Cloud Cult is excited to announce their fall headlining tour in support of their new full-length album – Light Chasers – due out September 14^th on Earthology Records.

The record is the band’s first new studio release in more than two years and critics are already weighing in favorably with Pitchfork calling the album “…epic, millennial indie rock…” and John Richards from KEXP saying that Light Chasers is “the best thing Cloud Cult has ever done, which is saying a lot as everything they’ve done so far is near perfection.”

The US headlining tour will kick off near the band’s home base of Minneapolis at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN and the trek spans out over the next three months taking Cloud Cult to nearly every major US city and finds them playing renowned venues across the country including the Bluebird Theater in Denver, the Showbox in Seattle, the Trocadero in Philly and First Avenue in Minneapolis.

This run will also include a very special performance with none other than Boulder, Colorado’s eTown on September 12^th.  This show will be taped in front of a live audience and can be heard coast-to-coast on NPR/public, commercial and community radio stations. Held at the Boulder Theater, the grand atmosphere will perfectly compliment Cloud Cult’s unique stage performance.

eTown has a long history of presenting a variety of well-known acts including Ani DiFranco, Beth Orton, Bright Eyes, Cyndi Lauper, Imogen Heap, Ingrid Michaelson, Jason Mraz, Matthew Caws from Nada Surf, Moby, Patterson Hood & John Neff of Drive-By Truckers, Spoon and The Avett Brothers just to name a few.

Cloud Cult will hit the East Coast in October and on November 17^th and 18^th they will be headlining First Avenue in Minneapolis for two hometown shows in celebration of the new album. This choice of venue is especially befitting as this past July, First Avenue honored Cloud Cult with a star on the side of the venue. This symbol of appreciation has also been extended to the likes of Aerosmith, Big Star, Depeche Mode, Devo, Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Nirvana and PJ Harvey as well as many other acclaimed artists.

Check www.cloudcult.com for the most up to date information as more tour dates will be announced.

Confirmed Tour Dates:

Sept.    9^th Lions Pause –St. Olaf College             Northfield, MN

11^th Bluebird Theater                                 Denver, CO

12^th Boulder Theater – eTown                   Boulder, CO

14^th Zebra Cocktail Lounge                        Bozeman, MT

15^th Top Hat                                               Missoula, MT

17^th Wonder Ballroom                                Portland, OR

18^th Showbox at the Market                       Seattle, WA

21^st The Independent                                 San Francisco, CA

22^nd The Roxy Theatre                                Los Angeles, CA

Oct.     25^th Club Royale                                         Boston, MA

28^th Trocadero                                            Philadelphia, PA

29^th Bell House                                           Brooklyn, NY

30^th Le Poisson Rogue                                New York, NY

Nov.     1^st Black Cat                                             Washington, DC

3^rd 20^th Century Theatre                           Cincinnati, OH

17^th First Avenue CD Release Show           Minneapolis, MN

18^th First Avenue CD Release Show           Minneapolis, MN

The CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival has announced its first round of performing artists including:

DeVotchKa, Surfer Blood, Two Door Cinema Club, School of Seven Bells, Bad Books (feat. Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra), Four Tet, The Drums, Ghostface Killah, Greg Dulli, Helmet, Lissie, Foreign Exchange, Katzenjammer, Kristen Schall & Friends, Dean & Britta, Bayside, Senses Fail, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Salem, The Blow, Small Black, Big Freedia, Dominique Young Unique, Angus & Julia Stone, Frankie and the Heartstrings, Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, and Langhorne Slim.

Hundreds of additional acts will be announced in the upcoming weeks, so make sure to visit www.cmj.com/marathon for continuous artist updates. This year’s CMJ Music Marathon will be held from October 19^th-23^rd.

2010 brings the launch of CMJ Play, the first-ever intensive gaming and music seminar on October 20^th, 2010. It will be a one-day summit featuring key gaming and music leaders hosted by CMJ Music Marathon in association with the Music Video Game Research Project at NYU Steinhardt at New York University’s Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for University Life, in the Richard L. Rosenthal Pavilion.

Registration for CMJ Play is open at www.cmj.com/marathon. Registration fee of $149 includes admission to this one-day event, the interactive exhibit area, CMJ Music Marathon Exhibit Lounge and evening showcases during October 20, 2010 only (All CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival badge holders are of course welcome to attend).

CMJ Music Marathon and SonicScoop have teamed up to present ‘Studio Time,” a two-part program focusing on music production mastery, with ‘Mix Reconstruction’ and ‘Rough to Refined: Exploring Recording from the Demo to the Finished Product’ which is open to all CMJ badge holders, “Studio Time” provides emerging artists, engineers and producers with recording and mixing insights and inspiration from expert music creators.

CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival is one of the world’s most important platforms for the discovery of new music and cutting-edge films, and will take over New York City from October 19-23, 2010. Over five nonstop days and nights, CMJ will feature over 1200 live performances from over 30 countries in more than 75 of New York City’s greatest venues and theatres.

In addition to hundreds of showcase performances, cutting-edge films and informative panels, CMJ 2010 will present over 70 panels including featured speakers, a music business law seminar, and College Day and will feature live music performances, exclusive parties, an exhibitor loft, a registrant lounge, an artist gifting suite, meet and greets, seminars, mentoring sessions, networking events, comedy showcases, Q&As, and special events.

The multi-platinum international phenomenon known as Owl City is teaming up with the world’s largest and notably most successful online distributor TuneCore in a unique partnership designed to empower developing artists.

TuneCore has created a special website in collaboration with Owl City. Artists that choose to go through this website for distribution can have Owl City’s Adam Young listen to one “single” off their release. Young will choose his favorite among all of the music submitted and provide a constructive critique of the song directly back with the artist. Young will choose the artist and song on December 1, 2010.

“When I look back on the last 24 months of Owl City – the ease of getting music pushed out to the masses in the music industry today was without a doubt a huge factor in people being able to discover my music, said Young. “I feel honored to work with TuneCore to provide Owl City fans this same opportunity I was fortunate to have at the inception of my project.

“I hope that this partnership will encourage young musicians across the globe to create – and allow their creations to be heard.”

As always, through TuneCore, artists keep all of their rights and receive 100% of the revenue from the sale of their music on iTunes, Amazon, spotify, Mog and other digital music stores.

Artists that would like this additional opportunity simply need to go to: http://www.tunecore.com/owlcity

“Adam wrote and recorded his own music simply to let others hear it. He might not have had a label when he started, but he did have new entities like Facebook, MySpace, MP3 Blogs, YouTube, Twitter and TuneCore that allow any artist to get heard,” said Jeff Price, founder, CEO and president of TuneCore.  “From there his music spoke for itself and went on to connect with millions of music fans around the world.

“His willingness to reach out and help and guide other artists is above and beyond.  It is truly an honor to be able to work with him.”

For more information and to enter into the contest visit http://tunecore.com/owlcity.

After hiding in the shadows for years, Scott Hardkiss has been on a tear since last year’s Technicolor Dreamer full-length, having also just released the You & I EP, featuring remixes of his work by Telepathe and Christian Prommer, among others.

This alternate version of the title track from Norweigian house and space-disco producer Bjørn Torske swaps out the original recording’s IDM/D&B influences for heavier dub sounds, stopping for a lovers’-rock detour midway through when Bobby Harden‘s vocals are spliced in to the mix…

All the other prominent signifiers of current Scandinavian electronic music (Italo synths, reverb, and long, spacey jams) are present as well. And that isn’t a bad thing at all, if you ask us.

Visit MOGMusicNetwork.com to download Scott Hardkiss’ “You & I (Bjorn Torske Remix)” and read full article.

Northeast mainstays I Am Alpha and Omega have announced the September 5^th release, The Roar and The Whisper, one of the most highly anticipated releases of the summer.

The record, which will be available at Revelation Generation beginning September 5^th, is one of the most highly anticipated records of this summer.

The Roar and The Whisper is a passionate work of real heart. Chronicling the band’s life over the past year, the title comes from the idea that sometimes messages and lessons in one’s life are sometimes subtlety whispered to the individual and sometimes they are roared in order to be heard and followed.

Look for I Am Alpha and Omega’s The Roar and The Whisper coming September 5^th to iTunes and comeandlive.com.

Cisco Adler and the Miami Ski Team Announce a Remix Contest

Following the release of his debut, twenty-three track, free mixtape - SUPERCALIFORNIALIPSTICKSEXYMAGICDOPESHIT (SUPERCALI) – performer/songwriter/producer Cisco Adler announces “Beat the Remix,” a remix contest to all aspiring MCs and DJs launched Tuesday, August 31st.

Any contestant up to the challenge will have three weeks to pull out all the stops to “beat the remix” and come up with a track killer enough to one-up DJ duo Miami Ski Team’s version.

“One of the most exciting aspects of this game is seeing who’s next in line and what raw talents are brewing in the basement,” Adler said. “Beat The Remix is a chance for all the aspiring producers and DJs out there to show us what they’ve got.”

Only one talented musician will have the remix impressive enough to be chosen by Adler as being the best of the best. Along with bragging rights, he or she will receive a stoke pack from Oakley and New Era. Runners up won’t be forgotten- second and third prize get some goods too.

Contest details and assets for the editing process can be found on bit.ly/BeatTheRemix. Entries must be in by Tuesday, September 21st at 12:00pm Pacific time. Check for updates on the judging process at CiscoAdlerPresents.com and Twitter.com/MrCiscoAdler.

Emii will be releasing the follow up song to her hit single “Magic” next month.  The heart pounding new song is called “Mr. Romeo” and has Emii lusting after her dream guy, Mr. Romeo. Will she get bitten’ by love?

The indie artist has been taking the world by storm with her infectious music and her rocking style. Her video for ”Magic” has received over 1.5 million views on YouTube  She has performed on ABC Grand Rapids, ABC Buffalo, ABC Chicago, ABC Las Vegas, FOX Connecticut, FOX Austin, FOX Grand Rapids Michigan, Fox San Diego, ABC San Diego and more are scheduled. and can been seen on Fuse TV and MTV’s LOGO network.

Emii received continued support from radio stations coast to coast including Chicago’s KISS 103.5, San Francisco, Grand Rapids, Texas, New York and more!

Two critically acclaimed DJ’s will remix “Mr. Romeo”, Seamus Haji and Mike Rizzo. Haji has become synonymous with quality and his DJ sets are legendary, he is a technical wizard and his production is phenomenal. Rizzo has been DJing for over 20 years and infuses the best parts of his historic run of house club mixes with progressive/house influences.

If you haven’t picked up Emii’s debut EP Magic it is now available on iTunes. You can purchase it here. Visit Emii.net for more information about the indie artist.

Critically acclaimed performing songwriter Tucker Finn, will release her emotionally riveting debut solo album, The Cup & The Lip, on October 26, 2010 via Jane Wayne Records.

No stranger to the musical stage, Tucker was co-creator of the alt-country crooners, The Jane Waynes, commended by press and fans alike for their rollicking shows and songwriting skills. The indie artist’s premiere solo album, The Cup & The Lip, features ten original songs.

The album title, The Cup & The Lip, borrows from an old English proverb, “There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip”, which cautions that even the best laid plans can go awry. Tucker’s songs are all about that slip – the vast space that lies between anticipation and the upshot, between your lowest low and your wildest dreams.

Formatted as a two-act play, The Cup & The Lip follows its elusive protagonist through a series of small-scale dramas. Our hero rides a ten-speed through damp city streets and bonds with a bust of Elvis, catapults a car skyward and sets fire to a past life. In the final scenes, this underdog adventurer lies face-up on the table, chest cracked open to bare a cold paper heart.

Tucker’s songs have been described as “three minute movies that you don’t want to miss”; no surprise given her background as a feature film set designer and graphic novelist (Baz Luhrmann’s, Romeo and Juliet and Can of Worms, Fantagraphics Books). While her cinematic style may land her, partly, in the Americana camp, her richly embroidered tunes and fresh production also resonate with twenty-somethings who crave smart, insightful lyrics.

The evocative vignettes on The Cup & The Lip, were drawn from a deep well of personal experience. Tucker has channeled everything from recent shock (losing her home in an unlikely car accident) to deep-set scars (growing up adopted in a closed adoption system) into songs that sit right in the hollow of your collarbone. Produced by Tucker Finn and Jason LaPrade, the songs boast a spare atmospheric backdrop that draws you right into the middle of the slip. When combined with Tucker’s lyrical skill, the result is a haltingly powerful and intimate record.

The album will be available for pre-order and purchase a twww.tuckerfinn.com and www.janewaynerecords.com.

The Italy based group has created a video for their single, “Day After Day.” The single is off a four-track EP, “How Could You Turn a Village into a Town,” that includes two original songs and two remixes by Anti Anti and Stabbyoboy.

My Awesome Mixtape has been touring Europe and Italy in support of the EP.

Check out Myawesomemixtape.it for more information about the band.

Oh, untold hoards of loving readers, I guess this is sort of like goodbye. After five years of life in the sticky, smoky trenches of music journalism, I’m hanging up my hat and paddling my canoe in the direction of uncharted waters. Enough banal metaphor usage for you? Ya, for me, too.

I know that I don’t have to worry about you once I’m gone, loving readers. The webosphere is so full of smart, eloquent folks writing about music that I know you won’t suffer from any shortage of information or half-baked ranting. I am, on the other hand, a bit concerned about what’s going to happen to the music industry once my back is turned.

State of the Tune-ion

Things are looking a bit shaky these days. While I’ve enjoyed guiding you through the collapse of the major label-dominated music industry, the glittering digital phoenix that has risen from its ashes isn’t exactly everything it’s promised to be.

While professional-grade recording equipment has become accessible to all, it’s also created a production scene ripe for manipulation by middlemen who promise much to aspiring artists, but deliver little.

While the Internet offers unprecedented levels of access to promotional tools and global fan bases, it also creates a fertile breeding ground for mediocrity, and for a new kind of anonymity, bred not by obscurity, but by dearth of access.

At the same time, the old major labels that used to represent the industry’s most merciless dragons are beginning to look like relics thanks to the rise of the tech company-cum-digital music distributor. Sure, the majors were bad, but at least they were created to make music. Now, what we listen to and how we listen to it is on the brink of being controlled by corporations who see music – meaningful, essential, soul-defining human music – as just one aspect of a media and technology empire.

That’s Not All There Is

But enough of that grim-ass shit.  That’s just one side of the modern music industry coin. Because the other side is people like you, GigHivers. Musicians, artists, writers, visionaries, people who make music for the same reason that people have always made music – because there is a rhythm in our bodies and minds that screams for expression, that exists because it can’t not exist, and because making music is a part of human existence and consciousness so integral that is permeates all cultures and can be traced back to the dawn of human society.

And in the end, no matter what happens to the music industry or to the business of music, the integrity of the medium’s expression will remain, because YOU remain, the artist, the thinker, the one who brings everyone else together by articulating what lives in our hearts. And that’s something that will never be broken by any totalizing system, no matter how commercial or corrupt.

There Is Life After Industry

Easy enough to say, of course. The reality for many musicians is obscurity, rejection, failure, poverty, and ultimately, despair. All of which is not difficult to understand in a world where all these emotions and states of being are commonplace, and failure and rejection are, often, the norm. But the very normalcy of this grey state of being is the reason why the onus is on musicians to never give up, never give in. Because we depend on you, every day, to express for us the pain and joy that dwells within us, and to connect us, through the commonality that we feel when we connect, collectively and unconsciously, with your songs.

I know it’s a hard path to follow. Ninety percent of the time, it seems like no one listens, and no one cares. But you, the music maker, the songsmith, you who possesses a unique gift, and you must fight to go on no matter how far the music industry seems to get from the actual craft of making music. Because ultimately, the industry can become anything, any corporate beast or bit of technological junk, and it doesn’t matter. All that really matters is what you do, what you create. You’re the voice of us all. Keep singing. Keep writing. Keep the faith, because even when it seems like no one is listening, we are, and without us and without you, the industry – whatever that might be – is nothing.