RIP: The Remix Manifesto

So I saw this on the Documentary Channel last night and it absolutely blew my mind. RIP: A Remix Manifesto, an open source documentary directed by Brett Gaylor, is two and a half hours of battling copyrights. It touches on medical equipment, music, art, bloggers, DJs, music piracy and more.

What I thought was incredibly funny was Girl Talk appearing in this. This guy went to my high school and now he’s out there face-fucking the RIAA. It’s pretty awesome. Also, totally didn’t know that he was a biomedical engineer. Also, pretty awesome. I was just having the conversation with my husband the other day of why I think it’s bullshit that you can patent medical equipment. Have we really become that greedy and paranoid that we would rather patent potentially life changing medical advances and make a buck than to improve the quality of life for millions of people?

Like the Brazilians. They’ve just said a big ‘ol “Fuck You” to the music industry and started doing their own thing. And what makes it all the better is that this revolution was started by their Minister of Cultural Affairs at the time, Giberto Gil. Some of the mixes being created down there are simply phenomenal. Things that you would never expected to be mashed up…well, there they are. I can’t remember who said it or what the exact quote was but it was something along the lines of the fact that there is not originality anymore. Originality is mixing two things that have never been mixed before.

Dan O’Neill is a fucking madman and I love him for it. The cartoonist and and founder of the Air Pirates, a group sued by the Walt Disney Corporation in the 70′s, still just can’t stop drawing that mouse doing decidedly un-Disney-like things, including dealing drugs and going down on a female companion. It’s hysterical actually, and it’s amazing what they’ve done to keep that mouse under wraps, but The Mouse Liberation Front lives on, 40 years later.

Also included was Jammie Thomas. Remember her? The single mother who made less than $4,000 annually, but the RIAA decided it would be okay to fine her $222,220 for uploading 24 songs to Kazaa? Yeah, that Jammie Thomas. It would take her the rest of her life to pay that off if she gave them every penny that ever came to her name. It’s ridiculous.

Copyrighting ideas is slowly ruining the creative future of the world. Check out this documentary. Watch it. Remix it. Share it. Enjoy it.

You can buy the DVD here, or you can find a torrent. Your choice. Also, you can find the entire documentary in eleven-ish parts over on YouTube.

Bitter:Sweet

Okay, I think by now we’ve established that I heart trip-hop. These things happen. Also, things like Bitter:Sweet happen and they make me realize just how much I love trip-hop. Yet another find on Pandora, they were a pleasant surprise in a Supreme Beings of Leisure playlist. (Kiran Shahani is part of the duo, along with Shanna Haligan, the vocalist.)

Unfortunately, I’ve only heard the few tracks played by Pandora and the sparse selection on their Myspace, but what I have heard, I love. Especially “Trouble”. It makes me want to wear suits and drink martinis and possibly become a super-spy. I’d give Chuck a run for his money…and quite possibly a few other things, but that’s a story for another time.

They’re also another one of those bands who are just popping up everywhere from TV shows to commercials to movies and everywhere in between. So far, they’ve been featured in The Devil Wears Prada, Grey’s Anatomy, Lipstick Jungle, Smallville, L&O: Criminal Intent, Zune commercials, and more including German and UAE shows. It’s incredible.

Actually, what’s more incredible is that they’ve released two (and 3/4, more on that later) albums and I’ve never heard a peep out of them before yesterday. I was super late on the awesomeness that is Bitter:Sweet. They technically have three albums and one on the way, but one is a remix album of their debut, The Mating Game.

Bitter:Sweet is a glorious blend of electronic, trip-hop, jazz, and big band, and I highly suggest you check them out.

POE Returns!

So I totally forgot about this (bad, blogger! Bad!) when it happened, but POE announced her return after 10 years of legal battles with Atlantic Records. ZOMG Batman! It’s POE!
From Spinner:

Remember Poe? The erudite singer-songwriter burst on the scene in the late-’90s, scoring a massive hit with the single ‘Angry Johnny,’ the catchy track with the refrain, “I wanna kill you/I wanna blow you … away.” She followed that up a few years later with the critically-acclaimed album, ‘Haunted,’ a superb concept record about her relationship with her late father. With two albums, a hit single and strong reviews, Poe seemed to be on her way. And then, poof — she seemingly disappeared.
So what happened? “What I would say, in a nutshell, is very short and sweet: Myself as an artist was purchased as if a slave by a Texas oilman,” she tells Spinner, adding her first contract was bought out by this businessman. “I have not gone a day without doing music. I’ve just done it anonymously. It’s not like I haven’t been playing — I’ve played parties and this and that — but anything that was way under the radar. I lived like an illegal immigrant for 10 years. I couldn’t make any money, couldn’t do anything.”
Nearly a decade later, after a legal battle to match any music industry horror story, she is finally ready to re-emerge. “I feel as though I have been in a grave, not dead, but I’ve been spitting dirt out of my mouth for 10 years. I would say a month ago I saw the first ray of sunlight,” she says. What was that sunlight? “Honestly, the key element [is] out of complete accident I played with my old band again. I’d been in the studio writing and recording and it was like that missing piece of ‘I got my bros back, I remember what this feels like and I’m alive again.’”
She will reunite with her original ‘Hello’-era band at L.A.’s Club Lingerie on Thursday, Jan. 28 as part of a benefit, ‘An Evening of Higher Consciousness,’ where she, Ben Lee and others will gather for an organization run by the Gyalwang Drupka. What is the organization? “Essentially the foundation was created by this guy called the Gyalwang Drukpa, which in a small part of Tibet this guys represents their Dalai Lama. He’s a Buddhist,” she says. “What I like about him is his focus is education. He’s created a school up in the Himalayas, providing an education particularly to girls, which I love.” The night will also donate money to Haiti relief through Live to Love International.
For Poe, though, it means just getting to play again in public. “It feels good to be playing again. The fact I can shortly be doing this with new material is pretty damn exciting,” she says. And while she won’t play new material tonight, she does say, “I’m not gonna give a firm deadline, but within the next month or so we’ll create a release date for something new.”
On top of that, she promises to explain in much greater detail where she’s been for the last decade. “I could give you 10 years of facts and figures, but my job as an artist is to show you the footprints that were left on my soul,” she says. “And that I can show you in music, so the best recount of really what transpired is ultimately in these songs.”

Oh, how I love her. I was fortunate enough to see her on her last tour for Haunted and she was absolutely spectacular. In fact, Haunted and Hello are probably two of my favorite albums of all time. They’re with those albums that I instantly add when I get a new MP3 player. I’ve been scouring the internets for years, finding bits and pieces…her few tracks with Conjure One, “Do You Wanna Go My Way” with Fastball (remember them!?), spots in movies like Gossip, Anywhere But Here and Repo: The Genetic Opera. She’s out there, folks, and it’s a shame that a talented artist like Poe has been in the shadows for so long. Well, I sincerely hope that that’s about to change. And she’s back with the old band, no less! YAY POE!!!

Check out more news over on the Myspace or the Official Site.

Ozomatli – Fire Away

Ozomatli is starting off summer right with their fifth studio album, Fire Away (conveniently released on 4/20 *snicker snicker*). This is the album you should be listening to while drinking beer on your porch and getting a little rowdy. Fifteen years of making music and they can still kick ass as much as they do. Pretty impressive. I’m not even what is affectionately referred to as an “Ozohead”, but I can certainly appreciate a good time.

Ozomatli are one of those bands where there’s just so much going on, it’s bound to break down into a cacophony of funk sometimes, which can be a little overwhelming, but for this time of year, it’s juuuuuuust right. The categorically eclectic jam-band infuses their flavors of salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, rock and more into a upbeat, raucous album full of incredible horns, beats, and vocals.

From the beer swigging “45″ to the laid back 50′s inspired “Gay Vatos In Love” to the ska driven “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” to their collaboration with Jack Johnson “It’s Only Paper”, this album is just spectacular. Of course, when you have seven to ten members at any given time, you might as well have a full, delicious sound. This album is certainly an “I Have To Be In the Mood” album, but when I’m in that mood, this certainly hits the spot. It’s driving around with all the windows down music. It’s happy, summer, friend-filled good times. This album seems to drop some of the tones of activism featured on previous albums, but I really don’t mind. That’s not everything that they are. We still hear a little bit of that history in “Malagasy Shock” and “Caballito”, though.

Additionally, there’s very few down-tempo tracks on this album, which you may want to skip for that raging block party. Only “Love Comes Down” and “It’s Only Time”, really. On the plus side, they’ll be great to listen to in the morning when your head feels like it’s going to explode and you’re praying to the porcelain gods.

All in all, it’s a pretty good album and they couldn’t have picked a better time to release it. Start your summer off right…get a case, a few friends, and this album. Enjoy. B

Check it out over on their Myspace.

Peter Steele of Type O Negative, Definitely Dead

Rumor gone wild or is the angry, giant frontman of Type O Negative truly dead? From the LA Late Blog:

Peter Steele is dead at 48, news that Peter Steele has died confirmed Thursday. Peter Steele’s cause of death was heart failure learn fans today.
Here is the latest.
Peter Steele’s death has been confirmed by several individuals since last night, despite no official statement from family members. Statements of death come from fellow bandmate Kenny Hickey, Fuse Host Mistress Juliya, and a suggestive posting on the Type O Negative website.
Fans are reacting to the shocking news through a surge in twitter posts early today.
Foirst, Fuse VJ MistressJuliya posted on twitter last night the following messages: “Today is a very sad day in metal…” “End of an era.” “Peter Steele passed today. I loved my friend…our idol…my heart is with his band and family…” “@msjenncity (Steele) passed of heart failure. Just spoke to Kenny (Hickey of Type O Negative).”
Second, TypeONegative.com includes the following message today “The forums have been re-opened. Please play nice and expect statements from the band and family later today. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
In 2007, Steele made press by indicating he had now become an atheism. He told Decibel magazine as the time:
“There are no atheists in foxholes, they say, and I was a foxhole atheist for a long time. But after going through a midlife crisis and having many things change very quickly, it made me realize my mortality. And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what’s after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it’s a frightening thought to go nowhere. I also can’t believe that people like Stalin and Hitler are gonna go to the same place as Mother Teresa.”
Funeral arrangements have not been announced. Peter Steele will be greatly missed. Send your love.

But at the same time, we get this from Blabbermouth:

Despite a message on the band’s official web site that seems to suggest otherwise, TYPE O NEGATIVE frontman Peter Steele HAS NOT DIED.
The band, who are famous for their dark sense of humor, have spent much of the last few months preparing material for their SPV Records debut, which is expected to be recorded later in the year.
TYPE O NEGATIVE cancelled their U.S. tour last fall in order to allow Steele to undergo further tests after “undisclosed anomalies” were discovered during a medical exam. A February 11, 2005 update on Peter’s condition from TYPE O NEGATIVE drummer Johnny Kelly stated, “There really isn’t much to report other than he’s doing fine and his health is improving daily.”
TYPE O NEGATIVE, whose first album, “Slow, Deep and Hard”, was issued in 1991, fulfilled their contractual obligations to longtime label Roadrunner with the release of 2003′s “Life Is Killing Me”. That album debuted on The Billboard 200 chart at No. 39 in June 2003 after registering a first-week sales tally of 27,023 copies. TYPE O NEGATIVE’s best-selling album to date is 1994′s “Bloody Kisses”, which has shifted nearly a million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Well that’s just no fun. I wanna know if the man is dead or not! I was once a Type O fan, until I saw them in Pittsburgh…my god, maybe nine years ago? Peter Steele is a flat out racist and that’s not okay. He said some overtly xenophobic things. In a venue full of people. I remember looking at the people around me and them looking back in a moment of, “Did that just really happen”? I never bought an album after that. I’ll admit, I still own everything I bought before then and break it out from time to time, but never again will I finance that band. Well, I guess now, I really don’t need to. It’s kind of a shame that all that hotness was wasted on a white supremacist.
Weird to think about Peter Steele as a dead guy, though. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see…
***Update***
Well, that didn’t take long. Confirmed by Blabbermouth:

TYPE O NEGATIVE keyboardist Josh Silver has confirmed to BLABBERMOUTH.NET that the band’s frontman, Peter Steele, passed away yesterday (Wednesday, April 14) at the age of 48. No official cause of death has yet been released, but it is believed that Steele died of heart failure.
According to unconfirmed reports, Steele had been ill for days leading up to his death.
Mistress Juliya (a.k.a. Juliya Chernetsky) of Fuse TV broke the news on her Twitter page last night, stating that she spoke to TYPE O NEGATIVE guitarist Kenny Hickey just before midnight New York time, and that Kenny confirmed that the rumors were true.
Back in 2005, many people were shocked when they logged on to the TYPE O NEGATIVE web site and saw a gravestone with the words “Peter Steele – 1962 – 2005 …. Free At Last” carved on it. According to Epinions.com, there were rumors at the time that Steele was sick (with anything from cancer to AIDS), was on his deathbed, attempted suicide … and the list goes on. Needless to say, it turned out that Steele was very much alive and the gravestone was merely a joke, albeit one the wasn’t viewed as being in particularly good taste.
Steele was born Petrus T. Ratajczyk on January 4, 1962 in Brooklyn, New York. He stood 6′ 7″ (201 cm) tall, and had a low, bass-heavy voice, which was one of the most recognizable features in TYPE O NEGATIVE’s music.
Before forming TYPE O NEGATIVE, Steele played for the metal group FALLOUT and the thrash band CARNIVORE.

International Day of Protest for Lolita – May 15, 2010

On Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 12:00pm, a protest will be held all over the world with a division here in Pittsburgh, PA to raise awareness about Seaquarium Orca, Lolita.  Over thirty different cities and countries have signed up to be part of the massive collaboration to show the Miami Seaquarium along with other marine mammal parks and the world that Orcas do not belong in captivity.  One of our protests held on October 11, 2008 generated national media attention for the Orca when a four-minute segment was aired on CNN Headline news.  In collaboration with Orca Network, I invite fellow Pittsburgh residents and media to come out and support this cause. We hope to see Lolita retired back into a sea pen in her native Pacific North West waters where she will be taken care of for the rest of her life unless she chooses to rejoin her pod that lives there as well.

She has been living in an illegal tank at the Seaquarium for the last 39 years, and has taken a backseat to the newly developed swim with the dolphins program. This backseat has raised controversy as to why she shouldn’t be retired, because the Seaquarium is not allowed and won’t build her a bigger tank.  Surrounding the controversy with the rising number of orca attacks at Sea World, she could be the first of a new generation of orcas being retired back to their natural habitat.

If retired she will initially reside in a generously sized “bay-pen” where she will be fed, taken care of and slowly reintroduced back into the wild. After rehabilitation it will be her choice to continue to live in the “bay-pen” or leave to rejoin her pod.

In 1970 Lolita was captured in Penn Cove. Since then, much controversy has surrounded the safety of the Seaquraium’s actions with their animals. Hugo, an Orca captured two years earlier from the same pod as Lolita, committed suicide at the Seaquarium in 1980 by bashing his head off of the illegal tank; after showing strong signs of depression. Many have offered more than what Lolita’s insurance policy is worth for her retirement, but Owner Arthur Hertz of The Seaquarium has yet to agree. The concern is from coast to coast on an animal that has done her time in living quarters to small, and arguably unsafe conditions for patrons to view in this dated arena.

Please come out to support this wonderful cause on Saturday May 15, 2010 at Point State Park in Pittsburgh, PA. Feel free to use the comment space below for any questions, directions, or offers for help! Also, if you plan on coming, please let me know. I’m trying to get a sort of pre-registration plan together. Help us get a good turnout and you’ll be on the news and possibly even a spot on Current TV! Anyone can help! We’re looking for photographers, videographers, face painters, and creative people to help make t-shirts and signs. Also, we need a bull horn! It’s just not a protest without a bull horn!

Come on down for Lolita! Kids are welcome, too! Actually, if we get enough, expect some face painting!
You can email me at thatgirlwithablog@gmail.com for more information. You can also email Shelby Proie at shelby@savelolita.com and find more information at www.savelolita.com or www.orcanetwork.org.
You can also pre-register at the Facebook Event or the Myspace Event. Feel free to friend me on both!
Also, here’s a list of city captains. If your city isn’t listed or you need contact information for your city leader, contact Shelby at Save Lolita!

Chicago: Niki Gianni
Miami: Shelby Proie
NE Florida: Venus Hurst
Whidbey Island, WA: Howard and Susan
Olympia, WA: Pat Rasmussen
Vancouver: Rachel Palmer
Denver: Lauren Kimball
Berkeley, CA: Wendy
Amsterdam: Ingrid van Dam
Pittsburgh, PA: Amanda Young
Whakatane, New Zealand: Emily
Toledo, Ohio: Amber
Philadelphia, PA: Shannon
San Diego, CA: Hailey
Stockholm, Sweden: Ewakajsa Werngren
San Fransico, CA: Kim Flaherty
Toronto, Canada: Bob Timmons
Vancouver Island: Tarah Millen
Glen Falls, New York: Jessica Ryle
Belgian: Noortje
Budapest, Hungary: Tatiana
Orchard Park, New York: Kimberly
St. Lois, Missouri: Sarah Garvin
Key West: Kathy Watkins & Gina Gaft
Portland, Oregon: Rae Wilson
Michigan: Bailey Hanson
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Christine Swedell
Melbourne, Australia: Gwen Williams
Indianapolis, Indian: Leighann Shropshire
Seattle, Washington: Diana Comstock
Houston, Texas: Amanda and Brian
Sarasota, Florida: Candace Gee

The Runaways: FREE GIVE AWAY! WOOO!

So did you guys hear about this? The new movie The Runaways based on the beginnings of such famous female rock icons as Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie? Crazy! I find it terrifying that Kristen Stewart and Dakota freaking Fanning are portraying such awesomely strong women, but hey, I’ll give it a chance.

According to the reviews on this one, I hear it’s actually pretty good, sans Stewart’s humdrum acting. Apparently Fanning isn’t all THAT terrible. The movie drops in The States TODAY!, so if you’re into awesome, hardcore chick rock, totally check it out.
In the meantime, I have some totally awesome free schwag for you guys! How ’bout that!? What do you have to do? Hm.

What should I make you do?

I could make you do anything, if you loved Joan Jett enough (or on a lesser note, Kristen Stewart. Ugh). I could make you clean my house. Or make me a taxidermied monkey-rat-platypus. I could make you stand still while I tried to shoot apples off of your head or demand naked pictures of Bea Arthur. The possibilities are infinite!

I was thinking maybe trivia? Those things are terrible though, all you need a little Google and you’ve got yourself a list of perfect answers…

We’re going to make this a little harder.

In 1000 words or less, I want you tell me who would win in a fight: Joan Jett or Kristen Stewart, and why.
I’m pretty pumped about this you guys! Anyway, if you give me a good solid answer, you’ll get a chance to win some of this FREE SCHWAG!

1. A copy of Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story written by Cherie Currie and Neal Schusterman. This also happens to be the book that this movie is based on and we all know that the book is always better.

Cherie Currie, with her signature Bowie haircut and fishnet stockings, was the groundbreaking lead singer of ’70s teenage all-girl rock band the Runaways. At the tender age of fifteen, she joined a group of talented girls—Joan Jett and Lita Ford on guitar, Jackie Fox on bass, and Sandy West on drums—who could play rock like no one else.

Arriving on the Los Angeles music scene in 1975, they catapulted from playing small clubs to selling out major stadiums, headlining shows with opening acts like the Ramones, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, and Blondie. Currie lit up the stage with the provocative teen-rebellion songs “Cherry Bomb,” “Queens of Noise,” and “Born to Be Bad,” riding a wave of hit songs and platinum albums, all while touring around the world.
On the face of it, Currie’s is a riveting story of girl empowerment and fame. But it is also an intensely personal account of her struggles with drugs, sexual abuse, and violence. She and her bandmates, runaways all, were thrown into a decadent, high-pressure music scene where on the road, unsupervised for months at a time, they had to grow up fast and experience things that no teenage girls should. Neon Angel exposes the side of the music industry fans never get to see, and chronicles the group’s rise to fame and their ultimate demise.

Shocking and inspiring, funny and touching, Neon Angel stunningly re-creates a bygone era of rock and roll, all the while providing an inside look at growing up hard under the relentless glare of the public eye, and chronicling one tough woman’s fight to reclaim her life.

2. Joan Jett by Todd Oldham and Kathleen Hanna.

Rock-and-roll goddess Joan Jett holds a beloved place in the world of music. She started her first band, The Runaways, at age fifteen and has blazed a trail that has inspired and thrilled her fans to this day. AMMO Books is proud to release this authorized, loving tribute conceived and authored by designer Todd Oldham. The book chronicles all aspects of her career and passions through images—from forming The Runaways, to her years of touring with her band, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. JOAN JETT features many never-before-seen photos, ephemera, and excerpts from thirty years worth of interviews, carefully curated with Joan herself, covering the multi-decade career of a real rock-and-roll icon. A thoughtful introduction written by renown indie rocker and Riot Grrrl Kathleen Hanna brings context to this exciting title.

Joan Jett is a revered songwriter, musician, and American icon. In keeping with her pioneering spirit, she went on to be the first woman to start her own independent rock label, Blackheart Records. Joan Jett and The Blackhearts Greatest Hits compilation will be released in March 2010 , and a film based on The Runaways starring Dakota Fanning, and Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, will be released on March 19, 2010.

3. The Runaways Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning star as Joan Jett and Cherie Currie in The Runaways, the music-fueled, coming of age story of the groundbreaking, all girl 1970′s rock band. Written and directed by Floria Sigismondi, Apparition will release the film on March 19, 2010.

Los Angeles 1975, Joan Jett (KRISTEN STEWART) and Cherie Currie (DAKOTA FANNING), two teenage valley girls with punk in their blood, meet and become the heart and soul of the seminal all girl band, The Runaways. Floria Sigismondi brings The Runaways to the big screen in this story of a group of extraordinary young women as they rise from rebellious Southern California kids to rock stars of the now legendary band that paved the way for future generations of girl musicians. Under the Svengali-like influence of rock impresario Kim Fowley (MICHAEL SHANNON), the group evolves into an outrageous success and a family of misfits. With its tough-chick image and raw talent, the band quickly earns a name for itself-and so do its two leads: Joan is the band’s pure rock’ n’ roll heart, while Cherie, with her Bowie-Bardot looks, is the sex kitten.

Soundtrack features classic music from The Runaways, plus Runaways songs performed by Dakota Fanning & Kristen Stewart. Also, music from Joan Jett, David Bowie, The Stooges, MC5 and more.

4. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts new, remastered, greatest-hits album.

2 CD, The two disc collection features seven songs featured in the film The Runaways including one previously unreleased track. Re-recorded material featuring several Runaways favorites. Remastered original material.

Lessee…rules…
*There aren’t any. Anything is fair game. Bonus points for creativity.
*The drawing for these awesome prizes will be held on May 10, 2010. Winners will be listed on that date.
*If you DO win, prizes will be shipped regular, plain ol’ snail mail. No exceptions.
*No purchase necessary, void where prohibited, blah blah blah.
*Bribes and flattery will be accepted.
*This contest is open to anyone in the United States. I’m not paying to ship this shit to Uruguay. Get over it.
*To enter: Leave your answer and email address (so I can contact you if you win) in the comments below. If you’re all paranoid about your email address, you can email me your answer at thatgirlwithablog@gmail.com.

1-2-3, GO!!!

And here are the results! Congratulations to the winners!

All the Right Moves – Self Titled

Formerly The Evermore Escape, All the Right Moves is another one of those bands (much like Go Periscope) that I simply can’t believe aren’t signed yet. Some record company is gonna snatch them right on up.
All the Right Moves is one of those bands that I hate to love. They’re not even pop-punk…they’re power-pop-punk. They try just thatmuchharder. Their debut, eponymous EP was released alllllll the way back in 2008, but the quintet from Minneapolis, Minnesota is currently working on a new album, due out sometime this year.

This album is everything you would expect a power pop album to be, but with just a little bit more. From the slightly ska-driven slash surfer rock “Wildfire” to the oh-so-painfully emo “Mona Lisa”, it’s just…fun. It’s a carefree, loose, enjoyable album. It’s cliche, it’s been done to death, it sounds like a million albums that have been out for years, and goddamn is it catchy. I just can’t help myself, but I’m a giant emo bastard. On the plus side, it’s not just a bass, a guitar, a drum set, and some kid whining into a microphone…they do apparently have some variety including piano and some kick-ass violin. I’ve heard of them referred to as a “piano rock band” and that’s a huge lie. It’s no Something Corporate, but it’ll do.

Another bonus? Solid quality. Produced by Jordan Mark Schmidt (All Time Low, Automatic Loveletter, Sing It Loud), this album is all neatly wrapped and ready for the masses and the radio stations and the screaming 15 year old girls. I have a feeling that these guys are gonna start popping up all over the place. They’ve already won some battle of the bands thing for Pizza Hut (kinda weird, I know, but hey, that’s how you get your name out there right!?), have had a few spots on the Warped Tour circuit, and have consistently stayed in the Top Ten over on Smartpunk.com. If you love shitty emo punk as much as I do, definitely check out All the Right Moves. You can get their debut EP on iTunes right now for super cheap, or you can stream it for free on their Myspace. B

The Bird and the Bee

I have come to find that my friends have excellent taste in music and that pleases me. Being bored with my music suggestion yesterday, I requested good bands from friends.
What did they give me? Some great fucking leads including The Bird and the Bee. The indie-pop/electronic duo from LA just makes me happy. Inara George (the bird) and Greg Kurstin (the bee) are my new BFFs. Seriously.

They have two albums of original works, their eponymous debut, and Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, as well as a Hall & Oates tribute album, Interpreting the Masters: Volume One. They are all super, duper awesome! They find this eclectic mix of electronic beats, jazzy vocals, and an indie sensibility that I simply can’t get enough of.

The Bird and the Bee originally made their name back in 2006 when “Fucking Boyfriend” made it to the top of the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, the first track to do so with an explicit title. Yes, it’s that good. Apparently they’ve shown up in a ton of places including Grey’s Anatomy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Sex and the City: The Movie, Bones, and Funny People.

If you can get down to girly vocals a la Feist, Lily Allen, or Emiliana Torrini with a funky, fun side, definitely check out The Bird and the Bee. You can check out pretty much every song they’ve ever done over on their Myspace, but be sure to check out their site, too!