WOW – get ready. There’s two weeks of links below – and a lot of smiles, relevant information and new things you are probably not aware of – but soon will be that you are! This area is designed to be down ‘n dirty – quick, rapid-fire links with no fluff. So…LET’S GO!
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First off, good new for us – Pop Pioneers at Pop Geek Heaven. Why? In just a few months, PGH is being recognized as something totally different, truly special and being directly relavant to the sensibilities of power pop fans. PGH was just honored to be the #1 blog for power pop fans by the influential, respected site “12 Most”. Go to THIS LINK to check it out – and also make sure you are not missing any of the other great blogs and sites for pop geeks like us!
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PAUL MCCARTNEY FANS – This site, direct from Paul, is amazing – really. Paul is uploading master recordings of classic songs in his catalog and allowing you to re-mix them, top-to-bottom – and saving those mixes and allowing you to share them with others. Play with “Band On The Run”, “Maybe I’m Amazed” and…well, go to THIS LINK and see what this is all about. Thanks to Brian Merrill from Barely Pink and The Ditchflowers(who have a great song in The Surprise Box area for you…) for sharing this.
Also, Paul has a new album coming in a few months – details on the project can be found – HERE
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EMITT RHODES – NEW MUSIC!! Really. Honestly. Major forward movment in Emitt Rhodes releasing more music in 2012 in the form of an album – in the meantime, go enjoy this surprising, terribly heartening news. Check out the new music – HERE
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Go to THIS LINK to have access to a pretty darn good compilation of free music and discover a lot of bands you’ve never heard of. I’ve listened to half of them so far and there are some geniune ‘real finds’.
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POWER POPAHOLIC blog has posted their Top 25 power pop albums of 2011 – one of the most informative ‘what’s new’ blogs on the net for pop geeks, you are bound to discover a few key releases you’ve overlooked or not heard of. Check a very nicely done video HERE
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THE EXPLORERS CLUB – their new album is due in 2012 and they have releasing digi-only free EPS the last six months of 2011, leaving up to the new album – their latest EP, which includes a really good version of one of my all-time favorite songs(Vanity Fair’s “Hitching A Ride”) is now available – download it for free at THIS LINK.
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Doug Edmunds of The Gladhands has a new project coming out in 2012 and his band, The Stars Explode are doing a Kickstarter campaign to make it happen. Please consider helping get it this done – info on the project is HERE. Also, Doug has given us all a song from the project in The Surprise Box area – a really good one!
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THE WELL WISHERS – preview tracks from their new album arriving in early 2012 – go HERE Here’s the REALLY COOL thing – if you pre-order the album from this link, you will get to receive a free CD. You have six to choose from!! $10 plus postage? THAT is a seroius good deal!
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FIVE OF THS SUCKIEST BEATLES SONGS EVER? This article makes me smile – a list of some of the least worthy songs from The Fab Four
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MIK VIOLA interview at the Done Waiting blog – go HERE
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Dwight Twilley’s lead guitaritst for almost 40 year died earlier in 2011 – HERE is a site that is a tribute to BILL PITCOCK IV with a lot of cool music to explore and enjoy.
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REMINDER: A LOT of new tunes were posted in THE SURPRISE BOX area the last 9 days, including Christmas tunes, including one from Shoes!
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“Vinyl, CD, MP3, Cassette,… which sounds best? Ask The Producer!” – one of my favorite new blogs I’ve discovered in 2011 is Rocker Zine – read this article and check out the site HERE
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LA TIMES writer Randall Roberts posted his ‘best of the year’ list – check it out HERE
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How The Rock ‘n Roll Hall Of Fame REALLY works? “The Inside Story” – and it’s both not surprising and ugly. Lots of articles are written every year about the injustices and lack of clear logic of ‘the hall’ – and, honestly, they are the main reasons i’ve not made a pilgramage to RRHOF – someday it will change because it will have to from purely monetary reasons. Ex-Goldmine editor Jeff Tamarkin was a voting ‘star chamber’ member with RRHOF – Here’s a fascinating post from music industry consultant and uber-critic, Bob Lefetz – read it HERE – and sign up for Bob’s blog, too.
As an add-on to this thread, go to THIS LINK to view one of many lists out there on the internet that allow us to see they hyprocricy with great clarity.
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One of the most interesting forums for music fans is HERE – Warning: it’s highly addictive!
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YEP ROC RECORDS has a great digital sampler from some of their 2011 releases that they are giving as a bonus if you buy a release that they put in 20-11- which, frankly, is not hard when you look at the list of WHO is on the sampler. More info at THIS LINK.
Yep Roc: Best of 2011 Sampler
1. Dave Alvin “Harlan County Line”
2. Erland & The Carnival “Map of an Englishman”
3. Fountains of Wayne “Richie and Ruben”
4. Fujiya & Miyagi “Sixteen Shades of Black & Blue”
5. Gang of Four “You’ll Never Pay for the Farm”
6. Greg Brown “Freak Flag”
7. John Doe “Never Enough”
8. John Wesley Harding “Sing Your Own Song”
9. Liam Finn “Cold Feet
10. Nick Lowe “Checkout Time”
11. Peggy Sue “Cut My Teeth”
12. Sloan “Follow the Leader”
13. The Baseball Project “Panda & The Freak”
14. The Fleshtones “Bite of My Soul”
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Speaking of labels, BONGO BEAT RECORDS has a great deal on their releases for the next few days – and maybe they’ll relax it a bit as people are coming back from vacations still. All CDs are $5 from THIS LIST.
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And let’s finish this one – (though, I strongly disagree with the male lead in this video – Big Star, on most days, are my favorite band….of….all time!)
