SXSW on TV?

Austin's annual clusterf*ck known as SXSW, will have a new way to break acts this year, that being an exclusive outlet via DIRECTV's Channel 101 (The 101). From March 15-17 Direct TV subscribers can catch live broadcasts from two specially created soundstage sets being built to resemble nightclubs. The faux alternative club venue, so to speak ,will be called The Bat Bar, while a more traditional Texas saloon vibe anticipated at Direct TV's Lone Star Saloon.

While the acts for this Direct TV production are as yet unannounced, this year's SXSW lineup has over 1300 acts including established heavy hitters like Pete Townshend, Iggy & The Stooges, David Byrne, and even American Idol's Taylor Hicks. Looking to generate buzz will be a plethora of publicists hyping acts like Against Me!, Amy Winehouse, Don Cabellero, Hot Hot Heat, Jandek and Vashti Bunyan.

some random mp3 tracks from SXSW 2007 acts

Against Me! - Problems

Amy Winehouse - Addicted

Vashti Bunyan - Where I Like to Stand

Don Cabellero - Mmmmm , Acting I Loves Me Some Good Acting


Heck, even Tommy Ramone's SXSW bound bluegrass project Uncle Monk has hired a publicist.

You know that would somehow really piss off Johnny Ramone...

But Gabba Gabba Hey! why not a Ramones bluegrass album?

I mean if The Shins, Van Halen and even Modest Mouse can warrant such idiocy...why not the Gabba Gabba Hey boys...

Bluegrass Tribute to Modest Mouse - Float On

wait... I spoke too soon, looks like Tommy Ramone ( actually Erdelyi) beat the bluegrass parasites to the mandolin... and he's not even milking the back catalog.

It's an authetic effort from a guy that had the smarts to quit the Ramones while he was still sane and move on and do something with his life. Like uh, apparently grow a beard...eeeeew.

Here's a pic of Tommy , a Rock n Roll Hall of famer seen looking a bit like David Grisman posing with pal Claudia Tienan for the promo foto of their duo Uncle Monk which has a CD coming out May 22 through Burnside Distribution.

I mean if ya think about it, it's not that much of a stretch...considering that The Ramones got their start at a now defunct club called CBGB's . That name was an acronym for Country, Bluegrass & Blues... only that none of the bands showing up in a dealer soaked stretch of the bowery really wanted to play that stuff... so another sorta legacy was born.

In Uncle Monk, the Hungarian born Erdelyi trades off on vocals and gives a sincere & wily sorta country tinged old timer's perspective...

ala this clip

Uncle Monk - Wishing At The Well ( 42 second sample)

for more sound clips, tourdates and news, try visiting http://www.UncleMonk.com

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While CNN.com this week profiled Gnarls Barkley collaborator Danger Mouse aka Brian Burton in their PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW feature, the singer dude somehow retains a lower profile. A lotta folks don't know that the dude from Gnarls Barkley isn't actually named Gnarls Barkley, or that he has material out that's nearly as good from his previous stints in Goodie Mob and as a solo act.

His adopted stage name is Cee-lo Green but he was born Thomas Callaway in 1974, and developed his gospel inflected singing style as a youth in churches in his hometown of Atlanta. As Atlanta's rap scene flourished, he became a background singer for other artists including doing some background vocals on local labelmates TLC's early 90's hit "Waterfalls".

After a few late 90's albums with Atlanta hip hop group Goodie Mob, Cee-lo signed to Arista as a solo act. The albums which emerged in 2002 & 2004 were not considered very sucessful at the time, but now with the success of Gnarls Barkley, a 19-track "Greatest Hits" collection of Cee-Lo was issued late last year. "Closet Freak: The Best Of Cee-Lo Green the Soul Machine" is an album that reissues various material going back to 1995. The tracklisting includes 15 Cee-Lo solo tracks, three old Goodie Mob songs, and Cee-Lo's debut with OutKast, joining them in the song "Git Up, Git Out".

As a songwriter he's also had previous successes including the 2005 hit "Don't Cha", which was made most famous by The Pussycat Dolls but also had versions done by Busta Rhymes as well as the original he produced for Tori Alamaze.

Here's a taste of the man's previous scat-rap work in a jam with Ludacris, ( and yes, it's featured on his Greatest Hits collection...)

Cee - Lo : Childz Play

oh and here's the Gnarls Barkley video for Smiley Faces, featuring an intro from Dennis Hopper...

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Japanese goth metallers Sigh have a new track to share with fans from their upcoming album "Hangman's Hymn -Musikalische Exequien-" to be released later this year on The End Records. Singer/Keyboardist Mirai Kawashima describes the new album as “thrash-metal-meets-German-symphonies! Fast, heavy, bombastic and majestic!’

Sigh's labelmate's on The End include many interesting and international acts, among them are the beyond entertaining Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and legendary Canadian act Voivod.

Sigh's next big event is an appearance in April at the Norwegian Inferno festival in April.



Sigh - Death Before Dishonour

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Sleep

Voivod - The X Stream

While Voivod are on a hiatus, Sleeepytime Gorilla Museum, have been uber busy, and are shown here on the set of their new video for the song "The Helpless Corpses Enactment" based on James Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake". They are also touring up a terror trail this spring across North America and Europe in support of the upcoming disc, "In Glorious Times", recorded at Tiny Telephone and due for release soon.


Upcoming Sleepytime Gorilla Museum tour dates :

March 2007 (US w/ Secret Chiefs 3)

6 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT
7 - BlueBird Theater - Denver, CO
9 - Grinnell College - Grinnell, IA
10 - The Double Door - Chicago, IL
11 - The Magic Bag - Ferndale, MI
12 - Tralf Music Hall - Buffalo, NY
13 - La Tulipe - Montreal, QC
14 - The Middle East - Boston, MA
15 - The Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
16 - The Black Cat - Washington, DC
17 - North Star Bar - Philadelphia, PA
18 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
22 - Solar Culture - Tucson, AZ
23 - El Rey - Los Angeles, CA
24 - Slims - San Francisco, CA

April 2007 ( EU)

7 - Headway Festival - Amsterdam, Netherlands
8 - Venue TBA - Antwerpen, Belgium
12 - Catania Etnafest - Sicily, Italy
13 - Venue TBA - Roma, Italy
14 - Hybrida Space - Milano, Italy
15 - Boa - Luzern, Switzerland
16 - Badbonn - Dudingen, Switzerland
17 - Venue TBA - Lyon, France
18 - Scened Bastille - Paris, France
19 - Noumatrouff - Mulhouse, France
20 - Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Netherlands
21 - Printemps de Bourges - Bourges, France
22 - Venue TBA - Wurzburg, Germany
23 - Venue TBA - Ljubljana, Slovakia
24 - Fluc - Wien, Austria
25 - Venue TBA - Wroclaw, Poland

here's an mp3 playlist of other bands on The End records


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Another hot record that came out recently is the return of hip hop specialists X - Clan. One of the tracks picking up steam is their collab with Damien "jr. Gong" Marley entitled Culture United.

Here check it out...

X-Clan w/ Damien "Jr Gong" Marley - Culture United

Available Now via Suburban Noize Records

• download more at iTunes Music Store
• download more at RealNetworks / Rhapsody

and go enjoy yer weekend y'all...