Driven Far Off

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Reel Big Fish and Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer – Duet All Night Long

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Artist: Reel Big Fish and Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer
Album: Duet All Night Long
Label: Reignition Records
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: February 20, 2007

Overall: 9.0
Music: 9.5
Lyrics: 8.5
Production: 9.5

Duet All Night Long is one of the most interesting releases so far this year. Itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s part split, part collaboration, part cover. The bands switch care of the covers at the end of each song, meaning there is a nice mix of Reel Big Fishâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s standard-setting ska and Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyerâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s fun-loving, synth-driven pop rock. Both bandsâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ sounds are upbeat with some silliness, giving way to a perfect feel-good album. Adding to the fun is the collaboration on vocals on each track; Rachel Minton of Zolof lends her talent to all of Reel Big Fishâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s tracks and Aaron Barrett and Scott Klopfenstein mix up Zolof songs with some more masculine vocals. As for the songs covered, these 80s hits were mostly before my time, so I was only a little familiar with half of the songs. However, the album was still immensely enjoyable given both bandâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s happy-go-lucky interpretations of the melodies along with the great vocal duets.

Tracklisting:

  1. “Ask” (originally by The Smiths) – Reel Big Fish (03:20)
  2. “Dress You Up” (originally by Madonna) – Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer (03:24)
  3. “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” (originally by Fishbone) – Reel Big Fish (04:17)
  4. “Don’t You Want Me” (originally by The Human League) – Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer (03:08)
  5. “It’s Not Easy” (originally from the Walt Disney animated film Pete’s Dragon) – Reel Big Fish (02:46)
  6. “Say Say Say” (originally by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney) – Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer (03:23)

Dear and the Headlights – Small Steps, Heavy Hooves

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Artist: Dear and the Headlights
Album: Small Steps, Heavy Hooves
Label: Equal Vision Records
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: February 6, 2007

Overall: 7.5
Music: 8.0
Lyrics: 7.0
Production: 7.0

I was interested in Dear and the Headlights after hearing a song or two on their Myspace, but when I got their album I felt like would be unable to review it because it was quite difficult for me to pinpoint their sound. Their sound shifts from song to song, sometimes soft-spoken and soothing “but with synth instead of piano “like Copeland (e.g. “Oh No”), sometimes more like the peppy indie rock of Rooney (e.g. “Sweet Talk”), sometimes reminiscent of alternative bands like Coldplay or British pop-rockers Travis (“Happy in Love”), and sometimes ringing in my head like Straylight Run (“I’m Bored, You’re Amorous”) or even at times like Dashboard Confessional (“Run in the Front”) “mostly due to vocal inflections common in the sub-genre.

Musically this album can be filed neither under emo, despite aforementioned vocal stylings calling various emo bands to mind, nor indie rock. While pop-punk influences are clear, for the most part, guitar riffs are strong and varied making the entire album an interesting listen. Before putting the band’s variation to words, I was disappointed by the unreliability in style. However after a few listens and an attempt to describe the sound on Small Steps, Heavy Hooves, I’ve found that Dear and the Headlights essentially deliver a well-rounded, mainstream album.

Tracklisting:

  1. “Oh No!” (4:14)
  2. “Sweet Talk” (2:56)
  3. “Hallelujah” (4:09)
  4. “Happy In Love” (3:45)
  5. “I’m Bored, You’re Amorous” (4:00)
  6. “Grace” (4:05)
  7. “It’s Gettin’ Easy” (3:32)
  8. “Paper Bag” (3:53)
  9. “Skinned Knees and Gapped Teeth” (3:35)
  10. “Run in the Front” (4:22)
  11. “Mother Make Me Golden” (4:12)
  12. “I Just Do” (3:43)
  13. “Midwestern Dirt” (6:46)

Article #11 – Recap

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So the new year of music is upon us. Stereos are being filled with new music after the long void that is the holidays. Already though we have had some albums released that people were highly anticipating and were hoping would be good enough to last the remainder of 2007 without getting sick of. Some of those releases are from Bloc party, Anberlin, Fall Out Boy, Dustin Kensrue, Futures of forestry, Relient K and The Shins not to mention a bunch of other releases out so far, so how is this year shaping up so far?

Has the beginning of your year been filled with let downs or surprises? What are the releases that you are still waiting for 2007 to bring you?

Make Money With Hoooka

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Indie 911 has launched hoooka, a personalized media store and player that enables both artists and fans to play, share, promote and sell their favorite digital media. Hoooka allows users to instantly become their own mobile media store, the hoooka showcases playlists that can be posted anywhere online, from blogs and social networking pages to personal Web sites. Check out more details below and get your own hoooka here.
Consumer and artist-friendly features – The hoooka combines the networking aspects of MySpace with the digital sale opportunities of iTunes. It was designed to give consumers and artists an easy tool to share and sell media.

  • Chat live across multiple social networks. For the first time, users can chat live through the hoooka platform regardless of what network, blog or individual Web site their hoooka is embedded.
  • Videos. Users customize their hoooka with music videos and feature films from the indie911 database as well as their own user generated videos and offer it for stream or sale.
  • Customizable. A customized hoooka reflects user personality and artistic tastes. Users create as many hoookas as they want and upload any type of mediaâ┚¬Ã¢â‚¬be it pictures, videos, music or user-generated content.
  • Stronger value for artists, labels and consumers. Rights holders receive 80 percent of the revenue made for any song or video sold through a hoooka, while 10 percent of the revenue goes to the â┚¬Ã…”hoooka owner.â┚¬? As most competitors offer rights holdersâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ percentages in the 60 to 70 percent range, the hoooka offers one of the best splits in the industry.

Hoookas for everyone – Whether youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢re a music fan, artist, label or promoter, the hoooka provides a cool way to discover, promote and highlight your personal favorites or top artists.

  • Music fans: indie911â┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s 100,000 members now have the ability to create and share their own hoookaâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s with anyone anywhere. By simply selecting music or video from the online catalog, fans can begin sharing, selling and making money immediately from artists ranging from Willie Nelson to Barenaked Ladies.
  • Signed and unsigned artists: Through its unique â┚¬Ã…”sounds likeâ┚¬? system, the hoooka is a great tool for discovering new, unsigned artists, as well playing favorites from major and well-known independent artists such as Cartel (Epic), The Cardigans (Nettwerk), Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (Ragged Company/Hollywood Records), Keller Williams and The String Cheese Incident (Sci Fidelity Records).
  • Music festival organizers: Event promoters have partnered with indie911 to create personalized, branded hoookaâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s highlighting artists performing at their festivals:
    • South by Southwest, Austin, Texas, March 8-17. indie911â┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s â┚¬Ã…”hoookafestâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ includes various events happening during the annual Austin festival, including the Afro Punk showcase and the first blogger-curated music showcase known as â┚¬Ã…”The Hot Freaks.â┚¬? There will be over 50 individual hoookaâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s created from various artists performing at SXSW.
      • Langerado Music Festival, Sunrise, Fla., March 8-12. This jam band festival has created artist-branded hoookaâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s for the String Cheese Incident and Tea Leaf Green.
        • Winter Music Conference, Miami, Fla., March 21-24. This electronic music conference will feature hoookas celebrating the launch of new music from Tila Tequila and Sander Kleinenberg.