REM: Album Release Date and Tracklisting Confirmed

REM fans rejoice!  Their 14th studio LP Accelerate will be released this year on March 31st.

Accelerate will be the seminal band’s first studio material since 2004’s Around the Sun.

Here is the official tracklisting:

Living Well’s The Best Revenge
Man Sized Wreath
Supernatural Superserious
Hollow Man
Houston
Accelerate
Until The Day Is Done
Mr Richards
Sing For The Submarine
Horse To Water
I’m Gonna DJ

REM official site

Featured Artist: Sea Wolf

You’ve probably already heard of Sea Wolf, and if you haven’t, well then shame on  you.

Sea Wolf is the Jack London inspired moniker of Alex Church, a native Californian drawing on local literary legends like London and Steinbeck to create truly unique music. 

   Church studied film at NYU, then moved to Los Angeles and formed the band Irving in 1998.  He soon realized his songwriting style wouldn’t fit in with the psychadelic style of Irving and formed Sea Wolf in 2003.  The now stable lineup is as follows: Alex Church - Vocals, gutar  Aaron Robinson - Guitar   Lisa Fendelander - Keyboards  Theodore Liscinski - Bass  Aniela Perry - Cello and Byron Reynolds - Drums.

Check them out here

Portishead Announces Name and Release Date of New Album

 

The English threesome, Portishead recently announced a new tour only to give fans another treat in confirming a realease date for their third and upcoming album

The album will be named Third (no surprise there) and will be release on April 14th (possibly April 15th for the US release).

Jools Holland to Release Magnificent Compilation

Jools Holland, prolific musician and successful tv host, is set to release a snazzy little compilation album on the 28th this month.  It will reportedly be a live album archiving some of the most amazing performance from his beloved tv show.  It will feature names such as The Flaming Lips, Kings of Leon, CSS, Kaiser Cheifs, and Arctic Monkeys to name a few.  Here is the complete track listing:

CD1 Track Listing:

Arctic Monkeys – ‘Brianstorm’
Amy Winehouse – ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’
Kate Nash – ‘Foundations’
Kaiser Chiefs – ‘Ruby’
KT Tunstall – ‘Black Horse & The Cherry Tree’
Gnarls Barkley – ‘Crazy’
Mika – ‘Grace Kelly’
Adele – ‘Daydreamer’
The Fratellis – ‘Henrietta’
Hard-Fi – ‘Suburban Knights’
Stereophonics – ‘It Means Nothing’
Richard Hawley – ‘Valentine’
Scott Matthews – ‘Dream Song’
Seasick Steve – ‘Dog House Boogie’
The Flaming Lips – ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah Song’
CSS – ‘Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above’
Damien Rice – ‘Coconut Skins’
King Creosote – ‘Admiral’
Muse – ‘Knights Of Cydonia’

CD2 Track Listing:

The White Stripes/Jools Holland – ‘My Doorbell’
Lily Allen – ‘Smile’
Razorlight – ‘America’
Paolo Nutini – ‘Last Request’
Editors – ‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’
Duffy with Bernard Butler – ‘Rockferry’
Keane – ‘Crystal Ball’
The Strokes – ‘Last Nite’
James Morrison – ‘You Give Me Something’
Primal Scream – ‘Country Girl’
David Gray – ‘You’re The World To Me’
Kings Of Leon – ‘The Bucket’
Jose Gonzales – ‘Heartbeats’
Mutya Buena – ‘Just A Little Bit’
Estelle – ‘Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)’
Ray Lamontagne – ‘Trouble’
Green Day – ‘American Idiot’
Kano ft Damon Albarn – ‘Feel Free’
James Blunt – ‘Same Mistake’
Kasabian – ‘Empire’

JoolsHolland.com

Coachella 2008 Lineup Announced

This little festival on a polo field in Indio, California just keeps getting better and better every year.  Some of the highlights will be Roger Waters, who reportedly will be playing Dark Side of the Moon in it’s entirety, The Verve, The Raconteurs, Rilo Kiley, Portishead, and Black Mountain.  Without further adieu, here is the complete band listing for Coachella 2008:

FRIDAY APRIL 25th LINE-UP:

Jack Johnson, The Verve, The Raconteurs, The Breeders, Fatboy Slim, Tegan And Sara, Madness, The Swell Season, The National, Animal Collective, Slightly Stoopid, Mum, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Stars, Battles, Aesop Rock, Midnight Juggernauts, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, Minus The Bear, Spank Rock, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Diplo, Adam Freeland, Santo Gold, Jens Lekman, John Butler Trio, Vampire Weekend, Dan Deacon, Architecture In Helsinki, Sandra Collins, Busy P, Cut Copy, Black Lips, Datarock, Professor Murder, Reverend And The Makers, The Bees, Porter, Rogue Wave, Modeselektor, American Bang, Lucky I Am.

SATURDAY APRIL 26th LINE-UP:

Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab For Cutie, Cafe Tacuba, Sasha & Digweed, Rilo Kiley, Dwight Yoakam, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boys Noize, Junkie XL, The Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, The Teenagers, VHS or Beta, Carbon/silicon, Erol Alkan, Yo Majesty!, Little Brother, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, Akron Family, MGMT>, Institubes DJs (Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic), James Zabiela, SebastiAn, Kavinsky, Dredg, The Bird And The Bee, Grand Ole Party, New Young Pony Club, 120 Days, Yoav, Electric Touch, Uffie.

SUNDAY APRIL 27th LINE-UP:

Roger Waters, Love & Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, The Streets, Metric, Danny Tenaglia, Simian Mobile Disco, Booka Shade, Murs, Dimitri from Paris, Autolux, The Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Les Savy Fav, The Cool Kids, Sons & Daughters, Sia, Holy Fuck, Black Kids, Black Mountain, The Annuals, Kid Sister w/A-Trak, MAN MAN, Duffy, I’m from Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmau5, The Horrors, Austin TV, Shout Out Louds, Plastiscines, Brett Dennen.

Click Here for more info

Black Mountain: Brilliant Interpreters, or Blatant Plaigiarists?

Black Mountain is a Vancouver band garnering much attention from their 2005 eponymous debut and wowing audiences while opening up for Coldplay.  Borrowing from a lost generation of psychadelia, driving guitar-rock, and Pink Floyd-esque exploration, Black Mountain seems to be reviving sentiments of the past while opening a window to the future.  There are some out there, however, that are refusing to bite.  The common resentment being that their sound is just recycled 60s and 70s nostalgia.  I disagree.  Where would the Beatles be without Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly?  Where would anybody be without the Beatles?  This is not to say we condone plagiarism, but borrowing from other artists is part of Rock ‘n Roll.  That’s what’s great about Rock ‘n’ Roll is that it’s a community.  And, for the record, we don’t really think they sound too much like anybody else anway.  So, there’s our 2 cents.  Take it or leave it.  Check them out at: BlackMountainArmy.com        

Get a Headstart on the Whigs’ “Mission Control”

The New Album, ‘Mission Control’ from indie fledglings The Whigs doesn’t come out until next week.  But they’ve graciously allowed you and me to listen to the entire streaming album at Rhapsody.com.  Sounds like: Foo Fighters if Dave Grohl was still grunge mixed with My Morning Jacket mixed with Pavement.

Radio Play: Will Topping the Charts Make You Bigger than Elvis?

By Sheena Metal 

Every true life rock ‘n’ roll television melodrama has the same scene: the unknown artist/band gives their freshly cut 45rpm single to the local disc jockey. He spins it on his top 40 radio show, and a star is born. This legend has been passed down through the generations of wannabe popstars like an ancient family recipe. The ingredients may differ, but in the end you get the same glorious results: radio play equals fame and fortune. But does this Top of the Charts fairytale still apply today in the sardonic post new millennium world we call

“College Radio Still Rocks…”

“today?” Can a band in our current music scene walk into a radio station with a CD single in their hot little hands, impress and wow the DJ with their enthusiasm and chutzpa, obtain the magic and golden FM radio spins and then ride the wave of success all the way to Graceland? Well, then, I guess the real question would be, “Do you believe in fairytales?”

Unfortunately, the music industry, like the entire Earth, has become so overpopulated and so oversaturated with artists, music, CDs, and radio stations/shows of all kinds, that the chance of your own personal radio fairytale coming true is probably slim to none. But, don’t give up on your favorite audio media outlet. Radio may not catapult you to instant superstardom but it certainly can help to push you down the path to success.

The following are a few tips that will help you to make your own music fairytale and get your music heard throughout the airwaves:

1.) Get Out Of Major Market The Top 40 Station Mentality—There was a day when getting played on a big city Top 40 radio station was like winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Bands that were chosen for play were handpicked by the voices of the airwaves whose ears were finely tuned to pick out the next new rising star. Today, things are a little different. Radio has become a huge corporation with three major conglomerates owning most of the stations in the United States. Sadly, Disc jockeys are no longer the innovators their predecessors were. Station management hands down a playlist (made exclusively of artists signed to mostly major labels) and the voices you hear on your radio are just that; talking heads animating a script. It’s nearly impossible for an unknown band to break into mainstream large metropolis radio and a waste of your time and money to send packages blindly to a medium that will more than likely reject you again and again.

2.) The Specialty Show Is Your Ticket In—Still determined to get played on that hot radio station with 10 million listeners and a celebrity DJ? Well, there is a backdoor that you may be able to slip through. It’s the specialty show. Many huge stations feature a weekly show structured just to highlight the little guy, to showcase unsigned artists from that station’s area and sometimes beyond. These shows are always worth sending your press package to, as they tend to base their playlist on your music and your credentials on not on the typical corporate artist roster. This is where you just might wow that innovative disc jockey and garner play on some of America’s biggest stations.

3.) College Radio Still Rocks—One area of radio that has stayed unaffected by the huge corporate retooling is the college/university station. Unlike companies/labels deciding what the listening audience thinks is cool or hip, college radio DJs and program directors are still setting their own cutting edges, breaking new artists, and finding the hot fresh stars of tomorrow hiding in their local clubs, coffee houses and garages. It’s always beneficial for unsigned artists to send as many CDs (or email as many MP3s, if the station will accept that medium) to as many college stations as you can find. You will find stations to play you and people will be listening. This could lead to new fans, tour possibilities, and will definitely look fantastic on the radio page of your website or EPK. Whether or not it will actually make you a rockstar, it will sure make you feel like one.

4.) The Unlimited World Of Independent Radio—Back in the early days of radio, indie stations were limited to audio pirates in their basements stealing airwaves from unsuspecting Top 40 giants. Now, thanks to the internet, satellites, cell phones, iPods and cable TV, independent stations outnumber their AM/FM constituents in the thousands and new ones are created every day. Since doing a search of indie radio stations online has been known to cause a brain embolism in some, know that you will probably never be able to solicit them all in one lifetime and just relax and enjoy sending music to whomever you can, as you will probably garner hoards of airplay. Furthermore, your wallet will grow to love you as most of these stations will allow you to submit MP3s online.

It’s true that the legendary story of the unknown band that got one single played on the radio and became superstars within a month is probably as outdated as the 8-Track tape. But that doesn’t mean that the process of artists soliciting music for radio play has become archaic. Radio remains, to this day, one of the best ways for musicians to promote their music and their projects in their area; and now, thanks to terrific technological advancements, nationally and worldwide. The repetition of your single in the ears of even the most jaded radio listener, may lead to: CD and merchandise sales, gigging opportunities in your city and others, visits to your website, posts to your fan club forums, potential press and even maybe industry attention. So, don’t stop sending those CDs, and emailing those MP3s because the next person who hears your song on the radio might just be the one who leads, either directly or indirectly, to your much sought record deal. And who knows? You might just wind up becoming bigger than Elvis.

About The Guest Author

Sheena Metal is a radio host, producer, promoter, music supervisor, consultant, columnist, journalist and musician. Her syndicated radio program, Music Highway Radio, airs on over 2,400 affiliates to more than 126 million listeners. Her musicians’ assistance program, Music Highway, boasts over 10,000 members. She currently promotes numerous live shows weekly in the Los Angeles Area, where she resides. For more info: http://www.sheena-metal.com.

History of the Electric Guitar

By Paul Smith

When most people think of electric guitars, they think of rock music. But electric guitars are more versatile than you’d think. You can find them in jazz, blues, country music, new-age compositions, and even contemporary classical pieces. Electric guitars are intimately associated with many famous musicians of the twentieth century, and may be the iconic musical instrument of our time.

 

The demand for electric guitars came during the Big Band Era in the 20s and 30s. The big brass bands of the time were very loud, and other instruments had to be artificially amplified to stand up to their powerful sound. Performers experimented with attaching microphones to acoustic guitars. The first manufactured electric guitars were made in 1931 by the Electro String Instrument Corporation.The first time an electric guitar is known to have been used in performance was in 1932. Bandleader Gage Brewer of Wichita, Kansas, received two electric guitars directly through Electro String Instruments, possibly for publicity purposes. Brewer wrote about the guitars in an article in the Wichita Beacon before the performance.The earliest known recording of an electric guitar performance was produced in 1938. George Barnes, a jazz guitarist, recorded two songs with the guitar, called “It’s a Lowdown Dirty Shame,” and “Sweetheart Land.”

The earliest electric guitars were essentially hollow-bodied acoustic guitars equipped with Tungsten pickups. The problem with hollow-body electric guitars is that the hollow space within the guitar produces vibrations when the strings are plucked or strummed. These vibrations account for the unique tone of an acoustic guitar, but they produce harsh feedback when they interact with the pickups in an electric guitar. Early electric guitar players used to stuff rags and newspapers into their hollow-body instruments in an attempt to get rid of the feedback.

One of the earlier solid-body guitars was an aluminium instrument known as the “Frying Pan” or “Pancake Guitar.” These guitars were said to have produced a sound similar to that of modern electric guitars.

Several other well-known luthiers experimented with solid-body guitars during the early history of the electric guitar. In 1940, during his time at Gibson Guitars, Les Paul attempted a solid-body instrument called the “log guitar,” so called because it was a simple post equipped with neck, strings, and pickups.

The electric guitar did not hit commercial success until the 1950s, when Fender released its first solid-body model: the Esquire. The Esquire was followed by the Telecaster and finally, in 1954, the Stratocaster. The Strat was hailed in professional musical and luthier circles alike, and became a signature instrument of such famous musicians as Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and many others.

The electric guitar produced an aggressive sound very different from the melodic and lyrical tones of its ancestor, the acoustic. The sound of the electric guitar became characteristic of rock and roll in the 60s and 70s. It was a high-profile instrument during this time, appearing on stage with hundreds of famous bands and musicians.

This created demand among the general public for affordable electric guitars. In the 60s and 70s, electric guitars were very expensive, too pricey for a buyer who wasn’t a famous musician. Although some companies attempted to fill the gap with cheap imitations, the sound of these guitars did not compare to the real thing.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that Japanese manufacturers stepped forward with affordable electric guitars capable of professional-quality sound. This put pressure on American companies such as Gibson and Fender to provide their own affordable lines. Electric guitars became more and more successful in the consumer market as quality improved, and prices went down as new manufacturers entered the market. Soon, electric guitars were more accessible than they had ever been.

Today, the electric guitar is one of the most prolific instruments in popular music. You can find it in a wide variety of genres, from metal to new age. You can also buy an electric guitar like the rock stars have without paying the prices they pay. Because it’s so common in contemporary music and in the hands of amateur musicians, there’s little doubt that the electric guitar is one of the most successful instruments of the twentieth century.

The First of Many

AlcatrazRed.com is new site dedicated to bringing to light many incredible artists that otherwise might be slighted by the money grubbing mainstream.  This site is intent on becoming the net’s primary source of indie news, discussions, and insights.  Enjoy!

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