Orange Alert's Music Minute

What do you say about Imaad Wasif? The new album , Strange Hexes, will be out March 18th and he has added a band called Two Part Beast. This is from the press release: "He/She inhabits both sexes and perspectives at all times, channeling romantics Baudelaire and Rimbaud by way of speed freaks Bowie, Reed, Bolan and Iggy and seen through the eyes of surrealists Dali and Buñuel. The lyrical fragmentation we encounter here is akin to the absurdist methodology found in Alfred Jarry’s, Visits of Love." I think that pretty says everything and really nothing at all... perfect!

Listen to: Oceanic (mp3)

After a year’s delay, Brooklyn indie popsters Hysterics are set to release their debut full-length March 4th, via their own imprint, Big Scary Polar Bear. The record’s release is particularly momentous when you consider the band’s rollercoaster back-story. A quick recap: the high school-aged quartet won over the curator of popular MP3 blog Music For Robots (also the lead singer’s Science teacher) last year, subsequently landing an MTV You Hear It First, and a write up in the New York Times, before getting scooped up by V2 mere moments before the imprint’s demise. But, fortuitously, Oliver Ignatius and company hung on long enough to record an album, and are finally able to bring it to you this March. Filled with the harmonic splendor of The Beach Boys, the percussive violence of Art Blakey, the haunted fragility of The Band, and a host of other 60s signifiers, these twelve tracks belie the band’s young age. Just check out the wistful “Mostly Untitled” for proof of that.

Listen to: Mostly Untitled (mp3)

Jersey City gutter-psychsters The Black Hollies will release Casting Shadows, the follow-up to 2006’s critically-adored Crimson Reflections, March 11th via New York imprint Ernest Jenning. Casting Shadows will be released on March 11th, and it is filled with gritty but classic sounds that both recall a past era and push the sound forward at the same time.

Listen to: Paisley Pattern Ground (mp3)

New Orange Alert favorites Spitzer have big things planned, or they at least they are actively weighing their options. Recently they were asked to remix a couple of song and wanted to share the results of one of the two with everyone.

Listen to: Kylie Minogue - In My Arms (Spitzer remix) (mp3)

The winning musician/band will receive:
-An EP deal with Atlantic Records-A music publishing deal with Peer Music

-A Booking Deal with The Agency Group

-Distribution through ADA from The Rebel Group

-A Showcase at The House of Blues in Hollywood, CA

HOW TO ENTER:
1) Sign up on Uber.com and make sure to check the Musician box on the form (this will allow you to add your music to your page.)

2) Gussy up your page with photos, music, your bio and make it all fancy-like, which is super easy on Uber.

3) Head over to the You Bring the Talent page on Uber and grab the embed code for your Voting Module, so you can pop it on your Uber page, or anywhere else you want people to vote for you.

WHAT TO KNOW:
1) The contest is open until March 31st, so there's plenty of time to sign up and get people to vote for you.

2) Your fans can vote ONCE EVERY 24 HOURS. That's right--all of your friends and fans can vote for you once every day, so let people know at your shows and on your website (where you can definitely put up your Voting Module.)

3) Think about this -- If you've got 1000 MySpace friends and half of them vote for you three times a week, that's 15,000 votes. Not too shabby.

4) You can check out the official rules here.

For more information on Uber's You Bring the Talent contest, please visit: www.uber.com/youbringthetalent

The Peel Back: Aphex Twin "Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2" (1994, Sire)

My recent conversation with Ernest Gonzales have led my back to a more exploratory time in my youth. This double disc adventure was one of three album that would completely occupy my mind for hours. Christmas light ceiling, clove incense, outstretched and floating, totally empty and allowing the slow drone and pulse to bubble and flow through every inch. Followed by a good book, notepad, and a cup of coffee... oh perfection! The adventure of Aphex Twins ambient work only begins when you focus. I swear to this day this there is a loop in one of the tracks that repeats "Bob Dole... Bob Dole... Bob Dole...". It not a pretty image, but I always picture Norm McDonald playing Bob Dole, so it is a little more pleasant.

Disc: 1
cliffs (mp3)/radiator/rhubarb/grass/mold/ropes/circles/weathered stone/tree/domino/steel plate

Disc: 2
blue calx (mp3)/parallel stripes/metal grating/windowsill/b+w stripes/siding nails/corrugated tubing/lichen/leaves/tassels/rusty metal/b+w stripes II