Kooley High – “Drop A Dime (If They Get On)”

Kyle Park – ” Leavin’ Stephenville”

Red Fang – “Hank is Dead”

“Careless Love”

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

With a Daytrotter session, a feature on RollingStone.com as one of “The Best Under-the-Radar Albums Of 2011″, and upcoming shows at the SXSW Festival; husband and wife duo Arborea is on a great run.

Buck and Shanti Curran are bonded together in their journey through life by matrimony and a mutual dedication to their art, and the music they make together as Arborea is a stark and strikingly intimate reflection of their very personal mystery. From their verdant and far-flung home in the state of Maine, the avant-folk duo incant a haunting sound woven from a diversely textured loom, casting adrift songs that seemingly hover in the air, weightless and in flux, like a spectral hymn bathed in twilight. Arborea are sculptors of cinematic mini-masterpieces, with an expansive folk style that borrows from traditional American and British folk idioms, „60‟s pysch/folk and rock, “American Primitive” guitar, world indigenous music and minimalism, tethered all the while by Shanti Curran‟s wistful, ethereal vocals and lush lyrical imagery. Toting two full-length albums and a singles collection (House of Sticks, Borne!, 2009), Arborea have received near-universal acclaim with each outing, displaying a steady evolution of their folk-dappled style into shimmering sound pools which, collectively, convey the feel of minimalist film soundtracks. Arborea have come into their own with their fantastic 4th album Red Planet, absolutely the most finely distilled and focused display of their resonant sonic-acoustic vision to date.

Red Planet establishes Arborea‟s complex synthesis of acoustic folk and minimalist drone right out of the gate. From the opening motif of the acoustic guitar lament “The Fossil Sea”, Red Planet conjures a panoramic aura, like a lost outtake from Neil Young‟s Dead Man soundtrack. As that echoes its way into “Black is the Colour”, an eerie and utterly transcendent take on the traditional tune, it becomes mesmerizingly clear how the soft confluence of texture, sound and style meld to create the Arborea experience. Buck Curran‟s atmospheric guitar style echoes softly throughout, like elegies for forgotten souls or lands laid barren by time. The spotlight, however, is awash on Shanti Curran and her otherworldly and sonorous voice, sounding like a ghostly marriage of Tim Buckley and Hope Sandoval as it elevates high above the fragile acoustic terrain. Helena Espvall of Philadelphia acid-folk explorers Espers made a special trek up to Maine in the summer of 2010 to collaborate with Arborea, and her inimitable, instinctive harmonizing cello style provides key textural contributions to “Spain” and “Arms and Horses”. Throughout Red Planet, a minimalist fusion of acoustic music and folk-rock is maintained from start to finish, creating a resonant landscape illuminating a world full of softly foreboding magic and endless possibilities. Red Planet documents an astounding achievement by Arborea – two artists who have effortlessly melded their life experiences into one pure and distinct vision.

Arborea – “Phantasmagoria in Two”

Well-Known Independent Artists and Up and Coming Fan Favorites including The Wedding Present, Ruthie Foster, Poliça, and Pillow Fight to Perform at IODA’s Annual SXSW Showcase.

Today we announced the details of our highly anticipated music showcase: IODA’s 8th Annual Opening Day Bash at the upcoming SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. The annual event features 13 fan-favorite artists, from rockers Thee Oh Sees to hip hop mastermind Oddisee. Since launching in 2003, IODA has helped transform the independent music industry, enabling thousands of independent labels and artists to benefit from the digital music revolution.

Over the last seven years, the Opening Day Bash has proven itself an essential showcase for breakthrough bands including Blind Pilot, The Black Angels, Phenomenal Handclap Band, Deer Tick, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Sleepy Sun, Gold Panda, Frightened Rabbit and many more.

What: IODA’s Opening Day Bash at SXSW 2012

Where: Red Eyed Fly, 715 Red River Street, Austin, Texas

When: Wednesday, March 14^th, 2012

Time: 12 – 6 PM

IODA Sampler: All bands are represented by IODA and will be part of IODA’s free SXSW music sampler. To hear this collection of music, go to www.iodasxsw.com.

Event Line-up

Soulful vocalist Ruthie Foster’s latest work is a deeply intimate recording: a smoky mix of original songs coupled with inventive interpretations of an unexpected collection of covers – ranging from Adele to Los Lobos, and from The Black Keys to Johnny Cash. Recorded in New Orleans at the legendary Piety Street Studio, with a small group of A-List musicians that includes George Porter Jr. of the legendary Meters, Ruthie takes the listener on the most personal visit yet with her deeply moving vocals. She is supported along the way by some very special guests – gospel legends The Blind Boys of Alabama and Stax Records soul man William Bell (on a re-invention of his classic ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water.’)

Check out the making of Let It Burn…

My title is Sr. Director of IT, Operations. Basically we handle all the systems and networks that are used to run the IODA platform.  I am so grateful to have an amazing IT Team working here. They really make my job easy.

How long have you been at IODA and where were you before joining?

I have been working in digital music for over 10 years, IODA being the 5th digital music company. I joined IODA in October of last year. Previously I was at Liquid Digital Media, which ran Walmart.com MP3 store and prior to that, I was on the initial team that launched Rhapsody at Listen.com/Real Networks.

What have you been listening to? 

I have a 3 year old. So a good deal of kids music. Although, the other day she did mention she wants to listen to “rocks and roll,” so there is hope.

What is your favorite part of working in the SF office?

I love working in San Francisco and in an urban setting. ALWAYS something going on – I love the small shops, restaurants, parks and people that surround the office.

What was your first concert or most memorable concert?

My first concert was at the Beacon Theater in NYC in 1984 to see Billy Idol with my friend Margaret. We were 14. I have no idea how I was able to talk my parent’s into letting me go but I believe it had something to do with the fact that our chaperone was Margaret’s uncle, who was a NYC cop.

What do you do with your free time?

I study urban design and landscape architecture. I am currently working on designing a new children’s museum in Santa Rosa.

Who are your favorite IODA artists at the moment?

Ah – send me the names of some good children’s artists!

Any music or art discoveries you’ve made recently that you’d like to share?

Last night I attended a talk by Peter Walker, a landscape architect who designed the 911 memorial in NYC. His influence is based on modern minimalist art and how that can be translated into a place or landscape. He is in his 80s now, and one of his biggest concerns is actually seeing the memorial finished.

“Wings feat. Elzhi”

More On This Album

After waiting patiently behind two singles, a dope video, and a neon-blue triangle shaped vinyl, Union is ready to unleash the most musically challenging, painstakingly crafted, MC-packed album in the dawn of 2012 – Analogtronics. Featuring Talib Kweli, Elzhi, DOOM, Roc Marciano, Guilty Simpson, and more, Union produces space-aged bangers that mold perfectly around each guest, in addition to sprinkling in a few lush, eye-widening instrumentals. This is the full length we have all been waiting for, as bonus tracks provide over twenty songs hypnotic interstellar boop-bap.

Union consists of two Parisian producers whose otherworldly approach to analog-driven, melodically abstract, sample free hip-hop inspired Fat Beats Records to extend a label invitation immediately. When a mysterious, monolithic, glossy black package arrived at FBHQ with nothing more than a cryptic note and an unlabeled CD inside, the staff wasn’t sure if Stanley Kubrick had risen from the dead to make mixtapes or if their lives were about to be transformed forever. Luckily it was the latter, and the legendary label unleashed Union’s debut album Analogtronics on an unsuspecting Earth.

More about Union and music video…

Union was born when OJ, a Dilla-obsessed beat junkie with an unhealthy obsession for science fiction, met Gold, a jazz-head whose vast collection of vintage keyboards and synths left little room in his flat for trifling vanities like clothing and kitchen appliances. Though both shared a parallel vision for the music of tomorrow, they each occupied opposite corners of Paris’ electro underground when their worlds collided in 2009. OJ, upon catching a flash of Gold’s keyboard prowess at a Belleville loft party, approached the funky technician immediately in hopes of applying his melodic touch to a nearly finished beat tape. Gold loved what he heard, and thus two unique creative energies become one distinct Union.

Soulful vocalist Ruthie Foster’s latest work, Let It Burn, is a deeply intimate recording: a smoky mix of original songs coupled with inventive interpretations of an unexpected collection of covers – ranging from Adele to Los Lobos, and from The Black Keys to Johnny Cash. Recorded in New Orleans at the legendary Piety Street Studio, with a small group of A-List musicians that includes George Porter Jr. of the legendary Meters, Ruthie takes the listener on the most personal visit yet with her deeply moving vocals.

Jan 28: Luckenbach Blues Festival – Luckenbach, TX
Jan 31: The Grammy Museum – Los Angeles, CA
Feb 2: Aladdin Theater – Portland, OR
Feb 3: The Bing Crosby Theater – Spokane, WA
Feb 4: The Triple Door – Seattle, WA
Feb 6: The Big Room @ Sierra Nevada Brewing Company – Chico, CA
Feb 7: Humboldt State University – Van Duzer Theatre – Arcata, CA
Feb 8: Napa Valley Opera House – Napa, CA
Feb 9: Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
Feb 10: UC Santa Barbara – Campbell Hall – Santa Barbara, CA
Feb 11: The Compound Grill – Phoenix, AZ
Feb 12: Berger Performing Arts Center – Tucson, AZ
Feb 14: Strings Music Pavilion – Steamboat Springs, CO
Feb 16: Fort Lewis College – Community Concert Hall – Durango, CO
Feb 17: Vilar Center for the Arts – Beaver Creek, CO
Feb 18: Swallow Hill Music Presents @ L2 Arts & Culture Center – Denver, CO
Feb 23: Dosey Doe Cafe – The Woodlands, TX
Feb 24: Antone’s – Austin, TX
Feb 25: Sam’s Burger Joint – San Antonio, TX

POLIÇA
“Lay Your Cards Out” (mp3)
from “Give You The Ghost”
(Totally Gross National Product / POLIÇA)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

After collaborating in the studio and live on their most recent project (GAYNGS), it became apparent to vocalist Channy Leaneach (formerly Casselle) and producer Ryan Olson that they should form a collective of their own. Olson’s pop sensibilities and electronic adventurism would prove to be the perfect vehicle for Channy’s recent evolution from a roots-folk band vocalist to a R&B-bred performer. Thus, POLIÇA was born.

Jan 28: First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
Feb 14: First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
Feb 17: Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Feb 18: Bunk Bar – Portland, OR
Feb 20: Bottom Of The Hill – San Francisco, CA
Feb 21: Bootleg Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Feb 22: The Rhythm Room – Phoenix, AZ
Feb 24: Mohawk – Austin, TX
Mar 19: Basement – Nashville, TN
Mar 20: Drunken Unicorn – Atlanta, GA
Mar 21: Caledonia Lounge – Athens, GA
Mar 22: Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC
Mar 23: The Red Palace – Washington, D.C.
Mar 24: Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA
Mar 26: The Outer Space – Hamden, CT
Mar 27: Rock Shop – Brooklyn, NY The
Mar 28: Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
Mar 29: Great Scott – Boston, MA

Zeus
“Marching Through Your Head” (mp3)
from “Say Us”
(Arts & Crafts)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

As astute students of the history of rock n’ roll and purveyors of a sound that cross-references the British Invasion with ‘70s southern U.S. rock, Zeus demonstrates a band with an innate ability to create powerful and infectious music and do so as though it’s an entirely natural process. The instrument-swapping Mike O’Brien, Carlin Nicholson, Neil Quin and Rob Drake – have wasted no time earning high profile fans and collaborators, from members of Broken Social Scene to Bahamas.

Feb 9: Le Cercle – Quebec, QC
Feb 10: Metropolis – Montreal, QC
Feb 11: National Arts Centre – Ottawa, ON
Feb 22: T.T. the Bear’s – Cambridge, MA
Feb 23: The Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
Feb 24: Glasslands – Brooklyn, NY
Apr 14: Lido – Berlin, Germany
Apr 16: E-Werk – Erlangen, Germany
Apr 17: Fluc – Vienna, Austria
Apr 18: Hansa 39 – Munich, Germany
Apr 19: Gebaeude 9 – Cologne, Germany
Apr 23: Kiff – Aarau, Switzerland
Apr 24: Brotfabrik – Frankfurt, Germany
Apr 25: Exhaus – Trier, Germany
Apr 26: Trixbar – Antwerp, Belgium
Apr 27: The Hope – Brighton and Hove, UK
Apr 28: Castle – Manchester, UK
Apr 29: Glasgow Stereo – Glasgow, UK
May 1: Cluny 2 – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
May 2: Louisiana – Bristol, UK
May 3: Bush Hall – London, UK
May 4: Jericho Tavern – Oxford, UK

1.
Sugarpill
“A Gift To” (mp3)
from “Disciples of Headtron: Vol. I”
(Muti Music)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

2.
UHT°
“Le cycle” (mp3)
from “H20″
(No Fridge)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

3.
Wreckage Machinery
“Cold Hands” (mp3)
from “Cold Hands Remixes”
(Esprit Records)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

4.
Probos
“Influence” (mp3)
from “U Do It Right”
(Esprit Records)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

5.
dJ ArkAngel
“Down Low” (mp3)
from “Down Low – Single”
(Kingdom-Underground-Records)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

6.
Jake Cusack
“Anything is Possible” (mp3)
from “Jake Cusack EP28″
(AudioStudio144)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

7.
Bill Ortiz
“I Still Believe (feat. Linda Tillery And “Zumbi” from Zion I )” (mp3)
from “Winter In America”
(Left Angle Records)

More On This Album

8.
Union
“Digital Delight feat. Guilty Simpson” (mp3)
from “Analogtronics”
(Fat Beats)

More On This Album

9.
Liftoff
“Summer’s Shown” (mp3)
from “Sunday Morning Airplay”
(Fort Knox Recordings)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

10.
The Feline Dream
“Lull” (mp3)
from “Beachcomber EP”
(Pyrococcal Records)

More On This Album

“Petoskey Stone”

More On This Album

Dana Falconberry’s newest release, Though I Didn’t Call It Came, celebrates, explores, and at times laments the vast landscapes in which the songs are set. Touching on themes of childhood curiosity, mortality, and the aching beauty of solitude, the EP’s songs interweave the human experience with the world surrounding it. She guides her listeners down moonlit paths and sandy shores until they are standing right alongside her under the birches, wide-eyed and wondering at the eagles circling overhead.

A Michigan native, Falconberry has thrived musically in Austin, TX, hailed by the Austin Chronicle as one of the city’s “most promising singer-songwriters” and “most arresting female vocalists.” She has captivated audiences with her powerful live shows and haunting recordings, receiving acclaim far beyond the reaches of her hometown. The past few years have found her touring extensively through the US, Europe, and Japan. In 2011, she starred in the critically-lauded music documentary on the Austin music scene, Echotone, which was awarded a New York Times Critics’ Pick.

Recorded in an old church in Austin, TX, Though I Didn’t Call It Came is an energetic leap forward for Dana Falconberry. It is a prelude to a full-length release recorded during the same session, which will be released later in 2012. While her past records have emphasized the sparse and delicate, these songs are lushly orchestrated with a full six-piece band, a string quartet and harpist, rich four part harmonies, and a host of unexpected accents from torn paper to prepared piano.

The thing that you have to keep in mind, while listening to Dana Falconberry sing, is that she is really a real person, really. She is not something that you’re imagining up with a vivid set of notions and ideals. She is not that pretty voice that you’ve always been dreaming about, hoping that you could bring it out from behind those lacy curtains, out from behind the fog and into a real existence. She’s here. Or, she was, and she can be again. Falconberry, of Austin, Texas, can knock you out with one push of a breath and just the introductory notes of a song that will continue to flutter and flit all the way to its high perches. She emits this lonesomeness that seems to stem from an inferiority complex that’s directed at that great big world out there and how puny and ugly most everything tends to feel lined up next to it. She questions what this has all done to her – these considerations of the immensity of the sky and water and the diminutive proportion of one girl of the flesh. She looks toward these mystical, but very touchable and largely measurable things – air and water – and sees in them formidable opponents that we tend to never pick fights with. We just look and curse them from afar, the same as we do with fires and most other people.

Falconberry looks at these aspects of the everyday as allies and foes, knowing that they can’t be stopped or contained, but also getting drunk on the very idea that they cannot be stopped or contained. Some may see it as a burden, but not her. She’s going to enjoy herself – she’s going to enjoy being in well over her head though she will never think of it that way. She uses a soft and cooing voice – one that is halfway between that of a Joanna Newsom and that of a mother hen humming to herself, under her breath, while cooking some homemade deserts in the kitchen on a warm day. She’s going to offer those deserts. She’s going to dish them out and she’ll hand you a fork, ask if you’d like one or two scoops of vanilla ice cream on the side and than watch as you take that first bite in, expecting that you’ll instinctually pull your eyes closed and let out of a satisfied moan.

“Josie”

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

Three years of struggle, patience and loss. Thorough contemplation and tests of faith. The Darcys persist in 2011-12 with two releases. The first was an original studio album produced by Murray A. Lightburn of The Dears, and featuring 10 hauntingly beautiful songs, meticulously crafted and rich in dynamics and noise. The second and latest is a chilling and unlikely reimagining of Steely Dan’s 1977 classic AJA. These recordings, along with The Darcys’ massive, immaculate live performances, are evidence of a band whose moment has finally arrived. A group strengthened by its time and trials, whose future is built solely on the strength of its ideas and music of genuine depth and substance.

Hit the skip for more information and a video

The first single off the new album, “Josie”, was recently featured on Rolling Stone.com. Giving a nod to one of their favorite bands, The Darcys decided to craft their version of “Josie” in a decidedly different tone.”With ‘Josie,’ we wanted to create an ominous mood to close the record. The Steely Dan version plays like a breezy pop song about a beautiful girl, but the lyrics hint at violence and reckless abandon,” The Darcys’ Wes Marskell says. “Who is Josie to incite all of this? And where has she been? We loved the incongruity between Steely Dan’s feel and lyrical content, but our goal was to subvert the original by undermining that polarity.”

The Darcys – “Don’t Bleed Me”