In this age of digital music downloads, the thought of walking into a record store to buy music seems like only something your grandparents (or at least your parents) would do – the fools! But such changes in technology and the way we consume music doesn’t just hurt the corporate music execs, it also means independently owned music shops, once the hub of underground music consumption and discovery, are gradually going extinct.

So to support these relics of the music world, tons of artists are making appearances, playing shows and releasing exclusive songs, albums and vinyl to get your ass out of the computer chair and into an independent record store for international Record Store Day (Saturday, April 18th). Artists from across the spectrum are participating, from Silversun Pickups to Bruce Springsteen to Slayer.

So if you care about having access to independent record stores, check out the Website and find an event in your area. Remember, one day these place could really be a thing of the past.

For more info on Record Store Day: Website, Twitter

Beastie Boys fans (aka, everybody), get excited: the reissue of their ‘92 classic, Check Your Head is now available for download! The re-release includes 36 remastered tracks, including 16 B-sides and rare tracks, and is also available in a 4 vinyl set, eco CD and a 2 vinyl set (as well as MP3 format). But to get in on the action immediately, just head over to BeastieBoys.com, where you can…

• stream all the tracks off Check Your Head and all of the B-sides, too
• listen to the audio commentary about Check Your Head
• watch nine videos- both CYH music videos and Beasties TV appearances
• play the game Wave Skate, where you collect records and change characters by hopping through the clouds
• add a picture of yourself to a collage (just like the album art for CYH)
• add your Beastie Boys story to the world map
• grab some online trading cards
• play with a mixer for “Gratitude”- drag the cursor around to hear different instruments/vocals
• purchase the album as a Digital Download, Ecopack Double CD, Standard Double Vinyl, Exclusive T-shirt Combo, or Collector’s Vinyl

When we heard last week that P. Diddy would be producing a rap album for Joaquin Phoenix, we thought it was just some bad joke. Turns out, it’s true. But after seeing Joaquin bust his ass falling off a stage during a rap performance, we realized that it is still just a big joke.

Boys Like Girls used their explosion on the PureVolume“unsigned band” chart to land a major label record deal that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of records sold of their critically acclaimed self-titled album. Just two years ago, Boys Like Girls were playing small venues in the Boston area.  Today, they are gearing up to co-headline a five week national arena tour with Good Charlotte. On the verge of super-stardom, this quartet hasn’t forgotten their roots and the fans that helped them get to where they are today.

Check out our interview with Boys Like Girls’ lead guitarist Paul DiGiovanni after the jump! (more…)

Erykah Badu – New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War (2008)

Badu rises from the nu-Soul wreckage as a nu-Funkateer, complete with blowout cover, jive spelling and “up with people” vibes. If the terms “retro” and “vintage” inspire you to burn down the closest Urban Outfitters in a storm of Nag Champa-fueled anger, this exploitation of an exploitation isn’t for you.

When Badu drops the soul sister shtick and gets really real, even the sleepier tracks get shaken awake. Production from 9th Wonder follows the J-Dilla blueprint of smooth soul and hard bop, but the end product is dangerously close to mimicry.

Badu’s heart is in the right place, I’m sure, but she tries too hard to impress, and pilfers too much from a bygone era when a modern take would suffice. Surprisingly sterile for an R&B/Soul album, New Amerykah is simply too retro and retrograde.

Key tracks: “Master Teacher,” “Twinkle”

Download New Amerykah now.

Just this morning I was thinking to myself, “Wouldn’t it be great if another 80s icon ran for governor?” Well, guess what? Today, my ultimate wish has came true: Jon Bon Jovi is planning to run for governor of New Jersey.

He’s a cowboy – on a steel horse he rides – but does Jon Bon Jovi have what it takes to wrassle up a worthwhile campaign?

If I take his hand will I make it, as he swore to me years before?

Will he give politics a bad name?

If I know I’m gonna live in his reign, should I just keep the faith?

Does it even matter, considering his lifelong fans will vote for him regardless? (more…)

I’m an equal-opportunity reviewer. Top 40 pop is hardly my favorite kind of music, but gimme (gimme) a well-crafted album of well-produced pop and I”ll find nothing but praise for it.

Britney Spears has seen more resurgences and backlashes than any pop star not named Michael Jackson. From losing custody of her kids to her disembodied performance at the VMAs, Brit has been an overexposed part of pop-culture that we cannot run away from…no matter how hard we try.

So, Blackout: it’s low-energy, manufactured trash. To hate Britney Spears the Person is commonplace and expected; but hating Britney Spears the Artist – “artist” has never sounded so poor – sparks violent criticism from the lowest depths of the music-listening community: teenyboppers. (more…)

Velvet Underground is one of the – if not the – most crucial band of the late 60s and early 70s. Their output stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the biggest luminaries of rock’s revolution period, from the acid-freakouts of King Crimson to the perverted songwriting of Frank Zappa.

So why the f*** is VU’s chief songwriter/solo legend Lou Reed dueting with synth-pop poseurs The Killers? Tarnishing his legacy, that’s what.

Reed sings alongside Top 5 Rock N’ Roll Douchebag Brandon Flowers (nice name, you no-talent ass clown) on the retro revivalist’s new track “Tranquilize.” As expected, the song is the worst project Reed has ever been involved in.

Check it out after the jump. (more…)

Kanye West and 50 Cent’s ego-tastic battle of the record sales kicked off yesterday, with industry insiders placing Mr. West ahead of 50 in the early runnings. Still, it’s too early to confirm any numbers until Soundscan chimes in.

Further hyping the hype (if that’s even possible) is Kanye canceling his face-off with 50 live on MTV due to his dissatisfaction with the network after the VMAs didn’t go as he planned (no main stage performance, no awards won).

But forget all that: Fiddy isn’t going to quit the music business, and Kanye isn’t going to boycott MTV for very long. All this media hoopla boils down to selling records, plain and simple. (more…)