Orange Alert's Music Minute

When you think of Russia, of course you think of hip-hop, right? Well probably not, but Russian rapper Ivan Ives is working hard to change your mind about Russian hip-hop. Although Ives is currenlty living on the west coast, his roots are deeply planted in Russia. His inspiration comes not from blingin' and big pimpin' but by thriving on integrity in the shadow materialism in a cut-throat world. Love lost, the great beyond and personal improvement are part of the game as Ives composes a body of work that shines with honest-to-goodness talent. He second full length album, Iconoclast, will be release by No Threshold Records on September 25th. Listen to: Victory ft. Vaste Aire (mp3)

Hello, Avalanche is the follow-up to the band's collaborative album with Pittsburgh's Black Moth Super Rainbow, The House of Apples and Eyeballs, released last year on Graveface Records. The band's new album was recorded and co-produced by The Octopus Project and Ryan Hadlock (Blonde Redhead, The Gossip) at Bear Creek Studio in Seattle during February, 2007 and was mixed by Erik Wofford (Voxtrot, Explosions In The Sky). Guest musicians include Stacy Meshbane (Cue) on Violin, Jherick Bischoff (The Dead Science) on upright Bass and Violin, and Nick Smith (Nick and The Six Sick Sticks) on Trombone. The band will kick-off three months of touring this summer. Visit the bands website for tour dates. Listen to: I Saw the Bright Shinies (mp3)

Montreal's Montag (aka Antoine Bédard) will be touring the US in support of his recently released Carpark album Going Places. The album features guest stars like Final Fantasy, Amy Millan of Stars, Au Revoir Simone, Victoria Legrand of Beach House, M83, etc. This tour follows recent jaunts in Montag's native Canada as well as a recent Japanese tour with YACHT and Au Revoir Simone. Montag will be opening for The One AM Radio and Lymbyc Systym on all of these dates. Montag will be selling copies of a tour-only EP featuring remixes and previously unreleased songs at these shows. For tour date visit his webstite. Listen to:Best Boy Electric (mp3)

The Peel Back: Depeche Mode "A Broken Frame"

I always felt like this album had been forgotten or over looked when people talked about Depeche Mode or complied greatest hit albums. This was there second full length album, and first without Vince Clark who had left the band to form Yazoo. This departure left Martin Gore in charge of the song writing, and to this day he dislikes the work that he had done on this album. As a result, the band rarely played the songs from this album in concert and none of the video that they made were released. All of this allowed this album to be forgotten.

Musically, I really enjoy the darkness that this album began to show. It was in stark contrast to the poppy sound of Speak & Spell. Tracks like The Sun & The Rainfall, Monument, and Leave in Silence all presented a more mature sound with deeper electronics and less dance tracks. Many consider this album the beginning of their dark phase. When the band set out to tour for this album they added Alan Wilder to the group.

A Broken Frame was re-release last year with a nice documentary about the album and the band in 1982. Finally giving this album it's proper place in the incredible catalog of Depeche Mode.

Depeche Mode "A Broken Frame" (Sire Records, September 1982)

Leave In Silence (mp3)/My Secret Garden/Monument/Nothing to Fear (mp3)/See You/Satellite/The Meaning of Love/A Photograph Of You/Shouldn't Have Done That/The Sun & The Rainfall (mp3)

Lollapalooza Band of the Week: Matt and Kim

Well Lollapalooza is next weekend, and I have spent the last few months giving you some of the bands that I am looking forward to watch at this years festival. This weeks band was just recently added and I couldn't be more excited. Matt and Kim hail from Brooklyn, NY and they are an energetic drum and keyboard duo that really give Mates of State a run for their money. Their songs are fun, catchy and completely addictive. They had me hooked from the first tomato (see the video for Yea Yeah). They play from 11:45 to 12:30pm on Saturday. Listen to:
Yea Yeah (mp3) 5k (mp3) and Yea Yeah (Ocelot Remix) (mp3)