I’M MOVING TO A NEW SITE! (the url is at the bottom of this post) I’ve always wanted another writer to join the site. But nothing’s ever worked out. Until now. In fact… my new co-blogger/co-podcaster is so awesome I’ve decided to start an entirely new site. I’ve been hinting at big changes… the new site is the first of many. Besides, I’m nearing 2 years with this site & it’s just time for a change.

I just got back from Snakes On a Plane… it was probably the most intense movie I’ve ever seen. My housemates dressed up like a big snake (kind of like Be Your Own PET’s Damn Damn Leash video) & got a pretty nice ovation entering the theater. The crowd was really into it. And then @ the end they played the video for Cobra Starship’s Snakes On A Plane & everyone stayed through the whole song… it’s soooo catchy. They’re going to sell a helluva lot of singles. Recently the guys performed an acoustic version of the track on KROQ… check it here. I can’t tell if Will is singing the chorus… it’s really week on this recording. But it’s definitely worth a listen or two.

Oh, right… the new website… jonplustrae.com. Obviously it’s going to be me & my pal Trae sharing duties this time around. The website will get a real design soon. And Trae will chime in soon, I’m sure. The name might even change. But that’s my new home… raisedbytheradio.com will no longer be updated. The text will stay online, the mp3s will eventually be taken down but will stay up for the time being. But we’ve got lots of really big plans… I’m sure excited about the new stuff, I think you’ll all really dig it. And the first post is a good one, if I do say so myself. Don’t miss out!

Today is a good day… Mute Math have settled their issues w/ Warner Bros & have inked a new deal that will allow them to make music as they see fit. The record will be officially released (as opposed to just sold on tour) on Sept 26, remastered, with bonus tracks, & accompanied by a bonus live EP (especially exciting considering they’re one of the best live bands around). Can’t wait for that. Horray for Mute Math!

Apparently Sony is preparing to launch a “wi-fi friendly music store” for the PSP but plans are being held up by drm issues. It’s kind of funny because Sony uses it’s own proprietary storage (the memory stick), their own file format (atrac), & their own drm and even after the rootkit debacle they’re exploring more methods of securing content. Someone should let Sony know that the appeal of the PSP & a wi-fi music store is the flexibility.

The latest word on the Microsoft Zune player is that it will launch as one model, initially… a 30gb, wi-fi enabled unit available in 3 colors at $299.

Apparently the bay area is buzzing. And I’m not talking about hyphy. I meant to mention this when I posted Street To Nowhere (Oakland kids) the other day. The Matches (also from Oakland) put out their sophomore effort on Epitaph next month (Sept 12, to be exact). I actually wasn’t really into their last record (except for Sick Little Suicide, which I thought was fantastic), but this new record is really great. Papercut Skin is the current single, but What Katie Said is the track I’m really digging. They’ve kind of got this My Chemical Romance meets Hot Hot Heat thing going on that I love. This is a fantastic track. And they put on a great live show. I hope this record does really well.

Also a shout out to my boy Daniel, out on tour with bay area melodic indie rockers Kid Innocence. For fans of Acceptance, Mae, etc… check out The Metal Rain and Distance.

Orange County rockers Over It have a new record coming out Aug 29, their Virgin Records debut. I’m really into it. In fact, I’m in LOVE with Feels Like Affection (Turn It Up) (this is the album version, as opposed to the acoustic version I posted earlier). The chorus is just such a fantastic hook. I don’t know why they’re pushing Think Against the Grain & Siren On the 101… this is the star of the record.

HelloGoodbye’s record FINALLY came out on tuesday, featuring a bunch of tracks you probably heard 4 years ago. Only this time around they’ve lost the bedroom appeal. It’s a good record, don’t get me wrong, but I’ll take the original version of I Saw It On Your Keyboard any day of the week. There are a few real gems, though… Baby, It’s Fact sounds like Forrest channeling Brian Wilson, complete with loads of bells & orchestration. Maybe these new tracks will help the re-recorded tracks grow on me. Oh It Is Love, made popular by mTV’s The Real World, really shines, too.

Montreal-based stoner rockers Priestess get my vote for badass guitar riff of 2006 (so far) for Lay Down. I can’t stop listening. For fans of Wolfmother, Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, etc.

My dream girl Jenny Lewis is currently promoting You Are What You Love as the second single from Rabbit Fur Coat, one of my very favorite records of the year. The b-side on the single is a track called Fireplace & it’s wonderful. Dig dig dig dig dig dig ourselves out…

And lastly, I’ve been listening to lots of old school Madonna lately. I had completely forgotten how much I absolutely adore the track Cherish. This track was so influential… you can hear it all over Amy Grant’s Heart In Motion almost 3 years later. And Like A Prayer is undoubtedly Madonna’s masterpeice. The thing I love about it is that it’s aesthetically totally & completely pop, but at the same time the arrangement is really unorthodox. The whole song is all over the place… the verses just meander, there first verse goes right into the chorus, whereas the rest have a prechorus, the bridge is complete random, & the song completely breaks down before coming back in & fading out immediately… but somehow the lack of structure makes the song. It’s just hooks strung together one after another. The one thing I love about Madonna is that even when what she’s doing completely sucks ass (ie everything she’s done this century), she commits to that artistic vision & isn’t afraid to try things differently.

One more thing… there will be big changes to the site in the next month or two. So be on the lookout.

So… the big news is that music industry clown Tony Brummel is on the receiving end of a lawsuit from his money maker — Hawthorne Heights. The suite cites reputation damage, abuse, “questionable” accounting practices,” copyright & trademark infringement, freud, “interference with business relations”… they’re throwing the book at him, basically. Apparently they haven’t seen one cent in royalties, in spite of generating eight figures for Victory in cd, dvd, & merch revenue. Brummel claims the band still owes HIM over a million bucks… c’mon, Tony, you didn’t spend THAT MUCH on those little Headbangers Ball spots… it’s pretty obvious.

Bedouin Soundclash have posted a new track from their upcoming album on their myspace. It is, of course, really good… kind of along the lines of When the Night Feels My Song. Apparently if you live in Canada it was impossible to get away from When the Night Feels My Song. So it’s… I was hoping they’d release something a little less “light,” but it’s still a great song.

Athens pop punkers Guff are currently in the studio w/ Charlie Paulson of Goldfinger. If you’re into NOFX/No Use For A Name type stuff, you’ll dig it, I think. Peep their myspace for a rough version of a new track, Hard To Remember.

The new Furgie single rips the hook from Eminem’s Without Me. She’s such a joke. Ally & AJ are, too… it’s like they mashed the Olsen Twins w/ the least interesting parts of Kelly Clarkson & Ashlee Simpson and called it a day.

Speaking of Ashlee Simpson, every time I hear about her new nose (which is actually quite frequent, given the amount of time I devote to the internet, tv, & the check-out line @ the grocery store) I get upset. I guess it doesn’t hurt that I’ve been listening to her records a lot lately, too. She used to be so adorable, dammit. Her cute nose is gone, her cute dark hair, her cute clothes. Sometimes I get distracted by how cute she was & I forget that she frequently embarrasses herself in public, isn’t terribly bright, has the worst parents alive, & is basically just John Shanks’ vocalist… I should probably say I’ve been listening to the John Shanks records that Ashlee sang on. Anyhow… check out the title track from her first record (and theme song to the first season of her show on mtv), Autobiography.

So I’m really really excited about this. Two Week Notice is one of my favs… for a long time I was infatuated with their singer, Loryn. But that’s beside the point. The guys recently kind of reunited & have a new project called the Hillary Step. Basically it’s a Postal Service type of deal, only online & in public… “the project exists to give people an inside look at the forming of a new band. we will upload demos and works in progress and snippets and changes and unfinished and finished songs in order to give a thorough look at the evelution of a song and a glimpse at the songwriting process.” They’re currently at One Point Three of the first Untitled track. And it’s coming along quite wonderfully. Initially Hudson (who hasn’t had any musical projects since the demise of Two Week Notice) wrote & recorded an acoustic demo of the song. In One Point Two Trever (who started a solo electropop act after TWN, I Married My Highschool Sweetheart) took the song, rerecorded it all & added some electronics. One Point Three is more guitar parts & electronics & background vocals added. Next Loryn (who started an acoustic indie pop act after TWN, Kitefighting) will add her vocals. No word on wether or not Andy Lee (who joined Cartel after TWN & currently plays drums for Estates) will be involved. But either way it’s coming along wonderfully & the idea is just fantastic. What’s more, the process is interactive… “If you have any ideas or notes, go ahead and send it over to us. Tell us what you like and/or don’t like.” They’ve even asked for thoughts on a prospective title for the first untitled song. This is something to pay attention to.

I know, I know… everyone & their brother has covered Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. But my boys Street To Nowhere do an especially fantastic version. They recorded it for a 7″ released on Agent Records. (Grab it here) The 7″ also features a new track called It’s Not Me. Catch these guys on tour w/ the Format… you won’t regret it if you have any taste at all. They just might play this cover… Hallelujah.

My housemates are obsessed w/ Nertz, a really intense card game that’s pretty much like group solitaire. They have Nertz Club on tuesday nights now & about 15 or so regular players. I played for the first time tonight & it was a blast. This really cool kid David brought some tunes… apparently he’s pals with a dj in Florida named Jasp 182 who did a fantastic remix of Frou Frou’s Breathe In. He took off before I could grab a copy of the mix, but luckily the track was recently posted on Lost In Your Inbox. So peep it… the Jasp 182 remix.

In case you haven’t heard, Acceptance’s singer has left the band. But the remaining members are starting two bands (Nick, Kyle, & Christian are starting a new band, & Kaylan will be start a new band with an unnamed party). As a going away present, they’ve posted a demo they were working on… Not Afraid. It’s quite good. Keep an eye on their myspace for one more demo to come down the pipe & for news on the new projects.

So I’ve been working on a Rock & Roll mix the past few days. But I decided that I just wasn’t really into it… it became kind of arduous. So I ditched it. I’ve decided to just post a few songs from the mix. Just the Nashville ones. Since Nashville is the new LA & all. But first, some newz…

OK Go have topped their last video. Check it. Damon Albarn (the mastermind behind the Gorillaz & Blur) has a new band… the Clash’s Paul Simonon, the Verve’s Simon Tong on guitar, & Tony Allen on drums. DJ Dangermouse is producing & the record, a concept album about London, should be out in January, but they want a single out in October. Should be great. Say Anything will go into the studio to record a new album for J Records after their tour w/ mewithoutyou & Piebald ends in late November. The Films have a wonderful new track downloadable @ their myspace… can’t wait for their show on the 12th. So the mTV VMAs are shaping up to be the worst ever. I don’t know if I’ll even watch them.

Bang Bang Bang signed to Sony/Daylight back in June. Everything you’ll ever read about them will compare them to the Kings of Leon. Which is definitely a valid comparison, but they remind me more of like… Shooter Jennings meets Black Sabbath meets the Strokes. See: I Shot the King. I love the doom/stoner intro to this song… it kind of creeps in & then explodes. I saw these guys @ the Rock & Roll Circus a few weeks back… great show. And for good measure, peep the single… Traffic.

Kings Of Leon have been around for a while. If you haven’t heard about them, you must not read Rolling Stone. They’re on RCA & they’ve put out a pair of records… the most recent, Aha Shake Heartbreak, is really good. Apparently Mike & Daniel & all of the guys back in Athens are really into them… it took me a short while to come around, but I’m coming around just the same. The Bucket was their one marginal hit. The song is a little sloppy, but in a good way. And the verses are soo catchy. The story behind these guys is really great, too… the band consists of 4 Followills, 3 brothers & a cousin. The brothers spent their youth in the back of an ‘88 Oldsmobile, the son of a travelling pentecostal preacher. Then their parents divorced & they moved to Nashvegas & started a band with their cousin. Ever since, they’ve been making up for lost youth, leaving a trail of debauchery in their wake.

Shooter Jennings is the son of Nashville royalty Waylon Jennings. In 2001 he formed a rock band, Stargunn, & moved out to LA. They had loads of potential, but only marginal success. They broke up in early 2003, but not before releasing several indie records (an ep, 2 lp’s, & a live album). Their biggest break, though, came when Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave guitarist) remixed their track Katwalk for the Made soundtrack. After Stargunn broke up Shooter moved back to Nashville to continue his dad’s outlaw country legacy, recording his first solo record - Put The “O” Back In Country. Not too far removed from Stargunn was the track Steady At the Wheel, but Shooter really came into his own with Busted In Baylor County. His second record, Electric Rodeo, is decicedly more downtempo, but I think I prefer it to anything else he’s done… The Living Proof (live).

And then, of course, there’s Be Your Own PET, my favs. These guys are one of the best things going. It’s like seeing the Stooges in 1970… a group of kids dead set on what they wanna do who don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks. And it doesn’t hurt that they’re really really really talented, either. Or that Jemina is a complete & total badass… “Have fun & be safe with it… just kidding, fuck shit up!” There’s nothing like seeing a band that commits to their own artistic vision. That, kids, is what makes a performance. If you haven’t bought their record yet, these should convince you… Bunk Trunk Sunk & Bicycle Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle (listen to the two in succession).

For more on the Nashville scene, check the Movement Nashville myspace.