Cake In 15

If you haven’t been keeping up with Perfect Porridge’s State of the Music Blog series, you’re missing out.  This is no shameless self promotion – although Cake In 15 founder Staciaann did contribute here.    It’s a great little overview of what people in various parts of the music world think about the music industry, & more specifically about music blogs & their role in that industry.

Greg is putting this series of interviews together in preparation for his panel at SXSW this year.  It’s an interesting read, & there are definitely more than a few takes on the music industry & where it’s headed.  Greg describes the subject of his panel as this: “Just how important are music blogs to the industry today, is that prominence growing or fading, and how will new technologies and strategies impact the marketing mix in the coming year? Join prominent music bloggers, record label and PR firm executives to discuss the state of the industry and what’s around the corner.”

To get your own fix of the discussion without actually attending the festival, go here to read the various interviews he did in preparation.  We look forward to hearing how everything went down in Austin.  Minneapolis represent!

This Saturday another show takes over both the Entry & Mainroom at First Avenue.  It’s a awesomely affordable way to see the hand-picked bands representing Minneapolis who are showcasing at SXSW in Austin, Texas.  Also, there are donuts for $1!

There are two parts to this insane $5 deal – the Mainroom boasts six heavy-hitters in the local music scene: Jeremy Messersmith, Lookbook, City on the Make, Peter Wolf Crier, The Pines, & Romantica.  The Entry hosts the semi-finalists of Vita.mn’s Best of Local Bands contest where you’ll get to see newbies Bight Club, Hunting Club & Joey Ryan & the Inks!  Whoever wins that faceoff in the Entry will play again in the Mainroom at 9:15pm.

The whole she-bang is hosted by two of our favorite people, The Current’s Mary Lucia & Vita.mn’s Christian-Philippe Quilici.  There’s an afterparty in the Entry following the whole thing with The Moongoons!  There is no better bang for your buck this weekend.  Hope to see you there!

Unless you live in a cave or under a rock or maybe just don’t like music (huh?), then you’ve probably heard of Daytrotter.  I’d highly suggest creating an account on the site, as then you’re privy to the free downloads for bands like White Rabbits, Delta Spirit, Frightened Rabbit, & Bon Iver.  You can also check out local Minneapolitans like Jeremy Messermith, whose session just went up yesterday!  Do it, you’ll love it.  We promise.

Download Mp3 (more at Daytrotter!):
A Girl, A Boy & A Graveyard

Yes, it’s that time of year already.  For the fourth year in a row Staciaann will be booking the stages at the Stone Arch Festival of the Arts!  Past bands include Romantica, Roma di Luna, Spaghetti Western String Co., The Alarmists, The Idle Hands, Brad Senne, Chris Koza, Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps, Jeremy Messersmith & many more.

The Stone Arch Festival attracts around 100,000 people each year & takes place June 19 – 20 along the Minneapolis Riverfront (by St. Anthony Main).  It runs 10am – 6pm both days, so there’s plenty of time to book yourselves a night gig elsewhere if you so desire.  It’s a great opportunity to showcase your band or other performance group and get your name out there.

In order to apply, go here to download & fill out the application.  Then send in the necessary items by April 1, 2010 & away we go!

If you have any questions, Staciaann can be reached at stonearchperformance@gmail.com.

Ok Go… do you remember them? They’re the guys on treadmills that do that “routine” in that video? That amazingly wtf routine that made them viral? The one you tried to do at the gym, but failed miserably because you just couldn’t get eight treadmills lined up correctly?

Ok Go has a new album out. With a new album comes new videos. Ok Go wants you to watch their new video for the single “This Too Shall Pass.” However, their label EMI uses You Tube, and thus forbids embedding as embedding = no cash for EMI. The band, however, understands that maybe you don’t want to/won’t go to You Tube, so they’ve made the video available to embed via Vimeo, even though EMI won’t see a penny. It’s all explained quite eloquently here.

Ok Go explains the overall problem with today’s music industry like this:

What we’re really talking about here is the shift in the way we think about music. We’re stuck between two worlds: the world of ten years ago, where music was privately owned in discreet little chunks (CDs), and a new one that seems to be emerging, where music is universally publicly accessible. The thing is, only one of these worlds has a (somewhat) stable system in place for funding music and all of its associated nuts-and-bolts logistics, and, even if it were possible, none of us would willingly return to that world. …All the same, if music is going to be more than a hobby, someone, literally, has to pay the piper. So we’ve got this ridiculous situation where the machinery of the old system is frantically trying to contort and reshape and rewire itself to run without actually selling music. It’s like a car trying to figure out how to run without gas, or a fish trying to learn to breath air.

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

So, for now, here’s the bottom line: EMI won’t let us let you embed our YouTube videos. It’s a decision that bums us out. We’ve argued with them a lot about it, but we also understand why they’re doing it. They’re aware that their rules make it harder for people to watch and share our videos, but, while our duty is to our music and our fans, theirs is to their shareholders, and they believe they’re doing the right thing.

So watch the Ok Go video above via the band’s Vimeo posting… and then go BUY their album to make up for it.

Oh, and watch this again.  It’s brilliant.

Goner Records just posted this on their site:

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our good friend Jay Reatard. Jay died in his sleep last night. We will pass along information about funeral arrangements when they are made public.

Download Mp3:

It Ain’t Gonna Save Me

Tiny Little Home (Demo)

Staciaann & CAS of www.CakeIn15.com cordially invite you to an evening of Murder and Death with Jeremy Messersmith. Jeremy will be performing two shows for select audiences, featuring all new material, unfinished songs, murder ballads and death.

Email us at CakeIn15@gmail.com to win a pair of tickets to Jeremy’s 4pm doors/4:30pm show.  The show is TOMORROW, January 10th. We’ll draw & notify a winner Sunday morning at 11am.

Good luck!

** For more details on how you can buy tickets to either the 4pm doors/4:30pm show or 7pm doors/7:30pm show, please email Staciaann@CakeIn15.com **

Shows are limited to 35 people.  The 7pm show is almost sold out.