Fresno's rap king Planet Asia returns with a new album next week. It's titled "Black Belt Theatre" and the first single from it, "Golden State" is a scorcher. Here's the video (warning: NSFW language) and a stream/download of the song:
Local metalheads Death Alley Motor Cult are releasing a new CD at a gig Friday night at Starline (show flier below). But if you haven't checked out their previous CD -- "Dead to the World" -- here's a chance to join the cult for free. The band sent us over this song, "American Nightmare" that's all yours with a download.
The guys from local rock/blues band Style Like Revelators release their new album, "Be Righteous Be Rebels," Friday night at Audie's Olympic. To whet your appetite, they dropped off one cut with us that you can download for free below.
If you're into bands such as The White Stripes and The Black Keys, you might get into Style Like Revelators. Or if you're more of a fuzzy classic rock fan, you might want to add this to a playlist. Info below on the album release show.
Local music mainstays 40 Watt Hype decided to drop a new eight-track album, "Push(ed): Inner Ear Remixes," as a gift to its fans and asked The Beehive to be the exclusive home for a free download.
The album is follow-up to "Push," it's 2010 release, and features remixes by local folks (DJ K. Pizzle, DJ 4 a.m.) and out-of-towners (Art Hodge). And best of all, like we said earlier, it's totally free to download.
Since the new album is free, you might consider paying a few bucks to see 40 Watt Hype at its album release concert Friday night at Fulton 55. It also features Mezcal, Brand Nu, B. Rawcity, comedian Len Jurado and DJ F-Plus. More info here.
Enjoy.
DOWNLOAD: 40 Watt Hype - Push(ed): Inner Ear Remixes [42 mb, .zip file]
Want some ska that's smothered in soul? Check out The Burners, a newish ska band in town that's full of people who are not strangers to the local scene. Its members have played with 40 Watt Hype, The Suppressors, Viper City Brass and King Sugar. The Burners' debut EP -- recorded at Secret Studios in San Francisco -- is due soon, but for now it has leaked a couple of songs online so people can get a feel for their ska-reggae-soul sounds.
I've always been drawn to the power of the remix. In hip-hop and dance music, remixes have been popular for decades. But in recent years, the remix has gotten cool in the indie rock and pop realms.
With apologies to Pete Rock, my current favorite remixers are RAC, who do some great stuff to indie rock songs.
Also cool is the genre-swapping when a hip-hop producer remixes an indie rock song. That's the case with my current remix fave, the Xaphoon Jones remix of Grouplove's "Colours."
I say all this to introduce a challenge that I hope some Fresno music folks will get behind. Local indie rock vets Rademacher are tapping into the remix trend for their new single, "They Are Always Into That." It's a catchy song on its own, no doubt, and a good place to get started with their new "Babyhawk" project. But it's one of those songs that could be cool in a variety of dimensions -- perhaps with a hip-hop bassline, or maybe with electro undertones.
Any local producers/DJs up for the challenge? You can download all the "stems" of the song here and work your magic. If you do, send the final result my way, and I'll post it. Merced's Destructo Bunny was first out of the gate. You can hear his take on it here.
If you're just a fan of Rademacher or local music in general, you can download "They Are Always Into That" for free from the player below.
Eardrum-popping local rockers Fay Wrays are about to unveil their new album, "Strange Confessor" with a big release party Saturday at Fulton 55. It's coming out on limited-edition CD and cassette (yep, cassette), and digitally (which it looks like you can get now).
Here's what singer/guitarist/bassist Ben McEntee had to say about "Strange Confessor:"
The album is partially a concept album about our relationship with the artistic writing process itself. The album is self referential and deals with the bands interactions with THE SOUND (must be in all caps, it is a long story ...) There are also bits about Fresno, bits about my our friends, and bits about my amazing wife.
They've blessed The Beehive with a free track, the album's opener, "When We Storm the Gates We Sing This Song," which features Whitney Freeman of Achievement House. You can also hit up The Fresnan and Indie Nation for more free Fay Wrays downloads.
Below you'll find details on Saturday's show (which has a HUGE local lineup) and their cool cover art by local artist Mike Howe (aka Mycow).
DOWNLOAD: Fay Wrays - "When We Storm the Gates We Sing This"
You might remember that on-the-rise local indie band Achievement House recently released its debut EP on cassette with a digital version promised to follow. Consider that promise fulfilled. Today, the guys and gal from Achievement House release their "Volume One" on Bandcamp for your streaming pleasure.
But wait, there's more. Writes A-House's Daniel Schultz:
[T]he Bandcamp model does not allow for unlimited free downloads, and Achievement House has no intention of forcing our fans to pay to own our music. Achievement House has teamed up with the CoatTrack Records Collective (founded by House drummer Daniel Schultz), and CoatTrack is handling the release of Volume One for free online in conjunction with The Internet Archives ... Our hope is that the EP can reach as many ears as possible, and we intend to exploit the wonders that are the Internet (and--regrettably titled--the "blogosphere")
Download info below. Further below is the album cover (which looks a bit like the Fresno flag) and some upcoming Achievement House live dates.
DOWNLOAD: Achievement House - "Volume One" (via Internet Archive)
The Overdubs are a local indie rock outift headed by Ryan Townsend, who is also a blogger, podcaster and devoted dad. "Go There With You" is one of the band's first new songs in a while, a preview of what's to come from its in-the-works 2011 album.
Writes Townsend:
it's the first of songs we are recording here locally with Tyler Duerr, who is currently playing with A Current Affair. No plans for any shows in the next month but we have not ruled live shows out for 2011, especially since my son wll be turning 2 and my daughter 4 this coming year. We plan to release a new album in 2011 regardless.
Free download below, but if you like the song and want to support, buy a copy from iTunes.
DOWNLOAD: The Overdubs - "Go There With You" (via Mediafire)
By now, most local music followers know about Fierce Creatures, the rapidly rising indie rock band. Well, if you like them, then you already like Joel Robert Melton -- because he is a Fierce Creature. But he's also been working on a solo project that's a bit different than what we hear from Fierce Creatures. Finished up now, Melton sent his new music our way to share with you.
Writes Melton:
It's a bit of a departure from anything I've done in FC, a sort of lo-fi art pop. Anyway, I'm offering the entire album as a free download to any and all.
You can download the whole thing as a .zip file below, or sample a few songs here.
DOWNLOAD: Joel Robert Melton - "Ghost" (via Mediafire)
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