Hailer is a great young band from Australia that is currently putting the finishing touches on their debut EP. I have played “All I Wanted” on Rock and Roll Report Radio and the podcast in the past and this video shows just how much fun the band is live. They are looking for a North American label to release their EP and upcoming album so if you want a great Aussie rock band on your roster, get in touch with them now! You can have a listen to their stuff on their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/hailermusic

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Mark

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I haven’t done a classic Odds and Sods post in awhile so I have a bunch of cool things for you to check out.

The first is video of Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 when he goes electric. He’s performing “Maggies Farm” in this historic video that is one of the most significant events in rock histroy. Regardless of whether you like Dylan or not you should watch this just to get a sense of what the man is about.

Regardless of what you think about the Hard Rock chain of restaurants and hotels/casinos, the company does own an incredible selection of rock and roll memorabilia but it would cost you a fortune to travel to every location to see it. Luckily they have put together a very cool website where you can check this stuff out from the comfort of your own home. Called the slightly unimaginative Hard Rock Memorabilia Site and located at http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/ you can check out their incredible collection. Unfortunately, you have to install the new Microsoft web software Silverlight to view the site so it’s your call whether you want to go that far or not. Still, a pretty impressive website for the rock hsitory buff.

Steele In Music has a very cool collection of video highlights of some great 80’s Metal Moments in their Sweet 16: Best 80’s Hair Metal Bands that I really enjoyed watching. Featuring everybody from Van Halen and Motley Crue at the US Festival to stunning video of the late, great Randy Rhoads, If you liked hair bands and 80’s metal you will be astounded at some of this stuff. Videos 16 to 9 can be found at http://steeleinmusic.uber.com/metalhair1 and videos 8 to 1 can be found at http://steeleinmusic.uber.com/metalhair2. Very cool stuff.

Speaking of 80’s hair metal bands, a gaggle of them will be performing at this year’s Rocklahoma 2008. A reunited Triumph joins bands like Cinderella, LA Guns, Enuff Z Nuff, Tesla, Night Ranger, Kingdom Come, Warrant, Lynch Mob and more. Man I think I would like to go just to see what the 80s metal babes look like 20 years on!

Finally, Rolling Stone Magazine has an interesting piece on how Walmart wants to pressur the major record labels in allowing them to sell CDs for less than 10 bucks. The piece is called Walmart Wants $10 CDs and describes how the American retail behemoth is treating the major record labels much like it does the rest of its suppliers by demanding price concessions from them to to the fact that they move so much product in their stores. Check out this breakdown of where the money goes on a $15.99 major label CD:

$0.17 Musicians’ unions
$0.80 Packaging/manufacturing
$0.82 Publishing royalties
$0.80 Retail profit
$0.90 Distribution
$1.60 Artists’ royalties
$1.70 Label profit
$2.40 Marketing/promotion
$2.91 Label overhead
$3.89 Retail overhead

An interesting read.

Well that’s it for this edition of Odds and Sods! Talk to you all later.

Mark

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(Editor’s note) I have always been a fan of Playboy. Ya sure the girls are hot and all but more than that I am a big admirer of Hef’s business of hedonism. The way he has structured his work and social environments to reflect his values (you can argue with THAT all you want!) has continued to fascinate me. So when I saw this press release announcing the 2008 schedule for Rock the Rabbit I thought it would be cool to post here as they have supported some pretty cook bands in the past.

(Press Release) For the second year in a row, Playboy’s Rock the Rabbit initiative will fuse rock, hip-hop, art and fashion in conjunction with Playboy magazine’s annual March music issue (on newsstands February 12, 2008). Rock the Rabbit 2008 includes an impressive line-up of legendary artists, including Duran Duran and Iggy Pop, as well as other cutting-edge musicians across a variety of genres, both established and buzz-worthy up-and-comers.

As part of this year’s program, Rock the Rabbit artists will put their twist on the iconic Playboy Rabbit Head logo by creating limited edition t-shirt designs. Original prototypes of all t-shirt designs will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefitting Rock the Vote (www.rockthevote.org). A special collection of Rock the Rabbit t-shirts will be available nationwide at select Bloomingdale’s locations and online at ShopTheBunny.com.

Additionally, legendary photographer Mick Rock photographed select Rock the Rabbit artists for the fashion pages of Playboy’s March music issue, and RockTheRabbit.com will feature a complete gallery of this year’s t-shirt collection alongside profiles and Q & A’s with the artists.

Playboy Rock the Rabbit 2008 Artists:
* Iggy Pop
* Duran Duran
* Daft Punk
* The Shins
* T.I.
* Gogol Bordello
* Hot Chip
* Ghostland Observatory
* Jamie T
* Tokyo Police Club
* The Pipettes
* New Young Pony Club
* Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s
* Little Ones
* OFFICE
* The Oohlas
* The Heavy
* Working For A Nuclear Free City
* The Beasts of Eden
* DJ Dimitri from Paris

Last year’s inaugural group of Rock the Rabbit artists included The Flaming Lips, The Thievery Corporation, Kasabian, Metric, Whitestarr, Rhymefest, Lil’ Jon, Soulwax, Dean & Britta, stellastarr*, Illinois, The Bronx and more. The campaign hosted some of 2007’s hottest parties, including: a launch party at The Palms Casino Resort featuring performances by Rhymefest and Whitestarr; a late night party at SXSW in Austin, Texas, featuring Illinois and Monsters are Waiting; and a spring break beach bonanza in Cabo San Lucas featuring a performance by Your Vegas.

Stay tuned for more info on Rock the Rabbit 2008 events, including the Late Night Party in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, March 13, 2008.

Check out RocktheRabbit.com for info on Rock the Rabbit 2008.

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I would be extremely negligent if I didn’t mention that our very own Pop Montreal is coming October 3-7, 2007. Featuring bands too numerous to mention plus seminars as part of the Pop Conference and a Film and Art festival, check out the website for all the details and by all means let me know if you will be in town. I still haven’t made my plans but I will be out and about for sure.

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Mark

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As if Austin doesn’t have enough cool festivals with South by Southwest and the Austin City Limits Festival they now have the Fun Fun Fest.

Set to take place November 3rd and 4th, 2007, Fun Fun Fest will feature 75 bands on 3 stages which will once again tax the stamina of even the toughest rock and roll fan. The list of bands is too big for me to post so just check out their website at http://www.funfunfunfest.com/ and see for yourself.

If you play your cards right you might just pass out at the end of Fun Fun Fest and wake up in time for SxSW!

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Mark

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I am pretty excited about this festival, not only because it looks very cool but because it is taking place in my hometown of Montreal.

On October 26th and 27th the First Annual Fistfull of Rock ‘n Roll Festival debuts in Montreal. Put together by the man behind Electric Frankenstein and the Fistfull of Rock ‘n Roll record series that documents many of today’s finest underground garage bands, this will be the perfect way to get a chance to see what is up with this raunchy, sleazy attitude drenched beast of a rock genre. Sounds like a perfect way to spend a weekend.

Check out the Fistfull of Rock ‘n Roll’s MySpage page at http://www.myspace.com/fistfulofrock to get more details on the festival as they develop.

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Mark

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There is a group that has formed to create an alternative to the annual CMJ music event in New York City because they feel that it has become too corporate. Called the unCMJ Music Fest (formerly the fckCMJ Music Fest), the organisers are aiming to put together an all ages festival that caters to indie music fans and not the music journalists and publicity people that they feel have ruined CMJ. According to the organisers “The unCMJ Music Fest is about music, not marketing opportunities” and is scheduled to take place October 19 - 20, 2007.

You can find out more about the festival at http://www.myspace.com/fckcmjmusicfest.

UPDATE! Well it seems the fine folks at CMJ (or at least their legal eagles) are not too happy with the unCMJ Music Fest and have forced organisers to change its name to un C. em J. Music Fest. Get all the grizzly details at This Day in Rock.

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Mark

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If you are in a band and you want the chance to play at Lollapalooza 2007 you’d better get up off your collective ass and submit an MP3 and bio to the Last Band Standing competition. The winning band will get an opening slot on the MySpace stage at Lollapalooza 2007 in Chicago as well as a bunch of other cool prizes. Fans are able to start voting on who they want to see on the stage starting June 1, 2007. Check it out at the link above.

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Mark

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Toronto is gearing up for the 2007 North by Northeast Conference and Festival drawing the music entertainment focus to our beloved cosmopolitan city. A real surge has occurred in the music biz generating a hub of fresh musical buzz over the last few years and by all signs it is going to continue to explode.

NxNE is just one of a growing number of events showcasing the incredible amount of musical talent, indie and otherwise that is breaking away from the mainstream media and staking its claim by using the ever increasing opportunities in this Web 2.0 world to increase and magnify their presence with fans and critics alike.

On behalf of The Rock and Roll Report I attended the pre-conference party held at the historic Steamwhistle Brewery not far from the shores of Lake Ontario. Hosted by Kids in the Hall Dave Foley who is also a recurring character on TV show Scrubs playing a therapist to casualties of the the entertainment biz, he lived up to his comedic fame when addressing the attendees and prompted a collective chuckle when he suggested that we refer to NxNE as “Nixnee.”Aside from the usual deluge of cameras and various media schmoozing, drinks flowed and conversation built up from a murmur to an enthusiastic banter. With some familiar faces and plenty of new ones, the event was short, sweet and to the point.

The festival will commence with an opening concert hosted by MuchMusic on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at Nathan Phillip Square and concluding with a post-festival bash at the infamous Palais Royale on June 11, 2007. A total of 450 bands will be playing at almost every live venue in the city. In keeping with today’s sensibilities, festival organizers promise to be completely eco-friendly next year and have made great strides in 2007 just by eliminating things like a paper-based press kit. The festival promises to ignite another summer of great shows throughout Toronto’s incredibly diverse live venues. A festival event that is by all standards quickly becoming an absolute for musicians, managers, press and fans alike to meet, greet and move their feet. (Note to self, wear sturdy heels!)

For a list of all bands and events, check out their comprehensive website at www.nxne.com.

Hope to see you there!

Tova

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Every summer there seems to be more and more summer festivals popping up all over the world. Here is an incomplete guide to some of them. I only included those that I (a) know about and (b) have some kind of rock and roll featured on at least one of the stages. If I have missed any just drop a comment or email me at contact@rockandrollreport.com and I’ll add it to the list.

MAY

16-20 Florida Music Festival, Orlando, FLA
20-21 Virgin Festival, Vancouver, BC Canada
26-27 Sasquatch!, George, WA
26-29 Topanga Days Music Festival, Topanga, CA
26-28 Pink Pop, Landgraef, Netherlands

JUNE

1-3 Mountain Jam, Hunter Mountain, NY
7-10 Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, Lawrenc, KS
7-10 NxNE, Toronto, ON, Canada
8-10 Harmony Festival, Santa Rosa, CA
8-10 Isle of Wight Festival, Newport, UK
14-17 O2 Wireless Festival, London/Leeds, UK
14-17 Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN
16 Rock-It Fest, Clarksburg, WV
20-23 Primitive Festival, Dutch International Garage Festival, Rotterdam, NL
22-24 Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury, UK
22-24 Southside Festival, Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany
26-30 Hove Festival, Arendal, Norway
28-30 Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI
28-July 1 Rock Werchter, Werchter, Belgium
29-July 1 Eurockeennes de Belfort, Malsaucy, France
29-July 1 St. Gallen Festival, St. Gallen, Switzerland
28- August 25 Warped Tour, Canada & U.S.

JULY

1-8 Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI
5-8 High Sierra Music Festival, Quincy, CA
6-8 T in the Park, Kincross, Scotland
7 - Live Earth, London, Shanghai, Johannesburg, U.S., Brazil, Antarctica, Japan, etc.
7-8 Oxygen ‘07, Naas, Ireland
11-15 Maximum Festival, Italy
12-August 30, Ozzfest, vaious cities in the U.S.
12-14 Summerslam, Grand Prarie, AB, Canada
13-14 Summer Case, Madrid & Barcelona, Spain
13-15 All Good Music Festival, Masontown, WV
13-15 Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, IL
14 Siren Festival, Coney Island, NY
14-15 ThisDay Festival, Lagos, Nigeria
17-22 Italia Wave Love Festival, Florence, Italy
18-21 10,000 Lakes Festival, Detroit Lakes, MN
19-22 XPoNential Festival, Camden, NJ
19-22 Rock Fest, Cadott, WI
19-21 Goodstock 2007, Summersville, WV

AUGUST

3-5 Lollapalooza, Chicago, IL
4-5 Virgin Festival, Baltimore, MD
8 Leeds Festival, London, UK
9-12 Gathering of the Tribes, Bridgeport, CT
10 Underage Festival, London, UK
18 Download Festival, Boston, MA
18-19 V Festival 2007, Hylands Park, UK
24-26 Reading Festival, Reading, UK
25 Download Festival Washington State, WA
26 Get Loaded in the Park, London, UK

SEPTEMBER

1-3 Bumbershoot, Seattle, WA
2 Download Festival Chicago, IL
6-8 Musicfest NW, Portland, OR
8-9 Osheaga Festival, Montreal, QC, Canada
8-9 Virgin Festival, Toronto, ON, Canada
14-15 Monolith Festival, Denver, Colorado
14-16 Austin City Limits, Austin, TX
14-16 Telluride Blues and Brews Festival, Telluride, CO
26-30 Goner Fest 4, Memphis, TN
28-30 Swerve Festival, Los Angeles, CA

OCTOBER

6 Download Festival, San Francisco, CA
13-14 Big State Music Fest, College Station, TX
16-20 CMJ Music Marathon, New York City
17-21 Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavik, Iceland
27-28 Vegoose, Las Vegas (Link is for 2006 event. Has not been updated yet)
27-28 Voodoo Music Experience, New Orleans, LA

How many will you get to this year?

Later.

Mark

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There are so many music festivals out there that it is difficult to mention them all but the Topanga Days Music Festival looks really interesting. Set in the beautiful rural setting within the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains, 6 miles north of the Pacific Coast Highway and 6 miles south of Ventura Blvd, the festival will feature 3 stages with some great acts including The Tender Box, Veruca Salt and Chevy Metal.

The festivities run from May 26-28, 2007 at the Topanga Community House, 1440 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Topanga, CA 90290. The whole event looks to be amazing.

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Mark

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A number of music festivals are firming up their plans for 2007 and here are the details on the Virgin Festival Toronto, Goodstock and the High Sierra Music Festival.

The Virgin Festival Toronto will be taking place on the beautiful Toronto Islands On September 8th and 9th, 2007. Featuring acts already announced are Bjork, Interpol, Paolo Nutini and Amy Whitehouse on the 8th and a retooled Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers, Tokyo Police Club and Jamie T on the 9th. Full details can be had at the official festival website. Tickets go on sale Saturday, March 24, 2007.

Artie Kornfeld, one of the original organisers of Woodstock is looking to recreate the magic in West Virginia with this summer’s Goodstock 2007. With nearly 50 bands booked so far, Goodstock 2007 will be a 3 day camping festival that will take place July 19-21, 2007 at the Good Evening Ranch in Summersville, West Virginia. You can view the list of bands with links to their sites on their band page which is constantly being updated. I am curious about this one and I am going to look into it a bit more but it certainly sounds intriguing.

Finally, the High Sierra Music Festival has announced their lineup for 2007. Set to take place in Quincy, California from July 5-8, 2007, this year marks the 17th anniversary of the festival. You can check out their confirmed list of artists at http://www.highsierramusic.com/index.php?page=HSMF_Lineup. This is always an eclectic festival and well recieved by everyone who either attends or plays it.

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If you love live music then you will want to check out the Live Music Blog. Constantly updated from cool indie and “jam band” music events around the United States, the Live Music Blog might be just the ticket you need to get your ass of the couch and into a live music venue near you. You’ll thank your ears.

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Start packing the bong and hackey sack because the All Good Music Festival has announced their 2007 Lineup. The 3 day camping event in Masontown, West Virginia U.S.A. is a favourite of the jam band set but the scenery combined withy a pretty adveturous lineup should encourage any rock and roll fan to check it out. It takes place from July 13-15, 2007.

For this year they have:

Bob Weir & RatDog
moe. (+ additional All Good All-Star Jam hosted by moe.)
Keller Williams
Michael Franti and Spearhead
Les Claypool
Dark Star Orchestra
Yonder Mountain String Band
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) (performing late night set)
Lotus
Tea Leaf Green
Ozric Tentacles
Perpetual Groove
AOD (Assembly of Dust)
PBS (Porter-Batiste-Stoltz)
Soldiers of Jah Army (SOJA)
New Monsoon
Will Hoge
West Indian Girl Lovewhip
…plus many more TBA

One cool thing is that they will be featuring 2 unsigned up and coming artists discovered and showcased through SonicBids.

Check on their website for further details. Early bird tickets are onsale now.

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If you are trying to track everything going on at the massive South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas that runs until March 18th, a good place to start is the festival’s Toolbox. The Toolbox contains links to MP3 foles, podcasts, mobile updates and schedulers. National Public Radio in the U.S. is also webcasting a number of concerts from the festival. Check out www.npr.org/southbysouthwest for their schedule.

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On April 29th, 1967 there took place a legendary "happening" at London’s Alexandra Palace called the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream that featured a stoned John Lennon walking about all the freaking out that the "swinging sixties" were known for including an infamous performance by a band called The Pink Floyd. Well there is an attempt to commemorate this event with a 40th anniversary 14 Hour Technicolor Dream event. Unfortunately, its hard to get a handle on when tickets go on sale but I suppose if we all add them to our MySpace friends we will know soon enough. Sounds cool though.

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Just a reminder that Canadian Music Week kicks off this week (March 7 - 10, 2007) in Toronto, Ontario. It will feature a shit-load of bands and conferences that will test even the most experienced music biz veteran. Thereis something there for everybody so check it out if you are in the area.

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I am a big fan of CD Baby. Probably the largest distributor of indie music on the planet, Derek Sivers and his crew have consistently given back to those musicians that utilize their service and by giving back I mean paying them for selling their CDs through CD Baby. Well if you are at SXSW on March 16, 2007 head over to Headhunters for a free party with a great lineup of bands.

The schedule is:

12-12:30 - Jets Overhead
12:50-1:20 - Telephone
1:40 - 2:10 - The Village Green
2:30 - 3:00 - Michael Dean Damron and Thee Loyal Bastards
3:20 - 3:50 - Kleveland
4:10 - 4:40 - Jim Bianco
5:10 - 6pm - Presidents of the United States of America

Headhunters is located at 720 Red River Street.

By the way, all the CDs on the right side of this site are sold through CD Baby. Click on one and have a listen. The new site will have a completely new and more intuitive way of browsing through the bands that I have featured on The Rock and Roll Report who’s CDs are available through CD Baby so sit tight, it will be online soon.

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This is pretty neat. A music blog driven showcase at this year’s SXSW 07 in Austin Texas. No The Rock and Roll Report is not represented and yes I am going to look into something like this for the future. Check out the excellent Rock Insider for more details. Great idea.

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(Press Release) James Blunt, The Kaiser Chiefs, Editors, The Darkness, Jamie Cullum and KT Tunstall are among the internationally successful British recording artists that have been introduced to the United States through British Music at SxSW showcases in recent years.

The heritage continues at this years SxSW with a new look, feel and creative concept plus an increase in official networking events and parties to enable UK acts and delegates to make the most of the event.

The UK will be presenting four separate receptions under the British Music at SxSW umbrella as well as nations and regions parties and showcases from Wales, Scotland and the regions of England, plus showcases from British music brands such as BBC Radio and NME. The official UK artist line-ups will be released in on February 12th.

This year’s event is branded with The Duke, a character created by renowned British DC Comics graphic artist Jock (Batman, The Losers, Judge Dread). The Duke will be seen on the SxSW delegate bag and in the trade show hall marking a new bespoke stand for British delegates and their guests.

(more…)

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(Via Aversion)

The lineup has been announced for this year’s Coachella Festival. It’s going to be 3 busy days that’s for sure!

April 27: Bjork, Interpol, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Arctic Monkeys, Jarvis Cocker, Sonic Youth, Faithless, DJ Shadow, Peeping Tom, Brazilian Girls, Peaches, Felix da Housecat, Rufus Wainright, Stephen Marley, Nickel Creek, We Are Scientists, Digitalism, Tokyo Police Club, Comedians of Comedy, El-P, Julietta Venegas, Gogol Bordello, Circa Survive, Silversun Pickups, Gillian Welch, Tilly and the Wall, Benny Benassi, Amy Winehouse, David Guetta, Noisettes, Evil Nine, Busdriver, Brother Ali stolen from Aversion.com

April 28: Arcade Fire, Tiesto, The Decemberists, The Good, the Bad and the Queen, Travis, Kings of Leon, Gotan Project, Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, Blonde Redhead, The New Pornographers, The Black Keys, !!!, Regina Spektor, Hot Chip, MSTRKRFT, Ozomotali, Fountains of Wayne, Ghostface Killah, Jack’s Mannequin, Peter Bjorn and Joh, VNV Nation, Sparklehorse, The Nightwatchman, Roky Erickson and the Explosives, Cornelius, Coco Rosie, Andrew Bird, The Frames, The Fratellis, Justice, Erol Alkan, Bojones, Pharoahe Monch, Fields, The Cribs, Girl Talk, Mike Relm

April 29: Rage Against the Machine, Manu Chao, Happy Mondays, Air, Willie Nelson, Paul Van Dyk, Placebo, Kaiser Chiefs, Damien Rice, The Roots, Crowded House, Explosions in the Sky, Konono No. 1, Soulwax, Richie Hawtin, Infected Mushroom, Lily Allen, Amos Lee, Jose Gonzalez, Spank Rock, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Against Me, Ratatat, Junior Boys, The Feeling, The Kooks, CSS, Klaxons, Tapes ‘N Tapes, Teddybears, Lupe Fiasco, Mando Diao, Grizzly Bear, Mika, The Coup, The Avett Bros. Anathallo, Fair to Midland

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This looks interesting! The Radio Heartbeat Powerpop Festival will be taking place from March 29th until April 1st, 2007 at Southpaw in Brooklyn, New York. Check out their MySpace page for all the details.

UPDATED! They now have a website. Check out http://radioheartbeat.net/.

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The Noise Pop festival has confirmed a bunch of new bands including the legendary Roky Ericson (who played here at Pop Montreal last fall). Besides Roky they have confirmed:

• The Ponys
• The Dandy Warhols
• Jolie Holland
• The Donnas
• Sebadoh
• Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
• Josh Ritter
• Autolux
• Richard Swift
• Earlimart
• Ghostland Observatory
• Midlake
• Hella
• Vic Chestnut
• Lyrics Born
• John Vanderslice
• Spinto Band
• Clinic

The festival takes place from February 27th until March 4th, 2007 in San Francisco. It is shaping up to be another legendary event.

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SxSW has confirmed their first batch of acts for the 2007 festival. They are:

The Stooges
Interpol
Lily Allen
Bloc Party
Devin The Dude
Hoodoo Gurus
Matt & Kim
Ghostland Observatory
The Watson Twins
Stax 50th Anniversary Soul Review
Ozomatli
Turbonegro
Cold War Kids

Later.

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