Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2010 still with no bands booked

Back in March, it was announced that Virgin Mobile will be bringing back their free music festival to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. for the second year in a row which was obviously great news.

Unfortunately, they’ve yet to make any announcements on what artists will be performing at FreeFest 2010 or even the date of when it will actually take place.

There has been plenty of speculation and predictions made by music fans about who will play, although those predictions have been mainly based on hope rather than any actual evidence.

Looking back at last year’s FreeFest which featured bands such as Blink-182, Weezer and Taking Back Sunday, I think it’s fair to say some reasonably high-profile bands will surely be booked for this year’s festival.

So those people crossing their fingers for bands like Pearl Jam, Muse and Foo Fighters may just get their wish.

One thing is a definite: the festival’s freaking free. So nobody better complain regardless of who they end up booking.

Band profile: An Endless Sporadic

The progressive rock band An Endless Sporadic was founded back in 2004 by two guys from Texas: 23-year-old drummer Andy Gentile and 22-year-old guitarist/keyboardist Zach Kamins.

Kamins, the cousin of Academy-award winning composer Howard Shore and a student at Berkelee College of Music in Boston, and Gentile, a game developer for Neversoft Entertainment, gained initial success in 2008 due to the release of their EP entitled “Ameliorate” which had featured tracks on the video games Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland, Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero World Tour.

The duo have recently released their first full-length album entitled “An Endless Sporadic” with three of the CD’s tracks having been featured on Guitar Hero 5.

Fortunately for me, I have a semi-personal relationship with one of the bandmates, drummer Andy Gentile, as we used to play online games a lot together back in the day (I know, so nerdy). Because of this, he has kindly agreed to an interview about the success and future endeavors of his band.

The interview will be conducted and posted up real soon so stay tuned.

Oh, and for those of you who have played Guitar Hero and are unsure if you’ve ever heard of this band before, maybe this song will refresh your memory.

Weezer and Ben Folds to perform at UMD

The University of Maryland College Park will be holding their 27th annual music/art festival called Art Attack on Friday, March 30 at 5 p.m. which will take place at Byrd Stadium. The two musical headliners for the event will be Weezer and Ben Folds.

Despite the fact this festival primarily revolves around the arts and crafts that will be displayed/sold by students and vendors, the university was still able to line up a pair of decently popular rock artists for the music portion of the event.

I must admit though, last year’s headliner for Art Attack, which was Ludacris, seems a lot better than this year. But oh well, nothing can be done about that now.

Anyway, I’m sure the concert will still be entertaining (especially if you’re a Weezer or Ben Folds fan), as well as the various arty things being shown off in the middle of everything. Maybe you’ll be so inclined to buy a portrait or sculpture while you’re there.

That is if you’re a Maryland student. You’ll be pretty strapped for cash if you’re not.

Ticket prices are $40 for the general public and $5 for UMD students.

M.I.A.’s graphic new music video

Just to warn you guys, this video is uncensored and has some pretty gory scenes in it, so if you’re going to watch it make sure you’re in a place appropriate to do so. This is definitely not safe for work or school.

That dramatically violent video, directed by French film director Romain Gavras, was M.I.A.’s newest track entitled “Born Free.”

The video obviously does its best to express political commentary and opinion by depicting genocide in what seems to be a war-torn country and police/military violence as well. Although those being maliciously persecuted and slaughtered in the music video are redheaded people, it is clearly meant to be an allegory to what is actually happening in the world.

Personally, I think the video does a great job at getting its message across. Of course, all of us are aware of these types of human atrocities being committed all over the world, however it’s one thing to simply hear about it on the news and another to be shown what really happens.

And yes, I know, this video is a work of fiction. But, the reason why redheads were used as opposed to a certain ethnic or religious group is to make the situation seem more realistic for people in America. Unfortunately, a good amount of Americans disregard stories of actual events such as these simply because they’re half a world away and the people involved are socially and physically different from us.

This video undoubtedly makes everyone who watches it feel something (probably queasy, mostly). What are your thoughts or reactions after seeing this?

Towson students weigh in on Tigerfest lineup

Now that Towson University’s lineup for Tigerfest, the school’s annual musical festival, has been finalized, I figured it’d be a great opportunity to find out what the students thought of the scheduled acts.

But first, let me lay out the details for the event.

The concert will take place on Saturday, April 24 at 1 p.m. at Burdick Field and will feature the hip-hop band N.E.R.D. The other acts include Battle of the Bands winner Breaking Reign, Neon Indian, J-Roddy Walston and The Business and These United States.

N.E.R.D is arguably the biggest name on the list, which left some Towson students feeling a bit shafted.

Aron Prybel (junior): N.E.R.D’s still around? I thought they broke up years ago.

J.P. Pace (senior): I’m really not looking forward to the concert. It’s disappointing they were the best we could get. At least we had Lupe (Fiasco) for homecoming and All-American Rejects last year.

Other students had more positive sentiments about the upcoming performances.

Dana Smith (junior): I’ve always loved Pharrell so I can’t wait to see him. And I saw (Breaking Reign) when they played at the Battle of the Bands and they sounded really good for a local band.

Ryan Williams (senior): I know they’re not that popular but These United States are pretty badass live so that’ll be cool.

Regardless of your opinions of the bands scheduled to play, Tigerfest is sure to be a fun overall event, especially for all the inebriated attendees.

Tickets are $10 for TU students and $25 for non-students. If you plan on going make sure to get your tickets early as the prices go up to $15 for students and $35 for non-students on the day of the concert.

Get ready for the 2010 Campus Consciousness Tour

The half rock tour and half environmental campaign that is the Campus Consciousness Tour will be arriving to the Baltimore area in the coming weeks.

The tour will be highlighted by Ben Harper and his band Relentless7 who will be performing on Tuesday, April 20 at 6 p.m. and rap sensation Drake who is coming on Wednesday, May 5 at 5:30 p.m.

Both concerts, which will also feature several other musical guests, will be held at the Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore.

The admission for each event is $42.50. You can buy your tickets here.

Towson University is sponsoring the Drake concert so if you’re a Towson student you can get $5 off if you buy your tickets at the University Union box office and use your student ID.

What’s great about this tour, other than the obviously amazing musical lineup, is that it’s sponsored by an equally amazing non-profit organization called Reverb.

Reverb’s goal in this musical initiative is to not only entertain college students nearing the end of a mentally-grueling school year but also to educate and inspire them to be more environmentally conscious.

The tour will include many greening elements and programs such as eco-villages, bio-diesel fueled buses and trucks, locally sourced organic food, daytime activities on each campus, recycling and compost stations, and many more features aimed to drive people to take action toward a more sustainable future for all of us.

So if you’re planning on going to one of these concerts, or even both, make sure not only to take in all the great music but also everything else this constructive tour has to offer.

Noontime jazz at Towson’s Cook Library

Towson student musicians will be playing some jazz tunes at the university’s Cook Library on Tuesday afternoon as part of the library’s celebration of National Library Week.

That’s got to be a record for the amount of times the word “library” has been used in one sentence.

Anyway, the performance will be starting around noon in the library’s (there it is again) 3rd floor lobby and, of course, there will be no charge.

So for all you Towson students, instead of having your lunch at one of the boring dining halls or in front of your T.V. in your dorm, why not take your meal over to the library and enjoy some soothing jazz music performed by your fellow classmates?

Hell, maybe it’ll spark some inspiration in some of you to stay and actually study for once.

Let’s play a silly little game

So one late night a little while ago I was extremely bored and had absolutely nothing to do. Actually, I could have just went to bed but, come on, why would I want to do that? Anyway, I was sitting there on my laptop going from one dull website to another when I decided to fool around with Cleverbot.

If you don’t know what Cleverbot is, it’s basically just an artificial intelligence program. You talk to a robot and it responds back to you with human-like intelligence. Cleverbot learns from actual people’s conversations and remembers how to respond to future comments and questions.

It does have some flaws but it’s still a really neat site, especially to fool around with.

Which is exactly what I did.

Best. Sing-along. Ever.

The robot actually knew the lyrics to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”, the theme of Rocky III (the greatest movie ever, by the way).

If you ever find yourself with nothing to do, why not play this entertaining, albeit pointless, little game? Just go to Cleverbot, type in the first line of your favorite song and try and see if you can sing its entirety with the robot.

It’s the most fun you’ll have with an A.I. program at three in the morning on a Tuesday. Trust me, I know.

Rasputina to perform at the Ottobar

The group that most people consider to be the best cello-driven goth rock band will be at the Ottobar this Friday.

If you’ve never heard of them, Rasputina is a Brooklyn-based band that has been around since 1992. Their music revolves around the cello while their lyrical influences are primarily based upon historical allegories, most of which are from the Victorian era.

You could call them an “art rock” band due to the types of references they make in their songs and especially because of the costumes they love to wear as you will see below.

And trust me, they have a broad range of historical references in their songs.

One of them is about the famous aviator Howard Hughes. Another expresses sympathy to a group of enslaved Holocaust victims. Finally, this live performance of “The New Zero” is about the plot of “The Illusionist” set in the 1900′s in which the abominable magician Eisenheim and the wealthy upper-class Sophie fall in forbidden love with one another:

As you can plainly hear, their style of music is absolutely unique. They also sound pretty damn good live which is great if you plan on attending their concert at the Ottobar.

Rasputina will be playing along with opener Prudence Teacup (who also has a unique sound of her own) at 8 p.m. on Friday. Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 at the door.

Want to download free music legally for once?

Just kidding, I know nobody out there downloads music illegally anymore.

April Fool’s?

Anyway, I came upon this great page on Mashable called Free Music Monday where each and every Monday 10 free songs or albums are posted up for anyone to download.

The genres vary from and to just about everything. On this past Monday’s list, the music ranges from electropop to reggae to country, so you’re bound to find music that’s more to your liking.

What’s great about these sets of downloads are the bands and musicians that are highlighted. Obviously, you’re not going to find music that you’d hear on mainstream radio. However, you will find good, new music that you more than likely never heard before. It also gives you the opportunity to listen to different types of genres that you may not have cared to listen to before.

Also, if you’re an aspiring artist or in a band and you want to get your music out there, they are more than willing to accept any submission. As you all know, any type of publicity is good publicity.

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow them at #musicmonday.