Record Store Day 2013 was by all early accounts a gigantic success, and based on our Twitter feed it seems many of you sought out your local record stores over the weekend to participate. If so, thank you! The music industry needs support and that extends to those of us here at OS.
One of the bigger (and odder) indie releases of RSD13 was MGMT‘s Alien Days cassette. The release, which was limited to a few hundred copies and retailed for $8, featured a new song from the popular outfit that can now be streamed here on OurStage. Click below to enjoy “Alien Days.” Continue reading ‘MGMT Debut “Alien Days”’
After spending some time on hiatus. MGMT have returned with plans to embark on a Spring tour in the coming months. The outing should keep fans excited for a new release from the group, which is rumored to be scheduled for store arrival sometime this Summer.
Though no details have been released concerning on sale time or who will be supporting the band, those interested in seeing the confirmed tour dates can do so below:
04-26 University Park, PA – Penn State
04-28 Geneseo, NY – SUNY Geneseo
04-30 Portland, ME – State Theatre
05-01 Providence, RI – Lupo’s
05-04 Cleveland, OH – Masonic Auditorium
05-06 Grand Rapids, MI – Hoogenboom Center @ Calvin College
05-08 Winnipeg, Manitoba – Burton Cummings Theatre
05-09 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – The Odean Events Centre Continue reading ‘MGMT Announces Spring Tour’
This week’s Pro Artist of the Week Blondfire have released a new video for their smashing song “Where The Kids Are.” Directed by Andrew Renzi (who recently had his short film Karaoke! showcase at Sundance and had his feature Franny workshopped at the Sundance Writer’s Lab), the video mimics the smooth transitions of youth via the logic of dreams. How did I get from the car to the party? Well, there was this ladder hanging over my head…
It really is rather beautiful to look at and it compliments the song’s lyrics nicely. And, of course, the song is great.
Fans of MGMT and Metric will find a lot to love in the brother-sister team of Erica and Bruce Driscoll. As Blondfire, they explore sonic territory in the mode of the aforementioned bands, but with a special energy, powerful lyrical imagery, and especially catchy grooves.
It’s time to ring in the new year! 2012 has just about come to a close, and though it was a year that brought us everything from the sensational “Call Me Maybe,” to new Taylor Swift videos, we’re ready to welcome 2013 with a fistful of brand new tunes. Check out this party playlist of must-haves for any New Year’s Eve and get dancing.
If you’re from Boston, you know Gentlemen Hall. But for those not fortunate enough to know these guys, we’re about to change all that. With rave reviews from not only MTV, but The Boston Phoenix and of course OurStage.com, these guys play infectious jams littered with addictive rock, pop and plenty of synth to carry out the dance tunes.
If you like The Killers, MGMT, and a touch of Boston pride, you’ve gotta check out Gentlemen Hall. Listen to “Gravity Will Break Our Bones” below.
“D. is for Dirty…” So begins the bio of D. Hollywood, winner of February’s “Ernie Ball Alternative” Competition. D. is a Los Angeles-based producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who describes his music as “intelligent, quirky, radio rock.” He’s rocked some of LA’s biggest venues including the Air Conditioned Supper Club and Club Moscow, and worked with acts the likes of J*Davey, Ryan Leslie, Terra Naomi, Chris Pierce, Dane Cook and more. If you’re into Gorillaz, The Bravery, Weezer, Foo Fighters, MGMT or The Cars (and how could you not be?), swing on by D.’s OurStage Profile and check him out. Big congrats to D. Hollywood, enjoy a year un-fettered with costly string purchases.
There’s no arguing that Lana Del Rey has a beautiful voice, but there’s also no arguing that she is gangly as all get-out. The torchy chanteuse made her television debut on Saturday Night Live last weekend, and it turns out she’s quite a polarizing performer. Juliette Lewis initially dissed Del Ray, saying it felt like watching “a twelve year old in their bedroom.” But the next day Lewis woke up singing a different tune. Decide for yourself if Del Rey is “fresh and yummy” or wiggity-wack by watching her performance below.
Trent Reznor, Flaming Lips, Radiohead protest Internet legislation
Musicians are up in arms this week over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA)—two bills making their way through Congress that will allow the government to block access to sites accused of copyright infringement before their court date. The Lonely Island, Nada Surf, MGMT signed this online petition, while Radiohead and Flaming Lips posted anti SOPA and PIPA banners on their Web sites and Twitter profiles. We’ll see if star power can move mountains, or at least Capitol Hill.
The Bad
Jay-Z hasn’t retired the b-word after all
This week numerous media outlets reported that Jay-Z had released a poem announcing he’d given up the word “bitch” in honor of his daughter, Blue Ivy. Turns out, the whole thing is a crock of bitch (hey, if he’s not retiring it, then neither are we). Jay-Z will still be going H.A.M. when it comes to profanity, which gives us a sneaking suspicion of what Blue Ivy’s first word will be.
Kate Bush stalker breaks in to propose
When Kate Bush sang “Let me into your window” in her song, “Wuthering Heights,” little did she know one day a fan would let himself into her window in an ill-fated attempt at a marriage proposal. Police arrested Frank Tufaro after he broke into the reclusive singer’s home with a $4,500 engagement ring. Bush wasn’t home at the time, but we’re guessing her answer would have been “no.”
The Ugly
Elton John and husband get catty with Madonna
Madonna won the Best Original Song at the Golden Globes on Sunday, much to the dismay of Sir Elton John and his husband, David Furnish. John was nominated for his song, “Hello Hello” from Gnomeo and Juliet, but lost to Madge’s “Masterpiece” from W.E. That pissed Furnish right off, and he let everyone know it on his Facebook page. You can read the rant here, and see a screenshot of Elton John’s sourpuss during Madonna’s acceptance speech.
Diddy loses another battle in the vodka wars
Page Six is reporting that P Diddy lost his cool once again when patrons of a pre-Golden Globe party were prohibited from drinking his Ciroc vodka because the event was sponsored by Grey Goose. Not that anyone was asking for Circoc, mind you. Maybe that’s what he was really mad about. Get the rest of the gossip here.
Foster the People just might be the pop anomaly of 2011.
The trio of Los Angeles-based twentysomethings led by founder and namesake Mark Foster looks like a boy band (only cuter), plays instruments like rockers and produces music with beats that thump as hard as any backing up those fierce divas currently ruling every dance floor in clubland. And then there’s FTP’s breakthrough single, an insanely catchy song called “Pumped Up Kicks” about cool shoes and a youth with homicidal tendencies.
I mean, really?
Even more surprising than the song’s smash status despite its decidedly un-poppy protagonist—that troubled kid contemplating a shooting spree—is the fact that it’s created barely a ripple of controversy throughout its lengthy chart run. Did the clever lyrics fly over the heads of the country’s guardians of morality and decency in songwriting? Were we all just too lost in the beat to notice the finger on the trigger?
Or perhaps for the first time since the second British invasion of the 1980s brought such alternative pop acts as Duran Duran,
Depeche Mode and indie-pop pioneers the Smiths into and around the mainstream, both the masses and the pop-music establishment (radio and retail) are ready to support music that touches on more complex subject matters than “dance music sex romance”—to quote a track on pop iconoclast supreme Prince’s 1982 album, 1999, one of the records that launched the censorship wars of the early ’80s that would hardly raise an eyebrow today.)
Making a dramatic shift in how you approach songwriting can be incredibly difficult, especially for those who’ve been set in one way for a long time. So, when you look at the case of Ben Lee, who’s been making his mark in the music industry since he was fourteen, solo and in the band Noise Addict, it makes his latest output all the more impressive. With his recently released album Deeper Into Dream, this indie pop mogul made serious adjustments and improvements in his craft to the delight of many music critics who panned his previous release The Rebirth of Venus. To give us some insight into what experiences and reveries went into this revision of technique, Ben Lee took some time to explain his new writing approach, how he approaches collaborations and tell us who he’s excited about in the music industry today.
OS: About Deeper Into Dream, you’ve said that you wanted to take a more personal approach to writing this album. Did you run into any difficulties making that shift? Do you find that it’s easier to be more personal when writing lyrics for other people to sing?
BL: Well, it’s all relative. My music has always been personal, but I guess what I mean is I wanted to be more vulnerable. Sometimes I think I’ve found it hard to admit weakness or my flaws (both in life and in music), so I was conscious of wanting to have more questions than answers on this album.
Record Store Day 2013 was by all early accounts a gigantic success, and based on our Twitter feed it seems many of you sought out your local record stores over the weekend to participate. If so, thank you! The music industry needs support and that extends to those of us here at OS.
“D. is for Dirty…” So begins the bio of 
