Regional Semifinals And Finals Are All That Separate Bands From A $1 Million Dollar Record Contract.

For Immediate Release

With the best unsigned bands in the nation remaining, Bodog Battle surges into the American regional semifinal rounds and onto the regional finals of the worldwide competition. After enduring months of online voting and the “Impress the Judges” rounds, only the top American bands get a chance to fight for their shot at the big time and a $1 million record contract with Bodog Music ( www.bodoglife.net/music).

Just a handful of bands remain from each city, and they must now fight their toughest battles to date as they take on the remaining top bands from their region in the American regional semifinals. Only the best of the best from the American regional semifinals will earn the right to move on to the regional finals, moving one step closer to the coveted $1 million record contract with Bodog Music.

The stakes are high as the bands are being filmed for the second season of the Bodog Battle reality TV series with exclusive behind-the-scenes footage appearing online only at Bodog TV (www.bodoglife.net/tv ). The first season of the popular Bodog Battle of the Bands show aired on fuse TV last year. These bands are fighting for their musical lives on camera, as they attempt to take the next big step onto the regional finals. Playing across the country from Manhattan to San Diego, only a talented, hardworking few will get a chance to live out their dreams of a cross country tour with the hopes of a shot at the finals.

(more…)

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Ok, once you get over the name and actually listen to the music of Big Cock you will be impressed. This is great hard rock (pun intended!) and sounds a bit like a combination of Van Halen and AC/DC playing at a Playboy Mansion party. Yes they sing almost exclusively about sex (and this is a bad thing?) but with songs like King of Cool, Get Me Up and the brand new M.I.L.F. and Built for Speed these guys are loaded for bare.

If you like your rock and roll high energy with a heavy dose of raunch then grab a hold of Big Cock and enjoy the ride. (OK that pun was again, intended).

Check out their MySpace page at http://www.bigcockrocks.com/ and look out for their new CD Motherload coming in February 2008.

Later.

Mark

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Jann Klose has seen more of the world before he was of voting age than most people will ever see in their entire lifetimes. From the time he was less than a year old, the songwriter/guitarist has lived in his native country of Germany, Kenya, South Africa, Cleveland, OH, and New York. Currently living in the Bronx, Jann has taken all of the musical influences of these lands and combined them all into his version of pop music. In his music, you’ll find large traces of jazz, blues, reggae, and of course, rock.

It’s these styles that are evident in Jann’s newest release, entitled Reverie. The new album stays fresh by changing direction throughout the CDs 12 tracks. From the opening track of “Beautiful Dream” to the final track of “The Beginning,” you’ll hear all sorts of combinations of styles that help make Jann’s music unique. The most interesting tracks on Jann’s Reverie are “Doing Time”; “Clouds”; “Mother Said, Father Said”; along with “Beautiful Dream” and “Hold Me Down”, the 2 tracks that were put on a single previous to the album being released.

Reverie is Jann Klose’s newest album in his long line of self releases and compilations that he has been featured on. This marks the fourth release by Jann, following up his Enough Said, The Strangest Thing and Black Box CDs. Jann’s music has also been featured in the DEAD BROKE movie from Warner Bros Home DVD, the PRAMBORS HITS 3 in Indonesia, and on car maker SAAB’s 60th Anniversay CD in France. He even had a song included on the SERENITY HOUSE CD, a compilation that was put together to benefit the building of the Serenity House Hospice in Doylestown, PA.

But it’s Jann Klose’s Reverie CD that is the focus of this review. Along with Klose and his bandmates (who play bass, keys, drums and violin on the CD), other musicians on the recording lend a hand on oboe, trumpet and flugelhorn, and percussion. With that blend of instumentation, Jann Klose has produced a solid pop effort that has a very worldy feel to it.

You can find Jann and his music at www.jannklose.com and www.myspace.com/jannklose.

Matheson Kamin

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I am excited to introduce a new contributor here at the Rock and Roll Report by the name of Matheson Kamin. I’ll let Matheson introduce himself:

With how bad commercial radio can be, I have always paid attention to the underground music scene. When my classmates where listening to Top 40 music, I listened to college radio; the music was better and the artists had more creativity.

I have also followed the local scene here in Cleveland, Ohio. Some of the bands here have been as good or better than the stuff on commercial radio, but they have never received the notoriety they deserve.
During the last decade, I represented a local internet-based record company and an internet-based music publication. After both ventures happened to fail for their owners, I joined Cleveland-based Exciting City in 2004. I have spent more than 2 years with the hard copy publication promoting both the music and art scenes here in Cleveland.

I recently joined up with The Rock-and-Roll Report because there are a lot of local and independent bands that don’t get their share of notoriety. I want to change that.

Matheson Kamin

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February’s schedule has been set for both Rock and Roll Report Radio and the podcast. It is as follows:

February 6th - Rock and Roll Report Podcast #6

February 11th - Rock and Roll Report Radio on the Drastic Plastic Program on CKUT FM

February 2oth - Rock and Roll Report Podcast # 7 “Sex and Rock ‘n Roll”

February 25th - The 3 Amigos on the Drastic Plastic Program on CKUT FM

Later.

Mark

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Well I’ve made it to podcast #5 with all fingers and toes still intact and sanity somewhat in check. Hope you enjoy this week’s podcast as it was put together at 4:00 AM on a Sunday. When the urge strikes you gotta record! I’ll be on the air at CKUT FM next week so the next Podcast should be February 6, 2008. Hope you enjoy the show and don’t forget to email me at rockandrollreport@gmail.com and say hi!

Thanks for listening.

If you want to subscribe to the podcast, just click either of the links below:

Subscribe to The Rock and Roll Report Podcast

Here’s what I played:

1. Rock and Roll Report Intro by Featured on Fridays
2. Lights Out by the Tenspoke Indies
3. Rooftop Sniper by The Brown Hornets
   
4. Without You by Three Quarter Stone
5. Stoned Faces by The New York Vaults
6. Still Number One by Exile Parade
7. Bang by RockChild
8. Sick Times by The Dials

Later.

Mark

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Here are some more “Best of 2007″ from International Pop Overthrow Grand Poohbah David Bash:

II. Top Reissues Of Recent Vintage

1. Richard Snow-Richard Snow (Side B)
2. The Grip Weeds-House Of Vibes Revisited (Ground Up)
3. Favorita-Favorita (Popsicle)

III. Top 6 EPs

1. The Treasury-The Treasury (Teetering)
2. The Avenues-The Avenues (Self-Released)
3. The Waking Hours-How Does It Feel (Self-Released)
4. The Nice Outfit-Kissing Jocelyn (Self-Released)
5. Ian Axel-I’m On To You (Self-Released)
6. The Holy Fields-The Holy Fields (Self-Released)

IV. Top 5 Compilations-Single Artists

1. The Sails-Drum Roll Please (Fabtone)
2. Splitsville-Let’s Go!: The Best Of Splitsville (Zip)
3. The Afternoons-Baby, You Know The Deal (Rock Indiana)
4. John Wicks And The Records-Rotate: An Anthology (Kool Kat)
5. The Pillbugs-Monclovia (Rainbow Quartz)

V. Top 5 Compilations-Various Artists

1. International Pop Overthrow Volume 10 (Not Lame)
2. Sweet Relief-Various Rock And Power Pop Artists (Jam)
3. Hook Heaven2-22 Tracks From The Pop Underground (Not Lame)
4. Shake Some Action (Not Lame)
5. Unsigned, Sealed & Delivered V 2.0: In Pop We Trust (Bullseye/Frontline)

VI. Top Tribute Discs-Single Artists

1. The Smithereens-Meet The Smithereens! (KOCH)
2. Jeremy-Yesterday, Today And Forever (Jam)

VII. Top Tribute Discs-Various Artists

1. Sensory Lullabies: The Ultimate Tribute To Jellyfish (Burning Sky)
2. The Young Idea: A Pop Tribute To Anthony Meynell And Squire (Twist)

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If the podcast and radio show play your tunes, shouldn’t the blog show your videos? I think so and if you do too send me your amazing rock and roll videos and I will showcase them to the world! Actually to my mum, uncle and four buddies that actually read the site but no matter!

Send your videos to:

rockandrollreport@gmail.com

Later.

Mark

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David Bash is both a top notch journalist as well as the man behind the ultra-coo International Pop Overthrow series of concerts that go on from Liverpool to Vancouver, Boston to LA and beyond. Every year David provides me with a comprehensive list of CDs he thought were highlights from from the year just past and this year is no different so over the next few days I will be posting his various choices in Top 125 Contemporary Albums, Top Reissues, Top EPs, Top Compilations and more. Here is his Top 125 Contemporary CDs of 2007:

1. Ice Cream Hands-The Good China (Dust Devil)
2. The Fast Camels-The Magic Optician (Neon Tetra)
3. Peachfuzz-Catch Your Snap (Teenacide)
4. The Nines-Gran Jukle’s Field (TAS Gold)
5. The Scruffs-Pop Manifesto (Self-Released)
6. David Brookings-Obsessed (Self-Released)
7. The Resonars-Nonetheless Blue (Get Hip)
8. The Red Button-She’s About To Cross My Mind (Self-Released)
9. Fountains Of Wayne-Traffic And Weather (Virgin)
10. Mark & The Spies-Mark & The Spies (Screaming Apple)
11. Nushu-Nevermind Lullaby (Self-Released)
12. The Singles-Start Again (Sound Artifacts)
13. The Orchid Highway-The Orchid Highway (Self-Released)
14. The Tripwires-Makes You Look Around (Paisley Pop)
15. Paul Starling-Ghost Waltz (Self-Released)
16. The Procession-Music Magnifique (Retone)
17. Sparkwood-Kaleidoscopism (Excellent)
18. The Fore-Black & White (Beatnik Geek)
19. Graham Day And The Gaolers-Soundtrack To The Daily Grind (Damaged Goods)
20. Jackdaw 4-Bipolar Diversions (369)
21. Switches-Heart Turned To D.E.A.D. (Atlantic UK)
22. The Len Price 3-Rentacrowd (Wicked Cool)
23. Black Tie Revue-Code Fun (Gearhead)
24. The Peaces-Is/Are/Was/Were (Cherry Bomb)
25. Third Of Never-Moodring (Jam)
(more…)

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Despite the fact that we are living in a Web 2.o world and we can have access to tons of great rock and roll without ever leaving our keyboards, rock and roll is meant to be both played and experienced live. There is no two ways about it, rock and roll is a communal experience. The key for most bands is to tour, tour and tour some more if they want to generate a buzz and let’s face it, some income for their hard work. If you are in a band you will know that planning a tour, especially with little or no support from a major label is a daunting task but two tools might be helpful for those planning on taking the touring plunge.

Eventful.Com is billed as a “user generated touring site” that lets fans request performances and organize gigs for their favourite acts. More than 30,000 musicians are using the service with 3000 more signing up every day. The cool thing for fans is that you can integrate it with your iTunes and Last.FM accounts to track when your favourite bands are coming to town and for bands it’s great because you can use it to pinpoint where your fans are located and plan your tours appropriately. A very cool Web 2.o site for bands and fans alike.

Another, more traditional tool is the brand new Indie Venue Bible. A team of over 20 researchers has been collecting venues for this book and it features 26,000 venues and 2000 booking agents in the US and Canada. It lists venues of all sizes including clubs, restaurants, lounges,
coffee shops, festivals, theaters, halls, churches, book stores, community centers, house concerts, jams and open mics. There are also over 1000 colleges listed for any artist that wants to plan a college tour. Looks like this will be essential for any touring indie musician.

Later.

Mark

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From Warrington, Northwest United Kingdom swaggers Exile Parade, a band I only recently discovered but have since played on Rock and Roll Report Radio. Heavy but with a strong sense for “the hook,” my favourite comment made about them was a review by Jed the Fish at KROQ in LA who said “They sound like Oasis but with bigger testicles.”

Absolutely love Still Number One and Fire Walk With Me but Superstars is growing on me as well. This is one of those bands that you know will just grow from strength to strength so it should be fun following their progress. Have a listen to the 5 tracks they posted to their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/exileparade and enjoy the tunes. Check out the video for Fire Walk With Me posted here as well!

Later.

Mark

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It has been awhile since I have featured some record reviews from the Rock and Roll Report’s “European Rock Correspondent” Gérard Girard, host of Pop Dreams on the Continent but despite the fact that he is super busy he took some time out to fill me in on his “Top 10″ of 2007. Check ‘em out:

-SIGNAL HILL TRANSMISSION “an empty space“/www.signalhilltransmission.com/Pop at his best!!

-JUNIOR LEAGUE “catchy” Released in 2006 but only arrived in my area in 2007!! Joe Adragna is a one man band and this guy rocks!!! Powerpop at this best! www.myspace.com/juniorleague

-ANGIL 1 THE HIDDENTRACKS “oulipo saliva” Unique Records/www.uniquerecords.org. Frenchy guys but universal music!!!! Popelectrojazzfolk at his best!

-FOUNTAIN OF WAYNE “traffic and weather” Virgin records/ kings of Pop! http://www.myspace.com/fountainsofwayne

-SINGLES “start again“/www.thesingles.us/www.soundartifacts.com/ Yes the return of this greatpowerpop60s from Detroit!! and yes it’s a 2006 release but don’t forget I live in France!!

-JON AUER “songs form the year of our demise” Feet music/ the best Posies album of the year!!! http://www.myspace.com/jonauermusic

-AXE RIVERBOY “tutu to tango” Atmospheriques Records/ My fav french pop artist (in fact the singer of Tahiti 80) www.myspace.com/axeriverboy

-THE SHINS “wincing the night away” Sub Pop Records/brilliant Portland pop at his best! http://www.myspace.com/theshins

-LEN PRICE 3 “rentacrowd” Wicked Cool Records/www.wickedcoolrecords.com/ English power pop at his best!!! Thanks to the Jam and the Who!!

-Eric BROWN “now that you’re fed” Simply the best pop album of the year!! www.chrsbrowntunes.com

-honorable mentions : Keene Brothers/REM live/the hard left/Wellingtons/Pernice Brothers/Steven Mark/Break Up Society/

By Gérard Girard

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In the summer of 2008, Versailles Records will be issuing a Led Zeppelin Tribute, for which we’re seeking to do is something a little different with the bonus disc, which is to feature ORIGINAL ROCK/METAL bands who sound derivatively alike or similar to Led Zeppelin in some manner (be it songwriting, vocal range, riffs, etc) performing an ORIGINAL song of yours on the sampler disc.

As with all our tributes, this album will be distributed nationally to retail outlets in the U.S., and each participating band will get promos, as well as a bio/pic in the cd booklet.

Interested bands should email an MP3 of their submittal song or a web link (myspace perferably) where we can check out your sound before getting back in touch with further details regarding a formal spot on the cd sampler. All interested bands should email versaillesrecords2006@yahoo.com for further details.

Later.

Mark

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I just played Badmouth for the first time on Rock and Roll Report Radio on the January, 14th show and I was quite impressed on first listen to this Stockholm, Sweden-based band. Although I played Super-Sassy Glossy Lips which was their first song ever released, they have a brand new EP set for release on January 22nd, 2008 featuring a bunch of killer tracks including Kick It Up a Notch, Cocaine Girl and my favourite Last Train.

I swear I don’t know what is in the water in Sweden but that country’s rock and roll continues to impress me…

Check out their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/badmouthswe and have a listen and I’ll post a link to buy their new EP as soon as it is available.

Later.

Mark

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For Immediate Release:

“On the heels of the “Skater Rock Vol. 1/2″ and “Strip Club Rock” CD Comps, both due in stores March 25th, Versailles Records has announced plans for “Surf Rock Vol. 1/2.’ The album will feature material from current/former members of Ozzy Osbourne Band, Aerosmith, Rough Cutt, Ratt, Alice Cooper Band, Exodus, Warrant, L.A. Guns, Slash’s Snakepit, Exodus, Lillian Axe, Dangerous Toys, Poison, Pretty Boy Floyd, Dad’s Porno Mag, WASP, and others.

In addition to the aforementioned material, the label is seeking original song submissions from up-and-coming, signed and unsigned millennium rock and metal bands. Each participating band will receive a photo and bio in the CD booklet, as well as promos. Interested groups should e-mail inquiries to surfrock2008@yahoo.com.

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(Editor’s note) I have always been a fan of Playboy. Ya sure the girls are hot and all but more than that I am a big admirer of Hef’s business of hedonism. The way he has structured his work and social environments to reflect his values (you can argue with THAT all you want!) has continued to fascinate me. So when I saw this press release announcing the 2008 schedule for Rock the Rabbit I thought it would be cool to post here as they have supported some pretty cook bands in the past.

(Press Release) For the second year in a row, Playboy’s Rock the Rabbit initiative will fuse rock, hip-hop, art and fashion in conjunction with Playboy magazine’s annual March music issue (on newsstands February 12, 2008). Rock the Rabbit 2008 includes an impressive line-up of legendary artists, including Duran Duran and Iggy Pop, as well as other cutting-edge musicians across a variety of genres, both established and buzz-worthy up-and-comers.

As part of this year’s program, Rock the Rabbit artists will put their twist on the iconic Playboy Rabbit Head logo by creating limited edition t-shirt designs. Original prototypes of all t-shirt designs will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefitting Rock the Vote (www.rockthevote.org). A special collection of Rock the Rabbit t-shirts will be available nationwide at select Bloomingdale’s locations and online at ShopTheBunny.com.

Additionally, legendary photographer Mick Rock photographed select Rock the Rabbit artists for the fashion pages of Playboy’s March music issue, and RockTheRabbit.com will feature a complete gallery of this year’s t-shirt collection alongside profiles and Q & A’s with the artists.

Playboy Rock the Rabbit 2008 Artists:
* Iggy Pop
* Duran Duran
* Daft Punk
* The Shins
* T.I.
* Gogol Bordello
* Hot Chip
* Ghostland Observatory
* Jamie T
* Tokyo Police Club
* The Pipettes
* New Young Pony Club
* Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s
* Little Ones
* OFFICE
* The Oohlas
* The Heavy
* Working For A Nuclear Free City
* The Beasts of Eden
* DJ Dimitri from Paris

Last year’s inaugural group of Rock the Rabbit artists included The Flaming Lips, The Thievery Corporation, Kasabian, Metric, Whitestarr, Rhymefest, Lil’ Jon, Soulwax, Dean & Britta, stellastarr*, Illinois, The Bronx and more. The campaign hosted some of 2007’s hottest parties, including: a launch party at The Palms Casino Resort featuring performances by Rhymefest and Whitestarr; a late night party at SXSW in Austin, Texas, featuring Illinois and Monsters are Waiting; and a spring break beach bonanza in Cabo San Lucas featuring a performance by Your Vegas.

Stay tuned for more info on Rock the Rabbit 2008 events, including the Late Night Party in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, March 13, 2008.

Check out RocktheRabbit.com for info on Rock the Rabbit 2008.

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(From Music Connection) According to the folks at want2bdiscovered.com, “All you need is a camcorder and laptop, and the venue you’re performing at must have a internet connection!”

Contact live@want2bdiscovered.com for more details and give them the date, time, venue, name of artists performing and give us 3 weeks notice, so they can promote the event over the internet. The company says, “You must have your music profile on our website to be eligible for this FREE opportunity.

If you don’t have a profile yet, it’s FREE to join and create your music profile! Visit www.want2bdiscovered.com/music

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Snicker all you want at their name but these guys are good. Here is their new video from their upcoming CD “Motherlode” set to be released on February 9th, 2008.

www.myspace.com/bigcockrocks.com

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Well it was finally time to REALLY kick of 2008 with another episode of Rock and Roll Report Radio on the Drastic Plastic Program on CKUT 90.3 FM here in Montreal and around the world on www.ckut.ca. The whole point of the show remains the same and actually grows stronger as time goes by. My mission is to play a varied selection of amazing indie and unsigned rock and roll that I think should be played on commercial rock radio but sadly is not. Not only do I play this stuff on Rock and Roll Report Radio and with the 3 Amigos twice a month on CKUT FM but also on the brand new Rock and Roll Report Podcast which is currently coming out twice a month as well.

You can check out what I played on last night’s show below. As usual, I have included the band’s website links and ways to purchase their music where I could (just click on the album title if it has a link). Hope you enjoyed the show and don’t forget that the next podcast is due out January 23rd.

Thanks for Listening!

Song - Album - Artist

Soak Her In - Off The Floor - Avi & Celia

104 - The Brown Hornets - The Brown Hornets

Bad Seed - Guts of Steel - Brimstone Howl

Love, Love, Love - Single - The Sea

Still Number One - Exile Parade - Exile Parade

Super-Sassy Glossy Lips - Badmouth - Badmouth

Lights Out - Blinded By The Sound - Tenspoke Indies

Mind Over Matter - Thunderblood Heart - Marvel

Make A Scene - Demetra - Demetra

Loners - S/T - The Pleasures of Merely Circulating

DJ - Moodring - Third Of Never

Goodbye Good Guy - Neanderthal - Sunspot

Stars In My Pocket - Coming Out Electric - Atomic Swindlers

drastic plastic 128kbps Podcast (Link good for one week from date of broadcast)

Later.

Mark

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Copyright 1993-2005 and 2006, Robert Minkin and Minkin Designs - All rights reserved.

Subject – Dick’s Picks, a series of CD releases by The Grateful Dead on Grateful Dead Records, with cover images by Robert Minkin

In these days of declining record sales, many people who report on the music business wonder aloud how it is that musicians are supposed to be able to survive (and, even, make a good living) without selling millions of CDs or digital downloads. Throughout the short history of Rock and Roll music, there have been a few great examples of musical acts that have connected with their fan bases in such as deep way that they have been able to build and support their careers (and their families) on the sales of the wide range of related enterprises, with touring being the most obvious (and, done right, a very profitable) method.

The consummate touring band, The Grateful Dead is a great example of such an act. For 30 years, from 1965 to 1995, the band played almost constantly, traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe and, in 1978, in Giza, Egypt, near the Great Pyramids. All during this time, the band lived in an open marriage with its fans, allowing them to record and share their music and, in some cases, providing the throngs of Deadheads who traveled with them from show to show with the necessities of life (free food, shelter, first aid and, quite often, music).

(more…)

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It’s a brand new year and I have a new podcast for you to start things in style. Featuring the usual assortment of amazing indie and unsigned bands that should be on commercial rock radio if only it had the guts to go out and find something off the beaten path, I decided only to play six tracks this time. I am hoping to get the podcast down to about 20-25 minutes and this one was close and clocked in at just over 28 minutes.

If you enjoyed the podcast and have any suggestions or just want to say hi, email me at rockandrollreport@gmail.com

Thanks for listening.

If you want to subscribe to the podcast, just click either of the links below:

Subscribe to The Rock and Roll Report Podcast

This is what I played:

1. Rock and Roll Report Podcast Intro by Featured on Fridays
2. Stay by Handsome Devil
3. Someone Else’s Name by Red Seven
4. Before It’s Over by Rotten Cheri
5. Summer Waves by Leigh Silver
6. Destination Nowhere by The Street Brats
   
   
7. Don’t Let Me In by The Sleepers
   

Next Monday, January 14, 2008 I will be hosting Rock and Roll Report Radio on CKUT FM at www.ckut.ca from 10:00 - 11:00 PM EST so by all means tune in to that as I have a lot of cool new stuff to play. The next Rock and Roll Report Podcast will be the following week on January 23, 2008.

Later.

Mark

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The Rock and Roll Report Podcast is just one of hundreds if not thousands of music podcasts out there hosted by everybody from keen fans to record labels to major media like the BBC, but why would any musician want to get involved in what some are calling a media revolution?

A podcast, just in case you are wondering is simply a digital audio file that people can download to their computer, phone or MP3 player and listen to at their convenience. Big deal you might think, downloadable audio has been available off websites for years! While this is true, the difference is in the way that these files are distributed. Using something called an RSS feed, all a listener has to do is subscribe to the podcast using this feed and they will automatically receive the latest edition of a podcast directly on their computer without any further action on their own. Using the Rock and Roll Report Podcast as an example, if a potential listener is searching in the music podcast section of the iTunes Music Store and comes across the Rock and Roll Report Podcast and is intrigued, all they would have to do is click on the “subscribe” button. From then on until they unsubscribe (which we know they wont do because the music played on the podcast is just too damn good!) they will automatically receive the latest podcast right to their computer and as soon as they plug in their iPod to their computer that new podcast will download onto their iPod without the owner having to do anything. It’s that simple. And you don’t have to use the iPod or iTunes to achieve this as the process is just as simple with iTunes alternatives like Juice or other MP3 players.

(more…)

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So you think you can do better than those suits running the major labels huh? Consider yourself the arbiter of cool and all that is good in music? Well now you can put your money where your mouth is by signing up to LaunchALabel.com.

The idea behind LaunchALabel.com is pretty cool. According to the site:

LaunchALabel.com will bring together 50,000 music fans to start their own record label. These fans will choose the label’s name and the first five bands to sign to record contracts worth $200,000 each. From there they will have input into every aspect of marketing and promotion for the label and its artists. Right now, joining LaunchALabel is free. Once the 50,000-member threshold is reached, each of those members will be required to pay $25 for access to the nomination and voting process. That will raise $1.25 million to sign bands and to pay for overhead expenses including office space and staff. Founder, Karol Gajda says, “Music is for fans, not corporations. And, fans should be a major part of the music selection and marketing processes from the very beginning.” If you’re interested in this intriguing experiment, visit www.launchalabel.com, or contact Gajda directly at 407-745-1809.

Check out the site and see what you think.

Later.

Mark

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In this “singles generation” where it seems that the music industry is ruled by one hit wonders and we seem to have gone back in time where records were merely the latest single surrounded by filler, it’s nice to listen to a CD where you literally cannot make up your mind as to which song is your favourite. Such is my dilemma with the new CD Blinded By Sound by Tampa, Florida band Tenspoke Indies.

I was immediately floored by opening track Blinded By Sound and things continued to build with Give To Get (which reminds me a bit of the groove from Cold Heart Bitch by Jet). But the song that really got my rock and roll heart beating was the opening bass line to Lights Out, a phenomenal track which has been playing on my iPod nonstop since I got the CD. Throw in some absolutely first rate ballads including the beautiful Over Your Shoulder and you have a high energy rock and roll classic. Highly recommended. Listen for them on the next Rock and Roll Report Radio on January 14, 2008 and an upcoming Rock and Roll Report Podcast.

Later.

Mark

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