Band Weblogs » Politics

The Decemberists to perform at rally with Barack Obama, Portland Oregon

bandweblogs — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:58:55 +0000

The Decemberists will perform this Sunday, May 18th, 2008, at a rally with presidential candidate Barack Obama in the band's hometown of Portland, OR.

The rally will take place at The Bowl in Waterfront Park (at the corner of SW Columbia St. and SW Naito Pkwy., south of the Hawthorne Bridge). Doors will open at 12:30 p.m. The Decemberists' set will be followed by a speech from Senator Obama.

The rally is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

For additional information or to RSVP, visit Barack Obama - Portland Rally Website.

The Decemberists - comprised of Colin Meloy (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Funk (guitar and assorted instruments), Jenny Conlee (keyboards), Nate Query (bass) and John Moen (drums) - have demonstrated a remarkably sweeping command of literary and musical styles while forging an aesthetic all their own.

'The Crane Wife', the band's 2006 album, was hailed by Pitchfork as "an enormous folk-prog monsterpiece."

The Decemberists Official Website
The Decemberists Myspace

Blue King Brown Water video, Live Earth Australia

Jenny May — Thu, 17 May 2007 13:34:00 +0000

Blue King Brown. Yes - that's right - Blue King Brown. Savor the words, roll them around a few times and if in fact you haven't heard of Blue King Brown before then this will probably not be the last time.

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Blue King Brown is a band with a message. Their lyrics are politically tinged and their sound, as bassist Carlo Santone said during an interview last year, is "inspired by music from around the world". They want to do something new to the roots genre and bring a contemporary edge to it. I think they've succeeded here - and are probably one of the best bands to go out and see play live.

With their music and politics in mind I feel comfortable including singer Natalie Pa'apa'a and Blue King Brown in a similar category as Bob Marley, Zack de la Rocha, Santana and Pete Seeger. They've toured with other jam band, world roots and reggae bands such as Michael Franti, John Butler Trio, The Cat Empire and Damian "Jr Gong" Marley.

Watch the Blue King Brown video for "Water" (Off of their Stand Up album)

Blue King Brown is set to play Live Earth in Sydney, Australia on July 7, 2007.

Blue King Brown 2007 tour dates are as follows:

*Dates could be added or changed. Go to Blue King Brown's Official Website for the latest tour dates and information.

May 20 2007 GREENROOM FESTIVAL (OSAKA) OSAKA (JAPAN)
May 21 2007 CLUB QUATRO-NAGOYA NAGOYA (JAPAN)
May 26 2007 GREENROOM FESTIVAL (YOKOHAMA) YOKOHAMA (JAPAN)
May 27 2007 DUO MUSIC EXCHANGE (SIDE SHOW) TOKYO (JAPAN)
Jun 9 2007 THE DREAMING FESTIVAL WOODFORD, Queensland
Jul 3 2007 MAKE POVERTY HISTORY: ZERO SEVEN ROAD TRIP BENDIGO, Victoria
Jul 7 2007 LIVE EARTH SYDNEY
Aug 4 2007 SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS BYRON BAY, New South Wales

Blue King Brown Official Website
Blue King Brown on Myspace

"Get up, stand up: Stand up for your rights!" - Bob Marley ; Peter Tosh

By: Jenny May

Polarity/1 Music Featured on Danny Schechter Documentary In Debt We Trust

Guest Blogger — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:05:01 +0000

In Debt We Trust, a feature-length documentary directed by Emmy Award winner Danny Schechter and premiering this April, will bring music by NY-based composer and recording artist Polarity/1 to theaters around the country. The film features instrumental music by Polarity/1 and Audioplasm (Polarity/1 and Rubio) as well as two songs written for the film - "Free Money" (included on Polarity/1's 'Prettier Than You' CD) and "I'm So Broke" (by Audioplasm).

In Debt We Trust will be screened in:

- Rochester, NY April 2-5 at the Little Theater, 240 East Ave. at 7PM
- Manhattan April 4 & 5 at the QUAD on 34 W.13th St. at 7PM
- Los Angeles April 13 at the Fine Arts Theatre, 8556 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills at 7PM
- Bellingham, WA April 14 & 15 at the Pickford Theatre, 1416 Cornwall Ave.
- Boston April 19 at Northeastern University, Snell Library Rm 217 in the Media Center at noon

In Debt We Trust shows how debt is strangling the lives of tens of millions of Americans, and consolidating power into fewer and fewer hands by a credit and loan complex not unlike the military-industrial complex. This has been called the "financialization" of America – producing a kind of "modern serfdom" and widening the gap between the haves and have-nots. The 88 minute documentary is being distributed to theaters and communities as part of a new national campaign, Americans for Debt Relief Now, that aims to help Americans win freedom from the desperation of this overwhelming debt.

The music of Polarity/1 is exactly what the name suggests: conjoined opposites - a mash-up of new: cutting edge electronica/hip hop/nu-jazz and old: roots music of America (blues, funk, country, early jazz), Brazil (samba, pagode, etc.) and West African groove science. "Polar succeeds in his mission of forcing you to pay attention and not lull into the sounds you 'expect' to hear," noted StarPolish.com

Currently, Polarity/1 is best known for political songs which are a regular feature of Amy Goodman's globally syndicated Democracy Now, NPR and many other politics-oriented broadcasts, used in college courses on media and licensed for use in documentaries.

Polarity/1 (aka Polar Levine) is a member of the MusicDish Network, a complete artist development program, leveraging brand development, saturated and relationship marketing, digital distribution and industry outreach to support emerging artists' and bands' careers.

Polarity/1 can be found online at http://www.polarity1.com and http://www.myspace.com/polarity1music

For more information on 'In Debt We Trust', visit

http://www.indebtwetrust.org