Blog: ChordStrike

The Lonely Forest stopped by our offices yesterday for a private performance. I had the pleasure of sitting down with the guys for a few minutes before they played, and I was instantly transformed into a lasting fan. There are a few things you should know about this band. First, they are genuine. Within seconds of sitting down, I felt as if I was speaking with lifelong friends, and I laughed as if I was watching a Judd Apatow movie (e.g. [...]

Birmingham-based musician and photographer Caleb Chancey decided that he needed to do something to help the people throughout his state in the wake of the devastating storms that tore through Alabama on April 27th this year. Says Chancey, "I started asking myself what that could be. I could swing a hammer, but so could 1,000's of other amazing people who were already volunteering. Then I started asking what I was uniquely placed to do. I decided to write down a list of all my [musical] friends who I believed would [...]

The Fleet Foxes ' long awaited second full length album, Helplessness Blues , came out last week. Critics seem to have a lot to say about both this band and this record, so let's jump right in. NME 's Gavin Haynes comes right out and says it: "Fleet Foxes suck. They're the soy-latte house band of Starbucks." He goes on to comment about Helplessness Blues , "They lull you in with their flawlessly polished music and hey-nonny-nonny you into a hypnagogic [...]

It's the middle of the week and you know what that means; it's time for your Midweek Distraction and we've got something special for you. Today we'd like to offer you an Amazon MP3 Exclusive Sampler by Florida quintet, Sister Hazel .Click here to download the sampler, titled 11411 , for free. Formed in the early 1990's and with a handful of albums under their belts, Sister Hazel's distinct sound is a sun-drenched southern country, AOR (album oriented rock) vibe. Throw [...]

According to Reuters , EMI plans to release a bevy of unheard songs by Pink Floyd beginning in September. The tracks will be unearthed from archives as part of a multi-month schedule of releases, which will include collectors' box sets and re-mastered studio recordings. The band originally signed to EMI four decades ago, but in recent years has litigated their former label over the rights to "unbundle" their albums in order to sell individual tracks online. The English rockers won that battle last fall culminating in [...]

Civilized Man , the newest album from Nashville-based Americana indie outfit Daniel Ellsworth & the Great Lakes , came out today. I had the chance to sit down with the hilarious and warm Daniel Ellsworth , lead singer, founding member, and partial namesake for the band, to talk about the release. " Civilized Man is special for several reasons…it was entirely fan-funded through a Kickstarter campaign," says Ellsworth. "To have so many fans, friends, and family members who believe in what you do [...]

Today we'd like to introduce you to Ellie Goulding , although you may have already become acquainted with her over the past couple weeks. Goulding performed at the reception for the recent royal wedding and this past weekend, was the guest on Saturday Night Live. Though Goulding is already a pop star in her native Britain, across the pond, we're just learning about this talented young artist. Check out this free Amazon exclusive version download of her song Guns and Horses from her latest album, [...]

In our new feature, the Midweek Distraction, we pledge to bring you some great free music every week, so make sure to stop by on Wednesdays. Just in time for some warmer weather, Dangerbird Records brings us their free Summer Sampler . The label is home to current hit makers Beady Eye , Oasis minus a Gallagher, and Fitz and the Tantrums , masterminds behind the funk revival song " Money Grabber ." Dangerbird's offerings on this freebie do not disappoint either. The sampler opens with a driving pop-rock tune [...]

Heavy saxophone riffs, thundering percussion, and a healthy dose of electronic treatments; Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil is a sonic interpretation of Garage A Trois ' ethos: upbeat, smart and complicated tunes coupled with a wry, sinister delivery. Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil is the follow up to the band's 2009 release, Power Patriot . A quartet with roots in New Orleans (drummer Stanton Moore and vibraphone/percussionist Mike Dillon [...]

This week we'd like to turn you on to New Orleans duo the Generationals , and suggest that you download their free track, Ten-Twenty-Ten from Amazon MP3. The cut is the opening track on the group's ten-track sophomore release, Actor-Caster , and is a crisp and lively excursion into indie-pop. The sound is mostly minimalist; piano, guitar, and a healthy dose of tambourine, but making more with less allows members Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner to demonstrate their firm handle on song craft. Their [...]

The Brooklyn pranksters are up to no good, posting a fake first single from their forthcoming release, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 on YouTube. But click here to check out the Beastie Boys ' REAL new single, "Make Some Noise," a synthed-out throwback to the days of the three MCs tag-team rapping style.The full 16-track album comes out May 3 and finds Nas and Santogold with guest spots. Yeah, we're excited, too. Pitchfork reports that Beastie Boy MCA (Adam [...]

In his newest release, Ray Davies , former Kinks frontman, pairs up with the likes of Mumford & Sons , Metallica , Lucinda Williams , and Jon Bon Jovi to cover songs from his vast catalog. The result, See My Friends , is getting mixed reviews. First, Austin L. Ray from The A.V. Club gives the album a paltry D+ rating. Ray says, " See My Friends is mostly embarrassing, pairing Davies with ill-matched partners like Billy Corgan , Jon [...]

In our new feature, the Midweek Distraction, we pledge to bring you some great free music every week, so make sure to stop by on Wednesdays. After watching this TED talk yesterday about music and passion, I have been very inspired to listen to more classical music in my life. TED is an organization devoted to spreading ideas. What started as a small conference in 1984 with speakers about entertainment, technology, and design has now turned into a worldwide organization that covers many topics and many [...]

Today Robbie Robertson releases his fifth solo record, How To Become Clairvoyant . The album features A-list guests, as well as an impeccable rhythm section comprised of bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Ian Thomas . Guests on the 12-track release include axemen Eric Clapton (who co-wrote three of the tracks), Tom Morello and Robert Randolph . The record also features Steve Winwood and Trent Reznor and guest vocalists from members of Dawes . Robertson describes [...]

Drawing inspiration equally from soul, rhythm and blues, and rock 'n' roll, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears is featured this month as one of Amazon's Artists On The Rise. And for good reason; their free downloadable track Livin' In The Jungle , is a catchy homage to escaping the gritty bump and grind of city life, appearing on the band's new album, Scandalous (Lost Highway). A full sound with groove-heavy, taut horns and touches of funk are punched up by Black's raspy [...]

On Sunday night, Country music's biggest stars gathered at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for the Academy of Country Music Awards. Hosted by veteran Reba and first timer Blake Shelton , the show got off to a slightly awkward start. If you happen to follow Blake on Twitter , you know that it was very hard for him to tone it down for a family TV audience. The big winner of the night was Miranda Lambert , who took home four trophies for Top Female Vocalist, Single, [...]

Radiohead released The King of Limbs in a surprise announcement back in February. This week, the album finally hit shelves for all of those who dragged their limbs during the band's online pre-order. In this Thursday's Throwdown, we pair not only two critics' opinions against each other, but really, the opinion of two countries. Both American Songwriter and the BBC weighed in on King of Limbs (KOL), and they had very different takes on where [...]

In our new feature, the Midweek Distraction, we pledge to bring you some great free music every week, so make sure to stop by on Wednesdays. As you may have noticed in our Thursday Throwdowns, Stranger than Fiction Fridays, and occasional interesting album review, we here at SoundUnwound are fans of things off the beaten path. This week's featured Midweek Distraction album is just that. Music for Massage, Yoga, and Meditation is a free sampler up currently at Amazon MP3 . This collection [...]

In big music industry news, Amazon launched their Cloud Player service which enables users to store their music in the cloud (dubbed Amazon Cloud Drive ) and listen to it from Mac, PC, and Android devices. This comes as a shock to most of the music industry as speculation about Google and Apple streaming music services have been circulating for a while. Bill Carr, vice president of Movies and Music at Amazon said, "Our customers have told us they don't want to download music to their work computers [...]

In the three years since Britney Spears ' last album, 2008's Circus , the pop starlet has retooled her image from Auto-Tuned disco girl to dangerous vixen. Today, with her seventh release, Femme Fatale , Spears comes across as a club-hopping, childless man-eater who could drink Ke$ha under the table and out-freak Rick James . Yet in the wake of thought provoking artists who envision a full integration of their music and image, a package deal like David Bowie 's [...]