Breaking News!

It has just been announced that a project featuring Jay Hudak, bass player of seminal psych-grind masters AN ALBATROSS, and song-writer hero DEVENDRA BANHART, are involved and performing in a new project together called MOON & MOON!

Having been recording in New York City for the past month, MOON & MOON, who feature a wide array of musicians (and belly dancers!), have just announced their first ever New York City show which will take place at the TRASH BAR in Brooklyn TONIGHT (Moon & Moon will take the stage at Midnight)!!!!!!!!

Jay -> Devendra ->


The Trash Bar is located at 256 Grand St. between Driggs and Roebling
(Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY)


http://www.thetrashbar.com/


Also be on the lookout for the forthcoming AN ALBATROSS full-length entitled “Blessphemy (of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear-Warp Kumite),” out this May on Ace Fu Records!

For more information on An Albatross, visit www.analbatross.com and http://community.livejournal.com/an_albatross/

hey friends! welcome to the first installment of the Solid PR Joke of the Day (or week, depending on how much we wanna make our boy work ;) the Joke of the Day is contributed by our good friend Gordon Downs, contributor to Modern Fix and Impose Magazines. feel free to drop him a line and thank him for the laughs at info@gordondowns.com and visit his website www.gordondowns.com!


Joke of the Day

The WB and the UPN networks recently merged to create one big shitty channel.

They've already got a show in pre-production that's a cross between 7th Heaven and The Parkers.

It's called "Get The Hell Off My Lawn!"

- Gordon Downs

You can also catch Mr. Downs live @ this years Solid PR Fest taking place on March 16th @ the SXSW marathon in Austin, TX.

March 16th @ The Velvet Spade (2 stages)
AN ALBATROSS, MEASLES MUMPS RUBELLA, MAN MAN, DEVOTCHKA, PARTS AND LABOR, NO THINGS (ex-Liars), PTERODACTYL, POST OFFICE GALS, THE GREAT REDNECK HOPE, VELELLA VELELLA, and more!

we hope to see you there!

Thank you to Parag, Adam & Brian from UrbanGroove, Heather of Asics & Onitsuka Tiger, Milly representing the Beauty Bar, James from Flameshovel Records, Bronques of LastNightsParty.com, The people at Lespri, our fabulous guests, and all who made the Onitsuka Tiger House @ Sundance a success. We hope to see you next year!



Please check The Onitsuka Tiger house gallery on www.lastnightsparty.com for photos!

Breaking News!

It's just been announced by our brothers at the Hydra Head and Sonic Unyon imprints that the following releases will see new street dates:

EVERLOVELY LIGHTNINGHEART "Cusp" (Hydra Head) - new release date of February 7th

AEREOGRAMME "Seclusion" (Sonic Unyon) - new release date of April 4th




Some other news has been announced from these fine labels including:

Look out for upcoming releases in the new year by HYDRA HEAD INDUSTRIES by the likes of JESU, OXBOW, BOTCH, CAVE IN, and tons more! other very exciting Hydra Head news to come ;)

A NORTHERN CHORUS (Sonic Unyon) has announced the routing for their upcoming US tour in support of their latest "Bitter Hands Resign" - dates posting shortly!

for more information, visit www.hydrahead.com and www.sonicunyon.com

INTRODUCING DJ FRANKI CHAN



FRANKI CHAN is a man of many faces and talents. Best known as one of the founders of the burgeoning ‘indie’ DJ scene, he calls himself, DJ FRANKI CHAN, and plays a unique blend of Hip Hop, Indie Rock, Soul and 80’s, in other words, “the hits.” Franki is also one of the best known party promoters within the U.S., running a production and promotions company, as well as a record label, all under the moniker IHEARTCOMIX PRODUCTIONS, PROMOTIONS & RECORDS. To top it off, Franki is an accomplished comic book illustrator and graphic artist, often designing the artwork for all the IHEARTCOMIX events and products, as well as being hired out freelance.


BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1978 in Florida, but raised in Indiana by his mother, Linda, Franki Chan was a mischievous youth. Franki discovered a passion for comic books, drawing and the performing arts, constantly involving himself in anything from drama club to video production to self-made illustrated stories. It was in junior high school that he met some like-minded friends and discovered punk rock music. He took up the drums and began aspirations to play in a band. He was an outcast to his peers, often feeling the brunt of degrading comments and brutal fistfights. At 16, he jumped at the opportunity to move with his father for a couple years, who was in the Navy, to Okinawa, Japan. It was here that his foray into punk rock and life started to blossom, experiencing all his firsts (car, bands, girlfriends, etc) in a foreign land.
It wasn’t until he moved back to Indiana, in 1996, that the true path of his life really began to solidify. Franki was desperate and anxious to continue playing music. He found a flier advertising a band needing a drummer. Once he tried out, he was in. The band was OPERATION: CLIFF CLAVIN, and with this, his life was changed forever. He spent close to 3 years touring and recording. His eyes were opened as he discovered the underground network of D.I.Y. shows, ‘zines, and tours. Though the band broke up and Franki moved to Bellingham, WA, this was the path he would continue on.

In Bellingham, Franki found a town that was similar to his home town in Indiana, but different in the sense that it didn’t seem to have the same spirit of community. Franki moved into a space called The Showoff Gallery, an all ages venue passed down from the generations past, and began booking shows. The venture was a success, garnering attention in the northwest and hosting some the earliest shows of such notable bands as Death Cab For Cutie, Bright Eyes, The Dismemberment Plan, The Murder City Devils and Botch, finally cumulating with the 4-day, 50 band festival, “Showoff Or Shut Up.” Franki helped put Bellingham back on the musical map, getting bands and agents to start routing the city back into their tours. Franki also made the majority of the fliers for the shows, artwork and design of everything associated with the space; giving it its own, unique identity.
In 2001, Franki became the Assistant Booking Agent, under Jason Lajuenesse, of Graceland - a music venue in Seattle. As a team, Jason and Franki, were almost invincible, hosting the majority of the bigger shows in Seattle and heralding acts from Interpol to The Mars Volta. Franki took it upon himself to book certain ‘Graceland special events,’ such as Zombie proms, Rock Star Softball games, the popular weekly, Monday-Funday, and even flying in comedy troupe, Stella, for their very first west coast appearance. At the same time, Franki became well known around town for throwing house parties and eventually moved into the upper level of Graceland, right above the stage. He began throwing after-parties for the shows below and eventually expanded to another, even larger room in the building (with help from Lajuenesse), appropriately dubbed The Egg Room, for its egg shape, that housed the dance floor. It was during these after parties and the Graceland special events mentioned above that Franki began his career as a DJ, sharpening his skills into the wee hours of the morning, day in and day out.
Continuing with his love of drawing and graphic design, Franki had kept up on making posters for the shows he’d booked, but was also often hired to make posters for many shows around town. He began to get so involved in doing this, that he decided it was finally time to take the first step and managed the gusto to create his very first comic book, a black and white, autobiographical tale entitled, ‘Filling In The Holes.’ He peddled the comic around town, to local comic book conventions and finally taking the plunge and taking it to the mother of all comic book conventions, the San Diego Comicon. His comic was met with critical acclaimed and praise. It quickly sold out and he found himself on the fast track within the comic book community. He decided maybe it was time to leave the music/party world and pursue his other passion.

Franki began the long drive back to Seattle with these aspirations. Making a quick stop in Los Angeles on the way home, Franki found a fresh city, ripe for the plucking; A perfect place to move and start anew, that would help cultivate a life that would include the pursuit of comic books, or so he thought. In 2003, Franki moved to Los Angeles with comic aspirations, but soon found it wasn’t what the future had for him. He began a weekly night, for kicks, with rock star, Har Mar Superstar, at Hollywood hang out The Beauty Bar, called ‘Fucking Awesome.’ The night became a smashing success. Har Mar had to bow out due to his touring responsibilities, Franki found a new partner in the form of Steve Aoki of Dim Mak Records.
Franki and Steve quickly bonded and expanded to include multiple other nights around the Los Angeles area and beyond, including Cinespace’s Tuesdays at Cinespace (along with third partner Jason Stewart), Block Party at 1650, Sunday-Funday at the Downtown Standard Hotel Rooftop (which got a write up in Rolling Stone), Fucking Awesome NYC at Beauty Bar New York and Loose Tooth at Joseph’s (along with URB Magazine). All of these nights, including Fucking Awesome, hosted guest DJ’s or even as a live performances, just about every important band or pop culture figure involved in the scene today, including anyone from Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Bloc Party to Hot Hot Heat to Shepard Fairey to Juliette Lewis. Franki, as he’d done in the past, kept with the habit of making the posters for the majority of the events he’s involved in. Still holding onto his dream and passion for comics, shortly after he began Fucking Awesome, Franki also launched his company, IHEARTCOMIX as a way for him to publish his own comics and posters and as a name to throw the parties under.
With the parties being so successful in Los Angeles and the art becoming more noticed, IHEARTCOMIX evolved into more of a real entity and Franki decided it was time to go solo and expand, not only outside of L.A., but also into other arenas. Thus, IHEARTCOMIX took on, not only the role of party planning and production company, but promotion company and record label as well. Franki and IHEARTCOMIX are currently hosting parties in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Chicago on a regular basis, as well as various other one-offs worldwide. IHEARTCOMIX is also planning to launch a line of clothing and products all featuring the artwork of Franki Chan.

---

Franki Chan spins at Hollywood’s CineSpace every Tuesday, and at URB magazine sponsored Loose Tooth every Thursday, also in Hollywood.

Coming soon to a future near you:
New web site iheartcomix.com will launch next week.
Franki Chan is showcasing his art 1/19 at …
Cryin’ Tiger/iheartcomix limited t-shirt will be out in mid-January.
Poketo designed wallets and shirts with my Franki Chan’s drawings and new iheartcomix button sets will be out in February.
Franki parties in Seattle and Boston in February.
Iheartcomix showcase at SXSW at the Beauty Bar.

DJ FRANKI CHAN HIGHLIGHTS!
- PRIVATE PARTIES FOR: Paris Hilton, Juliette Lewis, Spike Jonze, Ashley Simpson, Warner Bros, Interscope Records, ASCAP, Capitol Records, URB magazine, Filter magazine, Fader magazine, Vice magazine, Nylon magazine, Flaunt magazine, Diesel, Levi's, Morphine Generation, MTV, Netflix
- FESTIVALS & ONE OFFS: SXSW, Coachella, Sundance, CMJ, Winter Music Conference, Magic/Pool Trade Show, Noise Pop Festival, Bumbershoot and a guest appearances at Misshapes (NYC)



www.frankichan.com
www.myspace.com/frankichan
www.iheartcomix.com
www.myspace.com/iheartcomix

Hi everyone and happy New Year to you! I’d like to tell you about a new company we’re working with, New York City based UrbanGroove. They’re involved in many exciting and future-forward events, so I broke it down for you below. Please let me know if you want more information on any of them!


ABOUT URBANGROOVE
UrbanGroove is a seasoned creator of artist and brand development campaigns that defy traditional methods of entertainment marketing. UrbanGroove executes event campaigns that fuse breakthrough talent, partners, custom marketing, and PR. The company penetrates lifestyle accounts that breed cutting edge popular culture to build buzz on new artists, video games, clothing lines, beverages, and gadgets. UrbanGroove is embedded in over 30 major and secondary college markets, having developed and nurtured strong relationships with radio, press, and student groups to introduce products to, and establish brand identities with, this extremely influential demographic. They understand digital media and how to integrate emerging audio, Internet, and wireless technologies, while their relationships with online media accounts are unparalleled. UrbanGroove has a network of thousands of entertainment tastemakers, including musicians, industry VIPs, DJs, and producers, who learn what is next in entertainment from our exclusive product seeding and research applications. UrbanGroove is focused on understanding the entertainment industry, including knowing what is current, what is next, and what is relevant to the lifestyle.

---

MOBILE FAN CLUBS
UrbanGroove has created the “Mobile Fan Club,” a custom artist development program that bridges cutting-edge wireless and online technologies with nationwide grassroots reach. “The concept of a mobile fan club creates an instant and closer connection between the artist and the fan by way of SMS/mobile phone text message technology. Regular fan clubs that use email to inform their fans are often slow and unreliable, since news about tour changes, album updates, and radio or TV airplay tend to happen in an instant and necessitate a quick turnaround time for artist communiqués to fans,” says UrbanGroove’s Brian Lucrezia. “Seeing how the text message platform utilizes a wireless function, and the majority of the population carry mobile phones, it’s a completely natural evolution in band to fan communication.” UrbanGroove’s expertise in digital marketing, retail & lifestyle marketing, and strategic marketing gives fans exclusive access to content and promotions.

THE ONITSUKA TIGER HOUSE at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival
*January 21 – 24, 2005 in Park City, UT w/ JetBlue Airways, Heineken, and Beauty Bar
UrbanGroove has staked out a hot location for this year’s Sundance Festival. With entertainment by A-list talent along with house amenities such as a sauna, hot tubs, and game room, The Onitsuka Tiger House provides Sundance Film Festival guests the perfect retreat in Park City. Onitsuka Tiger will be showcasing their new Spring 2006 line, hooking up all the guests with gear along the way.

BEAUTY BAR
There are many facets to UrbanGroove’s collaborations with The Beauty Bar – from beauty pageants to after-parties for some of today’s hottest bands! The latest is DEATH + TAXES: Tuesday nights at Beauty Bar New York. Death + Taxes is a new magazine from the people that recently brought you Law of Inertia Magazine. They’ve teamed up with UrbanGroove to give you a place to unwind and have fun, making Mondays less manic. With open bar from 10-11pm, complimentary Sparks starting this month, guest DJs galore, products from Nike and Globe, in addition to free copies of the magazine you will be eyeball deep in entertainment.

Please let me know if you have any questions, need more info, or would like to speak with the fine folks at UrbanGroove about their super cool ideas of neo-marketing!

The mighty AN ALBATROSS has just announced details on their forthcoming follow-up to theior 2003 debut "I Am The Lazer Viking" entitled "Blessphemy (of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear-Warp Kumite)" due out April 18th on the Ace Fu and GSL imprints...



PitchforkMedia.com Reports!

An Albatross Ready Blessphemy, Tour U.S., Europe

It's official: the forthcoming album from Philly spazz addicts An Albatross will be the trippiest record in the history of the world. Due out in the spring on Ace Fu Records (GSL will handle the vinyl), it bears the moniker Blessphemy (of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear-Warp Kumite). Beat that, Acid Mothers Temple! Bow down, Devendra! And could a generation of jam bands ever come up with anything approximating the following song titles? No fucking way:

01 In the Court of the Bear King
02 Lysergically Yours, My Psychedelic Bride
03 Dimensional Gymnastics
04 Trust the Sun, the Symphonic Sunrise
05 Divine Birthrite (Maiden Voyage of the Grape Ape)
The Trilogy:
06 I.) Behold the Light
07 II.) Profane Illumination
08 III.) The Illumination of the Nation
09 Tussin and Turnin' All Night
10 Hairobics
11 The Ballad of the Electric Coyote
12 I Will Swim Into the Lazer Eye
13 Feastgiver
14 Cosmic Gypsy
15 Sacred Geometry
16 Death Rides a Brown Horse
17 Stormbringer
18 The Eyes of the Jaguar

The album may or may not be longer than 11 minutes.

In the meantime, let's all tune in, turn on, drop out, and make our ways to the following cities to await the arrival of the peace-beast:

01-07 Montclair, NJ - Bloomfield Ave. Café
01-08 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
01-09 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
01-10 Richmond, VA - Nanci Raygun
01-11 Charlotte, NC - Tremont Music Hall
01-12 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
01-13 Orlando, FL - Will's Pub
01-14 Tampa, FL - Infinity Room at Masquerade
01-15 Jacksonville, FL - The Pit
01-16 Nashville, TN - The End
01-17 St. Louis, MO - Creepy Crawl
01-18 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
01-19 Detroit, MI - The Shelter
01-20 Buffalo, NY - Kitchen Distribution
01-21 Shamokin, PA - The Capitol Venue
01-22 New Britain, CT - Trinity on Main
01-23 Altoona, PA - Classic Attitudes
02-01 Amsterdam, Holland - The Winston Club
02-02 Berlin, Germany - Kastanie
02-03 Bischofswerd, Germany - East Club
02-04 Esslingen, Germany - Komma
02-05 Prague, Czech Republic - Club 007
02-06 Vienna, Austria - Chelsea
02-07 Würzburg, Germany - Café Cairo
02-08 Trier, Germany - Ex-Haus
02-09 Gent, Belgium - Gallery Hoet-Bekaert
02-10 Nottingham, England - Liars Club @ Social
02-11 Coventry, England - Jailhouse
02-12 Bristol, England - The Louisiana
02-13 Exeter, England - The Cavern
02-14 Lille, France - Malterie
02-15 Paris, France - Point Ephemere
02-16 Strasbourg, France - Zanzibar
02-17 Toulouse, France - Vents Du Sud
02-18 Barcelona, Spain - Bee Good
02-19 Bordeaux, France - Heretic
02-20 Montpellier, France - La Baloard
02-21 Geneva, Switzerland - LeKab
02-22 Lyon, France - Grnd Zero
02-23 Bologna, Italy - Ex Mercato
02-24 Mailand, Italy - Leoncavallo
02-25 Dornbirn, Austria - Café Schlachthaus
02-26 Darmstadt, Germany - Oetinger Villa
02-27 Mülheim, Germany - AZ
02-28 Hamburg, Germany - Hafenklang
03-01 Rotterdam, Netherlands - The Worm
03-02 Brussels, Belgium - Recyclart

http://analbatross.com

REBECCA PRONSKY EMBARKS ON AN EAST COAST TOUR!

Rebecca Pronsky’s sweet blend of styles is both new and yet something familiar. Her dark and clever lyrics are carried by her jazz-trained voice over the deep grooves produced by her talented band. She boldly blurs genre lines while staying true to a solid and accessible songwriting style all her own.
*photo by Evan Sung for NewYorkCool.com


TOURDATES

Thursday, January 5; New York, NY
Bowery Poetry Club - 308 Bowery at Bleecker; 10PM, $6
w/ Mary Mulliken, Matt Lydon

Thursday, January 26; Easthampton, MA
Pioneer Arts Center (P.A.C.E.) 41 Union Street
8PM, $7 ($5 adv)
Singers in the Round Series w/ Adam Sweeney & Emily Greene

Friday, January 27; Cambridge, MA
Toad 1920 Mass Ave; 10PM - 12:30AM, Free
w/ Kate Klim

Saturday, January 28 - Cambridge, MA
Middle East The Corner - 472 Mass Ave - 10:30PM, Free
w/ Meg Allison

Sunday, January 29; Providence, RI
AS220 115 Empire St. - 9PM, $6
w/ Christopher Monti, Elvis Perkins, and the Audrey Ryan Band!

Monday, January 30; Portsmouth, NH
Red Door 107 State Street - 8PM, $5
w/ Jennifer Greer & Justin Catalino

Wednesday, February 15 - Brooklyn, NY
Bar 4 - 444 7th Avenue at 15th St - 10PM, Free

Local Correspondents Series

Saturday, March 11; Princeton, NJ
Triumph Brewing 138 Nassau Street - 10PM, $5

Tuesday, March 14; Philadelphia, PA
World Cafe Live 3025 Walnut Street - 8PM, $5
Second Tuesdays w/ Christine Havrilla

*Rebecca also appears at The Songwriters Exchange night at Vox Pop. For more information, please visit http://www.rebeccapronsky.com/songwriters-exchange.html


BIOGRAPHY
When Rebecca Pronsky was just 8 years old she began singing professionally. At this tender age you could find her with a local rock performer in her hometown of Brooklyn, NY. This teacher showcased Pronsky’s singing talent at a weekly show at the Bitter End night-club in New York City. The crowd loved Pronsky, and not surprisingly she immediately felt enamoured to performing. Fast forward past the wonder years and there she was - a full-fledged teen singer-songwriter. Pronsky had picked up the guitar and began to write her very own songs.

Pronsky moved up to Providence, Rhode Island for college where she attended Brown University. She studied ethnomusicology and jazz voice, all the while thinking, drinking, and dreaming. She was a regular performer on campus and around Providence. Her best songs from that era can be heard on her debut solo album “Milestone.”

Rebecca Pronsky returned to New York City after graduation, where she found herself in a kind of post-grad limbo. With no clue what would become of her and months of miserably pretending to enjoy life in the working world of day jobs and fluorescent-lit offices, Pronsky began pursuing music whole-heartedly. She put together a band that helped her to explore and expanded her music. In the years since, she has toured the northeast and played venues as notable at The Living Room, Makor, and Southpaw (NYC) to the Middle East, Club Passim (Boston), Grape Street Pub and Steel City Coffeehouse (Philly) and Velvet Lounge and IOTA (DC), as well as smaller cities in between and colleges too. Rebecca Pronsky has become a unique talent in the New York City acoustic music circuit.

Pronsky’s sweet blend of styles is both new and yet something familiar. Her dark and clever lyrics are carried by her jazz-trained voice over the deep grooves produced by her talented band. She boldly blurs genre lines while staying true to a solid and accessible songwriting style all her own.