huh. waddaya know. 27 December 2008

So I was perusing my latest Paste magazine rereading reviews of albums I could purchase with my annual Christmas iTunes gift card when my eye caught an ad for New Arrivals Vol. 3, a compilation CD of indie artists that benefits the National Eating Disorders Association. I totally did not realize that my lovely friend Jay Clifford has his song “Know When To Walk Away” featured on it! (These musicians never seem to publicize when they get on comp CDs like this. I’ve never understood why – the comps are usually awesome!) Further investigation revealed the tracklisting also had Stephen Kellogg on it. I saw him and his band The Sixers in college awhile back (they opened for the Modern Skirts and were quite pumped and awesome), and found out that an old friend of mine sat next to him in their college chem class. Small world indeed.

So there. I can vouch for two of the artists on the compilation disc. And it’s for a good cause. Therefore you should head over to iTunes or the website and purchase a copy as soon as you can.

aimee mann christmas carol 24 December 2008

Merry Christmas, everyone!! Hope your holidays are bright. Via Triangle Music, here’s a link to Aimee Mann’s Christmas Carol, which includes some of my favorite actors in cameos such as John Krasinski, Michael Cera, and John C. Reilly. Check it.

Glad tidings, y’all!!

it’s a hearts & plugs christmas 21 December 2008

My lovely Hearts&Plugs cohorts – specifically Dan, Ash, and Nick – have released a Christmas covers album for free download! Love those boys. And it’s excellent holiday music. Just what the doctor ordered. It’s called Christmas Morning, and it will warm your toes and nose on a cold winter morn. Get it before it’s too late!

what best albums of 2008? 11 December 2008

It’s that time of year again – the time when hipsters and critics and fairweather music fans can get snarky and either condemn the year’s new releases or laud them. I’m doing a little of both. This is pretty self-indulgent.

Instead of coming up with my own list, I thought it might be fun to check other lists and weigh in on the albums I was able to listen to that made those lists. Some got a number of repeats (and therefore may actually qualify as a ‘best of’ album), and some only got one mention. But hey, spice of life.

Taylor thinks that this year didn’t have any really big releases worth making a celebration of. No White Stripes or Crane Wife this year. I have to agree. There were some excellent releases, but nothing that really made a splash. At least, that’s our opinion. And that of Taylor’s History of Rock Music class.

Anyway – on with the list!

explorers club “do you love me?” 10 December 2008

I’ve been seeing the Explorers Club for years. They’re based out of Charleston, but I saw them open for the Modern Skirts maybe four or five years ago in Athens. They play music that’s right out of the Beach Boys’ 60′s. It’s cute, sunny, and loads of fun to dance to. They finally put out a full-length this year called Freedom Wind, and I have the LP on rotation right now. I became friends with the guitarist Jim. He and I bonded over Paul McCartney and ukuleles.

Not only did the boys get some mention in a recent article at the Charleston City Paper, but their new music video is up on PitchforkTV! It’s 80′s-licious with a beachy sound. (Jim’s in yellow with the caterpillar under his nose.)

hearts+plugs is good for you 8 December 2008

I have been remiss in failing to mention the awesomeness that is Hearts+Plugs. H+P is an art collective I helped to co-found in the fall of 2007 initially as an easier way to send out CDs than CDBaby (though CDBaby is a very cool website). H+P is just for Charleston, SC musicians and artists. They can use the website and the name as a kind of brand for their products. If they have things to sell, they can drop it off at the centrally-located location of my friend Dan’s house in downtown Charleston (not pay to have it shipped off to Portland or some such), it’ll get posted on the website, and Dan will take care of the exchange of money and the shipping needs!

My part in this endeavor was to keep the focus (a big job!), take care of some bookeeping needs, and look after the website/MySpace. I even had some of my zines up for sale! Now that I’ve moved far, far away from Charleston, my duties have changed to just manning the MySpace, and I’m not even on the “About” page anymore (though once I was!). I’m thinking of taking down the MySpace (because honestly, who does MySpace anymore?) and just going for a Facebook page. I’m already running a few of those.

Anyway, one of the BIG things H+P does is put out the Nick Jenkins “Wake Up! It’s Today!” calendar. The 2008 model did quite well, and the 2009 model seems to be doing even better. It even got some press! It’s an adorable production chockful of Nick’s whimsical artwork. I’ve enjoyed every month this year, and my 2009 one arrived today all ready for use. It’s about the same price as any other calendar, except, you know, BETTER. Support your local artists!

Do yourself a favor and check out the favors over at H+P. It’s just adorable.

P.S. — Some of the men of H+P are going to put out a Christmas album in the near future, and you bet your buttons I’ll link it here!

amanda palmer @ cabaret metro 7 December 2008

I’ve been a big Dresden Dolls/Amanda Palmer fan from way back. I’m even proud to say that own the Dresden Dolls debut record NOT on Roadrunner Records rerelease, but on 8ft Records – the indie label started to put it out in the first place. I unfortunately had to miss Amanda’s solo performance back in June, but nothing was stopping me this time around to see her at the Metro this past Wednesday.

the films again! 2 December 2008

For a limited time, you can download a free mp3 of the Films’ new song, “It’s Christmas (What’s the Difference)” from their website. According to their MySpace blog, they’ll have a B-side from their NEW album up on iTunes soon! Stay tuned!

[edit] Ah-HA! The new single with B-side is totally up on iTunes. Do check it out.