The Souljazz Orchestra, is Afro-jazz at it’s best. Drawing on the rough, raw grooves of the ‘60s and ‘70s and effortlessly fusing soul, jazz, Afro and Latin rhythms within their music, they have moved forward the blueprint of Fela, Fania and the funk in entirely new ways, whilst keeping the vital analog grit intact. Great stuff.

For fans of Antibalas, Budos Band, Apples

The Souljazz Orchestra (Myspace)

Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Album: Rising Sun (info)
Label: Strut Records
MP3: The Souljazz Orchestra – Mamaya
MP3: The Souljazz Orchestra – People, People

Rollo & Grady, KCRW and When You Awake are proud to present The Low Anthem live at the Bootleg Theatre on Thursday, March 25th.

Their album Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, was one of our favorite albums of 2009. Other publications felt the same about the record: Magnet’s #1 Album of 2009, UNCUT’s “Americana Album of the Year,” Boston Music Awards’ “Album of the Year,” Aquarium Drunkard’s Best of ’09. It was also a New York Times Critic’s Pick, Rough Trade Records Top 10 albums of ’09, and NPR’s Bob Boilen coined the song “Charlie Darwin” one of the best of the year. The band is currently supporting The Avett Brothers on their Midwest tour.

We will have some tickets to giveaway to the show sometime in March.

Bootleg Theatre
2220 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

MP3: The Low Anthem – To Ohio
MP3: The Low Anthem – As the Flame Burns Down

Download:
The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Buy)
The Low Anthem – What the Crow Brings (Buy)

New Joanna Newsom album coming out February, 23rd via Drag City. Her first single “81” is streaming now on Drag City’s site (on the right, under “Free Music”).

MP3: Joanna Newsom – The Book Of Right On (Pocketknife Mix)

Broken Bells

Album: Self-Titled (Due Out March 8th)
Label: Columbia Records

Galactic

Album: Ya-Ka-May (Due Out February 9th)
Label: Anti-Records
MP3: Galactic ft. Irma Thomas – Heart Of Steel

Eels

Album: End Times (Due Out January 19th)
Label: Vagrant Records
MP3: Eels – Little Bird
MP3: Eels – In My Younger Days

South by Southwest funneled $99 million into the local economy last year, according to a comprehensive study released today by Greyhill Advisors. The 2009 South by Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Conferences and Festivals was the 23rd time the city threw the several day event. This year’s kicks off March 11.

Though the music portion has long experienced the highest draw, film events posted significant growth last year and SXSW Interactive attendance jumped 30 percent.
The five-nights of music featured more than 1,900 artists from 80 stages last year, while 330 films were cast on eight screens. Greyhill officials said SXSW was directly and indirectly responsible for injecting approximately $99 million into the Austin economy. Operations contributed $20 million to that total and attendance accounted for about $78.8 million.
Considering the combined value of media coverage across television broadcasts, news stories, and sponsor advertising in 2009, this city also benefited from another $21.4 million.

[Via –Austin Business Journal – Via Daily Swarm]

“Promises” is a track off of The Morning Bender’s forthcoming album Big Echo due out March 9 on Rough Trade. You can download the album digitally tomorrow, January 12th. The album was produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor.

MP3: The Morning Benders – Promises
MP3: The Morning Benders – Mother and Child Reunion (Paul Simon Cover)

The Morning Benders perform March 25 at the Troubadour (buy tix)

The Shins – New Slang
Damien Rice – The Blower’s Daughter (Live)