Frank Wu
Video: The Dean’s List – “Dear Professor”
The Dean’s List have released a brand new video for their song “Dear Professor”, a standout from their mixtape The Drive In. In it, the three-piece attempt to prove that they haven’t changed because of their recent buzz and are still kids at heart. But really though, who throws eggs at the homeless?
Single: The Knux – “Run (feat. Kid Cudi)”
Track: “Run (feat. Kid Cudi)”
Artist: The Knux
Release Date: July 1, 2011
Label: Cherrytree/Interscope
Kid Cudi-featuring “Run” is the second song to drop from rap-rock duo The Knux, who will be releasing their sophomore effort later this year. It’s the same fresh, innovative sound that we’ve already heard from the hip hop duo, combined with the experimental rock sound that Cudi has been focusing on lately. But while Cudi’s new individual work has fallen quite flat (see “Perfect Is The Word”), “Run” is fun — it’s light-hearted, good-natured rock-rap, perfect for the summer months. There isn’t much substance here, but if you’re going to be anywhere near the sun for the next few months, it might be a good idea to keep “Run” on your playlist.
“Run (feat. Kid Cudi)” is from Eraser, set to be released in September via Cherrytree/Interscope.
Rating: 6.5/10
The Graduate Announce Indefinite Hiatus
After six years together and two solid studio albums, The Graduate have announced today that they will be going on an indefinite hiatus. You can read a personal statement from the band below.
“To all of our friends, family, and fans,
You may have noticed things have been very quiet lately around The Graduate camp. If you’ve followed our band closely you know that the past few years have been full of trials, twists, and turns. We did everything we could to keep things going this long, however after almost 6 years The Graduate has begun entering the realm of indefinite hiatus.
We all feel extremely lucky to have been able to play so many shows in so many different places, and want to personally thank everyone who came out to a gig, picked an album or shirt, bought us a drink, helped us book a concert, let us crash in your homes, and everything in-between. We were fortunate enough to work with so many great people (far too many to name). We’re very proud of all the work we’ve done together, and grateful for all the support.
Things may not have always ended up the way we wanted, but for the most part we were able to do things our own way. We hope that the songs we made will stay as close to you as it will with us. No matter what happens, no one can ever take away the music.
We will be playing four farewell shows around our hometown area. We’re very sorry that we can’t play one last show in every city we’ve come to love, but we hope that you’ll try to make it out to one if you can. If you want to reach out to us, we’ll try to reply to as many people as we can. Thank you again, we’ll miss this.
Tim, Corey, Matt, Max, & Jared
The Graduate
Farewell Shows:
Aug 13 – St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
Aug 19 – Springfield, IL @ The Hilton
Aug 20 – Quincy, IL @ The State Room
Sept TBA – Chicago, IL
More info soon, please keep checking back”
The Glitch Mob Debut “Warrior Concerto”, Announce Concert
The Glitch Mob will be ending their busy touring summer with an appearance at this year’s Lollapalooza, their second time performing at the festival. To show their appreciation for Lolla, the California three-piece have partnered with Lollapalooza to premiere the first single, “Warrior Concerto”, from their forthcoming We Can Make The World Stop EP. Their new EP will be available on July 12, but you can download the first single free through this link or via the download embedded below.
Bon Iver Debuts At Number Two
Bon Iver‘s sophomore release Bon Iver has debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart this week, selling a total of 104,000 copies. Justin Vernon and company were beaten out for the top spot by Jill Scott‘s The Light of the Sun, which managed to sell 135,000 copies. Check out Darcy’s review of the album here.
Watch: Drake – “Marvin’s Room”
Drake‘s drunk-dial ode “Marvin’s Room” has received the video treatment, with a brand new music video making it’s appearance on Drake’s October’s Very Own blog. With a number of ephemeral shots, the video is a dizzying, hazy, but altogether quite fitting video companion for one of this year’s smoothest songs. Drake’s second studio album Take Care will be released on October 24, 2011. Check out the video below.
Listen: Chiddy Bang – “Mind Your Manners”
You might remember Chiddy of Chiddy Bang setting the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous freestyle — 9 hours, 18 minutes, 22 seconds of nonstop rapping — at MTV’s O Music Awards just over a month ago. After finishing his freestyle, Chiddy and Xaphoon took the stage to debut the lead single from their upcoming debut studio album Breakfast (out July 19), an upbeat jam entitled “Mind Your Manners”. The duo recently dropped their newest mixtape Peanut Butter and Swelly, available for download here.
We now have the full studio version of the song, which you can stream or download below. Furthermore, if you’re in LA and are interested in auditioning for the music video, more information is available here (shout out to my friend Marc at Mostly Junk Food for the link).
Stream Chadwick Stokes’s ‘Simmerkane II’
Simmerkane II, the first solo release of Dispatch usual-lead-singer and State Radio frontman Chadwick Stokes, hit stores yesterday via Ruff Shod/Nettwerk Records. One of my most anticipated releases of the year, the album is a collection of Chad’s memories and experiences while hopping freight trains across North America and features Carly Simon, Blake Hazard of The Submarines, Matt Embree of RX Bandits, The White Buffalo, and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars.
This album will not disappoint fans of Chad’s past work, staying true to his folky-rock, Americana roots. You can listen for yourself below, courtesy of Nettwerk Records. You can also check out Chad’s solo tour dates for the fall, giving the singer-songwriter some time off following recent tours with both State Radio and Dispatch. For those of you unfamiliar with his discography, both Dispatch and State Radio are well-known for their live jam sessions, improvising and soloing throughout; Chad’s solo show should be no different and should definitely be checked out.
Jimmy Eat World To Play ‘Bleed American’ In Its Entirety
Ten years ago, Arizona alternative rock band Jimmy Eat World released their critically-acclaimed Bleed American. To celebrate, the band has decided to perform the album in its entirety on September 29th at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. Pre-sale tickets will be available on July 28th, with the public sale beginning on the 30th.
When the band decided to play both Bleed American and Clarity back to back at London’s Forum, the band sold out both shows – a feat not entirely surprising for a forefront of the emo and alt-rock movements. Their latest album, 2010’s Invented, was rated highly (read our review here) and was just 500 sales shy of becoming the band’s third album to debut in the top ten.
You can check out more of Jimmy Eat World’s 2011 tour dates below.
Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgley Cast As Jeff Buckley
Penn Badgley of “Gossip Girl” fame – he plays Dan Humphrey – has nabbed the role of Jeff Buckley, the late singer/songwriter. According to Indiewire, Badgley will step into the role for the film Greetings From Tim Buckley, which is not the biopic film that we previously heard reports about. Instead, this film will cover the events surrounding Jeff Buckley’s 1991 performance at his father’s tribute concert in St. Ann’s Church, the same concert that launched his career.
I know what you’re thinking – will a star on a teen guilty-pleasure show be able to handle the role? Badgley seems to be prepared, stating “To play a man who was singularly gifted as an artist, greatly misunderstood and mythologized as a human being… It’s something very special and sacred. I’m going to give all I can to this project.” We’ll see.
XOXO, Gossip Girl.
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