NFG Covers Hype

New Found Glory have posted exclusive streams of songs from their upcoming cover album, From the Screen to Your Stereo pt 2, on various websites.

"Iris" NFG Myspace
"Head over Heels" Alt Press
"Don't You Forget About Me" Fuse
"Crazy for You" Artist Direct

The album is set to be released Sept. 18th. If you preorder the album you will receive an autographed album, and a t-shirt all for $15.

New Spill Canvas Song

The Spill Canvas have posted a new song from their album, No Really I'm Fine, on their myspace page. The new album will be released on October 2nd.

Review - Minus the Bear

Band: Minus The Bear
Album: Planet of Ice
Label: Suicide Squeeze Records
Score: 5 out of 5

Last Friday I traveled down to Long Beach (that's in California) to an indie record store named Fingerprints. If you were savvy enough to preorder the new Minus the Bear album, Planet of Ice, you were treated to a nice in-store concert. The line to get in went for blocks and my guesstimate would be that about one hundred lucky fans made it into the record store. Being able to see Minus the Bear in this intimate setting was a real treat and an experience I will never forget. The set list consisted mainly of songs from Planet of Ice and a couple of the band's classics. If you're dying to know the set list looked like this: Knights, Burying Luck, Ice Monster, Fix, White Mystery, Throwin' Shapes, Pachuca Sunrise, and Lotus. At the end of the night it was clear that Minus the Bear is nothing short of genius.

Planet of Ice seems to be a very appropriate title for this album because the music is cool, smooth, chill, and refreshing. Minus the Bear doesn't rock as straightforward as they did with their previous releases Menos el Oso and Highly Refined Pirates. Their latest release really lets guitarist Dave Knudson explore his unique playing style. Knudson could be the most creative and unique guitar player on the indie market right now. Another noticeable difference is the increased importance of keyboard/synth with newcomer Alex Rose. Old keyboardist Matt Bayles, who left the band to concentrate solely on producing, produced the album. This made for a nice team and it will be interesting to see if Matt Bayles becomes Minus the Bear's go-to producer. I sure hope he is.

With the more relaxed and experimental approach of Planet of Ice, Minus the Bear was still able to write some really catchy songs. They accomplish sucking the listener in with the first track "Burying Luck." It's sure to leave the listener singing the lyrics "what have you done" and nodding their heads with acceptance. My personal favorite track on the album is "Ice Monster" which is a great representation of what Minus the Bear is all about.

An interesting tidbit of information that people who haven't seen the band live might not realize is that Knudson is responsible for a lot of the psychedelic sounds that might be confused for keyboardist/synth work. For example, the intro of "Knights" is all Knudson working his pedals.

What makes this album such a huge success is the fact that it's catchy, enjoyable to listen to, experimental, and musically complicated all at the same time. You can either just enjoy the catchy tunes or you can listen to each track for hours in awe of its musicianship. Minus the Bear's latest release should please old fans and help build an even bigger fan base for the band. Planet of Ice should definitely be a candidate for indie album of the year.

Suggested tracks: Ice Monster, Knights, Dr. L'Ling and Lotus.

Myspace Music Tour

Say Anything and HellogoodBye will be co-headlining the Myspace Music Tour.

Tue 10/16/07 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo
Wed 10/17/07 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
Fri 10/19/07 Magna, UT The Great Saltair
Sat 10/20/07 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
Sun 10/21/07 Wichita, KS The Cotillion
Mon 10/22/07 Milwaukee, WI The Rave Eagles Club
Wed 10/24/07 Chicago, IL Congress Theater
Thu 10/25/07 Detroit, MI The Fillmore Detroit
Fri 10/26/07 Covington, KY Madison Theater
Sun 10/28/07 Atlantic City, NJ House Of Blues
Tue 10/30/07 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom
Wed 10/31/07 Allentown, PA Crocodile Rock Cafe
Thu 11/01/07 Providence, RI Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
Fri 11/02/07 Gettysburg, PA Gettysburg College Union Ballroom
Sat 11/03/07 Emmitsburg, MD Mount St. Mary's University
Sun 11/04/07 Raleigh, NC Disco Rodeo
Tue 11/06/07 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Cafe / Hard Rock Live
Wed 11/07/07 Miami Beach, FL Fillmore At Jackie Gleason Theater
Fri 11/09/07 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theater
Sat 11/10/07 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom
Sun 11/11/07 San Antonio, TX Sunset Station Lonestar Pavilion
Tue 11/13/07 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
Wed 11/14/07 Tempe, AZ The Marquee Theatre
Fri 11/16/07 San Francisco, CA Warfield Theatre
Sat 11/17/07 San Diego, CA SOMA San Diego
Sun 11/18/07 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
Mon 11/19/07 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
Tue 11/20/07 Anaheim, CA Grove Of Anaheim
Fri 11/23/07 Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues

B-Sides of TBS

Taking Back Sunday will release a b-sides album titled Notes From the Past on Victory Records.

Rumors of a new iPod

It is being rumored that Apple is going to unveil a new line of iPods, which should have similar functions as the iPhone, at a Sept. 5 event.

From the Screen to your Stereo part 2

Watch a video of New Found Glory's preview of From the Screen to your Stereo part 2.

Apples in Stereo US Tour

Apples in Stereo have announced their upcoming US tour dates.

31-Aug Denver CO Bluebird Theater
2-Sep Seattle WA Bumbershoot Festival
13-Sep Lexington KY The Dame
14-Sep Athens OH The Union
15-Sep Cranford NJ Music Fest
16-Sep Brooklyn NY NY Music Hall
17-Sep Boston MA Middle East
19-Sep Washington DC 9:30 Club
20-Sep Hoboken NJ Maxwell's
21-Sep Philadelphia PA World Cafe Live
22-Sep Raleigh NC Lincoln Theater
23-Sep Atlanta GA Unplugged in the Park
25-Sep Athens GA 40 Watt Club
26-Sep Gainesville FL Common Grounds
27-Sep Orlando FL AKA Lounge
28-Sep Fort Lauderdale FL Culture Room
29-Sep Tampa FL Crowbar
30-Sep Tallahassee FL Beta Bar

Cazy Looking Guitars

Gizmodo has posted an article about the Craziest Guitars every made.

Check it out.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/wtf/craziest-guitars-ever-made-291676.php

Wal-Mart Takes on iTunes

Wal-Mart has begun selling digital downloads on their website, free of copy-protection technology. The songs will be able to play on most MP3 players including theiPod.