We're Moving......

After about a week of trying keep up frest content here at the regular blogspot and at Truth About Music's Indies and The Underground page, it's become exhaustingly obvious to me that posting in one place would much better use of my time, energy and sanity:). So from now on I'll be posting exclusively over at Truth About Music.

Not to worry, as I stated last week in the "Expanding" post  the style and content of Indies And The Underground will remain the same...only the location has changed. I hope you'll follow the blog to its new online home. Click HERE to check out the page.

Complete B.O.M.B. Fest Lineup Revealed

The full artist lineup for the third annual B.O.M.B. Fest has been announced. Set to take place on May 28 and 29 at the Comcast Theatre in Hartford, CT, the bill includes superstar acts like Weezer, Snoop Dogg, George Clinton and Wiz Khalifa, as well as indie acts like The Cool Kids, Against Me! and The New Pornographers.

All proceeds from this year's festival will go towards music scholarships, music enrichment and education programs and community support and outreach. Go to www.bombfest.com, for more information, and view the full festival lineup below.

SATURDAY, May 28
Weezer, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic, Best Coast, HEALTH, Titus Andronicus, RJD2, Wavves, EOTO, The Cool Kids, Dan Deacon, The Felice Brothers, ESKMO, Real Estate, Woods, Free Energy, Roots of Creation, David Wax Museum, Turbo Fruits, Walk the Moon, Sun Hotel, The Manchurians, The Frank Critelli Band, The Rebel Yell, Emjae, EULA, Ovlov, Forget Paris, Lobster Quadrille, The Goonies, Swear & Shake, Dirty Dishes, Distoria

SUNDAY, May 29
Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Big Freedia, Coheed and Cambria, Against Me!, Shpongle presents The Shpongletron Experience, Neon Trees, The New Pornographers, State Radio, Dam-Funk, Dum Dum Girls, Man Man, Holy F••k, Portugal. The Man, Freelance Whales, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Daedelus, 12th Planet, Nosaj Thing, The Files & Fires, Toubab Krewe, Urban Sun, Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez, Fake Babies, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, The Hood Internet, The Backyard Committee, Cosmic Dust Bunnies, OConn, Super Nice Bros, Wry, Raina Mullen, Chalk Talk, Small Black, River City Extension, The Revivalists

Artist Profile: Big Black Delta

Electro pop act Big Black Delta began as an experiment, when LA transplant and Mellowdrone founder Jonathan Bates decided he needed a break from the band aesthetic. Buying a used laptop from friend Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails, Sonoio) and began playing with sound, twisting, bending and contorting to create a musical style not bound by gravity or any one instrument. "Give me anything, and I'll make it work. Especially if it’s stringed,"Bates says. Combine this penchant for experimentation with a love of UFO folklore and you have the otherworldly coolness that is Big Black Delta, made up of Bates and live drummers Mahsa Zargaran and Amy Wood.

Bates' ambition to stretch the boundaries of pop can be heard in sonic stunners like "Huggin' And A Kissin'." Driven by whiplash-inducing drums, atmospheric, searing electronic sounds and robotic bass, the track sounds like Depeche Mode on steroids (a very good thing in case you were wondering). "Zebra" lifts the trademark alt-rock loud-chorus-soft-verse dynamic and brings into the dance realm with fantastic results,  vacillating quietly between spage-age samples and gentle harmonies and grimy, distorted synths and deep, thumping bass. Meanwhile "IFUCKINGLOVEYOU" borders on punk and hardcore, melding wall-of-sound-style choruses with a nasty bass, pummeling drums and fat blasts of what sounds like mangled brass.

Big Black Delta is currently working on a full-length debut. In the meantime, you download the group's Big Black Delta EP for free, or the aforementioned "Huggin' And A Kissin' below.

Q&A With Clara Engel

Check out my interview with Clara Engel over at The Truth About Music. She's talks about her favorite artists, lyrical inspirations, early live gigs and why listening to Adele makes her want to smash things! Click HERE to read.

Chilly Gonzales To Release The First Orchestral Rap Album

Chilly Gonzales has announced a new album, The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales,which will be the world's first orchestral rap album. A follow up to his last album Ivory Tower, which yielded piano-driven rap hits "The Grudge" and "Crying" the new release is a creative progression of sorts.

Arranged by Hollywood film composer Christopher Beck and influenced by Prokofiev, Morricone and Phillip Glass, The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales features plenty of old-school Hollywood swells, tympani rolls and French horns, as revealed by "The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales Medley." Take a listen to the track HERE.

The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales will be released digitally on June 7. 

New Music: Danger Mouse Daniele Luppi 'Rome'

Although Rome, a collaboration between producer Danger Mouse and Italian composer Daniele Luppi, isn't set to drop until next week, the entire album is streaming on NPR. The album also features collaborations with Norah Jones and Jack White. Listen HERE.

Artist Profile: The Bewitched Hands

Formerly known as The Bewitched Hands On Top Of Our Heads, French psychedelic pop sextet The Bewitched Hands formed in 2005. While band members Anthonin and Benjamin act as the chief songwriters, everyone takes part in creating harmonies. The approach is evident in the band's music, as their sound is packed with multiple melody lines that often weave in and out of each other before coming together to create one big voice.

The band takes the same approach to instrumentation, with three guitarists playing different tones and percussion instruments jockeying for position within a song. While it would it seem that this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink attitude would spell disaster, tracks like "Work," "Sea" and "Hard To Cry" reveal otherwise. The Bewitched Hands full-length debut Birds And Drums, is set to be released in the U.S. on May 24. Listen to a few tracks below.

Remix Of The Week: Lady Gaga "Judas (Dub Step Remix By Andre Jetson)"

While mother monster may have been channeling Mary Magdalene for her latest single, this ferocious, chaotic dub step remix by Andre Jetson makes Gaga sound like she summoned the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Listen below.

Jay-Z And Kanye West Switch Hotels To Finish 'Watch The Throne'

I guess the phrase "location, location, location" not only applies in business but in superstar collaborations. According to The New York Post, the duo has switched recording spots from the swanky Mercer Hotel to the equally upscale Tribeca Grand Hotel in Manhattan.

Much of Watch The Throne's recording process has taken place in makeshift studios around the globe, from the Mercer in NYC's Soho District to Paris. According to the New York Post's source, it looks like the two recognize it's crunch time. "They were laying down tons of tracks," a witness said. "It was intense -- no Beyoncé and no booze."

Divine Revelation Or Holy Terror? Lady Gaga's "Judas " Video

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Lady Gaga's new clip for her single "Judas" was set to premiere today on the E! Channel. Fortunately (for us anyway) it's leaked about eight hours early. Much tongue wagging has been made of the video's religious subject matter, as Gaga takes on the role of Mary Magdalene and sings of her love for the treacherous Judas.

When talking about the clip and its concept, the singer explained  "Well the video, in essence, suggests that [pauses] forgiveness and betrayal are hand in hand and that... how do I say this? The video puts destiny above all things and postures that the mistakes in your life are in fact not mistakes at all, they are just part of your overarching potential and your destiny."

"I want to allow the video to speak for itself but I will say that the theme of the video and the way that I wanted to aesthetically portray the story was as a motorcycle Fellini movie where the apostles are revolutionaries in a modern-day Jerusalem," she said. "And I play Mary Magdalene leading them into the town where we meet Jesus and I will leave the rest for you to see. But it's meant more to celebrate faith than it is to challenge it."

Personally I feel that the video is good, but not great. It contains many Gaga motifs--surreal theatrics, over-the-top outfits, garish makeup, dancers (the lipstick gun gets a definite thumbs up)--but the whole product doesn't come off with a bang the way previous epics like "Paparazzi," "Bad Romance," "Telephone" or "Born This Way" did. Casting the disciples as a modern-day biker gang  was a nice twist, but she should have scrapped the dance sequences and concentrated more on the overall storyline, which could have provided some great visual scenes. Perhaps the fact the video was being filmed on the same stage as Janet Jackson's "Escapade" inspired her to bust a move.

But a good Gaga video is still better than 85 to 90 percent of other music clips that are out there, so it's definitely worth watching. Maybe when the uncut version premieres later today, it'll contain some new surprises. Watch "Judas" HERE.

Versis: "Slow Down"

When comes to sex, many rappers broach the subject with lurid tales of menage`a trois, endless one night stands and other assorted stories of groupie love. Versis takes a more nuanced, lyrically dexterous approach to love and sex with the track "Slow Down," from his album. iLLCANDESCENT  While not denying  there's some ladies "that he wouldn't mind beseeching" he's also aware of the potential consequences of thinking with the wrong head. Watch the video for song below.


Versis "Slow Down" from JeromeD.com on Vimeo.

Tori Amos To Release Classical Music-Inspired Night Of The Hunter

Tori Amos' debut release for world-renowned classical music label Deutshe Grammophon Night Of The Hunter, may be one of her most ambitious yet, a modern song cycle inspired by select classical pieces spanning back 400 years.

Amos said of Night Of The Hunter, which she wrote and produced: "I have used the structure of a classical song cycle to tell an ongoing, modern story. The protagonist is a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship. In the course of one night she goes through an initiation of sorts that leads her to reinvent herself allowing the listener to follow her on a journey to explore complex musical and emotional subject matter."

She added,“One of the main themes explored on this album is the hunter and the hunted and how both exist within us.”


Amos will support the album, set for release in September, with a European and U.S. tour starting in Helsinki, Finland on September 28.

WATCH: Beyonce's New Video Teaser For "Run The World (Girls)"

Beyonce has released another visual morsel from her upcoming video epic "Run The World (Girls)" for fans to salivate over. Watch the short clip below. Another B-Day seems to be upon us.....

B.O.M.B. Fest Announces Local Lineup

The third annual B.O.M.B. Fest, set to take place later this month on May 28 and 29 in Hartford, CT, has announced its local artist lineup. Co-founder Frank Bombaci Sr. said shining the spotlight on budding stars is part of the mission of B.O.M.B. Fest.

"Live local music is a very focused part of the overall non-profit mission of Bring Our Music Back Inc!” Bombaci said. “There are amazing talented young musicians that need to be heard and we take pride in incorporating that mission into B.O.M.B. Fest.”

For more information about the festival, visit the official website. View the the full local talent lineup below.

Forget Paris • Heirlooms • The Frank Critelli Band • The Backyard Committee • The Guru • Fake Babies • The Manchurians • Raina Mullen • Midi & The Modern Dance • EULA • Wry • The Lobster Quadrille • OConn • Distoria • The Files and Fires • The Rebel Yell • The Goonies • Emjae • Chalk Talk • Cosmic Dust Bunnies • Ovlov • Urban Sun • Swear and Shake • sayWHAT? • Dirty Dishes

Soulive's Al Evans Unearths Crushed Velvet's Long Lost Movie Soundtrack

Soulive's Alan Evans stumbled upon a long-lost musical gem, the motion picture soundtrack to The Big One by Crushed Velvet and The Velveteers, when a family friend in Buffalo, NY  put him in touch with the movie's director Cleo McBride. One of NYC's premiere funk and soul bands of the late 60's and 70's, The Velveteers, led by vocalist and guitarist Crushed Velvet, were contacted by McBride, an old band mate, to record the soundtrack to the film.

A Shaft-meets James Bond style Blaxploitation flick originally set to be released in 1974, The Big One never got a chance to shine on the big screen, as the film was said to have been destroyed in a fire after it was finished. With no film to accompany the music, the soundtrack was shelved and the band broke up.Lost to obscurity, the album languished until Evans was called in to mix the original sessions and release the soundtrack through Soulive's record label Royal Family Records.

The Big One will be released as a free MP3 album download and on limited vinyl edition on May 24. View the track list and listen to the The Big One's "Main Theme" below. You can also watch a video of Alan Evans explaining the movie's history.

1. The Big One (Main Theme)
2. Thunderbird
3. Felecia's Love Theme
4. Detroit Slim
5. The Lay Down
6. Memphis Stomp
7. London Black (pts. 1,2,3)
8. Big Chase
9. The Big One (End Theme)