• SPOUSE frontman JOSE AYERVE has a new solo project that ought to shake things up a little. You can get a load of it April 22 a Slainte and then again April 30 at Empire prior to the Spouse "farewell" set (which seems a little bit unfair...). Calling it A SEVERE JOY, Ayerve has embraced a sort of dance-pop digital whir, introspective like Spouse but more aggressively so. Live, Ayerve will be wearing a mask and performing dance along with backing tracks. Seems pretty must-see to us.
• The PETE KILPATRICK BAND have been all over the place lately, jamming with DAVE MATTHEWS, that kind of thing. But playing in the SAN FRAN APPLE STORE? That's new and different.
• ARBOREA are ready to release their latest, Red Planet, on the Portland, Oregon label STRANGE ATTRACTORS AUDIO HOUSE, April 26. The first single is "Careless Love" (check Soundcloud for a free download), and the band have an international touring schedule planned for support. They're riding high on the ROBBIE BASHO tribute they curated and performed on, which was selected by ACOUSTIC GUITAR mag as one of the best acoustic albums of 2010, and got four stars from MOJO. Not too shabby.
• Look for the free SPOSE mixtape, We Smoked it All, Vol. 2, on April 20. When else?
• Those PANDA BANDITS, the alter egos of WILL ETHRIDGE (ETERNAL OTTER RECORDS head) and ALICIA SAMPSON, released last week their EP cassette Revolver. We don't believe we've ever before typed the words "EP cassette."
• The reincarnated ROCK OFF, now the MAMM SLAMM, held preliminary rounds this weekend at the Empire and five bands emerged as finalists in the competition for Best High School Band in Maine: the MODEST PROPOSAL (Freeport), FINDING PERFECTION (Scarborough), the TWISTED TRUTH (Portland/South Portland), DUSTY GROOVES (Portland), and CROSSED OUT (Gorham). In addition, online voters put through MIDNITE HAZE (Bethel). They will battle it out at the Port City Music Hall on April 30 for $1000 in cash, plus a bunch of prizes like studio time.
