The second installment of 07’s sing-a-long darling, Guilt By Association, with yet another volume of pop music gems sung by your favorite indie artists. Guilt By Association Vol 2 is brings together your most beloved underground bands with your Top 40 Radio hits of the 80’s, 90’s and today. The series is more “elegy than irony and offers a primer on how to cover songs successfully”. (Harp, 07)

Guilt By Association Vol 2 looks and plays like a cassette tape that you might have made for a friend or, lets face it, your cutie crush in high school with love notes and all. Vol 2 features Robbers On High Street doing New Edition, Matt Pond PA covering My Chemical Romance, Takka Takka tackling Phil Collins, Cassettes Won’t Listen covering INXS.

Guilt By Association Vol 2 was conceptualized and produced by Wesley Verhoeve and lends towards danceable covers of some of the artists favorite pop songs. “We wanted to take what was done on Volume 1 and pour it into a cohesive framework. We’re big fans of pop music, but also of indie music and in that sense there’s nothing ironic about this project. Together with the artists we picked pop songs they loved that might sometimes be painted as guilty pleasures by some (but not us), and then attempted to shine a light on them in a way that exposes what is so awesome about these songs,” says Wes.

The Forms’s cover of Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ or My Brightest Diamond’s take on ‘Tainted Love’, are transformed into a slamming modern indie dance party track that fits right into today’s’ Brooklyn scene. Others like Matt Pond PA’s version of My Chemical Romance’ “I’m Not Okay” provide us with a quick mellow moment of melancholy.

The Guilt By Association is a compilation series conceived by Peter Block, co-founder of Engine Room Recordings, will release the Vol 2 on Feb. 17th with a third not far behind. The first volume was produced by renowned music supervisors Randall Poster and Jim Dunbar (All Wes Anderson films, Squid & The Whale, Lost, etc.) and included tracks by indie luminaries Devendra Banhart, Will Oldham, Petra Haden and many others. As an overarching theme for Vol. 1 there was a moody early 90’s indie feel.

Click Here To Listen To My Brightest Dimond Do “Tainted Love”

Press Hearts Guilt By Association:
Entertainment Weekly:
“Good Times”

Blender:
Guilt By Association should satisfy our indie-rock-meets-pop needs.

Radar:
“Hipsters bum-rush the karaoke mike on this beguiling collection”

Relix:
“Oddball cover choices have become almost the norm for many bands these days and Guilt By Association certainly carries the idea one step further.”

USA Today:
“All the cool kids are talking about Guilt By Association..”

The Sentimentalist:
“Guilt By Association ups the ane and digs deep into some of pop’s most iconic “one hit wonders..”

New York Magazine:
“material ranges from borderline non-embarassing karoke rockers  to flat- out schlock balladry…”

Static Multimedia:
“bridging the gap between TRL and Pitchfork, bringing together the indie with the irreverent…”

Stereogum:
“Guilt By Association makes no bones about spreading the cheese…”

Notes from the bands:
Conrad Doucette of Takka Takka covers Phil Collins “In The Air Tonight”
“I’n The Air Tonight’ is probably the darkest, and weirdest, tune Phil Collins ever wrote. The structure of the song allowed us to drop some of our own atmospherics onto a song already rich in atmosphere. If anything, we feel guilty about not feeling guilty about liking this song.

Alex of The Forms covers Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire”
“I grew up playing classical piano and this was one of the first songs that helped me make a transition to rock music, in a nerdy 8 year old kinda way. It’s an impressive song. There are 7 verses and it was a real challenge for us to continually make those interesting. It’s also compelling that the lyrics for a song written in ‘88 ring so true in an eerie way for today.”

Alex from Lowry covers Toto’s “Africa”
“We’ve always been afraid of the return of prog rock.  That being said, perhaps we were able to stick our fingers in the dam by releasing a song that was already good and making it bad. LOL.  Seriously though, we really like the song.  If anyone knows what the hell David Paich was talking about in that song, please reach out to us. . .we’re stumped.”

Track Listing:
01. My Brightest Diamond - Tainted Love
02. The Bloodsugars - Self-Control
03. Robbers on High Street - Cool It Now
04. Frightened Rabbit - Set you Free
05. Matt Pond PA - I’m Not Okay
06. Takka Takka - In the Air Tonight
07. Kaki King - I Think She Knows
08. Francis And The Lights - Can’t Tell Me Nothing
09. Lowry - Africa
10. The Forms - We Didn’t Start The Fire Final Mix
11. Rafter - If You Leave
12. Cassettes Won’t Listen - Need You Tonight
13. Jukebox the Ghost - It’s A Beautiful Life
14. Max Vernon - I Kissed a Girl

Volume 3 is already in the works and takes it down a notch into an a Ditmas Park inspired organic and delicate folk direction with a few bursts of energy from the West Coast.

EngineRoomRecordings.com

MySpace.com/GuiltByAssociation

WesleyVerhoeve.com
Find the player with embed button here:
http://www.engineroomrecordings.com/gba2/

For More Info Contact Samantha Tillman - samantha@tellallyourfriendspr.com

For a third straight year, Chicago’s STATE AND MADISON will bring their annual “Fall Formal” to the Beat Kitchen for what has come be to be known as a rock’n'roll prom: The city’s best indie bands and their fans all dressed in their finest for a full-blown rock show.

STATE AND MADISON will headline the event on Saturday, November 29 at the Beat Kitchen in Chicago, joined by Urbanites, The Noise FM and special guest The Frantic. The event will be hosted by DJ Risky Bizness who will also spin DJ sets before the performances and in-between sets.

Best known for delivering pop-infused indie-rock with a signature punch, an always infectious live show and consistently giving back to their loyal fans, STATE AND MADISON started their “Fall Formal” tradition in 2006. The event turns live performances into a formal-themed event, delivering a concert atmosphere that captures the essence of a proper affair. Fans are asked to attend in gowns and tuxes to be a part of the experience.

This year, STATE AND MADISON’s performance at the Fall Formal will highlight the recent release of their new LP BECOME THE NOT FOUND, just made available in August. The limited-edition vinyl pressing of the release showcases the band’s eclectic combination of indie-pop and soul-tinged rock. The album is also set for digital release just in time for the holidays and will feature a special acoustic version of “London Bridges Burning Down.” This version of the song was recorded live during an online webcast held in October that allowed fans to watch the entire recording process as it happened.

Joining STATE AND MADISON for the Fall Formal event will be Chicago electro-rock outfit URBANITES and Lawrence, KS indie trio THE NOISE FM who will celebrate the release of their new album Dream Of The Attack, also due out digitally in December. Hometown pop-punk heroes THE FRANTIC will appear as a special guest. Southside native DJ Risky Bizness–who adds to his ever-growing resume that includes numerous mixtapes, club residencies and featured appearances–will host the event and spin between acts.

Doors open at 5:30PM and the show is all ages. Tickets are on-sale now at Beatkitchen.com, Ticketweb.com and through the Beat Kitchen box office.

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/STATEANDMADISON
WWW.STATEANDMADISON.NET
WWW.BEATKITCHEN.COM

The Guardian (UK)
The buzz: “Oh, Gramercy - we’re in love!”
The truth: Imagine the Byrds paying tribute to the Velvet Underground

Featuring current and former members of Guided By Voices, Luna, Joan Wasser of Joan as Police Woman, Dead Air and The Damnbuilders lead Dave Darby.

Their debut album features guest performances by none other than comedienne Sarah Silverman, Lloyd Cole, Chris Brokaw and Joan Wasser as well as present and former  members of Nada Surf, The Pernice Brothers, Dead Air, Shudder To Think  and more.

Download to Make a Difference and
For the week leading up to Thanksgiving (Nov 18 - 25), the entire Cheap Lullaby Records catalog, including the highly-anticipated new release from indie super-group Gramercy Arms, will be available for download as part of AmieStreet.com’s Download to Make a Difference Campaign. When fans go to http://amiestreet.com/blog/cheaplullaby and buy music from Cheap Lullaby artists at their regular prices, Amie Street will make a donation equal to 50% of sales to the Food Bank For New York City.

LISTEN HERE!

Click Here For Looking at the Sun (feat. Sarah Silverman)

Click For Hear Automatic

Drawing from this pool of talented NYC luminaries, the band celebrates the US online release of their album today
Gramercy Arms and will be in all US relatilers on March 3rd

This summery blast of power pop was recorded earlier this year in a wintry New York City. Clocking in at a concise 30 minutes, ‘Gramercy  Arms’ was named after an imposing Art Deco apartment block at East 22nd Street. The album is a celebration of New York in all its dirty - beautiful splendor. A slice of West Coast pop with East Coast sensibilities.Drawing from a pool of talented musical friends, the album features a   wide range of guest performances including the unexpected backing  vocals of comedian Sarah Silverman on ‘Looking At The Sun’. Sarah had worked with Gramercy Arms members Rainy Orteca (Joan As Police Woman,  Dead Air) and Dave Derby (The Dambuilders) before, on music for her television show, the Sarah Silverman Program.

UK Press LOVE:
Guardian UK
The majority of the songs are by Dave Derby of the Hawaiian-Boston based The Dambuilders–sun kissed, subtly well constructed things that suggest Teenage Fanclub occasionally touched by the all-American pop suss of Cheap Trick. It’s all at once woozily beautiful and incidental…

Uncut:
“mellow, jangling, likeable”

Teletext:
“They specialise in feathery soft summery pop, with Shining Bright worth the entrance fee alone and a sprinkling of gorgeous hand-clapped melodies Belle & Seb would approve of.”

Tracklisting For Gramercy Arms:
01 Automatic
02 Looking At The Sun
03 Nothing I Can Do
04 Since Last September
05 Fakin’
06 Wander On
07 Shining Bright
08 Automaton
09 I Believe
10 Moving Slow

http://www.myspace.com/gramercyarms

http://www.gramercyarms.org

http://www.gramercyarms.co.uk/

For Press Contact Samantha Tillman - samantha@tellallyourfriendspr.com

Click Here To View Recent Feature On Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson

“…..or maybe you’re simply too busy to spend time looking for new music and you’d rather that new music could just come looking for you for once.  A nice little service called SpOOOnful has a solution to that problem.” EvolvingMusic.Com

“Looky, Looky, Looky.  I mean Listen, Listen, Listen. Ok, this makes me so happy…..a new site that puts you (yes you!) in touch with cool new music.  It is not a music site that will overwhelm you with tons of recommendations… It’s sort of like having your very own younger, cooler, in the know sister who has lots of time to check out live shows and report back…” DomesticReflections.Com

Spooonful.com (www.spooonful.com) is a new, free weekly email newsletter and website that introduces subscribers to one great new artist or band at a time.  The newsletter is based on the premise that most people who love finding out about new bands simply don’t have the time to discover them between all of the other responsibilities of life. Spooonful allows people to stay connected to new music by sending a simple, easy to follow email once per week.Each Tuesday, Spooonful subscribers are introduced to a different musician or band in a newsletter that contains the following information: ·     Photo, genre of music and short bio ·     Familiar examples of comparative artists, e.g., “if you like X, you’ll also like…” ·     Free streaming of one track ·     Upcoming tour dates ·     Links to buy their music and find out more The Spooonful.com newsletter covers several music genres ranging from indie rock to singer-songwriter, dance/ electronica, hip-hop, indie pop and folk. Several bands featured to date include the critically-acclaimed, genre-bending Santogold, baroque popsters Fleet Foxes, eclectic dance outfit MGMT and Sweden’s newest pop sensation Lykke Li. “I found that friends were asking my advice about where to find new music on a regular basis,” says co-founder Stacy Horne. “It seemed that despite the wealth of music magazines, blogs and music sharing websites, there wasn’t a simple way for people who felt ‘out of the loop’ to stay connected to new music in the same ways they did when they were younger and had more time. Spooonful grew out of this desire to provide an easy, straightforward service for people to stay plugged into new music without having to do any legwork on their own.” Spooonful aims to showcase a wide range of up and coming artists, including those lauded by music critics and early-adopters, but virtually unknown to a wider audience. The free, weekly newsletter is delivered to a member’s inbox (upon sign up at www.spooonful.com) on Tuesday mornings. The newsletter does not accept money for its editorial opinions and is not affiliated with any record label. Spooonful is co-founded by Stacy Horne who has 13 years experience in the live music industry and Amos Schwartzfarb, who has 12 years experience growing start-up web properties.

For more information contact:  stacy@spooonful.com or amos@spooonful.com

Visit the website at www.spooonful.com

For Press Contact Kip Kouri - kip@tellallyourfriendspr.com

European Tour Starts This Week / Announce Australian & New Zealand 2009 Tour

NYC December 16th Show With The Walkmen At The Masonic Temple

Visiter Out Now On Frenchkiss Records

Click Here To View SF Bay Guardian

Click Here To View Recent “Take Away Shows”

Click Here To Download Recent NYC Spiegeltent Performance

NPR’s All Songs Considered Best Of 2008 List (So Far)

NPR Bryant Park Project : http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2008/04/the_dodos_perform_at_the_bpp.html

NPR Second Stage : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89159938

Pitchfork Media [8.5/ Best New Music] : ” Visiter ends up being one of the most welcoming (and welcome) records of 2008 so far.” http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/49198-visiter

Spin [4 Stars] : “…balancing craftmanship and raw emotion.”

Entertainment Weekly B+ : “This is cerebral, twisted folk that’s as wistful as it is strident”

Rolling Stone : ” heads up, animal collective fans: this san francisco act whips up tribal-style grooves that are surprisingly cheery and layered for a band that consists of only two dudes playing acoustic instruments.”

NY Times  :  “Some of my favorite bands at the festival were those that made their impact on the spot. ; The Dodos, from SF, worked up to manic propulsion with hard strummed acoustic guitar and plinking piano.”

European Fall Tour  & Australian/New Zealand 2009 Tour

Nov 17 2008      8:00P Nachtleben/Frankfurt w/The Ruby Suns     Frankfurt
Nov 18 2008     8:00P Headcrash/Hamburg w/The Ruby Suns     Hamburg
Nov 19 2008     8:00P Voxhall/Aarhus w/The Ruby Suns     Aarhus
Nov 20 2008     8:00P Loppen/Copenhagen w/The Ruby Suns     Copenhagen
Nov 21 2008     8:00P Knaack/Berlin w/The Ruby Suns     Berlin
Nov 22 2008     8:00P  Akropolis/Prague w/The Ruby Suns     Prague
Nov 23 2008     8:00  59-1/Munich w/The Ruby Suns     Munich
Nov 24 2008     8:00P Chelsea/Vienna w/The Ruby Suns     Vienna
Nov 25 2008     8:00P Stalker/Padova w/The Ruby Suns     Padova
Nov 26 2008     8:00P Casa 139/Milan w/The Ruby Suns     Milan
Nov 27 2008     8:00P ISC/Bern w/Jennifer Gentle     Bern
Nov 28 2008     8:00P Le Romandie/Lausanne w/Jennifer Gentle     Lausanne
Nov 29 2008     8:00P Luxor/Cologne w/Jennifer Gentle     Cologne
Nov 30 2008     8:00P Vera/Groningen w/Jennifer Gentle     Groningen
Dec 2 2008     8:00P Melkweg/Amsterdam w/Jennifer Gentle     Amsterdam
Dec 3 2008     8:00P VK concerts/Brussels w/Jennifer Gentle     Brussels
Dec 5 2008     8:00P Salao Brazil/Coimbra, Portugal     Coimbra
Dec 6 2008     8:00P Music Box/Lisboa, Portugal     Lisboa
Dec 7 2008     8:00P Azkena/Bilbao, Spain     Bilbao
Dec 16 2008     8:00P Brooklyn Masonic Temple/New York w/The Walkmen     Brooklyn
Dec 30 2008     8:00P Falls Festival Marion Bay/Tasmania     Marion Bay, Tasmania
Dec 31 2008     8:00P Falls Festival Lorne/Victoria     Lorne, Victoria
Jan 2 2009     8:00P The Zoo/Brisbane, Australia     Brisbane
Jan 4 2009     8:00P Days Like This Festival/Sydney, Australia     Sydney
Jan 6 2009     8:00P Northcote Social Club/Melbourne, Australia     Melbourne
Jan 8 2009     8:00P Al’s Bar/Christchurch, New Zealand     Christchurch
Jan 9 2009     8:00P  San Francisco Bath House/Wellington, New Zealand     Wellington
Jan 10 2009     8:00P King’s Arms/Auckland, New Zealand     Auckland, Auckland
Jan 11 2009     8:00P Sawmill/Leigh, New Zealand     Leigh

www.dodosmusic.netwww.myspace.com/thedodos
www.frenchkissrecords.com

For Press Inquiries Contact Kip@TellAllYourFriendsPR.com

A great American holiday tradition will be born this year, joining the classics that have preceded it…Stephen Colbert will make Christmas his own. He’s taking ownership for the Colbert Nation. Stephen decided to ignore tradition start the Christmas holiday before Thanksgiving, putting him a step ahead of the competition.

In order to fully dominate the Christmas season…Colbert style, the Colbert Report anchor is unleashing his lethal 1-2 punch of both a TV special and holiday album at the same time.

The Christmas special. A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! is a one-hour original musical holiday special. It premieres on Sunday, November 23 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on COMEDY CENTRAL. The musical companion EP of the same name will be available on iTunes.

In the special, Colbert is on his way to meet with Elvis Costello in New York City but is snowed-in at his cabin in upstate New York (bear country). He weathers through the storm with help from his friends Feist, Toby Keith, John Legend, Willie Nelson and Jon Stewart. A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! features original songs written by David Javerbaum (executive producer, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) and composer Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne), with the exception of “(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love And Understanding” which was written by Nick Lowe. The songs were produced by Schlesinger and Steven M. Gold. Theme music and score also by Schlesinger and Gold. The bonus features on the DVD include a book burning Yule log, video advent calendar, alternate endings and more.

Both the digital-only EP and DVD will be available on November 25^th!

Proceeds from the sales of A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All! will go to www.feedingamerica.org

Check Out The Single “Another Christmas Song” NOW!

Tracklisting for A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All! EP

1      “Another Christmas Song” - Stephen Colbert

2      “Have I Got A Present For You” - Toby Keith

3      “The Little Dealer Boy” - Stephen Colbert and Willie Nelson

4      “Can I Interest You In Hannukah” - Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart

5      “Nutmeg” - Stephen Colbert and John Legend

6      “Please Be Patient” - Feist

7      “There Are Much Worse Things to Believe In” - Stephen Colbert and Elvis Costello

8      “(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love And Understanding” - Stephen Colbert, Elvis Costello, Feist, Toby Keith, John Legend and Willie Nelson

iTunes Retail Link For A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All! EP

Retail Link For A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All! DVD

Footage of Stephen Officially Kicking Off The Christmas Season On Good Morning America

www.comedycentral.com

www.colbertnation.com

www.feedingamerica.org

Click Here To Listen To MTV Podcast

Click Here To View Venus Zine Feature

RCRD LBL Releases Samo Son (Ghost Note Ltd. REMIX) http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Holy_Hail/track/Samo_Son_Ghost_Note_Ltd_Remix

“There are only three people in the band - Cat Hartwell (who’s hotttt), Kevin Cooke (who has an amazing haircut), and Michally Kaye (who’s also hottt) - but they achieve the same vibe as larger bands like TV on the Radio or New Young Pony Club or Architecture in Helsinki.” Sup Magazine

“Independent Pleasure Club fulfills the promise of the singles with a loose, funky, barebones sound-a retro new-wave-meets-disco vibe that will have you on the dance floor in no time. Other echoes of the past also float through the mix. The female harmonies and vocal interplay between Hartwell and Kaye are reminiscent to the B-52’s, while new wave backbeats, disco thump, ’60s R&B, and ominous pop all add their ambience to the party.” Crawdaddy Magazine

“Can’t find your Free Blood vinyl? Reach for Holy Hail’s Independent Pleasure Club instead. The NYC group strikes a similar sassy electo pose but with a significantly more straightforward structure.” Self Titled Magazine

Play this when you’re getting ready to go out, even if it’s just to the grocery store” Pitchfork Media

“Rap-sung, girl-boy duets over danceable synth-pop, a fresh take on Luscious Jackson circa “In Search of Manny.” New York Magazine

“Big Guns is a most appealing debut that bodes well for what comes next” All Music Guide

“Embracing the kind of gritty stripped-back beats most expertly used by The Gossip and featuring half spoken, half sung duets between Hartwell and Cooke, the band at their absolute best, like on a County Far (Part Two), are like a post-modern Sinatra and Hazelwood, reared on a love of hip-hop and early New Order.” DrownedInSound.com

“Holy Hail are a real breath of fresh four hot young punks from New York who are making the sassiest disco pop around.”? Music Week

“Holy Hail is a party-starting coed dance-pop quartebrkbar;this band has a fun live show and a bunch of smart, thumping tunes to its credit.” Time Out NY

In between touring Europe, first with New Young Pony Club then with Bonde Do Role, and gigging in Mexico, Holy Hail made their debut album, “Independent Pleasure Club,” to be released November 11th, 2008 on Kanine Records.Fusing pop, hip-hop, new wave, and electro with an occasional country twang, Holy Hail creates one rollicking dance party.  But don’ t mistake them for your average dance band: a good portion of these tracks is strewn with political undertones.  The album opener tackles the Iraq war and at album close, the south’s big catastrophe Hurricane Katrina. In the middle, references are made to the environment, wire tapping, and the American-Indian genocide. It’s not heavy handed; most unsuspecting audiences dance completely unaware of the politically charged lyrical content. Mixing in tracks with more lighthearted themes like Las Vegas and NYC, Holy Hail’s always-upbeat dance-rock covers both the promises of America, as well as its sprawling dark side.The Holy Hail story starts with Cat Hartwell. Originally from the south, she fled to NYC as soon as she could to DJ where eventually, she met Bronx born union rep Kevin Cooke at a 4th of July BBQ. Maybe it was the festivities or just all the beer, but they decided to form an Americana dance project with a twist. Holy Hail would put lyrical potency back into pop music. But every good dance band needs a killer bassist. Enter Michally Kaye, a first generation American of Indian-Croatian descent and daughter of a Pentecostal preacher raised Jewish in Minneapolis. After a phone call from Cat, and without even having heard a song, Michally made a leap of faith and rather big move back to NYC to join. Things continued to come together smoothly, with their second ever show opening for The Gossip. By their seventh, they were playing Rory Phillips’ Trash Club in London.  Upon returning home, Holy Hail discovered that NYC’s pre-eminent dance punks The Rapture were fans and invited them to open some shows. In 2007, the band got their first UK and US releases, in the form of dual vinyl EPs, which were well received here and abroad and set out on massive European tours in support. With the release of their debut album, Holy Hail is ready for their first tour of the US heartland. The bands’ collective influences include Nas, The Fall, The Band, Gang of Four and southern literature. Holy Hail might be best described as mixing the political activism of Neil Young, the southerness of Leadbelly, the aesthetic of ESG, with the pop sensibility of the Tom Tom Club. The bulk of the album was recorded and mixed by Eric Emm at Brothers Studio with Nicholas Vernhes of Rare Book Room and Alexander Posell, who plays drums for the band, producing a few tracks.  While the live set doesn’t include a guitar, Michally and Cat contributed guitars on the record.

Tracklisting:

1. Elemental
2. Luck Will Find You
3. Peep Show
4. County Fair Part 2
5. Cool Town Rock
6. Double Dutch
7. Independent Self Devotion
8. Samo Son
9. Flying Kites From Satellites
10. Backwater
11. Cherry Street (Bonus Track)

myspace.com/holyhail

For Press Inquiries Contact Kip@TellAllYourFriendsPR.com

Atmosphere, hailing from Minneapolis, MN, was kind enough to stop in Chicago on the second to last night of their more than 50-date Paint the Nation Tour. “I’ve always had a crush on this city,” said Slug (Sean Daley) in between flows. Ant (Anthony Davis) rocked the 1’s and 2’s while slug spitting rhymes like:

A friend in Chicago said that I should stay persistent
If I stay around I’m bound to break resistance
Fuck you Lucy for defining my existence

The entire group is comfortable on stage, making it clear that they’ve done this before. With over 50 tour dates, they’ve quite literally painted the nation, “don’t ever fucking question that.” To round out the set, they played older songs right alongside the recent When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold tracks. Slug prefaced “God Loves Ugly” with “I don’t know why a city full of beautiful people would love some ugly fuckers from Minneapolis,” just before the beat dropped. During the track he shouted “now all the beautiful people be quiet” and the crowd erupted.

Atmosphere was kind enough to bring Chicago’s first snow with them for the sold out show at Vic Theater. “I come to Chicago and I bring snow; You people come to my show and all you bring is sunshine,” said Slug before spitting about his hangover on “Sunshine .”

After “Guarantees,” Slug enlightened the crowd that Ant originally made the beat for Brother Ali (also on Rhymesayers ) who was planning to write a song about a character who commits suicide. Sean pays tribute to Ali by finishing the first verse with “a friend of mine tried to kill himself to the same song.”

For a finale, Slug brought out Blueprint and Abstract Rude for some freestylin’. Topics included the Bears loss, the Chicago Cubs, and of course Obama’s election.

Afterwards, Slug took the time to apologize to the crowd for his “old school shit” while closing out the show. “To me, it’s more than just the guy on the mic, it’s a whole community. So, we’re gonna do some old school shit right now; everybody in here put a peace sign in the air and when I count to three, you say peace; we do that three times in a row.” 1…2…3… and with that he reminded the crowd that “tonight’s show is brought to you by the letter V” and with a final “Rhymesayers is # 1!” he was gone.

As an Audio Arts & Acoustics major, I should mention how great this show sounded. Whoever was running the console for this tour really knew what they were doing. Here’s to the unsung hero, the sound guy.

Ahhh…The Love Willows.  The are one of my favorite new pop duos. They are currently out on tour with Push Play. See Dates HERE! Unfortunately it’s all East Coast dates, so for those of us here on the West Coast and everywhere else we can sit back and enjoy their latest music video for “Falling Faster.”

Click HERE for Video Link