Check out our latest featured indie music artist at Indie-Music Network.com…

Andrew Heryctopob a.k.a. “Andrew N Project”

He is a progressive/psychedelic Rock style musician with mad skills that command your attention.

He takes the “one man band” to the next level!
To learn more about Andrew and where to check out his music….
visit the following link for details.
Featured Indie Music Artist: “Andrew N Project”

To your music success,
Traci Crowley
Indie Music Artists:
Make your own beats,
Produce Music,
Sell your music online

If you want to learn how to successfully start your own record label the right way, check this out….

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Yes, I’m Ready to Start My Own Independent Record Label Today!

With so much new music coming at us from all directions all the time, there are going to be those that slip through the cracks. The fact that these tracks are part of an ‘almost missed’ mix does not in anyway diminish what we think about the songs themselves (thus the reason for this series). So, without reviewing the tracks individually - which we’d love to do but there simply isn’t time - we hope the music speaks for itself.

Not many people, even those who follow “indie” music, know who Sam Billen is. And for those that do, they might say you’ve been missing out. Irregardless, we have been really digging Billen’s cover songs and remixes lately, including his repurposing of songs from - Removers - Sufjan Stevens, Postal Service, Deastro, and Capybara. We’ve included two of our favorites here. Enjoy.

“Spirtle” (Deastro) - Sam Billen from Removers - March 9th

“Borderline” (Sufjan Stevens) - Sam Billen from Removers - March 9th

Sam Billen’s Removers EP is available as a free download.
Sam Billen on MySpaceIf you haven’t already heard of the band The Press (making it hard to Google their name), now is your chance. The Brooklyn band brilliantly produces songs that are melodic and dreamy, “Jellyfish Wrangler,” as well as raw and in-your-face guitar rock, “Master,” as well as other styles. Put them down as a Band to Watch. Following The Press is Makaras Pen, whose songs hover somewhere between shoegaze, pop and indie rock.

“Master” - The Press from INTEOTWIJTEOAE - April 6th

“Jellyfish Wrangler” - The Press from INTEOTWIJTEOAE - April 6th

“Falling Deeper” - Makaras Pen from Makaras Pen - April 1st

Blind Man Colour’s Other Half Releases More Solo Work

Kyle Wess of Blind Man’s Colour, a band that received a lot of attention in the second half of 2009, just released his second DIY EP under his moniker Chromatic Flights. The EP is pretty much an extension of the type of the electronic experimental ’surf’ sounds and styles he’s recorded in the past, and with BMC; so there are no real standout tracks, except for the title track, which will quite possibly make it on to one of our summer playlist mixtapes.

“Too Beautiful for Smiles” - Chromatic Flights from Too Beautiful for Smiles - April 19th

Download the EP for free

Artist on the Radar: New York’s Boy Without God

Ridgewood, New York’s Boy Without God has proven to be a promising one man band who has collaborated with dozens of artists, including members of Slaraffenland. BWG is recommended if you like Beirut, Neutral Milk Hotel, Stephin Merritt, and Sufjan Stevens. The album art above is from the first BWG LP released last summer.

“City Kids” - Boy Without God - single - Jan. 18th

Boy Without God on MySpace

On The Rise: New Orlean’s Sun Hotel

Sun Hotel started as a two-piece folk act when Tyler Scurlock and Alex Hertz moved to New Orleans for college. After writing and recording “spooky” songs in their college dorm room, the duo released the lo-fi EP, Oh N.O! to great fan and critic response. Since then, the six-piece post-gospel family band has released their 2009 debut LP, Halloween Mean, and their follow-up LP, Team Spirit, in January 2010.

“Plantation Land” - Sun Hotel from Team Spirit - Jan. 15th

“All Ways” - Sun Hotel from Team Spirit - Jan. 15th

Sun Hotel on MySpace

Lastest Release from Peasant Reaffirms Remarkable Talent

When Damien DeRose turned 18, he dropped out of school, packed up his guitar, and bought a sailboat in California with a friend. A few years later, DeRose released his home recorded debut, Fear Not Distant Lover, and penned the moniker Peasant. The DIY release is full of lo-fi folk pop songs that caught the attention of some influential bloggers. In 2008, Peasant signed with Paper Garden Records, which released Peasant’s first studio LP, On The Gound.

Last year, one of the songs from the album was included on the season premier of the TV show, Bones. During his tour of 2008-09, Peasant recorded live sessions for Daytrotter and WOXY radio (RIP), and shared the stage with Cursive, Delta Spirit and Deer Tick, including shows at South By Southwest and the Montreal Pop Fest. His newest album, Shady Retreat, was recorded in the attic of a 200-year-old farmhouse.

“Well Alright” - Peasant from Shady Retreat - March 2nd

…And So We Listened Really Closely

We don’t usually publish instrumentals here - mainly because there are already so many great songs with vocals(gotta draw the line somewhere). Plus, most people find instrumentals boring. But …And So I Watched You From Afar instrumental “The Voiceless” lights up with ambient guitar licks, chord progressions and a calm to climatic interludes, making it well worth a listen.

“The Voiceless” - …And So I Watched You From Afar from s/t debut - April 6th

VoicesVoices Make Their Voices Heard

The final song in this mix straddles the line between instrumental and vocal, layering smooth sounds with choruses to create a truly inspirational, relaxing and memorable track from a band no one has heard of - Voicesvoices. Check ‘em out.

“Out From Under” - Voicesvoices from Origin - Jan. 25th

Putting the “in” in to Indie. Stop by Indie Rock Cafe for the best
bands, MP3s, videos, news, concert listings, festival updates, playlists and more.

Next, the Alcoholic Faith Mission have released their terrific new LP, Let This Be The Last Night We Care. Common Prayer drop their new LP, There Is A Mountain, today, and if the single, “Us vs. Them” is any indication of the album, than it’s one to jot down on the “to get” list.

Even though we’ve already featured a number of Ariel Pink’s new music during the past couple of months, his latest LP officially drops today. Drew Danburry sent us this fantastic country-folk-rock (best way can think to describe it) song, “Nirvana, by Kurt Cobain,” that we’ve played multiple times.

Plus, check out sweet new tracks from The Lights, Sonoi, The Mynabirds, Sonoi, Ceremony, Polock, Frog Eyes, The Pack A.D., Unnatural Helpers, Gogol Bordello, and The Whiskers. We wrap with a new album from Princeton frontman Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson as the duo Kisses. By the way, we could give a rats ass that Hole (Courtney Love) has a new album out today.

“Remember Last Time” - Avi Buffalo from s/t debut
Avi Buffalo official website
Stream Avi Buffalo’s debut here

“My Eyes to See” - Alcoholic Faith Mission from Let This Be the Last Night We Care - Alcoholic Faith Mission on Myspace

“Us vs. Them” - Common Prayer from There Is A Mountain
Common Prayer on MySpace

“Round and Round” - Ariel Pink Haunted Graffiti from Round and Round 7″
Ariel Pink on MySpace

“Nirvana, by Kurt Cobain” - Drew Danburry, single
Drew Danburry on MySpace

“Someday” - Ceremony from Rocket Fire
Ceremony on MySpace

“Puerto Escondido” - The Lights from Failed Graves
The Lights on MySpace

“Numbers Don’t Lie” - The Mynabirds from What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood
The Mynabirds on MySpace

“Sherry Fall” - Sonoi from s/t debut
Sonoi on MySpace

“Fireworks” - Polock from Getting Down From The Trees
Polock on MySpace

“Lear in Love” - Frog Eyes from Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph
Frog Eyes on MySpace

“Crazy” - The Pack A.D. from We Kill Computers
The Pack A.D. official website

“Pala Tute” - Gogol Bordello from Transcontenential Hustle
Gogol Bordello on MySpace

“Sunshine/Pretty Girls” - Unnatural Helpers from Cracked Love & Other Drugs
Unnatural Helpers on MySpace

“Cameras” - The Whiskers from War of Currents
The Whiskers on MySpace

“Bermuda” - Kisses from Bermuda
Kisses on MySpace

Other Releases This Week (compiled by Pitchfork)

David Holmes: The Dogs Are Parading [Best Of] [Universal]
Various Artists: Kitsune Maison 9: The Petit Bateau Edition or The Cotton Issue [Kitsune]
Team Ghost: You Never Did Anything Wrong To Me [Sonic Cathedral]
Acid Mothers Temple: From 0 to Infinity [Important]
B.o.B.: B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray [Rebel Rock Entertainment/Grand Hustle/Atlantic]
The Black Swans: Words Are Stupid [St. Ives]
Blunt Mechanic: World Record [Barsuk]
Chin-Chin: Sound of the Westerway [Slumberland]
Eric Copeland: XXXX 7″ [PPM]
Frightened Rabbit: Nothing Like You 7″ [FatCat]
Iggy and the Stooges: Raw Power: Deluxe Edition [Columbia/Legacy]
Juan MacLean: DJ-Kicks [!K7]
The Lodger: Flashbacks [Slumberland]
Mono: Holy Ground: NYC Live With the Wordless Music Orchestra [Wordless/Temporary Residence]
Mount Carmel: Mount Carmel [Siltbreeze]
The Mynabirds: What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood [Saddle Creek]
Naked on the Vague: Heaps of Nothing [Siltbreeze]
Paul Flaherty & Randall Colbourne: A Distant Roar [Family Vineyard]
Brian Posehn: Fart and Wiener Jokes [Relapse]
Terry Riley: In C (GVSUNME, Live at Le Poisson Rouge, NYC) [Wordless/Ghostly International]
The Sadies: Darker Circles [Yep Roc]
Various Artists: We Are One, In the Sun: A Tribute to Robbie Basho [Important]
The Wave Pictures: If You Leave It Alone [Moshi Moshi] [U.S. release]
The Wave Pictures: Instant Coffee Baby [Moshi Moshi] [U.S. release]
White Fence: White Fence [Woodsist]
Wounded Lion: Wounded Lion [In The Red]

Putting the “in” in to Indie. Stop by Indie Rock Cafe for the best
bands, MP3s, videos, news, concert listings, festival updates, playlists and more.

The Rassle is a recently-formed New York City rock/post-punk band composed of former band members from two other great NYC rock bands, The Virgins and the The Young Lords.

So naturally, when The Rassle’s Erik Ratensperger (and ex-Virgins member) sent us a couple of songs, we had hightened expectations, and what we heard in those two songs, and a couple of other tracks via the band’s MySpace page, were enough to make it clear to us that we were hearing a terrific new band.

Ratsenperger joined with Mark Solomich and two brothers, Blair and Reed Van Nort, of the now-defunct band The Young Lords in January to form The Rassle. The guys must have had some idea that their new band would be something special, after all they had pretty much known each other for a couple of years from playing shows at various New York rock clubs.

The band’s disciplined, yet adventurous, rock sound is edgy and catchy at the same time, and has somewhat of a post punk-pop rock revivalist charm heard clearly on songs like “Celebrate The Days” and “Wild Ones,” conjuring up comparisons to legendary bands like Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy and Big Star. But more people are likely to compare The Rassle with one of the biggest “indie” bands of the past year, Philadelphia’s Free Energy.

“Celebrate The Days” - The Rassle

Since we’ve been playing these songs from The Rassle over and over again, it wasn’t a stretch to put them near the top of the Bands to Watch in 2010 list. It wouldn’t be a surprise to us one bit if you’re reading about The Rassle on Pitchfork, and even The New York Times, in the next few weeks. The band’s unofficial EP has summer time written all over it.

Ratensperger told IRC that the band have been offered residency at New York’s Pianos next month, are talking to some labels, planning to tour and working on material for a debut LP that is expected to drop later this year. We say that if they’re ready to do Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, or any other big best fest this summer, organizers might just want to give the band a call. That’s a bit ballsy with only four songs to go on, but we just have a good feeling about this band.

“Wild Ones” - The Rassle

“Born Free” - The Rassle

The Rassle on MySpace, TheRassle.com, Twitter and Facebook

A little background: The Virgins formed in 2006 and within a matter of a year opened for Sonic Youth and Patti Smith, performed at big music festivals, and even made it on to Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008 for the track, “Rich Girls.” Although things have been pretty quiet for the band since their widely acclaimed debut, self-titled EP (2007) and LP (2008), The Virgins have not announced any plans for a new album.

Putting the “in” in to Indie. Stop by Indie Rock Cafe for the best
bands, MP3s, videos, news, concert listings, festival updates, playlists and more.

The National’s May 11 release of High Violet is one of the most anticipated “indie” rock albums of 2010. As happens so often nowadays, the album has already leaked online, which prompted the band to reveal the album artwork and track-listing, a free MP3 single, and now a free stream of their first album in three years with the New York Times. (See below to read excerpts from the New York Times Magazine’s Sunday feature of The National.)

The National’s MySpace page featured the following note:

“Hi everyone! As you may have heard, there is a low quality leak of our new album, High Violet, spreading across the internet as we speak. We wanted to let you know the New York Times will be streaming the real thing starting Friday April 23rd. We hope you’ll take the time to hear the album at its intended level of quality.”

Since the release of their widely acclaimed debut album, Alligator, and their amazing 2007 LP, Boxer, The National’s popularity has grown tremendously. Many of the band’s biggest fans have been messaging in forums about when a follow up LP would be available. So one can assume that there will be lots of people listening to the album stream on Friday and throughout the weekend, and into next week.

If all, or most, of High Violet is anything like a few of the songs we’ve already heard - including the single, “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, it is very possible High Violet would be one of the top indie albums of 2010. However, the album cover art (above) leaves much to be desired. We don’t know why there have been so many ugly album covers in the past few years, maybe it’s simply because so few people actually see, or care to see, the album art work.

“Bloodbuzz Ohio” - The National from High Violet

Download this MP3 here

No doubt that many music lovers are waiting to here it. Here is the web address for the New York Times Magazine’s feature page that won’t be available, again, until 8:30 am ET on April 23rd. Come back here and stream The National’s High Violet in its entirety.

Excerpts from the New York Times’ Feature Story about The National

In addition to the free album stream of High Violet, the iconic magazine will publish an in-depth profile of the band in the Sunday print and web editions. IRC was granted special permission from the New York Times to publish excerpts from article that will be published this Sunday.

The National is a Brooklyn group originally from Cincinnati that formed in 1999, featuring identical-twin brothers, Aaron (guitar, bass, piano) and Bryce Dessner (guitar), plus another pair of non-identical brothers, Scott (bass, guitar) and Bryan Devedorf on drums. The band is fronted by vocalist Matt Berninger. The band hit the big-time in the mid 2000s with the release of their magnificent debut album, Alligator, followed in 2007 with the release of Boxer, Paste Magazine’s No. 1 album of the year and Stereogum’s pick for No. 2.

“Mistaken for Strangers” - The National from Boxer (2007)
(official Mineo Records free MP3)

In the Times‘ feature on The National, contributing writer Nicholas Dawidoff, writes about his experiences hanging out with the band this past winter as they mixed their fifth album in their producer Peter Katis‘ recording studio in Bridgeport, Conn. The article notes the band was under tremendous pressure to deliver the final masters - which were weeks late - to their record label, 4AD; to come up with a name for the album; and to complete songs that were not ready for release.

“Several of the songs had no lyrics,” Dawidoff reports. “Those that did were otherwise askew. Four weeks into the mix the band was, as Aaron [Dessner] put it, ‘kind of in a circling-the-vortex mode.’”

Dawidoff’s accounts of the winter mixing sessions are especially detailed and revealing as the band faced difficulties in finding a satisfactory sound for some songs, in particular “Lemondworld,” a track the band struggled with for months.

In addition to the drama surrounding the track, “Lemonworld,” Dawidoff provides an astute examination of “Sorrow,” which the band describes as a “dark” song.

“I thought we were making a pop record,” Aaron Dessner told Dawidoff, “but it’s turning out to be extremely dark lyrically.”

Dawidoff also describes the band’s “rigor” for creating, destructing and rebuilding five minute songs, adding: “Their process often seems like a musical parlor trick since they delight in belittling their own work and can seem happier about rejecting another successful reinvention than actually completing anything.”

You can bet there will be tens of thousands of people streaming The National’s new album over the next week. If you want to bookmark the URL, or simply come back here, this is the link to the stream provided to us by the New York Times: Stream The National’s High Violet.

Putting the “in” in to Indie. Stop by Indie Rock Cafe for the best
bands, MP3s, videos, news, concert listings, festival updates, playlists and more.

With the release of Heartland, an album that is meant to be played from beginning to end, Pallett has put the Final Fantasy project to behind him, and thankfully left us with a trio of terrific albums.

In February, Pallett reportedly entered the studio to collaborate on the long-awaited third album from Arcade Fire, which is expected to drop this summer. Pallett previously co-wrote the string arrangements on Arcade Fire’s celebrated albums, Funeral and Neon Bible. Pallett has also worked with Pet Shop Boys, The Mountain Goats and Fu*cked Up, among others.

Make sure not to miss out on the Best New Releases mix for this week published on Monday.

“Keep The Dog Quiet” - Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy from Heartland

“Tryst With Mephistopheles” - Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy from Heartland

“Lewis Takes His Shirt Off” - Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy from Lewis Takes His Shirt Off EP

Glasgow, Scotland musician Gareth Dickson, who has been increasingly garnering favor for this music in recent years, is definitely channeling Nick Drake - intentionally or not - in this lazy, stoner melody, “Noon”. Dickson once worked on a Nick Drake tribute album - not a big surprise.

“Noon” - Gareth Dickson, single - April 18th
Song is CC license (BY-NC-SA) and Bad Panda Records.
Other recent releases we almost missed include Monster Movie, ARMS (formerly of the awesome start-up band, Harlem Shakes), The Silver Seas, and Talking To Walls.

“Silver Knife” - Monster Movie from Everyone is a Ghost - April 6th

“Emily Sue, Part 2″ - ARMS from s/t EP - March 12th
Get the EP for free

“The Best Things in Life” - The Silver Seas from Chateau Revenge - April 8th

“Came To You” - Talking To Walls from We Were Not So Tall - April 15th

Recent Posts, Playlists and Mixes You Might Enjoy:

Recent Releases We Almost Missed, Vol. V: The Library Is On Fire, Son Lux, The Ambience Affair, Japanther, Yawn, Kikipau

Best New Releases of the Week: Radio Dept., Rory Erickson & Okkervil River, Hot Chip, Caribou, Wye Oak, Jordan Galland

Record Store Day: The Importance of Record Stores, Special Indie Documentary, April 17th Releases and Video Shout Outs

Songs About Spring, Vol. II: Deerhunter, A Boy Least Likely To, Akron/Family, Fruit Bats, The Very Most, and Atlas Sound

What’s Hot Right Now, Vol. II: Suckers, Polock, Band of Horses, Dr. Dog, Tokyo Police Club, The Crookes, Atmosphere & More

Feetz to Da Beatz, Vol. II - Bands That Get You Moving: Delorean, Caribou, Future Trends, Neon Indian, Secret Cities and More

Putting the “in” in to Indie. Stop by Indie Rock Cafe for the best
bands, MP3s, videos, news, concert listings, festival updates, playlists and more.

Whether you were at Coachella this weekend or got a bunch of limited edition vinyls for Record Store Day, a blast of new music might seem a bit much right now. But there are some great releases this week worth checking out, including new material from Radio Dept., Hot Chip, Roky Erickson and Okkervil River, Wesley Wolfe, Open Hand, Caribou, Horse Feathers, Prizzy Prizzy Please, Wye Oak, Bridges and Powerlines, Turin Brakes, Survive, Sparrow and The Workshop, Demander, Trans Am, Automata, Jordan Galland, Inlets, Night Driving in Small Towns, Cuff The Duke. Phew! Fire up this mix!

“Heaven’s on Fire” - Radio Dept. from Clinging to a Scheme

“Never Follow Suit” - Radio Dept. from Clinging to a Scheme
- The Radio Dept. official website

“I Feel Better” (Adam Smith bootlet) - Hot Chip single release
- Hot Chip on MySpace

“Be And Bring Me Home” - Roky Erickson and Okkervil River from True Love Cast Out All Evil

“Gone for Good” - Wesley Wolfe from Storage

“Honey” - Open Hand from You and Me

“Leave House” - Caribou from Swim

“Belly of June” - Horse Feathers from Thistled Spring

“I Hope You Die” - Wye Oak from My Neighbor / My Creator
- Wye Oak official website

“Large Hadron Collider” - Prizzy Prizzy Please from Chroma Cannon

“Lost” - Prizzy Prizzy Please from Chroma Cannon
- Prizzy Prizzy Please on MySpace

“You Were” - Bridges and Powerlines from Ghost Types

“New Star” - Turin Brakes from Dark on Fire

“Lunar Eclipse” - Survive from 10″ EP

“The Gun” - Sparrow and The Workshop from Crystals Fall

“Math” - Demander from Future Brite
- Demander official website

“Apparent Horizon” - Trans Am from Thing
- Trans Am on MySpace

Burlesque pop/indie rocker Jordan Galland’s second album, Search Party, available today, features two of the songs featured below, “Search Party” and “Football and Strippers.”

Galland has opened for artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Cibo Matto, Phantom Planet, Adam Green, Rooney, and Ween. Jordan Galland is a musician, filmmaker and writer living in New York City. Best known for his songwriting collaborations with Mark Ronson, Sean Lennon and Daniel Merriweather, Galland released his debut solo album, Airbrush, in 2009.

The release of Search Party coincides with Galland’s debut feature film, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Undead, an independent romantic-comedy about vampires and out of work actors starring Jake Hoffman, Davon Aoki and Ralph Macchio.

“Search Party” - Jordan Galland from Search Party

“Football and Strippers”- Jordan Galland from Search Party
- Jordan Galland on MySpace

“In Which I, Robert” - Inlets from Inter Arbiter
- Inlets on MySpace

“Come & Tell Me”- Night Driving in Small Towns from Serial Killer
- Night Driving in Small Towns

“It’s All a Blur” - Cuff the Duke from Way Down Here
- Cuff the Duke official website

Other Releases This Week We Haven’t Heard, But Might At Some Point (list via Pitchfork)

The Apples in Stereo: Travellers in Time and Space [Yep Roc/Simian/Elephant 6]
Cornershop: Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast [Ample Play] [U.S. release]
Cults: “Go Outside” b/w “Most Wanted” [Forest Family]
Cypress Hill: Rise Up [Priority/EMI]
The Delta Mirror: Machines That Listen [Lefse]
Doves: The Places Between: The Best of Doves [Astralwerks/Heavenly]
The Grateful Dead: Crimson White and Indigo [Grateful Dead/Rhino] [CD/DVD]
Kurupt: Streetlights [Penagon Entertainment]
Willie Nelson: Country Music [Rounder]
Ozomatli: Fire Away [Mercer Street/Downtown]
Plants and Animals: La La Land [Secret City]
The Ponys: Deathbed + 4 EP [Matador] [digital release]
Solvent: Loss For Words [Ghostly International]

Vinyl Reissues

The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs [Merge] [deluxe vinyl box set reissue]
Deerhoof: Apple O’ [Kill Rock Stars] [vinyl reissue]
Deerhoof: Green Cosmos [Kill Rock Stars] [vinyl reissue]

Reissues

Destroyer: City of Daughters [Merge] [reissue]
Destroyer: Thief [Merge] [reissue]
Destroyer: Streethawk: A Seduction [Merge] [reissue]

Blur’s new song Fool’s Day recorded especially for Record Store Day has sold out on limited edition 7 inch vinyl record of 1,000 pressings.

“Zebra (UK edit)” - Beach House from Zebra RSD 7-inch single

“Night Before The Funeral” - The Mary Onettes from RSD 7-inch

Putting the “in” in to Indie. Stop by Indie Rock Cafe for the best
bands, MP3s, videos, news, concert listings, festival updates, playlists and more.

In an interview with Indie Rock Cafe, the avant-garde icon, artist and philantropist said she is “excited and amazed” by the success of her remix series, and gave credit to the many “talented musicians”, including her son, Sean Lennon, who has been been working with his mother for nearly ten years on various remixes. Ono said that she is grateful to be exposed to a “whole new generation”.

The latest Billboard topper, “Give Me Something”, is a remixed version of a song that originally appeared on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Grammy-winning, landmark LP, Double Fantasy, released in the spring of 1980, only months before his tragic murder by a deranged fan, Michael David Chapman.

Ono’s latest remix series includes a number of individual remixes from Junior Boys, Morel, Dave Aude, Stonebridge, the alternative rock band Sparks, and many others. We choose the Junior Boy’s version, which RCRDLBL.com called “thoroughly modernized, suffused with a steadier, slinkier tempo, a stronger bassline, and clusters of modular synth.”

“Give Me Something” (Junior Boys Remix) - Yoko Ono

Along with her son, and a number of other musicians, such as Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Bette Midler, Cornelius, producer Mark Ronson and ex-Cibo Matto member Yuka Hondainc, among others, Ono performed a number of big shows in February, including sold out appearances at the Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, and at the San Francisco Bay Area’s historic Fox Theater in Oakland during the annual Noise Pop musical festival.

“Sean and I have such a wonderful time working together”, Ono said. “I was lucky to work with so many great musicians in my life, and to meet Eric Clapton again, who I worked with many years ago with John (Lennon)”.

Clapton, the legendary guitarist known best for his work as a solo artist and prolific collaborator, is often credited for his ground-breaking work in classic 1960’s rock bands like The Yardbirds, Cream and Derek and the Dominios, and is the only musician to be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times. He was also one of the original band members of the Plastic Ono Band back in 1969.

Asked what she liked about dance music, Ono said that dance music is “like holding up the world”, adding, “don’t march through life, dance through life”.

Through Ono’s widely acclaimed remix series that started in 2001, she has also collaborated with the Flaming Lips, Pet Shop Boys, Basement Jaxx, The Polyphonic Spree, and many others.

When asked about the indie rock genre, Ono replied enthusiastically: “I think indie rock is great; it’s a cutting-edge in music like punk was. Indie music is so incredible and strong now that the big companies want to be involved with it.”

Ono’s biography is nothing short of amazing, and her credentials as an artist and activist are extensive and impressive. As one of the most well-known women in the world, Ono is widely respected as a Japanese-American artist, author, musician, activist, and philanthropist, as well as for her work with gay rights issues and AIDS awareness, and of course, a 15-year relationship/marriage to Lennon.

Over the years since Lennon’s death, Ono has released a number of albums, and is widely considered a pioneer of the 1970’s and 80’s new wave music craze.

As a musician, Ono’s original sound, an avant garde style of experimental music, is credited with influencing the sound of new wave. In a 1980 Rolling Stone magazine review of John Lennon’s last album, Final Fantasy, a story is told about Lennon hearing the B-52s‘ song, “Rock Lobster,” in a club, and which he remarked that her sound had gone mainstream.

John and Yoko Love Story from Allan Tannenbaum
Since then, her influence in the world of dance music is unquestionable. Ono had her first dance hit in 1981 with “Walking on Thin Ice/It Happened”, followed by another dance hit in 1985, “Hell in Paradise”, that peaked at No. 12 on the U.S. dance charts. In 2003, Ono returned to the dance charts with a No. 1 remix of “Walking on Thin Ice”. From 2007 to just last week, Ono has had a No.1 dance hit every year since.

“Walking on Thin Ice” (Felix Da Housecat Remix) - Yoko Ono

Ono’s musical experience began as a young girl growing up in Japan. “I love most instruments including Japanese instruments”, she told IRC. “My mother had seven or eight instruments. As a girl, I played piano and my father wanted me to play western music, but I didn’t enjoy practicing. I was also encouraged to practice singing, but I can only remember practicing the piano”.

As for her mother, a professional artist, Ono said, “she never played [music] professionally because she put most of her time into painting”. Unfortunately, Ono said, she doesn’t have any of her mother’s paintings because they were all destroyed in the bombing of Japan during World War II.

Asked if she ever planned to repurpose one of her late husband’s songs as a duet with her voice added to Lennon’s, Yoko said: “No, no, I respect too much John’s music to do something like that.”

Regarding the song-writing process, Ono said, “my songs are connected with my emotion”, explaining that she doesn’t have a real process to writing. “I get upset or excited about something, and a song comes to my mind and I write it down; it just comes to me. John (Lennon) had a similar approach”.

Like dance hits? Check out our What’s Hot Right Now and Feetz to Da Beatz playlist mix series.

We thought it would be cool to include this relatively new song from the band Stereo Total:

“I Love You, Ono” - Stereo Total

There is also an indie band called Oh No Ono who have been increasingly on the music radars of blogger’s around the world.
“Helplessly Young” - Oh No Ono

For trivia lovers: Sean Lennon was born on his father’s 35th birthday, October 9, 1975.

We’d like to thank Yoko Ono and Tell All Your Friends PR for setting up this interview.

Putting the “in” in to Indie. Stop by Indie Rock Cafe for the best
bands, MP3s, videos, news, concert listings, festival updates, playlists and more.

Record Store Day is like Easter, Christmas and Valentine’s Day wrapped up into one day for people who love independent music and the experience of hanging out in an indie record store, meeting people, getting advice from the staff, discovering new music, and tripping down memory lane while flipping through record collections of almost every genre ever created.

For these folks, the hard-core loyalists of indie music culture, visits to the decreasing number of indie record stores are still an integral part of their lives, but the experience is simply not the same as it was years ago when towns and cities all across America has a multitude of locally-owned record stores, before the Walmarts, the Best Buys, and the Borders came in and slaughtered the soul, culture, landscape and local businesses of thousands of communities from Oregon to Florida, Kansas to Maine, and everywhere in between.

The documentary I Need That Record, from Unsatisfied Films (watch it below) is the best film we’ve ever seen about how the music culture and business, and the music itself, changed so radically in the past two to three decades.

Independent record stores, a symbol of American culture like baseball and apple pie, are an endangered institution across the United States. In I Need That Record, the producers do a terrific job of investigating, writing, interviewing and editing one chapter after another.

Record Store Day has become both a celebration of those largely bygone days, and a day to raise awareness and send out a call to action to music lovers to support the remaining indie record stores in a battle to keep these important landmarks of the American cultural landscape intact for years to come, and overseas as well. Record Store Day is also the one day of the year that collectors and fans can get releases never previously available on vinyl. (see the list below)

Thankfully, and yet ironically, the web has made it possible to spread information about the dirty deeds of the corporate record industry, and connect like-minded people who understand the importance of keeping the record industry in check, not to mention share music easily in an interactive forum. The web allows indie artists to easily distribute their music online themselves with little or no money required, thereby, actually allowing more artists to be truly independent than ever before.

The web has also permitted artists to instantly send news to their fans and provide new music, videos, tour schedules, personal information, updates and so on - a kind of engagement with their audience that was unheard of only 15 years ago. So, there are many good things about the web that benefit both the fans and the artists, including the ability to bypass the company or corporation that used to stay in the way, and unfortunately, part of the plague independent record stores have had to come to terms with, especially over the past decade.

“Zebra (UK edit)” - Beach House from Zebra Record Store Day 7-inch single

The web has made it possible for legit music downloaders to use a vast number of online stores to purchase music they want, eliminating the need to visit their local record store. The same phenomenon has affected small businesses from book stores to printing shops. For illegitimate downloaders of music, especially those people who pretty much get all of the music they want online through various pirate resources, they are one of the biggest enemy of indie record stores, and also make it more difficult for the artists they enjoy the most to make a decent living as musicians.

That is not to say that acquiring some music online free isn’t cool - especially when it is being given away by its creators - but there has to be some fair arrangement by which music lovers can buy music at a reasonable price, and hopefully do so more than a couple of times a year. Often without knowing it, frequent downloaders of illegit music who think they are “getting back” at the big, bad record corporations are actually hurting artists and indie record stores more than anyone else.

The documentary (above) is a must-see for devoted music lovers. Chapter by chapter, the film makers, in an informative and entertaining way, take you on a journey of the major shifts and changes in the music industry, the affect on indie record stores; pitting art vs. commerce; the corporate take-over of music distribution and indie radio stations; the bastardization of MTV; the vastly inflated and ridiculous cost of plastic discs (even at $9.99, the record companies would still make a killing on CDs); the ‘mall-ification’ of America; the negative, and slightly positive, effects of technology and the Internet on music; and the resurgence of vinyl.

The following is a list of each chapter in I Need That Music:
1) Intro 2) Opening Animation, 3) Art v. Commerce, 4) Radio Playola, 5) Telecom ‘96, 6) MTV Blues, 7) Schnaat House Records, Big Box, 9) CD Prices, 10) The Internet, 11) iPod Blues, 12)
Vinyl, 13) Ride into the Sun, End Credits

We strongly recommend watching this documentary from start to finish. By the time it’s over, you will know more about what has happened to music as an art form and as a business in the past three decades than some music writers. And to finish on a perfect note, the documentary’s end credits are set to The Kinks’ classic song, “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” which was a brilliant choice by the producers because the lyrics and the intensity of the song, the declaration of personal choice, and so on, reflect the overall tone of the documentary itself.

“I’m Not Like Everybody Else” - The Kinks (1966)

The decision of where the music art form and business will go in the years to come is ultimately up to you. The record industry is focused on short-term goals to satisfy investors, and instead of cultivating talented bands, being more user-friendly with their customers (or potential customers) and being less fixated on an outdated profit scheme, they remain unwilling to change. Even with the incredible drop of record (mostly CD) sales in the past decade, the industry still has the system rigged, promotes a bunch of crap music, and insists on selling a CD for $14-$18.

It appears the major record corporations strategy is basically kill, control, over-run, squeeze, seize and swindle any threat to their profit margins, without consideration to music as an art form. And that’s where they’ve screwed themselves, and many other people in the process. In the meantime, they are counting on millions of people “out there” to keep buying and consuming the constant flow of templated crap fed to them via the same corporations’ monopolized networks of radio, television, cable, and film.

For those reasons, and others, we rarely profile artists and bands from the Big Five (Sony, Universal, EMI, BMG, Capitol) major labels, instead preferring to stick mostly with artists from indie labels, and the hundreds of DIY and completely independent, unsigned artists that we love for who they are, and the what they create, and why they are regularly featured on IRC. The problem there, as Yoko Ono revealed in our interview with her on Thursday, is that “now they want a piece” of the indie movement, and have already created numerous “small” labels as shills because they know there is so much backlash against the corporate record labels by many music consumers.

Gogol Bordello’s one minute promo for Record Store Day 2010
- Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore talks about his first experiences with records as a teen, from I Need That Record documentary (watch above).

- Two Door Cinema Club talk about indie record stores and vinyl, among other things.

“Something Good Can Work” (The Twelves Remix) - Two Door Cinema Club

- The Smashing Pumpkin’s frontman Billy Corgan plays a rough home version of “Today” (interrupted by silly kids) in support of Record Store Day 2010.

- The legendary Solomon Burke gives a shout out to support indie record stores.

- The Whigs talk about the first albums they bought in a video short for Record Store Day 2010.

- Of Montreal talks last week with audience (1:05 to 1:45) in Tampa about supporting “dying breed” of indie stores by “buying some sh*t” from the Vinyl Fever record shop in Tampa after announcing the Tallahassee store had recently closed.

- Here’s another great video from the same show:

“Kill Me Carolyne” - The Whigs, new 2010 single

- Members of Valencia talk about their independent record store experiences as teens.

- Devo’s performance at 11:45pm PDT at Coachella will be webcasted live via Facebook

- Dead Confederate take viewers on a tour of indie record stores in Athens, GA

“Free The Rat” - Dead Confederate

- Mason Jennings gives props to independent record stores and Record Store Day and announces some limited editions of his own avaiable on April 17th.

- Dubmaster at Horizon Records gives a tour of the store as they celebrate 35 years in business; features music from Galactic and Albert King, plus many album covers.

- Check out RockItOutBlog coverage of Record Store Day.

- Paste Magazine’s selection of The 17 Coolest Record Stores in America

- A one-minute animated short about indie record stores and the iPod.

- Main Man Records is giving away a free compilation of 33 songs from each CD in their catalog, plus a sneak preview of Devo tribute LP.

- David Schools of Widespread Panic gives views a tour of the last independent record store in Santa Rosa, California.

- Will Sheff of Okkervil River, and Roky Erickson, plug their To Cast Out All Evil on Record Store Day.

- Carly Simon talks about the importance of independent record stores and sings a few verses.

Find your local indie record store using this map.

Music Releases especially geared for Record Store Day: Built to Spill, The Doors, The Flaming Lips, Devo, Phoenix and more

- The legendary Built to Spill will release a limited (2,500) 7-inch edition of the previously unreleased track “Watersleepers” with a live B-side.

- Holiday Shores release a split 7-inch vinyl with Surfer Blood. Also view Holiday Shores, an IRC Band to Watch, official video for “Phones Don’t Feud” from their terrific 2009 debut LP, Columbus’d The Whim.

“Phones Don’t Feud” - Holiday Shores
“Swim” - Surfer Blood

- The Doors‘ remaining members will release 2,500 copies of a special 7-inch vinyl of “People Are Strange” and “The Crystal Ship” to help promote their film biopic out now, When You Are Strange. See the trailer.

- The Deftones release exclusive, limited 7-inch of “Rocket Skates” and a M83 remix.

- The band fun release a limited edition deluxe double vinyl of Aim and Ignite, with embossed metallic gatefold jacket, etched picture disc plus the album CD.

“All The Pretty Girls” - fun from Aim and Ignite

- Devo will release Duty Now For the Future reissue on vinyl with a new 12-inch of their track “Fresh”

- The popular indie French band Phoenix (who we are seeing tonight in Santa Cruz, CA) talk about the importance of indie record stores.

In this video, a guy wearing a blue bowl on his head, reviews some of the 150 special releases targeted only for Record Store Day, including limited editions of John Lennon, The Beastie Boys, Bouncing Soul, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Elvis Costello, and many more.

The following is a list of all of special vinyl and other releases, re-issues and more (compiled by Pitchfork) on Record Store Day, Saturday, April 17, 2010

The Album Leaf: There Is a Wind [Sub Pop]
Beach House: Zebra 12″ [Sub Pop]
Bloc Party: Silent Alarm [Wichita]
Bon Iver/Peter Gabriel: Split 7″ [Jagjaguwar]
Bright Eyes: Fevers and Mirrors [Wichita]
CocoRosie: “Lemonade” b/w “Surfer Girl” [Sub Pop]
Crystal Castles: “Doe Deer” 12″ [Fiction/Lies]
Deerhoof: Apple O’ [Kill Rock Stars] [vinyl reissue]
Deerhoof: Green Cosmos [Kill Rock Stars] [vinyl reissue]
Dum Dum Girls/Male Bonding: Split 7″ [Sub Pop]
Fela Kuti and His Africa 70: 10″ EP [Knitting Factory Records]
First Aid Kit/Peggy Sue: Split 7″ [Wichita]
The Flaming Lips/Stardeath and White Dwarfs: The Dark Side of the Moon [limited edition vinyl release]
Fucked Up: “Magic Word”, “Come to Life” and “Crooked Head” 7″ [Matador] [11 variant covers]
Happy Birthday: TBA 7″ [Sub Pop]
Modest Mouse: The Moon and Antarctica [Sony] [10th anniversary vinyl reissue]
The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come [4AD] [DVD]
Pavement: Quarantine the Past [Matador] [Record Store Day exclusive track list]
Simian Mobile Disco: Attack Decay Sustain Release [Wichita]
Soundgarden: “Hunted Down” b/w “Nothing to Say” [Sub Pop]
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: “The Oldest House”/”North Coast” 7″ [Matador]
The Thermals/Cribs: Split 7″ [Kill Rock Stars]
Various Artists: Casual Nostalgia Fest [Sub Pop]
Various Artists: Fragments From a Work in Progress [4AD]
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP [Wichita]

Putting the “in” in to Indie. Stop by Indie Rock Cafe for the best
bands, MP3s, videos, news, concert listings, festival updates, playlists and more.