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Frontside Word on the Street Volume 145

I’m back, hope you didn’t miss me too much. I’m sure you survived just fine. Before we get into the Pemberton Festival let’s talk about this rock slide that happened on the Sea-to-Sky Highway (for those of you in other cities, the Sea-to-Sky is the highway that runs from Vancouver to Whistler and Pemberton). http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/Artic leNews/story/CTVNews/20080731
Can you even start to imagine the absolute chaos if that had happened on Sunday when everyone was leaving Pemberton? Can you imagine how ugly that would have been? Furthermore, what if this happens in 2010 when that highway is going to be the busiest it’s ever been? They’re saying that they don’t think anyone was injured in the rock slide and that’s the good news, however this is a huge issue, absolutely enormous. VANOC released a statement saying that something like this wouldn’t affect the athletes because they would already be up in Whistler or they could be helicoptered in. Well, that’s great guys, but who is going to be there to watch the events when there is a 4,000 car pileup? This is a catastrophe if you ask me.

Pemberton Festival

I didn’t make it to Pemberton. The idea of camping for three days with 40,000 other people in a field of wasted, drugged out people… well actually that sounds awesome! From all reports it sounds like this was a smashing success. Yes, there were issues. It took approximately four hours to get from Whistler to Pemberton in the traffic and it was difficult to get into some of the smaller tents due to overcrowding, but other than that I heard nothing but rave reviews. I must admit that I was skeptical. It’s a huge event happening in a place that had never taken on anything of this size ever. There was potential for this to go sideways real quick but it sounds like they pulled off. From what I hear, the sound was great, the bands were great and there were enough washrooms. The accommodations were satisfactory, the lineups for beer and water weren’t ridiculously out of hand… sounds like a good party to me! Highlights that I have heard are…Metric killed it, Emily was electric…Tom Petty blew peoples minds away, yes, he’s still relevant…Coldplay was stunning as usual, these guys can do no wrong…Zoomers with a certain member of a legendary Canadian band…and on and on and on. Everyone I’ve spoken to about it says they’ll go back next year if it happens again. I might have to make the trek as well. If anyone has some great pictures from Pemberton send them my way. I’m so happy that this event was successful and it went off without any major glitches.

Fonzworth Bentley

Yes I’m going to dedicate an entire paragraph to Mr. Fonzworth Bentley. First off, he has an album. That motha$&%* has an album????? You might ask that, and the answer is yes he does. Check the first video featuring Kanye and Andre 3000, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6oMAHl9PNU. It’s actually a decent jam. That’s not even the best part of it though. Has anyone watched this G’s to Gents show on MTV? It’s a car crash you can’t stop watching, but that doesn’t even do it justice. You watch it and you hate every single person on the show but you just keep watching and getting more and more irritated. It’s worse than watching that Tila Tequila show. Yes I’m serious, it’s that bad. Basically the point of the show is to bring in these “G’s” and turn them into “Gents”. Fonzworth is responsible for the transformation of these delinquents and is also responsible for deciding who will win $100,000 for changing from a G to a Gent. I’m a fan of Fonzworth, but this is ridiculous. You have to watch it just so you know the pain that I go through every time it comes on. Here’s a trailer for the show, enjoy… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKzQe4OCXXA

Kid Rock

Can we talk about Kid Rock for a minute? I’m going to anyway so it doesn’t really matter what your answer is. What is it about Kid Rock that makes him so endearing while still remaining a total d-bag. For example the new single is absolutely amazing. The album has been out for a year but I finally heard “All Summer Long” this past week. What an amazing pop song! Seriously though, it’s genius. He took two songs that he grew up loving and made a new song. Go to his myspace right now and listen to the song and you’ll nod your head to it because it’s infectious and amazing. What? I don’t care if you’ve already heard the song before, go listen to it again. Now! http://www.myspace.com/kidrock Thank you. The original song is called Werewolves of London, Adam Sandler covered it too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSc8qVMjKM

Have you Heard

One thing we rarely discuss in WOTS is Reggae music, so I thought we’d focus on that this week. A friend of mine introduced me to a bunch of Reggae this week that I had never heard of including Seeed (yes 3 e’s). They are a Reggae group from Berlin, Germany. I know, it sounds funny, but they’re great. Check out Rise and Shine, it features one of my favorite people in music Cee Lo Green the Soul Machine. http://www.myspace.com/seeed

Ear to the Ground

We talked about New Kids On The Block making a comeback a while ago. I can’t get that damn Summertime song out of my head some days. We spent some time today checking out the old NKOTB songs and then Geoff and I tight-rolled our pants. Don’t act like you never did that. I’ll put a picture of some good tight rolls at the bottom. Apparently the next NKOTB single is a duet with Ne-Yo. Huh? I didn’t know groups could do duets for one, and Ne-Yo?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z2nYJbFRhM

This is a crazy commercial from Nike, http://www.nike.com/nikelab/site.html?en_US#//video/blips-spider It’s posted on their Nikelab website.

The winners of the CFOX Seeds competition were announced, they are Cold Driven, Innocent Bystander, Incura, Jordan Carrier and Versus the Nothing. http://www.cfox.com/Seed s2008/Top5.aspx

Justice released some new music to go along with the recently released Dior collection. Definitely a cool pairing and the songs sound great, a little different direction for them and I like it. http://www.diorhomme.com/content/homeen.html

Have you seen the trailer for “W” yet? Oilver Stone has directed a movie about George W. Bush and as all Stone pictures it’s creating a load of controversy. It portrays Bush as being a drunk and having a very rocky relationship with George Sr. etc. Meh, I just don’t care. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEyJ2kdaaTQ

While the music industry is completely flailing a company out of California has found a niche that still buys Cds… and tapes. This demographic consists of 2.3 million Americans and you can refer to them as the prison population of America. This guy is making a killing selling music to convicts in prison.
http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?

Gary found what he calls the best online department store ever. http://producten.hema.nl/

Pic of the Week

We have a picture from Pemberton of the Flaming Lips show. Of course I included the tight rolled jeans. Keep in mind this is not tight jeans or skinny jeans. This is straight early 90’s ish. And a picture of what you could encounter on your way up to Whistler.

Thanks for reading,

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

Got something you wanna get on the street? Let us know.
Effective, affordable and just plain cool street promo.

Frontside Word on the Street Volume 144

Just a quick note before we proceed this week. I’m going on vacation next week so Volume 145 won’t be coming out until August 1st. Don’t miss me too much. I’m sure you won’t. You can also expect a mammoth edition for 145 as I’ll have two weeks worth of goodness to send your way. There’s a lot to get to today, so let’s get started.

The Midway State

I’ve been wanting to talk about these guys for a long time now. I’ve definitely mentioned them in passing a few times but now we finally get to focus on this amazing up and coming band. The Midway State is a band from Toronto signed to Remedy Music in Canada and in the US they are signed to Interscope (Jimmy Iovine personally signed them!) Their brand new album “Holes” drops next Tuesday and we’re expecting huge things from this act. The boys were in Vancouver last week and we got a chance to really get to know them. Great bunch of guys! There music is accessible yet still incredibly cool which is something that’s difficult to accomplish these days.
They’ve been touring with some huge acts over the last number of months including Mika, One Republic, Shiny Toy Guns, Rocco DeLuca and Evanesence. The first single is called, “Never Again” and it’s a hit, plain and simple. Here’s the best part… you can get it right now for free! It’s iTunes Canada’s “Single Of The Week” so head on over there before the end of the weekend and download the track. Expect to hear about this band often and for a long time. More on The Midway State at www.myspace.com/themidwaystate

Radiohead

For a guy who isn’t much of a Radiohead fan I sure find myself writing about them in a positive light a lot. They are leading the charge in attempting to re-construct the music industry model and they are always keeping it uber creative and trying out new things. Have you seen the new video? House of Cards is, I’m pretty sure, the first of it’s kind from a mainstream band. My explanation probably wouldn’t do it justice so…”no cameras or lights were used. Instead, 3D plotting technologies collected information about the shapes and relative distances of objects. The video was created entirely with visualizations of that data.” Still a little confused? Just watch it. It’s visually stunning. I really, really like it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nTFjVm9sTQ

Ghost Bloggers

It seems that Kanye West is one of my favourite topics and I know Kanye West is Kanye West’s favourite topic so at least we have something in common… because it sure ain’t the $$$$. This week there was some drama started by a blogger named Marcus Troy who claims that Kanye has a “ghost blogger” meaning someone that writes for Kanye and then gives the credit to Kanye etc. You can check that whole story out here, http://marcustroy.com/category/my-life/page/2/. Well Kanye being Kanye fired back and let him know that he posts everything himself and there is no ghost blogger. I was actually told by someone who recently interviewed Kanye that she watched him work on his blog and that he is genuinely excited about it and loves writing on it and posting things. Of course everyone gets some help in their content, I mean there is no way that I could amass the content for this newsletter every week by myself, I rely on great suggestions from people and I really appreciate all the people that send in cool stuff. At the end of the day I believe that Mr. West gets help of course but it’s still his blog and his vision and he’s the content manager. http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106=

Have you Heard

I think that we mentioned Shwayze once before a while back but it’s summertime and this act is most definitely screamin’ sunshine and beach parties. Cisco Adler of Whitestarr is a part of this duo, I’m assuming he’s producing and providing the hooks on all the songs. The Myspace has over 2.5 million hits but they’ve been around for a while. LA loves these and it’s understandable why. The songs are most definitely party jams with little to no content but they’ll definitely get your hips moving. I’m thinking they’re one of those love ‘em or hate ‘em type acts. They’ll be getting booed on the Warped Tour all summer long. www.myspace.com/shwayze

Ear to the Ground

The new Batman movie opens today. I’m definitely going to wait a week or so. Not because I don’t want to see it, but because I don’t want to sit in the second row because the theatre is so full. This movie just looks awesome, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsGFf8qJ5ow

I just mentioned “One Day As A Lion” a couple weeks ago. Remember? It’s Zach De La Rocha’s new project. Well at that point they hadn’t released any music on the myspace page. That changed this week. They put up one song… sounds like Zach. www.myspace.com/onedayasalion

Do you remember an act named Thunderheist that we’ve talked about previously? Thunderheist, an awesome duo from Montreal, just finished a fan video competition. Some of the submissions were really amazing, including the winner. Check out the 3 finalists, http://www.thunderheist.com/vote.php

Spirit of The West has officially been around for 25 years and they are celebrating with the release of their greatest hits album “Spirituality”. It contains 32 tracks, including 2 new songs, and the week it was released it hit #10 on iTunes album sales. Excellent news for these guys, they are an amazing Canadian band that has stood the test of time. Congrats! http://www.sotw.ca/

Guy Richie has produced a new Nike commercial, it’s fast paced and full of soccer superstar cameos. It’s been out for a couple of months but it’s definitely worth checking out again, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hus1hHFbmU

CBC Radio is shaking up it’s lineup a little bit. In September arts show Q will take over the time slot that Sounds Like Canada currently holds. http://www.insidethecbc.com/ghomeshis-q-to-take

Here’s a great tip, how to go broke with your iPhone. Enjoy, http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Get-Broke-

One of our newest street reps sent this over to me. It’s a cool website that provides places to stay for bands on the road free of charge. It’s called Better Than The Van. Could be a great tool for new bands that are trying to cross the continent. www.betterthanthevan.com

UFC superstar “Rampage” Jackson was arrested at gunpoint this week after he fled the scene of an accident and was chased by police down the highway etc. I think this quote from Justin in our office says it all, “Rampage gets in a high speed police chase in Southern California, and is eventually taken down at gun point. . . . ‘So Rampage if you were to outrun the police, don’t you think they would have known it was you by the giant mural of yourself painted on the side of your truck’ hahahahahah” Refer to the picture below. http://www.mmatko.com/rampage-jackson-arrested out that Rampage may be having some problems and has been checked into a hospital for evaluation, hope he’s ok.

BMW is all over the technology and celebration these days. First I found this, the unveiling of the new BMW, pretty creative for a car introduction, http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106. Then my friend Darren sent me this crazy clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVhVClFMg6Y. This is just insane, definitely watch this, it’s 714 metal balls on strings, you have to watch that’s all. Give it at least a minute because that’s when it starts getting really cool.

Finally, here is a funny little article exploring the Generation X vs. Generation Y battle.
http://www.radaronline.com/features/2008/05/

Pic of the Week

I found this picture of Emily from Metric on a music blog and thought it was a really great shot. We also have Rampage Jackson on the ground behind his truck after an incident with Police. Finally we have a shot of the boys from The Midway State.

Thanks for reading,

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

Got something you wanna get on the street? Let us know.
Effective, affordable and just plain cool street promo.

Frontside Word on the Street Volume 143

The office was the host for yet another legendary Frontside BBQ this week. This BBQ featured the attendance of our very good friends The Midway State all the way from Toronto, more on them next week. I was unfortunately not able to attend so I can’t give you all the gory details but I’m sure the stories will arise as the day progresses. If any of you were, there I apologize for not being able to make it and I’ll see you at the next event or even sooner. Stay tuned for photos from the BBQ over the next few editions of WOTS. Thank you to everyone who came out.

Star Wars Competition

I was previously unaware of this but it came to my attention this week. There is an annual competition to see who can make the best Star Wars fan movie. It is open to comedy, action, drama and everything else. I came across this when I found a clip called “Jedi Gym” on Youtube. The clip is pretty funny but then takes a dark turn and presents some surprisingly awesome visual effects. I looked into it and this is serious business, some of these clips have hundreds of people working on them and are full-on film productions. It turns out that this is a venture that is in cahoots with Lucasfilm and George Lucas actually selects the winning films. Some of them are really bad and some of them are really good. I recommend “Jedi Gym” which you can see here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPsDDr0n9AE and check out the all the finalists here, http://www.atom.com/spotlights/starwars/challenge/

Hello Michael

Don’t hassle the Hoff, or his technology. The Knight Industry Two Thousand or K.I.T.T is a Knight Rider GPS system brought to us by Mio. I don’t know about you but I watched Knight Rider every Sunday growing up and I totally wanted a car like KITT when I grew up. Screw Michael Knight, he was barely acceptable, KITT was the one that always saved the day. The only thing I have against this little GPS system is that the accent is so off. This KITT sounds like he has a bit of an attitude and he’s a bit too bourgeois for me but other than that it’s all good. Here’s a demo video where you can check it all out, http://knightrideronline.com/news/2008/06/mio_knight_rider_gps_has_voice.php

Church Sign Generator

If placed in the wrong hands this next website could produce horrendous results. However, for those of us that just want to have some fun www.churchsigngenerator.com is good times. Frontside friend Mike Devlin sent this little beauty to Fritzy and she shared it with the rest of us. Basically you can take a Church sign and adjust the name of the church, the words and the images. It can be pretty fun. I’ll put some examples down at the bottom, including the “Fritz is a HUSSLA” one, which is currently my personal favorite… because it’s true. Have a go with this and submit them to me and I’ll post the best ones next week.

Have You Heard

We discussed King Khan a little bit last week, but I did a little more research and my friend Nina sent over a few clips to enlighten me on the absolute insanity that is King Khan. So I decided that we should focus a little more. Now, unfortunately all the Youtube clips are a little, um well, inappropriate or just plain weird so I won’t show you those. What I will do is direct you to the myspace for King Khan and The Shrines which features 5 great songs. I definitely need to hear more, the act is signed to Vice Records so you know it’s going to be a little edgy and a definitely unique. I get a 70’s vibe, rock n roll with a definite psychedelic theme running throughout. If you don’t hear a theme in the music, I assure you that you’ll definitely see a theme if you check King Khan out on Youtube, I urge you to do. http://www.myspace.com/kingkhantheshrines I really like what I’ve heard so far. They’ll be at The Red Room in Vancouver on Monday. I will more than likely be there.

Ear to the Ground

Bon Jovi is playing a free concert in New York this month. It’s in cooperation with Major League Baseball as the All Star Game is at Yankee stadium this year since they’re tearing the place down at the end of the season. So far, so good right? Wrong. They gave out 17,000 too many tickets!! Yeah not 15 or 50… 17,000. Central Park has room for 50,000 people and the people behind the mask gave out 67,000 ducats. Nice work, can you say “Riot”? http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-11/121566455330800.xml&coll=1

As you may know Sloan has a new album out and it’s doing really well. They’ve broken into the top 20 at radio. Here’s the new video for “Believe in Me”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcBAl56upWA

Rogers has finally backed down on their iPhone data plan charges. Sort of. Due to a lot of pressure from customers and other media, Rogers is offering new pricing for the iPhone which is far cheaper than it was originally. However, this deal only lasts for 3 weeks. Bush league. Here’s the article, http://www.macrumors.com/2008/07/09/rogers-canada-offers-6gb-data-plan-for-30-month/

Why? Why do actors have to sing? Why do singers have to act? Why do rappers have to design clothes? Why do Athletes have to… no actually most athletes are pretty good about sticking to what they know. Newest example is Lil Wayne, (the hottest rapper around these days blah blah blah) is unveiling a new line of Champagne. What do rappers know about grapes? Or bubbles!? http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/141901-lil-wayne-starts-his-own-line-of-champagnes

Manny Steel loves this video, it’s Mastadon’s “Sleeping Giant” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-2alwdcmrs

Nickelback inked a huge deal with Live Nation this week. Strangely enough there are some positive words about Nickelback from the Metal community. Confused? I was too, but it makes a lot of sense. Read here, http://www.metalsucks.net/?p=5925

Here’s a little gem of a video from back in the day. Mystery Machine is a band that I probably saw perform about 70 times in my younger days. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHDUz6eYaIk

Pic of the Week
What do you think? Would you get it?

Of course we have to provide a great picture of Michael Knight and KITT. We also have some nice church signs.

Thanks for reading,

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

Got something you wanna get on the street? Let us know.
Effective, affordable and just plain cool street promo.

Frontside Word on the Street Volume 142

I gotta say, wow, that was a hell of a long weekend. It seemed to last for ever. I felt like I hadn’t been in the office in a month. Vancouver finally got some good weather and I definitely took advantage of it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many people at Kits beach as I saw on Canada Day, save for maybe a couple fireworks nights. I also hit up the legendary Nat Bailey stadium to take in a Vancouver Canadians baseball game on Sunday, burning the crap out of my neck in the process, leaving me with a truly “red neck” I was all partied out by Tuesday so I performed the very patriotic act of hanging out at Ikea for a few hours. A belated Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians and a Happy 4th of July to our American readers.

Dark Knight

I’m not sure that a movie has been this hyped in the last decade of film making. There are a lot of contributing factors as well, with the death of Heath Ledger and the fact that Batman Begins finally brought Batman back to credibility after the awful movies that Schumacher produced. I saw a clip of the first 5 minutes of the film this week and it looks awesome. I know it’s hard to judge on 5 minutes of grainy footage but I can’t help but be really excited about this movie. Kevin Smith, director of Clerks, Dogma etc, saw an early screening of the film and said that Ledger disappears completely into the character of The Joker. That’s a pretty huge compliment. http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view
&friendID=63831867&blogID=410282847&Mytoken=8A39C20D-ECB0-444B-B671CDDB9E846AF043784998 This link probably won’t work by the time this goes out but just in case, here are the first 5 minutes of The Dark Knight, http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_movies_blog/2008/07/dark-knight-the.html

Fistful of Quarters

I think we’ve actually touched on this before but it’s worth mentioning again as new light has been shed on the documentary. Gary watched “King of Kong, A Fistful of Quarters” recently and said that he “was speechless many times, it’s an incredible story that you seriously couldn’t write if you tried. It’s a documentary called “The King Of Kong” and the people in it are straight out of a Kevin Smith picture.” It’s out on DVD now so go check it out, watch the trailer here and then I’ll tell you more. www.billyvssteve.com/ Now Billy is the champ I believe and he also sells hot sauce in his spare time. This was the highlight of my Wednesday, this website is amazing! He sells “Rickey’s Hot Sauce” http://www.800hotsauce.com/rickeys.htm The highlight here is at the bottom, “The Mitchell family proudly boasts that their sauce contains at least 40 percent cayenne pepper. No national brand has more!” Do you know why no national brand has more? Because it’s insane!!! Who wants hot sauce like that? This is just one of those things that makes me smile, from the movie to the hot sauce this made me happier today.

One Day as a Lion

I’m pretty sure we haven’t covered this yet as I don’t have any recollection of talking about it, however I’ve been wrong before about my lack of memory. More to the point I have been desperately searching for some music from “One Day As A Lion”. This is a collaboration between Zach De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine and Jon Theodore of Mars Volta. They have a Myspace page but there is no music, they have a website that also lacks music. The website states…
“One day as a lion is both a warning delivered and a promise kept.
A defiant affirmation of the possibilities that exist in the space between kick and snare, it’s a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask.”
Yup sounds like De La Rocha. I am really excited to hear this music. If anyone has any leads, let me know. The 5 song EP is out July 22nd. You can read up on the history of where the name came from at both of these websites. www.onedayasalion.org http://www.myspace.com/onedayasalion

Have You Heard

This week we’re looking at a band out of Victoria. Acres of Lions have a great sound. I’ve heard the record a few times now and I really like it and it grows on me every time. The album is called “Working” and the band has just been signed by Fierce Panda Canada. Acres of Lions present catchy rock songs with a bit of a harder edge, its simple and I like it. Have a listen, www.myspace.com/acresoflions

Ear to the Ground

Our good friend Al Ford sent this over this week. The band is called 3OH!3. They kind of cut in and out of different genres throughout their songs. The songs range from Thrash to Electro, to straight up Pop. “Don’t Trust Me” is definitely the stand out song. They have a lot of songs posted on their Myspace which I definitely like. Check them out, www.myspace.com/3oh3

Does everyone need their own clothing line? Justice has teamed up with ultra cool Paris / NY clothing company Surface To Air to create the Justice Collection. http://surface2airparis.com/store/retail/market/collection-13.html

There are a lot of bands that are turning heads in Vancouver right now. The CFOX Seeds competition is down to ten bands now and will quickly be cut to 5. Stand Down is still in the running, www.myspace.com/standdownmilitia. Two other bands that are making quite the stir around town are Southern Death Threat and The Turn. The Turn won Seeds a couple years ago and I was able to go see them open for Danko Jones a couple weeks ago, they sounded amazing. I still haven’t seen Southern Death Threat live but from everything I hear they are awesome on stage. They are definitely a heavier band. www.myspace.com/theturnmusic and www.myspace.com/southerdeaththreat

When Jen in our office suggests music or books I listen because more often than not she is bang on. Love is a Mixtape is the book that she is raving about right now. Here’s what she has to say about it, “If you are a music geek like me, like rock journalism and have read everything by Chuck Klosterman you will love this. It’s pretty damn awesome.” http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/mixtape/

If you want to hear some music that is a little different but maintains the funk you should check out Nomo. The quote on the myspace page says it best really, Hot Horns, Heavy Percussion. There’s no singer in this group, just a bunch of Jazz players with a whole lot of funk and soul. www.myspace.com/nomomusic

Damn, we’re talking about a lot of music today.

I have a lot of love for Saul Williams. I am by no means his biggest fan and I don’t even know most of his songs to be honest but I always like his projects and for the most part I like his mindstate. I was doing some reading about his new project. Trent Reznor produced the record and by the sounds of it these two really hit it off creatively. Check his myspace and read his whole note on the process of creating the album and Williams’ experience with Reznor. www.myspace.com/saulwilliams

My friend introduced me to this band this week and I’m definitely feeling it. Biffy Clyro is a band from Glasgow. I would definitely call it Powerpop, but it could definitely work in the indie/college music crowd. Thanks for the tip L. www.myspace.com/biffyclyro

Ok time to lighten things up a little bit. You may recall our friend “Mr. Right” who was flashing the money and pretty choked because people were posting his pictures all over the internet and laughing at them (he called this “Fraud”). Well I think we may have him trumped. I present Dimitri, and I hope this is genuine. Just check the link and you’ll get a chance to listen to a real Casanova with some A game material. http://www.misanthropytoday.com/2008/06/27/olga-and-dmitri-funny-voicemail/ Please listen to this. “I have no problem meeting women. Women approach me 6-7 times a day.” What??

Rogers is screwing their customers. Shocker!! With the iPhone coming out in Canada via Rogers many people were extremely excited. But now that the prices for the data plans for the iPhone are available many people are outraged. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/06/30/tech-iphone.html?ref=rss

I just checked out the trailer for “Traitor” and it looks like a decent one. I’ve always been a fan of Don Cheadle and I generally like the films that he chooses to be in. If you’ve never seen Rebound go check it out. It’s based on the true story of Earl “the Goat” Manigault. Cheadle plays a legendary street basketball player who could have been an NBA star but gets involved with drugs etc. Back to the point, here is the trailer for Traitor, http://www.traitor-themovie.com/

Pic of the Week

We have some great ones this week. We have Chromeo appearing on a show called Yo Gabba Gabba, you have to check out a youtube clip of this show, I don’t even get what is going on here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9PqjMSNfkU We’re going to discuss this more next week. If you know what the hell this is, please let me know. Then we have Thanh from the New York office rockin his grills. Finally we have the press shot for One Day As a Lion.

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

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Frontside Word on the Street Volume 141

George Carlin died this week. I think he would have liked that I put it that way. He made us all laugh and cringe and he will always have a place in history as one of the best comedians and religious satirists of all time. Here’s George Carlin on death, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PiZSFIVFiU Rest in Peace.

I challenge you

I am quite possibly the best Tetris player of all time. There is no need to argue or even laugh, it’s just the truth. I could take out Alexey Pajitnov (the inventor) on his best day. I’m so serious right now, I am a wicked-badass Tetris player. I had a Gameboy when I was young which caused me to miss out on many scenic drives and caused me to develop quite the neck problem from having my head hung low, pecking away at line after line. I challenge anyone out there to be beat me at a game of Tetris, I will mop the floor with you. Bring it! http://www.freetetris.org/

Ice-T vs. Soulja Boy

Really?

Gas

Gas is obviously out of control expensive, we could talk all day about how “I remember when gas was 39.9” and the gas wars of the early 90’s. But the reality of the world today is that gas prices are ridiculous and there ain’t a whole lot you can do about it. This is affecting music in a few different ways. The cost of tickets for stadium shows is skyrocketing; keep in mind you need to transport people, gear, merch and more people. This isn’t really what I wanted to focus on though. The problem that I really care about is that indie bands are now going to be in danger of being unable to tour. It used to be that you bought a $400 van, hopped into it, checked it into a garage every 4 days as you crossed the country and played at every crappy bar that you possibly could. Bands paid their dues, spent all of their money and came back from tour tired and broke but also the proud owners of 50 new fans. From a fan perspective you were able to see young bands before anyone else in a small venue and watch the band grow. Not so much anymore, not with gas prices this high. Think about it, to cross the country in a van now will literally cost a band thousands of dollars just in gas! (never mind the trip back home!) This is making it near impossible for young indie bands to tour at all. The music industry is already in enough turmoil and this is just another hit.

Have you Heard

Following last week’s trend we have a guest writer for this week’s Have you Heard. Justin takes care of all of the College Radio promotions at Frontside, as well as all of the Record Pool servicing among other things. Take it away Jaballs…

“While in Austin I went to check out a daytime party to see a Flosstradamus dj set on top of a huge 8 story parking lot which also had numerous secondary stages.

I got out of the elevator and I couldn’t believe the imagery invading my eyeballs. A fat, sweaty, bald dude with a skullet, mesh shirt and pink daisy dukes hiked very high up his butt crack. A “Dude give it up, your music career isn’t happening” type of dude.

The strange part was that there were a handful of ultra cool hipsters watching the show, which was baffling. I wanted to know why something so shocking could have a slot at SXSW but was to afraid to ask who this was for fear that the individual I was asking may actually think I was into this sunning display of human debauchery. I was content with not know what or who that was on stage

I’d forgotten about it until a few days ago when I was carelessly searching the internet and once again the same imagery invaded my eyeballs. Turns out this human is one Har Mar Superstar and is signed to Dim Mak. His myspace profile pic says it all . . . . (Editors Note: picture below in picture section)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSMCNLpgZ5o

http://www.myspace.com/harmarstar

Ear to the Ground

Vice always has good content, I think we can all agree with that. I’m sure we could argue about how tasteful some of their stuff is, but I for one generally like what they do. Check out www.vbs.tv and you can find a ton of interesting stories, documentaries etc. This week I watched their series on Illegal LA, it presents some really interesting points of view. Check it out, http://www.vbs.tv/shows.php?show=1600108216&source=sc

Do you remember Tricky? “Dress me up in Stussy”. You know, ugly mofo, some would call him the godfather of trip hop. He has a new record called Knowle West Boy. Have a peak at the new video (to me this track is very neo Saul Williams) and learn a bit about the record, http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/50710-tricky-returns-with-first-lp-in-five-years

A friend of the Frontside family’s cousin just got drafted by the Vancouver Canucks! Erik Hodgson’s (director of marketing at Aquarius Records) cousin Cody was drafted 10th overall by the Canucks last weekend. We’re looking forward to having Cody be part of the Vancouver team. Congrats! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VskhuauVOBI

I’ve honestly never really decided if I was a Bill Maher fan. Sometimes I think he is a total dirtbag but then at times he redeems himself and says some really insightful things. He is starring in a new documentary about Religion, after watching the trailer I’m currently a Maher fan. It’s of course very tongue in cheek, but he’s asking the questions a lot of people wish they could ask, and saying the things people wish they could say. See for yourself, http://www.lionsgate.com/religulous/ This one is definitely going to cause some controversy. This is another documentary that really caught my eye, more for the first part of the trailer rather than the second part, but I’m definitely interested in the grind of touring constantly. This is coming from a bit of a different perspective but worth checking out. It’s called Part of the Weekend Never Dies, http://www.partoftheweekendneverdies.com/potwnd/trailer.php

Did you catch Kid Rock’s video blog this week? He posted a clever little video on his website talking about illegal downloading. Take it for what you will, I think that he was making a point against downloading however many people are taking it completely seriously. You tell me, http://www.kidrock.com/

I’m sure you heard that 9 songs from the new Axl Rose album were leaked this week or last week. Yes I say Axl Rose album because that is not Guns n Roses, please. This album, Chinese Democracy (Oh Axl you’re so clever… wait a second is that the point of this stupid record? Is it never gonna happen just like Chinese Democracy??? Oh my god I just figured it out, oh Axl you sly dog you, you’ve just been teasing us this whole time, 14 years you’ve been working on this album and it’s never gonna happen is it? You bastard) has been in production for over a decade and blah blah blah. Point being, the guy that actually leaked the songs was visited by the FBI this week. Yeah, the FBI. Doesn’t the FBI have anything better to do than track down people who are leaking music? http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/51513-fbi-visits-source-of-gnr-ichinese-democracyi-leaks

Really? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdE4FIYSmk8 The original “Really!?!” segment on Saturday Night Live. I apologize for the awesome political message at the end of the clip. Actually I don’t, it’s kind of funny.

Kanye got mad again this week. Shocker! This time he’s mad because people at Bonnaroo were throwing stuff on stage at him. Here’s his tirade, I love that he writes in all capitals. It makes you wonder if he just hits caps lock or if he actually holds down the Shift key the whole time. I bet he holds down Shift the whole time. http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106=196808_-1__0_~0_-1_6_2008_0_0&em3161=&em3281=

This is an awesome story from CBC Radio 3 about Bands and their Vans. It’s cleverly titled “Stand By Your Van” and it features the boys from Bison. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg-_AQy7I0o

Pic of the Week

As promised here is Justin’s boyfriend, Har Mar Superstar. We also have a picture of Tetris and of course the late George Carlin.

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

Got something you wanna get on the street? Let us know.
Effective, affordable and just plain cool street promo.

Frontside Word on the Street Volume 140

I’ve been having a lot of really vivid dreams lately, so many, in fact, that during them I believe I’m awake and basically perceive them as reality. The latest one (that really shook me up) had to do with WOTS. I get a number of responses every week, some kind words, some not so kind words. Either way I’m happy to get the feedback really, but this dream for some reason really made me paranoid. Remember when I put in the most overused Marketing words of 2007? I thought it was hilarious, well somebody decided that it would be even funnier to dissect my writing and send me my most overused words. #1 was “great”. The word “great” is like an STD for me, it goes away for a while but I always have it close to me and I never know when it’s just gonna pop up out of nowhere. (And, no I don’t have an STD) My editor scolds me weekly for my complete superfluous use of the word and now I’m freakin’ dreaming about it. I’m losing it folks, losing it.

Katy Perry

Ok, where the hell was I on this one? I totally missed it and I’m sorry. Katy Perry is blowing up. “I Kissed A Girl” is most definitely the song of the summer and apparently 6 million people knew that before I did. It really came out of nowhere and it’s a smash hit. The song was put on iTunes 2 weeks ago and it shot to #1 and now it’s being played absolutely everywhere. She’s cute as hell, the song is catchy and definitely gets in your head and sometimes you play it 8 times in a row and then your friends get really mad at you. It’s most definitely a guilty pleasure and I don’t feel guilty about it at all. This song is an authentic hit and I think you’ll be seeing this little scene stealer a lot this summer. I’m guessing “sassy” will be the overused word on this project. www.myspace.com/katyperry You can catch her on the Warped Tour all summer.

Bison Officially signs to Metal Blade

When one of your bands signs with one of the biggest metal labels in the world it’s worth talking about. Bison is not only a client but they are definitely an office favourite. And now, Bison has officially signed to Metal Blade Records. Here’s the full story, http://www.straight.com/article-150256/bison-signs-metal-blade Also, quite possibly the quote of the year. Here’s what BISON has to say about their new deal with Metal Blade:
“We are pleased that our newly forged alliance with the dark lords of the blade has come to fruition. We shall slay with honor and wasted servitude. Using the awesome power of the riff, we shall lay waste, in solidarity with the legions of the righteous soldiers of metal. Now as one, we look to the future to conquer for generations to come.” www.metalblade.com www.myspace.com/bisoneastvan

The Cash Waver
I don’t know if I can really do this justice so you may have to simply click the links and read the story. You absolutely have to listen to the phone call. Basically what it comes down to is that some dude in Brooklyn posted some pics of himself on Craigslist calling himself “Mr. Right”. The pictures are…amazing, there is no other way to explain it. Just click the link and witness somebody take themselves far too seriously. Of course, these are shoe-ins for pic of the week as well. http://gawker.com/392410/mr-right-iz-here-ladies
http://gawker.com/tag/personal-ads/?i=392686&t=cash+waving-craigslist-players-fury-these-photos-are-mines
http://gawker.com/tag/craigslist-cash_waver/?i=5016844&t=the-ten-best-craigslist-cash+waver-remixes

Have you Heard

Thanh is one of Frontside’s newest additions and so far he has been killing it. This week he takes centre stage for Have you Heard. So live from New York, Thanh give us the news…

“So I got the privilege to see Todd Edwards last night and it was a random last min. party with Tommie sunshine and Blaqstar put together by Vice and Scion. There were probably only 50 people there. Todd has done Remixes for and worked with Daft Punk and recently ed banger, Institubes out of France and Bjork. He comes from the classic house music scene of Paradise Garage and is probably one of the most under-rated artists of all time. He is pretty big in UK and Europe where he packs out thousand cap venues and rarely, if ever, plays in the states. The funny thing is he lives in New Jersey and I’ve heard that at a particular event a person even cried during his set. Check him out. Personally one of my 5 five artists of ALL TIME!!”

http://youtube.com/watch?v=r8uKbprFjIE – Todd Edwards – Saved My Life
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yncsiPJHjiQ – Surkin – Next of Kin (Todd Edwards Re-Kindled mix)
www.myspace.com/toddedwards

Ear to the Ground

Ok, easily offended people put your earmuffs on now. In fact put your blu blockers on too so that you can’t see the screen. In fact, just skip this section. Bo Burnham is a 17 year old kid that recently recorded an album for Comedy Central Records and has joined the elite of the “viral videos” (overused term by the way). His most recent was just released a couple of days ago and I think it’s his best work. G-Mac sent over the link and I’ve been watching it ever since. “I’m Bo Yo” is a clever rap with a lot of offensive content but you just can’t help but laugh. He’s most definitely a strange kid, but I’ll bet he makes you laugh at least once. http://www.youtube.com/user/boburnham

We’re going way off the radar on this one. This doesn’t even have anything to do with music. But it’s definitely worthy. Have you heard about the shoes with feet in them that keep washing up on BC’s shores? No seriously, we’re up to 6. And I quote, “Another human foot encased in a running shoe has been found on the shores of British Columbia in Canada, the second this week and sixth within a year.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7462953.stm That’s just weird.

R. Kelly was acquitted of all charges this past week. http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/13/rkelly.closings.ap/index.html

Girl Talk put some weird stuff on his myspace this week. Best known for glitchy mixes and mashups, the live show is pretty stunning but this latest track that he put up on his myspace page was just weird. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. Either way, he took it off now and it’s tracks from the new album, which are crazy dope. http://www.myspace.com/girltalk

Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age lost it on a fan a couple days ago and has caused quite the stir. I thought it was pretty damn funny to be honest. Check this to hear his curse word laden attack of a fan that threw a shoe at him, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfZm32tpWY8 (K, serious earmuffs on this one, a lot of cursing) and click this to see what Josh wrote about all the people that are completely lambasting him now for various reasons. http://perezhilton.com/2008-06-19-homophobe-josh-home-responds-for-using-the-f-word

Lil Wayne has sold over a million copies of his brand new record. That’s pretty amazing considering the state that the music industry is in. The hype machine was working hard on this album and I’ll admit that even I like Lil Wayne now. Still the best part about the entire album is cover art. http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-06-18-lil-wayne-sales_N.htm

I think that we all know that Bands, and artists in general, can do some pretty annoying things. Well here’s a nice list of the Top 39 Annoying Things That Bands Do. This is funny stuff. Thanks to Frontside friend Tom Gates for sending this over. http://www.creepycrawl.com/top39txt.htm

Oh The Onion News Network, you shine like a star in an otherwise empty sky. Here’s a recent story on the High School Tony Awards. http://www.theonion.com/content/video/high_school_tony_awards_honor I want to write for these guys one day, so funny.

Back to Girl Talk for a minute here. Illegal Art, the label for Girl Talk, is releasing the new album “Feed the Animals” in the same way that Radiohead released their album, “name your price”. So go ahead, http://74.124.198.47/illegal-art.net/__girl__talk___feed__the__anima.ls___/

Ok, last thing this week. If anybody, I mean anybody, can tell me what the hell Lil Wayne is talking about in this clip I would really appreciate it. I get that he’s thanking his fans and all, but the rest?????? The Book drive? http://hiphopst.blogspot.com/2008/06/video-lil-wayne-thanks-fans.html

Pic of the Week

As promised we have “Mr. Right”, we’ve got some Girltalk album art, and we have a big picture of the word “Great” because you’re never going to see it again on these pages. See ya next week.

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

Got something you wanna get on the street? Let us know.
Effective, affordable and just plain cool street promo.

Frontside Word on the Street Volume 139

You know when you’re on hold and it seems like an eternity but you wait because, well, that’s what we’ve been trained to do? Then there are those times you’re sitting on hold and there’s food in front of you. You wait to eat, because you don’t want to eat and talk at the same time, you’re a polite individual. So you wait, and wait, and wait. Then you wait some more, getting hungrier by the minute while smooth jazz plays in your ear Finally you say, “to hell with it I’m having a bite of fo…” and blammo… “Hello Mr. Larson how can I help you” comes the voice on the other side of the phone. But now you’ve just stuffed a nice healthy portion of food directly into your mouth, rendering it impossible to actually say anything intelligible… Yeah, that just happened. Good talk.

These guys are EVERYWHERE

I know that we’ve been talking about Said The Whale a lot lately but they just keep doing things worth mentioning. Let’s start with their cross Canada tour which is progressing nicely, they should be making their way through Ontario right about now. Next, their new video for “The City’s a Mess” ends up on the front page of Youtube! Aplacement that has led to more than a quarter of a million views thus far (and climbing!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xppTQ6xPnik And finally, they managed to land a placement in a Sun Rype commercial! You’ve probably seen it by now, it’s been on TV a lot in the last few days. It’s a really cool commercial and the music blends in perfectly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-NIM6rT7VQ Said The Whale are doing big things and we’re so proud of them. If anyone deserves the early success it’s this band, they work their asses off and they’re building it the right way. Check “Said The Whale” out, www.myspace.com/saidthewhale

The Hood Internet

I want to focus on music blog The Hood Internet. The Hood Internet is one of the best known mash up blogs featuring two producer/DJ’s ABX and STV SLV. These guys basically take songs from all different genres and create awesome mash ups. They have very distinct styles, ABX tends to take a lot of popular hipster songs and mix them with other jams while STV SLV seems to enjoy taking old school jams and mixing them with a lot of hip hop songs, for example David Lee Roth singing over the Biggie Hypnotize beat, or Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” mashed with Dizzee Rascal’s “Fix Up Look Sharp”. They put up new mixes almost daily and release full mixtapes from time to time. The most recent is The Hood Internet vs. Chicago, I’m sure it’s pretty self explanatory. Mashups are tricky, they can be absolutely terrible, but these two tend to keep them pretty good for the most part. www.thehoodinternet.com

4REAL

4REAL started as a documentary television series featuring Sol Guy as the host and various celebrities visiting locations across the world that are under the most extreme circumstances. The concept behind it is to promote change and raise awareness of the living conditions in these areas and also to give hope while focusing on the youth in these communities. Sol Guy has been entrenched in the music industry for years working with the who’s who of not only Canadian hip hop but also some of the biggest names in the world. The celebrities involved include Cameron Diaz, Eva Mendez, M.I.A, and Mos Def, just to name a few. I’ve watched a few of these episodes and they are really endearing and they definitely affect you. It’s an educational show, with a powerful message and it should be seen, as I feel we need to be aware of the things that are going on in our world. Why I felt compelled to write about 4REAL is simple… The episodes take place in many violent or poverty stricken locations like Kenya, Haiti, Peru, Brazil, Liberia etc. But this weekend I watched the show and it’s focus was our beautiful city Vancouver. Of course they weren’t focusing on Stanley Park or the mountains or the healthy business side of Vancouver, but rather the Lower East Side. If you live in or have visted Vancouver, you’ve likely seen this neighbourhood. You may have walked through it, avoided it, made fun of it or just pretended it didn’t exist. It blows my mind that our dirty little secret is being compared to 3rd world countries and nations that are facing genocide as a reality every single day. This wealthy, luxurious city has one of the worst neighbourhoods in the entire world! On a positive note, the way that the documentary presented the downtown eastside was inspiring at least, it puta positive spin on things and focused on the community programs, the leaders and in general, the people fighting for change and trying to improve their lives. There is a drug epidemic in the lower east side, but don’t worry, by the time the Olympics roll around in 2010 it’ll be pushed out to Burnaby so we won’t have to worry about it. Please check this show out, I guarantee you’ll learn something about these places and the people in them. www.4real.com

Have you Heard

Today we take a look at Chester French, many industry “experts” (the term is laughable at best and I think we all know it, sh*t someone called me an “industry expert” last week and I definitely don’t know what the hell I’m talking about) call them one of the next breakout acts on this continent. Back to my point, Chester French is a duo from Cambridge, Mass. They kind of sound like a Beach Boys rip off band on some tracks and then on other tracks it gets a little more serious and experimental. But it works. It’s fun summer music, have a listen. http://www.myspace.com/chesterfrench

Ear to the Ground

There were rumours swirling around last week that Diddy had once again changed his name. Well it turns out those rumours were just not true. But in my opinion. at this point he can call himself whatever he wants. Diddy’s taken to blogging lately, I showed you the video blog of him talking about the Kanye show and how amazing it was, well this time he’s letting us know that Lil Wayne is the best young rapper out there. My favorite part is around the 2:44 mark, you’re so funny Puffy. http://hiphopst.blogspot.com/2008/06/headlines-061108.html

Our man Gazza sure loves him some Back to the Future. All of them. So I was pretty excited when I saw that someone was giving the DeLorean it’s proper respect. Neon, Neon is offering free admission to anyone who drives a Delorean to their July 6th show. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/51223-own-a-delorean-see-neon-neon-for-free

Our man Dano sent this over this week, David Byrne (Talking Heads) has created a “sound installation” using a building in NYC as an instrument. This is crazy, he’s connected pipes, radiators and more to a piano. The public can actually go in and try it out until August 10th. Go check this out if you’re in New York. This video is really fascinating. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1D30gS7Z8U

Mad Decent is a dope indie label owned by DJ/Producer Diplo and featuring some amazing talent. They had what looks to be a great block party recently. If there was sunshine in this city maybe we could have one of those. Tell me this doesn’t look like fun, http://maddecent.com/blog/2008/06/11/block-party-recap/

After a lengthy discussion with myself I’ve decided to admit something I did this past week. I went and saw a movie…I was one of two dudes in the entire theatre…Yes I watched the Sex and the City movie. Good talk.

Sometimes you just get the urge to watch an awesome music video. Eddie Murphy w/ Rick James. Yes, it’s Party All The Time. http://youtube.com/watch?v=m5LX16zia2k

One of my dreams was crushed today as I did some research. Someone already patented my amazing breakthrough technological idea in 1989. Obviously I’m not quite as smart as I thought I was. On to the next one I guess.

Have you been paying attention to Euro 2008? Soccer truly is a magnificent game. Hopefully in a couple of years Vancouver will get a new stadium and then join the MLS. http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/

Boy George will be performing a free show for New York’s strongest. Who are New York’s strongest you ask? The Department of Sanitation of New York workers, that’s who. The DSNY has an annual Family Day and this year Boy George will be playing all of his Culture Club hits. http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2008/06/boy_george_adds.html#more Look for Boy George to hit the Commodore in Vancouver on July 21st.

The Black Kids are getting all kinds of press these days. I’ve heard everything from people saying “they are the next big thing in music, period”, to “their live show sucks balls.” What you have to keep in mind about this band is that they’re fun. I talked about them a couple months ago and I think I made that abundantly clear. Go see this band if you want to have a good time. They just announced an absolutely gigantenormous tour where they’ll cross Europe and then on to North America, stopping in Toronto on October 5th and Vancouver October 11th. http://www.myspace.com/blackkidsrock

Pic of the Week

This week we have two sections of Pic of the Week because the second section deserves it’s very own shine. I’ve been meaning to put this picture in for weeks and keep forgetting. It’s called an Ecospill and I think it’s awesome. The second picture is super dope, this is actually a flat poster on a brick wall. For real, it’s flat. We also have a picture of THE Delorean. Gary we’re having a Back To The Future marathon when you’re back in town. You’re all invited as well. Who’s in?

Pic of the Week 2

One of the most legendary figures in Vancouver history hung up his skates this week. Trevor Linden meant so much to this city as a humanitarian and a hockey player. I’m sure he won’t go far and will continue to be a visible figure in Vancouver for a long time. Farewell #16.

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

Got something you wanna get on the street? Let us know.
Effective, affordable and just plain cool street promo.

Frontside Word on the Street Volume 138

I gotta lead with this because it’s pretty much the most ridiculous house I’ve ever seen. A friend of mine sent me an email this week and I was absolutely blown away. It’s the house of the former president of the United Arab Emirates. This palace looks like a hotel. It is absolutely unreal. The car is the total kicker too. It is an Audi that is silver… no not just coloured silver, the freakin car is SILVER. My only question is why not gold? Look at the bottom for pictures.

Lemmy is God

Many fans of Motorhead will tell you that lead singer Lemmy is actually God. I think they truly believe it too. I was never a hardcore fan of Motorhead, but I followed and always liked their music. Manny Steel is our resident metalhead in the office and is a pretty big Lemmy fan. I showed him this trailer and he was very stoked. It’s a documentary that’s all about Lemmy that’s coming out shortly. Looks like there will be some great interviews included and it should be a heck of a movie, even if you’re not a fan. Why is this man not in the Rock n Roll hall of fame exactly? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg0mjnFkeqw

MTV Awards

I remember a time when the MTV movie awards or VMAs were IT as far as awards shows go. They were the only ones that I really wanted to see all year long. I guess I’m just getting old but they’ve either lost their touch or I’ve actually matured somewhat (I highly doubt the latter. Did you check it out this year? One of my only highlights from the broadcast was the Tropic Thunder bit. Tropic Thunder is a movie that’s coming out in a few weeks and all three stars came together in a skit for the award show. Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr – all pretty funny guys. Downey Jr. is on top of the world right now. Still, I wonder who is going to play Ironman in Ironman 5. Check out the “viral video” http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/4a4a8a64ff

“Yo mama ain’t name you no Barack”

It looks like the candidates for the upcoming US election in November are finally set. As I’ve said before I won’t discuss politics in this forum because I just don’t think it’s the right place but we can still make fun of dumb people in reference to politics. You may remember rapper DMX, you know “STOP, DROP, Shut ‘em down, open up SHOP.” A lyrical genius really who will go down in the intellectual hall of fame I’m sure. Well the scholarly DMX has never heard of Barack Obama. How have you not heard of Obama??? Are you living in your bathroom? Do you live on the moon? Are you deaf, dumb and blind? I really can’t fathom how anyone on this continent has not heard of this man. Some people have said that they thought he was joking, I really don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think he is capable of playing dumb…he just is. Read the ignorance here my friends. http://www.kottke.org/remainder/08/03/15265.html . Keep in mind that he’s a rapper, and a not particularly intelligent one at that. So if you’re easily offended by language perhaps skip ahead a story.

Have you Heard

This week we’re going to focus on a band that just played in Vancouver. They are sort of a throwback Metal act. The stage show is crazy, they have an amazing catalogue of songs and they have an awesome mascot. This week’s band is a little act named Iron Maiden. Yes, I know you’ve heard of them and if you haven’t you can go hang out with DMX. Maiden is just one of those bands that changes people’s lives. People don’t “like” Iron Maiden, they “live” Iron Maiden and are absolute fanatics. Manny went to the show in Vancouver this week and claimed it was the “Best show ever!!” This is one of the biggest bands of all time and have probably sold the most merch of any band ever, go spend some time with their music. http://www.myspace.com/ironmaiden

Ear to the Ground

An absolute legend passed away this week. We send our best wishes to the family of Bo Diddley. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgzn7VyoqEw A great clip of Bo in his younger days.

Courtney no Love came forth this week and said that Kurt Cobain’s ashes have been stolen. I’m not really surprised by much these days, especially with her, but what really took me off guard is what she kept the ashes in. “A pink, bear-shaped handbag”. You keep ashes in a handbag??? http://music.sympatico.msn.ca/Kurt+Cobains+Ashes+Stolen

Kanye West came through Vancouver this week and of course I didn’t go because I’m almost as dumb as DMX. Heard great reviews from a lot of friends. N.E.R.D is on the Glow in the Dark tour as well and stopped by Livestock on 4th Avenue and signed autographs and met with over 500 people that started lining up the night before. Livestock is the only place in Canada that carries the Billionaire Boys Club clothing line.

Here’s a cool clip from one of my current favourites, Hot Chip. http://www.vbs.tv/video.php?id=1581583013

So you think you have good hair? Does your hair look like a giraffe head? I didn’t think so… http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/

Xzibit is definitely in my all time favourite rappers list. He’s never really done anything amazing but he just kinda rules. I also stole my personal catch phrase from him. O.N.F.A. Officially Not F$#%ing Around. Here’s his new video, http://hiphopst.blogspot.com/2008/06/video-xzibit-thank-you.html

Here’s a clip from Letterman. Barack Obama hosts the Top 10 list. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnL9HRLNxIA

I have a man crush on Joe Rogan. The dude is hilarious and he knows mixed martial arts better than most people in the entire world. Here’s a clip of him shredding a heckler. Don’t watch this if you get offended by harsh language. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU_3b2_33vI

I read somewhere this week that Leno is in the running for Larry King’s job when he retires in two years. I don’t really get that. http://tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca/TVNews

Did you hear that apparently some dumb magazine is offering $15 million for the first pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s soon to be born twins? That is insane. Is DMX the editor?

Here are the three movies that are coming out this summer that I found this week. “Burn After Reading” (new Coen brothers movie) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tEDPZNWG4o. Bigger, Stronger, Faster, no it’s not a Kanye documentary, it’s a documentary on Steroids, http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/biggerstrongerfaster/. Righteous Kill, no big deal it just stars De Niro and Pacino, whatever, I don’t even care. http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/righteouskill/trailer2/

Why would you want to have chickens in your back yard? http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-citychickens

Wow is the only word that came to mind when I checked this out. It is a guide to promoting your band. Sometimes you just kind of shake your head but then everything gets better because you realize you’re smarter than DMX. http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Promote_Your_Band_on_MySpace

Pic of the week

As promised here are the pics of the amazing house and car I mentioned. Thanks to Sean for sending this along. This is the reason you pay $1.38 at the gas station.

Thanks for reading,

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

Got something you wanna get on the street? Let us know.
Effective, affordable and just plain cool street promo.

Frontside Word on the Street Volume 137

First and foremost I want to send my condolences to the Bourdon family. Vancouver Canuck rookie Luc Bourdon passed away this week when he was involved in a motorcycle accident. This is obviously a tragic loss for his family, the Canucks organization and anyone who knew him. I never met him, but a few of my friends did and had nothing but great things to say about the 21 year old up and coming star. All of Frontside sends our deepest sympathies.

You’ll only need the EDGE!

“You can win great seats. But you’ll only need the edge.” What the hell does that even mean? This appears to be the slogan for Olympic hockey tickets (I think!). I keep hearing it on the radio and it’s driving me nuts. Despite my current annoyance however, I think the original line is golden, genius even, “We’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the EDGE!!” It was originally coined by the fast talking guys who hyped the monster truck exhibitions at BC Place in the late 80’s and 90’s and is a clever little tag line that actually means something. The new one though, it doesn’t even make sense and angers me. That is all.

Weaselpalooza West

I attended the music industry charity fundraiser called Weaselpalooza West this week at Watermark on Kits beach here in Vancouver. What a great event, a great cause, the place was packed, the food was great, the prizes and auction pieces were fantastic. The event supports music therapy via the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund which is “a non-profit organization that uses the power of music to help children and adults who have physical, mental and psychological needs in our country.” The place was packed with music industry folks, television personalities and local business owners, everyone had a great time and raised a bunch of money for the cause. I was proud to be there and hope to attend next year as well. Check out more about the event here, http://www.weaselpaloozawest.com/index.html

CFOX Seeds

The CFOX seeds competition has been a catalyst for many extremely successful bands in this country. Past finalists/ winners include Nickelback, Bif Naked, Theory of a Deadman, State of Shock, Daniel Wesley and many more. Well this year’s crop of talent are nothing short of amazing. 2008’s top 20 has been announced and they are as good as they are completely different. I’ve been checking out “Stand Down” a lot and I really like what I hear. In fact if you’re in Burnaby June 7th go check them out at Big Star. Former intern and forever family member of Frontside, Sonny Manhas and his band Empire Alley are also in the top 20, check out: http://www.cfox.com/Seeds2008/Top20.aspx and Vote.

Have you Heard
This week we’re looking at a local artist who has been a part of a very successful band and is now out on her own. Katie Rox is testing the solo career waters and is presenting a completely different style than her previous act Jakalope. Her new solo project is a definite departure from the Industrial, hard sound of the band as it’s just Katie and a guitar, but it sounds cool She’s doing everything by herself these days, including recording the album in her closet (literally), booking her own tour and basically just making it happen by herself. I love the work ethic and I love the music, it comes off as very honest and real. Check her out http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=200971190

Ear to the Ground

Can we talk about Saul Williams for a second? Thanks. In my opinion, Saul Williams is one of the most talented people in the music industry, however he doesn’t exactly play by the rules and therefore hasn’t received as much attention as he perhaps should have. If you’ve never seen the amazing 90’s movie “Slam” go rent it to see what I’m talking about. Williams has gone from Slam poetry to hip hop to rock music to experimental stuff and back again. Recently, his song “List of Demands” was featured in a Nike ad (just when you think you know him, he flips it). Check him out, listen to his music, listen to him speak and read what he has to say, I guarantee you’ll learn something. http://www.myspace.com/saulwilliams

Motley Crue is selling more copies of their new single via Rock Band than they are via iTunes. This is a little strange but definitely says a lot about how people are buying their music and the influence of video games right now. http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSN2329170920080527

Remember last week when I said there were too many festivals this summer? Well here’s the proof. Pitchfork just released their guide to summer festivals, it’s 19,275 pages long! Well it’s not that long, but still… http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/50832-the-pitchfork-guide-to-summer-festivals-2008

I don’t consider myself arrogant, just really, really awesome.

We discussed Hollywood running out of ideas a couple weeks ago and the trend continues. Think Eddie Murphy… think police officer… think Beverly Hills… Give up? Ok, Beverly Hills Cop 4 is going into production. I can’t wait for the summer of 2010, the theatres will be flooded with nothing but sequels. Beverly Hills Cop 4, Terminator 4, Point Break 2, Clerks 3, Boiler Room 2, Gremlins 5, Stand By Me 2 (Keep Standing) etc. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=17753

Keeping with movies, this just might be the worst, awesome movie ever. I’ve only seen the trailer but, I mean come on, it looks so bad it could be awesome! It stars the big dude from Hot Rod (another of my personal favourites) The Foot Fist Way, http://www.thefootfistway.com/site_G.html

State of Shock is playing the Commodore in Vancouver tonight. If you’re in Vancouver you should definitely go check out this show. These guys and girl have been busting their asses working on their live show and the results should be spectacular. Really looking forward to seeing this show. They will be on tour throughout Canada in June and into July. http://www.myspace.com/stateofshock

Last time Kobe Bryant jumped over an Aston Martin,this time it’s a pool of dangerous snakes. http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cb2d2fc340 The Aston Martin one looked real at least. But this is still pretty funny.

Weezer rules! You know it’s true. This is the new video, lots of cameos from internet stars and celebrities, it’s awesome as they always are. http://gawker.com/393103/weezers-music-video-full-of-web-stars

The whole world just stopped! I had never seen this Chocolate Rain video that 22 million people have seen that appears in the Weezer video. DUDE! This is so… I don’t even know what it is. That’s really that dude singing! K, watch, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA

Ratatat is set to release a new album on July 5th. The title of the album is LP3. Sounds like more progressive music that pushes the boundaries. They are going on a 5 city US tour this summer but won’t be stopping in Canada any time soon. http://www.myspace.com/ratatatmusic

Apparently Daft Punk is back in the studio. Should be interesting to hear what they come up with as always. Please no Kanye collabs. http://www.myspace.com/daftpunk

One of Vancouver’s best parties has to be the annual Summer Wine Rave. This marks the 10th anniversary of the Wine Rave and it is being moved from Nevermind to Hell’s Kitchen this year. This event is always a great time, always a tonof great people, great wine and amazing food. This event sells out every year so buy your tickets early, I’ll see you there on June 25th! http://www.cork-screw.ca/

Pic of the Week

I found these pics on kanye’s site and they’re pretty rad. They were taken with a high speed camera. http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106=194068_-1__0_~0_-1_5_2008_0_0&em3161=&em3281= And we have Manny Steel playing with his new toy at the frontside office.

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

Got something you wanna get on the street? Let us know.
Effective, affordable and just plain cool street promo.

Frontside Word on the Street Volume 136

Am I alone here? I think there are far too many festivals this year. I check out as many music websites and blogs as I can in a day and every day there’s a new festival being announced. Even frickin Anthony Kiedis has his own festival this year. And it’s all the same bands at every event! While I’m a big fan of going to see a band play with a bunch of other bands, (or example I went to the warped tour every year for about 10 years until I became the oldest person there and was forced to realize that I’m just not as punk rock as Simple Plan fans are these days) it’s getting a little ridiculous. The reason that Festivals were so popular and great was because there were only a couple of them, they were special. But now all you have to do is look at a website like Pitchfork to see the abundance of multi-act concerts screaming around North America. Furthermore, your favourite band comes to town with a Festival and only plays for 25 minutes because there are 137 other bands that need their stage time as well. Am I being overly sensitive? What do you think?

Blu

A friend of mine sent this over to me last week and it’s absolutely unbelievable. This video really pushes artistic boundaries and might be, in my opinion, the greatest achievement in graffiti history. I know that sounds like crazy talk but this is just bananas. While you watch it just think about how long it would have taken to get every single photo and how much patience it would have required to make this happen. Then think about the creativity it took to develop this style, story and execute it. I’m absolutely blown away by this and if you’re not then we can’t be friends. Yeah, it’s like that. I won’t say anymore I’ll just let you check it out. If you’re a big fan of art and want to support some local Vancouver artists make sure you check out the Cheap show… (((LINK???)))

“I’ll be back”

Yes perhaps this line has turned into one of the most cliché phrases in recent memory but you all know what I’m talking about when I say it. Well…did you know that they were making a new Terminator movie? Oh you did? Did you know that they were making THREE more Terminator movies!?!?!?!?! Are you fu$*ing serious? Christian Bale has signed on to play Jon Conner in all three films (I guess he’ll do these movies in between doing the next 18 Batman sequels). Also of note, rapper turned actor Common has signed on to be in the first, sorry 3rd sequel to Terminator. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton won’t be anywhere near these films. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20164286,00.html

Sloan

I think that at this point you have to give Sloan legendary status among Canadian rock acts. They’ve been around for 15 years and they have always remained relevant, they always have a couple smash hits on their albums and to top it off they just seem like cool dudes. They have definitely stayed away from being pompous rock stars and still manage to come off as “good Canadian kids” (to quote Don Cherry). As of June 10th they’re back at it, releasing a brand new albumcalled Parallel Play. I’m going to go out on a limb and call Sloan the Canadian Foo Fighters, no they’re not similar musically but they always put out quality music and they have funny, rad videos. The songs sound great, check a few of them out at www.myspace.com/sloan. I’m sure there will be a Canadian tour sometime this summer.

Have you Heard?

This week we’re looking at The Last Shadow Puppets. This is the side project from Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner. Definite Brit rock, in fact the debut album, The Age of Understatement reached #1 on the UK indie charts. They recently released a video for the title track to the album and it’s pretty dope. A lot of Cold War imagery, so we know GG has probably watched the video about a million times as he is a total Cold War historian/junkie. This is definitely a duo worth checking out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGV8xCkpXjE for the video and http://www.myspace.com/thelastshadowpuppets for some music.

Ear to the Ground

Did you hear that Lou Pearlman was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a number of different counts of fraud. Pearlman was a boyband pimp who was the “mastermind” behind the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync (an idea which he openly admits he stole from NKOTB). And by mastermind I mean crook who stole from the bands that he managed. He really is an awful swine and I hope that he enjoys his new friends in prison. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1587827/20080521/id_0.jhtml

I just felt the need to remind you that Christopher Walken is absolutely amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMZwZiU0kKs And remember he was 142 when that video was shot.

New Coldplay video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IakDItZ7f7Q

Did you see Diddy’s video after he went to the Kanye show? It was awesome. Every single person I have spoken to about Kanye’s show has given it an amazing review. I need a ticket, who wants to give me one? Check out Mr. Combs thoughts, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL0I7zkcODk

Death Cab For Cutie debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart last week. That’s great news, seriously. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/50785-death-cab-for-cuties-inarrow-stairsi-debuts-at-1

Much Music released the nominees for the Much Video Awards this week. I didn’t even know they still played videos. Here are the nominees, http://www.muchmusic.com/events/mmva08/nominees/index.aspx

This just in, it’s only safe to drink your own urine for a couple days, but no longer. http://www.slate.com/id/2191909/

Do you ever check out The Onion? You should, I think we’ve talked about it before. It is fake news and it’s hilarious. For example, http://www.theonion.com/content/news/san_diego_zoo_prison_merge

Do you need acting lessons? Here are some great insights from James Franco. Oh yeah and it’s funny. http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/f12ee4dfcf

Common is releasing yet another album in July. Apparently this one is going to be more based in electro beats and will definitely have a summer feel. Check the link for one of the first jams from the album. http://hiphopst.blogspot.com/2008/05/common-feat-pharell-umc-universal-mind.html

Pic of the Week

I think this is one of the coolest outdoor art pieces I’ve ever seen. We also have Christopher Walken because he is awesome. And I think I would be remiss not to include a shot of the original Terminator.

Craig Larson
Director of Street and Lifestyle Marketing
Frontside Promotions Group
web: www.frontsidegroup.com
www.flickr.com/photos/frontsidestreetmarketing/sets

Got something you wanna get on the street? Let us know.
Effective, affordable and just plain cool street promo.