2008

New Yorkers love to complain that major party presidential candidates overlook them, figuring that NY is and will forever be a blue state. This may be true, but I know of an even more shunned group of people who barely get even a passing glance come election season: the indie crowd.

The explosion of the “indie movement” (whatever the fuck that means) in recent years signals a significant change in the direction that the music industry is taking – less major labels, more DIY. You’d think that a smart, ambitious candidate would notice this and try to take advantage of the ever-growing number of impressionable, voting-age indie music fans and scenesters. But no, not even youth demi-god Barack Obama has attempted to reach out to this overlooked, under-appreciated vein of potential voting gold, instead preferring to pander to mainstream music fans and buddy up with major label acts like Bon Jovi. I guess he’s hoping to lock up that coveted “32- to 50-year-old Jerseyan with bad music taste” demographic.

READ ON for more of this week’s Uncensored Thursdays…

After nearly a decade of off-again on-again relations between former Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, we seem to be smack dab in the middle of an on-again

Don’t you just love it when you spend the morning hunkered down over your computer trying to score concert tickets only to find out a few hours later that a second or third date was added?

Concert tickets are damn expensive these days and scoring good seats not only means shelling out a few hundred bucks, but also putting in the time and effort to secure the tickets. The days of lining up outside a venue or visiting the local ticketmaster outlet are long gone. These days it’s all internet. So when 9:55 am rolls around, the refreshing begins and the nonsensical passwords are typed in at a furious pace.

My question is this – how does adding additional dates work? Are these dates booked all along and promoters just wait till one night has sold out to announce the second? Are the second nights just on some kind of a “hold” until the first night has sold out? Probably some kind of combination of that and more.

READ ON for more of Luke’s editorial on adding dates…

In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, and check out these developing artists.

The Virgins

Website / MySpace

Before the members of The Strokes got married, dated celebrities and went to rehab they put out Is This It? their debut album, which came to define the downtown New York sound of the early aughts. The album sounded dangerous and the Julian Casablancas & Co. were notorious for living the sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle that seemed to go hand in hand with their brash, Velvet Underground influenced sound. It’s been awhile since an album has felt that scuzzy and dirty to me until I heard the music of another New York City-based band – The Virgins.

The band’s self-titled debut is chocked full of songs about all night partying that end with cocaine for brunch, set to a disco-funk-rock sound that combines elements of The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem and VHS or Beta. The Virgins are about to head out for on a three-week tour holding down the opening slot for Black Kids, so head in early and check them out.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13CIzmy6bM4

– Jeffrey Greenblatt

READ ON for two more blip-worthy bands on our radar…

We do not as of now have a winner to report from last week when we looked at six covers of Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys. At the time of publishing this post, The Bridge & Mr. Blotto are literally tied, so if you haven’t already: Go listen and place your vote.

This week’s song, originally by Jimmy Cliff, first appeared on the 1971 album Another Cycle but is more well known for its inclusion on the 1972 The Harder They Come soundtrack which was produced and compiled by Cliff.

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READ ON after the jump to vote for your favorite cover…

When Jon Anderson was told by doctors he had to rest for six months, he thought his Yes band mates would simply wait until next year to start their 40th

After an exciting summer spent touring with Mike Gordon, prepping their latest album and performing at some of the nation’s biggest festivals, funk-jammers The Bridge returned to the road last

This weekend’s Austin City Limits festival gets the AT&T Blueroom Webcast treatment starting on Friday at 12:45PM EDT. Click here for the full schedule that includes Vampire Weekend, Drive-By Truckers,