Over the course of a Canadian Music Fest set that saw award-winning Vancouver indie-folk troubadour Dan Mangan perform much of his 2009 breakthrough album 'Nice, Nice, Very Nice' -- including 'Road Regrets,' 'The Indie Queens Are Waiting,' and 'Robots' -- the song that cut the room in half was the one we maybe weren't there for. 'Basket,' a so...
Based in County Durham, drum builder Andrew Street registered Liberty Drums as a limited company in 2006. The MPX is Liberty's latest, high-end, American maple shell pack drum kit, featuring fashionably shallow 'fast' toms. BuildThe MP (maple) X (extremely thin) kit is a five-shell pack with 10"x6" and 12"x6" shallow toms, together with 14"x12" and 16&q...
The leaders of Delta Spirit, Dawes and Deer Tick will unveil a new project simply titled MG&V [ tickets ] at the Coda Agency SXSW Showcase at Austin, TX's Ale House on March 19. The indie supergroup of Deer Tick's John McCauley, Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith and Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit will give their first performance since recording in Nashville. The band came together after De...
Stromkult reports that a new UK synthesizer store, Vortal Systems, may be coming soon: Yesterday In London, UK I met a musician called Martin Richardson who is on the step opening up a real store for modular gear and analogue stuff within this year. We had a nice conversation and agreed to cooperate further. We will
Our 'American Idol' top 12 cheat sheet looks at Stevens' strengths and weaknesses.By Jim Cantiello Katie Stevens at the "American Idol" top 12 party Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images On Thursday night, "American Idol" revealed its top 12 finalists for the ninth season of the hit show. MTV News "Idol" expert Jim Cantiello whipped up a handy cheat sheet for each finalist, breaking do...
Danish neo soul-funk outfit the Asteroids Galaxy Tour began in the studio with core members Lars Iversen and Mette Lindberg, and at the prompting of Amy Winehouse. The band swiftly grew into a six-piece featuring Mads Brinch Nielsen (guitar, keys), Rasmus Valldorf (drums) and horn section, Miloud Carl Sabri (trumpet) and Svend Meinild (sax). Speaking from Copenhagen after a bitterly cold and unusu...
Alt-rockers Collective Soul [ tickets ] will remain on the road throughout much of 2010 in support of the band's most recent studio album, an eponymous set issued last fall. The outing continues March 13 in Orlando, FL, and the group shows dates lined up through October, including a steady stream of festivals and fairs over the summer months. Details are included at right. The Atlanta-based o...
Talk their influences... In you had a pair of ears in 2009, there is no way you could have missed Passion Pit. read more
Australian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd is releasing his fourth album, Koonyum Sun April 20, 2010. Xavier Rudd's music is a mixture of reggae, funk, blues and folk.
In what has to be one of the most bizarre ailments to have emerged from the crazy world of rock 'n' roll, Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody has revealed that he's been singing with a dislocated jaw for the last eight years. His condition only recently came to light when it became too painful for him to sing while recording his forthcoming solo album, 'Tired Portland.' Ha...
