The Roundtable: Fictional Bands
Which fictional band is your favorite?
Real groups are pretty talented, but fictional bands are always larger than life. So this week we asked the HEAVE writers a pretty simple question – which fictional band is your favorite? And, for your information – I’m going with The Wonders (or Oneders if you liked them before they were big).
Amy Dittmeier - There can only be one answer to this question: Read On
Posted by Wes Soltis on Dec 11, 2009 @ 9:00 am
Girls Are Rad: Ryat
Ryat gives 'Street Noise Orkestra.'
Formerly a member of the collaboration As Human, Philly-based multi-instrumentalist Ryat is now out on her own with her soon-to-be-released, self-written and self-produced album, Street Noise Orkestra. Though she’s been compared to Björk, her vocal bouts will never at any point make you want to stick an ice pick in your ear, and the reference can be taken in the most complimentary of ways...
Posted by Leah Urbom on Dec 10, 2009 @ 10:30 am
New Clipse, Snoop Dogg, Gucci Mane and Kid Cudi
Three albums and one video make for a very hip-hoppity week.
A trifecta I’m aware of, but this Tuesday has raised questions of the possibility of a quadfecta. Three new albums dropped December 8th - along with a well-produced video from Kid Cudi’s first album. To begin, Clipse’s third album Till the Casket Drops has finally hit retail after it was first said to launch last summer...
Posted by Andrew Macnider on Dec 10, 2009 @ 9:00 am
Crossroads of America Records Starts Monthly Subscription Series
Laminar Excursion Monthly beats a grocery store gift card any day.
I have never been the recipient of a Jam of the Month subscription, but judging by Clark Griswold's reaction in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I don't think I would enjoy it that much. Receiving a monthly subscription to anything as a Christmas gift can be a hit or miss gift and often times you're left with something that you care little about that you will continue to get for a year. It's like the bad gift that won't die. Crossroads of America Records wants to change that. In collaboration with Flannelgraph Records, the Indiana-based label is starting a monthly subscription series called Laminar Excursion Monthly. Every month Crossroads will send you two 3" mini-CDs each with 20 minutes of new or unreleased material from artists on both labels with a nice box to store them all in once the subscription series is complete. Many musicians have contributed to the series including J. Tillman (of Fleet Foxes), Metavari, Alexander the Great, Frank Schweikhardt, husband&wife, and Damien Jurado. What makes this an even more appealing gift is that it's exclusive. Only 100 subscriptions will be sold in total. A yearly subscription is $45 if purchased before January 1st and after that becomes $50 if any subscriptions are left. 40 minutes of music for twelve months for under $50? Sign me up. Subscriptions can be purchased here but hurry up, they're selling out fast.
Posted by Amy Dittmeier on Dec 10, 2009 @ 8:00 am
New Music From Marina and The Diamonds
Marina and The Diamonds pass on 'Obsessions.'
Attention, Attention! Great song alert! Lilting pianos, a snappy reggae beat and super cockney female vocals abound! Is that too many exclamation points? I think not. Going by the big stage name Marina and The Diamonds, 23-year-old Welsh/Greek singer-song writer Marina Diamandis is certainly the shiniest diamond in the current UK rough.
"Obsessions" is pretty and bouncy like an Altered Images track, yet emotionally unstable like Tori Amos after a night of hand to mouth combat with a bottle of Chardonnay. Diamandis weaves her obsessive tale with gutteral passion, taking the song from dreamy piano ballad to new wave reggae without missing a beat - surely a talent to keep your ears open for in the New Year.
The debut album from Marina and The Diamonds, The Family Jewels, will be available February 2010.
Posted by Joe Roth on Dec 09, 2009 @ 9:00 am