
My producer gives me a countdown inside my earpiece. "Three, two, one. We're live." "Greetings fellow waveriders. My name is Penfold. Thank you for joining me this evening. If you look back on my writings for The Ripple Effect you'll discover that I enjoy telling a humorous, entertaining yarn. It's true. I count humor as one of my greatest allies in the fight against musical disinterest. Tonight however, I'm here to discuss a very serious topic that affects us all. That's right. Not only does this issue affect [...]

Those of us who pay even the smallest bit of attention to the goings on of the music business know that the world is changing. Digital music continues to turn the game on its head leaving record labels and album stores less important by the day. Perhaps we are on the verge of some grand solution, but right now things remain in flux. By offering free streaming to the masses, websites like Spotify, Rhapsody and Pandora allow fans access to their favorite tunes, while the Compact Disc watches in through the window with its nose pressed up against the glass. Oh what [...]

Toronto - 19 piece brass punk band. Those were the only words I needed to sell me on going to Rancho Relaxo Tuesday night to see Rhode Island band What Cheer? Brigade perform. I expected a hot sweaty mess filled with chaos and sound and that's what was delivered. With a host of instruments ranging from tubas to horns to trombones, the band played a host of songs to the rambunctious crowd who were more than eager to dance. There were also a few members armed with marching drums to pace the night along. While I don't know [...]
So it's almost June and you're wondering what you're going to do with yourself, right? Well if you're in Montreal or NYC we've got you covered. Below is part I of the NYC Summer Show Guide. Enjoy. TUES 6/01 - JAY ELECTRONICA @ Red Hook Park (Brooklyn, NY) | FREE | 7PM WED 6/02 - AIR WAVES @ South Street Seaport (Manhattan, NY) | FREE | 1PM WED 6/02 - [...]
May 27, 2010, 4:55pm
MBV

What Cheer? Brigade - "Malaguena" Sixteen tourists arrive on a Pan Am 737 jumbo jet. They are dressed in suits and sun-dresses. They disembark, carrying luggage. They get on a shuttle into the city. Arriving in downtown Paris, they make their way on foot to la Défense. It is the business district. On the sidewalk outside a glass office-building, the tourists snap photos of the skyline, the automobiles, the Parisians clacking past in high-heels. Their luggage is at their feet. From their luggage, they withdraw clubs, placards and whistles. These are not tourists. They are a riot. [...]

Less a band than an unstoppable force, What Cheer? Brigade make Gogol Bordello look like wallflowers. Formed in Providence in 2005, this insane party machine has brought its unique éclat and élan to art openings, libraries, school playgrounds, traffic islands, warehouses and music festivals — often accompanied by fellow freaksters, Big Nazo. Lo and behold, band-that-couldn't-be-tamed has finally unleashed its debut long-player upon the world, We Suck, You Blow [Anchor Brain]. You can order direct from both band and label, but that would be so …expected. [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Bettie Serveert : "Deny All" [mp3] from Pharmacy of Love (out March 23rd) other Betty Serveert posts at Largehearted Boy Clogs : "Red Seas" [mp3] from The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton other Clogs posts at Largehearted Boy [...]

GSL sits down with Brooklyn by-way-of Providence band, Javelin, in the penthouse house suite at Market Hotel.

Walking into the MICA North Ave. parking lot was like stepping into an alternate universe to me. Accustomed to the outstandingly complete normalcy of Carroll County living, everything involved at Saturday's Whartscape was akin to alien scenery in my eyes. If anyone attending knew who I was or what I looked like-and you probably didn't, you crazy ass MICA kids, I apologize for probably having stared just a tad too much. Whispers For Wolves : The third or fourth thing I laid my eyes upon, and I saw plenty, [...]

MP3: DD/MM/YYYY - They Anyone who showed up to last year's Whartscape knows that DD/MM/YYYY kill onstage, same goes for those who saw them on tour with Videohippos in May. This bunch of experimental-rocking Canadians dropped their fourth release, Black Square , but only a few months ago. I thought it was pretty great. My email account caught up with theirs for a few questions fairly recently, here's how it went down: 1. You guys were at Whartscape last year; care to [...]

Marc Ribot * Well known avantgarde jazz guitarist Marc Ribot and other musicians were protesting the closing of world famous experimental / indie / avantgarde music venue Tonic, NYC by showing up for an improvised concert while the workers dismantled the stage!! Afterwards he was taken to station by the coppers!. Read more here and support your friends in NYC. Tonic, NYC group on Flickr . * Here's a label I found from comments on the above occassion. Engine Studios is a miniscule label that [...]