RIP: WOXY.com??

I'm saddened to have to report the seemingly impending demise of the fabulous WOXY.com. They've got two weeks left, and unless a miracle befalls them (and let's hope it does) , it looks like this is it. Much love, admiration, respect and good fortune to Mike, Shiv and the rest of the crew.

This letter was posted on their site today:

Listeners, fans and friends,

This sucks.

This is the moment all of us hoped would never come. After plugging away at this for the past two years, it’s become pretty clear that operating woxy.com as a stand-alone Internet "radio station" is not going to cut it. Our operating costs are higher than you might think, and the revenue we were able to generate from advertising isn’t close to supporting what we’re doing. Even membership revenue wasn’t enough to get us there. When your business doesn’t make money, you eventually go out of business.

With this in mind, we’ve been looking for either a significant partner – someone with a larger plan into which woxy.com could be plugged – or an outright buyer. That search hasn’t been fruitful. We’re still willing to entertain offers and explore possibilities (email bryan@woxy.com), but our time is short. We thought it was time to share our situation with you ... to give you a heads-up.

You might be saying, "What can I do to help?" Unfortunately, unless you have significant investment capital and a way to profit from the wonderful programming we create, you can’t. As of today, we will no longer be selling or renewing memberships or accepting contributions. Please don’t send us money ... it will just mean we have to send it back to you.

Now is a good time to say THANK YOU to our incredibly patient, generous and kind angel investors. Without them ... well, we wouldn’t have had the chance to even be in the game. They’ve enabled everything we’ve accomplished over the past two years, and for that, they are saints to indie rock lovers everywhere.

We did investigate an alternative: stripping our operations to the absolute bare minimum by cutting back to one staffer, no more DJs, no more Lounge Acts, etc. We decided it wasn’t worth it. It wouldn’t have been true to what woxy.com is, and it wouldn’t have honored the legacy of 97X.

While woxy.com may have failed in a business sense, we’re pretty proud that we managed to put out some of the most passionate, unique and interesting programming on the Internet and elsewhere. We showered love and airplay on countless bands who otherwise would have received none, garnered national press attention and hosted nearly 200 live Lounge Act performances. Not too bad for a little, four-person Internet radio station from Cincinnati.

A radio station is only as big as its listeners make it. We’re not BS-ing when we say that you guys, our supporters, are the most amazing people on the planet. THANK YOU. The dedication and enthusiasm you’ve shown for what we do is staggering and inspiring. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to become a member, generously made a contribution, emailed (spammed) your friends, spread the gospel of woxy.com and – most of all – listened.

Barring something exceptional happening in the next two weeks, we will silence our broadcasts on Friday, September 15th.

Sometimes no matter how hard you try and how special the thing you do, it simply isn’t enough to beat the odds. It’s the cold reality of business that not even we could escape. When September 15th comes, we’ll meet it proudly with heads held high and celebrate the past two years of woxy.com and the spirit of 97X. For those lucky enough to have been part of it, The Future of Rock and Roll will forever be in our minds and hearts.

So enjoy these last two weeks with us. Shall we rock?

Eternally yours,
Bryan Jay, Mike, Shiv, and Barb

Play It As It Lays #250

It happens every Tuesday night on KUCI. Listen in Orange County on 88.9FM, on line at kuci.org, or on iTunes>Radio>Public>KUCI. Stand out track from last night: "Everything" from Radio Citizen. I first heard from them off the HVW8 compilation last year and was immediately smitten. The album's out September 12th on Ubiquity Records.

Play It As It Lays #250
DJ Logic--hypnotic [ropeadope]
Grizzly Bear--knife [warp]
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy--cursed sleep [drag city]
The Tyde--brock landers [rough trade]
Lloyd Cole & The Commotions--my bag [capitol]
Mojave 3--breaking the ice [4ad]
Monster Movie--driving through the red lights [graveface]
Mudfoot Jones--jaybird *basement boys present [savoy jazz]
Brazilian Girls--jique *MSTRKRFT remix [verve]
MSTRKRFT--easy love [last gang]
Radio Citizen--everything [ubiquity]
Dawn and Sunset--move in the room [ubiquity]
Nomo--nu tones [ubiquity]

Earmint--guaranteed [ev records]
Earmint--the bluesinger *featuring Diverse [ev records]
Teady Bears--cobra style [big beat/atlantic]
Jim Noir--eanie meany [barsuk]
Matthew Friedberger--the pennsylvaniarock oil company resignation letter [859]
Grover--hole in my eye [zero hour]
Gigolo Aunts--kinda girl [wicked disc]
Galaxie 500--crazy [ryko]
Toshack Highway--seize the day [demo]
Earlimart--answers & questions [suicide squeeze]
Chad VanGaalen--flower gardens [sub pop]
The Bronx--oceans of glass [white drugs/island]
The Rapture--get myself into it [mercury]
Zeroleen--all good *noiseshaper dance dub [quango]

Squeeze More Lemonheads

Four new songs, including "No Backbone," from the self-titled Lemonheads album are streaming on Vagrant's site. Nationwide tour dates, beginning in November, are also available.

Early Taste of New Earlimart

Earlimart's in the studio finishing up the follow-up LP to 2004's Treble & Tremble. The thrillingly lush "Answers & Questions" is available as a stylish, limited-edition 7", featuring the artwork of Jesse Ledoux, via Suicide Squeeze, and will be on their new album scheduled for early next year.

Be sure to catch up with the band and tell them how much you love their new song, cuz you're gonna love it.

Answers & Questions [MP3, 3.6MB, 128kbps]

TRS-80 New Album + MP3

TRS-80 have been all over TV this year with cuts on CSI: NY and a major Coca-Cola campaign. A nice way to pay the bills for a band that otherwise flies well below the mainstream's radar. Their first new album since 2003 (and a line-up change in 2005) was released August 1st on Single Cell. "Julie's Story" exemplifies how TRS-80 flips the flourescent lights on instrumental hip hop for a cool, clinical take on similar sounds by DJ Shadow and Amon Tobin. Jon originally posted these guys over two years ago, and I'm sure he'd be updating us on their newest efforts were it not for the West Nile Wannabe bug he's been fighting off.

Julie's Story [MP3, 6.6MB, 192kbps]

Pet Sounds 40th Anniversary Podcasts

I am my parent's oldest child. As such I only have them to blame for my earliest exposure to music. Bless the musical gods on high they listened to a lot of Beach Boys (along with plenty of Carpenters, Bee Gees, and on road trips: Roger Miller). In anticipation of the 40th anniversary of the seminal of all seminal albums, Pet Sounds, Capitol Records has curated a 15-segment podcast documenting the making of the album. It includes details from Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnson on each and every song on the record. A must for hardcore fans and (gasp!) the uninitiated alike.

Pet Sounds Podcast Series #1 [MP3, 5.1MB, 128kbps]
Pet Sounds Podcast Home

New Dirty on Purpose Video

Indie-hipsters, Dirty On Purpose keep irony alive with their new video, "No Radio."

Play It As It Lays

#248
August 15, 2006

KUCI 88.9 FM | www.kuci.org | iTunes:Radio:Public
Tuesdays 10-Midnight PST

Royce--girls on bikes [galapagos4]
DJ Shadow--enuff [universal]
Matmos--steam and sequins for larry levan [matador]
Nouvelle Vague--ever fallen in love? [luaka bop/peace frog]
Phoenix--rally [astralwerks]
Boat--clogged castle [magic marker]
Ecstatic Sunshine--tuscan [carpark]
5ive Style--deep marsh [sub pop]
Psapp--hi [domino]
Gotye--learnalilgivinanlovin [gotye.com]
Poets of Rhythm--flight to st. vincent [ksd music]
The Bodies--addicted to you [radio records]
Beulah--silver lining [velocette]
The Busy Signals--headphone world [sugar free]
Beatless--rock on [ubiquity]

DJ Shadow--erase you [universal]
Urbs--tu moi aussi? [g-stone]
Cut Chemist--(my 1st) big break [warner bros]
Jim Noir--eanie meany [barsuk]
The Masters of the Hemisphere--sailboat kite [kindercore]
The Masters of the Hemisphere--local government [kindercore]
The Long Winters--fire island, ak [barsuk]
Wire--map ref 41 n 93 w [pink flag]
Mojave 3--breaking the ice again [4ad]
Cursive--dorothy at forty [saddle creek]
Tapes n' Tapes--the iliad [xl]
Midlake--roscoe [bella union]
Jets Overhead--addiction [jetsoverhead.com]

Hit The Switch Album Part 2

Hit The Switch is now offering up the second half of their album, Domestic Tranquility & Social Justice. The first half was available all last month. They play, fast, melodic punk rock with socially conscious lyrics right along the lines of Anti-Flag and NOFX.


Imperial Horizon [MP3, 2.3MB, 128kbps]
The Wayside [MP3, 2.8MB, 128kbps]
Nishtagea Theory [MP3, 1.7MB, 128kbps]
Mind Rape Culture [MP3, 2.1MB, 128kbps]
Backed By Theory [MP3, 2.2MB, 128kbps]
Aphasia [MP3, 2.2MB, 128kbps]

New Jolie Holland MP3s Added

Just got around to adding a couple of downloads from the angelic Jolie Holland off her May 2006 release Springtime Can Kill You. Now's just as good a time as any to catch a case of her wistful brand of blues...

Crazy Dreams [MP3, 3.3MB, 192kbps]
Springtime Can Kill You [MP3, 3.9MB, 192kbps]

Spinto Band Cuts Mandy Loose

Next week while traipsing around in the UK, The Spinto Band is hoping to lure in an ever discerning British audience by releasing their song "Oh Mandy" as a double 7" and CD EP. First watch the video, fall in love with the song all over again, and then get shopping:

Enhanced CD
1. Oh Mandy
2. Let's See What Develops (new track)
3. Road To Newark (new track)
4. Oh Mandy (Video) - directed by Jon Watts

Gatefold 7" #1 (I'm not sure where these are available...)
A. Oh Mandy
B. Thats What Isn't Wrong (new track)

Etched 7" #2 (fits into the spare gatefold sleeve of 7" #1)
A. Oh Mandy (Demo)
B. is etch of Roy Spinto playing the Mandolin amongst psychedelic squiggles.
..plus a rather great foldout poster.

If you still can't get enough of the Spinto boys and you don't mind coughing up a bit of info, click here and you can download their track "Japan is an Island."

Silversun Pickups' woxy.com Set Posted

Silversun Pickups dropped by the studios of woxy.com yesterday for a four song live set and a brief interview. woxy.com made the MP3 of the performance, and photos, available today as part of their continuing Lounge Acts series.

Track Listing:
Well Thought Out Twinkles
Rusted Wheel
- interview -
Future Foe Scenarios
Kissing Families
Lazy Eye

Silversun Pickups - woxy.com Lounge Act Session [MP3, 35.3MB]

Ok Go and Eight, Count 'em, Eight Treadmills

Those kings of choreography Ok Go have been at it again.

Snowden Tour Dates

And you thought it was impossible to get Snowden during summer months? Shovel some space for them in you life and give 'em a warm welcome!

08/12/2006 Augusta, GA- Soul Bar
08/18/2006 Athens, GA - Tasty World
08/19/2006 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
08/22/2006 Chapel Hill, NC - Wetlands
08/23/2006 Norfolk, VA - Relative Theory Records
08/24/2006 New York, NY - Sin-E
08/25/2006 Boston, MA - Great Scott - The Pill
08/26/2006 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw
08/29/2006 Louisville, KY - Ear X-tacy In-Store
08/29/2006 Louisville, KY - Uncle Pleasant's
08/30/2006 Nashville, TN - The Basement
08/31/2006 Jackson, MS - WC Don's
09/01/2006 Austin, TX - The Continental
09/02/2006 Dallas, TX - Good Records In-Store
09/02/2006 Dallas, TX - The Amsterdam Bar
09/04/2006 Albuquerque, NM - Atomic Cantina
09/05/2006 Phoenix, AZ - The Trunk Space
09/06/2006 Los Angeles, CA - Indie 103.1 In Studio
09/06/2006 Los Angeles, CA - Silverlake Lounge
09/08/2006 San Francisco, CA - Club I.D. - Rickshaw Stop
09/09/2006 Sacramento, CA - Old Ironsides
09/12/2006 Portland, OR - Berbati
09/13/2006 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
09/15/2006 Boise, ID - Neurolux
09/16/2006 Salt Lake City, UT - The Urban Lounge
09/17/2006 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
09/18/2006 Omaha, NE - O'Leavers Pub
09/22/2006 Pittsburgh, PA - Brillobox
09/29/2006 Birmingham, AL - The Nick

I Should Be Sleeping

BoingBoing discovered Charles Kamm's photographs. We like his music too.

1.618 pulls some o.g. M. Ward outta their trunk. His freshly covered stuff's the bomb too.

NPR, Brooklyn Vegan & Fluxblog thoroughly cover the last gasps of Sleater-Kinney : (

M.F-R says goodbye to Arthur Lee

Spencer makes me feel better about myself.

Feeling SIL's pain. It's a great time to be a music fan, but not such a great time to be selling CDs.

Cold War Kids Sign to Downtown + MP3s

Over my Trader Joe's brand of cold cereal this morning I read in the L.A. Times (I know, I'm such a luddite) that Cold War Kids signed to Downtown Records, home of Gnarls Barkley and Art Brut. A great deal for both sides. A fine, upstart label gets its hand on another fine, upstart band. Below are two tracks from the band's latest EPs, Up In Rags and With Our Wallets Full respectively.

Hospital Beds [MP3, 4.4MB, 128kbps]
Tell Me in the Morning [MP3, 5.0MB, 192kbps]

Yo La Tengo Serves Up Another Album

Those Masters of Indiedom Yo La Tengo will be releasing their latest album I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass on Matador on September 12, 2006. So hurry and download these appetizers before they beat your ass (and mine).

Beanbag Chair [MP3, 3.5MB, 160kbps]
Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind [MP3, 14.9MB, 192kbps]

Sambassadeur EP and MP3

Some of 3hive's favorite Swedes, Sambassadeur, have released their new EP Coastal Affairs on Labrador. They've also got a new free MP3 available for download, although it's from their self-titled Labrador debut LP. For those of you who eMusic, the EP is already available there, along with the Radio Dept's new Pet Grief album. Hmm, anybody know what the weather's like in Sweden right now...

One Last Remark [MP3, 3.1MB, 128kbps]

New Daedelus MP3

The ever-inventive, mutton-chopped Daedelus dropped a new album right under our noses. Denies the Day's Demise is out through Mush Records and eschews recent hip-hop tendencies for earlier sounds. Sounds of Daedelus digging through throw-away crates, sampling obscure, early 20th century big band and show tunes tracks to create other-worldly techno, and on this album, flourishing it with latin and bossa-nova flavors. Deny yourself no more!

Like Clockwork Springs [MP3, 5.3MB, 128kbps]