The 8th Annual Heavy Rotation Records CD Release Concert will take place February 6th at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston Massachusetts. Featuring a new line up of up and coming artists including, The Peasantry, Kevin Ross, Annie Lynch And The Beekeepers, With Engines, Rebel And The Truth, Black Tea, Christopher Barnes, Turkuaz, and Honest Thomas.

Heavy Rotation Records is Berklee College of Music’s student run record label that has been overseen by professor Jeffrey Dorenfeld (former manger for rock group Boston) for the last ten years and has brought you acts such as The Click Five, Saint Vincent, Big D And The Kids Table, Apollo Sunshine and countless others. If you are in the Boston area on February 6th the show starts at 7:30 P.M. and is a bargain at only ten bucks!

The Brooklyn resident and her blend of indie hip-hop, ska, raggae, and dub burst onto the scene since White split from her previous post-punk/riot grrrrl band, Stiffed. She’s never looked back! The last few months she’s nabbed opening spots for the likes of Bjork in addition to getting comparisons to another woman deep in those musical influences, M.I.A..

In fact, there’s so much bru ha-ha about Santogold that it landed her the chance to record a debut album for Downtown Records, a label so diverse it houses acts like Spank Rock, Cold War Kids, Eagles Of Death Metal, and Gnarls Barkley.

Santogold, spell it one word please, there’s a chance you might catch a bitchslap if you don’t.

MP3: Santogold :: “Creator”

Lyrics to “Creator” can be seen after the jump. (more…)

If you were to take a poll of our office on any random day, there’s a solid chance more than half of the employees will tell you that one of their favorite bands is JIMMY EAT WORLD. Their latest album, Chase This Light is a rip through the emo graveyard, a genre they often get the ridiculous honor of being founding members. But anyone with a grasp of musical landscapes pre-2001 will tell you this is a badge the band is better suited when they don’t wear it.

The second video from Chase This Light, “Always Be” is their attempt to pinpoint those perfect moments as a teenager where anything seems possible and you seem, if only for a moment, on top of the world.

Everyone has a friend that at some point “forces” you to check out a new band that they love. Usually it’s crap, but you go because that’s what friends do. After succumbing to peer pressure, I was +1 to check out a new band in Philly…And I was blown away. AMERICAN SPEEDWAY flat out, rocked The Khyber. They play hi-powered, hi-energy rock’n’roll and I had a smile on my face for the full 30 minute set. I picked up a copy of their new debut release Ship of Fools (It’s vinyl only, but comes packaged with the cd and the vinyl - a cool touch) and after 3 listens it cemented the fact that I needed to see them again. Luckily they were playing the following night in nearby West Chester opening for Electric Frankenstein at Rex’s.

The crowd at this show was much more aware of American Speedway, as the band is from nearby suburb Royersford, PA. This show had full sing-a-longs from the crowd and some fist-pumping goodness. There’s definitely some Supersuckers-esque moments in their music that I truly enjoy, even some AC/DC, The Bronx and Motorhead. If you like fast paced music with subject matter including driving fast, fighting, using a banned white substance, more fighting, more drinking and America, you’ll be very happy!

The Ship of Fools are heading to California for some shows in early February! Check them out at their myspace page. You can buy the album at their myspace page and/or at iTunes.

MP3: American Speedway :: Ship of Fools

You can also catch a glimpse of the band in video form after the jump. (more…)

THE MARS VOLTA have released the video for the first single off their latest album The Bedlam In Goliath. The video for “Wax Simulacra” is a straighforward road clip, showing the band busting their asses on the road. Though heavily edited for time, it still shows some of the trademark Volta spazzing out.

COHEED AND CAMBRIA are in the middle of launching a viral campaign for what we assume is their next single/video for the song “Feathers.” But upon further investigation, there might be more to this. Maybe a movie?

Through a micro-site www.meetthefeathers.com we are treated to a ’50s-style video clip of a suburban family that anyone who’s seen Leave It To Beaver has an idea of what to expect. In fact it’s such a convincing site that if you happened to not recognize the band’s singer, Claudio Sanchez dressed as a delivery man you might not have caught it being a C&C site.

The bottom of the page reveals a link to a wiki for the “show” giving you a brief history of the show. But perhaps the most revealing sentence is the last line where it states, “A feature-length live-action movie remake was announced by Sony Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies for theatrical release in 2010.”

Does this mean we’ll see a C&C movie? Only time will tell.

R.E.M. has announced a North American Tour in support of their latest album Accelerate. The group’s first trek in nearly three years is set to begin in May and will feature opening acts Modest Mouse and The National. R.E.M. recently took over Manhattan’s lower east side to shoot the video for the first single “Supernatural Superserious.”

5/23 - DEER LAKE PARK: Vancouver
5/29 - HOLLYWOOD BOWL: Los Angeles, CA
5/31 - THE GREEK THEATRE: Berkeley, CA
6/03 - RED ROCKS: Denver, CO
6/06 - UNITED CENTER: Chicago, IL
6/08 - MOLSON AMPHITHEATRE: Toronto
6/10 - WALNUT CREEK AMPHITHEATRE: Raleigh, NC
6/11 - MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION: Washinton, DC
6/13 - TWEETER CENTER: Boston, MA
6/14 - JONES BEACH THEATER: Long Island, NY
6/18 - MANN CENTER: Philadelphia, PA
6/19 - TBA: New York City, NY
6/21 - LAKEWOOD AMPHITEATRE: Atlanta, GA

We wanted to send a huge congratulations out to a member of The Syndicate / We Put Out Records family. Here’s to Cullen Hendrix, drummer for The North Atlantic who recently got engaged. His fiance, Sarah who works as a diver at the shark tank in an aquarium provided for a unique way for Cullen to pop the question.

Usually when someone proposes at an aquarium the diver helps by holding up a sign with the question to aid the asking. In this case, the diver was the recipient of the question so Cullen had to improvise a bit. Cullen got on the mic to talk to Sarah while in the tank as he got down and asked the question in front of a room full of guests. Also in the room, were a few TV cameras to tape the entire thing. ABC was on hand to record the event and later aired it nationally on their morning show, Good Morning America.

VIDEO: Cullen Hendrix proposes on Good Morning America

Congratulations Cullen! We wish the best for you and Sarah and hope you both have a long life of wedded bliss.

In celebration of the release of their new album, The Bedlam In Goliath this upcoming Tuesday, THE MARS VOLTA have their complete album up for streaming on Napster.

So this means it’s time to go and get an epic space rock jam session going.

STREAM: The Mars Volta :: The Bedlam In Goliath

NADA SURF is wasting no time cranking out those videos are they? They gave us the video for their song “Whose Authority” just a few weeks ago and now we turn around and have a decidely different style video for “I Like What You Say.” Different in that rather than opting for humans, we get some paper animation instead. The song is from their upcoming album Lucky, due out in February.