Triumph And Parade
Album: Carve Your Own Path
Label: Self-Released
Release Date: May 12, 2009
Website: www.myspace.com/triumphandparade

Join Pilot Speed for an exclusive listening party for thier forthcoming album "Wooden Bones" out April 28th! Listen here: http://pilotspeed.net/quicktime/index.asp?Referral=cs

Sign up for the Pilot Speed e-news and you get a free MP3 of "Ain't No Life", an advance track off the new album. Right now, this is the only place this song is available - http://pilotspeedmp3.notlong.com/

The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC is honored to present audiences with CrossCurrents, a 10-day event that showcases the works of contemporary chamber music composers. Curated by composer and conductor Oliver Knussen and Joseph Kalichstein, Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Fortas Chamber Music Concerts, CrossCurrents presents 17 orchestral, chamber orchestra, and chamber music events celebrating 15 of today’s finest living composers.

In concerts by the National Symphony Orchestra and ensembles presented by the Fortas Chamber Music Concerts and the Millennium Stage, the week features predominately British and American composers such as the Nash Ensemble of London, the Fuse Ensemble based in Washington DC, and the Janus Trio of Brooklyn. CrossCurrents goal is to provide audiences with a diverse selection of jazz, chamber music and orchestral ensembles.

Schedule and Performances:
www.kennedy-center.org/programs/festivals/08-09/crosscurrents/events.cfm

General Information:
www.kennedy-center.org

Pilot Speed
Album: Wooden Bones
Label: Wind-Up Records
Release Date: April 21, 2009
Website: www.pilotspeed.net 

Pilot Speed’s latest release, Wooden Bones is artfully woven in serried chord progressions reminiscent of Keane’s symphonic rock domes and scintillating coils liken to MGMT. Chord movements mushroom into massive soundscapes bulging at the seams, and decelerating to calming brooks in steady breaths through “Bluff” and “Light You Up.” The tracks have a romantic glow reflective of post-new wave artisans like Blue October and the UK’s Ben’s Brother. The ruffles in the guitar vibrations of Chris Greenough illuminate lead vocalist Todd Clark’s words in neon-hued fires along “Where Does It Begin,” and the dragging beats of bassist Ruby Bumrah and drummer Bill Keeley have a ghostly stride along “What Is Real, What Is Doubt” as orchestral strings hover delicately over the inclines of ambient enshrouded landscapes.

Produced by Dennis Herring (Modest Mouse, The Hives, Throwing Muses, Elvis Costello & The Imposters), Wooden Bones delves into the more evolved needs of human nature like rising above defeat and staying on higher ground. Tracks like “Totally I Feel Sure” and “Midnight Fires” are staked in celestial sounding effects and pixie-like twitching with slight interruptions of trembling guitar distortions in “Midnight Fires” which offer a contrast to the blankets of seraphic tones. The title track is thick in stretches of ambient-dusters emblematic of the UK’s Doves, while “Open Arms” has a more serene feel with lightly trellised guitar spins with a varnish of dulcet keyboards.

Pilot Speed modulate their tracks using melodic compounds that feel good and spiral into elevating raptures that excite the senses from the gentle wails of the piano keys in “Bluff” to the whirlwind flusters of “Light You Up.” The climate of Pilot Speed’s songs is comfortable embodying dulcet waves and ambient gales. The band straddles the line of art-pop and melodic rock with a focus to engage the listener‘s higher senses, making a world where no one feels defeated or inclined to wallow in despair.

Azure
Album: When She Smiles
Label: Azure Music
Release Date: November 11, 2008
Website: www.azuremusic.nl

Soft alfresco-jazz instrumentalists driven by a gentle touch waft in the air of Azure’s latest release, When She Smiles from the band’s own label, Azure Music. With sprinkles of riveting piano keys from Pierre-Francois Blanchard cajoling tingly sensations to arise in the pieces, and jetting across a bounty of flouncy cinders from guitarist Rogier Schneemann as bassist Eric Heijnsdijk and drummer Antonio Pisano whip up boughs of ambient ripples, When She Smiles never misses a chance to rejoice with luster that’s rapacious. Produced by Azure and Lauren Jurrius, the album takes jazz into the depths of romanticism and classical chamber music dens, creating an attractive alfresco ambience that appeals to the finer senses.

The frippery is elegant and the mood is relaxing with tracks like “RnP” and “B-Y-You” sensitively attired in caressing piano keys and high flying guitar chords. The soft country flutter of “Inmost” contrasts the laser shooting fires that spark “By Heart,” and the tenderly knotted lines that balustrade the title track are reflective of an ocean breeze fondling the sands of a beachfront. The contemplative mood of “Ballade Pour Une Paquerette” is flowered in delicate curls, and the anxious stroking of the piano keys in “A Mon Amour” denote a sense of impatient waiting, though the lush swoons and elevating pirouettes that adorn “Berceuse Pour Maelise” create a soothing emollient for the listener’s ears.

Based in The Netherlands, Azure are well attuned to the fragrant bouquets of jazz and classical music, and their instrumentals are drenched in these gardens of splendor. It is music that let’s you be alone with your thoughts and discover what arouses your passions and what causes you to take flight from the world around you. When She Smiles is an album that allows you to go into yourself, and coax places in you to come alive.

Manchester Orchestra
Album: Mean Everything To Nothing
Label: Favorite Gentlemen/Canvasback Music/Columbia Records
Release Date: April 21, 2009
Website: www.themanchesterorchestra.com   

Mean Everything To Nothing, the second album from Atlanta, Georgia's Manchester Orchestra, has the primal energy and inner turmoil of Nirvana‘s In Utero tethered to a social consciousness reminiscent of The Decemberists The Crane Wife. There is agony and yearning expressed in Manchester Orchestra’s songs wrapped around a desire to open the floodgates that hold back feelings of hurt. Frontman and lyricist, Andy Hull tells on the band‘s website, "There is nothing fake about this record… There's not one fake sound on it. We recorded it live because we wanted it to sound like a band, and I think it does: live and loud!"

The first half of the album is a brooding tale of teenage angst, delving into the confusion and disillusionment of growing up and becoming an adult, driven by the raw rock gusts intensifying and releasing along “Shake It Out“ and “I‘ve Got Friends.” Robert McDowell’s guitar work creates beefy swells liken to Black Sabbath as the keyboards of Chris Freeman thicken the surging masses, and drummer Jeremiah Edmonds and bassist Jonathan Corley dig into the howling tides. The second half of the album is about redemption and an overall re-evaluation of the self. It's about Hull beginning to realize in his own words "that things are not ok, I am not ok, and there's a beauty in that -- a calming, a forgiveness," he reflects.

The chunky distortions in McDowell’s guitar riffs create piercing intervals and boulder-size ridges lining “In My Teeth,” while the soul-inspired rock blasts engraved along “100 Dollars” make slots for Hull’s fomenting vocals to erupt. Hull’s vocals reduce to a mild simmer along the buttery folk-rock flakes of “I Can Feel A Hot One,” a track which was featured on an episode of “Gossip Girl” before transforming his voice into an anthematic frenzy in “My Friend Marcus.” The fuzzy guitar vibrations along the title track are modulated to heighten through the chorus and withdraw through the verses, creating undulating waves and dynamic currents, which are a signature move of Manchester Orchestra‘s songs.

Mean Everything To Nothing is released on Favorite Gentleman Recordings, the indie label which Hull and Edmond founded in 2004 as a way to stay in control of their music. The album follows the band’s debut release, I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child. Produced by Joe Chiccarelli (The Shins, My Morning Jacket, The Raconteurs) in conjunction with longtime friend and producer Dan Hannon and the band, Mean Everything To Nothing is the next stage in Manchester Orchestra’s growth, finding inner peace through the tension and strife that life doles out, and accepting the wounds that come with it.

Jimmy Buffet’s Summerzcool Tour dates, including pre-show(all times Eastern):

Twilight Soundtrack
Label: Chop Shop/Atlantic Records
Release Date: November 4, 2008
Music Supervisor: Alexandra Patsavas

The soundtrack for the teen flix, Twilight, proves to be quite different from the film’s Gothic complexion used by the film’s director, Catherine Hardwicke, or the intense characterization which writer, Stephenie Meyer kindles in her novel. Twilight is an adaptation of Meyer’s first book in a 4-part series from her vampire-themed saga, but the soundtrack really stands on its own separate from the film with songs by Paramore, Linkin Park, Mutemath, and one campfire-folk tune from actor, Rob Pattinson who plays the mysterious “Edward Cullen” in the film. Music Supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas whose credits include soundtracks for The O.C., Grey’s Anatomy, and Gossip Girl, was in charge of this project and really diced up the mix with songs that had shades of electro-pop, dark wave-punk, and acoustic-rock.

Opening with Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole,” the soundtrack sets the stage for a techno-club romp which rolls into catchy numbers like Paramore’s fiery pop-punk fused “Decode,” and The Black Ghosts smooth electro-pop glides swiveling sensually across “Full Moon.” Linkin Park’s “Leave Out All The Rest” powers the album with a metallic radiance, and the club-inspired crackling of Mutemath’s “Spotlight” has a electro-flared ruffling that resembles Kasabian’s chic style. Perry Farrell’s theme song, “Go All The Way” is electrifying, and the sonic malaise crafted by Collective Soul in “Tremble For My Beloved” is treated with inflaming riffs. Blue Foundation’s “Eyes On Fire” is filament by buttery vocal strokes, and Iron & Wine’s smooth doo-wop style harmonies along “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” encloses the listener in floating sensations. Paramore has a second track on the album, the mid-tempo rocker “I Caught Myself,” and the rustic smoke-rings of Pattinson’s “Never Think” burn at a lumbering crawl. The soundtrack concludes with Carter Burwell’s instrumental suite “Bella’s Lullaby” which, in the movie, is the song that the pre-eminent vampire, “Edward Cullen” composes on the piano for his wife-to-be, “Isabelle Swan.” Burwell puts in many more orchestral curls and fragrant silhouettes than a simple piano ballad would suggest, but the piece definitely gives the listener a sense of forbidden love and undying affection, which are the main themes underlining Meyer‘s Twilight Saga.

With true Patsavas passion, the soundtrack brings attention to promising artists like The Black Ghosts and the Blue Foundation whose songs really hit the spot on this disc. The album is heavily skewed towards club-inspired dance tracks, but there are a few moments of lo-fi acoustics that provide room for introspection like Iron & Wine’s tune and Pattinson’s number. The soundtrack can stand alone as a separate piece from the film, though the songs do work in conjunction with the scenes from the film. Meyer’s saga has three more books to be adapted into motion pictures, so this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

The Boy Least Likely To
Album: The Law Of The Playground
Label: +1 Records
Release Date: April 14, 2009
Website: www.theboyleastlikelyto.co.uk

Jason Aldean
Album: Wide Open
Label: Broken Bow Records
Release Date: April 7, 2009
Website: www.jasonaldean.com

Doves
Album: Kingdom Of Rust
Label: Astralwerks
Release Date: April 7, 2008
Website: www.doves.net

The new millennium witnessed a nu-shoegaze phenomena emerging in the UK with the Doves album Some Cities in 2005. The trio are on the verge of another upswing with the release of their album Kingdom Of Rust from Astralwerks Records. Fronted by lead singer/bass guitarist Jimi Goodwin, the Doves take Radiohead’s space-rock fossils into exciting terrain filament by frothy dance-club beats helmed by drummer Andy Williams, and sparkling synth textures emanating from Jez Williams guitar effects spindling a likeness to Duran Duran circa 1981 to ’84.

Tracks like “The Outsiders” and “House Of Mirrors“ have a hardcore Manchester club-rock rustling with industrial-fringed whipping, while songs like “Jetstream” and “Winter Hill” are bathe in glittering synth effects that sparkle like sonic diamonds reflective of the quintessential shoegazers from Manchester, Joy Division. The melodic crystals of the title track, “Spellbound” and “Birds Flew Backwards” have hooks with a soft country flange as the melodies are basked in shadowy silhouettes and glistening guitar tendrils which mutate into a magnetic field of ambient-encrusted spirals. The heavy bass beats of “Compulsion” are addictive, and the wavy soundscapes catcombing “Lifelines” create a blissful labyrinth of elevating flames and scintillating cascades.

Once again, The UK’s Doves do everything right, at least for fans of shoegaze-pop and club-based rock. Fans of the band should be pleasantly satisfied by Kingdom Of Rust, and new recruits attracted to the band’s ambient sound should be forthcoming. Kingdom Of Rust is like the band’s previous album, Some Cities, with just a bit more of the trio unveiled.

Nickelback
Album: Dark Horse
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release Date: November 2008
Website: www.nickelback.com

After honing themselves as the good guys of metal rock through the late ‘90s when post-grunge bands like Creed and Tantric were beginning to falter, Nickelback survived the shift into the new millennium and even thrived through its first decade. The band’s latest release, Dark Horse is proof of their endurance. Returning with long-time collaborator Joey Moi for Dark Horse, and produced by Mutt Lange (Shania Twain, The Corrs, Bryan Adams, AC/DC), the album has crunchy guitar rock flusters liken to Hinder with the melodic rock magnetism of The Goo Goo Dolls and a country rock luster emblematic of Saving Abel.

The deep throaty register of lead singer Chad Kroeger gives these songs an identifiable mark as the rest of the band lathers the songs in a palatable hard rock frosting with Chad’s brother Mike Kroeger on bass guitar and Daniel Adair on drums, lining these numbers with crashing booms that send shivers up and down the spinal column, and guitarist Ryan Peake invading the tracks with a salvo of exploding ruptures and rapidly vaunting slingshots. The power rock rip-chords set off along “Shakin’ Hands,” “S.E.X.” and “Something In Your Mouth” are seamed with salivating lyrics that are typical of boys locker room banter, and not just those in high school. But Nickelback really made a name for themselves in mainstream radio with melodic rock anthems in the past like “Photograph” and “How You Remind Me,” and Dark Horse is replete with songs like these including “Gotta Be Somebody,” “I’d Come For You,” and the reflecting pools of shimmering guitar chords that accentuate the romantic side of Kroeger’s vocals in “Never Gonna Be Alone.”

The band knows when to power their songs with untamed adrenaline and macho-muscled lust, and when to avail themselves to the finer senses of romantic love. The band also shows signs of incorporating overtones of country rock into their songs like in “If Today Was Your Last Day” and “This Afternoon,” which agrees with their Vancouver-based heritage.

Some folks may feel that Nickelback have simply re-constituted the hard rock riffage and guitar shreds of AC/DC or Hinder on Dark Horse, but no matter how much Nickelback sounds like these other bands, their music always distinguishes them from the rest of the flock. Now in the middle of their second decade of existence, Nickelback have done more than any of their peers from the post-grunge era thought could be mastered, and Nickelback seem just as excited about hard rock motored riffs today as they were when they first formed in the mid-’90s.

Capitol/EMI Records has re-packaged Radiohead’s first three studio albums, Pablo Honey (1993), The Bends (1995), and OK Computer (1997) in an expanded “Collectors Edition” and a limited series of “Special Collectors Edition.”

Each “Collectors Edition” set will have the original album plus a second CD of rarities, demos, private sessions, and live recordings. Each “Special Collectors Edition” is packaged in a deluxe, lift-top box that will include the original album plus a CD of rare recordings and a DVD with a variety of promotional music videos, TV appearances and filmed concert performances, as well as a series of postcards.

Pablo Honey’s “Collectors Edition” features the original album on disc one with a selection of demos, rarities, and live recordings taken from the band’s appearance in 1992 for a BBC Radio One session on disc two. The “Special Collectors Edition” has everything that the “Collectors Edition” has along with a DVD that contains four promotional music videos, the band’s 1993 debut “Top Of The Pops” performance, and nine live recordings from their May 1994 London Astoria concert.

The “Collectors Edition” for The Bends features the original album on disc one, and rare tracks taken from their EP’s for singles like “My Iron Lung” and “Fake Plastic Trees“ in addition to a 1994 taping of the band performing for a BBC Radio session on disc two. The “Special Collectors Edition” DVD contains five promotional music videos, the band’s TV performances from “Top Of The Pops,” “Later With Jools Holland,” and “2 Meter Session” taken in 1995 and ‘96, and eight filmed performances from their May 1994 London Astoria concert.

OK Computer’s “Collectors Edition” features the original album on disc one, and rare tracks taken from their EP’s for such singles as “Karma Police” and “Paranoid Android,” as well as live recordings from the band’s appearance in a 1997 taping of BBC Radio One’s program “Evening Session” on disc two. The “Special Collectors Edition” DVD contains three promotional music videos and a May 1997 TV performance from “Later With Jools Holland.”

On April 21, 2009, Capitol/EMI will reissue 12 of Radiohead’s EP’s on 180-gram vinyl as part of the popular “From The Capitol Vaults” high-quality vinyl series.

These Collectors Editions and Special Collectors Editions sets are ideal for die-hard Radiohead fans. Band members, Thom Yorke (lead vocals), Jonny Greenwood (guitar), Ed O’Brien (guitar), Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums) made a name for themselves in the last two decades as the princes of underwater atmospherics, and it is a stamp that even non-fans know them as. What Radiohead have recorded is so permanently embedded in the global psyche that their music is destined to out live their lives, and their record label is banking on it.