As part of The Orchard’s Creative Licensing team, we’re always on the hunt for interesting covers.
This month, we’ve assembled a playlist of some of of our favorite discoveries from the past year, including Albert Hammond, Jr. of The Strokes taking on the Big Star power-pop classic “Thirteen;” The Dandy Warhols‘ rumbling electronic-tinged rendition of The Cure‘s 1981 single “Primary;” AM & Shawn Lee‘s cosmic electro-soul update of Joe Jackson‘s 1982 hit “Steppin’ Out;” and much more.
Stream the entire playlist via Spotify below, and be sure to check it out on ShareMyPlaylists, too.
The physical sales team did their share of heavy lifting to deliver a #139 Billboard/Soundscan Top 200 debut for Rhett Miller‘s The Dreamer, which also hit #2 on the Heatseekers chart. This follows a long list of Top 200 chart debuts for our artists, including Pitbull, DJ Premier & Bumpy Knuckles, Royce Da 5’9″, The Black Angels, The Raveonettes, Ryan Adams, and more. Who needs a major label anyway?
Accompanied by Blake Russell and Ronit Shaham, I traveled to Atlantic City two weekends ago to check out The Black Angels & Torche’s sets at Metallica’s massive 4-stage, 2-day Orion Festival. All of the artists were hand-picked by the headliners themselves and the show was covered heavily on Fuse.
The Black Angels were joined onstage by newest member Rishi Dhir (Elephant Stone/High Dials), who played sitar in addition to rotating on guitar and bass. After their solid set, The Angels’ lead singer Alex Maas told us the band has been working hard with something like 30 new songs already written for the next album expected in 2013. Could some sitar sounds be included in the new directions Alex spoke about?
Torche had the honor of being introduced by Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo. Playing to a crowd estimated at 3-5k, they delivered a crushing, yet melodic set, making many new fans in the process. When Torche left the stage, the surprised band were warmly greeted by Trujillo and Metallica lead singer/guitarist James Hetfield, who hung out to chat for several minutes.
Props to Vector Management’s Lauren Pattenaude and Volcom’s Michael Nobrega for the hookups! And megathanks to all of Torche and The Black Angels for some quality face-time with The Orchard crew.
Check out the photos from the festival here.
With his latest album The Dreamer – released last week on his label Maximum Sunshine Records – Rhett Miller surely showed us one thing: he’s a man who knows what he wants and how to get it. With guest appearances by singers Rosanne Cash and Rachael Yamagata, as well as additional percussion by Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel), this is one record you don’t want to miss.
The Dreamer is Miller‘s sixth solo record and represents the first time he has ever self-produced. In the past, Miller’s solo efforts were dramatically different from his work with Old 97′s. Their songs often steeped in Americana and country and the solo records were decidedly more rock and pop affairs. Now The Dreamer finds the Texas-bred, New York-based singer/songwriter marrying his two worlds like never before.
Get a taste of this new mix for yourself on Paste Magazine, who is also offering a Deluxe Package of The Dreamer, including a choice of the record on CD or vinyl, a t-shirt, a limited edition silkscreened hand-numbered poster, a sticker and button, and of course, a digital download of the album. Enter by Friday to be part of the draw. Thanks Paste!
Other exciting Rhett-related news? The first video from the album, “Out of Love,” premiered last week on Team Coco, Conan O’Brien’s website. And check out who’s playing on guitar! It’s our very own *drum roll* Tommy Borscheid, Director of A&R and Acquisitions. Enjoy the awesome vid below:
Rhett Miller and his touring band The Serial Lady Killers are on a North American tour which started June 4th in Vienna, VA. Take a look at the rest of the dates below:
Last Saturday was Record Store Day, the one day in the year reserved to shine a spotlight on records and record stores across the country.
It was a very successful one, too! The Black Angels 7″ that we’ve been raving about did mighty well at Waterloo Records, who reported that it made #4 on the best-selling 45RPMs and The Raveonettes EP that was just released was #4 best-selling CD. Zia Records had the pleasure of hosting our very own Vintage Trouble at their store in Las Vegas. They had a great turnout and took some pretty rad photos, which you just have check out here. Other Music hosted Suckers as they spun some tunes in the totally packed store. Check out the pics on Brooklyn Vegan!
Of course, as eager Orchard-ites, we were present everywhere we could be. We couldn’t make it to all of our bands’ performances in stores all around the country (Vintage Trouble, Rhett Miller, RACES, Mates of State and Suckers), but we do have some accounts of what we did see:
The lovely Allison Ullrich — who took a whole bunch of great photos, including the one accompanying this post — went store hopping in NYC and even wrote a blog post about it for Purple Revolver. In it, she shares her experience with mad RSD lines, impromptu fights and friendly record buyers post mayhem.
One of our Interactive Marketing Managers Tonia Samman went to see Mates of State at Brooklyn’s Soundfix and had this to say about it: ”Brooklyn’s Soundfix was at capacity and overflowing with Mates of State fans at 7:30AM when the band’s performance began, and most of them stuck around throughout the set just to listen and catch glimpses of Jason and Kori in the windows. Rounded out by a guitarist and second keyboard player (who also doubled on trumpet), Mates of State sounded as tight as ever as they ran through hits from 2011’s Mountaintops including “Palomino” and “Maracas,” and highlights from 2009’s Re-arrange Us like “My Only Offer” and the album’s title track. They also did an inspired cover of “The Weight” in honor of the late Levon Helm.”
Rhett Miller has announced the release of his new self-produced album, The Dreamer, out June 5 on his very own Maximum Sunshine Records, distributed by The Orchard. The album features guest appearances by singers Rosanne Cash and Rachael Yamagata, as well as additional percussion by Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel).
The band on the record is Rhett Miller‘s touring group, the Serial Lady Killers. This is the second release on his label, the first being 2011′s The Interpreter – Live at Largo. Check out the first single from the new record, “Out of Love,” now available for download on Rhett’s website.
“I produced The Dreamer myself, a first for me, and had a very clear vision of what it should be — an intimate, rootsy record that would bridge the gap between my work with the Old 97′s and the solo albums I’ve made in the past,” says Rhett about the new release. “The Dreamer is all about simple American songs and instrumentation. It was a blast to make.”
Don’t miss Rhett Miller‘s North American tour starting tonight in New York’s City Winery! The tour will feature both solo acoustic shows and shows with his band, Rhett Miller & The Serial Lady Killers. Tour dates below:
