Essentially MVRemix is an online magazine, looking to expand into Rock (and all subdivisions of it) and focus more on our MVExpose side (which is being redesigned and tweaked) – a site which sheds light on artists, rappers, DJ’s, dancers etc. that have yet to receive a big break.

MVRemix Urban (which has been running since 2001) is thriving and enjoys a large, consistent audience, as well as boasts having interviewed and worked with some of urban music’s most popular acts.

What we’re looking for in new writers (obviously a talent in writing) is the drive to seek out your own content to cover and to run with it. Choose who you’d like to interview and what you’d like to review. If you have any troubles obtaining the artist to interview, or album for review, we’ll do our best with that. And of course, with live show reviews, we’ll do our best to get you into all of them. It is a voluntary position, so it’s very much based on your aspirations as a writer and interest in the music.

With that said, writers for MVRemix Urban tend to leave the site (though they still contribute occasionally) and write for larger publications. We’ve had people go on to The Source, Vibe, XXL, Mass Appeal and in Vancouver specifically, they’ve gone on to write for the Georgia Straight, The Province and the Metro.

If you’d like to jump on board, we can set you up with writing accounts for our MVRemix Urban, MVRemix Rock and MVExpose blogs and then we’ll start you off with a couple of assignments and you’re off!

cforms contact form by delicious:days

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Most loved for their infectious live shows, Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS) will release their first live concert DVD, Live at the Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre, on August 18.

Directed by Lee Tucker (who also directed the band’s videos for “Wagon Wheel” and “Tell It To Me”), Live at the Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre was recorded over two nights last December and features performances of 20 songs—15 of which are from the band’s three studio albums (OCMS, Big Iron World, Tennessee Pusher)—including “Tell It To Me,” “Down Home Girl,” “Alabama High-Test,” and “Wagon Wheel.” The DVD also includes five tracks from their live repertoire not found on their three studio albums: “Wheeling Breakdown,” “Raise A Ruckus,” “Reuben’s Train,” “Sally Anne” and “Shack #9.”

Live at the Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre track listing:

1. Hard To Love
2. Down Home Girl
3. Trials And Troubles
4. I Hear Them All
5. Wheeling Breakdown
6. Raise A Ruckus
7. Caroline
8. Mary’s Kitchen
9. Alabama High-Test
10. Reuben’s Train
11. Hard To Tell
12. Humdinger
13. Next Go ‘Round
14. Tennessee Pusher
15. Sally Anne
16. Wagon Wheel
17. Tell It To Me
18. Fall On My Knees
19. Tell It To Me (reprise)
20. CC Rider
21. Shack #9

OCMS, along with Dave Rawlings Machine (f/t Gillian Welch), The Felice Brothers and Justin Townes Earle, also just announced The Big Surprise Tour, a traveling show of epic collaboration and good times that kicks off in Hampton Beach, NH on August 4. Born out of a deep running comradery built on countless tours and ties between a host of excellent musicians, each evening is sure to be a unique experience as they all put their many combined years of musicianship and knowledge of song-craft and American music into play for these performances.

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TOUR DATES:

AUGUST 2009

04 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Casino Ballroom
05 – Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
06 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
07 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
09 – Charlottesville, VA @ Charlottesville Pavilion
10 – Cary, NC @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre
12 – Louisville, KY @ Waterfront Park
13 – Nashville, TN @ Riverfront Park
14 – Knoxville, TN @ World’s Fair Park

Old Crow Medicine – Down Home Girl video (Live)

Street Sweeper Social Club – 100 Little Curses video

Self-titled album Street Sweeper Social Club in stores now!

Directed by Matthew Stawski.

Rye Rye – Bang video featuring M.I.A.

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Directed by M.I.A.

Vanessa Williams – Close To You video

Internationally-renowned singer and actress Vanessa Williams will release her thirteenth album and debut for Concord Records entitled THE REAL THING, on June 2nd, 2009. The collection marks a return to her love for the rhythms of jazz and Latin music, a key part of her musical roots. In addition, THE REAL THING delves into the sophisticated pop and R&B that have been the hallmark of her dynamic musical career.

THE REAL THING is a passionate song cycle about relationships, and Williams hand-picked each song on the record as it relates to a phase of the modern-day love affair seen from a woman’s perspective. From the two new songs penned for the CD by Babyface (“Loving You” and “Just Friends”) to “Hello Like Before” by Bill Withers (Williams’ late father’s favorite artist) to Stevie Wonder’s “The Real Thing” to Bebel Gilberto’s “Close To You,” THE REAL THING taps into the wide breadth of Williams’ musicality and artistry.

“After playing a power-hungry character like Wilhelmina Slater on “Ugly Betty” on a soundstage for three seasons, it was a pleasure to step back into the recording studio and be myself behind the microphone,” stated Ms. Williams. “The familiarity and comfort of making music is always a joy to come home to. It was especially a treat to sing Phil Galdston’s “I Fell In.” Our biggest hit together was “Save the Best for Last.”

“Vanessa Williams in an artist of rare talent, depth and creativity,” states Concord Music Group executive vice-president of A&R, John Burk. “In this album she explores her musical range and influences perhaps more so than ever before. We couldn’t be more proud to have her as a member of the Concord family.”

With a career spanning over 20 years, Williams is the consummate performer. From her chart-topping pop star music career, to her Emmy-nominated role on “Ugly Betty” and her upcoming co-starring performance in the feature film “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” Vanessa Williams remains one of the industry’s most, versatile and accomplished artists. She has appeared in numerous films including “Soul Food,” “Eraser,” “The Pick-Up Artist” and “Shaft,” and has numerous television credits to her name as well as critically-acclaimed performances on Broadway in “Kiss Of The Spider Woman” and “Into The Woods,” which garnered her a Tony nomination.

Since the release of her first studio album, 1988’s The Right Stuff, Williams has garnered a total of 16 Grammy nominations, released seven albums of original material, as well as four compilations and two holiday-themed albums, selling millions of albums world-wide. She was nominated for yet another Grammy for her hit single, “Colors of the Wind,” from Disney’s “Pocahontas,” which went on to win an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy for “Best Song In A Motion Picture.” THE REAL THING is her first studio album since 2005’s Everlasting Love.

Vanessa Williams’ charitable contributions are many and varied, embracing and supporting such issues as education, homelessness, abuse, women’s issues and health concerns, AIDS and anything having to do with children. She is also well-known for her outspoken support of gay rights, having won the Human Rights Campaign “Ally for Equality” award in 2008. She is on the Board of Directors of Special Olympics, as well as the Board or Advisors for the Westchester Children’s Museum and supports numerous other charitable and humanitarian organizations.

The Dieselumusic.com website has been on the brink of crash for the past two months: millions of visitors, unsigned and breaking acts submitted their work hoping to be one of the two selected artists of this year’s Diesel:U:Music.

Diesel brought together an international jury composed of the likes of Sony Music Publishing Manager Atsushi Inoue, head of Universal Music Rock/Urban label in Germany Daniel Lieberberg, and Spin magazine senior editor Ellen Carpenter to name just a few. The deliberation took hours …the judges then selected five finalists from Norway, UK and US and among them the first winner of the Diesel:U:Music global tour, with the second tour winner selected by the Diesel team after months of virile debate.

And the winners are…The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! and HEARTSREVOLUTION.

The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! are a never ending romp of a dance party. Coming from the USA, their catchy, dancey pop songs make you feel something in your heart and in your feet, songs that you haven’t heard in almost a month, but for some reason woke up with stuck in your head this morning.

HEARTSREVOLUTION are a NYC band that have created a brand which represents their parallel universe that includes the Heartschallenger ice cream trucks, merchandise and vinyl discography that almost looks good enough to eat. Their motto is CYOA! Choose Your Own Adventure! sign us up!!

The D:U:M global tour is now ready to go!
Starting in July 12 concerts will sweep across the planet in an international six-month journey reaching major cities all over the world. First date Berlin on July 3rd, and then: New York, Tokyo, Helsinki, Oslo, Paris, Madrid, London, Beijing, Vienna, Sydney and Miami. Visit www.dieselumusic.com if you want tickets for the global tour as well as to attend the performances live from the comfort of your sofa.

Recorded, mixed and mastered at Infra Sonic Sound by Pete Lyman, known for his diverse work with Mars Volta, Qui and No Age. Ancestors, including contributions by notable Los Angeles artists David Scott Stone (Melvins, Unwound, Slug), Sera Timms (Black Math Horsemen) and cellist Ramiro Zapata have created an album truly Of Sound Mind; a refreshing and aptly named experience of incredible proportions.

“LA Quintet Ancestors are suitably lysergic, their debut consisting of two conceptual, organ-striated heavy rock odysseys” – MOJO

“Come to Neptune With Fire for the mammoth riffs, but stay for the stretches when Ancestors take ‘far out’ even further.” – PITCHFORK

In evolutionary theory, species that share an ancestor are said to be of common descent. There’s nothing common about the music of Los Angeles quintet ANCESTORS. To peg or try to pigeon hole the art they create would be missing the point. But for most, reference and understanding lays the foundation for common ground. What Ancestors ‘shares’ is a unique vision to create something passionate, vital and challenging. OF SOUND MIND is a journey through the past into the future; a signpost for a quickly emerging force of musical power and creativity. Where Ancestors showed signs of promise on their debut Neptune With Fire, they have trail blazed new pathways with the 8-part opus Of Sound Mind. They have channeled the freedom of progressive stalwarts King Crimson, the craft and insight of Pink Floyd, and the depth and brooding of Neurosis. The ‘common descent’ lies in the courage they share with these aforementioned groups to push the limit, cementing their foundation without rooting themselves in the general trappings of music journalism or pop culture. To put linear constrictions on their journey would be an insult to all that have strived to create something new, the true essence of art and expression. Ancestors weave an unorthodox mixture of sonic textures, down-tempo riffs and rhythms, accented with well-crafted melodies and at times full-throttle assaults. The combination delivers a cohesive journey akin to the ambitious undertakings of avant-garde musicians like Eric Dolphy, Peter Brotzmann or Miles Davis. Of Sound Mind is something to be returned to over and over, always offering a new reward.

Lyrically and thematically, Of Sound Mind contemplates the quandaries of human psychology and its effect on and within the development of modern society. Although essentially conceptual in nature, the record is a blatant transition from the allegorical and mythological framework of their debut Neptune With Fire. The 8 part, 1-hour plus album lends meaning, while actively seeking answers, much like the work of Camus or Thoreau. Without absolution or authority, Ancestors insight a thought crusade with meaningful intent.

ANCESTORS – OF SOUND MIND Tracklisting
1. From Nothing
2. Mother Animal
3. Not The Last Return
4. Bounty Of Age
5. Friend
6. The Trial
7. Challenging
8. The Ambrose Law

One week before its release, The Donnas Greatest Hits, Vol. 16 (July 7th, Purple Feather Records), can be heard now exclusively on AOL Spinner. The eighth album from the unrivaled rockers The Donnas, “Greatest Hits” celebrates the band’s 16 impressive years together. The new album features two brand new songs, never-heard-before b-sides, live versions of hits “Take It Off” and “Fall Behind” and much, much more.

Hear the new album now here

Download single “Get Off” for free here

The Donnas will join Blondie and Pat Benatar on tour this summer in addition to their own headlining dates:

7/16/09 San Diego, CA @ Casbah*
7/17/09 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour*
7/18/09 Long Beach, CA @ Alex’s Bar*
7/21/09 Saratoga, CA @ The Mountain Winery
7/23/09 Petaluma, CA @ Mystic Theatre*
7/24/09 Sacramento, CA @ Marilyn’s on K*
7/25/09 Lemoore, CA @ Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino
7/26/09 Las Vegas, NV @ Wasted Space*
7/28/09 Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theater
7/29/09 Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Casino Showroom
7/31/09 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
8/01/09 Memphis, TN @ Mud Island Amphitheater
8/02/09 Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park Amphitheater
8/04/09 Vienna, VA (DC), The Filene Center
8/05/09 Gilford, NH @ Meadowbrook/US Cellular Pavilion
8/07/09 Bethlehem, PA @ Musikfest at Sands RiverPlace
8/08/09 Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion
8/10/09 Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater*
8/11/09 Canandaigua, NY @ Constellation Bands Marvin Sands PAC
8/13/09 Brooklyn, NY @ Asser Levy Park/Coney Island
8/14/09 Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s*
8/15/09 Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
8/16/09 Detroit, MI @ Motor City Casino/Sound Board (Pat Benatar only)
8/17/09 Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia Pavilion
8/20/09 Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall
8/21/09 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s*
8/22/09 Biloxi, MS @ Beau Rivage Resort
8/23/09 Houston, TX @ Arena Theatre

*The Donnas headlining

STREAMING AUDIO: “Girl Directions”

NOTEWORTHY:
Upcoming Tour Dates for Psychostick:

July 1, 2009: The Canopy Club / Urbana, IL
July 2, 2009: The Machine Shop / Flint, MI
July 3, 2009: The Hayloft / Mt. Clemens, MI
July 5, 2009: Motorheads / Michigan Center, MI
July 6, 2009: Amped Up / Dugger, IN
July 7, 2009: Miss Q’s / Ft. Wayne, IN
July 8, 2009: Krazy St. Grille / Indianapolis, IN
July 9, 2009: Pop’s / Sauget, IL
July 10, 2009: Phoenix Hill Tavern / Louisville, KY
July 11, 2009: The Sandusky Underground / Sandusky, OH
July 12, 2009: The Cove Nite Club / Geneva On The Lake, OH
July 24, 2009: The Outpost Concert Club / Kent, OH
July 25, 2009: Alrosa Villa / Columbus, OH
July 27, 2009: Mr. Smalls Fun House / Millvale, PA
July 28, 2009: The Lost Horizon / Syracuse, NY
July 30, 2009: Billy Baloney’s / Danbury, CT
August 3, 2009: Brick House / Dover, NH
August 7, 2009: The Silo / Reading, PA
August 8, 2009: KC’s Music Alley / Fredericksburg, VA
August 9, 2009: The Half Shell / Virginia Beach, VA
August 11, 2009: Zakks Coffee House / Murfreesburo, NC
August 12, 2009: Hooligan’s / Jackson, NC
August 13, 2009: The Rock Shop / Fayetteville, NC
August 14, 2009: The Dive / Charleston, SC
August 15, 2009: Club Catalyst / Knoxville, TN
August 25, 2009: Brewsters Pit / Jacksonville, FL
August 26, 2009: The Mojo Room / Port St. Lucie, FL
August 27, 2009: Doc’s Place / Lakeland, FL
August 29, 2009: The Haven / Winter Park, FL
August 30, 2009: Bourbon Street / New Port Richey, FL
September 18, 2009: Chic’s / El Paso, TX

Coldplay: Violet Hill Animated illustration

My step by step video of my illustration of Coldplay based on images from the Violet Hill Video and song. Hope you like it. Music: Coldplay – Violet Hill http://www.myspace.com/samroon http://www…
My step by step video of my illustration of Coldplay based on images from the Violet Hill Video and song. Hope you like it.

Music:
Coldplay – Violet Hill

http://www.myspace.com/samroon
http://www.samroon.deviantart.com