"Love Will Tear Us Apart" Joy Division cover performed by DETACHMENTS and Peter Hook (New Order, Joy Division, Freebass) at The Salford Foundation Trust benefit last week. DETACHMENTS will have 2 of their New Order covers featured in the upcoming release Ceremony - A New Order Tribute February 2010 by 24 Hour Service Station, which benefits the Tony Wilson Award - a children's charity by The Salford Foundation Trust.
24 Hour Service Station is an Independent Record Label & Media Distribution company who exposes artists to the world via physical and digital channels.
Friday, December 4, 2009
VIDEO: Detachments & Hooky perform "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" Joy Division cover performed by DETACHMENTS and Peter Hook (New Order, Joy Division, Freebass) at The Salford Foundation Trust benefit last week. DETACHMENTS will have 2 of their New Order covers featured in the upcoming release Ceremony - A New Order Tribute February 2010 by 24 Hour Service Station, which benefits the Tony Wilson Award - a children's charity by The Salford Foundation Trust.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Peter Hook & Detachments - Perform For The Salford Foundation Trust
Peter Hook, New Order bassist, and supporter of The Salford Foundation Trust, joined in the celebration of achievements of young people in Salford last Friday (Nov 27). He accompanied the London band DETACHMENTS in a live musical tribute to the late Factory Records founder, Tony Wilson with a few New Order covers as well as Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" during a celebratory event at The Lowry Hotel.
The Detachments will have 2 of their New Order covers featured in the upcoming album Ceremony - A New Order Tribute. 24 Hour Service Station will be releasing the album on February 20th 2010 with proceeds benefiting the Tony Wilson Award.
The Trust, a grant-giving charity, has set up this special Award which helps children and young people to take up music, dance or drama & to pursue ambitions and interests that enhance their personal development.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Kites With Lights For Christmas
New Christmas Release from Kites With Lights - "I Wish Every Other Day Was Christmas"
Kites With Lights graces us with a classic electronic Christmas song reminiscent of "A Wonderful Christmas Time" by Paul McCartney. It's a Holiday song for every day, especially those outside of the Yuletide Season. The B-side of the single is an instrumental version.
Available on iTunes, Amazon, Emusic & all other digital outlets on November 24th!
KitesWithLights.com | 24HourServiceStation.com
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
New Video - POCKET feat. Dave Smalley
Enjoy this NO budget clip that Dave and Pocket whipped up with the aid of a web cam, Pocket's own hand-held camera, a backyard fire pit and the flashing lights of Los Angeles.
NEW RELEASES
feat. Steve Kilbey - "Hear In Noiseville"
XOXO - C'est La Vie - In Stores Today!
XOXO is a Top Pick at Babysue.com: "Full of playful melodic pop. We rarely review EPs...and only in cases when the music is really exception. This disc most certainly falls into that category. C'est La Vie features some fantastic pop tunes presented simply without unnecessary fanfare. The vocals are particularly appealing...and the arrangements are kept to a bare minimum which allows the listener to concentrate on the vocal melodies and lyrics. Seven killer tracks here including "Fly Superman Fly", "Done and Done", "A Song for the Reminiscent", and "Merry Times". TOP PICK."
Their New EP: C'est La Vie
Available in stores Nov 3rd:
XOXO on MySpace
Gods of Fire - Hanukkah Gone Metal
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Beauvilles playing Austin City Limits & CMJ Fests
The next month is Fest Month. The band is performing this week at the Austin City Limits Festival Oct 2-4 including the ACL Fest After-Party at Trophy's Friday 9pm and Roadhouse Rags After-Party Saturday night. The Beauvilles will then head out to New York City for the CMJ 09 Music Marathon & Film Festival Oct 22-24.
Friday, September 4, 2009
POCKET: Double EP Feat. Craig Wedren & Dave Smalley
POCKET: DOUBLE A-SIDE EP’S FEATURING
CRAIG WEDREN & DAVE SMALLEY
Plus remixes by Styrofoam, GD Luxxe & Spoolwork
DESCRIPTION
Something different this time:
2 separate singles, each acting as the others B-Side!
Craig Wedren (Shudder To Think) and Dave Smalley (Dag Nasty, Down By Law) both have connections to DC’s hardcore scene and Dischord Records, so it seems like a fun idea to release them together! POCKET used pieces of the same Satoshi artwork for the covers so if you hold them together, you get the complete picture. Videos for both songs will be released in conjunction with the singles.
POCKET, aka Richard Jankovich, fronted electro pop group Burnside Project whose “Cue The Pulse To Begin” was the title theme of Showtime’s Queer As Folk.
He has remixed Radiohead, Beck, Joanna Newsom, Of Montreal, Kristen Hersh, Antony & The Johnsons, Asher Roth and many more.
POCKET’s latest project is a series of singles with A-Sides featuring a “Dream List” of legendary vocalists to collaborate with. These songs are paired with B-Sides where he introduces breaking artists. Each release also features three remixes
by producers from across the spectrum of electronic music, such as Styrofoam, Justus Köhncke & GD Luxxe.
EP TRACK LISTING
THE SINGLES:
SOMEONE TO RUN AWAY FROM Featuring Craig Wedren
1. Someone to Run Away From
2. Beautiful Gray Featuring Dave Smalley
3. Someone to Run Away From [Spoolworks Remix]
4. Someone to Run Away From [Askew Remix]
5. Someone to Run Away From [Asphalt Thieves Remix]
BEAUTIFUL GRAY Featuring Dave Smalley
1. Beautiful Gray
2. Someone to Run Away From Featuring Craig Wedren
3. Beautiful Gray [Styrofoam Remix]
4. Beautiful Gray [GD Luxxe Remix]
5. Beautiful Gray [The Message Remix]
Digital Versions of both EPs available 9/21/09 at iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody & all other outlets.
Physical Versions available 12/1/09 from MVD
FEATURED VOCALISTS & REMIXERS ON PAST & FUTURE POCKET SINGLES
Tanya Donelly (Belly, Throwing Muses, Breeders), Danny Seim (Menomena), Mark Burgess (The Chameleons UK), Sal Principato (Liquid Liquid), Mux Mool (Ghostly), Justus Köhncke (Kompakt), Alien Skin (Real Life), Styrofoam (Nettwerk), Steve Kilbey (The Church), Robyn Hitchcock, Yuki Chikudate (Asobi Seksu), Slim Moon (Kill Rock Stars), Kites With Lights
For more information please contact:
Sonshine Ward
sonshine@24HourServiceStation.com
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
88.5 FM Woodstock Re-Creation
Words from 88.5 FM Program Director, Randy Wynne
Randy Wynne is still reeling from last night's Woodstock Tribute. "This was one of the best - if not the very best - WMNF events ever. Highlight after highlight, too many to list here but I may do so later, or post them from youtube if they show up there. ...Every band rose to the occasion with truly inspired music and theatrics. I dare say in some cases they surpassed the original Woodstock music.
1) Shawn Kyle and The Beauvilles loud, punky re-creation of The Who in the mode of young rebels making a generational statement (to aging baby boomers), with their set opening with "My Generation" and closing with "Young Man Blues"; and yes, Shawn did smash a perfectly good guitar. 2) Macon GA singer Jessica Alkinson as Janis Joplin, 18 years old and what a voice! 3) Scott Elliot as Joe Cocker, a revelation!"
- Randy Wynne, Program Director 88.5 WMNF
Photo Credit: Robert Vessenmeyer
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Pocket & Steve Kilbey - New Video "Hear In Noiseville"
New Video! POCKET feat. Steve Kilbey (The Church)
Words from Mr. Kilbey's Blog about the "Hear In Noiseville" video with Pocket:
Thursday, August 13, 2009
mouth like a torn pocket
and i sang some stuff n sent it back
it wasnt quite my cup of tea
but it had a certain joie de vivre that i liked
it seemed very eighties
but i didnt understand that that was its trip, did i?
i was listening to it at my daughters place in sweden
when their ears
pricked up
"daddy,THIS is really cooo-oool" they said
this is...? i say
(you see sometimes i dont know what i'm doing or
what anybody else is either)
listening to it thru a new set of ears
its a perky poppy feelgood little thing
its still got words like "inevitably " in it
so its not a total pop out
but you know
its catchy n singalong-y
if you like that kinda thing
sometimes we all do, dont we?
so richard gets all these weird mixes down n stuff
and he asks me to help do a vid
oh the wonders of the modern age
casting my mind back twenty years
the pain n drudgery and yes
the outrageous expense
of making a video
if richard had suggested this twenty years ago
i would have to have found a camera man
a lighting man
someone to synch it up
a caterer and blah blah blah
then have to shoot it
process it
edit blah blah blah
get it over to the u.s.
blah blah blah
but wow
i did my bit last night
richard did his thing while i slept n went out for a walk
come home its already up on you tube
pocket featuring steve kilbey "hear in noiseville"
go n take a look
(warning: if you hated anchorage from th'other day
you may not like this!)
but lighten up
hey richard
i think you did a marvellous job!
the song and the vid are a real gas!
good on you, my man!
stealing a feeling a feeling
revealing a feeling i felt!
oh ha ha
the eighties live on forever
thats rocknroll, children
and everythings possible
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Kites With Lights - New EP!
This debut EP is packed with electro pop gems that float between dance floor dreams and rainy day delights.
DESCRIPTION
Kites With Lights is Electro Pop for a rainy day, a blissed out dance floor or a late night drive.
Timeless is the key to a Kites With Lights tune: A clean and clear aesthetic: Electro Pop with a purpose. Kites With Lights incorporate looking up and staring down, a dramatic curve where raindrops equal dance beats, and somehow you feel that the film in your dreams finally has a soundtrack.
TRACK LISTING
- The Weight Of Your Heart
- A Mystery
- We're Ready
- The Space
- Sound Of The Rain
FOR FANS OF
Junior Boys, New Order, Cut Copy, OMD, Radio Dept, Electro Pop
PRESS
"The most beautiful and powerful synthpop we've ever heard"
-Electronic Sub South
"Filled with sweeping, lush, and pristine sugar coated pop nuggets that are a complete rush to the head"
-First Coast News
FREE DOWNLOAD
"The Weight Of Your Heart"
Kites With Lights New EP "The Weight Of Your Heart" is now available digitally at iTunes, Amazon, & Emusic.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
New POCKET Feat. Steve Kilbey of The Church
“Hear In Noiseville” with Steve Kilbey of the legendary Australian band, The Church (”Under The Milky Way”), is now available everywhere. Includes remixes by Justus Kohncke (Kompakt), Alien Skin (Real Life) and Peter Flowers as well as b-side “Break Your Heart Wildly” feat. Kimi Recor (Lilofee). Other Music.com says this is the best in the series so far!
iTunes
Amazon
Other Music
POCKET REMIXES GLEN PHILLIPS (TOAD THE WET SPROCKET)
Pocket was asked to remix “Blood Pressurize” a great track by RemoteTreeChildren, a new band which features Glen Phillips (the singer from Toad The Wet Sprocket) and John Askew (Tracker, Faux Hoax). Click the link above to listen!
ANOTHER POCKET INTERVIEW
Pocket sat down with the staff of Evil Monito, a cool music and design blog, to talk about his projects, his life and why he loves Los Angeles! Click the link above to read in it’s entirety.
AND…
In case you missed it, all 3 Pocket Singles are available for purchase at your favorite retailers - see below:
“Surround Him With Love” Feat Robyn Hitchcock
“Sampo” Feat Yuki Chikudate
“Hear In Noiseville” Feat Steve Kilbey
iTunes
Amazon
Other Music
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
A Pocket Full Of Mixes
Pocket (aka Richard Jankovich) is the newest addition to the 24 Hour Service Station family.
His new single, the third in a series of collaborations with legendary musicians, is "Hear In Noiseville" featuring Steve Kilbey of The Church. The EP also includes remixes from Alien Skin, Peter Flowers, and Justus Kohncke, who recently remixed Depeche Mode's "Peace".
Jankovich was the principal creative mind behind the NYC-based electro-pop band Burnside Project. Well-versed in pop music production, he's quickly become one of the most celebrated remixers today. As Pocket, Jankovich has done remixes for Beck, Radiohead, Kristin Hersh, Of Montreal, Elk City, Joanna Newsom, Cat Power, Dirty on Purpose, Antony & The Johnsons and many many more. His collaboration partners include: Robyn Hitchcock, Tanya Donelly (Belly), Steve Kilbey (The Church), Sal Principato (Liquid Liquid), Yuki Chikudate (Asobi Seksu), Craig Wedren (Shudder To Think) & Danny Seim (Menomena).
Pocket's cover of New Order's "Sub-Culture", featuring Tracy Shedd (Teenbeat Records) & Shaun Robinson of Oppenheimer (Bar None Records), can be heard on the NewOrderTribute.com website.
Check out the new single "Hear In Noiseville" featuring Steve Kilbey:
Free Download of "Hear In Noiseville"
Website
MySpace
24 Hour Service Station
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sneak-Peek of NewOrderTribute.com
24 Hour Service Station has launched the beta of NewOrderTribute.com, the website for their covers album, CEREMONY - A New Order Tribute. Get a sneak peek of the website while it is up for testing and undergoing the finishing touches. The site will have information on all the artists involved, the songs they chose, and their thoughts on New Order, with dedications to Tony Wilson and details on how the album will benefit talented children through Salford Foundation Trust's Tony Wilson Award.
Click Here For a Sneak-Peek
Friday, May 22, 2009
NEW ORDER - Tribute Album In The Works
We are currently putting together CEREMONY: A New Order Tribute a covers album to benefit the Salford Foundation Trust’s Tony Wilson Award.
Our record label, 24 Hour Service Station, is assembling this tribute album to honor the music of New Order while benefiting children through the Tony Wilson Trust. This double CD and digital album is scheduled for release in the fall of 2009.
We have a wide variety of talented artists participating in this compilation including Rabbit In The Moon, Kate Havnevik, The Cloud Room, SUNBEARS!, Jah Division, Kingsbury, The Penelopes, GD Luxxe, DETACHMENTS, Pocket, Dub Gabriel & Mark Pistel (Meat Beat Manifesto), The Beauvilles, XOXO, Glomag and many more!
Artists are offering up a version of their favorite New Order track, as well as their take on “Ceremony” for the extra disc.
Proceeds from record sales will go to the Salford Foundation Trust’s Tony Wilson Award, established in memory of Tony Wilson, the founding father of landmark independent record label Factory Records, who died of cancer in 2007.
The trust will benefit children and young people who can demonstrate a special talent or ambition in the arts or creative skills.
For more information, please contact
Sonshine Ward at 24 Hour Service Station:
sonshine@24hourservicestation.
Song Samples on MySpace
Salford Foundation Trust
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Beauville's "Snow" Best Video Award
Best Video at Sunscreen Film Festival
We are very proud to announce the video for The Beauvilles' song “Snow” won the award for Best Video at The Fourth Annual Sunscreen Film Festival
Director: Jon Wolding / Ground Up Films
Congrats boys!
FREE DOWNLOAD of The Beauville's "Snow"
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Happy-Go-Lucky Exclusive With XOXO
Is there another layer to Orlando's gleeful pop band XOXO?
Free Download of their perky new single "The Dissociative Fugue"
By Justin Strout
XOXO
For the record, I just wanted to play some Wii.
Local indie pop band XOXO have just recorded their debut EP, C’est la Vie, and after about a year of intensive name-building, playing every regional show they could get their hands into – not to mention this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival – it’s time I got to know them.
But I’ve been pummeled by a head cold for going on a week now and I could really use some fun, something that XOXO happen to specialize in. From their scattershot tour blogs hosted by Orlando Sentinel to the infuriatingly sunny rainbow beaming out from a guitar case on their album cover, to say nothing of their now-famously cute band name that translates to “hugs and kisses,” who better to shake me out of my funk? To make things even more impossibly exultant, perennially merry Jeff Ilgenfritz of Mumpsy produced C’est la Vie. And he just bought a Wii. “I’ve been totally downloading everything with Mario or Zelda/Link from the old consoles. Valhalla!” he boasts. That sounds perfect.
Instead, I’m sniffling my way toward Seven Sisters Coffeehouse on Mills on a muggy evening. XOXO singer Noah Kussack and bassist Kyle Raker sit out front to greet me. Apparently, the Seven Sisters are doing well enough in this economy to afford closing by midday. Wally’s is a block away, but they only take cash. For all their DIY attitude toward music, Kussack – who rode his motorcycle directly from his day job pimping cell phones – and oxford-and-tie admissions rep Raker are all plastic. We settle in at Will’s Pub across the street.
The bartender politely agrees to turn down the day’s soundtrack blasting from overhead. While I would typically kiss her feet for playing long-forgotten early-’90s Miami bass, it makes it tough to listen attentively to the guys’ tale of meeting at Florida State University and somehow deciding that Orlando was the best major music market within spitting distance. If they can’t transport me to the magical land of XOXO, where everything’s poppy and shiny, maybe they can tell me something about them that isn’t so sparkling.
“I’ve never been happier in a band,” says Kussack. Raker points to the addition of fellow FSU alum Andy Matchett as a fourth member as one of the reasons they’re excited about their prospects. “We contrast the happier, dancier rock with some really heavy lyrics. Some of my lyrics are not happy. But that’s not something you’re gonna get upon initial listen. I mean we’ve got a rainbow on the cover. If you don’t read the lyrics you could pretty quickly dismiss us.”
“What we’re doing is pretty straightforward,” says Raker. “I don’t think we’re putting forth a big effort to put on something that makes us more ‘real’ than anything else.”
“We’re just making this band sound like it’s the gayest, happiest group ever,” laughs Kussack. “There’s no ego issues.”
To be fair, Kussack is right about the lyrics. C’est la Vie is littered with sly, subtle invective, especially the opening track, “Fly Superman, Fly.” In what could be considered the most cheerful atheist manifesto recorded, the synth and piano–assisted singalong wonders aloud if religious devotees also still believe in Superman: “How do you still believe what you say?/Between the progress of science and the strength of our brains/The time on our hands has proven wicked in our case against you,” sings Kussack. He admits that he’s softened his vitriol towards religion since becoming involved with his fiancee, a devout Christian, and that a lot of it was born from the loss of his mother several years ago, a deeply personal story he’s forced to shout over the song currently filling the room.
The highlight of C’est la Vie is the midpoint track “Life … in General,” an anthemic, Townshend-windmill-strumming epic about three fictional characters – Jack, Di and Tim – and their various everyday struggles that leave them unhappy. “Remember, time waits for no one,” Kussack belts. The track is immediately followed by the Beatles-by-way-of-Chili-Peppers ballad, “A Song for the Reminiscent,” a cloud-bound heartbreaker of yearning and regret. That it takes several listens to pinpoint the moments of sorrow is a credit to the four-piece band’s inherent pop gift. And on a day like today, when happy pop has proven a mediocre medicine, those hints of mourning are the best kind of gifts.
jstrout@orlandoweekly.com
Check out XOXO on MySpace
24 Hour Service Station
Thursday, April 30, 2009
XOXO CD Release - C'est La Vie
Posted Wednesday, April 29th 2009 by Scott Harrell
REAX Music Magazine
X.O.X.O. - say "hugs and kisses," or don't, depending on your willingness to indulge - crafts an equally earnest and quirky sort of indie-pop that's really too original to describe via the usual comparisons to Weezer . Shades of everything from the Elephant Six collective and Of Montreal to disco, go-go and edgy post-folk are evident in the band's sound, without ever sounding cluttered. Mostly, it's just beat-happy and innately catchy, with a melancholy scrim of clouds sometimes obscuring its inherent sunniness.
The Orlando group has a new album out called C'est la Vie, and it's pretty damn irresistible.
24 Hour Service Station is co-releasing the record with Orlando's Post Records. 24 Hour Service Station is handling the CD and Digital, while Post presses vinyl and CASSETTE. Yep, they are putting music on tape!
The're taking the CD release on the road starting tomorrow with a trio of shows:
THURSDAY, APRIL 30 - Will's Pub, Orlando
X.O.X.O., The Royal, Relondondo, Only Thieves - 8 p.m.
FRIDAY, MAY 1 - Crowbar, Ybor City
X.O.X.O., Relondondo, Geri X - 8 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 2 - Fox & Hound Pub, Oalkand Park (SE Florida)
X.O.X.O., Rolondondo, more - 10 p.m.
So get on out and help the guys celebrate their great new recorded effort by kicking up your heels and kicking in a few bucks for a copy of C'est la Vie.
MySpace
XOXO Website
24 Hour Service Station
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Geri X on King Kong Klub Compilation
From the press release:
It always goes like this: ''I heard that band "X" will soon release song "Y" on your label. That's an amazing track! Can you please send it to us? We'd love to play it in our club!'' We wonder if they were trained by the STASI or if they just bug our phones and read our e-mails (and do that to the other labels as well)? Anyway, KING KONG KICKS is always ahead of the game when it comes to being up-to-date and focus on new, not yet well-known bands. So of course we couldn't say ''no'' when we were asked if we wanted to produce a CD with the 25 best ''KING KONG'' songs.
Here is the result!
YEAH!
KING KONG KICKS - Compilation Volume 1
(TR152/CD 928742/4047179287425)
Headliners and big names have never been one of KING KONG KICKS' trademarks. For years it's been blazing through the German club scene without blatantly fake glamour, and now in its 9th year, it still manages to stay ahead of the pack. The first compilation, put together by Christian Vorbau and Frank Eichstädt, contains all the KING KONG hits that drag us onto the dancefloor week after week and don't release their hold on us until the eyes are closed, hands are in the air and the refrain comes out of our mouths. How nice to know that now you can take these unforgettable clubnights home without having to depend on what are supposed to be big names.
Whoever thinks that 25 penalty KICKS aren't possible will be taught a lesson. While the A&Rs are like deer blinded by headlights, KING KONG takes advantage of the shadow, does its homework and has the courage to be gutsy.
Release Date: April 24th
Geri X on MySpace
GeriXmusic.com
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
John Wesley Signs Digital Distribution Deal
24 Hour Service Station Signs Digital Distribution Deal With Internationally Renowned Musician John Wesley
Wesley has toured the U.S. and Europe extensively to support his independent European releases and as a performing member for Marillion, Fish, Porcupine Tree, and Sister Hazel.
The music of John Wesley has been called lyrically sensitive and musically dynamic. Wesley's current brand of guitar-driven acoustic and electric songs represent the cultivation of a diversity of inspirations from alternative, progressive, classic rock and folk genres intertwined with poignant lyrics drawn from the poetry of the common man. His skillful, versatile and energetic guitar style complements with fury his soulful emotionally-charged vocals, reminiscent of Roger Waters and Bruce Springsteen. What appeals to Wesley's fans worldwide is the spark of sincerity and sensitivity so often absent in today's mainstream music.
http://www.myspace.com/johnwesleymusic
http://www.24hourservicestation.com
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Atom and His Package Tribute Album
Atom and His Package Tribute Album
to Benefit the American Diabetes Association
24 Hour Service Station is distributing a new tribute album to Atom and His Package entitled Up End Atom. Released on Hartless Hind Records, the album is a non-profit project whose proceeds will benefit the American Diabetes Association. Featured artists include mcchris, the Zambonis, MC Lars, Worm Quartet, Math the Band, Zolof the Rock 'n' Roll Destroyer, and others.
The album will be available digitally and physically on July 14, 2009 via MVD distribution.
Why pay tribute to Atom and His Package?
In his six year career, Atom not only made a massive amount of friends touring the country, but also influenced hundred of kids to start bands. His DIY ethics and relentless touring schedule made him a folk-hero in the underground scene, and he has released albums on No Idea, Fearless, Sub City and many other record labels. His nerdy looks and quirky sense of humor made him a beloved character. Five years after the "break up" of Atom and His Package in part due to the mounting health concerns of dealing with diabetes, a tribute album aimed at Atom benefiting the American Diabetes Association seems incredibly appropriate.
http://www.atomandhispackage.com
http://www.diabetes.org
www.myspace.com/atomhispackage
http://www.myspace.com/hartlesshindrecords
http://www.24hourservicestation.com
For more information, please contact Sonshine Ward:
sonshine@24hourservicestation.com
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Beauvilles "Snow" Video
24 Hour Service Station
"Snow" from the Whispering Sin album
"This music is damn good."-Eric Olsen, NYTimes
"A great band."-Jon Langford WXRT,Chicago
"Brilliant and unique songwriting."-John Wesley, the PorcupineTree
"Those guys are fucking crazy..."-Jason Isbell, Drive By Truckers
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Beauvilles SXSW Showcase
Joran Oppelt - Creative Loafing
The Beauvilles‘ 6 p.m. headlining showcase at B.D. Riley’s had gotten moved, and I was well on track to at least making an appearance at the rescheduled rooftop show at The Wave. Creative Loafing was the official band sponsor, so I at least needed to show up and buy a couple drinks.
The Wave was a small little tourist trap of a bar, and you had to force your way to the back of the room, then squeeze between the sound board and the left side of the stage in order to access the stairway to the second level. This level was also standing room only, and I was greeted upstairs by none other than Shawn Beauville himself.
“You’re just in time to see the band from New Zealand with a #1 single that just got signed to Warner Brothers,” he said.
I actually couldn’t tell at first whether he was being sarcastic, but after Midnight Youth played their first song, it was obvious to everyone that these guys were tight as hell (If you can imagine a cross between Spacehog and Night Ranger). Yeah, maybe not the greatest example, but you have to give their new single, “All on Our Own,” at least one listen.
Our boys were under some palpable pressure to follow up with a really strong performance and it didn’t help that the patio was so small that the sound man ordered everyone ”away from the stage” to do the changeover. Once in position, Shawn wasted no time, immediately taking control of the sound check, and starting to get everyone back into the room for the impending rock show. Before they began, Shawn leaned down to hand me his camera and said, “We’re going to wreck shit.”
And wreck it they did.
The sound carried off the roof and filled 6th Street. Shawn snarled lyrics into the mic about Ybor City and Tampa cab rides, and girls in cowboy boots and sundresses screamed right back at him. The guys in the crowd were banging their heads with half-closed eyes. Shawn offered CDs to the crowd for donations, but the dancefloor was so tight that we had to form an assembly line of money to the front of the stage and an assembly line of CDs back out to the crowd. Eventually, as Shawn was off tangled in cables atop the kick drum, soloing with a bottle of Lone Star, John yelled, “Fuck it,” and handed the entire box of discs to the girls in the front row, who proceeded to fling them into the screaming crowd, who all dove and fought for the discs as if they were candy. I wondered where the rest of the Tampa people were at, but found out the next morning that the BAAMO crew couldn’t even get in because the fire marshall stopped letting people into the building.
When the show was over, the sweat-drenched band signed autographs and took photos with the crowd until the last-call lights came on. As I left, I heard one of the band members say, “Best. Set. Ever.”
Creative Loafing Blog
posted Mar 22nd
Friday, March 27, 2009
NEW ORDER Tribute Album
Looking For Bands Inspired By NEW ORDER
Florida independent record label, 24 Hour Service Station, is assembling a tribute album honoring the music of New Order entitled CEREMONY: A New Order Tribute benefiting the Salford Foundation Trust's Tony Wilson Award.
Proceeds from record sales will go to the Tony Wilson Award, established in memory of Tony Wilson, the founding father of landmark independent record label Factory Records, who died of cancer in 2007. The trust will benefit children and young people who can demonstrate a special talent or ambition in the arts or creative skills.
We are putting the word out for ALL BANDS who would like to participate in this project and submit a version of their favorite New Order song.
The top 30 cover submissions will make it onto the physical album.
Contributing artists are offering up 2 covers, a version of their favorite New Order track, as well as their take on “Ceremony” for the extra disc.
Our deadline for submissions is May 31, 2009.
The double CD and digital album is scheduled for release in the fall of 2009.
Interested artists please contact Sonshine Ward for more information:
sonshine@24hourservicestation.com
Song Samples: myspace.com/ceremonyanewordertribute
Supported by: neworderonline.com
Salford Foundation Trust: salfordfoundationtrust.org.uk/tony
Thursday, March 26, 2009
24 Hour Service Station Embraces The Digital Frontier
Creative Loafing Article
E-TAIL GIANT: Marshall Dickson has kept his 24 Hour Service Station label open for 15 years.
You don't keep a small independent record label afloat for 15 years without being quick to adapt to new marketplace realities. That's one of the reasons that 24 Hour Service Station, an operation based in Wesley Chapel, is still standing. In 1994, when Marshall Dickson -- a local record store manager and DJ -- started the imprint with one act, Rosewater Elizabeth, he pressed CDs and cassettes, delivered them to local indie outlets and pimped the product in any way he could imagine. He eventually set up a deal through an independent distribution company, but none of his acts ever broke out with significant sales.
To coin a phrase: My, how things have changed.
These days, Dickson runs 24HSS with his fiancé Sonshine Ward and consultant Michael Cornette under a substantially revamped model. It's still a record label that signs and markets new product by mostly Bay area bands. Geri X, The Beauvilles and Car Bomb Driver are among the acts on his roster. But the company also includes 24 Hour Distribution, which acts as a conduit to major online retailers like iTunes, Rhapsody, amazon.com and a slew of smaller ones. 24 Hour's middleman to these consumer delivery systems is a San Francisco-based firm called Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA).
The upshot: Acts affiliated with 24HSS get their product on a plethora of "e-tail" sites. But it's not just Dickson's signed acts. He has a roster of smaller labels that go through his portal -- roughly 20 imprints that total around a hundred artists. They range from a U.K.-based label that specializes in a form of Island dance music called soca, to an outfit that distributes ambient sounds of trains, waves and waterfalls to help people sleep.
"I'm definitely dealing with volume, trying to get as many lines in the water as possible," Dickson, 39, says. "Hopefully, we'll end up getting a lot of bites."
Dickson says his digital downloads, from which he makes pennies, are steadily on the upswing, and expects that his 24HSS enterprise will continue to provide him a living, if not make him well off. "You find something you love and call it work," he says.
Dickson has embraced this brave new music world -- he understands he didn't have a choice -- but admits that the whole thing is in major flux. Online retail is full of opportunity, but fraught with something akin to chaos. "From my point of view and the artist's point of view, it's a better world in a sense," Dickson says. "The gates are open. But it's a worse world in that the gates are open but the fence is down and everyone's rushing the stage."
It's crucial that indie artists and labels do whatever possible to stand out amid the clutter. That routinely entails exhaustive online outreach in an attempt to make the music go viral. Sure, talented artists can try and try and never see the light of day, but Dickson maintains faith in the new musical meritocracy. "It happens organically, not because an A&R man chose you and you're on MTV, but because you're good," he says. "It takes longer to get there but it's more genuine."
Indie online distribution provides one major advantage to artists: They make roughly 50 cents on a dollar with downloads, compared to a fraction of that if they happen to be on a major label. It also offers advantages to 24HSS. "With digital, once you have the mastered recording, there is no real overhead," Dickson explains. "No damaged copies, no returns."
He says that 24HSS still provides recording budgets -- albeit small ones -- for the acts on its roster and even presses a limited number of CDs to be sold at gigs. But by and large Dickson's day-to-day workload take place in cyberworld. One of 24HSS's major jobs is to promote the product: distribute "sell sheets," bios and press materials; reach out to critics and bloggers and other tastemakers by sending them promo material and links to mp3s. "For instance, we might give away a song to 850 people and 150 people buy it," he says. "We can live with that."
Even though Dickson is functioning in a far different fashion than even a half-decade ago, he's still an A&R man, still choosing the acts he signs and distributes. He accepts unsolicited submissions and samples most all of them. "There's so much chaff you gotta get through," he explains. "But it's really just a matter of clicking a link. You can feel [if it has potential] right away. You're looking for bands that have a good website, 30,000 friends and four or five albums out but can't break through, rather than a band with 14 friends and mom's calling them for dinner."
A line on Dickson's resume helps him navigate the new paradigm: For eight years, from the late 1990s into the 2000s, he worked for Sony Music in marketing, sales and graphic design. "I came in just as the big spending was ending," he says.
Even though Sony considered his running 24 Hour Service Station a conflict of interest, Dickson kept it alive on the down-low. When it came to digital awareness, he was way ahead of the curve at Sony. "I bought a CD burner and was downloading music in the office," he says. "I'd say, 'Y'know, the new Pearl Jam is out there [online],' and people would say, 'How'd you get this?' I was on the cutting edge of what was happening in digital transfer. I was totally on board with Napster. I realized that the genie was out of the bottle and you couldn't put it back in."
After Sony laid him off, Dickson resumed running 24HSS fulltime. "I learned from what the majors did wrong," he says. He has also learned to have patience. Not long ago, the now-defunct Rosewater Elizabeth's 15-year-old debut album, which the label still makes available digitally, recouped its costs. Any future sales are pure profit.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Ceremony: A New Order Tribute - benefits the Tony Wilson Award
Florida independent record label, 24 Hour Service Station, is assembling a tribute album honoring the music of New Order entitled CEREMONY: A New Order Tribute.
The double CD and digital album is scheduled for release in the fall of 2009.
Slated participants include Jah Division, The Cloud Room, Kingsbury, The Penelopes, Allegra Gellar, The Beauvilles, Kites with Lights, Dub Gabriel and many more!
The trust will benefit children and young people who can demonstrate a special talent or ambition in the arts or creative skills.
sonshine@24hourservicestation.