Now These Boys Are Angry

If you are constipated or in need of some Rockem' Sockem' Robots theme music look no further!!!

Band name is Fuck The facts

Fact is, this is scary. It's like Slayer meets Frank Zappa at a muppet machine gun party.

http://www.relapse.com/ecards/fuckthefacts

Harvey danger To Release CD

The third LP by Seattle band Harvey Danger will be released Tuesday, September 13th, on HD’s own label, Phonographic Records. Produced by John Goodmanson and Steve Fisk—whose combined credits include dozens of essential records by bands as varied as Sleater-Kinney, Beat Happening, Low, Screaming Trees, Blonde Redhead, and Nirvana—Little By Little… is the sound of a radically transformed group.

This week on the GHIDRAH

Psychostick proclaims “beer is good, beer is good, beer is good, and stuff.” To that sentiment I say “word.” I say “word ‘em up.”

Cinder returns with their rawker “The Fall” and Redding mellows us out for “Another Day”. All 3 bands have records coming out on Rock Ridge Music this summer. Please reply for a review copy of any or all of them.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Psychostick “Beer!!!”
SONG 2: Cinder “The Fall”
SONG 3: Redding “Another Day”

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:

SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

Click to enjoy the high art that is the “Beer!!!” video by Psychostick: http://www.psychostick.com/beer_small.htm

Free Tunes!!! GHIDRAH

This week on the GHIDRAH, The Accident Experiment offers a modern rock response to the Police classic “Every Breath You Take” and Boy Hits Car spills their guts in a down-tempo rocker. This week we also feature songwriter Jade, who has been banned in America for no damn good reason.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: The Accident Experiment “Sick Love Letter”
SONG 2: Boy Hits Car “You Don’t Care”
SONG 3: Jade “Lay Me Down”

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:
SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

The Accident Experiment “Sick Love Letter” video is trippy and stuff: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak2/sickloveletter_video.wmv

A Bar Musician's Dream: Boozster Hangover Prevention

If you are a gigging musician that is always in the bar scene, you know that the next morning starts with a hangover from the loads of shots brought up to the stage by the "party guy" of the crowd.

I tested out this new hangover prevention remedy from my friends at Boozster. I drank a boat load of Baccardi, Yukon Jack and a few pitchers of beer along with following the instructions to take the capsules once every few hours.

Needles to say I woke the next day feeling as if we never touched a drop of alcohol the night before.

Try it for yourself, they are giving away free samples.
http://boozster.com/freesample.php

This week on the GHIDRAH

The Rock Ridge Music GHIDRAH Courtesy of Rock Ridge Music– 3 new songs every week, all for free.

Dan Lavery (formerly of Tonic) offers some of his new solo material, Boy Hits Car rocks soft and slow on their new single, and Kittie breaks stuff and yells about things.

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:

SONG 1: Dan Lavery “Say That You Love Me”
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma

SONG 2: Boy Hits Car “You Don’t Care”
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma

SONG 3: Kittie “Never Again”
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

This Week's Free Songs: GHIDRAH

The Rock Ridge Music GHIDRAH – 3 new songs every week, all for free.

This week on the GHIDRAH, Reel Big Fish offers a sneak preview of their upcoming live record – it’s a GHIDRAH exclusive! Indorphine gets raw on their must-be-seen-to-be-believed video for “Spaghetti”, and BlueSuedeGroove wants to know if you need a backrub.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Reel Big Fish “She’s Got A Girlfriend Now” (Live)
SONG 2: Indorphine “Spaghetti”
SONG 3: BlueSuedeGroove “Does It Hurt?” (Live)

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:
SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

INDORPHINE – “SPAGHETTI” video - http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak2/spaghetti_video.wmv (gotta watch!)

Type O Negative DVD

The attitude of the international press towards New York band Type O Negative has not always been unanimously positive. The group’s unconventionality, their austere, occasionally even unwieldy songs were a thorn in the flesh of many a journalist. Despite all this opposition, Type O Negative have released several classics which even their fiercest detractors respect and admire. “No other album pairs metallic maliciousness, self-contemptuous cynicism, world- and love -weariness, epic melancholia and danceable pop appeal as perfectly, and the result is an enduring classic with a weeping willow romanticism that is persistent enough to still be sympathized with on the dance floors in ten to twelve years’ time,” commented the German music magazine, Rock Hard, on Bloody Kisses in 1993; and they were right. More than twelve years later, Type O Negative are still the most important act on the gothic metal scene. In 2006, their mostly melancholy songs continue to sparkle with great melodies and dramatic atmospheres. Since the early Nineties, band mastermind Peter Steele has been steering his troupe through the choppy waters of the music scene, never changing course, even in difficult times. The result is certainly respectable: gold and platinum awards, sold-out tours and cover stories galore. Steamhammer/SPV are about to release Type O Negative’s new DVD, Symphony For The Devil (The World Of Type O Negative), on March 20, 2006 (US: March 14), featuring recordings from the 1999 Bizarre festival plus a bonus single CD with a Santana medley, rather an unusual choice for Type O Negative. In other words, a well rounded-offering, not only for the band’s fans, but for aficionados of the genre in general.

The core of the DVD consists of cuts from a Type O Negative show at the Cologne Bizarre festival in summer 1999, when cameras documented the unique live merits of Peter Steele (vocals, bass guitar), Josh Silver (keyboards), Kenny Hickey (Guitar), and Johnny Kelly (drums). The concert consists of sixteen tracks, all of them in brilliant sonic and visual quality (stereo PCM and Dolby Digital 5.1). In a concert atmosphere typical for Type O Negative, the band presented most of their classics at the Bizarre, ‘Cinnamon Girl,’ ‘My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend,’ ‘Christian Woman,’ ‘Too Late: Frozen,’ ‘Love You To Death,’ and ‘Black #1’ among them. Exclusive bonus material includes interviews, hilarious backstage and private footage, and a band biography, all filmed and compiled by the band itself. For the first time, the musicians have also allowed insights into the goings-on behind the stage.

As a bonus, Type O Negative have included a special single CD, featuring a previously unreleased studio session of a Santana medley, consisting of ‘Evil Ways,’ ‘Oye Como Va,’ and ‘Black Magic Woman.’ All in all a comprehensive retrospective that proves that Peter Steele is definitely capable of seeing beyond the limitations of doom metal. “Everything but rap,” he comments on his life-long inspirations. Particularly – next to Black Sabbath and the Beatles – Laibach, Devo and Depeche Mode. Steele: “I get bored quickly and tire easily listening to songs by other acts. It’s difficult to keep me interested for a long time.” That’s why he isn’t rooted in the past but optimistically looks to the future in 2006. “I’m getting older with every year, and I’ve noticed that I can’t change that. So what am I to do? I’ve come to terms with the situation, joke about it and look at it from an ironic angle. Can there be a better way to accept aging than to take it with a sense of humour?”

Preview the DVD!
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak2/symphony_typeo_video.wmv

New Tunes This Week: GHIDRAH

The Rock Ridge Music GHIDRAH – 3 new songs every week, all for free.

This week on the GHIDRAH, Redding and Tony Lucca deliver a one-two punch of melancholia, and Blanco Diablo’s snarling fire-piss follows to kick your teeth in. Tony Lucca’s digital EP Through The Cracks hits DSPs tomorrow – his soft and sensitive, sugary songs were composed within the Hellmouth, deep within Satan’s corridor, and are perfect for a 6/6/06 release date.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Redding “Another Day”
SONG 2: Tony Lucca “Death Of Me”
SONG 3: Blanco Diablo “9 Lives”

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:

SONG 1: http://emwebmail.com/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvista.streamguys.com%2Fjspiewak%2Frockridge_1.wma

SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma

SONG 3: http://emwebmail.com/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvista.streamguys.com%2Fjspiewak%2Frockridge_3.wma

This Schuur is Some Fine Jazz Vocals

Born in Tacoma, Washington, vocalist Diane Schuur has earned respect and garnered praise from such legendary musicians as Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and B.B. King. Known for her three-and-a-half octave vocal range, Schuur’s remarkable career began at age nine with her first professional gigs, including those at the local Holiday Inn. While still a student at the Washington State School for the Blind, a 16-year-old Schuur was performing original material and wowing audiences with her playful and distinctive voice. Then, Schuur made her Monterey Jazz Festival debut in 1975. The legendary Stan Getz became one of her biggest fans and an important mentor after hearing her perform at the Festival. The rest is history.

Since then, Schuur has become a legend herself. She has been nominated for five and received two GRAMMY® Awards for "Best Jazz Vocalist," as well as headlined many of the world's most prestigious music venues, including Carnegie Hall. Schuur has toured the world and has performed with such greats as Stan Getz, B.B. King, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Quincy Jones. She has performed countless times on The Tonight Show, has performed at The GRAMMY’s and at the White House.
On June 6, Schuur will release her second live album, Diane Schuur: Live In London. Diane Schuur: Live In London is her first release on the GR2 Classics label and her twentieth album. Recorded at the famous Ronnie Scott’s in London, England, this 14 track album epitomizes the passion, humor, and power of Diane’s live performance.

The Very Thought of You
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/diane_thought.wma

http://www.dianeschuur.com

Blackmore's Night

What an unexpected joy it is to be able to regain paradise lost--to go back in time, to a simpler more rustic life, when achieving an idyllic existence through hard work and good times seemed infinitely more possible than it does today in our current culturally complicated world.
Such is the magic conjured by the singular musical entity known as Blackmore’s Night, a group that effortlessly transports listeners back to the merry world of Medieval life with their festive, celebratory sound. Led by otherworldly vocal sorceress Candice Night and guitar deity—and former Deep Purple and Rainbow leader—Ritchie Blackmore, the group vividly recreates the charm and good cheer of Renaissance times by combining their reverent passion for a bygone era with the extraordinary musical skill and proficiency gained from years working as rock-and-roll troubadours. The result, as evidenced on their astonishing new album, THE VILLAGE LANTERNE, is music that sounds both soothingly timeless and refreshingly modern.
“When we started this project,” says Blackmore, “people would say, ‘You must be crazy. Why would you want to get involved in Medieval Renaissance music?’ But we did it because it was a labor of love. To me, it was time just to play something that I felt was 100% honest. It was just something I had to do. It was in my blood. I’d always listened to Renaissance music, and this was the first time that I could actually get involved in playing it. And Candice’s voice lends itself to those particular melodies. It all seemed so right. It was very natural.”
It is a documented fact that the music of Medieval times is extremely difficult to recreate. Many of the songs that were created half a millennium ago were improvised by bards that traveled from town to town, by farm laborers needing to pass the time in the fields, and by musicians accompanying the many impromptu dances and festivals of the day. It was music created to elevate the quotidian moments of everyday life. As such, many of the songs of that time have passed away with the men and women who created them.
The evanescence of much of the Medieval musical heritage is all the more reason to be thankful for the existence of Blackmore’s Night. Like the most fervently inquisitive scholars, Night and Blackmore have for years immersed themselves in the study of the customs, mores and culture of the Middle Ages. Not happy to just dutifully perform the already existing songs that their research uncovered, they decided to channel their interest into creating an entirely new repertoire that has enabled them to bring their love of this music to brand-new audiences all around the world.

Listen for yourself......
25 Years: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/bn_years.wma

or visit http://www.blackmoresnight.com

Serge Gainsboug

In the past few years, a new name, albeit an unpronounceable one, has appeared on the lips of English-speaking musicians – Serge Gainsbourg. When speaking to the French, the speaker is often asked to repeat the supposed neologism until those who continue to say “Ze Bitulz” finally grasp that is in fact an inadvertently mangled proper noun. But what a name! Serge Gainsbourg, the singer-songwriter-Pygmalion-actor-filmmaker-author-entertainer-agitator-gambler-ladys man, a man whose many facets reflect in each other to form one of the most dazzling prisms in twentieth-century French culture, and whose sparkle now spreads well beyond both France and the century.

A few years ago both the superstar Madonna and the underground prophet John Zorn declared their admiration for Gainsbourg – separately, but with the same zeal. The English group Portishead lifted the heady atmosphere of Cargo culte from the Melody Nelson album for their stunning remix of Massive Attack’s Karmacoma. De La Soul sampled Gainsbourg, Beck borrowed wholesale (Paper tiger), and countless artists cover his songs. In France and worldwide (from Air to Sonic Youth) artists by the dozens claim him as an influence, to the point that the first proper Gainsbourg biography in English, A fistful of Gitanes by the journalist Sylvie Simmons ended up establishing Gainsbourg on the international scene both as a musician and cultural icon.
Yet for a long time, all the British knew about him was his romp on vinyl with Jane Birkin on Je t’aime moi non plus, a single banned by the BBC, condemned by the Vatican, and yet which topped British charts in 1969. They also knew that he got Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Adjani and Vanessa Paradis – four landmarks of the French feminine ideal seen from outside France – to sing, and that he shocked Whitney Houston on live television. He is therefore widely remembered in Britain as a sex maniac with, as his album title says, a cabbage for a head.

But those used to pacing the avenues and alleys of his expansive repertoire know very well that Gainsbourg cannot be summed up in a bit of famous heaving and panting. In fact, Gainsbourg cannot be summed up at all – he is enlarged and appreciated from various angles with the helpless realisation that none of these can provide a satisfactory snapshot of the man.
Trying to discover him all in one go, as was the case for many outside France, is to suffer severe vertigo. Most are flabbergasted when they realise that at the beginning, he was the heir and soon-to-be conspirator of the Left Bank cabarets and the cellars of Saint-Germain, mixing Baudelairean poetry and oblique jazz under the influence of Boris Vian, coloured with exotic essences from lounge music. Again, when they discover he became the transformer of the pop movement, turning young Londoners’ heads, handing out songs to girls like sugar-and-spice pills. Or once more, when they come across the film soundtracks, mirroring some of his intensely cinematographic albums, such as Initials BB or Melody, not to mention when he parachuted into Jamaica at the time of the reggae version of La Marseillaise, or into New York USA under the blows of digital funk.

For Gainsbourg is the classical and the modern combined in one man – ultra-classical (his perfect rhymes as trimmed hedges as the ones in an 19th century French bourgeois garden, and his composition often paying tribute to Chopin or Brahms) and ultra-modern, able to absorb, Bowie-like, all that is avant-garde and bring it into the light, or to wrap up slang in the words of the great French orator, Bossuet.

Because of all this, and still much more, over time Gainsbourg has become something of a Colossus whose shadow weighs heavily over those who intend to see him. This is particularly the case with French artists who have tried to cover his songs – their deference is sometimes so great that the strain gives them a hernia before the first chorus. However, those who rubbed shoulders with Gainsbourg know very well that he was overjoyed when his work was readapted, especially with those brave enough to get inside his head, dismantling his work for material to build something else. As he himself put it, songs are a minor art form, not for worshipping, but rather for twisting our way.

When a cover album was planned by Jean-Daniel Beauvallet, Christian Fevret and Timothée Verrecchia for the fifteenth anniversary of his last lungful of Gitane smoke, it quickly became obvious that only foreign groups and artists could give new life to a repertoire so ingrained in French culture. Invitations were sent out and the overwhelmingly positive responses returned like boomerangs. Everyone rushes for Gainsbourg, and the cast list speaks for itself – some of the most prominent British and American artists of the last ten years are featured. From Tricky to Franz Ferdinand, from Cat Power to The Rakes, from Placebo to Michael Stipe (REM), from Portishead to Marianne Faithfull, from Jarvis Cocker to The Kills… “Pas dégueu !” (not too rotten), as Gainsbourg would have said. Maintaining the links with the past, some of the best known original singers also agreed to appear: Françoise Hardy, Dani, and above all Jane Birkin! One last hurdle remained – the language barrier, a risky business with Gainsbourg. An exercise in high precision, poetically and semantically, entrusted to two word-jugglers with a worldwide reputation, Boris Bergman and Paul Ives. Just reading their adaptation of Poinçonneur des Lilas set in a depressing working-class London shows how well the challenge was met. Despite the prestige of the cast and the difficulty of carrying it out, Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited was above all a project undertaken with humility, lightness and a certain degree of impertinence. This would, no doubt, have pleased the man who, over the thirty glorious years of his career, inspired this very cocktail more than anyone else.

Audio Streams:Cat Power & Karen Elson – I Love You (me either)
Windows Media Player
Real Player

Jarvis Cocker & Kid Loco – I Just Came To Tell You That I’m Going
Windows Media Player
Real Player

Mother's Day Gift Guide

Not sure what to get for Mom? Here are a few on our list:

1. Flowers: http://www.proflowers.com. Apparently there is a promo with Howard Stern and Sirius, where if you click on the microphone at the top right of the page and enter in "100" you get a special deal.

2. Try sending her an Amish Spread: http://www.amishmart.com/amt-z-12001.html . Nothing says I Love You like Jelly!

3. Send her some music on DVD: http://rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=971624
I have heard everyone say their mom is a Manilow fan!

Stay tuned for Fathers Day suggestions.

Dian Diaz Lighting it Up

We came across another future superstar with Dian Diaz. Currently a mainstay of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, she is embarking on touring the U.S. and promoting her new CD.

A bit we borrowed from her site: http://www.diandiaz.com/

Dian's New CD will include 10 new original songs,including four of which were written by Dian. The new music reflects her artistical evolution and an aggressive change in her style. As you begin to listen, it is not easy to predict what follows next.
>Some of the songwriters include Multi-Grammy Award winning songwriter producer Narada Michael Walden who's credits include Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin and many more. Also on the new CD is The DJ Jazzy Jeff's Crew out of Philadelphia. Their credits include Will Smith and Jill Scott just to name a few.

Dian Diaz-"Colour Everywhere"
REAL: http://emwebmail.com/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redmusic.com%2Fstreams%2FDianDiaz%2FColourEverywhere.ramWINDOWS MEDIA: http://emwebmail.com/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redmusic.com%2Fstreams%2FDianDiaz%2FColourEverywhere.asx

Judy Garland: Heartbreaker

NY-based musician John Meyer tells all in this memoir on the late great Judy Garland. The story is told through Meyer, as he and Judy dated for a while about 6 months before her death. Garland died at the age of 47 from an overdose of Barbituates.
The audio that Meyer offers on his website is pretty staggering. Check it out, then check out this amazing book!

Meet The Author: John Meyer

AUDIO
Meet The Author: John Meyerhttp://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/heartbreaker_1.wma
Excerpt from rehearsal with Judy Garland and John Meyerhttp://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/heartbreaker_2.wma
Another excerpt from rehearsal with Judy Garland and John Meyerhttp://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/heartbreaker_3.wma
VIDEO
Judy Garland on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,and footage from a John Meyer interview, originally aired on E!http://www.judygarlandheartbreaker.com/video.html

Erasure in NYC

Where?......Crash Mansion on the Bowery on May 20 in NYC, presented by Jack-FM.

The one & only addition to Erasure’s Union Street acoustic tour kicks off at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville May 6th. 101.1, JACK FM, kicks-off a three-week, on-air, online and text messaging Erasure concert promotion on May 1, driving listeners to the Jack-FM website (www.ilikejack.com) where they will test their knowledge of Erasure in a variety of fun and colorful ways for a chance to win entry into this private performance.

101.1 JACK FM is the New York areas newest and most music intensive radio station, playing a wide variety of music and styles including rock, pop, alternative and rhythm.

Erasure Releases Acoustic Album

Erasure have always been full of surprises. In two decades of plugging in and wigging out, Vince Clarke and Andy Bell have sold millions of albums around the world, staged Broadway-style live spectaculars, influenced countless dance, techno and alternative rock acts, and topped the charts with outlandish cover versions. The latest Book of British Hit Singles ranks the duo among the “Top 100 Most Successful Acts of All Time” and in 2005 The Times Of London proclaimed them more important than Kraftwerk in the great history book of rock. Their record-breaking ten-night stand in New York City last year, in support of the critically-acclaimed Nightbird album, find the duo as relevant and beloved as ever by longtime fans and a whole new generation as well.

On their brand new album UNION STREET, Vince and Andy have delivered their biggest surprise yet. In a boldly experimental step for an electronic band, they have unplugged themselves, bringing new soulful new depths and acoustic, maybe even a touch of country-western, textures to 11 songs spanning their entire career.

Union Street was recorded in the Brooklyn studio of the same name, which is owned by guitarist Steve Walsh, who previously played on Erasure’s 2003 covers collection Other People’s Songs and produced Nightbird. Walsh is currently assembling musicians for Erasure’s first ever live-band tour. "We found this cool guitarist with a cool studio and decided to use both,” says Vince.
The album is dominated by revamped album tracks and born-again B-sides that the band felt best suited an extreme makeover. All sound refreshingly different to their original blueprints. “It was great going back through those songs, some of which I hadn't listened to properly since we made them,” Vince recalls. "Suddenly you heard some of the naivety that was in there in the first place."

“Boy” Streaming Audio:
(Real Media)
http://exodus.interoutemediaservices.com/?id=d8c5c8a7-265b-40e8-854e-52d6f07ea211&delivery=stream
(Windows Media)
http://exodus.interoutemediaservices.com/?id=a1146347-ef91-4a7d-9b8d-f3b09efef609&delivery=stream

A Tribute to Cole Porter benefits AIDS research

Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute To Cole Porter is an eclectic musical homage to the legendary songwriter benefiting AIDS research and relief. On April 25th Shout! Factory released the videos from this successful benefit project on DVD for the first time, combined with a newly remastered CD in the same package. Red Hot + Blue brings together a diverse group of A-list artists including U2, The Neville Brothers, Sinead O’Conner, Tom Waits, David Byrne (who also directs one of the videos) and more to cover Cole Porter gems such as “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Too Darn Hot,” “I Get A Kick Out Of You” and “In The Still Of The Night.” Each artist brings their own unique, sometimes loose, interpretation to these unforgettable hits. As with the original release, all profits from sales will go to the Red Hot Organization.

The Red Hot + Blue DVD, created by Leigh Blake and John Carlin, features artistic videos addressing the effect of AIDS on society from such acclaimed directors as Jonathan Demme (The Manchurian Candidate, Silence of the Lambs), Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club, U2: The Best of 1990-2000), Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) and Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers, Mystery Train). As a bonus, the DVD includes a live performance by Annie Lennox with Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter of “Everytime We Say Goodbye” from the 1995 VH1 Honors Awards. Also presented on the DVD are interviews with Roland Gift, Richard Gere and John Malkovich culled from the 1991 Red Hot + Blue TV special.

Considered one of the first major AIDS benefits in the music industry, the original CD, released in 1990, sold over a million copies and spent 24 weeks on the Billboard charts. Sales of the album generated over three million dollars in revenue, which were donated to over 100 organizations helping to fight AIDS around the world.

“Well Did You Evah?” - Debbie Harry & Iggy Pop
Windows Media http://www.shoutfactory.com/av/mar06/Debbie_Harry_Sm.wmv
http://www.shoutfactory.com/av/mar06/Debbie_Harry_Med.wmv
Quicktime
http://www.shoutfactory.com/av/mar06/Debbie_Harry_Sm.movhttp://www.shoutfactory.com/av/mar06/Debbie_Harry_Med.mov

ISM

Psycho Psycadelic Hard Rock at it's finest. ISM's single Beside The Sun combines elctronic radiance with 'modern' hard rock sounds. We can definitely see this song as the main title in an action movie soundtrack. The vocals are strong and the mix is driving.

The album apparently hit the street on February 21st of this year. Take a listen for yourself......

ISM: Beside the Sun - http://www.emwebmail.com/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvista.streamguys.com%2Fjspiewak%2Fism_besidethesun.wma

ISM Website: http://www.emwebmail.com/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ismmusic.com%2F

Jupiter Rising Higher and Higher

Looking for that bounce in your car roadtrip song? Look no further. Jupiter Rising has risen to the occasion. Check out the video stream link and bio below!

Jupiter Rising: Go
http://www.emwebmail.com/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvista.streamguys.com%2Fjspiewak2%2Fjr_go_video.wmv

“We’re on a mission to change the world,” proclaims 80 Bug, singer, songwriter, DJ and half of the format-busting musical duo Jupiter Rising.

After one listen to “Go,” the barnstorming lead track from the pair’s debut album, Strength in Numbers (due this spring from Chime Entertainment), you might be forgiven for thinking the change in question will start on the dancefloor. If this relentlessly funky amalgam of hip-hop, pop, rock, dancehall and more doesn’t make you move, consult a physician.

But 80 and her partner, composer-multi-instrumentalist-programmer-human beatbox Spencer Nezey, have a lot more up their sleeves. Take, for example, the soaring ballad “Hero,” which was selected as the theme for the acclaimed International Museum of Women’s project Imagining Ourselves. The song’s soulful refrain yearns for “a hero to save us from ourselves,” but declares that if one doesn’t arrive, “I will do it myself.”

This sort of determination is at the core of Jupiter Rising’s mission. “We both felt so unsatisfied by most of the music out there,” 80 notes. “It’s either bands asking why life sucks but offering no explanation, or trite, dumb stuff about shaking your ass, getting the guy, getting money. We want our music to make people feel full of hope, full of self-awareness and a sense of connection and belonging. We want them to feel something they didn’t feel before they listened to us.”

Strength in Numbers frequently returns to these themes of self-empowerment and community. The infectious, old-school anthem “The Bus,” for example, celebrates the band’s perseverance en route to a music career – and boasts a cameo by an early player in hip-hop’s trip to the mainstream, Kid of Kid ‘n’ Play. Amid the heartache and poverty, 80 sings, “It’s the groove that keeps us comin’.” “I came up with the track for ‘Bus’ and already thought it would be a single,” Spencer recalls, “and then 80 came up with the chorus, and it was, like, damn!”

The epic throwdown “Backstage” captures the twilight moment between post-show exhaustion and afterparty euphoria – promising, with Jupiter’s typical resilience, that the band will take a breath and then be ready for the next round. Underlining the song’s atmosphere of off-the-wall, late-night jamming, the track features saxophone (courtesy of Spencer) and even a cümbüş (pronounced “joom-bush”), a Turkish banjo.

Romantic matters, meanwhile, give 80 a chance to display her expressive range. On the bottom-heavy love song “Frenz,” she testifies to a desire to take a platonic relationship to the next level. “I don’t expect ‘Frenz’ to change the world,” she relates, “but if someone can connect with that feeling – and give the song to someone they feel that way about – we’ve done our job.”

The musical chemistry between 80 – with her versatile, soulful vocals and pop instincts – and Spencer, a madly prolific writer who brings both compositional depth and an encyclopedic knowledge of beats to the table, certainly testifies to a unique artistic friendship. “It’s easy,” Spencer explains, “because she’s a storyteller. I’ll give her a concept and she’ll run with it.” Elaborates 80, “He’ll be in working on a beat and I’ll go, ‘Ooh, I like that – how about this?’ Sometimes I’ll be in the other room listening to him writing a track, and by the time he’s added the instruments, I’ve written the song.”

The pair traveled along very different paths before they joined forces. Raised by her missionary mom and stepdad, 80 grew up traveling around the South – and wasn’t allowed to listen to anything but gospel until age 13. “I started singing as a child, studying records by classic gospel artists,” she remembers. “I sang my little heart out, and was performing in front of huge crowds early on – my first TV appearance, in front of thousands of people, came when I was about six.” She won vocal competitions everywhere she went, despite having had no formal training. “I would pull these gospel records apart,” she notes. “I could sing every tiny inflection.”

By her adolescence, though, she was a full-fledged punk rocker, sporting a pink Mohawk and listening to everything from the Dead Milkmen to Kate Bush while threading her skateboard through crowds of disapproving classmates. “I got switchblades pulled on me and rocks thrown at me, because I was a punk chick in the South,” she recalls, laughing. “I’d felt so much restriction in my life, and now I finally felt absolutely free.”

After singing in a short-lived rock band, 80 made her way to California and quickly became involved in the dance scene, and soon her vocals appeared on numerous singles on multiple labels. She joined a dance-oriented band and attracted industry attention with her dusky, expressive vocals. “I played a lot of dingy clubs and crazy raves and Burning Man,” she volunteers. Just as the band seemed on the verge of success, Spencer entered the picture.

The San Diego native began playing the saxophone at age nine. After an early interest in hip-hop, he made the segue to jazz and then to electronica. “I realized I was just into beats,” he points out. “I started listening to trance, drum ‘n’ bass, trip-hop, and then finally made my way back around to mainstream hip-hop. Now I listen to everything, and incorporate it all into my writing.”

His hip-hop/reggae band The Beats scored opening spots for artists as diverse as Busta Rhymes and Reel Big Fish, and he also got attention for a side project, Stereo Science. He was invited to a party by the proprietor of 4th Street Recording in Santa Monica, where he took over the DJ rig. 80 was also at the party, and she was floored by Spencer’s scratching. “I was on my way to the little girl’s room and I’m thinking, ‘This guy’s badass – I gotta grab him and get him into the studio,’” she says. “But somebody else grabbed him first.”

Happily, fate brought the two together again shortly thereafter. “I was working on a record in the Black Eyed Peas’ studio and she came in to sing the hook,” recalls Spencer. “She called me up and said, ‘Let’s work together,’ and I became part of her band.” He transferred from his San Diego-area college to Cal State University Northridge and moved into a room in 80’s house, where their songwriting kicked into overdrive.

80’s six-piece group had long been courted by producer-entrepreneur Marc Tanner, who signed them for his new label, Chime. But as they began working on the record, Spencer’s influence grew. “He and I were writing material that was just light years ahead,” 80 insists. “Soon all the old songs were replaced by our new stuff, and the six members shrank down to just us two.”

Produced by Tanner (Shawn Colvin, Madonna, The Calling), Jason Villaroman (Black Eyed Peas, Macy Gray, John Legend) and the band, Strength in Numbers began as a hip-hop party record but soon morphed into something more diverse. “It’s an organic record,” reflects Spencer. “We started with all these party joints, but there was a whole other, more musical vibe once we started working in the studio.” They were aided immeasurably by drummer-percussionist Mike Shapiro, who’d honed his chops with Brazilian wizard Sergio Mendez. “He’s made the most incredible music, but he was determined to just give us what we wanted,” Spencer marvels. “Plus he’s a dope cat – I spent a lot of time hanging out with him.”

The group’s name, meanwhile, came when 80 was preparing an astrological chart. “I came across the term ‘Jupiter expanding,’ and I loved that,” she remembers. “I did some research on Jupiter and learned that it’s this huge, gaseous planet with a molten core that has saved the Earth countless times – it has a massive gravitational pull, so it absorbs all this space debris that might otherwise hit us.” Jupiter’s liquid energy and powerful presence became a symbol of what she and Spencer hoped to achieve with their music.

“I really liked this idea of a dynamic force that draws its power from its core, but that also has all this room to grow,” 80 muses. “I’m hopeful that we can be this magnetic pull to help cultivate and unify all these like-minded people. People want to come together, to break down walls of religion, ideology and color. We want to plug into that and offer something real, something that steps away from all the negativity and superficiality that came before. Yesterday doesn’t count. We’re here now, and we’re ready to lead, to be a positive influence.”