May 24th, 2009

Rollo & Grady // Saturday Into Sunday – Voulme #7

Rollo & Grady // Saturday Into Sunday   Voulme #7
Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse ‘- Jaykub (Jason Lytle)
Grizzly Bear – While You Wait For The Others
Joanna Newsom – The Book Of Right On (Pocketknife Mix)

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May 23rd, 2009

Pandora Launches Premium Service

Pandora Launches Premium Service

“Pandora’s free, ad-supported Internet radio service has attracted millions of registered users, and spawned one of the more popular iPhone Apps. Pandora has announced the launch of Pandora One, a premium version of its popular, free, Internet radio service.

For a yearly fee of $36, Pandora’s power users can upgrade to the Pandora One service, which offers ad-free playback, higher-quality audio (192Kbps), extended playback time, and a dedicated desktop player. The announcement of Pandora One comes hot on the heels of news that the company will soon add lyrics to its radio feeds using Gracenote technology.”
[Via CNET]



May 22nd, 2009

Rollo & Grady // Friday Into Saturday – Volume #12

Rollo & Grady // Friday Into Saturday   Volume #12

MP3: DJ Z-Trip and DJ P – Bitch From Ipanema (Remix)
MP3: N.A.S.A. – Girl From Ipanema (Remix)

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May 22nd, 2009

Westside // Breakestra and Company – Family Rap

Westside // Breakestra and Company   Family Rap

Here’s a perfect track for the holiday weekend. Enjoy.

MP3: Breakestra – Chali 2na/Double K/Munyungo Jackson/Soup/Wolf – Family Rap

Download:
Breakestra – Hit the Floor (iTunes)



May 22nd, 2009

Reminder // The Kills and The Horrors – Tonight – Fonda

Reminder // The Kills and The Horrors   Tonight   Fonda

If you are in town, make sure to catch The Kills tonight at The Music Box @ The Fonda.

MP3: The Kills – Fuck The People

Download:

The Kills – Midnight Boom (iTunes)



May 22nd, 2009

Rollo & Grady Interview with Jessi Darlin of Those Darlins

Rollo & Grady Interview with Jessi Darlin of Those Darlins
Jessi Darlin @ Tap Room – SXSW 2009 (Photo – Rollo & Grady)

Murfreesboro, Tennessee trio Those Darlins are taking the US by storm. They have garnered significant praise from the New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune and USA Today for their high-energy shows and no nonsense approach to rock n’ roll. They have also caught the attention of Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach, Black Lips, The Avett Brothers, King Khan & The Shrines and Deer Tick, to name a few. The band is currently touring the Southeast, including a slot at Bonnaroo before their Nashville vinyl relase party with the Black Lips on June 27th.

I recently spoke with Jessi Darlin about the music business, national attention and who’s the wildest Darlin.

Rollo & Grady Interview with Jessi Darlin of Those Darlins

R&G:
This has been a hectic year for you guys. Can you tell me a little bit about the highs and lows of your cross country tour?

Jessi: That’s a hard question. It’s been really fun for all of us, just because we’ve been seeing so many places for the first time. It’s frustrating to go somewhere you’ve never been and always wanted to see, but you don’t actually get to see anything that you want to. You have to go to the venue, stay there and maybe walk down the block to eat. We saw the cities from a skewed perspective, at a glance, but we had a lot of fun just getting to hang out with the people that lived in them. Definitely, I think we adapt well to our surroundings. The places we don’t, we get out of there as quickly as we can. I think the actual trips themselves are the high point: seeing everything, meeting people and playing shows for people. There are always the standard low points of touring; being in a van with the same people for hours and hours and hours, being exhausted and, especially, being sick and trying to entertain people and pretend that you’re not sick or not in a bad mood. Not really pretend, because every time we play shows, we feel the adrenaline and have fun while we do it, but sometimes people don’t see the hard part, the turmoil you’ve gone through just to get there. They don’t think about how you’ve been in a different place every single day across the entire country, in every climate. They just see you as this one thing while you play. It messes with your head, especially if you’re not on tour for very long, because you don’t get a chance to get used to it. By the time you get home, you feel like you just went through a whirlwind of craziness.

R&G: You guys recently opened up for The Avett Brothers. They are one of the best live acts out today. Did you learn anything for them?

Jessi: First of all, they were all so super-nice. It was really cool to meet them. They packed the place with 900 people and were still down to earth and cool. They had super-fans. We don’t see that a lot. Even with Dan Auerbach, there are a lot of people that really like him, but The Avett Brothers had the fan club sitting in the front with the Team Avett t-shirts on and stuff. That was kind of weird. It was cool: after the show, they got on their tour bus and this group of 30 fans stood outside their bus for almost an hour until they came back out. Then they stood there and talked to every single one of them and not just like, ‘Hey. I’ll sign your thing.’ They actually had conversations with them and took the time to talk to them. I thought that was really cool, because they could have gotten on the bus and left. No matter how tired, or sick, or unhappy you are when someone says, “Good show,” you still have to talk to them and say, ‘Thanks, man.’ You have to appreciate it. That’s the people that are making it happen for you.

Rollo & Grady Interview with Jessi Darlin of Those Darlins



May 21st, 2009

Rollo & Grady // Friday Covers

Rollo & Grady // Friday Covers

MP3: Nostalgia 77 – Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
MP3: El Michels Affair – Shaft (Isaac Hayes)
MP3: Sonos – Everything In Its Right Place (Radiohead)

Download:
El Michel's Affair – Truth & Soul Presents a Tribute to Isaac Hayes (iTunes)
Nostalgia 77 – The Garden (iTunes)
Sonos – Sonos Live On KCRW – EP (iTunes)



May 21st, 2009

The Music Industry Report // Indie Labels Are On The Rise

The Music Industry Report // Indie Labels Are On The Rise

From: The Music Industry Report via Daily Swarm

“* Independent labels accounted for 32% of aggregate album sales in 2008, up almost 1.5% from 2007.

* Independent artists won 56 awards at this year’s Grammys, up from 36 last year. That marks over 50% of all prizes given out.

* Independent labels, as a group, are the largest owners of master recordings in the industry – over 80% of America’s music is under independent ownership. These labels aren’t just diverse in genre, but in size and business model, ranging from single-artist-owned labels to imprints with decades of history and catalog. What makes a label “an indie” is that its master recordings are not owned by one of the major labels.

* That overwhelming majority of master recordings is testament to the diversity of genres covered by independent labels. The result is remarkable music that crosses boundaries, and may account for why indies notched the best album Grammy in an incredible 24 different genres in 2009.

*On top internet broadcasting platforms, where consumer choice reigns, indies thrive. Overall, independent music makes up approximately 40% of all music played at non-traditional web radio and at industry leading webcaster Pandora, over half of the music users play is independent.

*Consumer choice reigns at digital retailers as well, and the numbers reflect it, with indie market share at digital rising to 38%. Retailers are on board as well, in fact two-thirds of A2IM members have direct deals with iTunes, the industry-leading music retailer.

* In short – when traditional gatekeepers and obstacles to reaching fans are removed, indies thrive.”

Continue Reading @ The Music Industry Report