BandFreaks Independent Music News for Today: July 23, 2005
Today's Indie Music Headlines
+++ Ivory Tower Project Scores Another 'Double Single' in the Top 20 and is Featured in Space Junkies Magazine
+++ ItsAboutMusic.com Proudly Announces the Release of the Entire Andy Pratt Catalog Including Eight New Albums
+++ CrimsonBay.com Adds Over 10,000 Songs from Magnasound / OMI Music, Music Today and Dya Singh World Music to its Indian Music Download Store
+++ Afrikool Allies With beAudible.com for Digital Distribution
+++ Indie Christian Artist Katie Giguere shares top sales spot with Mercy Me and Barlow Girl
+++ "Haunted Dancehall" EP Release
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CrimsonBay.com Adds Over 10,000 Songs from Magnasound / OMI Music, Music Today and Dya Singh World Music to its Indian Music Download Store
CrimsonBay, Inc. today announced the addition of content from leading labels such as OMI Music, Inc. (distributors for the Magnasound catalog), Music Today and Dya Singh World Music, adding a catalog of over 10,000 tracks to its Indian music download store.
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB via PR Web Direct) -- CrimsonBay, Inc. today announced the addition of content from leading labels such as OMI Music, Inc. (distributors for the Magnasound catalog), Music Today and Dya Singh World Music, adding a catalog of over 10,000 tracks to its Indian music download store.
OMI Music brings the repertoire of well-known artists from Magnasound including Daler Mehndi, Adnan Sami, Alisha Chinoy, Colonial Cousins and Oorja. In addition, it brings masterpieces in classical music from artists such as Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, along with several collections in Tamil music.
Music Today, a division of The India Today Group, has emerged as the most prestigious label in Indian classical music taking the lead in preserving and promoting India's rich musical heritage all over the world. Music Today's success in presenting and making Indian classical music more accessible to newer audiences is evident in its innovative and editorially strong concepts and well thought out themes like Ragas from Dawn to Midnight and Songs of the Seasons. Carnatic Music is presented in series like Dikshitar and Thyagaraja masterpieces.
The Dya Singh World Music Group has created a new and universal mystical form of World music, blending the East & West together while presenting the traditional message of the Sikh Gurus. Its liberating music spans a myriad of musical traditions from Asiatic classics, incantations and meditations to folk songs, hymns and ragas.
"Our partnership with OMI Music, Music Today and Dya Singh World Music demonstrates our commitment and continuing efforts to provide new and exciting content to our customers. We are working on several other content partnerships with leading labels in India that will help boost CrimsonBay as the premiere site for music downloads from the Indian sub-continent." said Manu Kaushish, CEO of CrimsonBay.
Dya Singh added, "I am very excited with my partnership with CrimsonBay - to take Sikh Gurbani Kirtan to a wider audience. It is my hope that people worldwide will discover the rich heritage bequeathed to us by our Gurus".
The new content will become available to users of CrimsonBay starting from July 22, 2005.
About CrimsonBay
Based in Silicon Valley, California, CrimsonBay is the first online music download store dedicated to music from India and the Indian sub-continent. The store offers an interface that eases the search and browse ability of music from India. The music is categorized by styles that are familiar to existing audiences and allows searches by album name, song name, genre, language, music director, singer, actor, lyricist and movie director.
More information on CrimsonBay, Inc. can be found at http://www.crimsonbay.com.
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Ivory Tower Project Scores Another 'Double Single' in the Top 20 and is Featured in Space Junkies Magazine
Independent band Ivory Tower Project charts another 2 singles in the Top 20 Charts and is now currently featured in a special 3rd Anniversary Issue of Space Junkies Magazine.
(PRWEB) -- Just a few weeks after charting 2 singles in the Top 20 on KAOS-FM in Australia, Independent recording artist: Ivory Tower Project charts another 2 singles in the Top 20 Chart – this time in the USA on eXtreme Indie Radio,(formerly FNR Unsigned Radio). On the Weekly Charts for week ending 06/04/05 – ITP’s single: “Gotcha’” from their EP “Red Hot” charted at #19 on eXtreme Indie Radio. And for the same week – ITP’s single: “Way Too Late” charts at #7 on eXtreme Indie Radio.
Mark Regula of the group: Ivory Tower Project (ITP) was recently interviewed by Wednesday Electra; editor of Canadian Indie/Underground E-Zine: Space Junkies Magazine (SJM). The interview is now published on their 3rd Anniversary Issue (July, 2005). If you would like to read the interview, please visit: www.SpaceJunkies.net – Click on: Feature – Scroll down to: The Ivory Tower Project – And click onto the ITP logo to read the ‘hidden’ Interview. The Interview will only be available for view for this month’s issue, but can always be viewed on the ITP web site on the bottom of the PRESS page: www.IvoryTowerProject.net
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ItsAboutMusic.com Proudly Announces the Release of the Entire Andy Pratt Catalog Including Eight New Albums
ItsAboutMusic.com announces the release of the entire Andy Pratt catalog including eight new albums.
(PRWEB) -- ItsAboutMusic.com Proudly Announces The Release Of The Entire Andy Pratt Catalog Including Eight New Albums
"By reviving the dream of rock as an art and then reinventing it, Pratt has forever changed the face of rock," Stephen Holden, Rolling Stone Magazine, July 1, 1976.
Andy Pratt is back!
Few artists can claim a calling card as convincing as Andy Pratt's "Avenging Annie," the 1973 hit which rode up the charts on the power of Pratt’s piano-laced, falsetto-sung twist on the legends of Pretty Boy Floyd and Annie Oakley. A demo tape of the song made Pratt a regional sensation a year before it kicked off the Boston native’s debut album for Columbia and became a timeless FM classic. The lanky singer-songwriter with the curly, golden locks toured with a great band that included Syracuse guitar ace Mark Doyle and drummer Rick Shlosser, opening for Foreigner and The Band.
While he never scored another hit to rival "Avenging Annie" (which was later covered by Roger Daltry), Pratt made three other major-label albums during the ‘70s, charming fans and critics alike with tunes like "All I Want Is You," "Karen’s Song" and "If You Could See Yourself (Through My Eyes)." In Rolling Stone, critic Stephen Holden wrote in 1976, "By reviving the dream of rock as an art and then reinventing it, Pratt has forever changed the face of rock." That alone could have been the end of the fairy-tale story. After modest success in the ‘80s, Pratt relocated to Europe, got married, sang in churches, and disappeared from the pop radar. As he had sung in "Avenging Annie," "I found my peace and I found my release, and I’m happy just to be alive."
But after a 15-year sojourn in Belgium and the Netherlands, Pratt has returned like a true avenger, a prodigious talent with a wealth of new songs that prove he’s as prolific and potent as ever. "I’d like to try and get famous again, to make people happy," says Pratt, who has moved from Europe back to his native Boston to record new music and play as often as possible. "When I play music, it makes people happy."
To that end, Pratt has released not one or two, not three or four or five or even six or seven six new albums but eight new releases since his return. The first was "Cover Me," a collection of his unique interpretations of songs as divergent as the road-rambling Fred Neil favorite "Everybody's Talkin'" (made famous by Harry Nilsson) and the Grandmaster Flash rap classic "The Message." "I had this song in 1972 called 'It's All Behind You,' which is kind of a rap song, so now I say I was one of the first rappers," says Pratt with a grin, who also transforms Brian Wilson’s "Don’t Worry Baby," Queen/David Bowie’s "Under Pressure" and John Lennon’s "Give Peace a Chance" (with its Marvin Gaye-like arrangement) among the record’s other selections. "The songs said the things I wanted to say" says Pratt.
The second CD was "Heaven & Earth," which spotlights some of Pratt’s original "soft" Christian tunes collected from his CD releases in Europe. Among that record’s highpoints are such tender, thoughtful tracks as "Cry," "Walkin’ Down the Road" & "Grey, Chick and Malda."
And yet another CD called "Runaway Heart" that was released this year. This is an album which spotlights Pratt’s new, original tunes in a stripped-down setting that showcases his voice, acoustic guitar and piano. This would be classified as a "spiritual" collection of tunes more than a Christian release.
The fourth CD released was entitled "Solo" - and that is exactly what it is. Recorded at Indre Studios in Philadelphia, PA with Andy all alone at the piano and on acoustic guitar, this album bares all. Andy takes us back to some poingnant moments in his 30 year career and performs the songs he loves most in a style not unlike the way these tunes were originally written. The added bonus to this album is that each track on the CD was recorded on video, all of which are available at ItsAboutMusic.com.
The fifth CD entitled "New Resolutions" is a hybrid collection of tracks from various sources including rare live recordings of Andy with his new band. This CD marks the very first CD appearance of the track entitled "Wet Daddy" which was taken from Andy's first album on Polydor UK, released in 1971. This is a must-have-CD for any Andy Pratt fan since it also contains video tracks from the band's live performance of "Treasure That Canary" in New York City in 2003 and Andy's solo studio performance of "Who Am I Talking To."
The sixth album,"I'm Alright" was completed in 2003 and is now available for download only. It's an album of originals, produced at the studio of his original guitarist Mark Doyle, who has worked with everyone from Meat Loaf to New Kids on the Block over the years. This new project with Pratt takes deft advantage of drum loops and other modern production techniques. "We’re all geeks now " Pratt says with a smile. "And this album really rocks!"
The seventh album is an official bootleg recording from Andy's heyday in 1977 when the band played a club in Delaware called The Other Side. This performance was broadcast over the WIOQ-FM airwaves and proves without a doubt that Andy and band were the consumate rockers.
The eighth CD release was also captured on video when Andy's new band played The Village Underground in New York City in March of 2003 and features the perfect sampling of his catalog along with quite a few of his newer tunes. A sample of the video is now offered at ItsAboutMusic.com so you can see what you missed.
"I’m just trying to build it up," says Pratt, who has been honing both new and old material through, thus far, selected gigs in his favorite cities and towns, joined by his original touring band members from the 70's, Mark Doyle on guitar and Gary Link on bass as well as new members, ex-Stompers guitarist Sal Baglio and musician extraordinaire Tom Hambridge on drums. "There have been really good reactions anytime we’ve played," says Pratt. "It’s starting to take off now and it's exciting."
Music initially took off for Pratt in the ‘60s. The son of a school headmaster and a classical pianist, he began to play piano at age eight and guitar at 13, inspired by musical heroes like Van Dyke Parks, Van Morrison, the Beach Boys and the Beatles. He launched his career with the rock power trio, "Butter" at the height of ‘60s flower-power, and frequented the Cambridge folk circuit. He was also a fan of jazz, going to Boston’s famed Jazz Workshop to catch John Coltrane, Art Blakey and other greats. Pratt graduated from Harvard in 1968, and released his first album, the jazz-pop effort"Records Are Like Life" for Polydor UK in 1971. Since then, Pratt has released fifteen more records, and he acts like he’s just getting started. His voice, even in its fabled falsetto form, is strong as ever. And Pratt’s latest project is learning to play the alto sax which he plays on "I'm Alright," though he admits that he wishes he could play piano simultaneously. Referring to his return to Boston after his extended stay in Europe, Pratt says "The Boston musicians' community was wonderful." "Some people came down (to the club) who had never heard of me, and they generally liked me, and a lot of people remembered 'Avenging Annie.' When I play that song, they go, 'Wow!'"
Andy Pratt's music can be sampled at:http://store.yahoo.com/itsaboutmusic/andypratt.html
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Indie Christian Artist Katie Giguere shares top sales spot with Mercy Me and Barlow Girl
Hit single generates big sales at Lemstone Christian Store
Nashville, TN (PRWEB)-- Critically acclaimed CCM recording artist Katie Giguere continues to build career momentum with a recent announcement from the Lemstone Christian Store in Rockford, IL, that Giguere’s debut CD, “Bringin’ Me Hope” is one of their top three best-selling projects of the year.
Major label acts Barlow Girl and Mercy Me hold the number 1 and number 2 positions respectively, while Giguere fills the number 3 spot, according to store owner/manager John Reese.
Reese attributes the high sales volume to Giguere’s hit single “I’ll Find You,” played in heavy rotation on Rockford’s WGSL Radio 91FM.
“I have received more listener calls about Katie Giguere’s “I’ll Find You” than for any song, by any artist in the past two years. God is using the song so wonderfully,” said Charmel Jacobs, the station’s Music Programmer. At a recent sold-out concert in Rockford, Giguere was greeted by hundreds of fans lined up to tell her how much the song has meant to them.
“I am honored that God has used this particular song to touch people. It’s a beautiful tribute to the life my grandfather lived while we had him here on earth,” says Giguere. “My dad wrote I’ll Find You just after my grandfather passed away, so it’s a very special song to us. I’m so glad it has provided comfort to others as well.”
Since her buzz-generating debut during Gospel Music Week last year, Giguere has received high praise from critics and fans about her stunning vocals and unique style. She recently released a new book called “Being the Fat Girl: My True Life Journey from Heartache to Triumph,” and is the first artist ever to partner with the nation's leading distributor of Christian product, Christian Book Distributors, on the promotion of a new radio single.
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Afrikool Allies With beAudible.com for Digital Distribution
(PRLEAP.COM) beAudible.com, an Independent Content Provider for Shared Media Licensing, announced today that it has entered into agreements with Afrikool Music Production. The deal calls for beAudible.com to distribute the Afrikool catalogue, starting out with six albums. Afrikool’s artists include Nicole Collins, Kool International Friends, Jim Savitt, Miko Fukunaga, Inko/ Neido Tribe, ‘Sir’ Francis and Alain Nkossi Konda.
Through the Weed Service, Afrikool Records can sell their music from their own website, and also embrace peer-to-peer networks as a safe, efficient and secure distribution channel. "We want music fans to be able to reach our catalog of talented and unique artists through a broad range of services, and we are dedicated to expanding access to our content," said Alain Nkossi Konda, CEO/Founder of A.M.P. "We are very excited to be working with Weed and beAudible.com, as it is clear that this alliance will help us connect directly with our audiences and create a more vibrant website which is consistent with the vision we and our partners share for Afrikool’s growth well into this 21st Century.
The alliance further beAudible.com’s commitment to an openess to diverse musical horizons. "This is an exciting partnership between Afrikool Records and beAudible.com," said Sigmund Elias Holm, Founder of beAudible.com. "Alain Nkossi Konda and his team have great experience when it comes to discovering rising stars and developing artistic collaborations between various musical expressions. I look forward to distributing some great Afrikool music through the Weed Service," Holm continued. "The whole point is promoting and selling unique music where the dedicated listeners and fans are. There’s a market for every independent label and artist to sell their music from their own website. Why should they direct fans away from their website when they can sell their own music on the spot?"
Weed Files are a legal way to download and share music, buying only what you like after three free listens. The innovating music download service developed by Shared Media Licensing pays 50% of every song sold directly to the artists, and 35% is divided among the ones who share the songs. Whether songs are spread through p2p programs, distributed on sites, emailed etc. it is 100% legal. Songs are free to download and have 3 free listens before you decide whether you want to buy it.
The Afrikool Weed files are available at http://www.afrikool.com and at http://www.beaudible.com. Check out the 2002 John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand prize Winning track in the ‘World’ category titled Unconditional Love by Alain Nkossi Konda at this link: http://tinyurl.com/cup6j
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"Haunted Dancehall" EP Release
Summer in the UK is a restless place, cities grind to a halt as people get edgy in traffic jams across the country. A tune comes on the stereo that takes you out of the madness and into dream state, and for 4 minutes 45 seconds life is good again.
(BandFreaks.Com) - Every now and then a record breaks through the sonic threshold of banged out music from the wallet, you know it when you feel it and your soul responds accordingly by giving you an escape route from the merry go round. The record on the stereo doing the service for the soul is KU’s Haunted Dancehall, 4 minutes forty five second of soulful bliss. The first single from a forthcoming album titled From ‘Sinners To Angels’ shows that the standards for quality British music is alive and well.
The KU’s objective is clear: to make great records, records that reflect what’s going on in the world around them. The Haunted Dancehall EP is a reggae soul influenced track which demonstrates that they can switch genres from rock to soul and dub effortlessly; you know they are coming from the soul and are on target to produce a great album. KU take their inspiration from classic rock, reggae and dub and the psychedelic Asian underground, creating a unique sound that is further underpinned by the quality of the songs.
Fronted by Darragh Jye who wrote the ‘Sinners To Angels’ album whilst producing and remixing other acts over the past ten years. The KU were formed to put together a record that reflected these influences while making something new for the 21 st century audience. It was recorded in the Kusha Deep Studios in the UK and produced by one of the finest producers currently working in the UK Orlando Allen from the Gong family.
Alpha X, the supreme world music producer who has been a favourite on all the Buddah Bar releases has remixed the track creating a post club chill epic with a hint of the Asian underground to it, perfect time off from your head music.
There’s five mixes on the single release all of which have escape from the madness stamped on them. Four produced by Orlando and Darragh have a soul deep roots flavour to them while Alpha X’s Brick Lane mix does the world chill vibe perfectly
The KU are currently signed to Kusha Deep. A label set up to keep the reigns of the creative flow and keep the independent rebel flag flying. This operation has been helped by the hugely successful radio show called The Kundalini Dub Lounge hosted and produced for two years by Darragh for Totally Radio. The show attracted a big American audience who have supported Kusha Deep releases such Majestic Retrospectives, which feature a host of brilliant artists affiliated with Kusha Deep.
To get yourself a limited copy check out www.kusha-deep-unlimited.com
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