Local Houston rapper J. Xavier has offered up his "talent" to the Farouk Shami for Texas Governor Campaign.

The following video is what he came up with. Fire away in the comments - we'd love to hear what you think!

Wayside Drive's 2nd full-length album “The Other Side” will be released for free digital download. Starting tomorrow 3/2 one song will be available for free download every Tuesday until all 12 songs are released. With each single’s release there will be individual artwork, the stems for remixing, and a band trivia poll. 
 
The album was recorded and produced by the band and mastered at ES Mastering located in SugarHill Studios. On this album the band expanded it's instrumental line-up adding sitar, tabla, doumbek, tin whistle, and more. Among the guest artists on the album are Houston's own Aric Alan (formerly of Awaken From Falling) playing guitar on three tracks.

Track listing:
1. Last Dream I Remember
2. The Other Side
3. I Will Rise Above The World
4. Forgetting
5. I Don’t Belong Here
6. Revolver 9
7. Static Attraction
8. The Great Divide
9. Listen To What’s Missing
10. Just 5 Minutes More
11. The Best Part of Me
12. The Final Exit

We're pumped about what this eclectic and original group has produced for the new album! For more about Wayside Drive and to find out where you can catch them live, check out their website.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, or EFF, is a non-profit organization that strives to protect our freedom in the ever-changing technological world by

"Blending the expertise of lawyers, policy analysts, activists, and technologists, EFF achieves significant victories on behalf of consumers and the general public. EFF fights for freedom primarily in the courts, bringing and defending lawsuits even when that means taking on the US government or large corporations. By mobilizing more than 50,000 concerned citizens through our Action Center, EFF beats back bad legislation. In addition to advising policymakers, EFF educates the press and public."

via www.freepresssummerfest.com

The event, slated for June 6-7, 2010 in Elanor Tinsley Park, has us jonesing for summer to be here now! Flaming Lips, Lucero, Slim Thug, Mix Master Mike, Girl Talk, Detroit Cobras, Kid Sister, and Cro-Mags, Dead Prez, Buxton, Robert Ellis and more (just to name a few).

Hop on over to their site for the full line-up and access to passes ($15 for a limited time). We'll see you there!

I chuckled at the picture and sighed, 'too bad I'll never see Conor play live again.'

Then I began to question my thought process. Why did I know that I'll never see that band play another show? They're still alive, still writing music, and still touring. Then, it came to me: The world is stricken with southern prejudice.

My musical tastes range from the seldom-heard-of to the ultra-megastars, however it seems like I've only gotten to see the latter live. It's almost as if bands that haven't won a Grammy or two will never make it to my town, which is strange because I live in the fourth largest city in the US. Bands from the midwest, the east or west coast all cruise straight through the center of the island - hitting Denver, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh - the obligatory New York City and Los Angeles. No one seems to venture through Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi - it's like we're the armpit of America. 

It's a shame that we have to wait around for big festivals like ACL or Voodoo to come around to catch some of our favorite bands. So now, I'm asking you, bands! What gives? I'm sure just as many people in my state listen to your music than in Utah. It's not like we're in Montana or something (no offense to our Montanan readers, of course). We're all clamoring to hear your answers, and so we open our comments section to you!

The AudioADD crew will be cruising the streets of Austin this year looking for YOU! If you'd like to see us at your show, drop us a line! We're currently arranging Q&A's, video interviews, and live acoustic sets for March 17-21. If you're interested in being part of the action, hit us up at info@AudioADD.net!

Now I don't want to get off on a rant here, but earlier this week I visited a local pub with a 90's grunge cover band. It's a typical sound for this part of town on a weeknight, and as many pub crawlers grew up with the soundscapes of the 80's and 90's, it was a good fit. After a nice "throwback" medley of "Margaritaville" and "Voodoo Child," I heard the guitarist tune to drop-D and I knew what was coming.

I became suddenly nauseous. Where's the originality anymore? I've literally heard this song in 4 different cover bands' sets in the past six weeks or so. Granted, a lot of songs are done in drop-D, but I knew it was coming.

I announced to my friends, "If these guys play 'Killing In The Name,' I'm leaving." About 2 minutes of silence from the band passed, the drummer played a four-count on the hi-hat, and at the first open strum of the guitar, I threw my chair back and stormed out.

There are so many things wrong with playing this song at a bar. First, if you're going to cover Rage, pick a song that's a challenge! This is the easiest song you can pick from a band who had a huge catalog of hits to choose from. Second, if you're going to play the easiest song, YOU HAVE TO PLAY IT RIGHT! I didn't hear an accurate version in the five different accounts; The words were wrong, the timing was off, or the guitar wasn't playing the riff quite right. We're not talking about taking creative liberties, we're talking about not knowing what the right way is.

You hear that, cover bands? Use a little creativity when you chose your set lists. We come see you play because we're sick of hearing the same old songs on the jukeboxes at our local joints. We don't want to hear you play them. If you're going to make your own version of a song, it should be drastically different from the original.

Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong...

While there are other songs that AudioADD feels could have contended for the number one spot, we have long been fans of Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo's colaborations, as well as their past individual projects. (Goodie Mob)

Rolling Stone magazine had the following to say about Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy":

In this frazzled and fragmented decade, when the Top 40 broke down into squabbling niches, the idea of a universal pop hit, a song anybody could love, seemed like a sweet old-fashioned notion. Then these guys showed up. Atlanta rapper Cee-Lo and indie producer Danger Mouse decided it would be a gas to pretend to be the world's greatest pop group, and so they gave the world "Crazy." Everybody loved this song, from your mom to your ex-girlfriend's art professor. It blasted in punk clubs and Burger King bathrooms. Every sucky band on earth tried a lame cover. For the summer of 2006, "Crazy" united us all into one nation under a groove. Gnarls Barkley packed a career's worth of genius ideas into three minutes — and then they basically disappeared. Does that make them crazy? Probably. But was this the most glorious pop thrill of our time? Totally.

If you haven't spun the track since late 2007 (a year after release) like we had, I suggest you give it another listen. AudioADD thinks it's a pretty catchy diddy.

Here's a clip of Gnarls Barkley performing Crazy at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards:

Now we have to get back to some chores around the AudioADD digs, like fixing the chimney that Santa's fat ass broke last night. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, music-land. 

Do you agree with the votes? Is Jigga's 99 Problems deserving of the number 2 spot? Drop a note in the comments.

Check back tomorrow for our final post in the countdown to Christmas series. Don't forget to put your lox and bagels out tonight, or whatever you choose to leave for santa. Merry Christmas!

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since we saw this no-name band's boring music video for "Yellow" on MTV the first time. We kept thinking, 'No one sounds like this. This isn't going to last.' Here we are a decade later, and they've landed in the top five artists of the decade. Here's the video that started it all: