School is in session and it’s time to break out the textbooks. As more people continue to jump on the vinyl bandwagon, they will look for reputable sources to help discover, uncover and rediscover all the incredible music that exists for their collections. It’s a dizzying amount of material to digest so where does one turn for this highly specific information? Look no further than the magazine racks for a copy of the highly-acclaimed Wax Poetics. Rather than focusing on the contemporary music flooding the market, Wax Poetics backtracks over the past six decades and spotlights the crème de la crème of artists and platters that are essential to anyone’s collection. They chop off the fat and serve up the meat via a bi-monthly journal that looks feels and reads like an academic publication catered to diggers. OurStage had the opportunity to catch up with Editor-in-Chief Andre Torres to talk about the magazine and its impact on the vinyl digging culture.

Continue Reading About Wax Poetics

The Antlers are a perfect example of one of those bands that fly under the radar for years, but completely take off once their music sees the light of day.  Robin Hilton of NPR Music recounts his introduction to the band a year ago: “All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen came by my desk holding a rare copy of the then-homemade Hospice CD by The Antlers. ‘You’ve got to hear this,’ he said. We trotted off to one of NPR’s studios — a dark, cavelike space with an unusually good surround-sound system — and popped in the album. As the opening notes crept from the speakers, along with the eerie, ambient rhythm of a hospital respirator, I was transfixed.” Thus began a cascade of NPR, SXSW and label support from Frenchkiss Records/Mom + Pop Music.  Peter Silberman, frontman and founder of The Antlers, had been writing and recording songs in his Brooklyn apartment since 2006, but it wasn’t until about a year ago that people really began to take notice.
Continue reading ‘Tour De Force: The Antlers’

Holden Lewis and Jeremy Mendicino may be pretty and nice, but most of all, this duo is fun.  Pretty & Nice, Lewis and Mendicino’s band, have been Boston’s best-kept secret for years now.  Formed in a basement somewhere on the outskirts of the city, the band records their own snappy pop with both grace and childlike abandon, making them the pop band to beat.  After adding two members to their lineup, the band took to the streets, touring relentlessly.

Pretty & Nice’s latest release, Get Young, is nothing short of wonderful.  Warping pop hints around a solid static and noisy aggression, the latest release is modern in sound, but a throwback in emotion — embodying all that Pretty & Nice is.  The band’s been on tour essentially since the release (with more energy than most of the bands you could think of) and shows no signs of becoming “too old” or “too worn out.”

Lewis and Mendicino got OurStage up to speed on life in the fast lane, how they stay so fun and their plans to record.

Continue reading ‘A Q&A With Pretty & Nice’

French Cassettes

Let’s just get this out of the way first: French Cassettes are a young band. As in “fresh out of high school, not that much older than Justin Bieber” young.  And, because they’re nascent, there are some elements of the music you’ll have to overlook. First and foremost, the production quality of their recordings. It’s bad. Secondly, the looseness of their playing. Not much is locked in-step or a tempo. If you can get past those two things, there’s plenty to like about French Cassettes. They’ve got a keen sense of melody, a lot of ideas and — as they say in the biz — moxie. Singer Scott Huerta’s plaintive voice, reminiscent of Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses, is the most fully-developed instrument of the group, and leads the ramshackle pack through ska (See the herky-jerky “Hands”), Latin music (See the overwrought, fiesta-gone-wild “Cantina”) and indie rock (See the winsome and charming “Seahorse”). Give these guys a  couple years to perfect their technique and watch the indie pundits rave.

Now in its 24th year, the SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas is the nation’s largest and most formidable industry event. It is also the place where new talent is discovered and old talent reinvents itself. The conference, which takes place at the same time as many a spring break (March 16-20), brings thousands of music fans, college students, industry movers and shakers and nearly 2,000 musicians to Austin. SXSW also has Interactive and Film components leading up to the music portion. But unquestionably, the big kahuna and signature of SXSW is the music. With a cacophony of thousands of bands, parties, trade show and educational panels that are the hallmark of SXSW, I thought I would break it down to the Top 10 events you will most likely find me at this year.
Continue reading ‘Fine Tunings: 10 Things to See at SXSW’

When Tim Burton announced he would be directing Alice in Wonderland, fans everywhere rejoiced. Burton’s wonderfully creepy style combined with the classic Lewis Carroll story is a perfect match. Then the track listing for the accompanying soundtrack was released. Many were comforted to find Danny Elfman on board to do the score however critics immediately questioned the Top 40 lineup.  Did the Almost Alice music supervisors take a cue from the Mad Hatter when making the final choices for the compilation?  I gave the album a listen to decide for myself.

The first track, “Alice (Underground)” by Avril Lavigne is a powerful track that sounds different than her usual pop rock fare. While you can’t deny Lavigne’s catchy pop allure, the song doesn’t really hit home as much as it should. Boasting a softer sound, All American Rejects’s decent track, “The Poison” follows Lavigne.  Then Owl City and Metro Station appear to quickly remind listeners of the album’s Top-40 sensibilities. Unfortunately, their contributions,“The Technicolor Phase” and “Where’s My Angel” lack quality.  Shinedown manages to pull off some evocative vocals, but sounds as run-of-the-mill as their predecessors.

Kerli

Kerli, a great addition to the album, lends her her eerie style to two songs.  “Strange,” performed with Tokio Hotel, doesn’t show off the singer’s creepy side enough while the overwhelming dance beat on her solo song, “Tea Party” doesn’t quite fit the film’s mood.  3OH!3’s track, “Follow Me Down,” isn’t as blatantly obnoxious as their previous hits.  In fact, Neon Hitch lends her soothing voice to the track, making it pretty memorable. An odd follow-up to 3OH!3 is Robert Smith’s “Very Good Advice.” The song is more weird than enjoyable, but still manages to capture Alice.

3Oh!3

The long-awaited collaboration from Mark Hoppus and Pete Wentz, “In Transit” is underwhelming — a boring, droning song when compared to the rest of the album (perhaps that’s why it’s placed between two slower tracks). The Plain White T’s manage to steal Hoppus and Wentz’s thunder with a stripped tune, “Welcome to Mystery.” Franz Ferdinand follows with something a slower, vaudeville-influenced tune,“The Lobster Quadrille.”  “Running Out Of Time,” from Motion City Soundtrack lightens the mood with a light, airy sound that the soundtrack needs more of. Then Wolfmother’s “Fell Down A Hole” booms in, loud and rocking. A great track on it’s own, the harder rock sounds doesn’t necessarily vibe with the rest of the album. The refreshing “White Rabbit” by Grace Potter and the Nocturals is the album’s true gem. A cover of the Jefferson Airplane hit, the vocals are strong and loud with a balance of hard and airy guitar backing.  The album concludes with They Might Be Giants and “You Are Old, Father William,” a silly tune based on the poem by Lewis Carrol but a fantastic close to an otherwise flat album.

Overall, the album has a few hits and a lot of misses. The songs that shine do so brightly and the ones that severely lack quality are, at least, terribly catchy. As a compliment to Burton’s film, most tracks fail in comparison to Danny Elfman’s score. His work, as well as the actual film, is generating far more excitement. As a whole, I’ll just say this soundtrack won’t be fielding any GRAMMY nominations soon.

Here’s the full track listing:

1. “Alice (Underground)” performed by Avril Lavigne
2. “The Poison” performed by The All American Rejects
3. “The Technicolor Phase” performed by Owl City
4. “Her Name Is Alice” performed by Shinedown
5. “Painting Flowers” performed by All Time Low
6. “Where’s My Angel” performed by Metro Station
7. “Strange” performed by Tokio Hotel and Kerli
8. “Follow Me Down” performed by 3Oh!3 featuring Neon Hitch
9. “Very Good Advice” performed by Robert Smith
10. “In Transit” performed by Mark Hoppus with Pete Wentz
11. “Welcome to Mystery” performed by Plain White T’s
12. “Tea Party” performed by Kerli
13. “The Lobster Quadrille” performed by Franz Ferdinand
14. “Running Out of Time” performed by Motion City Soundtrack
15. “Fell Down a Hole” performed by Wolfmother
16. “White Rabbit” performed by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

17. “You Are Old, Father William” performed by They Might Be Giants

Ariel Hyatt is the go-to-gal for any artist looking to conquer the ever-elusive digital world. Her New York-based PR firm helps connect artists with blogs, podcasts, Internet radio and social networking sites, although it wasn’t always this way. Ariel Publicity began as a traditional PR firm pitching bands to newspapers (gasp!), magazines, TV and radio, but the firm went completely digital in 2006 with the realization that these mediums were slowly becoming obsolete. Today Ariel’s company is just as much about teaching artists how to market themselves online as it is about doing it for them. She can be found all over the Internet— her bi-weekly YouTube series Sound Advice has over 20,000 subscribers, she’s a contributing blogger to New Music Ideas and Music Think Tank, and her book Music Success In Nine Weeks can be found on right here on Amazon. She also hosts various workshops for artists and music industry professionals and has spoken on countless panels at highly-respected music festivals such as SXSW, the BMI Music Panel Series and NARAS.

OurStage caught up with Ariel to talk about efficient ways to market a band, and the importance of Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. Check out the Q&A below!
Continue reading ‘Q&A with Ariel Hyatt’

Every week I search for an artist within the Rock Channels that show enough ambition and promise to break into the national market. However, this week I found a band looking to impact the global rock ‘n’ roll market. The Australian group TORCH LE MONDE is stirring up some buzz and show no indication of slowing down. Having one of their songs used at the Nightmare Wrestling “Death Match” as well as guitarist Joel McDonald’s feature in Australian Guitar Magazine, TLM lands publicity that few young bands are able to secure. With the their new single “You,” showcasing a strong hook with a solid solo in the bridge, TLM is embarking on a tour to prepare for their upcoming debut album release. Check out their music below and be sure to stop by their OurStage page to see if they’re playing a show near you. My fellow iRockers, this is a band you should keep an eye on.
Continue reading ‘iRock: TORCH LE MONDE’

Fun Facts: State Flower: Peach Blossom, State Song: “Our Delaware,” State Colors: Colonial Blue and Buff

Home of: Boysetsfire, The Spinto Band, Valerie Bertinelli

Continue Reading 50 States In 50 Weeks…Week 39: Delaware

Last month over 700 artists competed for a shot at being featured on VIBE.com in the “Your Music on VIBE.com” Channel. Holding the Number 2 spot on the charts was an action-packed NYC hip hop band by the name of Dujueos with their track “Spectacular.” The group has a solid record on OurStage’s Alternative Hip Hop Channel with two Number 1 monthly titles and a Number 1 hip hop video. It’s no surprise that this band, who’s opened for the likes of Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Funkadelic and John Legend, would catch the eyes (and ears) of the editorial staff at VIBE. After finding out about their big win Taylor, the band’s guitarist, was bursting with excitement: “OurStage is a great place for indie artists to get discovered.  We are really happy about winning the upcoming Vibe.com feature and are glad that people are hearing and feeling our music.” Keep checking VIBE.com for more on Dujueous.

Wait, there’s more! VIBE is returning to OurStage again this month to scout for more new rising superstars in the urban music scene. Hip hop and R&B artists should enter their original songs the “Your Music on VIBE.com” Channel for a chance to be featured in one of the urban music scene’s most popular online destinations. One artist will be selected from the Top 10 by staff at VIBE to receive a Q&A and streaming music premiere on VIBE.com in addition to a music critique from the president of G-Unit Records, Sha Money XL, and the all-star producer Hi-Tek (Talib Kweli, Common, 50 Cent)

For more information visit www.ourstage.com/go/vibe.