Tag: "sxsw"

It’s that time of the year again: gearing up for the inevitable onslaught that is the South by Southwest schedule. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. To make it a little easier to pick through the massive amount of events going on, we’ve highlighted the five best music-related films for you to check out, along with a handy “when to watch” guide to enhance your viewing experience.

Broadway Idiot & ¡Cuatro!

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It’s a two-for-one deal for Green Day this year, so we’re grouping the dual documentaries on the band into a single punktastic category. Broadway Idiot focuses on Billie Joe Armstrong’s transition to the Broadway stage for the theatrical rendition of the band’s 2004 rock opus American Idiot, while ¡Cuatro! focuses on the making of the band’s recent trilogy of albums.

Watch it after: Missing your favorite punk band’s set in favor of that “awesome new shoegaze, EDM meets post-punk” act that your friend misguidedly recommended. Continue reading ’5 Most Anticipated Music Films Of SXSW’

If only American Idol would take a cue from their own background music… Recent seasons of the hit game show and now cultural institution have THRICE featured our friends Bronze Radio Return, most recently on last week’s episode. The band have been a song placement machine lately, providing the soundtrack for a recent PGA ad on ESPN, in addition to spots for Nissan, on HBO, and on several prime-time network shows.

But their broadcast near-ubiquity is not the reason we love them so. It is of course because of the music – a positively ideal blend of classic roots music and modern rock. The key to making this formula work, as Bronze Radio Return does, is authenticity. Their sound and songs possess the burned-in feel of music unburdened by time. As individual musicians and as a functioning unit, they are apparent naturals. All reasons why we have selected them as this week’s OurStage Pro Artist of the Week.

We’ve been fans of the band for a long time, and are lucky to have caught them live several times, including a performance at last year’s South by Southwest festival. And we’ll be there when they rock the Rock Boat cruise at the end of this month. The band expects to release their new LP sometime this year, but meanwhile they have a new single called “Further On,” available on iTunes. See the video for their song “Shake, Shake, Shake” after the jump, and click here to listen to some more Bronze Radio Return on OurStage.

Continue reading ‘Bronze Radio Return: Pro Artist Of The Week’

This Year’s South By Southwest Festival will see the premiere of several notable music documentaries, with themes ranging from the digital download revolution to a little-known secretary for The Beatles. The new documentary Downloaded tracks the precipitous rise and fall of Napster and the whiz kids behind it: Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker. Fun fact: it’s directed by Alex Winter. Don’t know the name? Well, surely you know Bill S. Preston, esquire. Yep, that’s right. The new documentary film is directed by Keanu Reeves’ co-star in the famous Bill and Ted movies. Though it might come as a surprise, Winter made the jump to directing in 1993 with the comedy sci-fi flick Freaked. Excellent.

Another SXSW premiere this year is Good ‘Ol Freda, which tells the almost entirely unacknowledged life story of Freda Kelly, the president of the Beatles Fan Club, and the band’s “secretary” for 11 years. Kelly became close to the band during their early days as an up-and-coming Liverpool act and stayed loyal to the band during their rise to fame and subsequent breakup. The film depicts how, “as the Beatles’ devoted secretary and friend, Freda was there as history unfolded; she was witness to the evolution – advances and setbacks, breakthroughs and challenges – of the greatest band in history.” Even more reason to get excited for SXSW 2013.

More like this:

• SXSW Announces Third Wave Of Bands
• SXSW Add 600 Bands To Line Up

One of the music industry’s largest and most highly anticipated events, South by Southwest, has just announced a third wave of bands who will be performing at the festival. For those not doing the math, that brings the list to just under a whopping 1,300 live acts set to take the stage in Austin, Texas this March. Newcomers to the lineup include Tegan and Sara, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Black Lips, and Vampire Weekend. You can check the full list of performing acts for this year’s festival right here.

If you like Tegan and Sara check out OurStage artist Vic and Gab.

More like this:

• Tegan And Sara Release Official Music Video For “Closer”
• SXSW Turns 25 And A Look Back At South Bys Past

Following last month’s South By Southwest announcement that former Foo Fighters frontman, Dave Grohl would be the festival’s keynote speaker, SXSW has now announced an enormous wave of new bands that will play the 2013 dates in Austin, TX from March 8 through March 17.

The new line up includes Third Eye Blind, The Airborne Toxic Event, Alien Ant Farm, The Dangerous Summer, and The Joy Formidable. Check out the full line up right here.

If you like Foo Fighters, check out OurStage artist Europa.

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• OurStage Artists Delta Rae Join Foo Fighters As Performers At Democratic National Convention
• OurStage Artists Invade SXSW

Everyone’s favorite southern music and film festival is right around the bend! Well, maybe March isn’t exactly right around the bend, but between today’s line up announcement and festival details, we’re aching to share the good news about South By Southwest.

Among the festival’s line up announcement was Hawthorne Heights, Charlotte Church, Driver Friendly, Of Mice & Men and OurStage’s own Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown.

SXSW will take place March 12-17, 2013 in Austin, TX, and the full line up can be seen here.

Check back with OurStage, and we’ll keep you up to date on the latest SXSW happenings. Don’t forget to let us know your thoughts on the current line up in the comments.

If you like Driver Friendly, check out OurStage artist Dawnoverzero.

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• Hopeless Records Sign Driver Friendly
• OurStage Artists Invade SXSW

Set your DVR, TiVo, VCR, kinescope, or whatever, because OurStage’s own Eclectic Approach is set to appear as the musical guest on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 1st.

The winners of the second season of The OurStage Panel will perform their single “Cool” on the popular late-night show, becoming the first in a series of OurStage artists to be launched into this national spotlight.

Eclectic Approach, a high energy five-piece band out of Seattle, WA, were named winners of Season 2 of The OurStage Panel after a live performance at the SXSW Festival in Austin, TX, this past March. Part of their prize was a pro video EPK, which you can watch below. Click here for more details on OurStage’s The OurStage Panel Competition, which will provide even more emerging artists with the opportunity to go nationwide.

Pool parties, cold drinks and good looking people in bathing suits…if our summer is half as fun as this new Bronze Radio Return video, we’ll be happy. The Connecticut sextet is an OurStage staple, and “Down There” happens to be one of our favorite songs off their album, Shake! Shake! Shake! BRR have had an exciting year so far, with several television and film placements and a performance at the OurStage Panel finale at SXSW. We look forward to seeing more great things from them in the future!

Purchase Shake! Shake! Shake! on iTunes here.

Here we go again again! Another online article where the subject is Fiona Apple. For the last few weeks, it seems, it’s been virtually impossible to turn on the computer without stumbling across a new headline about the 34-year-old singer-songwriter. I can’t think of any other musical celebrity this side of Kanye West who, in recent memory, has gotten quite so much mileage out of being both ridiculously talented and endlessly quotable.

And Apple doesn’t even tweet (yet)—or date a reality TV star!

Her musical gift and her gift of gab pretty much ensured that the June 19 release of her fourth album, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do, would arrive with more fanfare than the expected critical gushing. In fact, after one week of release, the new set sold 72,000 copies, good enough for a No. 3 debut on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart, immediately making The Idler Wheel… the highest-charting album of Apple’s career.

That would be chump change in the coffers of Adele or Lady Gaga, but considering that Apple released her last album, Extraordinary Machine, way back in 2005, before the world had heard of Adele, Gaga, or Katy Perry, and the year in which Rihanna released her debut album, it’s as extraordinary as one-half of her last album title.

Continue reading ‘The Re-Launching of Fiona Apple’

Life is full of surprises, and sometimes, so is pop music. In recent weeks, it’s recovered its long-dormant ability to shock, or at least catch us off guard with the unlikely hit, or the unexpected comeback.

Several months ago, I never dreamed I would ever ask the question that is the title of this article. It had been more than twenty-five years since Lionel Richie’s commercial heyday, and on the charts, he had been succeeded by younger romantic leads in pop and R&B many times over (Babyface, Usher, Ne-Yo, among others).

Then came one of those surprise developments seldom seen in pop anymore: On Billboard magazine’s Top 200 album chart for the week following the March 26 release of Tuskegee, Richie’s first studio album since 2009’s Just Go (which didn’t make the US Top 20 and failed to go gold), he debuted at No. 2 with first-week sales of 199,000 copies, right behind Madonna’s latest, MDNA.

Continue reading ‘Sound and Vision: Why Is the World So Obsessed with Lionel Richie Right Now?’