Tag Archive for 'the Expendables'

MobBase: iPhone Apps for Bands, Musicians and the Rest of the Music Industry Too!

You probably know that MobBase makes it easy for musicians, bands, artists and DJs to create, launch and manage their own, custom iPhone apps. You may have even downloaded one of the more than 150 MobBase artist apps available in iTunes. But, if you’re not a musician, band, artist or DJ, did you know that MobBase makes it easy for you to make your own mobile app too?

If you’re a music industry blog/publication, record label, radio station, venue, music festival, music school, recording studio, gear/instrument company, or other music related project/company, MobBase can greatly help you connect with your audience through a custom iPhone app. For as little as $0.50 a day, you can use MobBase to build a dynamic app that shares music, photos, videos, tweets, news, event info, merchandise and other content with fans on their mobile devices. Here’s a little taste of the different types of music industry players that are using MobBase to connect with their fans:

Music Industry Blogs, Publications and Resources:

  • Indie Music Tech: A blog that explores the technologies enabling the music industry.
  • Remix Comps: A community of remix contest enthusiasts that provides information on the latest remix contests going on across the web, and features streaming versions of remix contest winners.
  • Wink Sound: A resource for music production videos and tutorials on Ableton, Logic, Pro-Tools, Reason, and Cubase, as well as on mixing, mastering, recording audio, beat making and Djing.
  • Evolving Music: You’re looking at it dude 🙂

Record Labels and Other Music Companies:


Radio and Music Discovery:

  • IODA Promonet: A promotional distribution network from IODA that helps fans discover and share music from thousands of top independent artists and labels around the world.
  • House Music Channel: A destination for all things house music, featuring exclusive music, mixed sets, news, information, and events from today’s hottest names in house music.
  • Flawless Radio: An app that helps you discover new music and news from the hottest emerging and developing hip-hop artists.
  • LyricShare: A Gospel and Christian music destination that gives unrivaled access to music, pictures, lyrics, sheet music, and videos.

Soundtracks and Soundscapes:

What I'm Hearing, Vol. 10

For last month’s new music update, click here.

February brought some very excellent music my way. An update of 84 songs spanning most genres included some new music as well as some hidden gems from the years past. Enjoy!

Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: In their first studio album since 2005’s You Could Have it So Much Better, the Scottish blokes return with another round of rollicking, high energy rock music. The staples of their previous musical endeavors are all here, from the steady lock-step drums to the grinding and rapid guitars, all accentuated with Alex Kapranos’s distinct vocals that he ranges from soft caress to forceful leader to out and out yell. While the album doesn’t provide much in the way of evolution from previous work, that’s not to say it’s not solid. In fact, in an era where numerous bands change their face and sound from one release to another, a little continuity isn’t a bad thing. They slow it down nicely with “Dream Again,” showing a more melodic touch to their sound, and on “Bite Hard” they show their ability to start slow to build to a frenetic and recognizable chorus structure. Don’t Sleep On: “Can’t Stop Feeling,” “Twilight Omens,” and “Bite Hard”

Glass Candy, Deep Gems and B/E/A/T/B/O/X: This is a group I just heard about out of Portland, OR. They’re currently on the Italians Do It Better label, with B/E/A/T/B/O/X coming out in 2007 and the Deep Gems album of unreleased tracks released in ’08. With an eerie female lead vocalist in Ida No, this group specializes in a delicious mixture of 80s pop music fused with dark/deep disco sounds. The grimy bass grooves, melodic keys and moving beats create a vision of dark streets on a rainy night or a dimly lit club for slow dancing hipsters, but would also feel right at home on the Scarface and Grand Theft Auto 2 soundtracks. Imagine a collaboration between Tangerine Dream and Nine Inch Nails with Kelli Dayton, formerly of the Sneaker Pimps, on vocals. If you like 80s, or disco, or just some dark music you can listen to in your cruise to an unmentionable location, Glass Candy will keep your head nodding. Don’t Sleep On: “Feeling Without Touching,” “Etheric Device,” and “Touching the Morning Mist.”

Lake, Oh, The Places We’ll Go: This relatively new (at least in terms of mass release appeal, just signed to K Records) lo-fi indie pop/rock group out of Olympia, WA caught me by surprise. Taking liberally from multiple genres and mixing it up with lyrics from both a male and female vocalist, the album doesn’t fit any one mold. There are hints of Say Hi to Your Mom, Death Cab for Cutie and Peter Bjorn and John here, but also moments of quiet melody that hearken to Feist or Sia. Some of the more uptempo indie moments on the album bring to mind Throw Me the Statue. Pianos, guitars, handclaps and horns find their moments at various points throughout the album, leading to a well-rounded and easily enjoyable album that is effortless as a listen. Don’t Sleep On: “Minor Trip,” “Dead Beat,” and Bad Dream.”

Telefon Tel Aviv, Immolate Yourself: While I’ve been listening to Telefon Tel Aviv since their sophomore release Map of What is Effortless, it wasn’t until I heard about their newest release that I learned about the death of one half of the laptop duo, Charles Cooper. Unfortunately, not much is known about the circumstances surrounding his death, other than he was missing for about a week before he was found, but given the dense emotional contexts of the group’s music, it isn’t hard to see where some levels of despair may have existed for Cooper. While Map brought their electronic sounds to a simple and accessible short format, Immolate Yourself is a densely layered piece that screams of despair behind towering walls of sound, melancholy synth work and distorted and echoed lyrics. At times beautiful for the music and others simply horrendous because of the distress the music belies, Immolate Yourself is a perfect study of what happens when depression meets a talented musician who simply can’t get it all out on paper. No word yet on what Joshua Eustis plans to do, but having been a long time friend of Cooper, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a bit difficult to go back to the studio without him. Don’t Sleep On: “Your Mouth,” “Helen of Troy,” and “M.”

Zion I, The Take Over: Having already written a review of this album (that you can find here), I won’t say much other than to mention that the songs grow on me a bit more each listen. Don’t Sleep On: “The Take Over,” “Antenna,” and “Coastin'” featuring K.Flay.

The Singles Artists: These artists didn’t get full albums on the music update, but they definitely had a hit or two that got thrown in. For hip-hop fans, check out Kool G Rap (“On the Rise Again,” “What’s More Realer Than That”.) If you like old time classic rock and roll but have grown weary of listening to your Led Zeppelin albums over and over again, check out the new throwback work of the Golden Animals (“Queen Mary,” “My My My”) If you’re an indie rock listener, give Ruby Isle a try (“How It Hurts,” “One Trip.”)

MixMatchMusic Tra.kz releases: For those of you who haven’t been following, MixMatchMusic recently launched Tra.kz , a URL shortener for all things music. As part of that release, a number of bands released new music using the site, to tremendous results. The Expendables, Giant Panda Guerrila Dub Squad, Trifonic, and Pepper all released some new tracks. From Trifonic, we got “Gutter Box,” as well as a smoking remix of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown.” Pepper brought a soundboard recording from a live concert with “Too Much.” For those with more interest in Pepper, we’ve got an interview coming up, as well as a remix contest, so stay on the lookout for that.

Another great month for new music… can’t wait to see what March has in store. Keep listening.

Controlled Substance Sound Labs Round-Up

controlled_substance_charcoal_biggerIt’s been a great day of new music releases on Twitter and everybody at MixMatchMusic would like to give a big shout out to the folks at Controlled Substance Sound Labs (label umbrella for Stoopid Records and Law Records) for making the tra.kz launch a promotion to remember!

BUT… the music isn’t over yet, as you’ve still got a chance to grab the Controlled Substance tracks and share them with your friends. Check out the complete list of songs that were released today, and download them to your heart’s content.

To download a track, right click on its ‘Download’ link below and click “Save Link As…”

“Behind Closed Doors” by Fishbone
Stream it here: http://tra.kz/f
Download
 
“Too Much (straight board mix)” by Pepper
Stream it here: http://tra.kz/p
Download
 
“Set Me Off” by The Expendables
Stream it here: http://tra.kz/e
Download
 
“Closer to the Sun” by Slightly Stoopid
Stream it here: http://tra.kz/ss
Download
 
“Under the Landslide” by Mat McHugh and The Blackbird
Stream it here: http://tra.kz/m
Download
 
“Feelin’ Alright” by Rebelution
Stream it here: http://tra.kz/r
Download
 
“Love 2 the DJ” by Sabotage Soundsystem
Stream it here: http://tra.kz/s
Download
 
“Season’s Change” by Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad
Stream it here: http://tra.kz/g
Download

To download a track, right click on its ‘Download’ link above and click “Save Link As…”

Tra.kz Artist Spotlight: The Expendables ("Set Me Off")

Blending reggae, punk rock, and 80s style dueling guitar solos, the Expendables have been turning heads since their early days in Santa Cruz, California. Growing up in NorCal was a laid back experience for the Expendables: surf, skate, party and play music. Now, they stake their claim as the NorCal representative on the Controlled Substance Sound Labs roster. Their self titled album dropped on September 2007, and now, they bring you “Set Me Off” — a live recording made at Pozo Saloon in Santa Margarita, CA that used to only be available on the Japanese release of their 2006 album Gettin’ Filthy. Not any more! Listen to it here and be sure to check out the Expendables in their upcoming spring tour.

promo_photo1

Welcome to the Tra.kz Artist Spotlight!

To celebrate the launch of tra.kz, a great selection of indie and emerging artists have come together to release new music using tra.kz. Throughout the day, new songs will be released on Twitter, with Evolving Music providing extra golden nuggets of information.

As part of the Tra.kz Artist Spotlight, MixMatchMusic has partnered with the forward-thinking folks over at Controlled Substance Sound Labs to release new music from Pepper, Slightly Stoopid, Rebelution, the Expendables, Mat McHugh and the BlackBird, Fishbone, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, and Sabotage Soundsystem.

51198_2808_sourceControlled Substance Sound Labs was formed by brothers Jon and Matt Phillips as an artistic pipeline for the family of artists under Silverback Management. As a firm that has represented the vision and career direction on the management side, they have created a refreshing record label and distribution scenario that caters to the new “independent” minded landscape of the music business, and its changing climate. They have created a trustworthy scenario to release albums and own their own masters and copyrights, which as we all know, is not a practice commonly held by the major label behemoths currently in a steep decline both creatively and from a business standpoint.

Here is the full schedule of today’s Artist Spotlight. Get ready for some great music!

7:30AM: T. Mandrake — Honey
8:00AM: Dreamlin featuring Kim Powers — Fort Gaze
8:30AM: Angel Pier — Skullz and Xs
9:00AM: Throw Me the Statue — Ship
9:30AM: Trifonic — Gutter Box
10:00AM: Fishbone — Behind Closed Doors
11:00AM: Pepper — Too Much (Straight Board Mix)
12:00PM: The Expendables — Set Me Off
1:00PM: Slightly Stoopid — Closer to the Sun
2:00PM: Mat McHugh — Under the Landslide
3:00PM: Rebelution — Feelin’ Alright Dub
4:0PM: Sabotage Soundsystem — Love 2 the DJ
4:30PM: Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad — Season’s Change
5:00PM: BLVD — Vortex
5:30PM: Enzyme Dynamite — Girls
6:00PM: Radio Nowhere — London Calling
6:30PM: The Dance Party — Sasha, Don’t Sleep
7:00PM: Alessandra Conti — Empty Words