothing has been solidified.

So, to get back at Will.i.Am, Hilton made a video inviting the Black-eyed peas member to his Perez Hilton Presents tour which will be featuring artists like Ladyhawke, Semi Precious Weapons, Ida Maria, and more. He says, “I am inviting will.i.am to my tour,” Hilton tells Billboard. “Will, go to any of the shows on me, for free, and you can check out some artists that are better than you!”

Harsh much?

Personally, I think that Hilton is just a diva looking for some press. But love him or hate him, he knows how to stir up drama. Check out the video promoting his tour (and extending the invite). P.S. Excuse his language.

Check out tour dates to find a show nearest you.