Radiohead‘s surprising move to sell their album directly via donations has already inspired others with the new album from rapper Saul Williams to be released in a simlar form.

The album is a collaboration with Nine Inch Nail’s Trent Reznor, another outspoken critic of the label system, and Trent describes the project as his biggest collaboration since Antichrist Superstar, the Marilyn Manson album he co-wrote back in 1996.

The record is titled the Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust and it will be released on November 1st. Trent elaborated a little on the nature of the project:

There are obvious similarities in how Radiohead just released their new record and the way we’ve chosen to. After thinking about this way too much, I feel we’ve improved upon their idea in a few profound ways that benefit you, the consumer. You obviously will be the judge of this in the end. One thing that IS very different in our situation is that Saul’s not the household name (yet!) that Radiohead is, and that means we need your support on this more than ever. If you like what you hear, spread the word.

The biggest difference will be that the album will be released in significantly higher quality formats including DRM-free MP3s at 192kbps and even FLAC, a lossless audio format identical to CD. One of the more common complaints about Radiohead’s offering was the lackluster sound quality due to extremely low bitrate encoding of the MP3s.

Reznor previously gave away multi-track versions of songs from his last album, Year Zero and encouraged fans to mix, mash and remix the songs as they saw fit.

Of course, it’s worth noting that even thought Radiohead and Trent Reznor are doing this now, our friends and Quote Unquote Records did it first and are therefore totally ahead of the curve.
Source Continue reading Saul Williams and Trent Reznor plan Radiohead-style donation album →

Schoolyard Heroes have posted the new video from their controversial new album, Abominations. The video is a little gory so avoid it at work unless you work in an abattoir or something.

You can find the video here.
Source Continue reading Schoolyard Heroes: “Dude, Where’s My Skin” →

New Atlantic have posted a new video from their latest album, The Streets, The Sounds, And the Love.

The video was directed by Kohta Asakura and produced by Dorothy Williams of Zooma Zooma Productions.

Source Continue reading New Atlantic: “Cold-Hearted Town” →

Toronto duo FemBots have posted a recording update. The group, which is working on the follow up to 2005’s The City, commented:

We’ve just returned from a 5-day recording retreat at a cottage in the Kawartha Lakes and it feels like we’ve finally turned a corner with the new record. We spent the week working out band arrangements and accompaniments to the songs we’ve been working on with our friend Iner and his home made instruments. Things went very, very well and we’re all excited about the new songs. The music is a bit hard to describe at the moment. Let’s just say it’s unlike anything we’ve done before.

FemBots recordings and live shows frequently expand the band with a number of collaborators. In the past these have featured Jason Tait of the Weakerthans. During the Reconstruction Site tour both members of FemBots toured as members of an expanded Weakerthans lineup.
Source Continue reading FemBots recording new album →

With the tragic passing of punk icon Lance Hahn this past weekend, the folks in NOFX and Fat Wreck Chords have decided to do what they can to help while remembering Lance.

They explained:

We want to do what we can to help out Lance’s family with their medical bills so we are selling some autographed copies of NOFX’s latest LP, Wolves in Wolves Clothing, on yellow colored vinyl. We have 20 copies of the record that were donated to us by one of our generous fans, Jeff Wegner, aka Punkrockjeff. Jeff had this fitting comment on Lance’s passing that we feel is well-deserved…

“For a man that has given so much of his time, energy and life to the punk community by way of his writing, bands and projects, I feel the need to help in any way possible to give back to a man that has given so much to us. R.I.P. Lance”

We are selling each of the LP’s for $100 and while that may seem pretty expensive, be assured that ALL PROCEEDS will be going to Lance’s bills and funeral arrangements so it’s a worthwhile cause. Each person that purchases an LP will get a free J Church t-shirt.

You can check out the package and place your order here.
Source Continue reading NOFX selling autographed “Wolves” LPs for Lance Hahn’s family →

Just like we promised, today we’ve got a full, high quality download of the entire Punknews.org Presents The Fest 6: A Free Compilation. Teaming up with the event’s host, No Idea Records, we’ve compiled a special compilation for you to download, free of charge. The album features some of the bands performing at this year’s event, with many of the tracks being new or unreleased. Included are bands such as Radon, Dead to Me, Banner Pilot, Small Brown Bike, The Gaslight Anthem, The Falcon, Sundowner, Fake Problems, No Trigger, The Swellers, Shook Ones, The Menzingers and more. Unreleased cuts have been provided by O Pioneers!!!, The Riot Before, Landmines and Nakatomi Plaza.

Additionally, Mitch Clem, the internet cartoonist responsible for the cult favorite Nothing Nice To Say, has graciously provided us with some artwork for the compilation. The art is provided as a high-resolution PDF file, suitable for printing, framing or whatever else you think you should do with coloured paper.

It’s perfect to burn to a CD and listen to while making the trip to Gainesville. You need to register a user account to download it and you can find it here.

It’s about 108MB and we’ve never posted a download this big, so we’ll be keeping an eye on everything .
Source Continue reading Download “Punknews.org Presents the Fest 6” compilation right now →

Oshawa, Ontario’s Cuff the Duke are streaming their new full length Sidelines of the City via their MySpace page. The band has also has the tune “If I Live or If I Die” available for free via the Canuck version of the iTunes Music Store. The record, their third and the follow up to 2005’s self titled release, hit stores this past Tuesday via via Hardwood Records

The band has announced supporting tour dates throughout Canada in the coming months.
Source Continue reading Cuff The Duke announce dates, streaming “Sidelines of the City” →