The band I discovered this week is Fat Robot. I was following links, and the band seems to be off-and-on, and possibly defunct. Out of Toronto, this three-piece includes an engineering student and a world traveler, and they have a sound similar to The Strokes and maybe even Modest Mouse, especially on the track “I Roll“. I hope you enjoy them!

The band I discovered this week is Dropjoy. Everyone needs a little bit of punk-inspired bootprint-on-the-forehead fun music here and there, and this one is a good one for working out the cobwebs in your cranium after lazing around on New Years Day in your “recovery” from the previous evening’s shenanigans.

Dropjoy is a three-piece from San Diego with a range of tastes and a strong gut feeling for songwriting. The tracks I found so far range from punk and high-volume rock to sweet, lonely ballads. It’s all there, do don’t be afraid of the “more from this artist” button.

I really dig the throwback to early punk, and the almost predicted yet unexpected hook in this track. This is another one that’s good for getting stuck in your head. Works for me!

This week, the band that I have discovered on Amie Street is Pipe Choir, out of Boston, Mass. Some of their tracks have that “modern rock” hypno-euro vocals going on (like on Savior, but the track I picked to feature here, The Wind is Rising, is a stark contrast to that track. It’s very much like Tool, with greasy, industrial-sounding guitar and liquid pacing. If you close your eyes while listening, you can easily visualize a blockbuster action sequence. This is the sort of track I seek out for my workouts.

Another artist and song that I discovered on Amie Street:

This week’s song is by a group called Aloud.

“All I Can Do” is pretty stark, contemplating actions that have to be taken. This is the quiet personal moment when one decides that a relationship will be changed, or when a secret has to be revealed(which, in turn, leads to changing relationships).

Watch out how you've been acting
Soon now, they'll be reacting
You drop the bomb
She wonders what's going on...

Aloud has been together since 2002, playing in the New England and NY/NJ area pretty heavily. They have some tracks that just effervesce like the Foo Fighters or The Who, and others (like this track) that are more pensive and melodic, with a Kasabian or Oasis feel (Not to mention the dynamic harmonies you only get when using both male and female vocals). Aloud released their first album (Leave Your Light On)late last year on their own label (Lemon Merchant Records) and an EP more recently, at the beginning of September. Self-publishing: Now that’s Indie!

It’s time again to explore indie music!

This week, I’m digging Grant Duncan, who’s from the UK, and has a very middle-years Beatles sound, especially in this track.

This is an awesome pick-me-up song, repeating things like “it’s not your fault” and admonishing all of us to keep the ol’ chin up. Excellent for those rainstorms that we need so badly around here.

another new song that I discovered on Amie Street!

This week’s song is by a group called Plunkett.

Plunkett is highly acoustic and folksy, and this track is reminiscent of home-grown freedom music from my parents’ upbringing. Very melodic and pensive, it meanders like the title, as if in search of true self, of permanence in this world. Be sure to check out the rest of their tracks too!

I can’t believe it’s already Thursday! Must be the changing of the weather…

1. Errol Flynn: Hollywood’s Greatest Swashbuckler & Greatest Enigma!
2. Bill Clinton: 42nd President of the USA!
3. Babe Ruth: The Sultan of Swat!
4. Anthony Edwards: Emmy-winning actor from Revenge of the Nerds and ER!
5. Kevin Kline: Academy Award and Tony Award winning actor from The Big Chill and A Fish Called Wanda!
6. Placido Domingo: World-renowned Tenor!
7. Alan Alda: actor from MASH, and author!
8. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Bodybuilder, Actor, Governator!
9. Joshua Jackson: Actor from Dawson’s Creek and The Skulls!
10. John Cusack:actor from Sixteen Candles and High Fidelity!
11. Evander Holyfield: heavyweight boxer!
12. Donald Trump: entrepreneur and reality tv star!
13. David Letterman: night talk show legend!

Care to guess the physical attribute? Put your guess in the comments!

Several of the bloggers that I talk to every day have been doing blog marketing for a little while now, and it’s a great way of not only providing the impetus for keeping your blog pulse up, but also becomes a way of defraying the cost of our addictive hobby. Domain names, hosting, storage, and the time and effort put into the blog are costs of our little labor of love, and it’s nice to have a way to have it sort of pay for itself.
I’m really impressed with the payment system at PayPerPost. The listings they have are separate deals, and you can opt to have the payments for certain posts you do through them to go directly to a charity, or right to your PayPal account. I’m not looking to convert this blog into one huge commercial or anything. It will likely become more of a meme for me… a list of more new things to check out and give my opinion about, maybe weekly or so. The monies earned will be split between charities and also to defray the costs of running the site. That’s the plan at this point.

OBTW — The posts I do for pay will all be identified by being tagged as “PPP”, and will have a nifty disclosure doo-dad like this: