STONE DARLING

STONE DARLING (unsigned, unpublished) - Stone Darling is an all-girl L.A.-based four-piece that will soon be popping up on the music industry radar if they haven't already. A recent feature in NYLON Magazine has certainly helped create awareness, as has their seemingly non-stop performance schedule in the L.A. area (these ladies play everywhere from The Echo to The Bootleg to tiny boutique fashion stores). Local college radio stations including KCSN and KXLU are showing early support - we can only imagine KCRW will be next.

What do they sound like? Think Mazzy Star-meets-Mamas & Papas. They'll be self-releasing an EP later this month, and they'll have promo samplers with them in Austin during SXSW (see our SXSW list below for details on their showcases). Their MySpace page is HERE and their Facebook page is HERE.

Have a look/listen to their cover of the Funkadelic track "Can You Get To That":

SXSW 2011 SHOWCASES OF NOTE

SXSW 2011 SHOWCASES OF NOTE

First, we'd like to say these are just some acts we feel will be interesting to see. Some are already signed and/or published, but we're sure you've got a cheat-sheet list of acts you need to see already - just consider this another tool in case you missed some cool showcases when putting together your own list.

Second, we'd like to turn you on to a really comprehensive list of everything sanctioned and unsanctioned, show-and-party-wise, happening in Austin during SXSW. Go HERE - their list is WICKED thorough and it's got clickable links to let you RSVP to all the different stuff.

OK - that said - here's our list of cool shows & shit happening during SXSW - note we also included some spots to get free food and booze - 'cuz let's be honest - a free meal and free beers are always good to know about.

Update: Band names marked with a * are unsigned, bands marked with a # are unpublished

Wednesday, March 16

12:00 PM - 3:00 PM - FREE FOOD & DRINK - Latitude 30
3:00 PM - 7:00 PM - FREE BBQ - Brush Sq. Pk., East Tent
3:00 PM - Grand Tarantula * - PureVolume House
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM - FREE WINE - Brush Sq. Pk., West Tent
8:00 PM - Stone Darling *# - Hotel Vegas
8:00 PM - Gold Motel - Buffalo Billiards
8:00 PM - The Tender Box * - Rusty Spurs
8:30 PM - Olin & The Moon * - Black & Tan
9:00 PM - Leeroy Stagger - The Tap Room at Six
9:00 PM - Lex Land - The Ghost Room
9:15 PM - James Blake - Stubb's
10:00 PM - Mona - Antone's
11:00 PM - Twin Atlantic - Maggie Mae's
12:00 AM - Admiral Fallow - Maggie Mae's
12:00 AM - Beans - Mohawk
12:00 AM - Ellie Goulding - The Bat Bar
12:00 AM - Kitten - The Marq
12:00 AM - The Naked and Famous - The Phoenix
12:15 AM - Queens of the Stone Age - La Zona Rosa
1:00 AM - Baths - Mohawk


Thursday March 17

11:00 AM - 5:30 PM - FREE BOOZE - Antone's
11:30 AM - 3:30 PM - FREE SPANISH FOOD - Brush Sq. Pk., East Tent
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM - FREE GERMAN FOOD - Parkside
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM - FREE FRENCH FOOD & WINE - Brush Sq. Pk., East Tent
12:45 PM - Emmylou Harris - Austin Convention Center
2:00 PM - Meiko # - The Driskill (SESAC Brunch)
2:00 PM - 6:00 PM - FREE FOOD & DRINK - Latitude 30
4:00 PM - Neon Hitch - Austin Convention Center
8:00 PM - Dinosaur Pile-Up - Latitude 30
8:15 PM - Fences - St David's Historic Sanctuary
9:00 PM - Kyla La Grange - Klub Krucial
9:00 PM - The Limousines # - Buffalo Billiards
9:30 PM - Noah and the Whale - Stubb's
9:45 PM - Neon Hitch - Habana Bar Backyard
10:00 PM - Fitz and the Tantrums # - Rusty Spurs
10:20 PM - The Lonely Forest - Maggie Mae's Rooftop
11:00 PM - Ellie Goulding - Klub Krucial
11:00 PM - Friendly Fires - The Windish Agency House @ ND
11:00 PM - Phantogram - Lustre Pearl
11:45 PM - Wu Tang Clan - Austin Music Hall
12:00 AM - Bear Hands - Victorian Room at The Driskill
12:00AM - Cee Lo Green - La Zona Rosa
12:30 AM - Gayngs - Mohawk Patio
12:40 AM - Hieroglyphics - Scoot Inn
12:45 AM - Classixx - Malverde
1:00 AM - James Blake - Central Presbyterian Church
1:00 AM - James Vincent McMorrow - Friends
1:00 AM - Oh Land - Buffalo Billiards


Friday March 18

12:00 PM - 5:00 PM - FREE FOOD & BOOZE - Latitude 30
3:30 PM - Odd Future # - Scoot In
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM - FREE FOOD & BOOZE - Brush Sq. Pk., West Tent
8:00 PM - Bearsuit - Latitude 30
8:00 PM - The Good Natured - The Windish Agency House @ ND
8:30 PM - Buddy *# - The Ale House
9:00 PM - Dan Wilson - Victorian Room at The Driskill
9:00 PM - Skrillex - Emo's Main Room
9:00 PM - Stone Darling *# - Baby Blue
9:00 PM - Air Dubai *# - Peckerhead's
11:00 PM - Chad Valley - Latitude 30
11:00 PM - Mother Mother - Swan Dive
11:30 PM - Helmet - Dirty Dog Bar
12:00 AM - Lucinda Williams - ACL Live at The Moody Theater
12:00 AM - Wolf & Cub - Swan Dive
12:30 AM - The Cool Kids - Emo's Main Room
12:45 AM - Satellite * - The Ale House
1:00 AM - Bombay Bicycle Club - Latitude 30
1:00 AM - Elizabeth & the Catapult - Creekside at Hilton Garden Inn
1:00 AM - EPMD - Venue 222
1:00 AM - Pint Shot Riot - 512


Saturday March 19

12:00 PM - 5:30 PM - FREE BBQ - Maggie Mae's
3:00 PM - 6:00 PM - FREE FOOD & BOOZE - Latitude 30
12:00 PM - Foster the People - Austin Convention Center
8:30 PM - Brian Wright # - St David's Historic Sanctuary
10:00 PM - Air Dubai *# - Dizzy Rooster
10:30 PM - Meiko # - St David's Historic Sanctuary
11:00 PM - Blu - Venue 222
11:15 PM - Le Butcherettes - Emo's Annex
12:00 AM - Art vs Science - Maggie Mae's Rooftop
12:00 AM - Ume *# - Skinny's Ballroom
12:05 AM - Odd Future # - Buffalo Billiards
1:00 AM - Gobble Gobble - Club de Ville
1:00 AM - Jamie xx - Barcelona
1:00 AM - Young Legionnaire - Latitude 30

...and this last photo is for our British/Australian readers planning on going to Austin for the SXSW festivities (kidding, kidding...)

We're working on our list of "SXSW 2011 Showcases To See" ...hang tight!!

AIR DUBAI

AIR DUBAI (unsigned, unpublished) -- Go ahead - Listen to Air Dubai and tell us it wouldn't work on the radio. We dare you. This seven-piece Denver-based group recently won Alternative KTCL Denver's "Hometown For the Holidays" contest and their song "Restless Youth" has received over 30 spins on the station so far this year. At its core, Air Dubai is hip-hop, but these guys can SING, too, boy! They've got organic instrumentation layered over the top of everything which makes their music more accessible to Alternative and Pop fans. Air Dubai owns their masters and publishing, and they've got two shows coming up in Austin during SXSW - put them on your lists, dummies:

March 18 - Peckerheads - 9:00PM
March 19 - Dizzy Rooster - 10:00PM

Strangers

STRANGERS (unsigned, unpublished) - This one's for fans of dark electro-pop ala Depeche Mode. Strangers is a new North London-based band featuring producer/remixer extraordinaire Glen Nicholls. You might know Glenn from his Future Funk Squad project, or from his remixes for artists including Sia, Snow Patrol, White Lies, and The Prodigy (among many others). Get on this one quickly - they've only had the music made available for two weeks, yet they've got two major label offers on the table. Listen to three tracks HERE.

TALENTfilter Developing Artist Update

It's one thing to tip you to a new artist and then move on to the next, but we also like to keep you updated on what these developing artists are busy with - in case you initially heard their music and wanted to "wait until the story develops a bit."

Today we looked back at a few of the acts we'd written about many moons ago and put together this little update for you!

L.A. band Pan America (featured on 2/23/07) is still out there hustling, and while they're not doing a very good job of keeping their online presence updated, they've recently recorded a new EP. You can hear the tracks on their MySpace Page (Highlight track is "Will We Ever Learn").

The House Harkonnen (featured on 3/28/07), also continuing to plug away, have released two more EPs since being featured. They had a development deal with Atlantic, but it seems as if that's not the sitch anymore. If you like everything Dave Grohl does, this band will give you a boner.

Eighteen year-old singer Tori Kelly (featured on 6/24/07) is still unsigned and unpublished. She auditioned for American Idol in 2010 and made it to 'Hollywood Week', but didn't get to the 'Top 24' cut. This girl's voice is SICK. Check out her YouTube page to hear her sing some covers.

New York singer-songwriter Lionel Neykov (featured on 1/13/08), about whom we'd written, "...has the potential to be a song-licensing ANIMAL", had his track "Freeze My Senses" licensed by a Spanish ad agency for $20,000 after they discovered him on YouTube. Lionel now has management, but is still unsigned and unpublished.

Diana Pops (featured on 11/28/08) has picked up management and self-released an EP titled For Bright Minds in Dark Corners on Feb. 22. This Winnipeg-based singer's music is fantastic - for fans of Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan. Labels should take note - Diana's music appeals to adults - you know - the people who still buy music. Publishers - she's a sync licensing dream. Check out her Facebook page to hear the EP. Still unsigned/unpublished but apparently there is some label interest brewing...

Are you an artist we've written about in the past? Hit us up at talentfilter@gmail.com and let us know what you're up to!

The New Assembly

THE NEW ASSEMBLY (unsigned, unpublished) - The New Assembly is a San Diego-based duo whose Clouds and Waves EP was produced/mixed by Bryan Cook (Train, Five For Fighting, Meiko, Inara George). Filled with subtle synths and beats, this EP is syncable as all get-out: music supervisors (and labels/pubcos who like money) should take note. Songs from Clouds and Waves are garnering local radio support from THREE San Diego stations (Alternative KBZT, Triple A KPRI and Hot A/C KYXY). The New Assembly will perform at IndieFest in San Diego on March 12 (5:15PM set time).

Courtney Holt Out As MySpace Music Prez

MySpace Music President Courtney Holt will 'change his role' at the company, according to an inter-office memo sent out by interim-President Mike Jones. The memo states, "Over the next several weeks, (Courtney) will be moving from being the President of MySpace Music to becoming a key advisor to both MySpace and Newscorp."

Holt has led MySpace Music for the past two years, and previously oversaw digital music initiatives at MTV.

Brian Wright

We're sure every major label A&R meeting currently goes something like this: "Where the fuck is our fucking Mumford & Sons, huh?!"

Please have a look/listen to Brian Wright. We told you about him in February 2007, and this just might be his breakthrough year. He just signed with Sugar Hill Records, who will release his new album, House On Fire, on March 29. Go license it from them, dummies.

McLachlan Leaves Nettwerk Mgmt.

According to Digital Music News, Sarah McLachlan has parted ways with longtime manager Terry McBride and Nettwerk Management. Read DMN Publisher Paul Resnikoff's piece HERE.

Upcoming L.A.-Area Shows Of Note

Feb. 20 - Bobby Brown - Key Club (YEAH!!!)
Feb. 21 - Dawn Mitschele (and others) - Room 5
Feb. 23 - Anna Nalick - Hotel Cafe
Feb. 23 - The Hood Internet - The Echo
Feb. 25 - Keaton Simons - Hotel Cafe
Feb. 25 - Samantha Ronson (full band) - Satellite
Mar. 1 - Leeroy Stagger - Hotel Cafe
Mar. 3 - Tift Merritt - Bootleg
Mar. 3 - Boyz II Men - The Canyon (YEAH!)
Mar. 4 - Gold Motel - Origami Vinyl (in-store)
Mar. 5 - Gobble Gobble - Troubadour
Mar. 8 - Katie Costello - Hotel Cafe
Mar. 8 - Gold Motel - The Echo
Mar. 9 - Obi Best - Hotel Cafe
Mar. 9 - Stryper - Club Nokia (YEAH!)
Mar. 10 - The Tender Box - Troubadour
Mar. 11 - Les Butcherettes - The Echo

TALENTfilter Artist Signings (A Catch-Up)

It’s been well over a year since we’ve posted any news or updates, so we’d like to catch you up on a couple of TALENTfilter artist signings that have happened since we last wrote (for a list of every act that’s been signed since we started the blog, look to the right at the list in red).

Sonia Leigh, first featured in February 2007, signed a label deal in 2009 with Southern Ground Artists, Inc., an Atlantic Records joint-venture imprint formed by Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band. According to a December 2010 post on her blog, her debut Southern Ground Artists album is done and a release date is imminent.

Neon Hitch, first featured in August 2008, was signed to EMI Publishing in summer 2009 and eventually signed to Warner Bros. in 2010. No word on an album release date, but a video for a track called “Get Over U” (co-written by Sia) was posted to YouTube on February 8.
(Neon Hitch wasn't featured on any other A&R tipsheet blog until July 2009)

Chloe Leighton, first featured in December 2008, signed with Beluga Heights/WB in June 2010 and is currently working on her debut album.
(Chloe wasn't featured on any other A&R tipsheet blog until March 2009. HITS Magazine featured her in April 2009)

Danish singer Oh Land, first featured in March 2009 and who was one of our “SXSW 2009 performing artists to see”, signed with Epic Records two months after label reps attended said showcase. Now, two years later, Perez Hilton picks Oh Land to be “one to watch in 2011”

CHECK ONE TWO ...IS THIS THING ON??? What's up, party people. We're back. We think. After a sixteen-month break, we've noticed many of the artists we'd written about have gone on to do some pretty amazing things. Looks like we were onto something - so here we are again!

Over the next week or so, we'll do a little housecleaning. Switch out the Blogroll with more relevant website links, etc., and we'll report on some of the old TALENTfilter artists and their accomplishments over the past year or so.

We'll try and pop up some new, recent discoveries too, so if you've got anything for us to check out, send links to talentfilter@gmail.com (No MP3s, please, dummies. Just streaming links or something that won't clog our Inbox. Be smart.).

As always, we'll happily make this a private A&R tipsheet for any label or publisher looking to put us on the payroll.

We're wicked broke, so we'll work wicked cheap, you dig?

Anyway, stay tuned. And send an E-mail over to say 'hello' so we know someone actually gives a shit.

Oh, and hey, Happy Valentine's Day!

xoxo
Team TALENTfilter

KiD A (unsigned, unpublished) -- Airplay on KCRW Los Angeles and WOXY.com (championed by KCRW's Nic Harcourt and Future Sounds' Larry Little), press write-ups in Mixmag, the Sunday Times, DJ Magazine, Music Week, Record Of The Day, and most recently in The Los Angeles Times Magazine - not bad for a 21 year-old college student in Virginia! KiD A's debut EP was produced by Dan le Sac - the track "wasnotwas" is a HITTT. Labels in both the U.S. and UK are surriously sniffin'. Check it out on KiD A's MySpace page. You're welcome ;)

PUB DEAL ALERT -- Spies tell us that Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have locked in an extremely sweet publishing deal with Chrysalis. Shh.

SARAH SOLOVAY (unsigned, unpublished, no management) -- Go have a listen to "Gone" on Sarah Solovay's MySpace page. Big. Fat. Smash. Now, check out "Hearts Collide". Another. Big. Fat. Hit. It's also featured on the hotly-tipped 90210 soundtrack. Sarah wrote both of these songs herself (and the others she's posted on MySpace).

...and she's 15.

Most of Sarah's demos were produced by Kyle Kelso (Parachute, Tina Parol, Fefe Dobson) and there are more than a few labels already sniffing around (we've been sworn to secrecy so don't ask who). Check her out at the Bitter End in NYC on October 1.

This derby could get big. Stay tuned.

AARON ANDERSON (unsigned, unpublished) -- Southern California-based singer-songwriter Aaron Anderson has been garnering airplay on San Diego Hot AC outlet Sophie @ 103.7's "New Now Next" program. For fans of Gavin DeGraw and Jason Mraz. "Green Sun Rising" and "Where Do I Begin" are solid radio-friendly tracks.

PAUL CASEY (unsigned, unpublished) -- Irish singer-songwriter Paul Casey recently self-released a new album called Scrapbook, and it will certainly appeal to fans of Dave Matthews and David Gray. In the past, Paul has had songs played on KROQ Los Angeles' "Rodney On the ROQ" program, and has shared the stage with artists including Van Morrison, Damien Rice, and the John Butler Trio (among others). Paul will tour Europe, the UK, Ireland and Scotland in support of multi-million album-selling blues guitarist Chris Rea through April 2010.

TALENTFILTER ARTIST UPDATE -- A few of our early artist tips have recently released new material, and we're really excited to report some impressive numbers...

Five Finger Death Punch, first tipped as an unsigned, unpublished act in February 2007, has just released their second full-length titled War Is the Answer. Early reports say that the album will debut in the Top 10 and will more than likely sell 40-45,000 copies in its first week.

Ingrid Michaelson, the 450,000th TALENTfilter artist to be signed since February 2007 (wink, wink), had her latest album, Everybody, debut at No. 1 on the iTunes Album Chart. In its first week, it sold over 22,000 copies. Ingrid's album Girls And Boys, which was independently released, has sold 278,000 copies in the U.S., and the follow-up Be OK LP sold 98,000 units. We first tipped you to Ms. Michaelson in May 2007.

Other TALENTfilter artists with nice sales stories lately include A Fine Frenzy's new Bomb In A Birdcage LP (#1 iTunes Album) and Elizabeth & The Catapult's Taller Children (#1 iTunes Singer-Songwriter Album).

UPCOMING L.A. SHOWS OF NOTE:

Sep 28 -- Dynamite Walls - Viper Room
Sep 29 -- Oh Darling - Spaxeland
Sep 30 -- Randy Coleman - Roxy
Oct 1 -- Katie Costello - Hotel Cafe
Oct 3 -- Pharcyde - Key Club
Oct 3 -- Holly Conlan - Hotel Cafe
Oct 4 -- Tina Dico - Roxy
Oct 6 -- The Parson Red Heads - Spaceland
Oct 6 -- Dommin - Key Club
Oct 7 -- Jack Penate/Miike Snow - Spaceland
Oct 8 -- Ke$ha - The Echo
Oct 11 -- Medusa - The Whisky
Oct 12 -- Obi Best - Spaceland
Oct 13 -- Stacy Clark - Viper Room
Oct 15 -- The Rust - Roxy
Oct 20 -- Noah & The Whale - Roxy
Oct 24 -- Kid Sister - The Echo
Oct 27 -- VV Brown - Spaceland
Oct 29 -- Eulogies - SPaceland
Oct 30 -- Amy Millan - Spaceland
Oct 31 -- The Rakes - Roxy
Nov 3 -- Katie Miller-Heidke - Hotel Cafe

RUTH-ANNE CUNNINGHAM (unsigned) - As an unsigned artist, Dublin, Ireland's Ruth-Anne Cunningham has received heavy airplay on her hometown radio outlet 2fm. As a writer, she's co-written some big songs for artists including Jojo, Leona Lewis and Katherine McPhee (among others) and she's currently writing for Toni Braxton and Pixie Lott. She's published by Shapiro Bernstein.

YIKES! Two months off. Who do we think we are, school teachers? Enough of that. New "Shows Of Note" posted soon, along with a few new artists to tip you to, and some impressive numbers to gloat...err ...share with you regarding TALENTfilter artists you should've signed.

HOORAY!

ELIZABETH & THE CATAPULT GET SOME LOVE ON PEREZ HILTON'S BLOG! Very exciting to see Elizabeth & the Catapult get some lovin' from our friend Mr. Hilton. We first tipped you to the band TWENTY-EIGHT MONTHS AGO and Verve Forecast signed them eighteen months later.

ST. LOUIS RADIO SUPPORTS UNSIGNED MUSIC! Alternative KPNT St. Louis has announced this year's "PointFest" lineup - 35 bands for 35 bucks on August 23rd at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis.

Always a supporter of local rock acts, KPNT will feature a number of unsigned groups mixed in with the higher profile bands like Staind, Chevelle, Shinedown, Atreyu, etc.

Have a listen to some of the local acts - it's all pretty standard "red state rawk", but that stuff sells ...and you know it!

Copperview -- Three Doors Down-meets-Seven Mary Three

Brookroyal -- One album away from having it together - they could use some A&R/producer direction, but there's promise here. Singer has an interesting tone to his voice.

Janus -- We've heard about this band a bunch over the past year or so - Chicago's Q101 has added one of their tracks ("Eyesore") into - worth looking into...

Shaman's Harvest -- See description of Copperview and sprinkle in a bit more Southern rock. Really radio-friendly stuff, and it's obvious they've got someone working them at Rock/Active Rock radio already (not many unsigned/unpublished acts have 'impacting at radio' written across their MySpace page).

Red Line Chemistry -- Chevelle-ish. Remember Revis? Kinda like them. If Revis listened to Tool. Managed by Red Light Management.

BANDS, BE CAREFUL AND READ THE FINE PRINT! Clear Channel-owned L.A. Alternative station KYSR (Star 98.7) is presenting a contest called "Rockstar 987", where bands upload their music videos in the hopes of winning $10,000 cash, $5K worth of instruments from Best Buy, a professional photo shoot, an opportunity to showcase at a station event, the "chance" to meet with five different record labels (Suburban Noize, Sideonedummy, Sire, Mercury, and Elektra), and of course, some promotion on the radio station and their website. Sounds pretty cool, right?

Well, before you upload that video you had to have your parents mortgage the house to pay for, read the "Rules" section. There you'll find this tasty little nugget (super-important stuff in bold):

BY SUBMITTING THE VIDEO, YOU HEREBY GRANT TO THE COMPANY A PERPETUAL, WORLDWIDE, NON-EXCLUSIVE, ROYALTY-FREE, SUB-LICENSABLE (THROUGH MULTIPLE TIERS) RIGHT AND LICENSE TO USE, PUBLISH, REPRODUCE, DISPLAY, PERFORM, ADAPT, MODIFY, DISTRIBUTE, HAVE DISTRIBUTED AND PROMOTE SUCH CONTENT AND THE CONTEST IN ANY FORM (INCLUDING ANY TITLE OF THE VIDEO AND YOUR NAME AND LIKENESS), IN ALL MEDIA NOW KNOWN OR HEREINAFTER CREATED, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, FOR ANY PURPOSE. IN ADDITION TO GRANTING THE ABOVE LICENSE, THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO USE THE SUBMITTED VIDEO RECORDING FOR ANY COMMERCIAL USE AFTER IT HAS BEEN SUBMITTED.

Now, we're no legal eagles, but this basically states that JUST BY SUBMITTING your video, Clear Channel has the right to do whatever the hell they want with your video - forever. And if you win the contest, you won't be able to use (sell) your video.

Smell right to you?

Hey, if it does, go for it. Get all the info HERE. But keep all the above stuff in mind.

TREY LOCKERBIE (unsigned, unpublished) -- Twenty-one year-old Nashville-based singer-songwriter Trey Lockerbie has quickly built up one of the largest fanbases of any unsigned artist in Nashville. He recently self-released his debut three-song EP and has been garnering regular airplay at local radio stations including WRLT (Lightning 100) Nashville. Check out the track "Hummingbird" - total hit.

Trey is in Los Angeles taking meetings with labels and publishers, and will perform at Room 5 on Saturday night, July 25, at 11PM. Expect a bevvy of A&R/pubco scouts in attendance. For more info, contact us here at TALENTfilter.

MORE SIGNING UPDATES -- Juliana Joya signs to Matt Serletic’s Emblem Music Group, which is now a j/v with Waner Bros… Sixteen year-old Sky Ferreira signs a worldwide deal with EMI… Funeral Party signs with RCA… Los Angeles-based band Capra signs with Hollywood Records…

Got any signing news to report? Let us know at TALENTfilter@gmail.com

ANOTHER TALENTFILTER ARTIST SIGNS ON THE DOTTED LINE! Greenlandic singer-songwriter Simon Lynge, first tipped to you on TALENTfilter over two years ago, has signed with Lo-Max Records, for the world ex-U.S. According to a blog posting on his MySpace page, it's a three-album deal. Simon's album titled A Beautiful Way To Drown will be released in the UK in September and in all of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan soon thereafter. Congrats to Simon - he's really one of the most talented artists we've had the pleasure of seeing live more than once.

TALENTfilter ARTIST NEON HITCH SIGNS WITH EMI! Congrats to Neon Hitch, first tipped to you in August 2008 - she has just done a pub deal with EMI Music Publishing. Nice one!

UPCOMING L.A. SHOWS OF NOTE

Jul 22 -- Enter Shikari - Key Club
Jul 23 -- Edward Sharpe/Mag. Zeroes - Hammer Museum
Jul 23 -- Rachel Goodrich - Hotel Cafe
Jul 24 -- The Jakes - House Of Blues (Anaheim)
Jul 24 -- De La Soul - Key Club
Jul 25 -- Trey Lockerbie - Room 5
Jul 28 -- Obi Best -- Bootleg theater
Aug 1 -- Michelle Featherstone - Hotel Cafe
Aug 5 -- Roll The Tanks - Silverlake Lounge
Aug 6 -- Meiko - Pershing Square
Aug 22 -- Harvey Danger (?!) - Largo
Aug 28 -- Decca Tree - Viper Room