JayeL Audio

Now this is interesting. Metallica’s curated festival Orion Music + More just announced the two day fest will be in Detroit on June 8th & 9th, 2013. 2012′s Atlantic City edition featured the legendary metal band performing the Black Album and Ride The Lightning in their entirety. Aside from other metal acts like Suicidal Tendencies and Selptura, the fest included an eclectic assortment of others like Arctic Monkeys, Avenge Sevenfold, Modest Mouse, Gaslight Anthem, Best Coast, Gary Clark Jr., Titus Andronicus and more.

I’ll keep you posted as soon as I know more. Until then, watch the promo video below and follow Orion Music and More on Facebook and Twitter.

Detroit has to be one of the most diverse music cities in the country and I keep being blown away by new acts rising from the city. Latest case in point: The History of Panic. Leader of the effort Gerald Roesser, cites Morrissey, Phoenix, Junior Boys and Detroit’s Techno scene as influences. Lead single “The Chase” has a hazy synth glow with male/female call and response-like vocal ripe for pending beach trips. HOP also features appearances by Leah Diehl of Lightning Love, Casimer Pascal of Pas/Cal, Trevor Naud of Zoos of Berlin, and Keith Thompson of The Electric Six. Look for The History of Panic’s debut Fight, Fight, Fight on July 17th.
The History of Panic – Chase (.mp3)

The past month has been pretty great for Detroit music with a Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr video, Johhny Headband’s album release and Phantasmagoria covering Nirvana. Things sound like they will continue to be great with the latest single from Lettercamp. “Buy In” is probably Liz Wittman and co’s most catchy effort yet with an uptempo hook, jangly guitar and pulsing synth. The key breakdown at the 1:30 mark is a particularly nice touch.

Stream “Buy In” below and pick up the single with a few remixes at bandcamp.

If free releases like “Over There” and “And Then Again” weren’t enough reason to support Johnny Headband, the buzzing band just released their debut, Who Cooks For You for free download. The styles of Who Cooks For You are appealing to fans of many genres ranging from indie rock (“Pineapple Triangle”) to Beck/LCD-inspired new wave (“And Then Again”,”Hot Button Topic”) and psych pop (“Water Damage”, “Argentina”). As Shawn Carter once said, “Its just good music”.

Stream and download below:

My current favorite:

Five Three Dial Tone has a knack for coming up with creative ways to distribute Detroit music. Their latest edition of the Disarm The Settlers series has 300 copies pressed on red vinyl. “50 of those will have hand-collaged center labels and come in limited edition sleeves — 25 with mock “Heart-Shaped Box” artwork for the release show and 25 with mock Sliver artwork for e-mail list subscribers.” Pretty awesome, eh?

On Disarm The Settlers Vol. II, two up and coming Detroit acts tackle a couple classic Nirvana tracks. As if “Heart-Shaped Box” couldn’t get any creepier, Phantasmagoria adds some haunting synth to the mix. The B-side “Sliver”, reworked by Coyote Clean-Up still has the catchy hook of the original, but is tranformed into an electronic head nodder. Stream “Heart-Shaped Box” below and order Disarm The Settlers Vol. II here.

The release show will be on Saturday, April 28th at The New Dodge in Hamtramck, MI, with live performances by Coyote Clean Up, Phantasmagoria, Glossies and The Vatican.

Now, if only these guys would bring back the witty commentary of Eat This City…

Johnny Headband is back with a new video and free download of their latest “And Then Again”. The second single from Who Cooks For You is somewhat reminiscent of Beck, starting off with buzzing guitar and throws in a variety of sounds. Before you know it, the hook is embedded in your head indefinitely. These guys are starting to master the art of oddly engaging music videos. Oh, and their brand of indie pop is pretty fantastic as well.

Pick up the Johnny Headband’s Who Cooks For You next Tuesday, April 17th via Bandcamp.
Tracklist:
1 Over There
2 And Then Again
3 Pineapple Triangle
4 Water Damage
5 Argentina
6 Hot Button Topic
7 Anglo Probe
8 In Lava
9 Older Now

Like Johnny Headband on Facebook.

One of my favorite tracks from one of my favorite albums of 2011 finally gets its own video. The Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr track is actually a Gil Scott Heron cover, but certainly resonates with what my homestate has went through over the past decade or so. Here is what the Detroit duo said about the video:

“We Almost Lost Detroit” began for us as an homage to one of the great artists of our time, Gil Scott Heron. We were so affected by its continued relevance as a piece of work some 30+ years later that just simply attempting to reinterpret it as a creative exercise seemed like a good enough idea on its own. While the song was originally penned as a reaction to a partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor halfway between Detroit,MI and Toledo,OH, so much of the imagery contained in Gil’s words seemed to ring true with the news of today.

But the spirit of the song that always rang out to us was that it didn’t seem to be about simply pointing out what had gone wrong. The message seemingly was one of progress. About setting things right. Coming together as people and moving forward. As Gil would say many years later in concert, the song is about realizing that “somebody’s always got to be on the job… because there’s always a job out there to do”.

So we wanted this video to be about people DOING things in and around the city of Detroit. People who are on the job. People who have moved past “what happened?” and are spending more time saying “lets MAKE things happen”. These are the people who we feel represent the city of Detroit.

Pick up Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr Its A Corporate World on Amazon.

Phantasmagoria used to be a Sega Saturn video game that scared me to death (thats right, Sega Saturn). Fortunately, I now have a better association with Phantasmagoria in Detroit-based electro pop act. Take a listen to the first single “Dunes”, off the duo’s upcoming LP Currents. Between Lianna Vanicelli’s enchanting vocals and the hypnotic synth hop productions, whats not to like?

Props to Jasper of ETC & Five Three Dial Tone.

Be sure to check out Phantasmagoria’s upcoming tour dates below. The Record Store Day show with Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr should not be missed for only $15…
04/06/12 – MIDDLE OF THE MAP FEST w/ NEON INDIAN, MISSION OF BURMA, KEEP SHELLEY IN ATHENS & more @ The Union (Kansas City, MO)
04/21/12 – w/ DALE EARNHARDT JR. JR. / THE HARD LESSONS @ Majestic Theater (Detroit, MI) – TICKETS

Forgive me for the catch-up that is about to ensue. I have about 20 drafts from the end of last year and its time to share all of the good tunes.

Johnny Headband is another collective of Detroit artists who have their hands in other projects (Lettercamp, Electric Six, Desktop), but play together nicely as a 4-piece disco/electro band. “Over There” is the first single from their upcoming second LP and the video happens to be a hilarious work of oddball fun.

Thanks Deep Cutz
Over There by johnnyheadband

Johnny Headband – Over There from Johnny Headband on Vimeo.

Like Johnny Headband on Facebook

Remixers extraordinairre RAC put their own touches on Gigamesh‘s lead single “When You’re Dancing”. The building synth, vocals by Induce and handclaps make this cut perfect for your weekend pre-game. Look out for Gigamesh’s debut EP on October 18th.
Gigamesh – When You’re Dancing (RAC Mix) by RAC