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

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

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.

For Immediate Release
IT’S YOUR TURN FOR SUCCESS

SCION AND METALINSIDER.NET TEAM UP TO ANNOUNCE THE NO LABEL NEEDED CONTEST AND SERIES

Your band shows tremendous promise. You have accumulated a solid following, written memorable songs, put together a great live show and have real momentum. With help from MetalInsider – including advice from industry professionals including a mentoring session with Shadows Fall and the opportunity to record with super-producer, Machine – you’ll be well on your way to the next level.
The No Label Needed Contest and Series presented by Scion in collaboration with MetalInsider will help one band leave labels behind and take on the industry all on their own. The series will show readers how it’s done, all while helping one special contest-winning band get ahead in a spectacular way.

From 1/18 through 2/1, unsigned acts can submit demo packages at www.metalinsider.net/nolabelneeded. Twenty finalists will be selected and one winner will be voted on by a panel of label heads, A&R executives, writers, and site readers to win all the help and education they need to become a truly self-sufficient artist without having to sign a traditional record deal.
The winning band will receive a personalized, all-encompassing tutorial focused on the secrets and tips needed to achieve success in the music industry through DIY means of marketing. Winners will be mentored by the members of Shadows Fall, will record an EP produced by Machine (Lamb of God, Every Time I Die, Suicide Silence), will shop for their stage and photo shoot clothing with Maria Brink (In This Moment) and Blasko (Ozzy) and receive advice from the likes of Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan. Their website will be re-designed, their merch re-imagined and radio and press campaigns mounted to promote their EP by the best in their fields.
The series is not only meant to be a learning experience for one band, it is meant to teach any dedicated musician who wants to learn how to properly market their craft. Readers will be able to interact with contest partners and contributing musicians and professionals through the site to get some real insight into specific areas of expertise.

For further information, please contact Jamie Roberts (roberts@bigmachinemedia.com) or Leo Lavoro (leo@bigmachinemedia.com) at Big Machine Media at 646-395-2600.

About Scion
Scion, from Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., was developed with a new generation of youthful buyers in mind. Scion’s mission is to provide distinctive products, the opportunity to personalize, and an innovative, consumer-driven process at the retail level. The Scion brand features three groundbreaking models with a wide array of standard features: the xD urban subcompact five-door, the iconic xB urban utility vehicle, and the tC sports coupe. The brand often applies new practices in all aspects of its business and pushes the creativity envelope with non-traditional advertising and marketing to engage young consumers. Scion also supports originality through its programs in the artistic community. For more information, visit www.scion.com.

About MetalInsider.net
MetalInsider.net is a metal music industry blog, reporting news, gossip and analysis from every aspect of the metal biz. Metal Insider explains and analyzes everything from record deals to marketing strategies to weekly record sales and radio charts.

Salvador Santana will release his new album, Keyboard City in early 2010. In an effort to prep the release of the album, we gave his website a bit of a face lift. The Syndicate’s online creative team built the site, helping put together a site that fell in line with Sal’s vision for Keyboard City.

Check out www.salvadorsantana.com and navigate yourself around the site which was just launched this week.

The Syndicate online creative team put together this widget where you can preview clips from the DVD…including the awesome animated short “Your Fuckin’ Outta Here Man”. In addition to the share features and clips, the widget also incorporated the tweets from Mike’s Twitter. Also another feature was added to this widget, and that’s a Facebook app where you can send it to your friends letting them know they are OUTTA HERE!