SKOPE NEWS FOR NOVEMBER 17, 2015

NPR MUSIC PREMIERES SURPRISE COLLABORATIVE PROJECT FROM SHOVELS & ROPE

On Monday, November 16, NPR Music announced and premiered the surprise album Busted Jukebox, Vol. 1, a special, collaborative project from the acclaimed duo, Shovels & Rope. Busted Jukebox (Dualtone Music) will be released November 20 and features Shovels & Rope joining forces with some dear friends/fellow artists to put a new spin on a collection of 10 diverse covers. The NPR Music “Track By Track” premiere features every song as well as descriptions, explanations and anecdotes about each, from Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent (aka Shovels & Rope).

http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/11/16/455751783/shovels-ropes-explains-its-new-covers-album-track-by-track

MARTIN CRANE NEW SINGLE

On November 20 Martin Crane is set to release his first solo effort, Physical Therapy on INSCAPE. Though Physical Therapy is the first under his own name, Martin has been in music for years as the main force behind Brazos (Dead Oceans) and as the composer/music supervisor of projects such as the Academy Award nominated Cutie and the Boxer and Hugh the Hunter (2015 Sundance premier). The cinematic album track “Gadesco” is available to stream over at Interview Magazine.

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/exclusive-track-premiere-gadesco-martin-crane

JERRY SEINFELD AND AMY SCHUMER HEADLINE BABY BUGGY’S 15th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Baby Buggy, a national organization for families in need, raised $1.975 million at the organization’s 15th Anniversary celebration featuring “An Evening with Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Schumer” at the Beacon Theatre in New York City last night. With rousing comedy sets by Schumer and Seinfeld, the event featured appearances by Baby Buggy Founder Jessica Seinfeld and Co-Hosts George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth.

Stephanopoulos and Wentworth highlighted how Jessica Seinfeld’s initial idea to get gently-used child items to mothers in need has evolved to be a national organization serving families through a network of antipoverty programs. Since its inception, Baby Buggy has donated more than 17 million items, including car seats, clothing, diapers and more, to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable families by tying donations to enrollment in life-changing family service programs to help lift families out of poverty.

“Growing up in poverty is one of the greatest threats to healthy child development,” said Baby Buggy Founder and Board President Jessica Seinfeld. “Our vision is that all children have what they need to outgrow poverty. It’s the power of our donated goods plus the services of our partners that create meaningful change for so many.”

http://www.babybuggy.org/

DISCOGS CELEBRATES 15 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PULLING THE CURTAIN BACK ON USER DATA

In the year of 2000, a site called Discogs launched to 37 users, cataloging techno and drum n bass vinyl. With the arrival and subsequent passing of sub genres over the last fifteen years (electroclash, looking at you) and the infinite amount of long-form think pieces regarding the contemporary validity of vinyl, Discogs has steadily ballooned to north of 2 million users, and has flag-poled itself as the ubiquitous brand for buying, selling, sharing, and discovering vinyl online. It connects users around the globe, and is close to reaching its near impossible mission of cataloging every single piece of recorded music in existence.

To celebrate its decade and a half rise to prominence, Discogs is introducing several new features and angles to discover and trade physical music online, beginning with data transparency on which albums are bought and sold through the platform and how many. Going forward, Discogs will act much like similar ratings and charts, but with more transparency, and with less flaws. The company will update the public on not just trends, but also snack-able bits of information like which item was the most expensive sold for the year. Furthermore, Discogs users will be able to share their own cherrypicked history of buying and selling with the click of a button, to personalize the experience of sharing information.

http://www.discogs.com/15th

ENYA NYT ALBUM STREAM

Enya’s upcoming album Dark Sky Island is streaming now exclusively at NYTimes.com ahead of its global release this Friday, November 20. The New York Times lauds the singer’s “serene, effortless voice,” along with the “lush strings, harps, and choral arrangements you’d expect to find on any Enya work of proper form,” while Entertainment Weekly is describing this as “Enya’s heavenly comeback.” Take a listen below.

Listen to Dark Sky Island via New York Times:

http://smarturl.it/EnyaNYTPremiere

“PARTY ALL NIGHT”

Las Vegas’ own Mic Moses drops his new visuals to “Party All Night” with a feel good party theme. Each verse in the video depicts a different type of party, starting with a search party, on to a political party and then ending in a party party. The single can be found on Mic Moses’ new album “Self Help”, which is set to be released in January of 2016.

Watch here:

OTIC “CLOSER”

Growing up in Manchester before relocating to Dublin in his mid-twenties, Drum & Bass newcomer Otic has been making a name for himself for the last few years with his mixture of soulful liquid and minimal grooves.

Being given the seal of approval by fellow Mancunian Dub Phizix gave him extra confidence, as did the reactions to his recent remixes of Devyn Rose (‘Falling 4 U’) and Virus Syndicate x Dope D.O.D. (‘Animal Instinct’) on Midication Recordings. Spotting this serious burgeoning talent, Midication grabbed the opportunity to release his first single proper: ‘Closer’.

EWERT AND THE TWO DRAGONS RELEASE BEAUTIFUL ONE-TAKE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “CIRCLES”

Estonian four piece Ewert and The Two Dragons are excited to debut the beautiful Helen Takkin directed music video for “Circles”. The video was filmed in one take in the serene setting of Karksi-Nuia, Estonia. “Circles” is the title track from the band’s recently released Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers) produced album. One of the biggest and most accomplished bands in Estonia, Ewert and The Two Dragons have been steadily winning fans and exposure in North America. Since its release on Sire records, their new LP Circles has been featured by MTV Iggy, Los Angeles Times, Relix, Culture Collide, San Francisco Chronicle, The Wild Honey Pie, and Washington Post, who were fond of Circles “catchy rhythms and musical colors.”

WEEN TO REUNITE IN COLORADO

More than four years after their last performance on New Year’s Eve in Denver, Colo., Ween will reunite for two shows over President’s Day Weekend at the 1st Bank Center in nearby Broomfield on February 12th and 13th.

Ween founders Aaron Freeman (aka Gene Ween) and Mickey Melchiondo, Jr. (aka Dean Ween) said that the two shows are “going to be fucking mind-blowing.”

The band, which formed in 1984, has taken on a cult-like status with legions of devoted fans around the world. Beginning with six self-released cassettes in the 1980s followed by 11 studio albums, six live albums and a smattering of EPs through the 1990s and 2000s, Ween’s recorded output is far-reaching in its styles moving from rock to punk to psychedelic to country to alternative and all points in between.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, November 20th at 10:00am MT and may be purchased online at www.altitudetickets.com.

http://www.ween.com/

JAGGER WELLS NEW SINGLE

With years of writing and releasing music under his belt, Jaeger Wells has mastered the art of bringing acoustically driven pop story lines to life. Wells sings of personal experience and anxieties like a lovechild of Motion City Soundtrack and Ed Sheeran would – tackling heavy subject matter with an upbeat and bright outlook. His songwriting discusses the real life situations of love, loss, and everything in-between with the goal of showing listeners that they’re not alone through a full-band feel established with help from Vic Chan. Jaeger Wells’ inspiring messages and catchy, melodic lyrics remind us that life throws curveballs, but even if we strike out, we don’t have to quit the game.

CONVEYER PREMIERE NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “EULOGY”

Get a birds eye-view of the CONVEYER live experience as the hardcore troop releases “Eulogy,” the second video from When Given Time To Grow, their Victory Records debut, available now.

ZEKE DUHON NEW VIDEO

Singer-Songwriter Zeke Duhon has released the video for his single ‘Faith and Hope.’ The song is taken his self-titled EP, released on October 23rd via Big Deal Recordings, the label arm of Nashville’s Big Deal Publishing. Blurt Magazine premiered the video and you can see it here:

http://blurtonline.com/news/video-premiere-zeke-duhon/

JILL ANDREWS “I’M SO IN LOVE WITH YOU (FEAT. SETH AVETT)” VIDEO PREMIERE VIA THE BOOT

Andrews wrapped up a run of tour dates with The Avett Brothers this past Friday in Fargo, ND and will play her final show of the year in her hometown of Nashville, TN on December 5th. This April, she will head out on a month-long tour in support of Drew Holcomb.

http://theboot.com/jill-andrews-seth-avett-im-so-in-love-with-you/

JACOB METCALF “ONE THREE NINE” VIA UTNE READER!

North Texas musician Jacob Metcalf will be releasing his first full-length solo effort, Fjord, later this winter. And while fans of his two longtime groups, Fox and the Bird and Dallas Family Band, might expect a similar rootsy update on rural American music, the sparsely orchestrated cinematic folk that sweeps through these 11 tracks are sure to cover the listener in permafrost and thaw them back out again.

http://www.utne.com/arts/song-premiere-jacob-metcalf-one-three-nine.aspx

INDIA.ARIE ANNOUNCES TOUR

Four-time GRAMMY winner India.Arie will kick off the Christmas With Friends tour on December 13 at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston. The holiday celebration will include a December 15 show at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre and conclude at Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville on December 21. Special guest Jonathan McReynolds will open on most dates.

http://soulbird.com/events

JOAN BAEZ CELEBRATES 75TH BIRTHDAY AT NEW YORK CITY’S BEACON THEATRE

Joan Baez will celebrate her 75th birthday on Saturday, January 27 at the Beacon Theatre. The special event will honor her legendary 50 plus years in music in an intimate career spanning live performance. Baez will perform alongside fellow artists and friends, including: Jackson Browne, Indigo Girls, Emmylou Harris, Judy Collins, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Damien Rice, Nano Stern and David Bromberg. Additional acts will be announced shortly. The concert is being recorded and produced for television by Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET New York as part of the Great Performances series on PBS.

http://www.beacontheatre.com/

“FALLING FOR YOU”

Following on the huge success of the record last summer, German DJ & Producer Teenage Mutants is proud to present a fresh new edit of ‘Falling For You’ ft. Laura Welsh ahead of its release via Sony. With the original record already having climbed its way to #2 in the Beatport Charts, as well as hitting #1 on both Hype Machine and the Shazam Ibiza chart last summer, the new edit already has a strong platform to build on.

http://www.vevo.com/watch/ES1021500496

MADEON NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “NONSENSE” FEAT. MARK FOSTER

Twenty-one year-old music phenomenon Madeon has just announced his upcoming U.S. tour for 2016. The Pixel Empire tour, which will feature support from Skylar Spence, kicks off in Portland on January 19 and will run through major cities such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Nashville before concluding in Washington, DC on February 21.

http://www.vevo.com/watch/GB1101500270

ROMY “WILD HEART”

Storming the web last week with a tantalising teaser video, ROMY has stayed true to her word and followed up with an impressive debut single ‘Wild Heart’, premiering via COMPLEX.

A trap infused r&b/pop crossover track, her inspiration for ‘Wild Heart’ came from personal experience. “We all go through (things) in life that make us feel that maybe we need to guard our hearts. Regardless of what we all go through we should never stop feeling free to love.”

http://au.complex.com/music/2015/11/premiere-listen-to-romys-new-track-wild-heart

NEW RAY J SINGLE

Singer and reality star Ray J has a new single, “Curtain Closed.” Produced by Kenny Pratt, the powerful ballad with a strong message of love and forgiveness and effectively takes Ray J off the market. The song which professes his love for Princess Love is available on iTunes now via Knockout Ent / BMB Ent.

http://www.audiomack.com/song/rayj-official/curtains-closed

SEVENTEEN EVERGREEN NEW SINGLE

“Observatory Crest” is the first video from Seventeen Evergreen’s latest EP, Epiphanie Solaire, released September 25, 2015 on the limited edition vinyl label Spiritual Pajamas. Directed by Brian Ziffer, Spiritual Pajamas’ Caleb Pate described the collaboration to PopMatters:

“We wanted to emphasize the dreamy and evocative sci-fi aspects of the song and this is our tribute to Don. The video came out of our ongoing collaboration with Percept Visual, Brian had captured us live in the studio, with various lazers and the Atari Video Music blasting around us, which is the earliest commercial electronic music visualizer from 1976. This was juxtaposed with an apocalyptic narrative that Brian came up with and some archival science footage that we discovered searching for the ideal pairing. We hope Don Van Vliet would approve.”

http://www.popmatters.com/post/seventeen-evergreen-observatory-crest-video-premiere/

2015 HELPING A HERO GALA THIS WEEKEND

Helping a Hero, a Houston based 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization providing support for military personnel severely injured in the war on terror, will host their 2015 National Gala this Sunday, November 22, 2015, at the Bayou City Events Center. This year’s gala will feature a performance by award-winning country star Mark Wills and will be hosted by “60 Minutes” correspondent Lara Logan. Former Presidential candidate Herman Cain will receive the Patriot Award while Houston’s own Joanne King Herring will receive the Defense of Freedom Award.

Helping a Hero was created to provide specially adapted homes at a deeply discounted price for qualifying service members while engaging the community to provide services and resources for the recipients and their families. Through the HelpingaHero.org Home Program, 100 severely wounded heroes from 22 states have been awarded a specially adapted home that addresses their physical adaptation needs. HelpingaHero.org is one of the three largest 501(c)(3) organizations building homes for America’s severely wounded heroes.

http://www.helpingahero.org/