photos by Jonny Leather

Ponytail is a 4-piece art rock band formed in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, on the label We Are Free. Their sound has been compared to Deerhoof as well as Ecstatic Sunshine, due to the band's experimental guitar work and unique vocal stylings. The band has toured internationally, with bands such as Battles, Hella, Don Caballero, High Places and others. They have released two albums, Kamehameha, and Ice Cream Spiritual. They were named "Best Live Band" by Baltimore City Paper in September 2007 and "Best Band" in September 2008.[Wikipedia]

Nick Masi and I had to put together this feature for our Sirius-XMU show at the end of December (it ran in early January). They asked us to name "Best Live Band of 2008" among other things. It's hard to pick stuff like that, but we finally agreed on Ponytail for that award too. I realize that some people think exactly the opposite.

Ponytail brought it to The Bell House in Brooklyn on Friday night (1/23). Download an ACOUSTIC session they did for Daytrotter (if you haven't already). See more pictures from the Brooklyn show and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Ponytail - Daytrotter acoustic, 2009 European tour dates & pics from the Bell House "

Sirius XM Radio, the pay-radio marriage of the two former satellite services, formally combined their program lineups Wednesday.

Some channels from each service went away in the merger, with Sirius and XM Radio subscribers each getting new channels from the other service. Some channels will be moved and/or re-named.

Sirius XM said there will be no increase in the subscription fee or need to change or upgrade existing radios for the basic service, but that doesn't include the "Best of" packages.

XM subscribers will have to pay extra if they want a "Best of Sirius" package with such premium draws as Howard Stern, Martha Stewart Living, Playboy, NASCAR and the NFL. Sirius subscribers will have to shell out more for a "Best of XM" lineup that includes Oprah Winfrey's Oprah & Friends, the NBA, the NHL the PGA and The Virus, which is home to Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia.

Among the Sirius channels going away are Movin' Easy, Punk, Sirius Disorder, The Strobe, Boombox, Backspin and Universo Latino. XM channels being retired include XM Sports Nation, the Weather Channel, XMX, X-Country, Fungus, Rhyme, Raw, Beyond Jazz, Fine Tuning, The System, Chrome, Viva, Aguila, Caricia. [Chicago Tribune]

In case anyone was wondering, "Blog Radio" survived the cut. Indie/Alternative station Left of Center (Sirius) merged with XMU (XM) to form the new Sirius-XMU, which, although its name is closer to "XMU" is actually more like "Left of Center" (Blog Radio included). The new lineup for Sirius can be found here. The new XM lineup can be found here.