Lucky Ghost (aka Seth Berkowitz) Releases "Sex Griddle" as a Free Download

DOWNLOAD: Lucky Ghost - "Love With a Ghost"
DOWNLOAD: Lucky Ghost - Sex Griddle (full-length disc)

Cold war anxiety, video game theme songs and the ever-elusive mysteries of human connection all come to bear on the ten infectiously quirky and occasionally melancholic tracks of Sex Griddle, the latest LP from Lucky Ghost.

Cultivating the distinctive voice that emerged on the 2008 LP Network Stars, Lucky Ghost (the bedroom brain-child of multi-instrumentalist, Seth Berkowitz) delivers an incredible amalgamation of 70s prog-rock, the sparkling sadness of 80s pop, chugging guitar rock and the lyrical aplomb of British singer-songwriters.

From the shimmering and crunchy synths of "Made in America" to the male-female vocal-interplay on the whimsical "Love with a Ghost" - the latter was recently featured in a commercial for Helzberg Diamonds - Sex Griddle acts as the spoonful of sugar to help the dystopian malaise go down. Even when Berkowitz sings of impending nuclear winter on "The Republic," it's as if there's a Saturday morning cartoon playing in the background - cradling his fears in innocence and a bowl of Frosted Flakes.



Links:
Lucky Ghost

Gene Priest & The Cardinal Sin Release Free EP Through Brian Grosz's Lapdance Academy Collective

DOWNLOAD: Gene Priest & The Cardinal Sin - "Living to Die" EP

It can't be easy to be an agnostic when your last name is a religious title, but the world of Gene Priest's songs is not a very friendly place to begin with...

Gene Priest is ordinarily a sideman mainstay in the Knoxville, TN, music scene - manning the drum-kit for indie-rock acts HiLites and Cold Hands and the sludge-metal quartet, Hot Blood - but with equal doses of ego and humility, he has stepped into the footlights with his debut EP, "Living To Die," mixed in Knoxville by Scott Minor of Sparklehorse.

Melding the lo-fi sentimentality of Minor and Mark Linkous' Sparklehorse with the ethereal escapism of Radiohead, Priest and his ad-hoc backing band, The Cardinal Sin, deliver four songs intent on the exploration of the darkest corners of self-worth. The music crawls along through the dust on "Living To Die," not because it hasn't learned to walk; rather, it simply doesn't see a need to stand. It's with underlying confidence and defiance, rather than apathy and malaise when Priest sings, "No, I don't care if I ever see the light."

Here is the video for the title track, "Living to Die", which was edited together entirely out of public-domain film footage from the Prelinger Archive.



Links:
Gene Priest and The Cardinal Sin

Alex Walker Releases New Single through Brian Grosz's LapdanceAcademy.com

DOWNLOAD: Alex Walker - "Sacrifice" (MP3)

Wow - I've really fallen behind as Alex Walker's single came out a few weeks back.

Guitarist Alex Walker has new single "Sacrifice" that has a low-fi dub groove that is reminiscent of early Basehead. For anyone not familiar with Alex Walker's music, he has been around the NYC scene for a number of years and has played in bands that range from Aloke (Steve Albini produced their last disc) to the amplified chamber group Electric Kompany.

"Singing an ode to sacrifice is a form of sacrifice in itself. What you end up sacrificing is the time and presence not being trapped in song. So often we go about life not suspended at all, with little to no awe in our daily routine, that we forget to stop and breathe that rush of animation, that elixir of our reality, the tonic that is the moment. This song is an offering to that possibility." -- Alex Walker, 2009

The new single is out on Brian Grosz's Lapdance Academy label and is a free download. Label magnate Brian Grosz's belief is "People are going to ignore it or find a way to get it for free if you slap a price tag on your music...I think that If you're going to get screwed, you should at least get to pick the position and the safe-word so you can try to enjoy yourself."

Links:
Alex Walker's MySpace Profile

Dogs of Winter (Brian Grosz) Release Debut CD as a Free Download; CD Release Show at Fat Baby on Wednesday, May 13th

Brooklyn-based hard rockers Dogs of Winter have released their debut CD, From Soil to Shale, as a free download and the band is playing a CD release show tomorrow night at Fat Baby.

"From Soil To Shale," the blistering 9-song debut from Dogs Of Winter, marks the trio's passage from decay and detritus into the splintery, dark mass of angular stone you see before you. Compressed under the weight of Russian amplification, steeped in science-fiction and late-night movies, the album comprises tales of gorgons, body-snatching extra-terrestrial nano-organisms, tribal-excommunication and the unceasing march of progress.

The new disc was mixed by Andrew Schneider (Cave In, Pelican, Scissorfight, Unsane) and mastered by Nick Zampiello (Converge, Torche). From Soil To Shale also features custom artwork by Joe Boyle which is embedded in each individual track and the accompanying PDF digi-booklet.

Here is the video for the lead-off track from the disc, "Player Piano":



You can download From Soil To Shale, PDF-digbooklet and track-specific album art at Brian's Lapdance Academy site.

Dogs of Winter are playing at 9PM tonight and admission is $5.00 if you print out the flyer (above).

Links:
Dogs of Winter's Website

Brian Grosz and Friends Play a Free "Death Taxes and Resurrection" Themed Show Tomorrow Afternoon (April 18th) at Parkside Lounge

DOWNLOAD: Brian Grosz - "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" (MP3)

Brian Grosz and friends are playing a show tomorrow afternoon at Parkside Lounge. According to Brian, all performers will be performing songs on the theme of "Death Taxes and Resurrection" and all attendees are encouraged to wear springtime pastels and easter bonnets (or dress as their favorite HR Block employee).

This should be a great way to spend the afternoon. The show is free -- there will be a pass the hat donation and part of the proceeds will go to the Save the Music Foundation.

Performers include:

Matt Whyte of Earl Greyhound
Alex Walker of Aloke
Brian Grosz
Emily Zuzik
Dorie Colangelo
Sam Barron
The Celebration of Man
The Knuckleheads
Seth Berkowitz
Len Xiang

Links:
Lapdance Academy (Brian's new artists collective)
Parkside Lounge