Universal Republic signs Gotye

Word on the street is that much sought after Antipodean act Gotye has inked a deal with Universal-Republic Records for North America.  And we hear that new Uni-Republic A&R prexy, Rob Stevenson, who led the charge, was pressuring hard to close the deal before Goyte lands in the U.S.A. next week for shows in Los Angeles and then New York during CMJ. A shrewd move considering the buzz surrounding the Belgian-Australian musician and the great number of artist reps and label heads waiting for their chance to get up close and personal. Insiders are pointing to the deal being unprecedented, at least in the current era of record deals, in a number of different components, including extensive creative freedom, a hefy marketing spend, and an advance that was simply described as ‘massive’. Much of the interest stems from the runaway success of the hit  ”Somebody That I Used to Know,” featuring fellow Aussie and new Warner Bros. Records artist Kimbra, which is already a giant hit in Gotye’s homeland. The single has reached the top position in the chart, along with the album Making Mirrors, which also landed in the #1 spot and has been certified platinum in Australia. In America the track has been garnering support from various areas of the media including L.A. tastemaker-station KCRW, which combined with a huge word of mouth and burgeoning viral internet interest (with over 10 million plays on YouTube) to prompt the A&R frenzy. Erupting in record time, it showed that despite the much ballyhooed austerity in the 2011 record business, the old school 90’s-style signing derby still hasn’t seen its last days.

Industry & fans come out in droves to catch one of WU LYF's first U.S. shows @ The Echo

It must be the heat… As summer rolls on it seems that temperatures are rising among a number of notable indie and major label acts, causing them to part ways with their management. One’s loss is another’s potential gain, as many of the newly available artists begin the courting process with prospective new managers. While the scuttlebutt varies, it’s no secret that as the music business continues to wrestle with a new and constantly changing landscape, it’s managers who often times, fairly or unfairly, take the hit over frustrations…The Warner Music – EMI merger storyline continues with the latter’s current auction process underway, and recent reports have the Bunny cutting headcount in anticipation of a possible uniting of the two companies. Though it appears the label is also busy beefing up its A&R department and looking to cherry-pick other senior executives. The term headhunter is not being taken lightly under new Russian owner Len Blavatnik. Some of the names that have been surfacing from the proverbial rumor mill have stirred up quite the reaction among their peers… Meanwhile more recruiting action continues at Sony Music and Universal Music labels, as the newly installed leaders at both groups continue to tap respective past confidants. Is a longtime label-head consigliere advising each side on their new executive placements? Many expect the shuffling going on at both groups to only increase come January, when the no-poaching clause between the two comes to an end, though word on the street is that back room dealings have already started… Expect an official announcement soon of the new Dr. Luke label deal that we recently tipped… Elsewhere, it was a regular A&R brouhaha at The Echo on L.A.’s east-side Tuesday night, as England’s mysterious WU LYF (pronounced “Woo Life”) played to a packed room. The quartet, who has already been the subject of heavy pursuit by labels across the pond as a result of their furtive persona and bizarre imagery, was well received by the mostly male-dominated crowd. At least one observer noted the singer was harder to understand than a drunken Scot… In more new artist updates, SoCal locals Milo Greene have signed with Atlantic Records-aligned Chop Shop Records. The relatively new group quickly garnered attention from both fans and tastemakers alike, including KCRW, who just featured the band on its third installment of this years Also I Like to Rock series, along with Grouplove, who are also under the Atlantic label domain… And Mom + Pop Records have added to their already burgeoning roster, by signing Hard 8-managed SLEEPER/AGENT and SXSW buzz-act alum Neon Indian – both artists have new albums set to be released in September… BLIND ITEM: Which high-level label executive is in hot water with the label’s head honcho for apparently taking too much credit for the company’s current artist success in a recent LA Times piece? Did said label exec’s shameless self-promotion write his own pink slip? Hmmm…

Lost in the warm fuzzy glow over the Arcade Fire topping the charts last week, one rather important item was neglected, which is that amidst all of their efforts to create the landmark 2010 Merge is having, the label owners Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance also found time to record a new album. Yes ladies and gentlemen, reason to rejoice, as there is a new Superchunk album on the way! It’s entitled Majesty Shredding and is due for release on September 14 – on Merge Records of course! A number one record and a new Superchunk album – now that really IS a banner year.

Speaking of landmark years, the same can be said for Best Coast who surprised more than a few people with their #36 debut (with one industry rag leaving them out of their charts altogether!) for the album Crazy for You. But kudos to the Mexican Summer label for a superb job of artist development, and it just goes to show that in amongst all the clutter of the ‘long tail’ music biz in 2010, the same formula of great songs, a good build up and a masterful job of marketing can achieve results! Alas, not so fortunate were WAVVES, whose latest album King of the Beach only trickled to a #168 chart position first week, despite some great reviews and a ubiquitous presence amongst the blogs.

Also benefitting from a nice job of development and marketing is Los Angeles act, Fitz and the Tantrums, who are riding a great word-of-mouth wave leading to the August 24 release of their album Pickin’ Up the Pieces on Dangerbird Records. After a glowing review in the LA Times, a “you had to be there” jam-packed performance at the Hammer Museum, an exclusive streaming preview of the album on KCRW, and an instore performance at Amoeba Records in LA scheduled for release day, the buzz is becoming rather deafening. Which makes it hard to believe it was barely a year ago that the retro-soul combo was playing to a small scattering of early adopters at the 3 of Clubs…

- Cool Hand Luke

Heavy Young Heathens @ El Cid Tuesday Night

The theme for this week was firsts… Monday night at Silverlake Lounge saw a smattering of industry and early-adopters out for the Pittsburgh band 1, 2, 3 who will see their second single released this month via Chess Club in the UK. The band’s debut single came out on Ooh La La Records earlier this year. Monday was the group’s first show ever. Warner Bros.’s Matt Marshall and Lindsey Cook, who has recently taken up West Coast A&R reins for RCA Records, were on-hand for the indie-inaugural. Across town KCRW’s School Night had another full house for Angela McCluskey – among fans in attendance was Joaquin Phoenix, thankfully he didn’t rap… Tapas and rock were on the menu for Tuesday night at El Cid, where we caught an early performance from locals Heavy Young Heathens, check out recent love for the band on MTV’s Buzzworthy Blog. And speaking of buzz, a lot of folks were out to catch new band Group Love who took the tiny flamenco-stage after HYH that night for their first show ever. Mingling on the East Side restaurant’s patio that night was CAA uber-agent Jenna Adler (who just picked up Surfer Blood), Interscope A&R hitter Louie Bandak and Atlantic Record’s Mollie Moore. We also caught up with Flogging Molly manager and merch-master Gary Schwindt who promised to teach us everything he knows about hoodies and tees… Ian Rogers was not out at the Viper Room on Wednesday night for Get Busy Committee’s first official L.A. show, but plenty of others were there to catch GBC’s unique high-energy performance. The Topspin Media founder was however on-site for the previous day’s parking-lot party on the West Side, which featured a performance from GBC and a visit from the Kogi BBQ truck… Yum.

L.A.'s Saint Motel

With sold-out shows at The Roxy, long lines for their Spaceland residency and a packed room for their recent KROQ/Filter show at the Echoplex, Tinseltown music fans and industry folks alike have definitely taken notice of L.A. locals Saint Motel. Now, having completed a successful Northwest/Canada tour with UK buzz act Band of Skulls, expect a lot more folks to be packing their shows. And rightfully so, considering powerhouse talent agency CAA have picked them up for representation.

From the beginning, the group took added measures to stand out from other local acts by putting together themed “events” rather than just shows, like their annual Zombie Prom or the Black and White show. They also used creative methods of promoting, such as creating videos to virally promote their events. When they released their six-song ForPlay EP last September, it also came with a free video for each song. What may seem like small extra touches, have gone a long way to building a solid fan base, and has caught the attention of local tastemakers like KROQ’s Kat Corbett and Nic Harcourt, who have championed the band.  Catch them on July 1st at the Hammer Museum where they headline the opening show of KCRW’s concert series, Also I like to Rock…

Glassnote Record's Two Door Cinema Club Arrive in L.A.

In its third week running, School Night! hosted by KCRW’s Chris Douridas at Bardot in Hollywood was packed for the L.A. debut of  Two Door Cinema Club on Monday night. We saw fans and industry alike crowding the intimate space to catch the UK act who recently released their debut album stateside on Glassnote Records… Largo (At the Coronet) and punk-rock might seem like oil and water, but Joe Sib’s California Calling brought together the mixed masses for his one-man show.  We ran into a number of folks out to see Sib’s “broken word,” including Foo Fighters axeman Chris Shiflett (who also performed an acoustic set), major league manager Missy Worth, APA uber-agent Corrie Christopher, filmmaker Paul Papadeas and rock-photog Lisa Johnson. Also seen on-hand for the night of stories from the former Wax frontman and current co-owner of SideOneDummy Records was Blondie drummer Clem Burke and Rancid’s Tim Armstrong… Check out a review of the show here… A tequila-fueled Cinco de Mayo consisted of a stop by the annual bash at the Velvet Margarita to pay respects to owners Ava and Carlos and put back a (few?) shots with legal-eagle Ian Friedman and Swinghouse’s Phil Jaurigui… Still exuding a healthy Patron afterglow 24-hours later, Thursday night included a drop by Space 15 Twenty to catch a set from L.A. band LINKS and chat with local tastemaker Kevin Bronson (Buzzbands.la) and Viper Room’s Sarah Berkowitz and Chelsea Schwartz, before heading to 3 Clubs to grab a drink with manager and indie-authority Jason Reynolds at The Rumble…

BDTM @ Hotel Cafe - Tuesday 4/27

Mon. Apr 26th - Apples & Lemons (It’s a School Night) @ Bardot (view)

Tues. Apr 27th - Burn Down the Mission @ Hotel Cafe (view)

Wed. Apr 28th – Samuel Stewart (This Feeling Launch) @ SilverLake Lounge (view)

Thurs. Apr 29th – Jake Walden @ Barre Vermont (view)

Fri. Apr 30th – Hacienda @ Echoplex  (view)

Free Monday nights aren’t just for the eastside any more…  Tonight is the debut of School Night, a new weekly series at Bardot in Hollywood launched by KCRW DJ Chris Douridas.  The weekly night is a first for Douridas who is well established in the Los Angeles music scene and is known as a supporter of unsigned and emerging music talent. The nights will feature live sets from a range of artists as well as special “secret” performances and DJ sets… Recent Universal Music signees SHEL will kick things off tonight along with special guests Dawes. Upcoming Mondays will feature artists such as The Like, Apples & Lemons and Two Door Cinema Club among others… School Night is free with RSVP.

Jon Pikus: Master of Wristbands

The first day of SXSW Music was lively as ever, falling on St. Patty’s day, 6th street was running wild… We started off the evening at the ASCAP party, where we caught impressive performances from HoneyHoney and Kopecky Family Band, but Josh Briggs’ hotdog suit was nowhere to be found. Feeling plenty good, it was a perfect time to catch a sweaty set from Scorpion Child at the World’s End showcase at Encore… Midnight saw Fitz & the Tantrums pack the tent at the KCRW showcase, where they played some songs from their newly finished album. Good stuff. We ended the night with friends new and old at the Driskill bar. Stay tuned…