Another new release from Magnatune, Blind Divine’s ‘Music for Unmade Movies, Vol. 1′, is a bit of a departure from your standard record – it’s a melange of 39 tracks, from full songs to ambient soundscapes apropos the title. Paula Catherine Valencia’s moody vocals punctuates this release with a soothing, silky overtone. Buy the ticket, take the ride….

Get Blind Divine’s “Music for Unmade Movies Vol. 1′ on Magnatune.

Kirsty Hawkshaw, most famous for her work with Delerium, has a new solo record, ‘The Ice Castle’, out now on Magnatune. This is Kirsty’s first release in a very long time, due to issues with her former record labels (and yet another reason we advocate not getting involved unless the deal is good for the artist as well as the label…!).

 Get Kirsty Hawkshaw’s ‘The Ice Castle’ on Magnatune!

 Trent Reznor – Why won’t people pay $5?

So, why IS it, exactly, that so few people want to pay for music? If so many go on the assumption that music should be ‘free’, how do they expect musicians to make a living? Yes, some are still doing fine – but they’re mostly major label artists who have built up a reputation over the years. For artist that shun the major labels limitations, who have to do their advertising and promotion (and pay for it directly), how would a new artist be expected to do that if so few actually put a little in the hat for their efforts?

These are the questions that the music industry and musicians face. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes….

Then, a week or so later, someone told me about a band video with BMX bikers wearing huge animal costume heads and directed me to this:

What’s a Girl to Do?

After watching it – I was sold. Bat for Lashes is not to be missed. Check out their site here:

Bat for Lashes

Going to a model based on the end-users ability, honesty and willingness to support the artists they like is an idealist approach – but it may be the only one we have left….

Radiohead offers new album, “In Rainbows” for whatever you want to pay (viz Gizmodo)

The follow-up to Virgin records best selling remix CD “Destination Lounge San Francisco Vol. 1″, Volume 2 is another amazing collection of remixes of the Bay Areas finest trip hop, downtemp, nu jazz and chillout artist, including J Boogie, Artemis, Irina Mikhailova and many more. Miguel Migs, DJ F, Rick Preston, Julius Papp and several other remixers have their way with this collection and it’s a no-holds-barred production that will keep you moving until the wee-hours.

Get your copy on Amazon.com.

A blazing hot set of takes on Sutro’s sultry, sexy ‘Affected’ from their debut EP “How Things Transpire” with remixes by Tyler Stone, Chris Lum, DJ F and Honeycut’s Tony Sevener. Feel good grooves that take the groove up a few notches…

Available on:

iTunes

Grab their EP, ‘How Things Transpire’ on:

CD Baby • iTunes

Webcast Royalty Bill, Negotiations Hit Impasse

and this little gem:

SoundExchange, Caught Lobbying, Says Lobbying Bar Does Not Apply

If you’ll recall, SoundExchange is the company that has their finger in every musicians pie whether they like it or not.

Lovespirals just announced an October 2007 release date for their upcoming release, ‘A Long Way From Home’ with slightly earlier pre-release copies to be available directly from their site at lovespirals.com.

If you haven’t had the chance, check out their podcasts – they’ve got two of them! The first, ‘Chillin’ with Lovespirals’ gives you a behind the scenes look at their production techniques, life in the indie music world and snippets of in-production songs. The Chillcast with Anji Bee is a ‘cosmopolitan blend of Electronica, Jazz, Soul, and World music’ for your listening pleasure.

You can get copies of Lovespirals current release, ‘Free & Easy’ on the following sites:

CD Baby • iTunes • eMusic • Lovespirals.com