June 27th, 2007
I am really excited to share with you the full album stream of Screeching Weasel’s “Anthem for a New Tomorrow”. I had called Mike Park the other day about wanting to stream something from Asian Man on IndieHQ and he said that he was ok with me streaming whatever I wanted. I thought about this for a while and I just had to post “Anthem for a New Tomorrow” which is my favorite Weasel album; with “My Brain Hurts” being a close second.
I hope a few of you consider giving this album a listen. This is the scene that inspired me to start a label and got me excited about independent music. For quite some time, Screeching Weasel, were my favorite band and this album will always hold a soft spot in my heart. My terrible college pop-punk band even covered “Totally” at the few house parties we played.
When Mike Park announced that he was re-issuing all of the Screeching Weasel catalog, I was so excited for him. Although punk rock has become a completely different thing in 2007, I don’t know where I would have been if not for the pop-punk scene of the early to mid 90’s.
Written by Virgil Dickerson | 6 Comments
June 22nd, 2007
Today, we are happy to announce the full album stream for Josh Small’s “Tall by Josh Small”. If you just click the Josh Small cover on the right side of the IndieHQ site, our streaming audio player will pop up and you can take a listen. If you are so inclined, you can copy the html on the player and put this player on your myspace page, blog, or whatever.
To give you a quick intro, Josh Small is a Suburban Home artist. I met him through Tim Barry as Josh plays Banjo and Dobro in Tim’s band. One night I saw Josh Small, Tim Barry, and Jon Snodgrass from Drag the River jamming after a late night show. It was honestly one of the coolest things I had ever seen. I fell in love with Josh’s songs and later asked him if he would want to do a record. The record is much different than anything I have ever put out and I have a hard time telling people what it sounds like. It’s Folk with a 70’s Rock vibe and when I had first seen Josh play, I thought he would do well on a tour with William Elliott Whitmore. Crazily enough Josh and Tim Barry will be supporting William Whitmore this fall for a full U.S. tour. I am stoked. I love the record and hope some of you check it out. The record will be in stores on June 26th; it is also available in our store or as part of our pick any 5 Suburban Home releases for $25.
Written by Virgil Dickerson | No Comments
May 24th, 2007
A little while ago, I ran across TALENTfilter, a blog all about great unsigned music. No hipster kitsch, no specific genre… just great unsigned stuff, as heard by an educated set of ears, with a knowledgeable sense of humor about the music biz-at- large. I find myself checking in on it frequently, and decided to talk to the (anonymous) folks responsible. (more…)
Written by Bill Wilson | 23 Comments
May 18th, 2007
Things you might not know about this album:
+ Jon Cohen (of Vagrant) put a 2nd mortgage on his parent’s house so that they could come up with enough to give the band a bus for touring and an advance big enough to cover recording and living expenses.
+ The Get Up Kids almost signed to Mojo after putting out a few releases on Doghouse. The offer from Vagrant and the fact that Mojo wanted the Get Up Kids to re-record “Don’t Hate Me” from 4 Minute Mile were a few reasons they did not sign.
+ Part of the deal with Vagrant was giving the band their own imprint, Heroes and Villains, who introduced the world to bands like the Anniversary, Koufax, and Reggie and the Full Effect. (not Hot Rod Circuit, thanks for the correction scott).
+ The album has sold nearly 200,000 copies in the states and still scans around 75 copies per week.
+ The Something To Write Home about tour was sponsored by Napster (in 1999, when Napster was the biggest illegal music trading P2P).
+ Doghouse released the vinyl for this album which is out of print.
+ This is the release that served as a turning point for Vagrant turning them into the indie powerhouse they are today.
When Sean Klassen of IndieHQ said he would be able to set up full album streams for the new IndieHQ site, I really wanted to highlight older albums that may not get the attention from new music fans that it deserves. This album was one of the first albums I wanted to showcase as it really made a lasting impression on me and on independent music overall. If you were around when this album was released, you would know that it kind of rewrote the thoughts and expectations of independent music and without this release, Vagrant would not have been able to sign many of the landmark acts that they have signed. I have wrote a few of my thoughts on this album and if you are so inclined to read further, click the link. Do listen to the album though as it still holds up even after having been out for 8 years. Please also post your comments and thoughts on this record. If you have a story or experience relating to this record, I would love to hear it.
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Written by Virgil Dickerson | 24 Comments
May 16th, 2007
I was sent an email this recently about a band I should check out knowing that I love the show Arrested Development. The band is called the Long Goodbye and features actor, Michael Cera who plays George Michael on Arrested Development, one of the greatest shows to ever exist! We just finished watching season 3 of A.D. which we had been watching over lunches at Suburban Home for the past couple of months. I am truly sad to that the show is no longer, but I am glad that it ended on such a strong note.
How is the band? They are pretty good. They play poppy indie rock that leans on the geekier indie/power-pop somewhere in between Belle and Sebastian and Weezer. The band gives nods to influences like Ben Kweller, the Unicorns, Big Star, Built to Spill, The Rentals, and they have a Youtube video on their myspace page of them performing “El Scorcho”. I think the band still has a while to go, but if they can refine their sound, they just might have something.
I do not know if the band plans to tour or to be a full-time project, but I am sure that if there were a label who pursued the band(the band is unsigned), I would imagine that the band could sell a few copies just on the fact that George Michael is one of the singers. I would not condone doing so if you were not in love with the band’s music, but these days a release needs a good back-story in order to sell a few copies and I can’t think of anything better than having an actor in your band’s lineup.
The Long Goodbye - Myspace page
Written by Virgil Dickerson | 4 Comments
April 24th, 2007
Holy shit, this song absolutely kills. I have been air-tapping my air-guitar while listening to “Dr L’ing”, the first track to be posted from Minus the Bear’s upcoming album, “Planet of Ice”. You always wonder what the next record is going to sound like and if this song is any indication, this new album will be unbelievable. I am more partial to “Highly Refined Pirates” over “Menos El Oso”, but this song really knocks my socks off.
Suicide will be releasing “Planet of Ice” in August, we (Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective) will be releasing the vinyl around the same time. The release will be a double LP limited to 2,000 copies with 4 varieties of colors. It should be a pretty sweet package. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the record.
Minus the Bear “Dr L’ling” mp3
Written by Virgil Dickerson | 26 Comments
April 18th, 2007
This feature marks the first in what I hope to be another consistent, exclusive offering from your friends at IndieHQ. As we continue to discuss what labels and bands look for in each other, we wanted to showcase from time to time breakthrough acts that are unsigned. Since a number of our readers come from various labels, we are hopeful that this feature will at some point help band(s) to get the attention of various indie labels.
Corey Schmidt, associate editor at Pastepunk, was kind enough to write this first feature. He originally wrote to tell me about a band he had been digging who were unsigned. Since he has a good idea of some of the bands I love, he suggested that I give them a listen. I enjoyed the band’s songs on Myspace and asked him if he would be into writing this first unsigned band feature. He also asked the band’s permission to offer an mp3 on IndieHQ. The group is Band Marino from Orlando, Florida, and we offer you an mp3 from their latest album, “The Sea and the Beast”. The song is called “Feel It in the Air” and we hope you like it.
Click the link to read more about the band. If you know of an incredible, unsigned band, feel free to post it in the comments. Understand though that just putting your own unsigned band in the comments will not garner a guaranteed feature. I plan to reach out to a number of friends in the industry to see if they know of an unsigned band that they would like to write about for future features.
Thanks Corey for helping with this feature and please everyone, take a listen.
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Written by Virgil Dickerson | 19 Comments
April 11th, 2007
Have you heard the new Limbeck album? Now you can, listen to it as our friends at Mammoth Press are streaming the entire record. It rules! I absolutely love all of their records, but this could become my favorite. Their new, self-titled album, came out yesterday so make sure you pick up a copy, I am hoping the band has a great first week. They are currently on tour with Hot Rod Circuit. I am going to go see them tonight and I can’t wait. Oh yeah, we also released the vinyl. Either way, check out the album stream. Their new record has more of a Ben Kweller/Shins/Beatles vibe and I really think that this record could bring the band some much deserved attention.
Stream Limbeck’s new Self-Titled Album
Written by Virgil Dickerson | 4 Comments
March 22nd, 2007
Equal Vision has just posted a new site. I must say that it is really nice. The site is clean, sharp, and easy to navigate. I highly recommend checking out the site before redesigning your label site as it has pretty much everything you would want in a site. It even has an rss feed. Good work EVR!
While you are checking out their site, check out these mp3s from 3 recent EVR releases (all are on my favorite’s list of 2007 so far):
The Snake the Cross the Crown “Behold the River” - kind of reminds of of the Cold War Kids with a little less swagger; this album is so good! If it were on Matador, Merge, or Downtown, bloggers would commence freaking out.
Dear and the Headlights “It’s Gettin Easy” and “Run in the Front” - These guys remind me of a mixture of the Counting Crows and Bear Vs. Shark. I can’t stop listening to this album. “Run in the Front” should be the theme song of a WB TV show and I mean no disrespect when saying that.
Dustin Kensrue “Pistol” - When I first heard that Dustin was doing a solo record, I really did not expect this. This is really rootsy, soulful rock. The record features moments of Chris Isaak, Social Distortion, Johnny Cash, and maybe even a little John Mayer. I have listened to this record so much and it just keeps getting better. My only complaint is that it only has 8 songs. My favorite track is “Consider the Ravens”.
Written by Virgil Dickerson | 3 Comments
March 13th, 2007
I usually make the pilgrimage each year to Austin, Texas, to attend South by Southwest. Unfortunately, i am not going this year, but I did not want that to stop me from pointing out some recommended performances that might not be on your radar. The fest seems to get bigger and bigger with each passing year and it can get very overwhelming. There are so many bigger bands, too, which makes it really difficult for the smaller bands out there to attract audiences. Here are just a few bands I hope you consider seeing. Feel free to post comments of other artists that you recommend everyone to go see:
Drag the River - Friday, March 16th, at Flamingo Cantina at 1pm
Limbeck - Thursday, March 15th, at Latitude 30 at 12:00 am
Coliseum - Thursday, March 15th, at Room 710 at 9pm
Rob Crow (of Pinback) - Wednesday, March 14th, at Mohawk Patio at 11:45 pm
The Apples in Stereo - Friday, March 16th, at Dirty Dog Bar at 1:00 am
Andrew Bird - Friday, March 16th, at Stubbs at 9:30 pm
The Pipettes - Saturday, March 17th at Beauty Bar Patio at 11 pm
The Fratellis - Thursday, March 15th at Dirty Dog Bar at 1 am
Chuck Ragan - Friday, March 16th at Red 7 Patio at 12:50 am
Dustin Kensrue - Friday, March 16th at Red Eyed Fly at 12:45 am
Smoking Popes - Wednesday, March 14th at Mohawk Patio at 1:00 am
Voxtrot - Thursday, march 15th at Emo’s Main Room at 1:00 am
Cold War Kids - Thursday, March 15th at La Zona Rosa at 10:00 pm
There are in addition to all of the sanctioned showcases about a million parties where the above bands will also be playing. One in particular looks pretty cool, the Purevolume Indoor and Outdoor stage where bands like the Static Age, Honorary Title, Photo Atlas, Born in the Flood, Dear and the Headlights, Lovedrug and more. You can RSVP to the parties at this link.
There is also a Shirts for a Cure party with Circa Survive, Against Me, Bane, Limbeck, The Draft and more. Note that there is a rumor that Hot Water Music might play the Shirts for a Cure party, but I only heard this in passing so don’t hold me to it.
There is much too much music at this fest so if you are going, have fun and don’t get too overwhelmed. This list is not by any means a complete list, I just wanted to spotlight some interesting bands that may not be on everyone’s list.
What bands are you looking forward to seeing?
Written by Virgil Dickerson | 6 Comments
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