Hobosexual are celebrating the release of their new live album, Live From the CCT, this Saturday at the Columbia City Theater.  The strange and riotous duo are releasing their album in the antiquated tradition of cassette.  Rest assured, the tape comes with a download code for all of you who are familiar with the internet.  Local indie rockers Whalebones open the festivities.

I was searching for artists for the upcoming NYC Artist of the Month Poll and I had Andrew Cedemark (former Titus Andronicus’ guitarist and keyboardist) on my short list – he had been sitting there for quite some time, so I decided to check out his music again. While listening to his tracks, I stumbled upon this blurb he has on his myspace page, and I thought it was incredibly sweet and honest, expressing feelings and thoughts which may resonate with many emerging musicians:

"I am Andrew C, and I write and record these songs. I then dress them up with several other sounds… I have only ever played one show. With some friends on the night I graduated from college. We covered "Tugboat" by Galaxie 500 and "Amen" by Spacemen 3, and I was feeling a little ill, for I had a cold. Regardless, ribaldry and mirth were the orders of the evening and much fun was had by all.
I will probably play some shows at some point, but I do not know if I would like to now that I am older. It was very easy in high school, when friends hosted rock and roll shows. Then, one could get by on chops or charm alone. Now people demand both. And also, back then, if nobody showed – hey, no big deal… Now if I play any show it will probably be at some bar, where many people will lose much money. We might all go home having spent too much on drinks, having had a very sad evening… I struggle with the dual imperatives of promoting my music and respecting myself!"

The final thought expresses a concept I’m very familiar with – lots of indie artists have a problem with self-promotion. I was in the same boat when I was a musician, and even though I can relate to that feeling, it seems to me that the music business as we experience it today is already in a place where DIY style self-promotion is the only free option for emerging artists to spread the word about their music – since nobody has money to do that for them on a bigger scale. – A Cedemark will be playing at Maxwell’s with Real Estate on July 24th – PDG

It’s always interesting to follow how a promising emerging band’s sound slowly evolves and matures – in particular if it does so in interesting ways, of course. Widowspeak first appeared on the NYC scene earlier this year, sounding like a twangy version of The Velvet Underground, and landing some noteworthy opening spots for Crystal Stilts and Beach Fossils at various NYC DIY venues. Things seem to have evolved rapidly in these few months: the band’s brand new 7" signals the intent of taking that "twanginess" to new levels, with the beautifully melancholic song "Gun Shy" (embedded here), and a cover of what could be considered one of the (if not the) best twangy ballads ever written – Chris Isaak’s "Wicked Game". This band is sounding more and more like a slightly psych version of The Cowboy Junkies with really good songs, and we like this very much. They just signed with NYC DIY label Captured Tracks, announcing a full release for August.

Hot on the heels of summer music festivals like Northside and MMNY, Indie Label and promo agency SHEMSPEED.com is adding another highlight to your June calendar. The Shemspeed Hip Hop Fest is a two-night  bump-a-thon (June 27-28) showcasing a slew of diverse Jewish Hip Hop talent. The opening night at St. Jerome’s in Manhattan is a perfect time to network with the artists and label affiliates while enjoying screenings and premiers of their music videos and documentaries. Then head out Saturday night to Southpaw in Brooklyn to see the artists tear up the stage. With a packed bill of underground phenoms like Genesis Be and Eprhyme (in the picture), it will be a true festival of light and hot spit. More info here.- BrokeMC