Photo: Bodies of Water

This year, Babelgum teams up with Other Music and Dig For Fire to host free music on the rolling lawns of the French Legation Museum, Austin, Texas. Curated by Other Music, the line up includes some of the most buzzed-about bands of 2009 to date.

Dig For Fire and Babelgum are all set to film and screen the festivities online, ensuring that you can enjoy the music at SXSW from the comfort of your own computer or smartphone even if you can’t enjoy the Texan sun…

Babelgum will be bringing you our daily video highlights, high-quality live and documentary footage plus interviews from the desert-fiesta. Keep one eye on the NEW LOOK site for more – from this Friday (March 20th 2009)!

We hope you can join us this month for some great sounds alfresco!

Babelgum presents:
OTHER MUSIC & DIG FOR FIRE SXSW LAWN PARTY

FRENCH LEGATION MUSEUM: 802 San Marcos Street Austin, TX

FRIDAY, MARCH 20 2009 – NOON TO 7PM
ON THE HILL: Dent May (12PM), Here We Go Magic (1PM), BLK JKS (2PM),
Marnie Stern (3PM), WAVVES (4PM), These Are Powers (5PM), Miles
Benjamin Anthony Robinson (6PM)

IN THE VALLEY: Virgin Forest (12:30PM), Asa (1:30PM), J. Tillman
(2:30PM), Telekinesis(3:30PM), Laura Gibson (4:30PM), The Tallest Man
On Earth (5:30PM)

Contact by RSVP.

Babelgum Official Website
Dig for Fire
Other Music

GreenShoelace.com is officially launching this week during the annual South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. GreenShoelace.com offers curated music event listings for the best music events and concerts in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco across the genres of indie rock, hip hop and electronica.

The site’s evolution during the upcoming spring and summer months includes expanding to cover music events and concerts in several more major and mid-market cities while also covering major music festivals during the 2009 festival season.

Headquartered in New York, GreenShoelace.com’s founders, staff and advisory board include music industry, information architecture, public relations, and online music professionals with experience serving the top U.S. music festivals, music venues, concert promoters, entertainment media websites, consumer print media, and major talent agencies.

To celebrate the launch, GreenShoelace.com delivers two free events to South by Southwest attendees in Austin; taking over the downtown event venue, Palm Door, to host the Green Shoelace Garage.

On Friday, March 20, 2009 the Green Shoelace Garage will feature Brazilian, British and US artists including Holger, Starf***er, Max Tundra and Los Pirata in association with Brasil Musica e Artes and imeem.

Green Shoelace’s official launch event will be taking place on Saturday, March 21st with friends Beauty Bar New York, King Khan and the Shrines, Klever, Felix, Bird Peterson, Debauchery by Bronques from Last Night’s Party… plus a very special secret late night guest to unofficially close the festival and kick off the site.

The entire Green Shoelace team invites you to discover the site at www.greenshoelace.com, and if you are in Austin for the festival please join us for the events on Friday and Saturday nights at the Green Shoelace Garage. Please RSVP at www.greenshoelace.com/sxsw.

Green Shoelace Official Website

FREE BOOZE & MUSIC WITH NO RSVP NEEDED

Date: Thursday, March 19, 2009
Time: 1:00pm – 6:00pm
Location: Brush Square Park- East Tent
409 E. 5th Street Austin, TX
All Ages

Join London’s Transgressive Records and Chicago’s Chocolate Industries for a two-way mash-up with a very special line-up of live bands, DJs and free booze.

Featuring sets from Graham Coxon (Blur), Free Moral Agents (Ikey from Mars Volta), Esser, Miles Benjamin, Anthony Robinson and a DJ Set by Jeff Barker (Tortoise).

This is going to be one of the craziest events at SXSW 2009 and we hope you can join us!

SXSW LINEUP:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

1:00 PM DJ Jeff Parker (Tortoise)
2:00 PM Miles Benjamin and Anthony Robinson
2:30 PM DJ Jeff Parker (Tortoise)
3:00 PM Free Moral Agents (Ikey Owens of Mars Volta)
3:30 PM DJ Goldierocks
4:00 PM Esser
4:30 PM DJ Goldierocks
5:00 PM Graham Coxon (Blur)
5:30 PM DJ Goldierocks

Chocolate Industries
Transgressive Records

Into The Presence will be performing at SXSW this Friday and Saturday March 20th and 21st at the Belmont at 9pm and 5pm respectively.

Both shows are FREE non wrist band performances and are open to the general public.

(From Ustream.tv: If you’re not in Austin, not to worry, as Into the Presence will be streaming their performance live on Ustream for anyone to watch. The live stream is free and you can enjoy the music while chatting with other fans. Go to: www.ustream.tv/studio)

Watch “Lovers” Acoustic video:

About Into The Presence

Drummer Tim Alexander (Primus, A Perfect Circle) and guitar player/vocalist Luis Maldonado (Pat Monahan, Glenn Hughes, John Waite, UFO, Anna Nalick, Emma Burgess) wanted to make a recording that could be performed live without any compromises. They desired to capture the warmth and depth of a record that enters the books not for a song or two, but as a free-standing work of art that embraces the quickly dying idea of an “album”.

Luis and Tim teamed up with recording bass player Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle, Entrance), live bass player Nicki Tedesco (BT, Carol Kaye, Bomb), and cellist Ana Lenchantin (Trent Reznor, Papa M, The Eels, Brian Wilson, Sparkle Horse, Gnarls Barkley) to form Into the Presence.

They have just completed their self-produced, self-titled debut in true analog, relying on tape machines and vintage outboard gear instead of computers.

The performances embodied are full-take performances where the word “comp” meant nothing more than chords being played. Anything digital was forbidden from entering the signal path — from tracking throughout mastering — a classic approach Tim and Luis took very seriously from the onset.

The albums they referenced while recording spell out a who’s who in the pages of mega-rock history: Queen’s A Night at the Opera, Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, AC/DC’s For Those About to Rock, Jeff Buckley’s Grace, Peter Gabriel’s Security, and Black Sabbath’s Masters of Reality to name a few. Live performances pay tribute to the musicianship of these artists in a fresh and engaging way. The songs are highly accessible, yet deceptively complex as the layers are peeled away. Always at the forefront are Luis’ incredible vocals and haunting sense of melody.

Luis was accepted as a child prodigy at the age of twelve into the University of Arizona where he was constantly surrounded by adults in master classes, allowing him to master his instrument and develop his voice at a very early age.

Tim Alexander’s own recorded legacy is highly revered, his rhythms being a regular topic of discussion amongst drum blogs and publications. Drum magazine flat out declared him one of “the most influential drummers of all-time.” The group’s individual histories encompass diverse experience in music performance, from classical competition to extensive rock touring, recording, and writing.

Their collective trials, loves, desires and influences have been united on Into the Presence in the sole spirit of making great rock music that will be sought after and explored with passion.

Debut album

Ghosts of the past haunt any piece of art. With ‘INTO THE PRESENCE’, the hauntings are twofold. To wit: the band’s debut album feels spiritually connected to the musically progressive era of the 70s (that’s “progressive” as in adventurous, not as in Emerson, Lake and Palmer). Then there’s the ghostly vibes — literally — that sprung up during the album’s recording.

“We experienced some stuff in the studio,” admits drummer Tim Alexander, who recorded the record in his home studio in Arizona. “Some weird sightings, bottles of water freezing for no reason, whispers everywhere. Lots of interesting energy.”

‘Into The Presence’ is set for release early 2009.

Into The Presence on amazon.com

For tour dates, music and more information, please go to:

Into The Presence MySpace
Into The Presence Official Website
Twitter

The Decemberists have launched their ambitious new album ‘The Hazards of Love’ (Capitol Records) today March 17, 2009 with a weeklong exclusive sale of the digital album through the iTunes Store.

The Decemberists on amazon.com

The Decemberists on amazon.co.uk

The album, which NPR called an “epic adventure,” is also being released today as deluxe 180-gram gatefold vinyl through select indie retailers, and will be made available widely through all retail outlets in all formats on March 24th.

The band is heading to Austin, Texas, this week where they will give the highly-anticipated debut live performance of ‘The Hazards of Love’ when they headline NPR Music’s South by Southwest showcase at Stubb’s BBQ on Wednesday, March 18th.

The concert will be streamed live, podcast and archived at NPR – SXSW, and will be available for broadcast on NPR Member stations across the country, including KUT Austin, WFUV New York, WXPN Philadelphia, KEXP Seattle and The Current from Minnesota Public Radio.

Capitol Records and imeem recently hosted a contest for fans to try their hand at designing the official poster for the SXSW showcase, and the band has selected Kathryn Rathke’s entry as the winner, deeming its surreal depiction of Lyndon Johnson being plucked from the earth by a giant hawk “rad.”

View the winning design, runners up on imeem.

Music critics are already weighing in on what is sure to be one of the most intensely debated releases of the year.

Check out what they’ve been saying so far about ‘The Hazards of Love’:

“An epic adventure.” – NPR

“Musically, Hazards of Love is the Decemberists’ full-on classic-rock move, with pretty Zep-style fingerpicking punctuated by crushing stoner-metal lurches.” – ROLLING STONE

“Meloy can write the hell out of a melody… some of the snarliest, bluesiest, rockingest moments in the Decemberists’ catalog… yields spectacular sparks.” – SPIN

“You have to hand it to Colin Meloy and his mob of merry rabble-rousers. Not many bands would event attempt an album this ambitious, and none could pull it off as convincingly as The Decemberists.” – FILTER

The Decemberists will kick-off the first leg of their Spring 2009 tour on May 19th at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The 16-date run also includes a June 10th performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, as well as a set at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee. On tour, the band will play two sets a night, the first a full performance of The Hazards of Love, and the second consisting of their older material. Joining the band on stage will be special guests Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden. More upcoming tour dates will be announced shortly.

The Decemberists’ confirmed Spring 2009 tour dates are as follows:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

May 19 Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, CA
May 20 Fox Theatre Oakland, CA
May 21 McDonald Theater Eugene, OR
May 23 Sasquatch Festival Quincy, WA
May 24 Wilma Theatre Missoula, MT
May 26 Fillmore Auditorium Denver, CO
May 27 Uptown Theater Kansas City, MO
May 29 Riverside Theater Milwaukee, WI
May 31 The Pageant St. Louis, MO
June 1 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Columbus, OH
June 3 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
June 4 Memorial Auditorium Raleigh, NC
June 5 The National Richmond, VA
June 6 Tower Theatre Upper Darby, PA
June 8 Merriweather Post Pavilion Baltimore, MD
June 9 Bank of America Pavilion Boston, MA
June 10 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
June 11-14 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Manchester, TN
July 18-19 Edgefield Winery Portland, OR (w/ Andrew Bird & Blind Pilot)

The Decemberists Official Website
The Decemberists MySpace

New indie-rock band Finding Fiction out of NYC are set to play SXSW at the Red Gorilla Stage on March 18, 2009 at 9pm at Vintage Lounge located at 503B Trinity in Austin.

Finding Fiction has been on tour for the last month, and have just finished recording their 1st full-length record at BattleTapes Studio in Nashville, which is due to release this spring.

“…a fresh indie rock sound and amazing work ethic…” – Scott Sweeney, Review Chicago

“…there’s something worth listening to…a pleasant anesthetic made from shoegaze, grunge, and Sunny Day Real Estate…” – Mike Riggs, City Paper – Washington DC

“Finding Fiction have done well for themselves…their hook-heavy, shoegazing indie rock calls to mind other New York bands like The Strokes…” – Kristen Powell, The Scene – American University Paper

“New York City’s Finding Fiction balances the ethereal with the melodic. The grit with the refined. It’s catchy, artistic, at times poppy, but always well crafted music. It’s contained chaos. Maniacally Poetic.” – Simon Beck, 5th Column Media

“…this melodic foursome makes its home on the road.” – Carla Jean Whitley, Birmingham Magazine

“Whirring, wide-eyed rock…” – Athens Georgia , Flagpole Magazine

Check’em out at:

Finding Fiction MySpace
Finding Fiction Official Website

Australia’s The Drones are kicking off a US tour next week in support of their recently released album, ‘Havilah’. Dates include several shows in Austin for SXSW followed by dates with The War on Drugs and Band of Horses.

Watch “The Minotaur” video:

The Drones on amazon.com

The Drones on amazon.co.uk

‘Havilah’, like everything The Drones have done, is an album of contradictions, where
bombast meets beauty, melancholy wrestles with violent guitars. Singer Liddiard’s incendiary voice lights up his angular poetry on the nature of, in no particular order, the moon (Penumbra), divorce (The Drifting Housewife) and the acquisition of godlike power and the cult of John Frum (I Am the Supercargo).

It’s an album that’s brimful of the innovation and artistic integrity that has made The Drones one of Australian rock’s most critically acclaimed acts in the US and overseas during the past four years.

‘Havilah’ is available now through ATP Recordings.

The US last saw The Drones during their tours with Built To Spill and The Meat Puppets in 2008.

The Drones March/April 2009 US tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

3/15 – Aussie BBQ @ Echoplex – Los Angeles, CA
3/16 – Aarvark – Ft. Worth, TX
3/17 – ATP SXSW Event @ Emo’s – Austin, TX
3/18 – Little Radio/Topspin SXSW Event @ Red Eyed Fly – Austin, TX
3/20 – Aussie SXSW BBQ @ Brush Square Park – Austin, TX
3/20 – Karma Lounge – Austin, TX
3/21 – Spider House – Austin, TX
3/26 – Aussie BBQ @ Bell House – Brooklyn, NY
3/28 – Black Cat – Washington, DC
3/29 – T.T. The Bears – Boston, MA *
3/30 – Union Hall – Brooklyn, NY *
4/1 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA *
4/2 – Piano’s – New York, NY
4/7 – Schubas – Chicago, IL
4/9 – 400 Bar – Minneapolis, MN
4/12 – Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA
4/13 – Someday Lounge – Portland, OR
4/15 – Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA #
4/17 – Fox Theatre – Oakland, CA #
4/18 – Spaceland – Los Angeles, CA

* w/ The War on Drugs
# w/ Band of Horses

All Tomorrow’s Parties (ATP)

For more of The Drones, head to:

The Drones Official Website
The Drones MySpace

The Gin Riots ‘International Music Industry Week’ official SXSW showcase – 11pm, Saturday 21st March, 2009 at The Rio, 301 San Jacinto Blvd Austin, Texas 78701.

Capping a frenetic year of live shows and backroom music development UK gutter folk punk band The Gin Riots are rolling into Austin for SXSW this month to perform their much-anticipated debut single, “The Polka”.

The Gin Riots on amazon.co.uk

The end of April sees the release of the “The Polka’s” music video, shot in collaboration with cult indie director George A. Romero; which has created an unprecedented buzz of excitement and curiosity amongst dedicated sets of fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

“The Polka” is ‘officially’ out March 30 but is sneakily available for download from itunes, Amazon, emusic and 7 digital Indiestore.

BACKGROUND
Formed in Bristol by Irishman Cillian Logue and Londoner Guy Stevenson, the band started out as an acoustic folk act. Think Bert Jansch going at it with Shane McGowan! Following their true calling towards a punkier style, the two upped sticks to London, advertised for musicians in various lonely hearts columns, and stumbled across a couple of beauties; Ozzie mod fanatic Tim Burton and gifted northern drummer Jack McGruer.

Those of you who have been following the rise and rise of this raucous live sensation will recall that their performance at Toronto’s NXNE festival was extremely well received by critics and partygoers alike. Building on their massive MySpace presence, enhanced no end by their appearance as featured artists on the site three times in the space of just six months, they have attracted equally huge crowds for their dates supporting indie favourites The Futureheads and junkie cowboys Alabama 3.

Their set at the private launch party for Guy’s Ritchie’s 2008 film ‘Rock’n'Rolla’, for which they were handpicked by the big shots at Warner Movies, was just the latest in a series of high-profile performances that have confirmed them as one of the most desirable young acts in London today.

ACCOLADES

“The Gin Riots are the most exciting band I’ve come across in years.” – Melissa Katsoulis, THE TIMES

“A talented young band that is surely destined for mass media exposure.” – IS THIS MUSIC? SCOTLAND

“These guys have wicked tunes.” – Steve Harris, XFM

“A great band” – Tom Robinson, BBC6

The Gin Riots MySpace

mom&pop music company recording duo An Horse has announced a full schedule of activities surrounding the upcoming release of its eagerly anticipated debut album. ‘Rearrange Beds’ arrives in stores on March 17, 2009.

Watch An Horse video – playing Camp Out in a single unrehearsed take for Shoot the Player, in a mid-renovation foyer upstairs at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney 2008:

An Horse on amazon.com

Currently in midst of a major North American tour, the Brisbane, Australia-based duo will make their national television debut with a performance on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman, slated for Wednesday, March 11th.

An Horse is set to make a number of showcase appearances at the upcoming South By Southwest (SXSW) extravaganza in Austin, Texas, including a March 18th performance at Maggie Mae’s alongside Tegan and Sara’s Sara Quin, who helped A&R ‘Rearrange Beds’ after falling in thrall to the duo’s music while on tour in Australia. An Horse will follow its busy SXSW itinerary with a pair of further tours, beginning with a series of co-headlining dates with Wintersleep, set to kick off on March 24th at Los Angeles’ Echoplex. Next up is a run of April dates alongside The Appleseed Cast, starting April 9th at Nashville’s The End.

‘Rearrange Beds’ has already begun receiving extensive critical acclamation. In its three-and-a-half starred rave, Rolling Stone hailed the collection as a “killer breakup album,” praising its “fuzzed-out riffs, hummable hooks and snarling beats” for “(recalling) the best of Nineties alt-rock.” “Their neurotic songs wallop like a small-scale Nirvana,” declared Marie Claire, while Spin commended the “clever and efficient” duo for “(churning) up a poignant fervor.”

Vocalist/guitarist Kate Cooper and drummer Damon Cox came together as An Horse while working in a Brisbane basement which housed one of Australia’s few remaining independent record stores. Though the shop proved short-lived, Cooper and Cox began writing songs and performing live, earning acclaim across Australia for their exuberant and unsettling indie rock. An Horse presented its first batch of recordings to Sara Quin after a Tegan and Sara show in Brisbane and Quin liked what she heard enough to invite the duo to support on Tegan and Sara’s 2008 US tour.

“Kate’s lyrics about love, relationships and the tendency to fixate on disabling neurosis in oneself have become my mission statement,” says Quin. “I get goose bumps, electrical currents running up my arms listening to them – I love this band.”

Upon the trek’s conclusion, Quin introduced An Horse to Michael Goldstone, who had recently launched mom&pop music company with the renowned artist management firm, Q Prime. Goldstone liked what he heard and soon thereafter An Horse became one of the new label’s premier signings.

An Horse recorded ‘Rearrange Beds’ with ARIA Award-winning producer Magoo (Midnight Oil, Gerling, Regurgitator) at Applewood, a converted church situated on 10 acres of Australian bushland 45 minutes west of Brisbane. The album was then mixed in Vancouver by producer/engineer Howard Redekopp, known for his work with such artists as Tegan and Sara, A.C. Newman, and The New Pornographers.

‘Rearrange Beds’ sees An Horse exploring the myriad of nooks and crannies of relationships through Cooper’s personal and provocative lyrical perspective. From the hypnotic “Little Little Little” to the distorted guitar and driving beat of staccato “Postcards,” the album masterfully captures the elation and anxieties of modern love, all with an underlying sense of hope and resolve.

An Horse has also earned a reputation as a truly stellar live outfit. The duo recently joined forces with Death Cab For Cutie for a series of Australian tour dates after Death Cab frontman Ben Gibbard proclaimed “they’d only come to Australia if they could play with An Horse.”

AN HORSE – On Tour 2009

(Dates and information subject to change.)

3/24-27 w/ Wintersleep
4/9-25 w/ The Appleseed Cast

MARCH 2009
12 Guelph, ONT University of Guelph
13 Toronto, ONT Canadian Music Week – Tranzac
15 Chicago, IL The Abbey
16 Covington, KY Mad Hatter
18 Austin, TX SXSW – Maggie Mae’s (mindnight)
19 Austin, TX SXSW – Friends on 6th (1:30pm)
19 Austin, TX SXSW – Red River (4:30pm)
21 Austin, TX SXSW – Emo’s JR. (9:00pm)
24 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex
25 San Francisco, CA Hotel Utah
26 Portland, OR Lola’s
27 Seattle, WA The Vera Project

APRIL 2009
9 Nashville, TN The End
10 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
11 Orlando, FL Back Booth
12 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbits
13 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
14 Washington, DC DC9
17 Poughkeepsie, NY The Polish Club
18 New York, NY The Mercury Lounge (7:00 PM)
18 New York, NY The Mercury Lounge (10:00 PM)
19 Hamden, CT The Space
20 Boston, MA Middle East
22 Mt. Pleasant, MI Rubbles
24 Columbia, MO Mojos
25 Kansas City, MO Record Bar

An Horse MySpace
An Horse Official Website

Don’t miss Melissa McClelland Live @ SXSW!

Amidst the loves we leave and seek, there are songs pointing to the stars and arms reaching through the blackout. We rest easy knowing that soon the sky will be filled with burning lights, our eyes brimming with wonder. Suddenly, from out of the past, a voice leans into the May wind with a heartful of harmony: “Today is Victoria Day.”

Watch “Passenger 24″ video:

Melissa McClelland returns with her highly anticipated third album, ‘Victoria Day’. Produced by husband Luke Doucet, her Six Shooter Records debut finds McClelland deeply in touch with a sense of melody and wordplay that rivals any of her contemporaries.

Download “Glen Rio” (MP3)

Like a roadmap tracing the veins of a country one can only dream of visiting, ‘Victoria Day’ is both seductive and compelling. “Glenrio” invites us to a rusty locale where one can only leave with bloody knuckles. Snow falls slowly over the gentle “Seasoned Lovers,” which also features a stunning vocal performance by Ron Sexsmith.

McClelland’s virtuosity as a lyricist is best illustrated in “When the Lights Went Off In Hogtown,” which immortalizes the Toronto blackout of 2003 with a playful and surreal command of imagery. ‘Victoria Day’ is a work constituted of anthems and odes, of harlequins and hymnals, penned by a quiet poet in a corner of the bar. The songs rendered on this recording extend their hands and lean against the May wind as though the world were their shoulder. “Today is Victoria Day,” they say. “Enjoy yourselves.”

Melissa’s impressive talent is particularly compelling when she performs, which is why she has with such notable artists as Sarah McLachlan, and Luke Doucet, and was the single guest vocal appearance on Blue Rodeo’s lauded Live at Massey Hall (2008). Melissa’s song crafting skills have not gone unnoticed south of the border, where “Passenger 24″ from the album ‘Thumbelina’s One Night Stand’ captured the title of “Best Americana Song” at the Independent Music Awards.

‘Victoria Day’ out on Six Shooter Records June 2, 2009.

Don’t miss Melissa McClelland Live @ SXSW 2009:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Thurs, March 19 @ SESAC Day Stage Café (5:30 pm set)
Thurs, March 19 @ Velveeta Room (Six Shooter Showcase, 10 pm set)
Friday, March 20 @ Headhunters (Six Shooter Hootenanny 2-5pm)

Melissa McClelland on amazon.com

Melissa McClelland Official Website
Melissa McClelland MySpace

The MuseBox is impacting on South By Southwest 2009 in a big way. This year the acclaimed music marketing firm presents two showcases – Thursday afternoon March 19, 2009 and Saturday night March 21st – at The Rusty Spurs, 405 East 7th Street, Austin, TX (between Trinity Street and Neches Street).

The events will feature an array of some of the most significant and acclaimed artists from The MuseBox family which includes The High Dials, Inward Eye, Juliette Commagére, Hey Ocean!, The Homosexuals, The D’Urbervilles and Wintersleep.

And in what will thoroughly excite SXSW veterans and newbies is the triumphant return of post-punk gods Echo & The Bunnymen, who will headline the Saturday showcase, making it a ‘must-attend’ event of the conference.

The legendary band is using the conference as the jumping-off point for a busy schedule in 2009 and beyond where they will release their long-awaited 10th studio album, ‘The Fountain’ and hit the road for extensive world touring in support of it.

Schedules for The MuseBox showcases at SXSW 2009:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Thursday, March 19, 2009 The MuseBox Day Party
Sponsored by Barefoot Wines, Fully Loaded Teas, Swinghouse and Blurt Magazine…
1:00pm: Lucky Fonz III
1:35pm: Empyr
2:10pm: Operahouse
2:45pm: Inward Eye
3:55pm: Hey Ocean!
4:40pm: The D’Urbervilles
5:00pm The Homosexuals

** Bubbling Up Free Barefoot “Champagne” Brunch all day long. Also free Vitamin Water.

Saturday, March 21, 2009, The MuseBox Official Night Party
Sponsored by Swinghouse and Blurt Magazine…
8:00pm: Juliette Commagére
9:00pm: The Tender Box
10:00pm: Wintersleep
11:00pm: The High Dials
12:00am: Echo & the Bunnymen

About The MuseBox
Founded in 2006, The MuseBox has built its reputation as a different kind of marketing company. Combining years of branding and marketing experience, extensive contacts in both underground and mainstream cultures, and a comprehensive approach to multi-tiered relational marketing, The MuseBox has played a key role in developing the careers of such artists as The Killers, Bloc Party and Modest Mouse.

In addition, The MuseBox has partnered with corporate and strategic clients including Morgan’s Hotel Group, Imeem, Barefoot Wines, and Pure Volume to build brand equity through trendsetting consumer engagement campaigns.

Headquartered in New York City and Toronto, the MuseBox has created a network of international influence, delivering global reach and results for artists, events, and clients around the world.

In 2009, The MuseBox will expand on its base of marketing and brand management, and begin offering a full suite of sales, distribution, and digital services to established and developing artists.

Embracing the opportunity of a radically changing music climate, The MuseBox has expanded its management team with a cadre of artist development, distribution, and digital veterans, including legendary musician and producer Andy Rourke, founding member of The Smiths.

The MuseBox team will provide strategic direction and tactical support, empowering artists to choose from a variety of release strategies and guiding them through a changing world of distribution and opportunity.

The MuseBox Official Website

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

2008 was a dizzying blur of firsts and foremosts for the San Fran based band BLVD.

While whipping up crowds across the US with their fresh urban sounds, this four-piece has positioned itself as a new champion of the burgeoning live electronic movement.

The fallout of BLVD’s blitz on premier west coast festivals in ‘08 (High Sierra Music Festival, Earthdance, Joshua Tree Music Festival, Lightning in a Bottle, Shambhala, etc) led to several licensing deals with conglomerates such as Victoria Secret, AOL, CBS, MTV and more.

The band dropped its full length release (‘Music for People’) last summer and toured heavily as the album garnered critical acclaim and remained in the top 40 on CMJ charts for 6 weeks. The release also got BLVD named to the “Hot 100 Unsigned Artists” of 2008 by Music Connection Magazine. The group topped the year off with a show stealing set at Sea of Dreams, the largest indoor NYE event in the US, alongside Thievery Corporation and Bassnectar.

2009 is expected to be an equally exciting year for this scene setting collaboration.

BLVD is currently in the studio with critically acclaimed producer Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, Two Gallants, Fischerspooner, The Black Keys) laying down a follow up to their 2008 album, ‘Music For People’.

A spring tour will take them up the west coast, then to Hampton, VA for a Phish after show, and to the SXSW festival in Austin. The tour ends with a string of dates alongside Lotus as they stop at the premier theaters in the North East.

BLVD’s genre bending, life affirming music inspires a frenzy on the dance floor that rings in the ears and minds of its audience long after the party is over.

Few bands can provoke the kind of electric atmosphere that BLVD has at its shows. This unconventional mixture of hip-hop vocals, rock guitars, street beats, and sub woofing bass is enough to galvanize and convert any crowd into a devoted fan base.

BLVD 2009 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

6 Mar Tribeca Nightclub Hotel Hampton, Virginia
11 Mar Canes with Break Science and the Vokab Company San Diego, California
12 Mar Fais Do Do Los Angeles, California
13 Mar Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California
14 Mar Opal Ultra Lounge- Montbleu Casino and Resort Lake Tahoe, Nevada
18 Mar SXSW 3.18 -3.21 Austin, Texas
24 Mar Toad’s Place New Haven, Connecticut
25 Mar Lupos Providence, Rhode Island
26 Mar Port City Music Hall Portland, Maine
27 Mar The Wheel House Narragansett, Rhode Island
28 Mar Higher Ground Burlington VT, Vermont
31 Mar Vogue Theater Indianapolis, Indiana
1 Apr Crowfoot Ballroom Pontiac (Detriot), Michigan
3 Apr Old Rock House St. Louis, Missouri
4 Apr Kinetic Playground Chicago, Illinois
7 Apr Tralf Music Hall Buffalo, New York
8 Apr The Wescott Theater Syracuse, New York
9 Apr The Chameleon Lancaster, Pennsylvania
10 Apr Bowery Ballroom New York, New York
1 May Red Fox Tavern Eureka, California
26 Jul Oregon Brewers Festival Portland, Oregon

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BLVD Official Website
MySpace

Redemption. Paranoia. Guilt. And brief glimpses of a better tomorrow, all cloaked in pop hooks that truly help the medicine go down.

What is this? Another lost LP from Brian Wilson’s sandbox phase? If only things were that simple. What we’re really alluding to here is Passion Pit’s first proper full-length, ‘Manners’ (released May 26, 2009), a bird-flipping break from the blogosphere by a 21 year old with much more on his manic mind than girls, girls, girls. You know, important matters, like the end of the world and learning to love someone other than the man in the mirror.

Watch “Sleepyhead” video from Passion Pit’s debut EP ‘Chunk Of Change’:

Passion Pit on amazon.com

Passion Pit on amazon.co.uk

That’s the thing people missed about Passion Pit’s debut EP, ‘Chunk of Change’. While it was originally meant as a Valentine’s Day gift for a girlfriend who “put up with” frontman Michael Angelakos, that detail’s only half of a story that isn’t so cuddly when you consider the circumstances.

You see, Angelakos has written songs since he was a piano-pounding 5 year old, from spooky and spare folk tunes to pit-stirring ska punk. But one day, he just stopped. Not by choice. Angelakos’ creative well was simply in need of a severe refill, so he started toying with the plug-ins and infinite possibilities of a computer program. Six tracks later, ‘Chunk of Change’ was born by default.

In need of an impromptu thank you card and some feedback from friends, Angelakos started spreading the songs around – quite casually, really. Which is impossible to do in an era when blogs are as obsessed with breaking the Next Big Thing as labels are.

Flash forward to 2008. With Chunk of Change’s official unmixed/mastered pressing in tow, Angelakos and the ever-evolving Passion Pit band play to a sold-out crowd at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. A crowd that sees nothing wrong with singing along to every word; even several ‘Manners’ selections, learned via osmosis by the second verse.

With flash bulbs popping in his face like the frontline of a rifle-toting army, Angelakos notes the bizarre scene in front of him but never loses sight of why he’s here, of his calling to craft pitch-perfect pop songs—hooks that nip at your heels and choruses that burrow into your brain.

A real deal album in other words, one that delivers on the blissful and bright promises of early fan favorites like “Sleepyhead.” It took nearly two months of “explosive” off-the-cuff sessions with producer Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, The Walkmen) to get there – everything was written and recorded on the fly – but ‘Manners’ is exactly that, an irresistible, filler-free glimpse into the mind of a man who’d like to unleash his very own ‘Pet Sounds’ someday.

Check the carefully-sculpted songwriting on display: the speaker-panning synths and slightly sinister children’s chorus (straight outta P.S. 22 in NYC) of “Little Secrets” and “The Reeling,” the lead dulcimer loops and melancholic melodies of “Moth’s Wings,” the ecstatic, riled-up climax of “Folds in Your Hands.”

All part of a greater plan, the next step of which is taking Passion Pit’s live show to a level that matches, and eventually exceeds, Manners’ ambition and kaleidoscopic soundscapes. Because when Angelakos says he wants to be the next Randy Newman, he’s dead serious. And when he adds that Passion Pit is “a band with a lead songwriter, not just Michael Angelakos and these guys,” it’s clear he’s just getting started.

Band:

Michael Angelakos (Vocals/Keyboard)
Ian Hultquist (Guitar)
Ayad Al Adhamy (Keyboard)
Jeff Apruzzese (Bass)
Nate Donmoyer (Drums)

Tracklist for Passion Pit ‘Manners’ [May 26, 2009; Frenchkiss Records]:

01 Make Light
02 Little Secrets
03 Moth’s Wings
04 The Reeling
05 Eyes As Candles
06 Swimming In The Flood
07 Folds In Your Hands
08 To Kingdom Come
09 Sleepyhead
10 Let Your Love Grow Tall
11 Seaweed Song

Passion Pit 2009 Tour Dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

03-18 Oklahoma City, OK – The Conservatory
03-19 Austin, TX – SXSW
03-20 Austin, TX – SXSW
03-21 Austin, TX – SXSW
03-23 Little Rock, AR – Revolution
03-24 Bloomington, IN – Cinemat
03-25 Akron, OH – Musica
03-26 Ann Arbor, MI – Blind Pig
03-27 Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall
03-28 Syracuse, NY – Westcott Theatre
04-01 Montreal, Quebec – Le Divan Orange
04-02 Ottawa, Ontario – Zaphod Beeblebrox
04-03 Toronto, Ontario – Lee’s Palace
04-04 Waterloo, Ontario – Starlight Room
05-15 Brighton, UK – Great Escape Festival
09-11 Isle of Wight – Bestival

Passion Pit Recording Blog
Passion Pit on Twitter
MySpace

French Kiss Records

Delta Spirit stamped their indelible mark on the live circuit in their first UK shows at the start of the year, released their contagious debut single “Trashcan” in January, and left us yearning for more.

Delta Spirit on amazon.com

Delta Spirit on amazon.co.uk

Now, with their impressive debut album ‘Ode To Sunshine’ out March 23rd, the Californian five-piece return to play 8 UK dates straight after their 4 show stint at SXSW.

Delta Spirit 2009 UK tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

March 2009
Wed 25th LONDON Monkey Chews
Thu 26th MANCHESTER Night & Day
Fri 27th DUBLIN Academy 2
Sat 28th BELFAST Auntie Annies
Sun 29th GLASGOW King Tuts
Tue 31st LEEDS Brudenell Social Club

April 2009
Wed 1st BIRMINGHAM Barfly
Thu 2nd LONDON ICA

Described as ‘The Kinks meet Cold War Kids’, Delta Spirit’s debut album has been greeted with rave reviews. It features the new 7″ single “People C’mon” out April 20th and the hook-laden debut single “Trashcan”.

“Ode To Sunshine’s jaunty acoustic tunes delivers a protest message not that we’re screwed, but that it’s within our power to change the world.” – * * * * Q

“Forceful Californian Quintet keep it Real…Wild Bunch propping up the bar in the last chance saloon.” – * * * * Uncut

For music and more, go to:

Delta Spirit Official Website
Delta Spirit MySpace