The Sky Drops
Album: Making Mountains EP (iTunes)
Label: Fridabear Records
The Sky Drops – Explain It To Me
The Sky Drops – Sentimental

Hanni El Khatib
Album: Will The Guns Come Out (June – 2011)
Label: Innovative Leisure
Hanni El Khatib – Build. Destroy. Rebuild.

Related Posts:
Artist To Watch – Hanni El Khatib (click here)
Rollo & Grady Interview with Hanni El Khatib (click here)

Gary Calamar hails from the Bronx, NY, and grew up a constant presence in local record stores. When he moved to LA in the early 80s, he got himself behind the counter, managing stores and nourishing the flourishing culture of the record store. In April 2010, he released the book “Record Store Days,” inspired by both his life and tastes as a consumer and connoisseur of vinyl.

Calamar is of course much more than a consumer and author. A KCRW volunteer and DJ since the mid ‘90s, Gary hosts a Sunday night show (9p-12m) on the station that not only showcases emerging music, but looks deeply into the roots of Rock, Country, Jazz, Blues, and Soul.

In 1998, Calamar got his break into the world of music supervision, placing music with Marq Roswell for the movie, Slums of Beverly Hills and in 1999, again with Roswell, for Varsity Blues; this latter soundtrack earned him a gold record. His work with partner Thomas Golubic on Six Feet Under (HBO) became strongly influential, making a case for placing indie music in television. Gary went on to found Go Music with Alyson Vidoli. He currently places music on True Blood (HBO), House (Fox), and Dexter (Showtime), and was recently nominated for a Grammy for the True Blood II Soundtrack.

In all aspects of the music business, Gary Calamar’s focus is broad and considerate; he remains abreast of all new movements and grounded in the history that makes them compelling, meaningful, and fun.

Last minute addition to SXSW Festival:

Fader Magazine just announced that Justin Vernon’s pre-Bon Iver collaboration with Megafaun, DeYarmond Edison, will play the Fader Fort on Saturday, March 19th at 8PM. To RSVP to the event click here.

MP3: DeYarmond Edison – Dead Anchor

We are heading to Austin tomorrow for SXSW. If you are interested, we will be updating Twitter regularly. You can follow our updates by clicking here. We can also be reached at rollogrady@gmail.com.

DJ Booka Shade – Contact (Brigitte Bardot Remix)

A couple weeks ago, our boys from Futurebirds gave us a stream to their beautiful cover of Stevie Nick’s “Wild Heart.” This week, we premiere a new Futurebirds cover, “Wicked Games” by Chris Isaak, which is on Futurebirds’ forthcoming EP, Via Flamina, out April 1st.

On April 19th, the band plans to release a remastered version of their self-titled debut EP, which will be released digitally by Autumn Tone Records. Be sure to check them out this week at SXSW.

The Airborne Toxic Event – Goodbye Horses (Q Lazzarus Cover – Live)