Independent group Schaeffer gives behind the scenes look

Whenever I see one of my friends become a "fan" of a music group on Facebook, I'll atleast find out what they're all about. So on this night, I got a chance to take in some tunes from an alternative group named Schaeffer. I would probably put them in the emo/alternative realm. At first listen, they really reminded me of Sleeping At Last, a group I got to see in concert when they opened up for Switchfoot a few years back in Detroit.

Schaeffer has apparently gotten enough following as an independent group to get their music on iTunes. Then again, I guess I don't know how hard that is to pull off. I guess somebody will have to let me know. I haven't really been in the "music biz" since college. You can also check out their music on their MySpace page.

Here's a YouTube video the group put together that gives a behind the scenes look of their latest album, Something Worth Fighting For:

Nine Inch Nails releases album online

With little pomp and circumstance, Trent Reznor of the group Nine Inch Nails has released a new ablum called Ghosts exclusively online. According to the album website, they've had 3 times the amount of traffic on his site to download the first 9 tracks, which happen to be totally free, and which has also brought the site to a halt as there's too many people trying to download it. I caught the first news of it on Techdirt's web site, which points out how, even though the tracks are free (Reznor even uploaded the first 9 tracks himself to torrent sites), he is still able receive revenue without the music labels help.

So, checkout the new album if you're into NIN. If you're not into NIN, atleast enjoy Johnny Cash's cover of one of Nine Inch Nails tunes, Hurt. It's his last video before his passing. See it below:

Dispatch live in Madison Square Gardens

Every so often I flip through the HD channels. I don't normally watch live TV, but it's been more often since the writer's strike forced a much shorter list of shows on my Tivo. I also love to watch TV in HD, I'm hooked. Anyways, I caught a fairly entertaining concert on MHDTV, an HD music channel. The concert featured the band Dispatch in a benefit concert called Dispatch : Zimbabwe where all ticket proceeds went to charities that are fighting disease, famine, and social injustices. At one point during the concert, the group even invited the African Children's Choir up to sing along. Check out the YouTube video below that shows some clips from the concert and some behind the scenes interviews.

Here's the video:

Old School took me back, old school

OK, so I just finished watching Old School on ABC (I know, not much going on for a Saturday night). Anyways, there was a part that started in slo-mo, which pretty much leads to the point where you need to hear the Chariots of Fire theme, or the slo-mo just doesn't make sense.

I thought I'd look up the song and I found the theme performed by Vangelis on YouTube. He is backed up by an orchestra and it's being performed in Athens. It's only 4 minutes and 16 seconds, but it will feel like 10 minutes due to the slo-mo effect.

Here's the video:

Acoustic Version of Breaking Benjamin Tune

Came across an acoustic version of Breaking Benjamin's The Diary of Jane. The song is off of their latest album, Phobia. It's on YouTube, but there isn't a true video for it, it's just few images thrown up while the song plays. It's a great sounding track. It can definitely stand on it's own without the distortion and screaming from the original track.

Here's the acoustic version:



Here's the original song if you care to watch the video to compare: