Ben Sollee - "A Few Honest Words" Obama Remix Video

One of my favorite discoveries this year has been Louisville's Ben Sollee, a classically trained cellist, who couples a unique playing style and beautifully written songs with a socially conscious lyrical bent to create a sound that really has no peer in today's musical landscape.

Perhaps best known right now for his place as a member of Abigail Washburn's Sparrow Quartet, Ben has spent most of this year touring with that supergroup. He's now concentrating on getting his excellent recent solo work heard, and is setting out on a tour of his own next week.

I had the opportunity to see Sollee solo up close earlier this year on the Solar Stage at Bonnaroo (photo above), where he hypnotized the crowd with his unique sound, style, and technique, and at one point he even busted out his own version of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" to the amazement of folks who thought they were stopping by the stage for some trad-bluegrass. It was a highlight of the festival for me and my pals in front of the stage.

With a few days left before the election, I'm thrilled to see a new video surface of Sollee's touching "A Few Honest Words", his song pleading for government representatives to say what they mean and mean what they say, remixed with inspirational verses from speeches by Barack Obama:



Compelling stuff, no?

Ben Sollee Tour Dates:

1 Nov - Louisville KY / 930 Listening Room w/ Bootsie Ann and Kim Taylor
4 Nov - Lexington KY / Downtown Arts Center
5 Nov - Nashville TN / The Basement w/ Vandaveer and Kim Taylor
6 Nov - Atlanta GA / The 5 Spot
7 Nov - Chapel Hill NC / Nightlight
8 Nov - Washington DC / Iota
11 Nov - Brooklyn NY / Union Hall
12 Nov - New York NY / Mercury Lounge
13 Nov - Boston, MA / Great Scott
14 Nov - Philadelphia PA / World Cafe Live (low dough show)
15 Nov - Pittsburgh PA / Club Café
17 Nov - Chicago IL / Schuba's
18 Nov - Minneapolis MN / 400 Club
24 Nov - San Francisco CA / Café Du Nord
25 Nov - Los Angeles CA, Hotel Café

Kings Of Leon @ MSG Tix On Sale Friday...Ticket Link Here

Tickets for the Kings Of Leon show at Madison Square Garden on January 29 go on sale tomorrow (Friday 10/24) at 10:00 am at this link.

Obviously, this is their biggest New York City date yet, and I'm betting probably their biggest headlining date ever. Considering how quickly tix for their Radio City gig vanished, this one looks to sell out quickly as well. Get 'em while they're available.

Zune @ CMJ...Crazy Good Shows @ Bowery

Regular readers of extrawack! know that we dig our Zune, our all-you-can-eat subscription to the Zune Pass, and all things Zune-y. So we were pleased to see the Zunetastic stuff they are doing this week at CMJ. Dig it, straight from the press release:


CMJ ACTIVATION INCLUDES EXCLUSIVE MIX TAPES AND LIVE PERFORMANCES BY JAY REATARD, LYKKE LI, A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS AND OVER 30 MORE


As one of the title sponsors of this year's CMJ Music Marathon, Zune continues its focus on discovery of new artists. In addition to partnering with Xbox Live and Doritos to present showcases at the Bowery Ballroom from artists like Lykke Li, Jay Reatard and A Place to Bury Strangers, Zune is launching CMJ-themed pages on Zune Marketplace and Zune.net to give fans access to mix tapes and CMJ features.

Starting today, Zune Marketplace will feature custom CMJ mix tapes from the Zune DJs and partner music blogs like Rock Insider, Rock Sellout, Culture Bully and The Music Slut. Music fans can download the "CMJ 2008 Collection" to hear music from this year's bands or the "CMJ Rewind" for a taste of past CMJ artists, as well as subscribe to custom Channels programmed by CMJ and KEXP to get new music automatically pushed to their collection each week.

All of this content is currently available for free by downloading the Zune software. To access it, music lovers can sign up for a free 14-day Zune Pass subscription at http://www.zune.net/free, which gives fans unlimited access to millions of tracks available on Zune, including featured full-length albums by CMJ artists.

Zune will also syndicate content from several partner music blogs at www.zune.net/cmj where fans can then be linked to special blog-produced CMJ mix tapes in Zune Marketplace. In addition, Zune will launch its first ever Zune Zine, a magazine about music discovery showcasing twelve up & coming CMJ artists including Janelle Monae and Chester French. The zine will be distributed at over 300 venues in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia in addition to official CMJ venues, newsstands, and exhibition spaces. A PDF version will be available to all music fans at www.zune.net/cmj.

Check it all out at the Zune Marketplace here.

Zune will be presenting showcases at the Bowery Ballroom all week long, featuring live performances by over 30 CMJ artists.

Tuesday Oct 21
8:00 Micachu
9:00 Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
10:00 Friendly Fires
11:00 Lykke Li

Wednesday Oct 22
7:00 Cory Chisel & the Wandering Souls
8:00 Shugo Tokumaru
9:00 Audrye Sessions
10:00 Love As Laughter
11:00 Wild Sweet Orange
12:00 Margot & the Nuclear So And Sos

Thursday Oct 23
7:00 Company of Thieves
8:00 Janelle Monae
9:00 Chester French
10:00 Black Joe Lewis
11:00 Scouting For Girls
12:00 Delays

Friday Oct 24
8:00 Sweet Water
9:00 Japanese Motors
10:00 Violens
11:00 White Lies
12:00 Longwave
1:00 Jay Reatard

Saturday Oct 25
7:00 Lord T & Eloise
7:45 Little Jackie
10:00 All the Saints
11:00 Marnie Stern
12:00 Vivian Girls
1:00 Crystal Antlers
2:00 A Place to Bury Strangers



Lykke Li - "Dance Dance Dance" mp3

On The Moon Music showcase on Thursday w/Cheesebuger, Dirty on Purpose, Neckbeard Telecaster & More

Our friend Jinners runs On The Moon Music, a management company loaded with great artists, and she's throwing an unoffical CMJ showcase Thursday night at Death By Audio in Crooklyn. Did I mention free beer?



I'll be getting there early to catch Purse Snatchers, featuring Doug Marvin from Dirty on Purpose and Annie Hart of Au Revoir Simone. And chances are some of that free beer will be airborne once Cheeseburger hits the stage...

Purse Snatchers - "Tongue Twister" mp3

Neckbeard Telecaster - "One More Night Like This" mp3

Andy Rourke of The Smiths & Free Martini's? OK, I'm In.

Our friends at The MuseBox are throwing this one Tuesday night @ Beauty Bar:



The MuseBox & SPIN presents:

Tuesday Oct. 21st 10pm - 4am at:
Beauty Bar
231 E. 14th street (btw. 2nd and 3rd ave.)
New York, NY 10003
RSVP: BEAUTYBARCMJ@THEMUSEBOX.NET
21+ event

Free Martinis: 10pm - 11pm

Andy Rourke (of The Smiths) DJ set: 10pm - 1am

Hollywood Holt: 1am - 4am

-------------------------------------

The Smiths - "How Soon is Now? (Mark Ronson Remix)" mp3

OBAMARAMA tonight in BK with Eugene Mirman, Dirty on Purpose, Takka Takka and more.

From the press release:

Friday, October 17 -- minimum $25 donation
@ Bell House, Gowanus, Brooklyn

Come out tonight to Bell House in Brooklyn to help raise money for a good cause! Obamarama will be hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman and includes performances by Dirty on Purpose, Anti-Pop Consortium, Takka Takka, Dragons of Zynth and dj sets by French Kicks and Cassettes Won't Listen.

Sponsored by Create Change NYC.

Dirty on Purpose - "Canned Fumes" mp3

Blog Action Day - Poverty

Hey-

It's Blog Action Day for Poverty, so please take a second and check out this video by my girl Fergie, from In My Name, the anti-poverty initiative put together by Oxfam and other important organizations:



Donate to Oxfam America here.

Sign up to work at a Coldplay, O.A.R., or Ra Ra Riot show with Oxfam here.