So excited to announce our first show! It's coming up right after Thxgiving, and it'll be at Daydream Republic – such a great space. We're playing a big warehouse that's been converted to an art space, and we'll be doing it on a gold stage.

The Buttermilk Truck will be there all night with breakfast treats, including Hawaiian bread cinnamon French toast sticks, pancake bites, and omelets.

Of note: it's free, drinks are cheap, and there's street parking.

Hey MySpace!

I just uploaded a bunch of new photos.  They were taken by the super talented Vivien Killilea.  We rehearse at her art space, Daydream Republic in Culver City.  It's super cool.  <3 u Viv!




Check it out here

From's not a hip hop group, so why did we cover the Beastie Boys?



Our French "Fight for Your Right" cover comes out soooooon. Be worried or rejoice.

These cups remind me of Disney's Beauty & the Beast, but they're actually mascots from a series of German commercial (for something cellphone related, I think). The commercials were made by CGI firm FIFTYEIGHT 3D.



..

Visit the cups' site for lots of videos and a shop, where they come in white, pearl, black, gold, bright turquoise, lime green, and tomato red.  The cups are also avail in some colors at Amazon or Tomwet.

Via Trend de la Crème

The pop quiz was really fun, for me at least.  Those cover clips I posted got a few hundred listens – not bad for a little indie band nobody knows.  I'm happy to say that two people identified the cover.  Christopher Markus named it on Facebook and Mike Murphy tweeted the answer.



Click here for the intro + first line of the vocals.



Yes, we've covered "Fight for Your Right" by the Beastie Boys.  The From version is in French, and people said it sounds like a fuzzed out "Bizarre Love Triangle."  There are a few more little details that'll make the full version fun to discover or hate.



I mean, this is the Beastie Boys we're talking about.  They've got serious legacy.  I don't think everyone will be embracing a cover featuring some girl using high school French over upbeat synth beats.  Such people probably haven't earned their right to party, obvs, but it's early to speculate, I realize.

Yesterday I posted the intro of a new From cover, asking you to ID it.  It's a song you know, but the cover is very very different from the original.  I posted in a few places, but it's hard!  Nobody guessed the song or the artist.



Click here for a longer sample, now with the first line of the first verse!



Here's a recap of yesterday's guesses on clues from Facebook:

John:

Shazam can't do it.

Nicholas:

Revolution #9 by the Beatles?

Will:

It's definitely "Don't You Want Me."  That or "Enter Sandman."

Me:

haha scoreboard:

John 10pts



Nicholas 9pts

(3 bonus pts for suggesting the Beatles,

6 deducted for being in From and confusing everyone,

2 added for confusing everyone)



Will 20pts

(10 for each guess)

Laura:

this is driving me nuts.  is it fleetwood mac?

Me:

sorry, Laura.  Not Fleetwood Mac.  Here's a clue: it's not a mixed gender band.



Laura's at 10pts!

James:

Smoke on the Water?

Me:

James, you're in the right direction! The cover resembles the orig most strongly through that riff you picked up. It's just not Smoke on the Water.



Dare I say

James 12pts

(2 bonus for moving this forward)

Michael S.:

Iron Man?  That's basically the same riff as Smoke on the Water

Me:

Ah, nice, but too close to Smoke.



Clue from Michael's guess: the riff is done in a very different spirit in the orig song.

Michael V.:

Sounds very vaguely like Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order, but what do I know?

Me:

Wow, thanks, Mike!  That's such a cool reference.  It's not the song we're covering, though.

We're about to release a new cover! I'm so excited. I know it's very/criminally different from the original, but can you still ID the song we're covering? It's definitely a track you know, not some obscure, unrecorded jam that gets canonized to intimidate people. You probably know the lyrics, k, so here's the intro:
Click here for the Mystery Cover
I put up the link twice on Twitter today, and no one got it. I have some really knowledgeable followers, too. So I leave it up to the anony geniuses undoubtedly reading this blog – 20 gold stars for the right answer and 10 for trying. Will post a longer sample tomorrow.
Make me proud! And thanks if you try.
Album art (yeah, for an MP3) might have this image: Or maybe it's a clue? It's not a clue, but it does relate.

We need your help to find a bassist! Please help us get the word out. Every time you do, you'll be entered to win stuff:

Prize Pack

Five additional winners will each get a digital download of Fair Isle.

Getting the Word Out

Tweet "Help @thebandfrom find a bassist! Info at http://bit.ly/DezBK. Please RT!" OR – if you follow @thebandfrom, just retweet a contest announcement we make. Make sure your retweet has "RT @thebandfrom" and a link that goes to www.thebandfrom.com/bass. Every time someone retweets your contest announcement, you get another shot at one of the prizes, as long as they keep your @username in the tweet. You can enter the contest more than once, but please be considerate to your followers.
 Not on Twitter but still want to help? Post the contest page on a social network or a blog and send us the URL and a screen capture. Some examples of entries: post a note on Facebook, a blog entry on MySpace, a post on Tumblr, or a blog entry on your blog. You may also use other social networks as long as you find a way to share the contest politely with your friends. Just write a few words about it and include an active link to www.thebandfrom.com/bass and the text "Help From find a bassist." Don't spam anyone on our behalf, please! After you post, take a screen capture of the live post and send it along with its URL to basshelp [at] thebandfrom [dot] com.

More

Info about the contest
Info for bassists

Yay!! Here's the new video from one of my fav bands:


Those in German speaking countries are more likely than, say, me to catch them on tour this winter. Go for it on my behalf, okay? (To be clear, there are plenty of ppl who are gonna go have fun at their shows. I'm just asking for a few to do so in my name).

Hard economic times don't just mean job losses and foreclosures - we buy more beer, skirts get longer, and stuff gets packaged together. Cars either come stripped (for ppl unsure if they can buy cars now) or loaded with options cuz dealers try to get the most out of the few sure sales.

In music, we now have box sets. Everywhere. From almost everyone. What kind of box set should From have for the Fair Isle album?

Vivian Girls have the surf's up fun pack:



And it's just $20! Love the postcards. Great idea to include some stationery.

Paul McCartney's The Fireman has a Digital + Deluxe Limited Edition of the album Electric Arguments for $80. Packaged in a tin box, the set contains

• 13 track direct metal mastered double vinyl 200gm audiophile quality


• 13 track CD album


• 7 track CD containing bonus mixes and alternate versions


• DVD containing hi-definition audio recordings 24bit 96Khz


• DVD containing multi-track session files for a selection of the album tracks allowing you to remix


• Exclusive art print


• Extensive booklet


• Immediate download of files

From has a long way to go before issuing DVDs with multi-track session files for remixes. (If you want to remix a song, just ask for the multi-tracks, and I'll gladly put them up on Rapidshare). As for the booklet - can I sub a magazine?

Even more blue chip is Warner Bros.' Revolutions in Sound set:

• Warren Zanes' hardcover book celebrating the label's 50th anniversary


• USB flash drive featuring 320 tracks


• Music includes Jimi Hendrix, My Chemical Romance, the Grateful Dead, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, Frank Sinatra, Tab Hunter, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Van Halen, Michael Bublé, Regina Spektor, The White Stripes, Cher, Curtis Mayfield, Ramones, REM, Faith Hill, Alanis Morrisette, Randy Newman, Funkadelic, Seal, Big & Rich, Alanis Morrisette, Linkin Park, Josh Groban, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton and hundreds of others.

Yes, a USB drive. If WB sells its music on a flash drive, Brand Records will jump off the cliff, too.

A ridiculously beautiful set comes from The Vinyl Factory. It's for the music and artwork of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's Monkey Journey To The West. Here are some images via CR Blog:









Nice. The record is etched:



It's 65£, or $280 (kidding! The dollar is a mighty currency. 65£ is about $130. Ha!)

I love monkeys, and I love gold! That's a grand package, but From has more in common with the of Montreal Skeletal Lamping 2xLP Package Deal:



You get lots of choices within this set:

• Skeletal Lamping 2xLP


• Skeletal Lamping digital download code


• Skeletal Lamping gemini tactics lantern


• Skeletal Lamping 9-piece button set


• Your choice of Skeletal Lamping wall decals


• Your choice of Skeletal Lamping tote bag


• Your choice of Skeletal Lamping T-shirt


• FREE sticker set


• FREE 48" x 36" die-cut poster (included in LP)


• FREE of Montreal 3-song rarity download card


• FREE It Goes Without Saying compilation

Did you know I used to design bags? Dude, I need to have some sort of lugging article in the set. Less pen-and-watercolor, more Helvetica, and we have the bag From!

Okay, so a rough sketch for the Set From:

Something gold +

USB drive:

An old school iPod shuffle doubles for both gold and the USB drive. It'll have all the songs + remixable tracks + videos + ???

A bag:

Groceries are for demo purposes only - the From tote will help you help the planet/support Whole Foods.

T-shirt:

I'll personally pick you a shirt from a limited edition run inspired by this post.

Premium booklet:

Let's go for a classic Economist issue instead.

Stationery:

The From branded White House letterhead is exclusive to this hypothetical set.

Etched vinyl:

Yes.

Helvetica:

Done.

Bonus:

First 50 to get the set will also get pre-made From paper planes in wedding invitation-grade paper.