April 2011
5 posts
New track from our friends in Cults as a limited 7″ release for Record Store Day called “Abducted“. Check them out at this weekend’s Coachella music fest! Anyone heading out there? You should keep our lovely Kenny Laubbacher company while he’s braving the festival all weekend long.
Still.. so.. excited to tell you about our 25 event bands. Just a few more days!
a young, Kenny Laubbacher
It’s been a little quiet on the blog front, but rest assured the music department has been working steadily, hastily, tirelessly to lock in 18 INCREDIBLE bands for our upcoming national event 25. I cannot wait to announce them all for you. Check in with us at our 25 page to find out what bands are playing in your city.
Rob Crow, best known for being in Pinback, lesser...
Some of you may know that along with working for Invisible Children, I also run a music blog called Friends With Both Arms. I feel really fortunate to be surrounded a creative community here at Invisible Children, one that extends to the local community of some pretty wonderful artists and musicians. I’ve met some good friends, and have taken every opportunity to expose local San Diego musicians...
(photo credit: Jered Scott)
If you haven’t heard yet, Invisible Children has had the privilege of traveling the United States on the “Dirty Work Tour” – featuring All Time Low, Yellowcard, Hey Monday, and The Summer Set.
Each of the bands have supported us in huge ways in the past, and now, they have expressed interest to participate in our 4th event.
Our bus-mate and fellow Dumb and Dumber fan,...
We all love us some Fleet Foxes around the office and we are counting down the days to the release of their new album coming out on May 3rd. This video below is getting us more excited and from the looks of it, it looks like they have created another masterpiece. -JF
Fleet Foxes – Grown Ocean from Fleet Foxes on Vimeo.
March 2011
17 posts
We had the good fortune of stumbling across verb/re/verb a while back and were totally blown away by the fact that it was run by Eloise- a sixteen year old blogger from LA. The originality, quality and consistency of her musical finds is impressive to say the least. You absolutely must check it out, and maybe become inspired to start one yourself. We invited her to come along to occassionally post...
We are currently traveling the 50-states with All Time Low’s “Dirty Work” tour. There’s a great lineup of supporting bands – including Yellowcard (yes, Yellowcard is BACK), Hey Monday, and The Summer Set. All of these artists have been huge supporters of IC, and we couldn’t be happier spending the next 6 weeks with such incredible people. It’s like a family reunion… without the endless game of...
Middle Brother (John McCauley of Deer Tick, Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit)
We just got back from SXSW and we’ve still got the sleepy eyes but we’re so eager to show you some of the photos and share some stories from Austin, so here goes it. As many of you know, we invited 25 artists to perform in the park for us to honor the 25th anniversary of SXSW and the 25th year of the war in East Africa....
PatesTapes :: Interview
I came across a site called PatesTapes which is the project of Charles Pates who has curated hundreds of hours of mixes from vinyl to tape- all online and streamable. Meticulously organized in genres and moods, PatesTapes has been my go-to site for mixtapes.
I wanted to find out more about the man behind the mixtapes- Charles Pates and his impressive catalogue of vinyl. Read my...
The recent 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan has prompted musicians to reach out to their fans to help the victims.
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda designed t-shirts for his Music for Relief charity. One shirt reads “Not Alone” and another is a paper crane type white butterfly. Donations of $10 can be made by texting MFR to 85944.
On Friday, Lady Gaga designed a special Japan Prayer bracelet which...
Movin' On Up!
Well, we’ve moved. Check us out at our new home: www.invisiblechildren.com/music. It’s been a fun little while, Tumblr. We hope all of our Tumblr friends will continue to keep up with us over on the other side. Thanks to everyone who’s followed us, we hope you think our new blog is just as fancy as we do. (Bear with us though, as we get through the kinks!)
Musicians Helping Japan Victims
The recent 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan has prompted musicians to reach out to their fans to help the victims.
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda designed t-shirts for his Music for Relief charity. One shirt reads “Not Alone” and another is a paper crane type white butterfly. Donations of $10 can be made by texting MFR to 85944.
On Friday, Lady Gaga designed...
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Hardest Working Bands in 2010?
When we saw this post on one of our favorite indie-music blogs, YVYNYL, we knew we had to take the opportunity to announce our presence on an upcoming tour called “The Dirty Work Tour” - w/ ALL TIME LOW, YELLOWCARD, HEY MONDAY, and THE SUMMER SET. (And no I didn’t stutter, I said Yellowcard).
If you didn’t notice the top of the...
Introducing: DJ Nada Surfer Blood Brothers
Nada Alic - our co-worker, amiga, inspiration, comrade, and fellow music snob - was invited to be a guest DJ at a local spot in San Diego called the Starlight Lounge last night. Presented monthly by our friends from SEZIO, we were proud and anxious to see what sort of 2-hour-long iTunes playlist she would come up with (as Nada is unaware as to how to turn on our in-office “Musictime”...
Yours Truly + Invisible Children Premiere: Middle...
Last December went by quickly, we managed to pull off our benefit show with a suspicious ease, everyone enthusiastic, everyone cooperative, everyone’s flights in on time. Without hiccup we hosted a dream show with a dream lineup that included the likes of Deer Tick, Guards, Cass McCombs, Blake Mills, Mountain Man and Middle Brother. I invited our friends over at Yours Truly to help us...
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Invisible Children March-Music Auctions
If you’ve ever had a chance to take a tour of the Invisible Children offices in San Diego, then I’m sure you’ve noticed the clutter and mess that is the music department. Among the broken guitars, tennis balls, darts, and candles of The Pope, there are some pretty unique items that have been donated to us from some bands you may know and love.
So we want to give you the...
The Dodos- No Color
We’re huge fans of the Dodos here at the IC office. I first got into them when Kenny showed them to me about two years ago, to which I also credit him with introducing me to a handful of other bands that soonafter changed the course of my musical consumption from there on out.
The Dodos are a two-pc band that’s rhythmically complex and precise. The drums are really what make...
Faces on Film- Habitat House
photo- Chadwick Gantes
Last night was something really special. Kenny, Alex and I joined all of our friends up the street at the Habitat House and welcomed our friend Mike Fiore of Faces on Film to perform a set up in Zack’s attic. Mike has been one of our favorite artists for sometime now, frontman of the Boston-based band, we were really excited to see him perform a solo set....
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Music from "TONY"
Our info@invisiblechildren.com inbox is flooded daily with a plethora of questions. Sometimes serious. Sometimes entertaining. But always interesting. And it is no surprise that most people want to know what band or song they heard during that “one scene” in that “one movie”. We are proud of the music that we’ve been able to debut in our media, and in that pride...
Houses- "Endless Spring"
I mentioned yesterday that I’d returned from a trip to Minneapolis, where I had the good fortune of checking out some really great shows, which is a given in Minneapolis. I’m always certain to learn about, fall in love with a few great bands.
Thursday night I went to see Houses, Braids and Baths at First Ave (7th St. Entry) I’d heard a bit about Houses but was...
SXSW Update- Want to help us out?
Hey guys,
I’ve returned from my mini-hiatus up in the still frozen, Minneapolis. I’ve returned with a renewed appreciation for Southern California’s mild and balmy weather, also really excited to give you a comprehensive update on what we’ve got going for SXSW and how you could be involved. It’s only 2 weeks away! So we’re apart of this really cool...
February 2011
26 posts
Help 'The Gallery' Land the Cover of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is one of the most iconic, long-standing publications out there, and they’re putting on a very cool contest for bands to win the opportunity to get on the cover of their legendary magazine. Our friends in The Gallery are one of 16 bands in the running. They’re extra awesome because for every vote they get, they’ll be giving 10 cents to Invisible Children,...
Silver Series Mix: get to know our artists
In anticipation for our SXSW Silver Series, I put together a mix of the artists who are set to perform, so you can get to know them a little better. Hope you find some gems in there and join us. Enjoy!
Click HERE to grab the mix.
And if you haven’t already- check out our Facebook event page.
NewVillager "LightHouse" [Must Watch]
Check out this stunning video from NewVillager for “LightHouse”. It’s a welcomed revisit to the artistry of music videos. All too often they’re splicing up old home videos, and all of it starts to look the same. But NewVillager so intricately depicts a sort-of dream like state that is both inspiring and terrifying. They’re a Brooklyn-based artist collective that...
Where did you consume music in 2010?
We came across this really cool “heat map” of music consumption for 2010. The results are staggering, most of the boxes were green which meant growth in traffic, it was really interesting to see who the heavy-hitters were. Seems that playlist.com trumps everyone by far with nearly 18 million visits/month, Grooveshark at 10.6 million and Last.fm at 9.8 million. I was...
Let the SXSW countdown begin- The Strange Boys
As of today, we’ll be introducing you to the artists that will be playing our Silver Series at SXSW. What better way to kick this off than to introduce you to Austin natives- The Strange Boys. I fell in love with them when they came out with ‘the Strange Boys and Girls club’, and then ‘Be Brave’ the following year. I watched them a few times at last...
Strange Boys- Be Brave
IC Presents: The Protection Plan
Check out this video, this is going to change the game. Really excited for the 25 event.
Shiny Toy Guns Valentine Videogram
Shiny Toys Guns made this rad video for a lucky valentines sweetheart who won our Valentines Day Videogram contest. Check it out above. Thanks to Shiny Toy Guns putting this together.
We're in Vegas at the POOL Tradeshow
That’s right, I’m currently writing to you from a pretty sweet looking booth at one of the world’s largest clothing tradeshows called “Magic”. We’re located in the POOL room, where up and coming designers are showcasing their stuff, and we were lucky enough to be invited. So we thought we’d invite some insanely talented friends of ours to make our...
Invisible Children Presents: The Silver Series
I’m beyond excited to officially announce our SXSW series this year. Let me introduce you to a little thing we’ve called “THE SILVER SERIES”. This year marks the 25th anniversary of SXSW as well as the 25th year of the war in East Africa. So in honor of the silver anniversary of one of the world’s most iconic music festivals, and one of the...
Just Bought Our Tickets For: David Bazan
So excited! I just purchased my ticket for the David Bazan house show in San Diego on April 21st. I’m a huge David Bazan fan, so when the opportunity arises to see him, better yet, in an intimate living room setting, I’m overjoyed. We hosted a Bazan house show last January at our very own Alex Collins’ house. Those shows are small, communal and often silent. Attendees are...
We're Listening to: Small Sur
This is the kind of music you need to ease into. The kind that takes you in slowly, let’s you slip under the covers, listen to the nothingness of outside and stretch your arms outwards into the vast sky. It’s the music you want to keep with you in those hushed winter months that seem endless. Like the snow will eventually bury us all and all we can do is push our...
Small Sur- Weeds
Way Back Wednesdays- Robert Johnson
This is the first installation of a series I’m calling “Way Back Wednesdays” completely stolen off a radio program I used to listen to as a kid where for an hour they’d be all kinds of nostalgic hits from the 60’s and 70’s. It was my only education of music from, way back.
In honor of Black History Month, I wanted to start this series off right with...
Robert Johnson- I Believe I’ll Dust My...
Sun Airway >> Daytrotter Session
One of our new favorite artists Sun Airway, who will be playing for our series at SXSW (more on that very soon) has a Daytrotter Session up, and it is wonderful. You need it, so get it here. Here’s what you can expect, as described by the eloquent and prolific,
“The beats and grooves that “Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier” snakes through its...
DeVotchKa Valentines CD Release for IC
We are so excited to partner with DeVotchKa for their Valentine’s CD Release show at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, CO on February 12th. Although new supporters of ours, DeVotchKa’s enthusiasm and authenticity for our mission is such an honor for us. We have such a great respect for their team, and we’re sure that this is only the beginning of some really...
Cut Copy "Zonoscope"
Cut Copy’s new album Zonoscope comes out today and I cannot be more excited. The track “Where I’m Going” is light and fun, with vocal layering and clashing cymbals, and voices singing, “yeah!” like they’re giving perpetual high fives. It’s just really fun, beach boys-esque music.
Pates Tapes- The Mixtape Archives
Allow me to introduce you to your new favorite website. It’s called Pates Tapes, and it’s a wealth of mixtapes, catalogued by genre and mood- with hundreds and hundreds of hours of incredible music you’ve likely never heard before. My personal favorites include Jazz and Rhythm and Blues. Each genre features a list of mixes, and each mix- a certain mood, or state. Since...
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A Valentine's Day Videogram Auction
Valentine’s Day got you worried? Well, we’ve teamed up with a few friends for our annual Valentine’s Day Videogram campaign to give you the opportunity to NOT blow it this year. DeVotchKa, Forever the Sickest Kids, and Shiny Toy Guns will be hosting benefit auctions on eBay starting TODAY for the duration of one week. So what is this “videogram” you ask?
The...
The Stranger-- Lord Huron
You’re probably snowed in right now, spending some needed time catching up on Tumblr. Glad you’re still with us. We sympathize. We had to wear jackets today while we walked to get tacos- that breeze blew all of our napkins away. Tough life! Anyway, thought you might enjoy this new video from Lord Huron for “The Stranger”. It plays out like a short film, and it’s...
Lia Ices-- Grown Unknown
Big thanks to Jimmy from Head Underwater for sharing Lia Ices a few days back. Her sophomore album, Grown Unknown came out on Jagjaguwar on Jan 25th and only after a few tracks I’m really into this lady. Everything about her is naturally radiant; she’s gorgeous, she sings in a tone that sounds native and whispy, over sharp claps and guest vocals from the forefather of...
Lia Ices- New Myth
Sleeping At Last // February EP
On the 1st of each of the last 5 months, I have been consistently enamored with the songs Ryan O’Neal and bandmate, Dan Perdue have written. We’ve talked about their [SLEEPING AT LAST] latest and greatest project before. Called “YEARBOOK”, Ryan and Dan have set out to stretch themselves each month by writing, recording, and releasing 3 brand new tracks. 12 EP’s....
January 2011
30 posts
Nada on 91x // The Tree Ring
Hope you had a really great weekend. Yesterday, I was invited on the San Diego radio show 91x that plays all things San Diego-independent music. I’d never been on the radio before, aside from a few college courses I took way back when, but this was the real deal, headphones and all. I invited a few of my friends who also work at Invisible Children, they brought the pie and moral...
Peter Wolf Crier // Habitat House
Peter Wolf Crier ♦ Untitled 101 from Brandon Tauszik on Vimeo.
This passed Sunday we put together a last minute attic show with my boyfriend’s band, Peter Wolf Crier. They played an incredible set at the Loft at UCSD and caught their breath long enough to head over to the Habitat House where a handful of friends were waiting for them to perform a stripped-down set in our friend...