The Heavenly States was formed from lesser bands in a lab outside of Silicon Valley. They just had a new album drop not too long ago called Delayer. The CD case artwork is rather unique. It is made up of semi-transparent paper with the lyrics and song titles from the page underneath showing through giving it a layered look, hence - Delayer. Check out the interview and check out their myspace.

After a few major van problems, The Hanks have continued their tour in support of their new album - Distance. We caught up with them for an interview and impromptu photoshoot. Check it out.

Here we are again kids… time to learn about a band that you SHOULD know about if you weren’t too busy watching your Tivo reruns of American Idol or Americas next top blah blah blah. I’m staying in San Diego for the time being - there is some REALLY good music coming out of San Diego right now. Here are my good friends Get Back Loretta

Ketamine - Get Back Loretta

Drugs are bad MMMMKAAYYY

In the spirit of full disclosure I have to admit that I’m a bit biased. These are good friends of mine but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re some of the funniest dudes I’ve met. Check out their MySpace site to see some home made videos:

www.myspace.com/getbackloretta

Im a big fan of music. That’s a pretty general statement; of course, everyone loves music. There’s so much out there to choose from. We are constantly exposed to cool, new, exciting artists who entertain us with incredible music. Then, there are the artists who never seem to go away. Here is my list of artists that need to leave us alone:

THE ROLLING STONES - You have enough money already. Take off, Wankers.
MILEY CYRUS - I’ve never heard your music, but I know I hate it.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - You don’t have to go totally away, just play in New Jersey.
NICKLEBACK - Holy Shit, Nickleback is still a band that people pay to see!
BRET MICHAELS - You suck so much ass. Please leave, and take your makeup with you, pansy.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK - My God. I thought we got rid of you, for good, a long time ago.
KISS - BORING
JOURNEY - I stopped believing a LONG time ago.
MOTLEY CRUE - Crue Fest?? More like Suck Fest.
KENNY CHESNEY - Douche in a cowboy hat.
JANET JACKSON - Your ass of a brother has gone under the radar, maybe you should do the same.
BRITNEY SPEARS - You are only around because you looked good about 10 years ago.
KANYE WEST - There isn’t a bigger Douchebag in the entire world. Your music is shit Kanye, and so are you.
DIDDY/PUFF DADDY/PUFFY BITCH/WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS - Ok, I lied, you’re tied with Kanye for the Biggest Douche Award. I didn’t realize people could love themselves as much as you and Kanye do.

This list should in no way be viewed as complete. I could go on and on and on, but I don’t have all day to write this.

posted by bus

As you probably know “Record Digging” is searching for old records to find breaks, samples, etc. to be used in a new way to create new music.. In DJ/hip hop Culture it is a common hobby embraced by most all DJs. They’re continually striving to find new fresh sounds from old records that haven’t been used by others.

1) Record Shops – I’m here in Salt Lake City and we have some awesome record shops. My 2 favorites are Randy’s Records and Record Collector. Both stores have a large $1 selection as well as large collection of more collectible jazz, soul, funk and hip hop records.

2) Thrift Shops – thrift shops can be a gold mine when It comes to finding good old records. Often times you can get a collectible album that would be $20-$30 per record at a traditional record shop for only $1. Here in SLC, I like to hit up Deseret Industries and few others. It’s hit and miss but when you hit you can sometimes hit big.

3) Garage Sales – look though you local online classifieds and www.craigslist.com for garage sales. Usually you can search the ones that have records. If they do often times they include their phone number so you can call ahead and ask them about the types of records they have for sale. Sometimes you can find some real treasures.

While searching one thing that helps out is to have an idea of what you’re looking for. Year of release, label, musicians that performed on the LP, etc. all play a key role in helping find good music that you may be totally unfamiliar with. I personally lean towards the 1955 – 1970’s era especially the Jazz, Funk and Soul Records. They are a great representation of the time and era that they were created in and I think they offer some unique cultural commentary. I also love the fact that I’m part of a generation that got to see music delivery go through some radical changes. I’ve lived in the years of records, 8 tracks, cassette tapes, compact discs and mp3’s. What’s next?

I think the day of the .mp3 is numbered, soon there will be a new standard that will sound better and probably take up less space. I have noticed that .mp3 audio compression really seems to flatten the sounds compared to normal cd audio. We currently live in the age of High definition audio and video, .mp3 compression is certainly not HD, it’s LD (low definition) at best.

Thanks for checking out my post and I wish you all the best, please go out and dig up some good ole’ records

Cheers.

Mike