daily dose: June 24th, 2008

Featuring RJD2, The Shins, a Huey Lewis tribute album and more kid’s stuff!

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There was no daily dose yesterday. Sorry, but my internet was down most of the day. It pretty much crashed right after the podcast went up.
 
I just wanted to give a big shout out to my recent visitors from the UK (hello), Germany (guten Tag) and Australia (g’day).
 
Also, The Travelling Band contest is now closed. Congrats to the winners!
 

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Tomorrow night I’ll be taking in RJD2 at the Jazz Fest (it’s not all jazz). He’s giving his band the night off so he can kick it old school with four turntables! Look for pictures and a review on Thursday. [Update: June 26 - Photos were not allowed for RJ's set, so the review won't have any pics of him.]
 
The Shins have decided to no longer be a Sub Pop band. The next record will be see frontman James Mercer’s label, Aural Apothecary, covering pressing and ditribution, allowing the band to own their own masters, with “a label partner that will assist with additional marketing, radio, and various costs,” according to the bands manager, Ian Montone. That partner could very well end up being Sub Pop, though. Says Megan Jasper, Sub Pop’s general manager, “we’d love to continue working with them.”
 
Can’t get enough Huey Lewis and the News? If so, seek help; then check out the compilation Are You Still With Me?! with HLATN covers by Menomena, Throw Me The Statue, My Brightest Diamond, Apostle Of Hustle, Will Johnson, Catfish Haven and Oh No! Oh My!
 
Also, my morbid fascination with kid’s show Yo Gabba Gabba is getting out of control. Yesterday, they featured a segment with Ricky Fitness of The Aquabats (in uniform!) showing off on his drum kit, as well as a special appearance by professional skateboarder Tony Hawk. Being a parent just got cooler!
 
*Update*
According to Wikipedia’s The Aquabats page, the show was actually co-created by Aquabats frontman Christian Jacobs (The MC Bat Commander) and character voices are regularly recorded by other members of the band. Note to self: must read the credits one of these days. Jacobs does the voice for the robot Plex, and Muno the Cyclops is voiced by former band member Adam Deibert (aka Prince Adam). Plus, the regular segment “Mark’s Magic Pictures” features Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh. And apparently The Shins (see above) drop by in one episode (I’ve yet to see that one, but I’ve started PVR-ing it; for my son, of course).
 
Photo of RJD2 by Ncsaint and manipulated by gitpop