Norway's Hove Festival was held a few weeks ago featuring a powerful three-day line-up of musical acts, including Panic at the Disco, Beck, Foals, The Kooks, MGMT (formerly Management), The Raconteurs, and a rare performance by indie rock legends the Brian Jonestown Massacre (photo, above).

The BJM, who were featured with The Dandy Warhols in the compelling rockumentary film, DiG!, was, by all accounts, and considering a history of brawling and drug and alcohol abuse, awesome. This is how you want to see BJM in concert.

Beck performing at Norway's Hove Festival 2008
Other favorite rock and indie artists and bands at the 2008 Hove Festival included Yeasayer, Foals, Flogging Molly, Les Savy Fav, The Cool Kids, Stars, Dinosaur Jr., Paramore, The Go Team and a dozen others. Access the full video playlist.

We've all seen enough low-quality, hand-held videos of music concerts and festivals on YouTube and other popular social media networks. But it is rare to find high-quality video and audio, not to mention full sets, from some of indie's biggest groups and artists for free.

The videos are hosted by NRKP3 in Norway. There is no information listed about how long the shows, complete with thrilling crowd shots, roaming camera cranes and top-notch production, will be available for unlimited, free viewing. See 'em while you can.

Labels: Beck, Festivals, Foals, Hove Festival, Indie Rock Videos, MGMT, Panic at the Disco, Raconteurs, The Kooks, Yeasayer

Whether you're out on a date with your significant other, smooching on the couch with candles and light jazz on, or without a date and sitting at home alone, you may be interested in The BRIT Awards 2007.

Broadcasting live at Earls Court 1 on Wednesday, February 14, 2007, the show's line-up consists of eight live UK acts and a total of 14 nominees. In 2006, seven of the Top 10 best-selling CDs in the United Kingdom were by British artists.

BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson said, "Music is one of the things that the British do well."


"But even by our standards 2006 was a great year. The BRIT Awards...will celebrate Britain's love of music with a fantastic mix of UK and international artists."

As of today, the final five nominees for single of the year are:

The Feeling - Fill My Little World
Razorlight - America
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
Take That - Patience
Will Young - All Time Love

The big winners are expected to be Snow Patrol (pictured at the left) whose album Eyes Open was the best-selling album in the UK in 2006, selling 1.5 million copies.

Eyes are also on NYC rockers The Scissor Sisters who sold 1.1 million copies of their album Ta-Dah that spawned the mega-hit "I Don't Feel Like Dancin."

The eccentric and flamboyant New York City rockers The Scissor Sisters (pictured at top right) followed their debut success with the 1.1 million copy selling "Ta-Dah" that contains the hit single 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin''.

The Killers, whose album "Sam's Town" has gone quadruple-platinum, and are up for two awards, will perform live at the awards show.

But a lot of rock fans will be thrilled to know that the Red Hot Chilli Peppers will also perform. They are nominated for Best International Rock Band, an award they won in 2003.


A host of other UK acts are also rewarded with nominations, including Bob Dylan, Paolo Nutini, Nerina Pallot, The Fratellis and The Kooks, Razorlight, Snow Patrol, Kasabian and Lemar, Jarvis Cocker, Thom Yorke, Gnarls Barkley, Lily Allen, Beyonce, Beck, Corrine Bailey Rae, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Winehouse, and Guillemots.

Labels: Beck, Beyonce, Bob Dylan, Brit Awards, British Music Awards, Gnarls Barkley, Kooks, Muse, Razorlight, Snow Patrol, The Arctic Monkeys, The Fratellis, The Killers, The Kooks, Thom Yorke

The song of the week is one that is well deserving of the honor. If you like edgy, experimental indie pop, check out the quirky Montreal indie band Island's single "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby".

The single is on Island's under-rated and brilliant debut album Return to the Sea, which surprisingly was overlooked by many rock critics, and even many of the indie rock bloggers. It didn't even make most of the top album of the year lists you see everywhere in December and January.

- Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby [mp3]
- Bonus: Volcanoes [mp3]

Buy the album or these tracks individually at iTunes, Amazon or anywhere they sell the group's music!

Islands is a band that is in a perpetual state of flux, formed by Unicorn members Nick Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur. The album is described by Nick as having "some dancehall [sic] influences, some calypso...diverse and sprawling and ambitious...a bit more mature than The Unicorns... more of a Neil Young/Brian Wilson vibe running through it." (quoted from Wikipedia)

Woooa, Nick, your a great musician and artist but comparing yourself to Neil Young and Brian Wilson is pushing your luck, especially considering those two legends influence on the last 40 years of music. As Stephen Colbert would say, 'a wag of the finger' at you, Mr. Diamonds.

The collaboration on the Return to the Sea project included contributions from members of The Arcade Fire and The Wolf Parade.

Following the release of the album, the band went on a series of U.S. and Canadian tours during 2006. Earlier in 2005 they had opened for Beck from time to time and Metric. The critics and fans love the group's live shows. They even played some concerts where they had the concert-goers to follow them out of the venue and into the streets in the spirit of the Pipe Piper of Hamelin.

After fans complained enough on blogs and fan sites, the group launched a fairly cool Flash powered official website back in late summer of 2006. The site may be a bit difficult for some (roll the mouse over the name of the band for the sections of the site), but it is a creative and refreshing approach.

No question that official band sites are getting better all the time. They just need to offer more free downloads, videos, interviews and add-ons like alerts when a concert date is added or changed.

Since 2006 wasn't that long ago, we have named Return to The Sea one of IRC's Top 20 albums of the year, and the single "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby" one of the best songs of the year.

You'd think that a song with such a title would be quirky, angry, mocking or what have you. But it's a true indie gem - oozing with waves of melodies, catchy riffs and memorable chorus harmonies. You may even find yourself tapping your foot. It's a great song to play when stuck in rush hour traffic or you need a picker-upper.

Warning: If you are a total hard-core indie punk or monster rocker, then you'd probably want to smash this CD if it was in front of you, but chill out my friend, we have plenty on damn good indie rock and punk on this site for you too,

Labels: Beck, Best Indie Songs, Brian Wilson, Islands, Neil Young, New Indie Artists, Nick Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur, Return To The Sea, The Arcade Fire, The Unicorns, The Wolf Parade, Unicorns