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These guys won best new artist at the 2009 San Diego Music Awards.

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Pretty much the coolest video I’ve posted today.  Triceraton is from San Diego.

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These guys e-mailed us with their music video, so I posted it! It looks pretty slick.

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This is Current Television’s exclusive airing of Radiohead’s “Scotch Mist.” In this hour long private taping, Radiohead performs all of the tracks from its newest album, In Rainbows. Other elements include poetry readings and diverse imagery created or selected by the band.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Music video for A Perfect Circle’s “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums.” Maynard pokes fun at the two-party system, war, media, and our former fearless leader.

New short film “Treat Me Like Your Mother” for The Dead Weather directed by Jonathan Glazer. The new album Horehound is in stores on 7/14/09. The Dead Weather is: Alison Mosshart, Jack White, Jack Lawrence and Dean Fertita.

www.thedeadweather.com

As far as music scenes go, Los Angeles is the crème de le crème.  Countless bands (for better or for worse) have attained household-name status starting their careers here: Beck, Maroon 5, Weezer, and The Pussycat Dolls are just the tip of the smogberg. We’re talking BIG.  Overexposed.  Commercialized.  So while this is probably the first time you’ve been aware of their existence, Division Day is ready to melt your face with some self-proclaimed “post-industrial blackened romantigaze.”  Whatever that means.

Beartrap Island, the group’s last album released in ‘06, established the band as a legitimate cultural force.  They were even namedropped on the first episode of the CW’s “90210” and their music has been played in a couple of different MTV shows.  The album was a sprawling exploration of their own musical souls, with the band later concluding that they may have been trying to do too much to please everybody (despite the radio-friendly hits “Hurricane” and “Tigers”).  Following a split with their label Eenie Meenie Records, the four took time off to recharge and refocus.  (Music vid for “Hurricane” below)

The planets have slowly started to align for the foursome.  They’ve landed in the cozy nest of Dangerbird Records alongside current band du jour Silversun Pickups, who are getting ready to tear it up at San Diego’s Street Scene in a couple of weeks.  And now, with the full force of their label behind them, Visitation is dropping in stores and Itunes on August 18.

So how is the album?

Let’s start with song titles that would leave even Colin Meloy scrambling for his pocket dictionary.  Malachite? Planchette? Azalean? Don’t spin this disk expecting any sing-alongs, especially when frontman/songwriter Rohner Segnitz counts black metal among his primary influences.  But do expect a sonic fireball unlike anything you’ve ever heard.

“Surrender” is a skuzzy dance trip reminiscent of Modest Mouse’s “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes,” layering brooding lyrics atop a sinister beat.  “Black Crow” is a smooth, glorious piece that would sound at home on a Broken Social Scene album.  “Azalean” is a spacey ballad punctuated by soft, cascading guitar that I expect in some hipster romantic comedy in the near future, probably in a first kiss kind of scene.  My favorite tracks are “Visitation” (which is like a mature version of Spoon’s slinky cut “I Turn My Camera On”) and “Reservoir” (which is kind of like prowling in the Batmobile at 125mph with the top down).

Bottom line: If Radiohead got together with Pink Floyd and had a few drinks and one thing led to another, they might have given birth to Division Day.  Check out this album—if you dare.

http://www.myspace.com/divisionday

Fan Video for “Surrender”

Last year Santa brought me a gift certificate to Lou’s Records in Encinitas, my favorite record store in the whole wide world (I must have been so good).

This is Lou’s.  It’s a San Diego institution well worth a look.  Times are tough for record stores (RIP Poway Road Music Trader) because, for reasons that still leave me scratching my cavernous head, people prefer buying music online.  Where’s the fun in that? There’s an element of danger and risk inherent in driving/biking/skipping to my local music merchant that I personally find enjoyable.  I could get run over by a tow truck on the way there or arrive safely only to discover they just sold the last copy of whatever I was into that week.  And it’s impossible to deny that places like this are gold for meeting cool people (hipster gals holler back!).

Enough of my spiel on supporting the little guys.  I have to give Lou’s sufficient props because without it I would not have discovered Chromeo.  In a perfect world I could sit here and convince you that I’m open to all kinds of music, but that’s just not true.  Country music should go to another country and never come back.

Right now I’m into stuff that makes you want to shake your proverbial moneymaker on the dance floor.  In terms of production quality, Fancy Footwork doesn’t do anything particularly revolutionary.  What it does, though, is get the party started in a big way.

Chromeo is two dudes, David Macklovitch and Patrick Gemayel (David’s little brother is none other than A-Trak, who just happens to be Kanye’s DJ).  A-Trak at age 15 shown in the vid below.

Bear in mind these guys are from Canada, but nobody’s perfect.

Fancy Footwork is the duo’s second album, following on the heels of the well-received debut She’s in Control. Spin this record and expect some glitzy and shameless electrofunk to pump up the vibe.  Quality tracks include “Me and My Man,” “Momma’s Boy,” and “Tenderoni.”  The crème de la crème cut is, appropriately, “Fancy Footwork,” with its wicked bass line and soaring synths reminiscent of the sonic thrills from Annie’s Anniemal.  If you’re in the mood to get down to some bombastic beats (and I know you are), check ‘em out.  When you can’t get these songs out of your head, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Peep the official video for “Fancy Footwork” below.

We learned Thursday that one of the great musical talents in history passed away.  In case you’ve been MIA like Mark Sanford, the pop megastar suffered a heart attack and died at the tender age of fifty.  Who knows what the fallout from his passing will be, but one thing is certain: Michael Jackson has touched all of our lives.

Remember the first time you saw the music video for Thriller?  I do.  Actually, that’s a lie.   What I distinctly remember, though, is dancing in my diapers to two songs when I was a wee toddler.  The first was “La Bamba” and the second Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”  If nothing else, I have Jackson to thank for some of the most adorable (albeit incriminating) home movie footage ever.

Michael is credited both with releasing the best-selling album of all time and creating the most fodder for supermarket tabloids.  As a young lad he endured the early pressures of stardom while dealing with an abusive father, Joseph.  The Jackson 5 quickly picked up steam once people realized little Michael had been blessed with an incredible combination of talents.  It was only a matter of time before he broke out and did his own thing.  I think it worked out.

I could ramble on about his greatest accomplishments, but I will let somebody who knows way more about him take care of that.  Instead, I will leave you with a line from “Man in the Mirror” since it’s as pertinent then as it is now: if you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make a change.

If you do nothing else today, watch this YouTube video of him dancing in the Jackson 5. Fast forward to the 1:00 mark and ask yourself how a human can move like this.

The Jackson 5-Dancing Machine

RIP Michael.

So, Miss Heather Green… tell YOURMUSIC a little bit about yourself.

I was born in the tiny town of Julian, California in a log cabin with a well as our main source of water. You ever heard of the expression hippie baby? Probably not, but now you have. I was a hippie baby. I was raised in the North County of San Diego, mostly Encinitas. Encinitas is my permanent home, no matter how long I am away from it.

That’s awesome. What influenced your decision to become a musician?

Music has been a constant support for me in life. I’ve been singing since I was four or five. As I grew older I tried to focus my attention on other careers and goals, but through the support of others or just through my own wanting, life always lead me back to a career in music, through my voice.

Did you sing as a child?

My dad used to ask me to sing him songs whenever we’d take long car rides. Once, when I was young, we took a road trip from San Diego to Louisiana. Round trip in a car. That car trip consisted of Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson. My mom’s favorite artists were Melissa Etheridge and Soundgarden. Needless to say, my ears have been well cultured.

When did you start creating your own songs?

I went to Coachella in April of 2007, a three-day music festival in the desert of California, those three days are the reason I am a professional musician now. That experience is the seed of my career in music and there’s no doubt about that.

Where do you find the inspiration for your songs?

I find inspiration in so many things. Sometimes inspiration is small like a line in a novel I’m reading, and sometimes big, like somebody saying something to me that hits really hard. My boyfriend, Justin Froese, has been a huge inspiration and driving force in my career so far. If it wasn’t for him, my producer and co-writer, I would most definitely not be as far into my career as I am.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

I really love and respect musicians like Bjork, TOOL, DeVotchKa, Death Cab For Cutie, and so many more. They started small and worked their asses off to be who they are now as artists. The best part is that they never change who they are, and they are still loved.

I find these artists to be the most inspiring–the gas for the motor in my musical vehicle. Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Fiona Apple, Andrew Bird, Ray Lamontagne, Ryan Adams, Billie Holiday, Etta James, Portishead, and many, many more.

Do you live by a particular philosophy?

“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you really are” -Kurt Cobain.

What is music to you?

To me, entertainment is flashy, bold, eye catching, distracting. Music is something you use to go deeper. It’s an aid to real life. A gateway into your personal emotions, permission to feel. Music and entertainment, though they sometimes go hand in hand, are two very different things.

What do you think about the music of your generation?

Music will never change in that it is constantly growing, always shedding its old skin and growing new, fresh sounds. With that said, I think the music today has so many ups, so many beautiful and incredible artists, and at the same time, carries the weight of some pretty horrible sounds. No two artists can be the same, no matter how hard they try.

How is Heather Green different from all the others?

I am always wanting to bring a fresh, undiscovered sound into existence, but all I can do for now is make what I love to make, and hope that it is loved by others as well. My music doesn’t have a solid genre as of now. I’ll give you “Blues/Indie/Experimental.”

How would you illustrate your sound?

“The Belles and the Pirates shaking hands with Mad Lion and the Mouse.”

Where do you want to take your music career?

My goals as of now for my music career are to produce an independent EP that I’ve been working on. It’s been in the making for about 7 months now, and I’m more than ready to get it out into the fan hands and the public eye! Other than that, I’d like to continue performing on a regular basis and recording and writing new material. I want nothing more in this time of my life than to be a touring performer. I love the art that I perform, and I feel comfortable and happy when I’m on stage. The most important part of being a singer/songwriter for me is to not hold anything back and to keep growing. I hope my fans can experience that in their life and I hope my music helps them grow and love themselves. In the future I see myself on stages around the world. On album covers in the hands of thousands!!

To watch more videos on Heather Green, you can check it out at  http://yournetwork.tv/music_heather.php