Pretty Lights Ignite Label


Derek Vincent Smith, better known as Pretty Lights, provided fans with a pleasant surprise earlier this month when he announced the launch of his own record label. Derek’s objectives are simple; he wants to supply his fans, and fans of electronic music at large, with free music from the artists he believes in and supports.

To that end, Pretty Lights Music will release two free EPs on January 25th, Break Science’s debut EP, Further Than Our Eyes Can See, and a new EP from Paper Diamond entitled Levitate. Down below we’ve included the lead singles from each EP for streaming.

 

 
Break Science – Zion Station (featuring CX) by WesleyAmbrecht

Paper Diamond – From Now Till….. by WesleyAmbrecht

Andy D To Release Sophomore LP and Announces Tour Dates

Electro rocker Andy D has announced that his sophomore LP Songs in the Key of Magic will be released on March 15th on Roaring Colonel Records.  Even more exciting, Andy D has also announced a few tour dates where you can see for yourself a show full of “rap, rock and comedy!”  Tour dates are as follows (and unfortunately, no NY tour date as of yet):

1/13 – Indianapolis, IN – Locals Only (Free show)
2/5 – Champaigne-Urbana, IL – Mike & Molly’s*
2/16 – Bloomington, IN – The Bishop*
2/17 – Indianapolis, IN – The Melody Inn*
2/18 – Lexington, KY – Cosmic Charlie’s**
2/19 – Evansville, IN – The Duck Inn*
3/16 – 3/20 – Austin, TX – SXSW
4/5 – Indianapolis, IN – Birdys***
 
*with Hey Penny
**with Hey Penny & Big Fresh
***with Electric Six

Take A Trip Down Under With Amanda Palmer

Always looking for a way to push the envelope, Australian native Amanda Palmer has certainly done it again with the release of her latest album Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under.  In her new single, “Map of Tasmania”, Palmer not only disses a former lover for his love of the Aussie treat vegemite, but also gives praise to a woman’s nether regions.   

Finishing a long drawn out battle to be released from her major label record contract, Amanda has set the Internet ablaze with her unique way of sharing her music with the rest of the world.  Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under will be released physically in her native of Australia through Liberator on January 21st, but fans will also be able to download the album electronically and choose how much they would like to pay. 

In support of her new album, she will be touring Australia and New Zealand throughout January and February which includes a stop at MONO FOMA Festival in Tasmania.  Check out all of her latest information on her Web site.

Song of the Day: “(Into The) Modern Mystery” – Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin vs. Sound of Arrows


Into The Modern Mystery (Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin vs. Sound of Arrows) by NickGarcia

Pepper Rabbit Reap A Bountiful Video for “Harvest Moon”

Thanks to the likes of Beirut and Edward Sharpe’s traveling circus, french horns, tubas, harpsichords, pump organs and other self-consciously nontraditional instruments have rounded up a substantial little corner of the indie realm. Regardless of this sub-genre’s forefathers exhausting any remaining ingenuity Balkan/freak/avant folk could possibly offer, more and more musicians seem to be deeming themselves multi-instrumentalists these days.  Pepper Rabbit is a great example of a band putting out what you can call good music – as long as you choose to disregard anything that came out before it, or at least, not care. The point is, there’s nothing about Pepper Rabbit’s “Harvest Moon” that hasn’t been heard before, nor does it really succeed as a homage to the music that inspired it.  It simply exists; relevant by association.  Oh well.. watch the video (directed by Alex Disenhof and David Altobelli) at the link below:

http://stereogum.com/612712/pepper-rabbit-harvest-moon-video/mp3s/

If you found this post to reek of cynicism and want me to shove it up my own ass, you should know Pepper Rabbit’s debut LP, Beauregard is out now on Kanine Records and here are some tour dates with Ra Ra Riot for good measure:

Pepper Rabbit 2011 Tour Dates
1/22 – Harlows – Sacramento, CA*
1/23 – Gundlach Bundschu Winery – Sonoma, CA*
1/25 – WOW Hall – Eugene, OR*
1/26 – Hawthorne – Portland, OR*
1/27 –  Neumos – Seattle, WA*
3/23 – Low Brow – El Paso, TX**
3/24 – The Rhythm Room – Phoenix, AZ**
3/25 – The Casbah – San Diego, CA**
3/27 – Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA**
3/29 – Holocene – Portland, OR**
3/30 – Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA**
4/1 – Filling Station – Bozeman, MT**
4/2 – Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, UT**
4/3 – Hi Dive – Denver, CO**
* w/ Ra Ra Riot
**w/ Miniature Tigers