Fuzzy Lion

Enjoy.

Seriously, the new Regina Spektor song from the Narnia movie is album only?!?! It’s not just iTunes, it’s this way on AmazonMP3.com. Obviously Disney knows that most people don’t want the other throwaway shit on this album and expect me to pay $8 for one song? Um, no thanks.

Off to The Pirate Bay I go!!!!

Re-Arrange Us, the latest masterpiece from Mates of State is officially released today. Do whatever you need to in order to get a copy of this album because it’s phenomenal.

Here is the video from the first single, “Get Better.”

The Cure (AKA one of the best bands in the world) will be releasing a new single on the 13th of every month leading up to their new album on September 13th. The as-of-yet untitled record will be their 13th effort and the first single, “The Only One” was released today. Head on over to thecure.com to stream it and buy it on iTunes.

As a side-note, the B-side is also available on iTunes, but it’s kind of hidden. Buy it here.

Oh Doves, where have you gone? The Last Broadcast was such a brilliant album. Some Cities had its moments, but since then you’ve been MIA!

I hear rumblings all the time that you’re working on your “fourth LP” but still nothing.

Let’s get with the program boys. I’ve been waiting a long-ass time for some new music and I’m getting a little antsy here.

Check out the track “Black Party Hats” by Lexington, Kentucky-based band Bedtime. I recently received a copy of their self-titled album and have been really digging it. Keep your eyes out for them, I think they’re very promising…

[Download mp3]

Head on over to their MySpace page to hear more.

Can’t wait for this…

One of my all-time favorite bands, James, have just released their new album Hey Ma after a several year hiatus. I’ve purchased every album the band has ever put out and Hey Ma was to be no exception. Unfortunately, the record is not available in the United States and probably won’t be until the Fall at the earliest.

Normally I would just say “fuck it” and head on over to my favorite BitTorrent site and grab the album for free, but James is a band that I want to support and give my money to. Unfortunately, Universal International doesn’t want to let me do that.

I know, I can always head to Amazon and pay $35+ to import the album, but why should I have to do that? Why should I have to pay more than double the price of the album just so I can cover shipping costs and other bullshit import fees when I could just head on over to the iTunes UK store and get it there? Well, as you may or may not know, the iTunes UK store doesn’t let you purchase from there unless your credit card has a UK billing address.

Okay, well what about 7digital.com, one of the biggest iTunes competitors in the UK? I’ve been able to buy stuff from them in the past with my US credit card. Turns out the album is not available on there!

So basically I’m left with no other choice but to pirate the album and the band will get no money from me.

What the fuck is wrong with the music business and it’s inability to work out these territory issues when it comes to digital releases? I can reluctantly give the labels a pass on physical distribution outside of their territories, especially if the band isn’t insanely popular around the whole world. I understand it costs money to ship albums around the globe and if they aren’t going to sell that is a lot of lost revenue. What I don’t understand is why these same restrictions are in place with digital downloads? I would gladly click on over to the iTunes UK store and pay a little more money due to the exchange rate to buy an album if need be, but to prohibit me from spending my money to actually pay for something I want is just stupid!

The record labels really need to get with the program here. Digital distribution is not the future, it is the now. These ridiculous border restrictions are pointless in the digital world and the labels should be doing everything they can embrace technology to maximize their dollar rather than drive people to piracy.

Hello Tokyo is one of those bands that I’ve heard of, but never really was familiar with their music. When I received a promo of the new record, I was very anxious to have a listen and see what they were all about. After only one listen I was hooked and knew right away this album was going to get a lot of my attention for the foreseeable future.

Hello Tokyo has earned a pretty impressive string of successes behind the scenes, having their song “Radio” chosen as the theme song for an Animal Planet series television show, as well as many more tracks used for the past few seasons of MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules.

I find it hard to really compare the band to other acts out there today, but the best I’ve heard was a more danceable version of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. Fans of Rilo Kiley should also easily gravitate to Hello Tokyo.

The band will start touring on April 11th with a free show at Bar Matchless in their hometown of Brooklyn. Complete tour dates are as follows:

Listen to “Steady the Gun,” the first single from Sell the Stars:

[Download mp3]

Sell the Stars is released on 4/22

E, the frontman for one of my favorite bands Eels, recently did an acoustic performance of a few songs on BBC Radio…

“Birds”
 
[Download mp3]

“Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues”

[Download mp3]

“Ugly Love”

[Download mp3]