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Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago Features Amazing Line-up of Artists; Inclu
2007-08-05 11:16:00
Tens of thousands of music fans have assembled in Chicago 's Grant Park on the shores of Lake Michigan to attend the three-day annual Lollapalooza Festival . Despite increasing clouds late Saturday and the chance for showers on Sunday, lower ticket sales than organizers would have wanted (there are still tickets available on the Lollapalooza website, but no word, of course of how many. Nevertheless, a sea of people have gathered in Chicago for one of the most celebrated music festivals in North America. For rock and pop music fans, especially those with modern tastes, the dizzing array of artists and bands playing at the festival is overwhelming, and unfortunately conflicting as there are many cases in which popular artists and groups are playing at the same time but on different stages, making it a hard choice for fans. Altogether, there are some 100 performers playing on nine stages for three dog days of summer. Some of the top billed acts include popular indie and rock artists suc...
More About: Features , Artists , Snow Patrol

A Half Smashed Pumpkin Doesn't Make A Smashing Pumpkin
2007-07-31 08:14:00
SANTA CRUZ, CA - Last night Billy Corgan and "Friends" (as one local reporter called it) rocked the historic Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium (1769). As expected, the show was sold out with rockers ranging in age from teens to guys in their 50s. Remember, The Smashing Pumpkin s will be two decades old next year. Rock on older rockers! The younger rockers are likely to be fans of Corgan's newer music, such as the popular YouTube music video "Tarantula." (watch video)Many fans, including myself, were somewhat let down by the show. For $35 (scalped tickets went as high as $120), you'd expect to see The Smashing Pumpkins . But we only got half a pumpkin, singer/songwriter Billy Corgan (who I happened to pass on the street two hours before the show) and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.Original Pumpkin guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky left The Smashing Pumpkins in 2001 to launch Scratchie Records, a division of Mercury Records, which is thankfully not one of the major labels. Neverthel...
More About: Music Video , Grunge , Make

Free Indie Rock Festival in New York City Slammed By The Times
2007-07-25 23:48:00
For the sixth year now, the Village Voice in New York has sponsored the Siren Music Festival , attracting headliners such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse and Death Cab For Cutie in years past and making a name for itself - well, sort of - in the indie rock underground.But this year's festival, held this past weekend in New York, was about as lame as an indie rock festival in New York City can be. With the exception of Voxtrot, a fairly popular indie outfit from Austin, the line-up and performers were a bust to indie fans, and especially to New York Times' snippy music critic Kelefa Sanneh: Among other things, Sanneh wrote, the festival was missing "a hint of Brooklyn?s ethnic and musical diversity; a reminder that nonpopular [sic] music can be noisy or chaotic or dangerous; thrills. With a few exceptions the lineup felt full of second and third choices...to indie-rock fans outside the city this nit-picking probably seems crazy," Sanneh wrote. (Editors at the NYT: The correct word ...
More About: Rock , Free

Beavis and Butthead Creator Reveals Animated Short Film of "Office Space"
2007-07-12 20:31:00
Educadorian born and American raised animator Mike Judge, best known as the creator of MTV's wildly popular 90's show "Beavis and Butthead," is easily one of the most talented and successful animators in American popular culture history.Judge, also a writer, actor, voice actor, animator and producer, among other things, created an animated short of "Office Space " in 2000 that looks and feels alot like a spin-off of "Beavis and Butthead"; if nothing else, Judge's signature style is clearly evident in this short film. Ultimately, the short inspired Judge to write and direct the cult classic, full-featured film "Office Space " - a movie that unearths the daily drudgery's of the office - paper work and forms, prick bosses who eog-trip off others' vulnerabilities, malfunctioning printers and copy machines, stale coffee and disgruntled employees who are literally driven to crime.Update: Some how, someone just took the animated short off of YouTube a few minutes ago. Was it because of ...
More About: Film , Creator

The Fratellis Hit The Road for 2007 Flying High Off Coachella, SXSW and The
2007-07-11 20:45:00
The Fratellis, still riding high off their amazing Coachella Festival performance and their Brit Award for Best New Breakthrough Band of 2006, have hit the road for a three-month jaunt around the globe to play for adoring fans. The band has already made changes to their tour schedule, so check out the confirmed dates below. In addition to their own concerts, the boys will also be playing at a number of rock festivals on the indie rock circuit, giving fans more than one chance to see them play. (I wish I could be at every rock festival!) Links for The Fratellis- View The Fratellis new tour dates with venue, city and ticket information. - Listen to, view and download for free or purchase Fratellis' songs- Fratellis Performance Live at the SXSW Festival- Fratellis' official website - Fratellis' official MySpace page- Fratellis' official YouTube page
More About: Flying , High , Road , The Fratellis , The Road

Animal Collective Will Take Their Eccentric Indie Pop on World Tour
2007-07-01 03:35:00
San Francisco's eccentric indie group Animal Collective is set to launch their 2007 worldwide tour with shows and gigs in Europe, the U.S., Canada. The group will perform for their cult-like and adoring fans whom enjoy the band's strange, unique, dark and often malformed musical compositions.You can click on the venues below for more specific information (when available) and to find tickets. Otherwise, check out TicketMaster.comAnimal Collective's 2007 Tour Show Schedule (updated: June 27th)Wed, 09/05/07 -8:00 PMAvalonBoston, MAFind Tickets Tue, 09/11/07 -6:00 PMFirst AvenueMinneapolis, MNFind Tickets Tue, 09/18/07 -8:00 PMHenry Fonda TheatreHollywood, CAFind Tickets Tue, 09/25/0709:00 PMCannery BallroomNashville, TNFind Tickets Wed, 09/26/07 -8:30 PMVariety PlayhouseAtlanta, GAFind Tickets Sat, 09/29/07 -8:00 PMStarlight BallroomPhiladelphia, PAFind Tickets Sun, 09/30/07 -8:00 PMWebster HallNew York, NYFind Tickets Mon, 10/01/07 -8:00 PMWebster HallNew York, NYFind Tickets For F...
More About: World , Indie , Indie Pop

2007 Blast at the Annual Glastonbury Festival of Indie Rock
2007-06-28 01:03:00
GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL 2007 ? What a Show! See the official Glastonbury Festival website where you can view the entire and exhaustive list of the dozens of other types of performances like DJ'ing by Fatboy Slim to movies like Pulp Fiction.The sheer enormity of events at the festival was overwhelming and impossible for anyone to take it all in. Watch this page or sign-up for the IRC feed as we updated this page with photos, videos, music and more from Glastonbury 2007. Here is the line-up of indie and alternative rock music artists and groups who played at Glastonbury Festival 2007 (or see the long, long line-up):Friday 22nd June 200723.05 Arctic Monkeys21.15 Kasabian19.45 The Fratellis18.15 Bloc Party16.40 The Magic Numbers15.10 Amy Winehouse13.50 Gogol Bordello12.40 The Earlies10.40 AdjágasSaturday 23rd June22.55 The Killers21.15 The Kooks19.30 Paul Weller18.00 Paolo Nutini16.30 Lily Allen15.00 Dirty Pretty Things13.30 Guillemots12.15 The Pipettes11.30 Seasick Steve10.30 Liz GreenSu...
More About: Rock , Live Music , Indie , Indie Rock

Classic Indie Rockers Built to Spill in True Form; Announce 2007 Tour Dates
2007-06-28 00:30:00
Indie classic trend-setters Built To Spill are back again in full form with a 2007 summer tour set to begin on Friday, June 29.The band is adorn worldwide by legions of loyal indie rock fans, some who have been following BTS since their early pioneer blazing days into new realms of alternative rock as a counterpart to the grunge movement.Built to Spill became an eventual substitute for many grunge rock fans after the suicide of Kurt Cobain. Many rockers agree that the death of Nirvana?s front man marked the end of the grunge rock era that exploded out of Seattle in the early 90?s.Of course some rock critics still debate BTS?s place in indie rock.In fact, Steve Huey of allmusic.com observes: ?Built to Spill were one of the most popular indie rock acts of the '90s, finding the middle ground between postmodern, Pavement-style pop and the loose, spacious jamming of Neil Young.?However one wants to categorize the band?s exact genre home ? they span many ? the fact that the aging trio is...
More About: Space , Dates , Tour Dates , Tube , Classic

Tragic Cat Power Wins Major Music Prize
2007-06-13 23:29:00
The melancholy voice and hauntingly beautiful lyrics of Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) have proved strong enough to earn her the title of this year's Shortlist Music Prize for her popular 2006 album The Greatest, a culmination featuring highlights from her impressive body of sombre songs laden with heartache and expressed sincerely and tragically through aching vocals and emotive piano playing.No matter who is chosen for the prize, there will always be fans of the other nominees that think their favorite artist's album should take the honor.According to the press release today by the Los Angeles-based Shortlist Organization, ?Cat Power 's album quickly got under my skin. She has one of the most beguiling voices around. 'The Greatest' is an immediate classic that will never age."Despite her unquestionable talent and important contributions to indie music, it may have some music fans scratching their heads, considering the line-up of intial nominees picked by the Shortlist Organiza...
More About: Tragic , Major

Live 105 BDF Bloc Party Rock Festival Countdown to June 9 "Mini-Cochella"
2007-06-09 07:19:00
Did you miss Coachella? Well, there?s good news for alternative and indie rock fans in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere who did. There's a "mini-Cochella" (what's Coachella?) without the searing heat of the central southern California desert. On Saturday, June 9, San Francisco rock station 105 Live FM is hosting an impressive line-up of artists from the indie rock scene, including Bloc Party , Interpol, Social Distortion, Kaiser Chiefs, Cold War Kids, CSS, Shiny Toy Guns and many more (full listing below). The all-day festival begins at 11:30 am at the famous Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mt. View, California, approximately 30 miles south of San Francisco. The Shoreline has both enclosed and lawn seating (see below for ticket information) The all-day concert is expected to sell out, so get your tickets now. You can subscribe to IRC and get updates on the show, including an MP3 podcast special that will include great rock songs from the various artists scheduled for the Live 105...
More About: Rock , Mini , Festival

Queens of the Stone Age Make ComeBack with Smoking New Rock Video
2007-05-31 03:12:00
The Queens of the Stone Age are back in true rock fashion with a hot new album and music video "Sick, Sick, Sick" - a hard-rocking and catchy cruncher that is sure to make long-time fans happy and undoubtedly recruit new legions of hard rockers.Fresh CDs of the band's new release Era Vulgaris hit the stores last month and "Sick, Sick, Sick" has been spinning non-stop on rock radio stations worldwide, even making it to #36 on Billboard's Rock Singles chart.Era Vulgaris is a fantastic rock album and lives up to what would be expected from professional rockers. Rolling Stone magazine rock critic Rob Sheffield sums it up well:"The latest release is Homme's fifth Queens album, and like the others, it's intricately crafted, meticulously polished and ruthlessly efficient in its pursuit of depraved rock thrills..."Fans seem to dig it too. Read what Amazon.com reviewers think. A Cast of Constantly Shifting CharactersQOSA or QOSTA (will someone decide which it is to be) has had many pause...
More About: Video , Smoking , Make

Artist of the Week: Meet Snowdogs - A Fine Breed of Underground Hard Rock
2007-05-30 13:26:00
They turned their back on classical piano and formed a hot indie hard rock band, the Snowdogs, a three-piece rock outfit from Finland that is just waiting to explode.?Who?? you say?OK, here?s the deal: The band?s name doesn't really convey the hard rock scene that they definitely have earned their place in.Snowdogs punch out infectious hard rock with memorable hooks that are reminiscent of The Replacements, Green Day and Blues Traveler. But that damn name. Snowdogs vocalist and guitarist Ville Leppanen conceded to Crazewire in a 2004 interview, that it didn?t help the band any when Disney Studios released the movie ?Snow Dogs,? (2003) a cuddly-sweet G-rated movie about a novice leader of a dog sled team starring the "what-ever-happened-to-Cuba-Gooding-Jr."A fter school they joined up with drummer Benjy Reid and worked diligently to release their cogent 2001 debut Animal Farm.The band?s freshmen work quickly won acclaim among the British music press and soon forged a relationship tha...
More About: Artist , Rock , Hard , Hard Rock , Meet

The Fray Announce Shows in Ireland and the UK
2007-05-16 02:04:00
The popular indie rock quartet from Denver, The Fray , have been soaring to new heights thanks to a hit single and album that are feeding a frenzy of flocks of new fans. To the delight of a fast-growing fan base across the pond, the band has announced two concert dates in Ireland and the UK for later this year. The first show will be October 23rd at the Royal Theatre, Castlebar, England. The following night, the band flies over to Ireland to rock the National Stadium in Dublin. Tickets are now on sale for both performances. Special guest is none other than Peter Yorn.The band has already sold a combined total of five million albums and singles in the U.S. just this year. Their hit single, "How To Save A Life" remained on the Billboard top ten charts for four weeks. During that time, The Fray sold an estimated 150,000 units in the UK alone - in one month. Fans overseas cannot seem to get enough of these guys. Recent trips to the UK have gained the group even larger exposure, including...
More About: Anno

Download Festival 2007 Lineup Includes Modest Mouse, The Shins, Wolf Parade
2007-05-04 01:28:00
Now that fans from the popular Coachella music festival are rested and rehydrated after last week's annual rock fest in the desert, other rock fests are gearing up for their own showcase of music and art this spring and summer across the U.S. and the globe. The third annual Download Festival 2007 will offer fans indie rock favorites like The Shines, Wolf Parade, Modest Mouse , Icubus and more to be announced in coming weeks (get updates as they come in. More bands will be added on May 29). The Download Festival, which Pitchfork calls "merely the little brother to the long-running, testosterone-fueled" UK Throwdown, will visit four U.S. cities beginning August 18 for four shows total that will end in October:08-18 Boston, MA - Tweeter Center08-25 George, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre09-01 East Troy, WI - Alpine Valley Music Theatre10-06 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline AmphitheatreStay tune for information about tickets by signing up for the IRC feed.

Coachella Festival To Be Webcasted for All Three Days - 4/27 - 4/30
2007-04-26 04:15:00
Organizers of Coachella , the popular annual music festival in the desert east of San Diego, have synced up with a large telephone company to provide live, continuous webcast from Coachella Central featuring some of the most talented and popular artists in indie and alternative music. Coachella has become in recent years the indie rock scene's answer to Lollapoloza, and indie fans come from across the globe to attend the festival. Three-day passes for this year's event sold out in a matter of days and single day passes for the weekend sold out almost as quickly. Camp site passes are also sold out, but of course, there are many tickets still for sale on eBay. For all of the indie rock fans who cannot make it to the festival, the webcast should help fill in some of the gap, even though it is nothing like being there - of course. Let's just hope that the technicians and other folks have the server load capacity to allow tens of thousands, maybe hundreds, of thousand of fans around th...
More About: Festival , Days