The Syndicate Blog

We’re less than one week away from the release of Salvador Santana’s new album Keyboard City on February 2nd. We’re also aware that there is a lot going on in the world right now.

If you haven’t already, Salvador’s entire camp would love for you to show your support to those currently struggling in Haiti. He’s planning on rewarding those that help as well. The first 10 people who send proof of donation to info@salvadorsantana.com will be invited to join Salvador and his family to a private record release party happening next week, on February 4th in Los Angeles at 8pm.

To Qualify, You Must:

• Be at least 21 years of age
• Be able to provide your own transportation to the LA venue.
• Document your donation to the recent Haitian earthquake relief efforts

To Enter Please E-mail (to info@salvadorsantana.com)

• Receipt Of Donation
• First And Last Name
• Email Address that you can be contacted

Winners will be contacted with location information and instructions.

Salvador Santana recommends Doctors Without Borders and Best Friends charities

Thanks for your amazing support and please donate!

Last night, Spoon played a super-packed super-secret show at New York City’s Mercury Lounge. The set focused heavily on material from their last three albums, Gimme Fiction, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and the newly released Transference, as well as classic tracks like “Chicago At Night” and “The Fitted Shirt.” Spoon returns to New York City for a headlining show at Radio City Music Hall on March 26th. The bands latest album Transference was released on Tuesday and impacts College and Non-Commerical radio this week. Lead single “Written In Reverse” already sits atop the CMJ Radio Select Tracks chart.

Check out more photos below
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Have you ever heard of MOVITS!? If you haven’t, chances are you don’t watch The Colbert Report. This trio of hip-hop-swing-jazz meisters who never really thought they’d play anywhere outside of their home country of Sweden when they first formed. But it seemed like they were destined for bigger things since their debut album Appelknyckarjazz quickly became the toast of Sweden and found an unlikely ally here in the states.

This past summer they were contacted by the staff at The Colbert Report. “We really didn’t think we’d ever play outside of Scandinavia, being as we sing in Swedish”, frontman Joakim Nilsson says. “And definitely not in the States!” It turns out that Stephen Colbert himself found the video for the band’s single “Fel Del Av Gården” in an online forum at www.reddit.com and, despite the linguistic barrier, invited Movits! to perform on his show.

A few days later the band was making their US debut on The Colbert Report and the rest is proverbial history. It didn’t take long for the band to benefit from the “Colbert Bump” either. Their album quickly hit the #2 spot on the iTunes hip-hop chart and #18 on the overall chart. Prompting interest in the states for people to see more Movits!

Now the bands are hitting the US in full hip-hop-swing-jazz regalia. If you’d like to follow Movits! travels through the US read up on their blog www.firstwetakemanhattan.se

MOVITS! US TOUR DATES
Jan 13 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
Jan 14 – North Star Bar – Philadelphia, PA
Jan 15 – IOTA Café – Arlington, VA
Jan 16 – Local 506 Chapel – Hill, NC
Jan 17 – The Earl – Atlanta, GA
Jan 19 – Mohawk – Austin, TX
Jan 21 – Plush – Tucson, AZ
Jan 22 – Spaceland – Los Angeles, CA
Jan 23 – Bottom Of The Hill – San Francisco, CA
Jan 26 – High Dive – Seattle, WA
Jan 29 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN
Jan 30 – Stonefly Brewery – Milwaukee, WI
Jan 31 – Schubas Tavern Chicago, IL
Feb 1 – Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH

We’re in the middle of the release week for the new Aziz Ansari CD and DVD Intimate Moments For A Sensual Evening. To celebrate, the fine folks over at AOL Music and its sister site Spinner.com are hosting full album listening parties of the record. Head on over there, listen to the record and then tell a friend.

LISTEN: AOL Music | Spinner

BUY: Aziz Ansari | Intimate Moments For A Sensual Evening CD
BUY: Aziz Ansari | Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening DVD

On February 2, 2010, Salvador Santana will release his new studio album Keyboard City. What better way to celebrate the release of the album than to construct your own skyline?

So head over to www.keyboardcity.com where you can play a Tetris-inspired video game with gear that Sal actually used in the making of the new album. You can also preview a new track from the album, appropriately titled “Video Game, Save My Life.”

While there, be sure to register your high score. Because from now until March 3, 2010 the highest scores will win prizes and a grand prize winner will get a limited edition KORG Keyboard customized by Sal.

The game is also shareable so embed it on your own pages, challenge a friend and may the best architect win!

SALVADOR SANTANA SPRING TOUR W/ THE NEW MASTERSOUNDS
Mar 3 Wed – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
Mar 4 Thu – Steamboat, CO @ Sheraton Grand Ballroom
Mar 5 Fri – Avon, CO @ Agave
Mar 6 Sat – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
Mar 8 Mon – Aspen, CO @ Belly Up – Aspen
Mar 10 Wed – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
Mar 11 Thu – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
Mar 12 Fri – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
Mar 13 Sat – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Mar 14 Sun – Sebastopol, CA @ Hopmonk
Mar 15 Mon – Crystal Bay, NV @ Tahoe Biltmore Breeze
Mar 17 Wed – Portland, OR @ Berbati’s Pan
Mar 18 Thu – Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s

Metal Insider is unbelievably excited today to announce the No Label Needed Contest & Series presented by Scion. You’re going to be reading a lot about this over the next few months on the Insider.

We’re collaborating with Scion for an unprecedented experiment in helping one lucky unsigned band circumvent the dated label system and learn the industry ropes on their own. It’s a DIY crash course in the metal biz, and the winner will get all the tools they need to produce, release and market music on their own terms.

By everything, we mean everything: the winner will travel to Massachusetts to meet with their new mentors, Shadows Fall. The Grammy-nominated artist will be there to offer advice and work on the winner’s songs. Then they’ll go to the Machine Shop to record a 5-song EP with legendary producer Machine (Lamb of God, Every Time I Die). The winner will get a shopping spree with Maria Brink from In This Moment and Blasko from Ozzy’s band to pick out new wardrobe – for a photo shoot. After all, they’ll need new press photos for a press campaign from Big Machine Media. We’re also going to bring in partners for radio promotion campaigns, new merchandise, website re-designs and a ton more.

This band will be completely set up with nearly everything they’d be asking a label to do for them, and they’ll learn all about it themselves, hands-on.

The best part? Metal Insider will be reporting back on progress along the way, so readers like you can learn every bit as much about the industry as our winner. You’ll see a ton of videos, how-to blogs, live chats and other educational pieces from our experts.

Starting January 18, we’ll be taking entries from unsigned artists at metalinsider.net/nolabelneeded. Finalists will be chosen in February and will then be voted on by Shadows Fall, Machine, Metal Insider, a panel of industry experts (artists, managers, agents, etc.) and you, the public!

Keep checking back for more information as it rolls out. Hit the jump for the full press release.

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The Syndicate created this widget for you to watch, listen and share new Aziz Ansari stand up. Aziz has a new CD and DVD titled “Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening” available 1/19.