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THE INDIE ROCK BLOG
The Indie Rock Blog is a collection of Sugartune Artist News and entries from our friends at the Rock and Roll Report. If sweet, sugartunes are stirring in your soul, keep your soul stirred with a subscription to our news feed. 
If you are looking for some pumpkin carving hints for your Halloween pumpkin this weekend, look no further than these free rock and roll Jack O’ Lantern patterns over at Fabulous Foods. And if you really want to freak out the kiddies, don’t forget to play “The End” by the Doors really loud! “This is the end, beautiful end my friend….” Have a happy Halloween and a great weekend everybody.
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The Internet is changing a lot of the rules of rock and roll and one thing it is doing is helping bands build a fan base or maintain their fan base, sell merchandise and CDs and, in the case of The Darkness fund recording sessions. In Livewire: Today’s Popstars in it for the URLs Bernhard Warner discusses how bands like The Darkness and Marillion have exploited the power of the Web to the benefit of themselves and their fans. A good read.
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A quick note that Snowdome Records is having a big CD sale featuring all kinds of Indie Rock, 60s, Power Pop, Mod, Garage, Punk, Psych and New Wave. Check it out!
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Slate has a great piece on John Peel titled Desert Island DJ- How John Peel helped shape American musical taste by Douglas Wolk that is well worth a read. I did think it a bit strange to compare the outpouring of emotions about John Peel versus Greg Shaw which I felt was a bit unneccesary though.
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If you have a hankering for classic ‘60s psychedelia then check out Electric Lemonade. Playing primarily UK psychedelia with “a healthy smattering of US psychedelia, garage rock and off-the-wall Euro trash” Electric Lemonade will make your ears glow with the sweet sounds of Carnaby Street and Kings Road. Pretty groovy man.
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Sign On San Diego has a nice article on Brian Wilson called The Grin Reaper that just might make you smile.
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(Press Release/ Cornerstone Digital) Check it out, Green Day is going to be on Fuse’s Daily Download this Monday November 1st!
The Daily Download is a live, daily countdown of the top 10 legally downloaded songs in the country, airing weekdays from 6pm - 7pm EST on Fuse. Merging live television with real-time downloading, the show offers the chance for viewers to download and stream music, exclusive downloads and bonus tracks, ring tones, artist voicemail messages, desktop wallpaper, mobile phone graphics, animation, video game demos, movie trailers and more on www.fuse.tv. The Daily Download is hosted by Fuse VJ’s Steven and Marianela.
There is a well written obituary of Greg Shaw in the UK’s The Independent by Pierre Perrone that is worth a read. Also, The Guardian has a nice piece on Greg as well.
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I just discovered Night Times.Com and it is a great webzine with an excellent reviews section. Really good stuff.
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If any of you are looking for some great, exclusive music downloads with the proceeds going to a worthy and reputable charity then head over to War Child Music and check out the selection. The Strokes doing “London Calling” by the Clash, Keane and a Fatboy Slim acoustic track are just some of the cool things to check out. Hurry up because each month features a different line-up. Go ahead and do some good.
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It looks like Johnny Depp has gotten his wish and Keith Richards has signed on to the two upcoming “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequels as his father according to Arrow FM. Now how perfect is that! All they need to add is Hunter Thompson as the lecherous island governor and all will be complete.
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According to Revolver Magazine (by way of SMN News), they have published a list of the “50 Heaviest Bands Ever” and man there are gonna be some wild scraps over this sucker. You can find the complete list here but for those of you dying to know, here is the top 10:
1. Black Sabbath
2. Soundgarden
3. Led Zepplin
4. Neurosis
5. Slayer
6. Kyuss
7. Meshuggah
8. The Melvins
9. Metallica
10. Godflesh
I find it hard to believe that Sabbath is considered heavier than a band like Kyuss or Meshuggah although at least Ozzy could sing (kind of).
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If you always wanted to spend some time with Italian Playboys then this is your chance as the Link Quartet unleash their latest CD called funnily enough “Italian Playboys” on the world. Hailing from Italy, the Link Quartet emits a great, Hammond-fueled rock and roll buzz that is as universal as rock and roll itself. Really great stuff, you can sample their latest over at the Hammond Beat website. Can you imagine listening to these guys in some cool, sweaty Italian rock and roll club! Sounds like a perfect night. Check ‘em out. They’re coming stateside early next year.
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The New York Times (registration required, yatta yatta) has an interesting article titled A Strike in the Heart of Pretty: Punk Rocks Again on how the “aggressively downbeat look” of the glory days of punk are making themselves felt on the fashion runways and oh so chi chi boutiques of the world. Of course, today’s punk “trend” is quite a bit tamer to suit mainstream tastes but it looks like the influence of the Ramones has even insinuated itself into fashion circles. Gabba, Gabba Hey Dahling!
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If you are interested in personal reminisces on what life was like at the EMI record label in the sixties, look no further than the fascinating A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away…by Alan Warner. Really interesting stuff.
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The Bomp website has been updated and features a great selection of stuff related to the life and death of Greg with more to come in the near future. In addition, keep an eye out for Rock Critics Daily which will be featuring its own tribute in a few days.
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The BBC has put up a nice assortment of audio clips featuring the late, legendary John Peel. Well worth a listen.
UPDATE! According to a posting on the WFMU message board somebody has posted entire John Peel radio shows from 1991 - 2004 on alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indie although I cannot verify either the accuracy or quality of this. If anybody has a go downloading them let me know how they sound.
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It appears that the mighty Led Zeppelin will get the “Biography” treatment on A & E on December 1st according to “This Day in Rock.” Will they show Robert Plant squeezing his lemon and John Bonham shark fishing while Jimmy Page drifts in and out of consciousness while John Paul Jones plays backgammon in the background? Or will they show what really happened? Does anybody remember laughter?
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If you have always wondered if you truly wasted your time and money years ago listening to Warrant, Ratt and Twisted Sister (guilty!) then you might be interested in putting that wasted musical knowledge to work by voting on VH1’s “40 most awsomely bad metal songs ever.” To me the problem is that these songs, though technically bad, are great for that very reason. What’s a dude to do?
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In a perfect meeting of the rock and roll old and new, check out this interview over at Rhino Records (still cool) featuring Trevor Anderson of the High Dials interviewing Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of the Zombies in No Time Like the Right Time. Perfect.
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So you are a big Ramones fan huh? How big? If you want to prove it just put in a bid on this incredible Ramones-inspired west coast “retreat” on eBay. Holy crap! Who says Ramones fans have no taste! Pretty cool.
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For those of you Beatleologists out there, the name Bill Harry is no stranger. Original manager of the Beatles as well as the founder and publisher of the seminal Liverpool pop newspaper Mersey Beat, Harry has put together an incredible archive on the web featuring some very cool Mersey Beat articles, pictures and cool Beatles related trivia and esoterica. It’s totally gear!
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All right! After a couple of days of really awful news I’m back and getting ready to rock once again. For the next couple of days we shall keep things light and fun (but of course things are always light and fun here at The Rock and Roll Report!) as we mourn our friends and steel ourselves for the big U.S. election. After that it’s all hands on deck for more of our regularly scheduled rock and roll wackiness. Take care and fasten your seat belts. The ride is about to start.
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Although he probably wouldn’t admit it, John Peel stood head and shoulders above his radio host contemporaries. In an age of formulated radio hosted by DJs with overcharged metabolisms, he brought a self-effacing style that continued to deliver the latest and greatest. He will be sorely missed.
John Peel, 40 year veteran DJ at BBC’s Radio One and Four, brought us radio in it’s purest form — broadcasting music that he, a music lover, deemed worthy — not what was considered worthy by the marketers in corporate boardrooms which “own” radio.
He played a major role in the career of many great bands. Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr said the band’s early success was “largely due to the John Peel show”. “If it wasn’t for John Peel, there would be no Joy Division and no New Order,” adds Bernard Sumner.
John Peel was the first to play the music of many great bands, from Pink Floyd to T. Rex to Blur. His influence was greatest in North America through the many John Peel Session albums he released.
Music lovers have lost one of the last real DJs. 
Click here for a listen to Canadian Broadcasting’s salute to John Peel.
Unbelievably we have lost another great champion of rock and roll as the BBC have reported that legendary radio DJ John Peel has passed away at age 65. The BBC link is a great place to start for those of you unaware of the impact that this man had on rock and roll over the last 40 years or so. Another true music fan has left us. Rest in peace John Peel. You made radio worth listening to.
UPDATE! John started a record label in the late sixties that folded in 1972 called Dandelion Records. Click on the link for some great information on this pioneering indie rock label of the past. Also, the Guardian Unlimited has an excellent tribute page with a lot of great links and information. More reaction can be found at the NME. A great talent lost for sure.
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Creature
Moonshine Orchestra
The Snitches