| Tour Dates
08/20/08 Birch Aquarium with Shawn Mullins San Diego, California
08/21/08 Border’s Books In-Store San Diego, California 08/30/08 KUSI morning show San Diego, California 09/21/08 Main Stage - Oceanside Harbor Days - Alex Woodard and the Naysayers Oceanside, California 10/04/08 House Concert Series - Seattle Seattle, Washington 10/11/08 House of Blues with Chris Cagle San Diego, California 10/17/08 House Concert Series - Alex Woodard and the Naysayers New York City, New York 10/25/08 Casbah - Alex Woodard and the Naysayers San Diego, CA 12/06/08 Casbah - Alex Woodard and the Naysayers San Diego, CA, California 12/10/08 House Concert Series - Lafayette, LA Lafayette, Louisiana 12/11/08 Ogden Museum - Alex Woodard and the Naysayers New Orleans, Louisiana 12/12/08 Julep - Alex Woodard and the Naysayers Jackson, Mississippi 12/13/08 House Concert Series - Memphis, TN Memphis, Tennessee 12/15/08 Tin Roof I Nashville, Tennessee |
Alex Woodard's self-titled debut album is out today, and if you've kept up with site.w♥m, you'd know that you can get him to write a song about you if you pre-order his album.
The link is still available, probably until the end of today, so if you want to brag to your friends that you have a song about you...
It looks like you need to use PayPal to buy his album, and your email will then be used so they can contact you directly about your personal song. You'll also be grant exclusively to "The Woodshack" for more cool stuff with Woodard.
I wasn't offered his album for review, but based on this one song, "Reno", I thought this news was worth mentioning. It has a country/western feel to it, and I did like the duet with Sara Watkins. Her sweet southern comfort voice is a nice counterweight to Woodard's country pop vocals.
Anyway, if you got a chance to check out W♥M Podcast #19, I did mention at the end that I would like to do more coverage on international artists. Fortunately, we received enough artists for this article.
| SOUND AND FURY soundandfury.com ♥ myspace.com
Most of the more metal/heavier rock I have given over to Soup, but on occassion, I would grab something if it looks interesting. Anyway, I thought I'd take a stab at listening to Canada's Sound and Fury's debut album - mostly because of the William Shakespeare's reference ("A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing") and their stunning cover art (who says album artwork doesn't sell a record?) The cover is a die-cut of "SF" covering most of the men in skull masks, which upon closer inspection looks like it might have been real skulls, photoshopped on their bodies. Getting past the cover artwork, this album is actually pretty rockin'. I can already hear AC/DC and early punk influences in their song (especially with the vocals and some of the frantic guitar riffs), this band sounds like they are from the 70s/80s. They seem like a relatively young band, being that this is their debut album (just released June 26th on Rebel Youth Records). Plus a lot of their subject in their songs involves early age/high school, such as "18", "Teenage Rampage", "School's Out", and "High School Hotbox"... hey as they say: write what you know! They are sure getting their names out, being recently on the Warped Tour and now supporting Airbourne and Bang Camaro, so be sure to check them out all over the US and UK: August 20 Imperial de Quebec Quebec City
August 21 Le National Montreal August 22 Elements Kitchener August 24 Cowboy's Ranch London August 27 Garrick Centre Winnipeg August 28 Odeon Events Centre Saskatoon August 29 Event Centre Edmonton August 31 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver Sept 1 Sugar Victoria Sept 12 Pearl Street Northampton, Massachusetts Sep 13 Asylum Portland, Maine Sep 25 Double Door Chicago, Illinois Sep 26 The High Noon Saloon Madison, Wisconsin Sep 27 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, Minnesota Oct 3 King Cobra Seattle, Washington Oct 4 Dante’s Portland, Oregon Oct 5 Bottom of the Hill San Francisco, California Oct 8 The Roxy Theatre Los Angeles, California Oct 9 Beauty Bar Las Vegas, Nevada Oct 10 The Casbah San Diego, California Oct 11 Plush Tucson, Arizona Oct 24 Exit/In Nashville, Tennessee Oct 25 EARL Atlanta, Georgia Nov 1 Cardiff University Cardiff, UK Nov 2 Bristol Academy Bristol, UK Nov 5 Birmingham Academy Birmingham, UK Nov 6 Sheffield Octogon Sheffield, UK Nov 7 Liverpool Academy Liverpool, UK Nov 8 Manchester Academy Manchester, UK Nov 10 Dublin Ambassador Dublin, IRE Nov 11 Belfast Mandela Hall Belfast, IRE Nov 13 Inverness Ironworks Nov 14 Dundee Fat Sams Nov 15 Glasgow Barrowlands Glasgow Nov 17 Newcastle Academy Newcastle, UK Nov 18 Leeds Met University Leeds, UK Nov 19 Stoke Victoria Hall UK Nov 20 Nottingham Rock City Nottingham, UK Nov 22 Oxford Academy Oxford, UK Nov 23 Norwich UEA Nov 24 Cambridge Junction Cambridge, UK Nov 26 Folkestone Lees Cliff Hall UK Nov 27 Astoria London, UK Nov 28 Astoria (TBA) London, UK Dec 1 Laiterie Strasbourg, France Dec 2 Boule Noir Paris, France Dec 4 Apolo 2 Barcelona, Spain Dec 5 Theatre Barbey Bordeaux, France Dec 6 Rolling Stone Milan, Italy Dec 7 Rohstofflager Zurich, Switzerland Dec 8 Flex Vienna, Austria Dec 15 Small Vega Copenhagen, Denmark Dec 18 Grunspan Hamburg, Germany Dec 21 Backstage/Werk Munich, Germany Dec 28 Colas-Saal Ascahffenburg, Germany
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SOUTH south.uk.net ♥ myspace.com
If their description of "Coldplay" and "Travis" doesn't turn you off, then you'll love this London-based trio, South. Although (based on their fifth album, You Are Here), they do sound more contemporary British pop/rock, they did originally started out as more of an electronic act. This is especially evident with their work with Stone Roses' Ian Brown (the Madchester scene is still some of the most influential music today) and UNKLE's James Lavelle (who was so impressed with these lads that he signed them on his own personal label, Mo' Wax).
Since I'm not familiar with their earlier releases, they must've shifted gears in 2003, after leaving Mo' Wax's label. However, there is a rumor, based on singer/songwriter Joel Cadbury's blog that suggests they might return to the more dancey origins because they want to release a brand new remix album. I'm sure you'll see that soon, if not next year. Listening to their latest album, I absolutely the crazy horns on "Lonely Highs", it sounds like some Spanish flamenco song... completely out of the blue. But listening to enough music, I can tell you that the single that everyone will love should be "The Pain". This song starts off with a nice bass, followed by a very Kink-esque melody. Other songs worth checking out are "Wasted", "Better Things", and "She's Half Crazy" ("don't you know that she's half crazy?"). The good news is that if you live in the US, the album is available domestically via Bluhammock. Be sure to check out some of our coverage of their other bands: Virginia Coalition and KaiserCartel. PS, there is a hidden song at the very end of "Zither Song". It sounds like a warped record, but it's a nice bonus. |
| DONNA LEWIS donnalewis.com ♥ myspace.com
Welsh singer/songwriter, Donna Lewis, rocketted into fame with her 1996 VH1 hit single, "I Love You Always Forever" from her platinum-selling debut album Now in a Minute. If you have never listened to pop music, just head over to her myspace and you'll be in for a treat. The song has a very catchy rhythm, and the lyrics seems to go on and on. For fans of Lewis, you'll be happy to know that she's been steadily releasing music - her latest from last year is In the Pink. I can see from her album that "You to Me" is probably the hit single, it tries to capture that "I Love You" feeling, but more acoustic and sweeping backing vocals. An excerpt of the song appears again in a reprise version, just to remind you that this is the song. Apparently I am wrong, because her single from this album is "Shout", a jangley acoustic song with a focus on her sweet voice. The title of this album, not a reference to Tori Amos, comes from her song, "Pink Dress". This track, along with "Obsession" (I love the whispery "wishing well" that sounds like she's singing "whissing well") and "Shut the Sun Out" suggests more of an electronica/dancey future for Lewis. Although I like seeing this kind of experimenting and change, I don't think her hardcore pop fans would appreciate this... but I did enjoy her dance songs a lot more than her love/sugar pop songs. In the Pink have been out since April through the US via Peruzzi Music and Redeye Records. |
SALME DAHLSTROM salmedahlstrom.com ♥ myspace.com
Although currently based in New York, this DJ/singer/mixer/music producer, Salme Dahlstrom, was born in Sweden. Once again, the Swedes does not disappoint with this latest release called, The Acid Cowgirl Audio Trade - out today, August 19th via Kontainer Records. After a short introduction to the album ("this is your brain on music..."), you're hit with an explosive dance number, "Bombastic". This is a hard-hitting song, it uses a lot of drumming and beats and it's just very catchy. I will have to point out that her "playful" imagery of a salute on the cover artwork as well as the lyrics "line up like a Nazi/watching every move that I make" might offend some overly sensitive people. Although I don't have a problem with it, I know this subject is still relatively taboo. It's also hard to listen to this album without thinking about another Swedish woman called Robyn. Especially in the easy-to-sing-along "C'Mon Y'All" (the main lyrics are "ooh la la, sing ooh la la, c'mon y'all"). She's clearly a talented woman, having written and put together all her songs. It looks like The Acid Cowgirl Audio Trade might be her debut album, consisting of two previously released EPs, with three brand new tracks ("C'mon Y'All, "Bombastic" and "Wearing The Peace"). She's supposed to be on tour for support of this album, so I'll be sure to mention her tour dates if those are made available. |
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