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Confide sign to Tragic Hero Records

Tim Karan on 4/28/09 @ 2:56 PM

Confide have offically signed with Tragic Hero Records.

As I Lay Dying Chart with This Is Who We Are DVD

As I Lay Dying continue their chart success with the band's brand new and first ever DVD release, This is Who We Are, which entered the Billboard Top Music Videos Chart at the number two position in the US and number three position in Canada where the DVD has already shipped platinum.

Here is what frontman Tim Lambesis has to say about reaching the spots on the Billboard Top Music Videos Charts; "I'm completely honored to have our DVD reach so many people in only its first week out. Needless to say, it's a great achievement for our band, but it also goes to show that metal music has been opening new doors. Regardless of what mainstream media pushes, there are enough diehard fans out there to make something like this happen."

Altpress Exclusive: Mae to release EP collection

Tim Karan on 4/28/09 @ 1:50 PM

Virginia-based emo rock band Mae have revealed to AP that they will release a collection of three EPs between through December. The EPs titled (M)orning, (A)fternoon and (E)vening will be released on Cell Records. Each month, Mae will offer a song as a digital download that can be purchased for a minimum donation of $1, and all proceeds from digital sales of will benefit humanitarian and charitable projects. The band have raised more than $35,000 since January and they've also teamed up with Habitat For Humanity in Newport News, Virginia.

Drummer Jacob Marshall had this to say:

"From the beginning, Mae has been about making music and using our voice to help serve as a bridge to connect people and build community. For the entirety of 2009, our desire is to be the change we want to see in the world."

Mae are currently on a headlining tour of the U.S. with Person L, Barcelona and Tokyo.

The Chariot premiere "Daggers" video

Tim Karan on 4/28/09 @ 1:47 PM

The Chariot have officially posted the music video for "Daggers" on their myspace page. You can check it out below.

Wars and Rumors of Wars hits stores next week on Tuesday the 5th.

The Chariot - "Daggers"

Metric release video for "Help, I'm Alive"

Tim Karan on 4/28/09 @ 10:13 AM

Canadian indie-rock outfit Metric have released the video for "Help, I'm Alive," a single from their recent full-length, Fantasies. The clip was directed by acclaimed Winnipeg filmmaker, Deco Dawson.

The band had this to say about the video:

"So check it out. Before Christmas we did a tour across Canada in conjunction with a kids' charity and made a limited edition 7 inch vinyl single of 'Help I'm Alive' originally to be sold only at the December shows. The world being what it is, the song got leaked onto the internet from the pressing plant and took on a life of its own. Suddenly, we were getting calls from radio stations all over the world, from Australia to Ireland, saying they were playing the hell out of 'Help, I'm Alive.' This totally caught us off guard. We never could have guessed that this song would be a radio contender! It's success proved our theory that programmers and listeners are more open minded than anyone gives them credit for! Meanwhile, we were all set to release 'Gimme Sympathy' as our logical first single but 'Help I'm Alive' continued to amaze confuse us by climbing all the way up to the top of the charts. The song became Metric's first #1 hit and we thanked the mysterious universe.

What came next only makes sense in such a scenario. When I was working with Winnipeg cult-filmmaker Guy Maddin on visual projections for my Soft Skeleton tour, I met Maddin's editor and co-cinematographer Deco Dawson. Guy Maddin is known as the Canadian David Lynch and I love Deco's editing of 'Heart of the World.' Deco has since become one of the country's foremost experimental film makers and a friend of the band. He edited Metric's live concert DVD Live at Metropolis and we brought him along to oversee the live filming of Fantasies on our December tour. A few weeks ago, as we were scrambling to keep up with the unexpected radio momentum of Help I'm Alive, we got a call from Deco saying he had a surprise for us: He had taken the concert footage of 'Help I'm Alive' and turned it into something that looks like Yo Gabba Gabba on acid. Jimmy held a late night test screening of Deco's creation at Giant Studio to rave reviews and now we have decided to share it with the online world.

This is not a music video. This is a short film in an imaginary landscape and the soundtrack is 'Help, I'm Alive.'"

Check out the video below.

Tom Morello and Boots Riley team up to form Street Sweeper Social Club

Rachel Lux on 4/28/09 @ 9:31 AM

Street Sweeper Social Club, the brianchild of former Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello and Boots Riley, best known as the leader of hip-hop act the Coup, will release their anticipated self-titled debut album June 16 through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. The 11-song set was produced by Tom Morello and features Boots Riley on vocals, Morello on guitar and bass, and Stanton Moore (Galactic) on drums.

"It's revolutionary party jams," said Morello of Street Sweeper Social Club. "It's got huge steamroller riffs combined with depth, charge, funk, while Boots unloads clip after clip of incendiary rhymes rich with satire and venom." Riley added, "This is a time when the working class is being fleeced left and right. More families will be homeless and more people will be jobless. They'll need something to listen to on their ipods while storming Wall Street."

The songs "Fight! Smash! Win!," "Clap For The Killers," and "The Oath" can be heard now on Myspace.

The group will be on tour this summer with Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction.