The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. - Martin Luther King This is probably one of the few times Lil Boosie will ever be mentioned alongside MLK , but the quote sums up the turbulent and emotional life of Torrence Hatch. The story is public record. What started as a two-year term doubled to four and accusations of murder for hire has one of the most beloved Southern artists of all-time eye-to-eye with [...]

Innova Records , flagship label of the American Composers Forum, releases way too much for any one person to actually listen to. I do give each of their discs at least a cursory spin, if not necessarily from beginning to end. Much of their material goes over my head, as my knowledge/understanding of modern composition is pretty weak. But they also dabble a bit in experimental, electronic and improvised music, and occasionally they send me an item that I can really and truly identify with. Christopher Campbell's new Sound the All-Clear is one of those [...]

Album: Good Time, Bad Boys Artist: Schoolboy Crush Album: Good Time, Bad Boys Genre: Rock Year: 2005 Download [...]

Words: Gareth O'Malley There are two words that can either thrill or chill a music fan through their very utterance. Those two words are 'concept album'. They conjure up the idea of progressive rock at its height: noodling guitar solos, lyrics that are either about nothing in particular or head-wreckingly obtuse, and pretentious story arcs. 'Drown Your Heart Again' features none of these, but it could be said to be a 'concept album' anyway as it has one unifying theme. The Strange Death of Liberal England concern themselves with naval matters, the sea, and [...]
Despite having released eight solo albums of exceptional songwriting expertise, Jesse Harris has, to this point, basically been summed up all too often as "the guy who wrote 'Don't Know Why' for Norah Jones." That will hopefully change with the August 24 release of Through the Night , an album of fourteen often starkly etched songs that despite being recorded at the legendary Compass Studios in the Bahamas by the equally legendary producer Terry Manning, reflect not so much sun as moonlight, a nocturnal theme that runs through the project. "The songs depict dreams, romance, and mystery [...]
Herbal tadalafil , The Discobelle Mixin' It Up series has been on a bit of a hiatus but now we're back in full force with this mindblowing seriously assaulting mix of rave and bass courtesy of Italian producer Digital Boy & Italian NYC transplant Badman Shark. Together they form the duo Digital Boy + Shark , check out their newly launched website Gangster Rave and now we'll let them do the talking. "Past, present and future collide as the forefather of Italian Rave music, Digital Boy, joins forces with one of New York's [...]

For music mavens and alternative rock junkies, there is really nothing worse than going to a wedding. That Israel Kamakawiwo'ole cover of Somewhere Over the Rainbow for the bride's dance with her father. The young couple who just has to have Lil Jon's Get Low . And what kind of wedding wou—oh come one! Is that the Electric Slide?! You've got to be kidding me! What is the most surprising is that these weddings are for your friends. The same people you hang out with every week, who listen to the same podcasts as you, [...]

We're a few days late with this month's Music Alliance Pact, but it should be well worth the wait. Music Alliance Pact (MAP) is a collaboration between 33 blogs from all over the world, and every month, each of us present a new band from our country. All presentations are put together in this huge blogpost, and presented on the same day in all the MAP blogs. Massive promotion for the bands! This month, our Norwegian MAP-band is a band I'm especially excited about, KooKooo Kitchen from Oslo. I hope you enjoy their music [...]

Sleepless Nights proposes a form of music that wishes to escape categorization based on "Eastern" and "Western" styles and traditions. The sliding notes of the guitar represent, for these musicians, an opportunity to evade the musical border police. Sleepless Nights is a collaborative project between Indian guitar virtuoso Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Matt Malley, the former bassist for Counting Crows. Malley has been a practitioner of yoga since the late 1980s, and it was during a pilgrimage to India that he met Bhatt, who is best known to Western audiences for an earlier collaboration with Ry Cooder, A [...]

It's Friday, and a few stellar records are still sitting on my desk waiting to be reviewed ( Eamon McGrath 's new one, Japandroids old one and Bad Tits ) but for the last few days, Halifax's Quiet Parade has stolen my listening time. With the release schedule of Trevor's other band - Sleepless Nights - I'm not sure how he finds to record tracks for Quiet Parade, but the slowed pace and subtle textures works well for him. Whether it's xylophones, hand claps or the [...]

Korean post-rock, South American electronica, Beijing trip-hop, the Gallic Nirvana, Scandinavian indie, Greek disco, Romanian soundtrack material, the Netherlands' answer to Camera Obscura, Singaporean country-rock, an Afrikaans rapper who fancies himself as the new Eminem and a German band called Herpes... it can only mean the next instalment of the Music Alliance Pact, which offers you the best music from around the planet for free when the date strikes 15th. I've picked Glasgow-based trio LIGHTGUIDES to represent Scotland this month and you'll know why when you get your ears around [...]

Es 15 de Julio y es momento otra vez de una nueva entrega del playlist mundial, 33 canciones de 33 países, si, definitivamente hay mucho mas allá de nuestras fronteras y es genial probarlo. Esta vez contamos con la presencia de Kinder, esenciales, ya debieron estar presentes hace tiempo. PERU : SoTB Kinder - Encuentro Inesperado Kinder se basa en la experimentación para crear su sonido, poseen [...]
ARGENTINA : Zonaindie The Kyoto Connection - H.E.A.T. The eighties are back! At least, that's what we felt after listening to No Headphones Required, the cc-licensed brand new album by The Kyoto Connection. This amazing band delivers sweet electronic music mixed with Japanese juice and Flashdance-like synth sounds. If you like it, you can download the whole record from their website. AUSTRALIA : Who The [...]

In iulie, la Music Alliance Pact va propunem Identitate , proiectul timisorean-londonez al lui Ovidiu. Fara cuvinte mari: imi pare rau ca nu l-am descoperit mai devreme - face o muzica extrem de vizuala, folosind aproape tot din jurul sau plus o chitara. Poate din cauza asta l-as compara cu Avey Tare. Am ascultat al treilea album 'Who I Am and What I Want' pe care il puteti descarca gratuit de aici . De pe acest album am ales piesa 'Alone', folosita ca soundtrack pentru un scurt metraj. In mare masura tot albumul e o posibila coloana sonora, [...]

here at i'm waking up to , we pride ourselves at bringing to you the best of established Singaporean acts (like our favorites the observatory and b-quartet) as well as up and coming local bands to look out for, as featured on the monthly international music bloggers' collective, the music alliance pact . this month, brian koh handpicks cheating sons , whose debut album due later this year is already eagerly awaited here. enjoy! SINGAPORE : I'm Waking Up To... [...]

É com grande felicidade que conseguimos trazer, este mês, ao Music Alliance Pact, uma das bandas nacionais que tem um dos temas, deste ano e deste Verão, que não nos sai da cabeça e da ponta do assobio. Eles são os Madame Godard e tiveram a gentileza de nos permitir a inclusão de "Atlas 1977", o tema que todos conhecem do seu novo disco "Galapagos". Penso que, que neste ambiente de calor, brisas refrescantes e cheiro a festa, os Madame Godard são uma das melhores bandas do pop nacional para levar nesta viagem à volta do mundo que é o [...]
A few folks have been commenting and emailing lately about how much they like these posts. I would love to take credit for them but I can't - I'm just a cog in the machine at MAP (Music Alliance Pact). As a refresher course: the deal is that all these blogs from all around the world come together and post their favorite song for the month. The songs are then compiled and shared on each and every site. So that's the deal. Enjoy the July version of MAP below. [...]