Austin, TX’s Consider the Source is proud to announce the release of their new EP titled ‘Fire Alarms’. Widely-praised within their hometown and released on drummer James Taylor’s up-and-coming imprint Giant Steps Records, ‘Fire Alarms’ showcases the kinetic-yet-controlled profile of the Texas-bred post-punk band to the absolute fullest.

Produced by Rory Phillips (Young Love, At All Cost, Recover), the EP finds the band moving away from the wandering, largely instrumental songwriting of their previous release, ‘The Impressionist’ EP (Old Bulletproof Records), and towards a more focused and explosive pop-conscious sound.

Formed in Austin well over five years ago, Consider the Source (Seth Grueneberg – vocals, rhythm guitar; Derek Dean – lead guitar; Jason Bearden – bass; James Taylor – drums) have come to be known as one of the city’s most exciting and forward-thinking outfits simply through their engaging live performances.

Cutting their teeth in a town whose name is synonymous with the fostering of provocative musical talent, Consider the Source has had the opportunity to put out a few releases that have gone on to be praised locally as well as throughout parts of their home state.

Stylistically, ‘Fire Alarms’ is a showcase unlike the band’s previous material. Slightly more stripped-back but no less volatile, the band’s latest offering is the distillation of elaborate ideas and concepts into a body of work that is both accessible and alluring, mainly through the band’s knack for well-executed song structures that are as creative as they come.

“Consider the Source play some of the most frenetic arrangements this side of At the Drive-In. RIYL: The Fall of Troy, The Sound of Animals Fighting, Refused” – Alternative Press Magazine

In addition to the release, Consider the Source will be making a few appearances during this year’s SXSW Music and Arts Festival in Austin, TX, later this month. With this, the band will have copies of ‘Fire Alarms’ available to fans on custom-made Drop Cards, the innovative physical piece of media used for the distribution of digital content. Utilizing this new form of media, the band will be able to spread their infectious music to as many willing listeners as possible through this state-of-the-art vehicle and will allow them to continue to promote their EP in a refreshing new way.

‘Fire Alarms’ EP track-listing:

1. We Dance (To Fire Alarms)
2. Snow Man on a Par 3
3. Just Say: Let Go
4. Playing Piano til Your Fingers Bleed
5. The Long Gracious Fall of Joseph Kittinger
6. Dallas
7. And In Our Heads There Was a Symphony

Consider the Source 2009 shows:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

18 Mar 2009 Creekside Lounge (Day Party with Pompeii and more TBA) Austin, Texas
19 Mar 2009 CAMEL OFFICE (above Emo’s) with Peelander Z, Fastball and more Austin, Texas
19 Mar 2009 PLUSH — Jonah Matranga (Far), Look Mexico, Constants, Caspian and more Austin, Texas
23 Apr 2009 MOHAWK with Screaming at the Sky, Grenadier, Pride Like Lions Austin, Texas
20 May 2009 MOHAWK with Watching the Moon Austin, Texas

Consider the Source MySpace
Consider the Source Website

NPR Music will present a South by Southwest showcase headlined by The Decemberists at Stubbs on Wednesday, March 18, 2009, kicking off the opening night of this year’s SXSW Music Conference and Festival in Austin, TX.

The concert will mark the Portland-based band’s first live performance of its forthcoming album ‘The Hazards of Love’, which The Decemberists will debut in its entirety.

Additional bands in the lineup, and NPR Music’s complete schedule of events at SXSW 2009, are to be announced.

Following the popularity of its concerts and on-air and online coverage at SXSW last year, NPR Music will live webcast and broadcast the entire concert.

The concert will be streamed live, podcast and archived at www.NPR.org/music, and will be available for broadcast on NPR Member stations across the country. As in years past, NPR Music is partnering with five NPR Member stations – KUT Austin, WFUV New York, WXPN Philadelphia, KEXP Seattle and The Current from Minnesota Public Radio – to offer extensive coverage of the influential music festival on-air and online.

At SXSW, The Decemberists will perform all 17 songs from ‘The Hazards of Love’ in sequence – how the band intends for the record to be heard. ‘The Hazards of Love’, out March 24 from Capitol Records, is the follow up to the quintet’s 2006 breakthrough ‘The Crane Wife’, and augments the band’s standing as one of the most creative forces in music.

This album tells the tale of a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, immoral rake.

Joining The Decemberists members Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen on stage at Stubbs will be Lavendar Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, who lend leading vocals to the album.

NPR Music’s broadcast and webcast of the concert will be anchored by Bob Boilen, host and creator of the popular show All Songs Considered and its Live in Concert series. Joining Bob will be NPR Music blogger Carrie Brownstein and David Brown, host of Austin Music Unlimited on KUT in Austin. “Usually, you go to a concert to hear your favorite band perform your favorite songs, but this 17 song journey will be a completely new to the audience,” says Bob Boilen. “It’s going to be so much fun to see everyone experience this absolutely epic and fun song cycle performed live for the first time.” Boilen announced the SXSW show on the Feb. 2nd episode of All Songs Considered, which features a track – “The Rake’s Song” – off ‘The Hazards of Love’. The All Songs episode is available at: www.NPR.org/allsongs.

Last year, NPR Music and the five stations live webcast and broadcast 14 of the most anticipated concerts from SXSW, among them R.E.M., My Morning Jacket and Vampire Weekend. NPR Music’s daytime concert at The Parish was one of the festival’s must-hears, with headliners Vampire Weekend joined by Bon Iver, Yeasayer, The Shout Out Louds, Jens Lekman and A.A. Bondy. Those concerts, along with artist interviews and live audio and video performance sessions, are archived at: NPR – SXSW

NPR Music is a multimedia music site that features content from NPR and 12 NPR Member public radio stations, including live performances, studio sessions, exclusive first listens to new albums, interviews, reviews and blogs. The site’s continuously expanding sections are dedicated to rock/pop/folk, classical, jazz/blues, world and urban music. NPR Music culls from NPR’s and the stations’ extensive music archives to present thousands of features; more than 240 new features are added to the site every month. The site’s popular Concert section offers hundreds of streaming concerts in every genre.

The Decemberists on amazon.com

The Decemberists Official Website

NPR Music

NPR All Songs Considered

SXSW Official Website

The band Wild Light recently entered my inbox with unfortunately, limited information about them. The good thing though, is that I was able to find their MySpace page and once the music started I was hooked.

Of course, having a song called “New Hampshire” listed in their MySpace Player helped – I grew up there! I’m now far, far away in Oxford, England, but that’s another story. For all of you past and present California residents, they also have a song called “California On My Mind”. Both songs sound great.

Wild Light has a laid back sound with polished harmonies and melodic, radio friendly songs. Currently, they’re on the road, with an upcoming show at The Parish in Austin, Texas and will be touring until March ‘09. I would recommend checking them out if you get the chance.

Their upcoming release ‘Adult Nights’ will be out March 3, 2009.

Wild Light members:

Jordan Alexander, Seth Kasper, Timothy Kyle, Seth Pitman

January 29, 2009
Wild Light @ The Parish
Austin, TX
Door Time: 8:00pm
Ticket Price: $16.00
Ticket Link

Wild Light on amazon.com

For music, tour dates and more, go to:

Wild Light MySpace

By: Jenny May – Band Weblogs

Petty Booka: Genre – Bluegrass

Japan is bringing a wildly diverse mix of its latest musical exports to America – from Tokyo bluegrass and comic punk to death dub and several genres in between, as the country seeks a larger audience for Japanese performers.

For many, the width and breadth of Japanese music is not only refreshing, it’s surprising – as is the fact that Japan is the globe’s second largest music market behind the United States (the U.K., home of industry juggernauts such as the Beatles and U2, is a distant third).

For many Americans, though, and particularly those in the movie, music and entertainment business, modern Japanese music remains elusive. For some, it means girl-driven J-pop or pulsating soundtracks behind the anime shows broadcast on U.S. cable networks.

But spend some time exploring the website www.jetro.org/sxsw2008 with its links to Japanese band sites and it becomes apparent that Japanese performers have much to offer a U.S. audience looking for new musical highlights, emotions and adventures.

The website promotes the appearance of numerous Japanese bands at two special events during one of the world’s most influential music festivals, South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, March 12-16, 2008. As Japan’s trade promotion arm, JETRO-Houston (Japan External Trade Organization) works to promote Japanese music and trade oversees.

This is the 11th year that Japanese bands have headlined a special stage during SXSW, and the showcases have become popular draws at the festival, which now attracts nearly 12,000 music industry professionals from around the world.

The Japanese bands playing at SXSW and headlining Japan Bash, March 13, and Japan Nite, March 14, are hoping to raise decibels of awareness in the U.S. entertainment industry and open doors to opportunities with record labels, film producers and advertising agencies. Already gaming giant Sega picked up Ketchup Mania, a band playing an infectious brand of female vocal-infused punk, for one of its commercials.

In fact, songs like ketchup mania’s frenetic yet precise “Namida Vacuum Sound” – with its catchy punk foundation and a gritty surf solo segueing into a few bars of metal – demonstrate how Japanese bands take a derivative approach but then add a twist that is their own.

The Japanese bands playing Texas are certainly a diverse mix:

There’s the girl ukulele duo Petty Booka; Peelander-z and their action-packed, comic-punk stage shows with the fun cheesiness of Godzilla movies; the aural onslaught of space guitar rockers Avengers in Sci-Fi, with their effects-enhanced, layered sound; Dokkebi Q, the progenitors of death dub – a mashup of Jamaican dub, brooding trance and irreverent punk; Quartz-head 02, improvised dance music courtesy of a jazz saxophonist trained at the Berklee College of Music; and Samurai rockers The Emeralds, who have parlayed an energetic live show and rapid-fire lyrics into an American following, as evidenced by comments left on their MySpace page.

JAPAN BASH PARTY, 5-8pm Thursday, March 13, 2008

South Tent, Brush Square Park, 401 Trinity St, Austin , TX 78701
Featuring: Peelander-Z, Toddle, Avengers in Sci-fi, ketchup mania

JAPAN NITE, 8pm Friday, March 14, 2008

Elysium, 705 Red River, Austin , TX 78705
Featuring: Detroit 7, Petty Booka, Ketchup Mania, quartz-head 02, Avengers in Sci-fi, Sodopp

For more information, and to experience the unique persona of Japanese performers, visit:

JETRO bands/SXSW Official Website

Brighton-based band Passenger will perform live for the first time in the States this month at Austin’s SXSW festival with two sets:

March 13th, 2008 – Smokin’ Music showcase, 10 pm

March 14th, 2008 – Stubbs (indoors), 11:40 pm

Passenger is sure to draw in American audiences with their quirky storytelling, strong melodies, and thoughtful lyrics.

The main creative force behind the band is songwriter and vocalist Mike Rosenberg. His sincere voice and knack for creating memorable characters is at the heart of Passenger’s unique sound.

Passenger – download “Do What You Like” MP3 from ‘Wicked Man’s Rest’.

Passenger is set to release their debut album, ‘Wicked Man’s Rest’, in the US later this year and will support it with a full-band tour.

They’ve already had success in the UK, with shows alongside Kate Nash, Seth Lakeman and The Hold Steady. Headlining tours ensued with appearances at the Latitude, Great Escape and the V Festival.

Look out for word on Passenger’s US release with tour dates this Fall!

Passenger on Myspace

The show will be part of a short US tour previewing his new album, ‘Keep It Simple’.

Van Morrison 2008 US tour dates:

Tuesday, March 11 – Austin Music Hall, Austin, TX
Wednesday, March 12 – SXSW / La Zona Rosa, Austin, TX
Thursday, March 13 – Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
Friday, March 14 – Wang Theatre, Boston MA
Saturday, March 15 – United Palace, New York, NY

Back in the UK, on March 17, Exile Productions / Polydor Records release ‘Keep It Simple’, the new album from Van Morrison.

‘Keep It Simple’ is Van Morrison’s first album of new material since 2005, and the first in several years in which he penned all 11 songs specifically for one album.

Van Morrison – Keep It Simple on amazon.co.uk

Keep It Simple on amazon.com

Van Morrison on Myspace
Van Morrison Official Website

R.E.M. is set to release their new studio album ‘Accelerate’ on March 31st, 2008 in the UK (US April 1). ‘Accelerate’ will be the band’s first LP since 2004’s ‘Around the Sun’, and is one of the most hotly anticipated albums of the year.

Recorded in Dublin, Vancouver and Athens with Grammy Award-winning Producer Jacknife Lee (U2, Bloc Party, Snow Patrol, Kasabian) it follows a 5-night residency at Dublin’s Olmypia Theatre, July 2007, where they roadtested the LP’s early demos.

R.E.M. will be playing this year’s SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas at Stubbs Bar-B-Q on March 12, 2008.

Stay tuned to the band’s website for their latest tour plans…

R.E.M. on Myspace
R.E.M. Official Website

As the definitive snapshot of Bob Hope entertaining the troops during war time, Subrosa Union, the “Rasta Rockers” from El Paso by way of their new home in Austin, Texas will share in that legacy.

Armed Forces Entertainment has selected and offered Subrosa Union the opportunity to perform and tour the Middle East to over 80,000 troops. Without hesitation, Subrosa Union accepted. The boys that comprise Subrosa Union not only consider this a tremendous honor to entertain and perform for the men and women of our armed forces, but a call to give the troops a brief mental respite by energizing their minds and brightening their day with Subrosa Union’s original rock, reggae, latin hip hop funky concoctions of spicy aggressive sounds off their newly released album ‘Looking Forward’.

As the official Department of Defense agency for providing entertainment to U.S. military personnel overseas, Armed Forces Entertainment and its performers have the honor of supporting soldiers, airmen, marines and sailors by bringing them the very best in American entertainment.

Today, Armed Forces Entertainment hosts over 1,200 shows around the world each year, reaching over 500,000 personnel at 270 military installations. From muddy makeshift stages to show-stopping extravaganzas, the performances bring a piece of home to those stationed far away from home.

Lead singer and front man Mike Anaya, 22; bassist and MC Chris Paulos, 22; and drummer and the beat of Subrosa Union Paul Valenzuela, 25 have been together of over eight years. Creating a new genre of “Rasta Rock”, Subrosa Union is true to their rebellious spirit and they say their style is definitely unique and can’t be defined by one genre…

“We’re just making it up as we go along that’s why we’ve dubbed our art Rasta Rock,” Anaya said. “This is extremely significant in our lives as a band, and as individuals and what’s more important is the opportunity to bring a little of home to those serving far away…We are extremely excited to gig in 6 of the eight countries on this tour self entitled ‘Operation Looking Forward’”.

Subrosa Union will be on a four-week tour of 5 of eight countries in Southwest Asia which comprises Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, UAE Qatar, Djibouti, and Kyrgyzstan starting in late January 2008.

By: Michael A. Anaya, Sr.
Utopian Management and Productions
970-370-3514
management@subrosaunion.com

For more on Subrosa Union and Operation Looking Forward go to:

Subrosa Union on Armed Forces Entertainment
Subrosa Union on Myspace or
Subrosa Union Official Website

Guitar Center and Charlie Sexton will join Gibson Guitar for a special event to launch the world’s first guitar with robotic technology, the Gibson Robot Guitar.

The event takes place on Monday, December 3, 2007 at 3 p.m. at Guitar Center, 2525 West Anderson Lane, Ste. 200, Austin, Texas. True to the spirit of innovation, Gibson Guitar is set to make musical history with the invention of the world’s first Robot Guitar.

Austin-raised singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Charlie Sexton made his debut with ‘Pictures For Pleasure’ in 1985 at age 16. He followed up that release with a self-titled second album when he was 20. As a prodigy guitar player, Sexton is known for his live and session guitar work with Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, David Bowie and Don Henley; his album production for Lucinda Williams, Edie Brickell, Los Super Seven and Shannon McNally; and his own projects, both as a member of Arc Angels and a solo artist, including his fourth album, ‘Cruel And Gentle Things’.

The public and press are invited to attend this sneak peak and exclusive event hosted by Charlie Sexton, who will demonstrate and perform with the world’s first run limited edition version of the Gibson Les Paul Robot Guitar. A question and answer session will follow.

The Gibson Robot Guitar goes on sale at 5 p.m. on Friday, December 7, 2007, with a very limited number of guitars at each of the participating dealers.

To find the list of exclusive Robot Guitar dealers go to: Gibson Robot Guitar Dealers.

Guitar Center at 2525 Anderson Lane, Austin, will take reservations for the Gibson Robot Guitar during the special event. Once the limited supply is sold out, Gibson Guitar will not reproduce. Only ten robotic guitars per store are available.

For more information on this special event go to www.gibson.com or contact Guitar Center at 512.891.0297.

Charlie Sexton

Guitar Center

Gibson Official Website

Formed in 2001 with keyboardist Martin Moeller, Grimy Styles expanded to their current quartet with Matt Beebe (guitarist), Jacob Benenate (drums) and Chris Nerren (bass) to record their live debut, ‘Restoration of the Bathouse’ in 2004.

As Grimy Styles refines their self-proclaimed “melting pot” sound, they use the dub roots reggae genre as a platform to develop what has become their signature sound. “We call it global dub music because it’s exactly that,” explains Moeller. “Whether it’s Middle Eastern or American Soul or Jamaican Reggae, Afro pop, Afro beat – it all comes together.” Furthermore Grimy Styles applies a progressive approach to their live performances using cutting edge mixing techniques and unique onstage signal processing, rewarding both the careful listener and recreational dancer with imaginative soundscapes. “You feel the music in your heart and your head or your hips and your legs,” clarifies Beebe. “With no vocals in dub music, it’s open to your own interpretation.”

Their new album, ‘Rewind’ captures a bold, panoramic vision of dub now synonymous with Grimy Styles. Seeking to create an album that carried the spontaneity of its dub predecessors yet remain deeply rooted in structure, Grimy eschews the dub tradition of one-take processing on a rhythm track for slightly less conventional studio techniques. Slamming an old spring reverb on the floor, plucking the strings of a shabby upright piano, or running takes backwards through the tape machine was all part of a normal day’s work for the band during the Rewind sessions.

Intricate descriptions of ‘Rewind’ aside, the music is very easy to listen to. “Something we were going for was to create an album that works as a ‘household LP’: You can throw it on without having to think about it and know you’ll have nice background music,” says Moeller. He adds that if you really want to tune in however, you should put on headphones and “you can probably find new things every time you listen to it.”

Having recently shared the stage with the likes of dub legend Mad Professor and Lee Scratch Perry, an internationally acclaimed innovator of the dub movement, Grimy Styles has rapidly risen to the forefront of the Austin music scene with a growing, loyal fan-base. Grimy hopes to expand their following beyond Austin with their upcoming tour.

The tour launches in Albuquerque, New Mexico on June 13, and has nearly nightly shows booked throughout the Western US. Grimy Styles closes the tour in the comfort of their hometown Austin, Texas on June 30.

For tour details, visit Grimy Styles: www.grimystyles.com. To listen to selected tracks, and for more information on ‘Rewind’ visit Grimy Styles on Myspace: www.myspace.com/grimystyles.

Billy will also be touring throughout North America in 2007 in support of “Bearsick.”

Singer, songwriter, producer and a caffeine addled DIY kid – Billy Harvey has been playing his own brand of post modern pop for a decade within the friendly confines of Austin, Texas. He gained credibility, respect and admiration establishing himself as a producer, recording out of his in-home studio with the likes of Trish Murphy, Bob Schneider, Blue Sanders, Steve Poltz, Kacy Crowley, Craig Ross and many, many others.

Rather than waiting to be signed, Billy created his own label and released three full length albums: Toast (2003), Pie (2005) & Bearsick (2007), as well as an EP: More Happy Than Sad (2002). He has won an International Songwriters Award for Best Rock Song (”Frozen Through”) in 2006 and his website has won various media and internet based awards, including the 2005 Interactive Design Award at South By Southwest.

For more information on Billy Harvey and/or to hear select tracks from “Bearsick”, please visit www.billyharveymusic.com and/or www.myspace.com/billyharvey.