Alice in Chains “Check My Brain” Lights Up Rock Charts

Posted by Albert Costill on Sep 16, 2009 in Rock | Comments

Hailed by Spin as “one of the catchiest songs of Alice In Chains’ history,” lead single “Check My Brain” has blanketed rock and alternative radio and rocketed straight to No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock Songs Chart and No. 1 on the R&R Rock Chart.

The riff-driven track appears on the band’s highly anticipated new album, Black Gives Way To Blue (Virgin/EMI), available September 29th. Playboy gave the disc four stars, calling it “Alice In Chains’ Back In Black,” Revolver praised the record for its “dense tapestry of heavy guitars and soaring melodies” and Reuters wrote “the heavy guitars, submerged vocals and thunderous rhythm section assures fans that the band has lost none of its menace.”

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A Recap of the Oh-So Controversial MTV VMA’s

Posted by Dexter Bryant Jr. on Sep 15, 2009 in General | Comments

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards are all the buzz right now. In case you missed it (or want to briefly re-live it) here’s a recap of what happened at this year’s VMAs:

Lady GaGa shows up to the VMAs with her date for the evening: Kermit the frog. [Outrageous Lady GaGa ensemble #1]

Madonna opens up the festivities with a moving speech and tribute to the late great Michael Jackson.

A parade of fantastic dancers re-enact some of Michael Jackson’s most memorable video moments and execute MJ’s signature dance moves with pizzazz.

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Life Before Rock Band: The 9 Greatest Beatles Covers Ever

Posted by Albert Costill on Sep 8, 2009 in Rock | Comments

We should all know that 9/9/09 means one thing…the release of The Beatles: Rock Band and the remastered release of their catalog!

Now that we all get to do our own “covers” of Beatles classics, I thought we would look back at some of the other acts that have covered the Fab Four over the years.

Now there have been A TON of Beatles covers, after all, it’s only a prerequisite to cover them if you’re in a band. There’s covers from legends (Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Johnny Cash) to “glam” rock (Bowie, Motley Crue) to jam bands (DMB, Phish, Black Crowes) to comedic renditions (Jim Carey, Tenacious D) to sampling (The Roots, Danger Mouse’s Jay-Z/Beatles mash up The Grey Album).

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Beck’s Record Club Features A Who’s Who of the Music Biz & More

Posted by Albert Costill on Sep 4, 2009 in Distribution | Comments

Back in June, Beck announced a new feature on his website, which officially launched in July. It was simply called Record Club. Basically, Record Club is Beck and his pals covering an album in one day all in one take. A new track will be offered as a download once a week.

The first Record Club featured MGMT, Devendra Banhart, Jamie Liddell and producer Nigel Godrich tackling the legendary album The Velvet Underground & Nico.

The most recent edition features Record Club vets MGMT and Devendra Banhart, as well as, Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale, putting their own spin on Leonard Cohen’s Songs of Leonard Cohen.

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How to Grab Attention of Press, Bloggers, and Influencers

Posted by Eric Hebert on Sep 3, 2009 in Label 2.0 Updates | Comments

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If you’re a musician trying to get the word out about your work, there’s no doubt you spend a lot of time emailing bloggers and PR firms to get people to check you out. This is probably a very tedious process for most, and one that never sees any real results.

Usually, the reason behind not seeing results is because you probably don’t know how to communicate properly with those who you are trying to get to listen to you. It’s not always your fault – learning how to get people to open an email is a talent I have spent years honing.

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