Investigation shows Colbert claim was all wrong

The green-screen video challenge and then the finale "Shred Down" between Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report and the once-indie, quirky rock band The Decemberists created tons of blog entries and chatter in the music and entertainment world.

But was it all based on a lie, or a simple mistake? Has it been just another prank to attract media attention and blogger buzz?

Whatever the case, the Indie Rock Cafe blog was the first on the Internet to report the likeness of The Decemberists contest published on their website in November and a similar contest by Stephen Colbert. IRC published a follow-up story the morning after the finale, which Colbert claims he won.


NEW DEVELOPMENT - EXCLUSIVE IRC REPORT!

IRC is working on a story from evidence we have discovered that directly contradicts Stephen Colbert's claim to an "original idea" of having fans participate in the final production of a green-screen video. We have the evidence to support it.

We are waiting to hear something from the producers at The Colbert Nation. Will Mr. Colbert directly address the weight of the evidence we have unearthed or cut and run?

We love ya Steve, but let's set the record straight, try out some of that "fair and balanced" crap they dish out over on FOX News.

All we can say for now is stay tuned!

IRC may publish the story on our blog in the days to come, especially if we hear from The Colbert Report's producers.

This scoop, if you will, may also be published in a national newspaper or high-profile website like Smoking Gun, Spin or Pitchfork Media.

Send us an email if you're interested in being alerted when this story is published.

Labels: Green-Screen Challenge, Stephen Colbert vs. The Decemberists

Released in 1999, Simon Basic by Barcelona [MP3s below] is amazing indie pop music fused with synthesizers and shifting, deep baselines. That is why it is being featured in IRC's "Digging The Archives" series.

Barcelona is a great, largely forgotten indie pop group and Simon Basic is their crown jewel. We call it "indie blueberry music" because it is one of those albums that once you start spinning it, you can't resist to spin it more and more to the point that everything else is momentarily unimportant.

Experience proves, however, that much of the best indie rock and pop music out there - from approximately 1980 to now - is lost in the thousands of CDs reviewed by "the critics" during the past quarter century. Meanwhile, indie music has thrived.

The band was formed in Washington, D.C. in 1998. Band members Jennifer Carr on bass, Jason Korzen, singer and guitarist, Ivan Ramiscal (moog/keyboards/ guitar) and drummer (guitar/singer), Christian Scanniello found time between their passion for soccer and computers to make indie pop music.

Digging up, reporting, writing, editing, packaging and presenting to you the best of indie, old and new, is what sets IRC apart from all the other indie rock music websites and blogs.

From the moment Simon Basic starts spinning, there's an automatic attraction to it's poppy sound, soft, melodic harmonies and upbeat sytheniziers that play-off of, and merge with, each other for a full and intriguing experience.

Computer sounds and themes are spliced throughout the album, most notably on "I Have The Password to Your Shell Account" and "The Downside of Computer Camp."

"Space Guy Blues" and the cheery "Indian Names" and are mini-indie classics, supplying all the ingredients of indie pop rock with infectious energy, wit and grounded rythmatic baselines laden with catchy guitar and keyboard riffs. Other songs like "1/2", "Unreal," and "Summer Songs", which should have been a hit are album highlights as well.

Check the music downloads from Simon Basic below for your listening pleasure. You can also find the tracks for sale on sites like MP3.com, Amazon and Emusic.

Be warned: If you can get the CD, don't lend it out. You're probably not going to get it back. It's that good. Sometimes a great artist that was previously unknown to the masses re-emerges to popularity deserved long ago, but it is usually from a television commercial or movie soundtrack.

A year after the debut of Simon Basic, the group pumped out two reasonably good (with some stand-out songs) song collections in 2000 on the EPs Robot Trouble and Zero One Infinity .

The Transhuman Revolution was released in 2001 and didn't sell or spark a fire in the indie scene. The Barcelona experiment (but it was so much more) was over by 2001. The following year, singer, songwriter and guitarist Jason Korzen formed Sprites.

Barcelona's music is similiar to a bunch of artists, including Mates of State, Matt Pond PA, The Close Lobsters and The 6ths.

From a purely online marketing point of view, the name Barcelona doesn't help fans find information easily and quickly on the Internet. In fact, we were unable to find one photograph of the band after an extensive search, but just about every other image on the Internet with 'barcelona' in it's name. We all know that means tens of thousands of hits. If you can find a photo of the band, let us know. The lack of a band photo makes Barcelona even more mysterious and "indie".

This CD was found by chance at a real record shop. Once independent record shops are all gone, and they're going fast, an iconic cornerstone of the indie movement will have disappeared. In ten years from now, there may be a few record stores here and there. How they will make money in the age of instant download (even though iTunes has been down and showing error messages most of the week from the 'gift card' redeemers) is anyone's guess.

The old-skool meeting place where you talked with store clerks, other customers and friends about a great indie album that you didn't know about and that you listened to 20 times or more will fade away into a computer screen.

To get an idea of the tracks on the album, listen to, and download, the following:

Summer Songs [mp3]
The Downtime of Computer Camp [mp3]
Indian Names [mp3]

Labels: Album Reviews, Añejo Mockingbird, Barcelona, College Indie Rock

As the spirit of the holiday season continues through the week, IRC will be posting some rare covers of traditional Christmas and holiday songs by indie artists.

Taking Back Sunday skyrocketed from indie to "commercial indie" in just the past year or so. They also recorded one of the best indie CDs of the new century, Where You Want To Be. The album was a huge success ore leaving Victory Records before moving on to Warner.

So whether or not TBS is indie doesn’t matter because the group offers this playful, alternative version of “The 12 Days of Christmas” in video animation. Just click play to watch it now (no download required):

Labels: Alternative Christmas Songs, Indie Christmas Songs, Taking Back Sunday

While no one knows what exactly an Indie Christmas should be like, we have put together a package of mostly non-commercial, independent Christmas songs, which are sprinkled throughout this report.

Labels: Alternative Christmas Songs, Sufjan Stevens

Badly Drawn Boy played to a full house in Manchester last night at a charity concert to kick-off his three-month tour of Europe and the United States.

- Listen/download Gough's MP3s instantly

The one man band is actually Damon Gough, a singer and songwriter who achieved recognition with a song on the 1997 celebrity-filled UNKLE LP Psyence Fiction. The following year, Gough, or Badly Drawn Boy, quickly ascended in the U.K. indie scene with the single "Once Around the Block," which was a marginal hit.

With the momentum rolling, Badly Drawn Boy (it's strange calling a guy by a name that sounds like it's a band), released Hour of Bewilderbeast, and the critics and music fans loved it. So much so that it won Britain's Mercury Prize for Best Album of 2000. That made BDB a big deal on the indie scene, and spread his music to the United States and elsewhere.

Sailing from the success of Hour of Bewilderbeast, Gough returned with the soundtrack for the movie About a Boy.

Most critics, movie goers and music lovers hailed the film, especially Gough's score. The exploration and experimentation of music that is the theme of the score reveals Gough as one of the most prolific and astonishing artists on the indie scene.

Amazon.com called the score "heads and shoulders above the vast majority of pop albums and soundtracks." Gough was also given credit for his dedication to capturing the essence of the original novel.

The Hour of Bewilderbeast is an amazing piece of work that should be in the music collection of a hard-core indie rock pop lover. The movie is pretty good too.

So, if you get a chance to see BDB, you'll witness an experience. Gough will be touring for three months sharing his musical genius with indie fans nationwide.

Listen or download:

All Possibilities - Badly Drawn Boy
I Was Wrong - Badly Drawn Boy

TOUR DATES

Jan 25 2007 - Frison, Fribourg
Jan 26 2007 - Backstage Werk, Munich
Jan 27 2007 - Gloria, Cologne
Jan 29 2007 - Kesselhaus, Berlin
Jan 20 2007 - Uebel & Gefahrlich, Hamburg
Jan 31 2007 - Paradiso, Amsterdam

FEBRUARY
Feb 11 2007 - Olympia, Dublin
Feb 12 2007 - Mandela Hall, Belfast
Feb 13 2007 - Queens Theatre, Edinburgh
Feb 15 2007 - Toff's (Chip Shop Gig), London
Feb 16 2007 - Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Feb 17 2007 - Magnet (Chip Shop Gig), London
Feb 17 2007 - St George's Hall, Bristol
Feb 19 2007 - City Varietes, Leeds
Feb 20 2007 - Sage Theatre, Gateshead
Feb 21 2007 - Smiths (Chip Shop Gig), Grimsby
Feb 23 2007 - Plaza, Stockport

MARCH
Mar 3 2007 - Theatre Of Living Arts, Philadelphia
Mar 5 2007 - Somerville Theatre, Boston
Mar 6 2007 - 9:30 Club, Washington DC
Mar 7 2007 - Webster Hall, New York
Mar 9 2007 - Majestic Theatre, Detroit
Mar 10 2007 - Metro, Chicago
Mar 11 2007 - Fine Line Music Café, Minneapolis
Mar 13 2007 - Exit/In, Nashville
Mar 14 2007 - The Loft, Atlanta
Mar 16 2007 - Stubbs (SXSW), Austin
Mar 18 2007 - Fox Theatre, Boulder
Mar 19 2007 - Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City
Mar 21 2007 - House of Blues, San Diego
Mar 22 2007 - El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles
Mar 23 2007 - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
Mar 25 2007 - Aladdin Theatre, Portland
Mar 26 2007 - Neumo's, Seattle
Mar 27 2007 - Richards on Richards, Vancouver

Labels: Badly Drawn Boy, Damon Gough, Rock Soundtracks

Who really "won" last night in the month-long green screen challenge between a wacky news anchor and an indie rock guitarist? (IRC was first to report it on the web).

Thursday night's The Colbert Report showcased a mismatched parade of VIPs including a creaky, almost freaky, gala of old rockers, like Peter Frampton, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (umm, ok), a new rock star (Chris Funk, the guitarist), and not to be forgotten, of course, the energetic, ever ego-tripping, flag-waving prankster Stephen Colbert.

Morley Saffer of 60 Minutes kicked-off the show with an opening that probably spooked some folks that it might be Sunday evening.The Apples in Stereo aslo dedicated a song Colbert called "A Bullet" and the "Shred Down" master himself rocked out with Frampton.

But take a look at this video. Did Colbert even really play the guitar? If not, Funk won and he should counter-challenge again (all in the matter of comedy, or is it somthing more?)


When The Decemberists launched their green-screen challenge to encourage animation fans to complete their music video "O Valencia", it was right here at IRC that the question was posed – were The Decemberists stealing Colbert’s idea?

During the late summer, Colbert had challenged his viewers to send in their repurposed video of Colbert swinging around a Star Wars laser against a green-screen back drop.

The final video was played on The Colbert Report but it, well, sucked.

IRC First to Raise Colbert vs. Decemberists Controversy

Shortly afterwards, The Decemberists announced their own green-screen challenge encouraging viewers to complete their "O Valencia" video, it was the Indie Rock Cafe that first blogged the similarity to Colbert's contest.

The following day, Pitchfork Media reported the unmistakable likeness of Colbert’s challenge to The Decemberists' contest, and never gave IRC credit.

A night or two after Pitchfork "broke the story", Colbert opened his show with a bitch-slap of The Decemberists for "stealing his idea" and presented a number of challenges in retaliation, including encouraging his audience to mess up The Decemberists video by flooding the group with repurposed video of "O Valencia" containing video of Colbert swinging around a Star Wars laser. Then The Decemberists counter-challenged which culminated in to last night's widely-viewed "Shread Down".

While it’s no surprise that Colbert claimed victory last night, it's clear that The Decemberists' guitarist Chris Funk stole the show with a blistering, Jimi Hendrix-style guitar solo.

Now, we ask: Is it the end of the green-screen challenge for Colbert and The Decemberists, or the beginning of a blog-off challenge between the overly verbose Pitchfork Media and IRC.

The Indie Playlist Challenge for Pitchfork Media

IRC is completely ready to have a blog-off with Pitchfork Media to settle the score. But what would the challenge be? How about a Top 10 List of rare indie songs that few people have ever heard of?

How the Contest Would Work

The way it would work is we would post our indie playlist on our websites with the ability to easily listen to or download the songs. Then, let our loyal indie rock fans choose from the two playlists and see which one gets more votes.

The Top 10 list can be published in a number of formats, including MP3 samples and downloads, music streams or an Indie Podcast.

Finally, please use the Comments section below (no registeration required and anonymous postings allowed) or email Pitchfork. Not only will the contest be interesting and fun, it'll also introduce to rare, but jeminy great, indie rock and pop songs.

Email us Pitchfork. We’re waiting to see if you're serious. Let's call it the "The Greatest Top 10 Indie Rarities" contest.


(Un)related story:

Stephen Colbert was nailed by ACLU lawyer Mark Rosenbaum in today's New York Times as representing the secrecy of the federal government to the peril of Americans and that he had top-level government authority to keep the FBI files of Beatle rocker John Lennon conciled for decades.

At first, even news junkies, thought, oh wow, is it true? Is it the real Stephen Colbert? If so, would there be a green screen challenge broadcast between Colbert and the ACLU over the final and "complete" release of John Lennon's FBI files?

Can you imagine if it was the same Stephen Colbert? It's not, though. It turns out the other Stephen Colbert is a right-wing strategist who fought the ACLU for years trying to block the release of Beatles legend John Lennon.

New Idea for The Colbert Report

Maybe Colbert will have the other Colbert and the ACLU on his show to get to the bottom of it?

Stephen, if you're reading this blog (which we think you are), email IRC if you think it's a good idea for the show.

Labels: Stephen Colbert, The Decemberists

Jeff Tweedy has announced a list of concert dates and venues for his January solor tour across the south. (IRC has a Podcast of Wilco's best live performances coming up. Want to be alerted when it's launched?)

01-16 Memphis, TN - Germantown Performing Arts Center
01-17 Nashville, TN - James K. Polk Theater
01-19 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
01-20 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
01-21 Marfa, TX - Liberty Hall
01-23 Austin, TX - Hogg Auditorium at University of Texas
01-24 Austin, TX - Hogg Auditorium at University of Texas
01-26 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
01-27 Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre
01-29 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle01-30 Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre
01-31 Charlottesville, VA - Paramount Theater Additional dates are expected, so check back or send us an email now to remind you when dates and venues are added. Here's Wilco's tour announcement hompage.

IRC will be launching beta pages for http://www.indierockconcerts.com and http://www.indierocksongs.com in the next few months, making it much easier for our readers and visitors to get exactly what they want and when they want it.

As the domain names imply, those websites will function as separate entities but will be part of, let’s say, the suite of Indie Rock Café’s websites on the Internet.

Labels: Indie Artist Promotions

Each week, IRC posts the Top 20 Indie Countdown (aka "the weekly play"), highlighting great songs from indie bands from today and yesterday. Please support your indie bands by also visiting their websites.


Top 20 Indie Rock Countdown: Week of Dec. 17

1. "Chariot" - Page France from Hello, Dear Wind (2006) - Suicide Records
2. "The Night Will Go As Follows" - The Spill Canvas from Sunsets And Car Crashes - One Eleven Records
3. "No Complaints" - Beck from The Information
4. "Space Travel Is Boring" - Sun Kil Moon from Ghosts of the Great Highway
5. "She's So Cold" - The Golden Republic from The Golden Republic

6. "The Start of Something" - Voxtrot from Raised By Wolves EP
7. "Shine The Light" - Wolf Parade from Apologies to Queen Mary
8. "We Both Go Together" - The Decemberists from Picaresque
9. "Sand" - Pokett from Your Picture Here
10. "Sun A.M." - Moonbabies from The Orange Billboard
11. "Cathie Cline" - R. Stevie Moore from I Killed The Monster
12. "Los Feliz Arms" - Sunday's Best from The Californian
13. "Boardline Creep" - The Matches from E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals
14. "Black Tongue" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs from Fever To Tell
15. "Song For The Angels" - Great Lake Swimmers from Bodies and Minds
16. "Grey Machine" - Pinback from Offcell
17. "On/Off" - Snow Patrol from When It's All Over We Have To Clear Up
18. "The Art of Losing" - American Hi-Fi from The Art of Losing
19. "I Saw Three Ships" - Sufjan Stevens from The Christmas Songs
20. "Honey I Sure Miss You" - Lumberob from I Killed The Monster

Labels: American Hi-Fi, Pinback, Snow Patrol, Wolf Parade, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

What are the Top 10 indie albums of 2006?

IRC comprised a top 10 list based on our own choices as well as nominee lists from indie rock critics, bloggers and others found on the Internet during the past month. Only one can win.

Send your name and your choice of the best from the Top 10 listed below. The winner will be picked at random as long as your email address is valid.

The reward is a $15 gift card or transfer to a PayPal account.

Email IRC to submit your choice now!!! Put 'Best Indie Album 2006' in subject line please! :-)

Deadline is Jan 30, 2007.

What is the Best Indie Album of 2006?*
*this list is in random order, but we think it's the best top 10 for 2006

The Life Pursuit - Belle and Sebastian

The Avalanche - Sufjan Stevens

Gulag Orkestar - Beirut

Show Your Bones - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Return To Cookie Mountain - TV on the Radio

Silent Shout - The Knife

The Greatest - Cat Power

Dog Problems - The Format

You in Reverse - Built to Spill

Telephono/Soft Effects - Spoon

Again, don't forget to vote for your favorite album.

Labels: Best Indie 2006

Create your own soundtrack to the sequel of your favorite movie and it'll be posted on all of IRC affiliate web sites if you are the winner. Plus, the chosen winner, to be decided by visitors to the site, will receive a $10 gift card.

It's very simple, there are two ways to submit your list, either by email or via the Comments link section.


To submit your list with the song name and artist clearly listed. You can also submit a URL to a song stream of your choices. Or you can send no more than two MP3s by email. Make sure to name the file of the song the title along with the artist.

The winner will get a $10 Amazon gift card and have their soundtrack listing published for everyone to see. We'll discuss later about how to link all of your soundtrack choices online when IRC announces a winner.


Again, this is your chance to either re-create the soundtrack of your favorite movie or create a sequel to your favorite music with the soundtrack listing.

Good luck. We can't wait to see your lists! Enjoy.

P.S. The soundtrack listings do not have to be indie music, but we strongly encourage it.

Labels: Pulp Fiction, Rock Soundtracks

Back in 1989 indie, or alternative, music was still in it's infancy. Sure, a year or two later, Nirvana shook the music world and introduced a generation of 'alternative' rock bands.

Labels: Beginning of Indie, Spacemen 3

Labels: Broken Social Scene, College Indie Rock

Holla to Indie Fans:

There are so many great indie bands that have emerged so far this century, that it is nearly impossible to list the Indie Top 50.

Tell us what you think are the best indie artists formed from 2000 and on using the Comments link below or email IRC your favorites.

At the end of the month, we will tabulate the results and post them on the IRC website as well as pick one person to win a gift card of their choice.

Labels: Best Indie Rock Bands

One of the hottest and most underrated groups on the indie rock scene for years, Anti-Flag has announced concert dates, shows and venues for 2007. Check them out, they certainly put on a great show for rockers.

Are you going to one of these concerts? If so, and you'd like to write a review or shoot from photos, contact IRC with subject line "Anti-Flag Concert Review [or Photos, if you're a photographer].

[Note: We'll do the rest in getting you published. We expect some writers to become frequent contributors to IRC, and if you'd like to be one of them, check out our contributors' page.]

Thu 03/08/07 New York, NY Irving Plaza
Fri 03/09/07 Philadelphia, PA Theatre Of Living Arts
Sat 03/10/07 Boston, MA The Roxy
Sun 03/11/07 Buffalo, NY Town Ballroom
Tue 03/13/07 Cleveland, OH House Of Blues
Wed 03/14/07 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre
Thu 03/15/07 Milwaukee, WI The Rave / Eagles Club
Fri 03/16/07 Chicago, IL Metro / Smart Bar
Sat 03/17/07 Minneapolis, MN Trocadero
Tue 03/20/07 Seattle, WA The Showbox
Wed 03/21/07 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
Thu 03/22/07 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
Fri 03/23/07 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
Sat 03/24/07 San Diego, CA SOMA San Diego
Wed 03/28/07 Tempe, AZ The Marquee Theatre
Thu 03/29/07 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
Fri 03/30/07 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
Thu 04/05/07 Clifton Park, NY Northern Lights
Fri 04/06/07 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
Sat 04/07/07 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Sun 04/08/07 Norfolk, VA The NorVa
Tue 04/10/07 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
Wed 04/11/07 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
Thu 04/12/07 Orlando, FL The Club at Firestone
Fri 04/13/07 Fort Lauderdale, FL Revolution
Sat 04/14/07 Saint Petersburg, FL State Theatre
Tue 04/17/07 San Antonio, TX White Rabbit
Wed 04/18/07 Dallas, TX Gypsy Tea Room & Ballroom
Thu 04/19/07 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
Fri 04/20/07 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's
Sat 04/21/07 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls Fun House/Theatre
Sun 04/22/07 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls Fun House/Theatre

Stay tuned and hope to get someone to share a review or photos of one of their shows. IRC members plan to get together to see their San Francisco show at the famous Fillmore.

Labels: Anti-Flag, Indie Venues

When IRC gets concert dates, tour schedules and indie rock show listings, you'll be the first to know. You can always let us know about a special event about an indie artist and it'll be posted.

Here are this month's concerts and '07 announcements:

As IRC receives more concert announcements, there will be a constantly updated page dedicated to all the big indie concerts coming up for the rest of 2006 and as much of 2007 listings that I can find.

This is a daunting task and takes hours, so please show your support by clicking an ad or sponsor link. This will allow IRC to grow and offer more features, music, videos, concerts, interviews, profiles and much more about the best indie artists - whether they are "mainstream indie" or really independent or alternative.

The Fray

Fri 12/15/06 New York, NY Madison Square Garden Arena
Wed 01/10/07 Waverly, IA Wartburg College
Thu 01/11/07 West Lafayette, IN Purdue University
Fri 01/12/07 East Lansing, MI Michigan St. University
Sat 01/13/07 Athens, OH Ohio University
Mon 01/15/07 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theatre
Tue 01/16/07 Cleveland, OH State Theatre
Wed 01/17/07 Pittsburgh, PA Benedum Center
Thu 01/18/07 Norfolk, VA The NorVa
Sat 01/20/07 Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues
Sun 01/21/07 Raleigh, NC Memorial Auditorium
Mon 01/22/07 Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium
Thu 01/25/07 Coral Gables, FL University Of Miami
Fri 01/26/07 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
Sat 01/27/07 Savannah, GA Savannah College Of Art & Design
Mon 01/29/07 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Tue 01/30/07 Starkville, MS Mississippi St. University
Wed 01/31/07 Orem, UT Utah Valley State University
Sat 02/03/07 Vail, CO Dobson Arena

opening with The Feeling

Fri 02/16/07 Norwich, UK University Of East Anglia
Sun 02/18/07 Wolverhampton, UK Civic Hall
Mon 02/19/07 Bournemouth, UK International Centre
Tue 02/20/07 Plymouth, UK Plymouth Pavilions
Thu 02/22/07 Liverpool, UK Liverpool University
Fri 02/23/07 Edinburgh, UK Corn Exchange
Sat 02/24/07 Doncaster, UK The Dome
Mon 02/26/07 Derby, UK Assembly Rooms
Tue 02/27/07 Manchester, UK Carling Apollo Manchester
Fri 03/02/07 London, UK Carling Apollo Hammersmith

Here are some other concert listing resources:
http://www.musicbox-online.com/tour.html


Do You Have Concert Listings?

If you know of concert listings that I haven't listed you can email me the artist name, date, show times, location, venue and I'll do the rest to package it all up with links and such so that you don't miss a show that you will later kick yourself in the ass for (like I did when I missed Yo La Tengo in Santa Cruz, Calif. - I'm still kicking myself).concerts.xls

Labels: Anti-Flag, The Fray

The talented indie rock band Of Montreal are handing out some earlier Christmas gifts.

The five-piecehave uploaded MP3s from their upcoming record, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

The band decided to upload MP3s of songs from their yet to be released CD to their My Space page.

If that's not enough, fans can listen to a free music stream for Of Montreal's new CD album, set for release in February on Polyvinyl. The band's front man, Kevin Barnes, has also provided free MP3s of of album tracks.

Labels: Indie MP3s, Of Montreal

Ash singer and songwriter Tim Wheeler will be releasing a solo single in March, according to the NME.

Wheeler's announcement of his solo project follows the news by the band's guitarist Charlotte Hatherly would be leaving the band after 9 years.

The single 'Glow', set to be released on March was produced by the famed dance music producer Arthur Baker who has also worked with Bob Dylan and New Order.

Labels: Ash, Best Indie Rock Bands