Tag: "free download"

Alt-rock pop-punk outfit Pentimento have been through a rough patch for the past few months, dealing with the ugly legal side of the music industry. On their website, the Buffalo-based band explains that they have been at battle with their former label Panic Records over the rights to their recordings and the release of their debut self-titled album. The label has issued a legal threat to the band as well as to their current label Paper + Plastick and their second distribution label Black Numbers. As a result, the band has been unable to set any specific release dates or have any physical copies pressed. Even worse, they have decided to part ways with their labels in order to protect them from legal action.

Today, Panic Records released a statement in response to this matter, which you can read on their Facebook page. The message basically points out that “there are two sides to every story,” claiming that the band are responsible for the initiation of this legal debacle.

While the situation is still unresolved, Pentimento still want to get their music out, so they have made their debut LP available online for free, with the humble option of donating to help them cover the costs of recording. If you would like to support them, click here to read their side of the story, check out their music, and consider offering a contribution.

If you like Pentimento, you might also like OurStage’s own Otenki.

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Pentimento Release New Song From Upcoming LP
Story Of The Year Members To Create Documentary About Music Industry
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While tuning my UHF dial and fiddling with my foil-covered coat-hanger antenna, I came across the Conan show, which was featuring a pretty dazzling young band. Ok, it was on YouTube. Turns out this entrancing three-piece is called The Spring Standards. Their beautiful three-part harmonies, top songs, spacious, textured arrangements made the transition from the national talk-show circuit to our very own studio in Somerville, Mass, where the trio lined up on some stools, broke out the melodica and guitars, and put on a display that…well, you’ll just have to watch it to get it. We are thrilled to offer these videos to watch and songs to download for our latest Songs Of The Revolution session.

Be sure to check out the older SOTR sessions while you’re there.

Nemes joined us for an exclusive Songs Of The Revolution session during a June afternoon, on their way from their hometown of Worcester, Mass. to a show that evening at Church, a club in the Fenway area of Boston.

Named one of Alternative Press’ Top 5 Unsigned Bands of 2010, this unique rock outfit boasts really solid songwriting, elevated by stellar harmonies and versatile violin playing…as evidenced on the stripped-down performances here. Nemes is a band of natural performers, who blend with each other so well that we ended up just using a couple of microphones, capturing the ambiance of each song as it was in the room.

The band will be playing with OurStage faves Air Traffic Controller and last month’s Songs Of The Revolution featured artist Will Dailey on September 23 in Shirley, Mass. If you’re in the area, check out this great bill.

In the meantime, watch the videos and download the songs at the low, low price of no dollars.

Hey, this is Scott, producer of the Songs Of The Revolution series for OurStage.

Just about one year ago, we sputtered forward with an idea we had. We wanted to bring to you, the loyal OurStager, a taste of the vibrant live music circuit we’re lucky to be a part of here in New England. We wanted to capture unique live performances from the talented and generous artists we are so lucky to work with, in an atmosphere more intimate than you might find even in a small rock club. By the end of 2011, we had captured some fantastic performances. And since we relaunched in 2012, we’ve gotten into a groove with a lot of really stellar musical moments.

And it keeps getting better. Every two weeks, we publish a new session, with free, exclusive audio downloads and streaming video (some of those early sessions were filmed on nothing but a flip cam or, in desperate times, an iPhone, and now we’ve grown to multi-camera shoots with all the bells and whistles).

But it’s always, always about the music around here. So I’ve compiled a few audio selections from the past year in this newfangled “Podcast” format that all the kids are raving about. Personally, I think they’re on drugs. You can tell by their eyes.

I digress.

At your leisure, please take a listen to these songs, accompanied by some powerful, compelling, Morgan Freeman-esque narration by yours truly.

For this week’s Songs of the Revolution, we were honored to play host to Shonen Knife, the all-female Japanese pop punk band that influenced a generation of American rockers before ever stepping onto U.S. soil.

The band has just released Pop Tune, their 18^th studio album since their debut in 1982. Frequently cited by Kurt Cobain as one of his favorite bands, they had a lot of success in America in the mid-late ‘90s, and during that time made one of their best-loved recordings, a cover of The Carpenters’ “Top Of The World,” which was included on a popular tribute album.

Despite a few lineup changes over the years (singer Naoko Yamano is the remaining original member), the band is currently as strong as ever, as evidenced on this session. We naively requested a stripped-down set, in keeping with the vibe of the SOTR sessions. When the band arrived at the studio, we set up and suggested maybe just a hi-hat for cymbals. Sure, they nodded and agreed. Drummer Emi Morimoto asked for another cymbal stand. Okay, maybe just a ride cymbal, we hinted. Soon enough, she was wailing on the kit with a nice, high crash invading all the mics. We had to respect that. And, in the end, we’re glad we’re not the ones who got Shonen Knife to water it down.

Enjoy these streaming video performances and free downloads, and try not to let “Banana Chips” drive you mental with its insistent catchiness. Atomic-level earworm.

More like this:

• Songs Of The Revolution: Will Dailey
• Songs of the Revolution: O’Brother

Oh my god, you guys, it’s time for a new installment of Songs of the Revolution! For those not hip to it, Songs of the Revolution is a series in which we capture some exclusive, stripped-down recordings by both established and up-and-coming artists as they tour through our town. We offer them to you as streaming video and free audio download. And it is awesome.

This week, we feature hometown hero Will Dailey. Will’s newest record, made with his band, The Rivals and released by Universal/Republic, has brought the singer-songwriter to a new level. In addition to being a regular on the Farm Aid tour and having won multiple Boston Music Awards, Will’s songs have been heard all over television and radio. After a recent gig, Will and longtime drummer Dave Brophy stopped in at Moontower Studio to record versions of an older song, a newer song, and a new spin on a classic cover.

Please enjoy.

It’s that time again. New music revolution time. Every couple of weeks, we offer a new Songs of the Revolution session with some of our favorite artists, featuring exclusive, stripped-down performances and some free downloads. This week: O’Brother.

Atlanta’s O’Brother has released only one full-length album so far — 2011’s Garden Window — but they are already road-tested pros with a loyal and rapidly growing fanbase. Having completed tours with the likes of Manchester Orchestra and The Features, the band was crossing the country on their first major co-headlining jaunt (with Junius) when we caught up with them in Boston. While the rest of the band decompressed in the parking lot after a long drive, singer Tanner Merritt borrowed someone’s old guitar and banged out three affecting performances in the studio. Merritt’s extra-laid-back and unassuming demeanor belied the tense atmospheric shift that occurred in the room as soon as he starting singing. Check out the streaming videos and download the tracks… for free!

More like this:

• Songs Of The Revolution: Mieka Pauley
• SoundTrax: Songs Of The Revolution

It’s no surprise that OurStage artists Orange Avenue have named their new record Small Victories. The band has had a countless number of them in their five years together, including being named Buzzworthy by MTV, opening for The All-American Rejects and Rihanna and song placements on MTV, FOX Sports and Teen Nick. Here on OurStage, they’ve been named one of the top rock bands of 2010, chosen as a Needle In the Haystack artist and won the Video Grand Prize in 2011. With the release of Small Victories just a few weeks away, we caught up with Orange Avenue to learn more about the album and what we can expect from these guys in 2012. PS:There’s a free download waiting for you at the end of the article!

OS: You had a song (“Just Refrain”) featured in the first episode of The OurStage Panel. What was it like to watch the episode and hear the panelists’ commentary?

OA: Very enlightening. It was really cool to see the different outside opinions and critiques, and it was really cool to see the other artists that we were against…it was a nice glimpse of the music industry from the inside. It was a good episode all around. It’s a phenomenal thing, what you guys are doing at OurStage. It’s awesome for independent bands, it’s a phenomenal outlet. Back in the day, we weren’t so fortunate to have this tool. We’re definitely grateful.

OS: You’ve been gearing up to release your new album, Small Victories, later this month. What is the meaning behind the title of the record?

OA: It basically means overcoming obstacles to achieve what you want to achieve. Taking things one day at a time, one battle at a time. One small victory towards winning the ultimate war [laughs].

OS: Small Victories will be your third album. How do you feel that you’ve grown as a band since the first and second albums?

OA: The album itself, if anyone’s heard our Reset EP…it’s along the same lines. We’ve definitely grown as far as writing together and individually musically. This is some of the best stuff we’ve come up with. But there was a serious elimination process that we had to undergo. We came up with around sixty songs, so you can imagine! And every song, somebody had a serious tie to each one… so we went through a process of elimination with our management and our producer. We came up with what we thought was a well-rounded album.

OS: How many songs of those sixty did you end up using for the album?

OA: We actually used nine. We actually took a couple of choice tracks from Reset because we wanted to actually push them and get them a little more exposure, “Just Refrain” being one of them… “No Goodbyes,” and “Nightwalk” actually starts off the record. We just always thought that was a great album starter. This is kind of like our dream album. If we could have had the money to do this when we were doing Reset, this is probably what we would have done [laughs]. It’s twelve tracks total, but we have a bonus track for those who are pre-ordering to offer them a little something extra.

OS: The first single, “Wondergirl,” has a very high-energy, electronic feel to it. Can we expect more of the same on Small Victories? Have you thrown any curveballs in there?

OA: It’s very moody, it’s not really all high-energy. We just like to give people something that just kind of rocks, to begin with, then get down to the deeper part of Orange Avenue, you know? [laughs] Start with a bang, first of all, and hopefully they come back for more and realize there’s more sides to the band than just the fast stuff. There’s definitely some moody stuff there.

OS: Who would you say are your biggest influences on this record?

OA: There’s tons of them, to be honest with you. The Killers, All-American Rejects, The Used, Muse, Chili Peppers, Radiohead. All of us individually have a lot of separate influences and collectively we agree and have the same as well. I can kind of hear all of that being used in all the songs, like a rollercoaster ride. You can hear those different vibes throughout the entire record.

OS: You play hundreds of shows a year. Do you have any big touring plans for 2012?

OA: Big plans! [laughs] We are in the process of trying to do a small little tour around Florida just as a kickstart to get it going and promote the new record. But every day, good things are happening! We’re getting news every day on different things that are popping in and hopefully in another couple weeks, it will be completed where we can go ahead and do everything and really make an impact. Spring break goes off in Florida, so lots of gigs here this time of year!

OS: When are you going to come to Boston? We need to see you up here!

OA: We’d love to do that! The plans are that if this tour that we’re speaking of goes well, the next plan is to do an east coast run. We’d love to be there, it’s definitely on the list.

OS: Anything else you’d like to say to your fans on OurStage?

OA: Small Victories, 2/21! Order the CD now on iTunes! [laughs] We really worked hard on this album and there’s something on the album for everyone. We think people will appreciate the sound that we’ve come to develop on this third album!

Can’t wait for February 21st? Click here to download “Wondergirl” now! And be sure to follow Orange Avenue on Facebook and Twitter for more exciting news, tour dates and future victories.

Mainstream metal gets a really bad rap more often than it likely deserves. Perhaps this reputation rests on the fact that mainstream metal boosts catchier songwriting, features hooks and is more visible than their underground counterparts. At any rate, there is plenty of worthwhile mainstream metal amongst the riff raff, and OurStage metal band Wake Of Redemption is doing their best to show everyone just that. Don’t be mistaken, Wake of Redemption aren’t just wishy washy pop music that pretends to be metal; they’re pure metal.

On January 29, Wake of Redemption is unleashing their full-force attack on the world: Earthshaker. Listening to the three tracks the band has posted to their OurStage profile, we’re pretty excited and we think you should be too. Earthshaker promises to be a fresh take on a few different mainstream metal styles, all packaged into one cohesive-sounding album. To get some backstory on the album’s recording process, which the band did with Jamie King (Between the Buried and Me, He Is Legend, etc.) at his studio in North Carolina, we got in touch with guitarist/vocalist Nick who gave us a lot of insight into some of the decision-making and a description of some of the things that you’ll hear on the album:

“At our first couple of meetings with Jamie, we tracked all of the drums and discussed the overall scope of the project. After some editing, Jamie sent the drum tracks to me. To save money, we ended up tracking all of the guitars at my house but made sure to get a clean ‘dry’ signal of all the guitars and bass while tracking. This gave Jamie the ability to ‘re-amp’ our guitar signals later and run them through some top-end gear he has in his studio. What you actually hear on the album is a blend of our guitar amps and the amps that he re-amped our dry signals through. After guitars and bass were finished, we went back into the studio with Jamie to record vocals and mix the album. Due to his unrelenting schedule and our decision to track guitars, the entire process took nearly a year, but we also saved an enormous amount of money and were able to really concentrate on getting as good of performances as possible rather than watching the clock (especially while tracking guitar).”

What label is Earthshaker coming out on, you ask? Well, the simple answer is “none” but it’s not quite that simple. Much like the recording process, the deliberation about how to release the album took quite some time. Once again, we decided to have Nick clarify by explaining how the band came to the conclusion to ultimately self-release the album:

“After a ton of research and thinking, we are self-releasing the album. We’ve actually been on the fence about it for months (I got the masters back for the album in May!) but finally made the decision and feel very good about it…Early on, we were pretty determined to push this album to as many labels as possible to try to get label distribution. But, we all started reading and talking to people in the industry and it became clear how little money bands make when they first sign to labels. Most of us are at a point where we cannot afford to live the typical early-band life with no income because of family and other obligations, so we started researching the alternatives. I believe that the music industry as a whole is in the midst of a dramatic shift, especially where music distribution is concerned. For around $40, we were able to get our music on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon through a music aggregator, bypassing the need to sign our lives away to a major label for access to the most important distribution chain in the industry. For every album we sell digitally, we will see over 60% of the profit (vs. a maximum of 10% we would receive in royalties were we on a major label). There may come a time when we need major label support, specifically for promotion, but, for now, we are excited about the fact that we are totally debt-free and are at the point where we can sit back, melt faces and hopefully make a little money (which we will inevitably re-invest in the band).”

In the player below, you can listen to a few songs from the upcoming album, as well as download “Oh, Yeah!” (but only for a limited time, so don’t wait). Make sure you buy the album when it drops on the 29th, and see these guys live if they’re playing near you. Wake of Redemption do not disappoint.

Sorry, you missed out on the download! Make sure you grab the album when it drops!

Download 8 stellar tracks from these OurStage artists for free on Facebook.

Stay tuned for new Editor Picks in December!