Jimmy's Faves on MySpace!

Greetings all!

Jimmy from Audiosocket here with my bi-weekly blog on the hot new bands in the Audiosocket catalog.

One thing I’ve noticed is that we are getting a ton of great local music. Looking over my blogs over the past couple months I see that there are usually at least one or two Seattle or Portland bands mentioned. I don’t do this on purpose; it just goes to show what a great diverse scene we have up here. I like Audiosocket because I feel it brings all these diverse bands together into one community and we’re trying to strengthen and connect that community with things like our showcases and artist forums.

I mentioned last time that we are having an artist forum entitled "Navigating The Music Industry" at Elliott Bay Bookstore down in Pioneer Square on Wednesday, August 26^th. This is the first of hopefully many events where we bring artists together under one roof to discuss matters that effect us all, whether you’re a rapper, Norwegian death metaler, country singer, or a gypsy punk like me! This month’s event is going to focus on Performing Rights Organizations. A lot of artists are unaware of how PROs work and why they’re important so we’ve invited David Brewster, the former VP of Starbucks-Music and Play Network to talk to ya’ll about them and why they should matter to you. There will be a Q&A opportunity for the audience after his presentation and everyone will have a chance to rap with David or any of the Audiosocket staff throughout the course of the evening. If you’re an Audiosocket artist, come up and introduce yourself. We love to put faces to names and get to know our fellow musicians and artists. We’ll also, of course, have some live music by local singer-songwriter Alicia Dara. Everything starts at 7pm and that’s at the Elliott By Café, downstairs from the bookstore, at 101 S. Main Street in Pioneer Square. This showcase is free and open to the public so come down and say hi!

Now, let’s talk music!

The first artist I want to talk about hails from Eastern Washington and I’ve been hearing rumblings about her tunes through the acoustic music community here in Seattle. Her name is Star Anna and her band is the Laughing Dogs and man, this girls tunes will break your heart. Just listen to “Tripping Wire” on her MySpace page and tell me you don’t feel just a little choke in your throat. She can rock too. Check out “Through the Winter” with its gritty country-rock vibe. Honestly, every track on her debut “The Only Thing That Matters” is incredible. Fans of Lucinda Williams will love this. Listen for yourself at: www.myspace.com/starannakrogstie

Another great local band that we just got in the catalog was Romance. These guys really took me back to my teenage goth faze with a vocalist that sounds a lot like Peter Murphy, great post-punk reverb guitar sound, and a bass sound that’s reminiscent of Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order. I mean their record sounds like it should have come out in 1982 but it’s not nostalgic or cheesy at all. It manages to sound new and exciting. Listen to “Killer In The World” and you’ll see what I mean. Check ‘em out at: www.myspace.com/romance

I was blown away a couple weeks ago by The Beatards out of New York City. This is underground Hip Hop with a punk attitude that really kicks ass. Bump “Getting’ Jacked” really loud and you’ll see what I mean. This shit is made to get the asses shakin’. Another cut that just feels like an instant classic is “Dang Diggy Dang” and doesn’t “Big Bad Beat” just take you back to the “Licensed to Ill” days? Every track rips it up...this really feels like the hip-hop group for the future. Get beat-tarded at: www.myspace.com/thebeatards

Finally I want to talk about Danny Ross out of Brooklyn. He’s got some great indie pop that shows some serious songwriting chops. I love “Woman” on his MySpace player with its upbeat pop vibe and excellent playing by his band or the sentimental metropolitan country vibe of “Stay Here With Me.” I wish he had more tracks on his player because there were so many gems on his CD. He’s got links to it on his MySpace so go pick one up at: www.myspace.com/dannyrossmusic

So, that’s it for me this week you guys. I hope all you Seattle friends of Audiosocket come out on the 26^th and network with your local music community. We'd love to see you there. I’ll be back in a couple week with more killer tracks.

Cheers,

Jimmy