Category Archives: Uncategorized

The fine folks in Tiara have posted what we folks in the industry call a crap-load of mp3s on their website. B-Sides, demos, and lots of previously unreleased material.

This is the type of web page that the Firefox extension Down(load) Them All! is perfect for.

The Lollapalooza train just keeps a chuggin??even when there may not be any track much further ahead. Case in point; the website went live today and said they?ll start selling two-day passes to the event in Chicago?s Grant Park on April 7. However in today?s Chicago Tribune Greg Kot reports:

City officials could not be reached for comment Thursday, but they had said Wednesday that announcing such a major lakefront festival was “premature.” The next Park District meeting that might address a permit for such an event is scheduled for April 13. (full story)

If there?s one thing Chicagoans know really well it?s that our city officials and civil servant types really don?t like to be pressured into anything.

I’ll be honest and admit that I’m exciterd by the prospect of this whole thing working out and I’ll also probably shell out the $35 for the two-day pass, but I’m also gonna make damn sure those tickets are fully refundable before plonkin? down my hard-earned cash.

The Future of Music Coalition is holding a one day policy conference April 12th in DC. More info here. The program will touch on Digital Audio Broadcasting and the Future of Radio, Low Power FM, Health Insurance and Musicians, and Copyright in the Courts and Congress.

CORRECTION: The annual FOM Policy Summit is September 11-13.

If you’ve got good news, save it for Saturday. Or better yet, Monday. Because tomorrow, I don’t believe ANYTHING.

Except, maybe this.

From Wes:

Blueprint, mc for RJD2’s group Soul Position, producer for Illogic and owner of Columbus based Weightless Records is dropping “1988” on indie hip hop heavyweight Rhymesayers, Tuesday, March 29. The album draws influence from one of the most important years in Hip Hop. This release has a guest appearance from Aesop Rock and has recieved 4 Star Ratings from UrbMagazine and Hip Hop Site.com.

Upcoming events:

// Thursday March 31st from 10-midnight: Blueprint CD 101.1 FM radio appearance on the Independent Playground. Listen here

// Saturday April 2nd @ Little Brothers. Blueprint “1988” Release party. 9pm Doors. $5 advance, $7 at the door. Blueprint, Illogic, Greenhouse, CJ the Cynic, DJ Bombay, DJ Rare Groove, and other special guests tba…hosted by Envelope.

Looks like Billboard (and I) may have jumped the gun about Lollapalooza rising from the ashes in Chicago’s Grant Park this summer:

Despite reports that began surfacing Wednesday announcing the event, Chicago Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said nothing has been confirmed

Negotiations are going on between the Parkways Foundation, a fundraising arm for park programs, and Capital Sports & Entertainment, a Texas management and marketing company that produces the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Still under discussion are the date, time, location, lineup and financial details of the proposed festival. Once those matters are resolved, a permit would have to be acquired for the event from the Park District.

“It’s premature to say this will happen,” Maxey-Faulkner said. “We do not have a timeline. But if it is to happen, I expect Parkways to come to us with a request pretty soon.”

But the city’s bumpy track record with rock concerts in Grant Park suggests that Lollapalooza is hardly a sure deal. After extensive negotiations, the city turned back efforts by Smashing Pumpkins in 1998 and Grateful Dead spinoffs the Other Ones in 2002 to stage shows on the lakefront, primarily because of concerns about security, overcrowding and excessive noise. (full story)

Also, to clarify a comment I made yesterday, Radiohead played at Hutchinson Field (which is within Grant Park) a few years ago and they figured out how to charge admission for that. However pretty much anyone could hang outside and still hear/see the whole show.

Word on the street is that it’s only gonna happen in one city this year. And that city is…Chicago! Billboard is reporting that it’ll be held in Grant Park as a two-day festival which is rather interesting. Grant park is public and you can’t really charge people for entry so if that’s the case it’s gonna be a humdinger of a free show with Beck and the Killers rumored to be playing already.

Of course the other two bands rumored so far are Kings of Leon and Widespread Panic so apparently there’s much room for suckiness as well.

This is what it sounds like if you combine the Squirrel Nut Zippers with M.I.A. I love it.

SECRET HISTORY OF ROBERT DUFFY: I interned for the Squirrel Nut Zippers and their label (Mammoth) for a few years.

I bet he’ll play Arcade Fire. Note from David:

A friend who relocated to California from NY said she missed hearing all the odd variety of music that was played around the office here. “I miss hearing what you all are listening to,”? she wrote. This radio? is my response. It will stream for a few hours and then it will recycle. Maybe it will run longer in the future. The artists played here are respectful of one another and gunplay is forbidden.

Liten to it here.

This is the next level of product placement.

Though it’s not offering money upfront, the fast-food giant is willing to pay rappers $1 to $5 each time songs with the plug hit the radio, according to today’s Advertising Age. McDonald’s hopes to have its signature sandwich in several songs by summer, the mag says. full story)

What if Eminem covers that McDonald’s song? You know, “Big Mac, McBLT, Quarter Pounder..” Does he get $5 a product? That’s a lot of money, even in the world of the Grimace. [credz]