San Francisco’s Outside Lands is coming up this weekend and many IODA artists are featured in the lineup, so we’ve teamed up with iTunes to offer you a free Outside Lands playlist! It features sweet artists such as Bassnectar, Little Wings, and Langhorne Slim. The playlist is available on the Outside Lands website and the iTunes Facebook page. Don’t miss out on this offer!
Artist: Matthew Dear
Title: Black City
Label: Ghostly International
Genre: Electronic : Alternative
UPC: 804297812007
Territory: Americas
Digital Release Date: 08.03.10
“If you’ve followed Matthew Dear over the years, then you know he doesn’t like to stay in one place for very long. Even as a primarily electronic artist in the early 2000s, Dear hopped from label to label, switched aliases often, and made everything from steely microhouse to harder Detroit techno. But his biggest departure was 2007′s Asa Breed, the record where he stepped out from behind the decks and reached for the mic. Black City is a consolidation of the strengths displayed through his career, and could be his best record to date.” -Pitchfork.com
The accolades for Matthew Dear’s new LP Black City just keep rolling in. Following a Best New Music nod from Pitchfork for the lead single “Little People (Black City),” the popular online publication gave a Best New Music tag to the album as well. With positive reviews pouring in from many other publications, blogs and reviewers it’s clear that Black City is a critical success!
“Captivating distractions are everywhere within the confines of the titular Black City of Matthew Dear’s fourth full length album. The man who makes the techno world shake under aliases Audion, False and Jabberjaw, uses his given name for releases that seem to continuously grow more adventurous and approachable, and this latest effort finds him at his best on all fronts.” -URB.com
Grab the single ” I Can’t Feel” right here:
Matthew Dear
“I Can’t Feel” (mp3)
from “Black City”
(Ghostly International)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album
Dan Mangan
“Robots” (mp3)
from “Nice, Nice, Very Nice”
(Arts & Crafts)
Beginning with its reference to a Kurt Vonnegut poem, Nice, Nice, Very Nice is classic Mangan, brimming with irreverence that aims to capture the absurdity of life with astounding honesty and wit. Mangan effortlessly leads listeners through a true range of emotions, complete with earnest affection every one of us can appreciate. He’s soon embarking on a North American tour with the following dates:
Aug 20 – Austin, TX : The Parish (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Aug 21 – Norman, Oklahoma : The Opolis (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Aug 22 – St. Louis, Missouri : Old Rock House (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Aug 23 – Bloomington, Indiana : The Bishop (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Aug 24 – Chicago, IL : Schubas (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Aug 26 – Pontiac, MI : Pike Room @ The Crofoot (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Aug 27 – Dayton, OH : South Park Tavern (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Aug 28 – Buffalo, NY : Mohawk Place (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Aug 29 – Portland, ME : Space Gallery (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Aug 31 – Boston, MA : Great Scott (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Sept 1 – Brooklyn, NY : Union Hall (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Sept 3 – New York, NY : Mercury Lounge (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Sept 4 – Philadelphia, PA : North Star (w/ The Wooden Birds)
Sept 10 – Portland, OR : The Crystal Ballroom (w/ Okkervil River & Bobby Bare Jr.)
Sept 14 – San Francisco, CA : The Fillmore (w/ The Walkmen & Japandroids)
Sept 15 – Los Angeles, CA : The Music Box @ The Fonda (w/ The Walkmen & Japandroids)
Sept 17 – Tempe, AZ : Clubhouse Music Venue (w/ The Walkmen & Japandroids)
Sept 18 – Solana Beach, CA : Belly Up Tavern (w/ The Walkmen & Japandroids)
Artist: John Mellencamp
Title: No Better Than This
Label: Rounder Records
Genre:Rock & Roll : Adult Contemporary
UPC: 011661328426
Territory: Canada & U.S.
Release Date: 08.17.10
In an age of auto-tuned, computerized recordings, John Mellencamp’s approach on his Rounder debut, No Better Than This, is refreshing. The entire album was recorded with Mellencamp and his band all playing live in one room using a 55 year-old Ampex tape recorder and just one vintage microphone. The songs on No Better Than This reflect classic American musical traditions including blues, folk, gospel, rockabilly, and country, while addressing such themes as the need for hope, the nature of relationships, and narratives that recount extraordinary occurrences in everyday life. He’s currently on a North American tour:
Aug 18 – Las Vegas, NV : Colosseum @ Caesars Palace
Aug 19 – Ontario, Canada : Citizens Business Bank Arena
Aug 27 – Bend, OR : Les Schwab Amphitheatre
Aug 28-29 – Troutdale, OR : Edgefield
Aug 31 – Missoula, MT : Ogren Park @ Allegiance Field
Sept 1 – Post Falls, ID : Greyhound Park
Sept 3 – Yakima, WA : Yakima County Stadium
Oct 2 – Milwaukee, WI : Farm Aid 25 Miller Park
Artist: Starfucker
Title: B-Sides
Label: Badman Recording Co
Genre:Alternative : Pop
UPC: 847108047625
Territory: World
Release Date: 08.17.10
Portland, Oregon’s electro-pop favorites Starfucker recorded a 7″ single and two vinyl LP’s on the Badman label. Each piece of vinyl included tracks not released digitally. We are now making these 5 “b-sides” available as a digital only EP entitled B-Sides. Starfucker will be starting a North American Fall tour this September:
Sept 23 – Boise, ID : Neurolux
Sept 24 – Salt Lake City, UT : Kilby Court
Sept 24 – Salt Lake City, UT : Urban Lounge
Sept 25 – Denver, CO : Hi Dive
Sept 27 – Kansas City, MO : the Record Bar
Sept 29 – Little Rock, AR : Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom
Sept 30 – Shreveport, LA : the Collective
Oct 1 – Birmingham, AL : Bottletree Café
Oct 2 – Atlanta, GA : Drunken Unicorn
Oct 5 – Chapel Hill, NC : Local 506
Oct 6 – Washington, DC : DC9
Oct 7 – Philadelphia, PA : Kung Fu Necktie
Oct 8 – Brooklyn, NY : Music Hall of Williamsburg
Oct 9 – New Haven, CT : Café Nine
Oct 10 – Cambridge, MA : TT The Bears
Oct 11 – Montreal, Canada : Casa Del Popolo
Oct 12 – Toronto, Canada : Wrongbar
Oct 13 – Pittsburg, PA : Garfield Artworks
Oct 14 – Cleveland, OH : Grog Shop
Oct 15 – Chicago, IL : Bottom Lounge
Oct 16 – Minneapolis, MN : Triple Rock Social Club
Oct 19 – Seattle, WA : Neumos
Oct 20 – Portland, OR : Roseland
Oct 22 – San Francisco, CA : Great American Music Hall
Oct 23 – Los Angeles, CA : Echoplex
Oct 24 – San Diego, CA : the Casbah
Oct 25 – Tucson, AZ : Plush
Nov 4 – Costa Mesa, CA : Detroit Bar
Nov 5 – Petaluma, CA : Phoenix Theatre
Lee Scratch Perry
“Psalm” (mp3)
from “Revelation”
(Megawave)
Dub reggae legend Lee Scratch Perry delivers a second follow-up album, plus this special vinyl edition of essential tracks, to his Grammy-nominated collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Steve Marshall and producer John Saxon. Perry continues to create unique, category-defying music. Be sure to catch him at these shows:
Aug 14 – Johnson, VT : Lamoille County Field Days
Aug 15 – Portland, ME : The Asylum
Aug 17 – New York, NY : Highline Ballroom
Aug 18 – Allston, MA : Harper’s Ferry
Aug 19 – Philadelphia, PA : World Café Live
Aug 20 – Stephentown, NY : Gardners Farm
Aug 22 – Los Angeles, CA : Sanborn Stage
IODAcast 074, Featuring: Matthew Dear, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Dragonette and more.
Listen at IODAcast.com or at iTunes and download the tracks to go below:
Matthew Dear
“I Can’t Feel” (mp3)
from “Black City”
(Ghostly International)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album
Lee Scratch Perry
“Psalm” (mp3)
from “Revelation”
(Megawave)
Dan Mangan
“Robots” (mp3)
from “Nice, Nice, Very Nice”
(Arts & Crafts)
The Phenomenauts
“I Am Not Robot” (mp3)
from “Electric Sheep: Electronic Extended Play”
(Silver Sprocket)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album
Matt Skiba
“S.O.S.” (mp3)
from “Demos”
(Asian Man Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album
Dragonette
“Our Summer” (mp3)
from “Mixin To Thrill”
(Dragonette Inc)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album
SXSW 2011 may be seven months away but you can already start picking the panels you’d be interested in checking out for the interactive, film and music portions of the week long festival. View all of the panels here and check out IODA’s proposed music-related topics below. Don’t be shy to click through and vote!
Organizer: Kevin Arnold, IODA
Description: iTunes continues to be the leader in the digital music world and is a critical part of every new indie release campaign, but new models for legal music consumption and revenue generation continue to emerge and grow in the US and abroad, in some markets now taking the pole position. These new subscription and cloud-based services present significant exposure and retail opportunities for indies. This panel will look at the changing DSP landscape with a critical eye on what the new services mean for Indies. We’ll explore how the services encourage music discovery and what’s new and interesting in recommendations and editorial, then discuss how the revenue models work and what you can do to maximize your earnings and exposure. Spotify, MOG, Rdio, MFlow, Dada, Guvera, Thumbplay, and others will be in the crosshairs.
Questions Answered :
1. Will we really make any money from this?
2. What’s working where? How do European, Asian, and other markets differ in service offerings from North America?
3. Will the new models impact my existing business in downloads?
4. What should be done differently when marketing to these services compared to the common ala carte digital stores?
5. Do Indies have a better shot at exposure and connecting with new fans than in the current leading services?
Organizer: Adam Rabinovitz, IODA
Description: Having a lucrative global fan base is no longer an opportunity reserved just for the industry elite. Now more than ever the international markets present a real opportunity for every artist. Reaching those fans however means you need to throw out old conventions of how to market your music. Rather than launching your record in stages across different regions you need to have a global perspective and accept the realities of our digital world. That means launching your music at the same time around the world and using the “just-in-time” information available through today’s tools and analytics to determine what regions you should put your time and investment toward. Buck the old way of doing things while becoming more nimble and you just might find that where your real fans are is not at all what you expected.
Questions Answered:
1. How do you orchestrate an all-at-once global launch?
2. What kind of data should I be looking at to inform where I put my marketing investment?
3. How do I create demand in a new market before the launch if I roll out my music in all regions at the same time?
4. How do I quantify regional success?
5. What can I do to expand regional success into other surrounding areas?
Organizer: Isaac Bess, IODA
Description: With 47 countries and nearly four billion people, Asia represents a clear but daunting opportunity for both local and international independent music. Many have tried but very very few independents have been successful in effectively expanding into Asia. This panel will explore what the practical opportunity is in each of five key Asian markets, what the landscape looks like for both digital and physical distribution, and what’s happening locally to facilitate growth in the indie sector.
Questions Answered :
1. Overview of each key export market – Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, South East Asia
2. Success stories in each market, some expected and some unexpected
3. What role does digital play in helping to grow these markets for international music? Is mobile focus a help or a hindrance? What about piracy?
4. What about in reverse, are there opportunities for the export independent music from Asia to the rest of the world?
5. Burgeoning indie scenes in Japan, China, Taiwan and South East Asia
Artist: Mice Parade
Title: What It Means To Be Left-Handed
Label: Fat Cat Records
Genre: Rock : Indie
UPC: 600116510129
Territory: US, Canada
Release Date: 09.14.10
Part children’s cartoon, part career retrospective, What It Means To Be Left-Handed is the first Mice Parade album to be released in the band’s second decade of existence. Diverging from the pop sensibilities of Mice Parade’s most recent successes – Bem-Vinda Vontade and Mice Parade – it is a fresh adventure, all over the map and awash in color; splashes of West-African Highlife mingle with Flamenco, Brazilian Jazz, and the late ‘80s indie rock that band founder Adam Pierce was stuck on in high school.
In typical Mice Parade fashion, What It Means To Be Left-Handed cuts a wide stylistic swath, but Pierce’s trademark stormy, intricate percussion, as well as melodic interweaving and warm, resonant vocal treatments carry throughout, stitching the pieces into a coherent whole.
While Pierce plays and sings the bulk of this latest effort, he summoned members of his globally-scattered touring outfit to bring their voices and instruments to the table: among the ranks are vocalist Caroline Lufkin (who also records for Temporary Residence Ltd. as a solo artist), classical guitarist Dan Lippel, and megadrummer Doug Scharin (HiM, Codeine, Rex, Enablers). In addition to his bandmates, Pierce allies himself here with a range of guest musicians: Swahili vocalist Somi (album opener “Kupanda”), Meredith Godreau of FatCat’s Gregory & The Hawk (“Do Your Eyes See Sparks”), and members of the Japanese band Clammbon (“Tokyo Late Night”).
From the first, What It Means To Be Left-Handed showcases the intricate sonics, joyful audio experimentation, and expansive worldview that make Mice Parade one of the most compelling ensembles of our time. Mice Parade will be touring the US this fall so keep an eye out. In the meantime, give this promotrack a listen:
Mice Parade
“In Between Times” (mp3)
from “What It Means To Be Left-Handed”
(Fat Cat Records)
British three piece The Virginmarys‘ single, “Bang Bang Bang” is this week’s iTunes Single of the Week in the UK and United States.
Photo by Karen McBride
From iTunes: “It doesn’t get more primal than guitar-bass-drums — and The Virginmarys elevate the holy triumvirate and attack their instruments like hungry bears stumbling upon a fresh carcass. “Bang Bang Bang” is like a cosmic collaboration of Humble Pie and Wolfmother — all gnashing guitar and bass, cymbal crashes, and sweaty, flyaway hair (facial and otherwise) swishing from side to side. Slash digs ‘em; so should you. ”
For a limited time, get their debut EP, Cast the First Stone for just $3.99.
by: Chelsea Bassler
Once upon a time, Dan Mangan was a starving musician unable to afford a back-up band and traveling the world on his own penny. Flash forward to today, and he is a Polaris Music Prize Nominee (alongside the likes of Owen Pallett and Caribou) and an iTunes chart topper. He is a modern day success story, with his music having gained popularity by word-of-mouth and the blogosphere.
The Canadian singer-songwriter fostered an early love of music. By age 10, he could play “Abbey Road” on the piano and he bought his first record, Aerosmith’s Get A Grip – yet this wasn’t exactly his musical inspiration. With two full-length albums under his belt (Postcards and Daydreaming and Nice, Nice, Very Nice) Mangan finds it difficult to place his style into any specific category. While Postcards has a very DIY acoustic folk-rock sound, Nice, Nice, Very Nice contains a mix of styles yet it maintains Mangan’s signature folk sound. Mangan explains, “[Nice, Nice, Very Nice] became about branching worlds together. There are a lot of one-two bluegrass bass lines on the record, but at the same time I don’t feel like it’s a bluegrass record. There are a couple of songs that are really mellow and guitar-vocal-heavy, but I don’t feel it’s a sappy singer-songwriter record. There are a couple of punk-rock fills, but it’s not a rock ’n’ roll record. I really don’t know where it fits in.” Although his fans seem to know where to place the album: Nice, Nice, Very Nice remained at the #1 spot on the iTunes Canada Singer/Songwriter chart for six months. Perhaps it is his stylistic versatility that has made Mangan such a hit; everyone can find their groove within his music.
One undeniable aspect of Mangan’s music is that it is deeply personal and honest. His sincere lyrics come from his life experiences, such as spending time with his grandfather (“Basket”) and his longing to be one of the cool kids (“The Indie Queens Are Waiting”). His songs have a way of reaching out to listeners, and his grizzly warm voice seems to sing only to you. So even though he may have moved up from playing intimate coffee shops to sold-out venues, Mangan will never feel far away.
Artist: Dan Mangan
Title: Postcards and Daydreaming
Label: File Under: Music
Genre: Indie : Folk
UPC: 875531001587
Territory: U.S.
Release Date: 07.10.07
Check out this Promotrack, which was named Best Song and Best Vocals of 2009 by Canada’s public broadcaster (CBC):
Dan Mangan
“Robots” (mp3)
from “Nice, Nice, Very Nice”
(Arts & Crafts)
