Chicago pop quartet Glass Bricks was recently in the studio to master their new record. The album is titled “Craquelure” and the band was nice enough to let us post one of the tracks. The song "What State is This (Sky Surfer)" is chock full of the memorable tightly written hooks the band is known for. This is definitely a recommended listen.

Glass Bricks is in aotpr’s Heart & Soul Studio with Dan Agosto mastering their new eight song rekkrd “Craquelure”, which was produced by Nick Broste at the Shape Shoppe this spring. The tracks are really cool double-vocal pop, featuring Kate Walsh and Abby Glogower, but we can’t possibly improve on the description they have on their Myspace; here it is: “the foursome blends the saccharine sincerity of 60s girl groups with the peppy bravado of 70s power-pop and the occasional psychedelic meandering.”

Extensions Dance Company’s 2010 showcase, which took place Saturday at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, was not only a great concert, it was in many ways a unique experience, the kind of experience that can be difficult to place in a specific category. It was a Dance Concert in the traditional sense, a presentation of dance pieces that each featured excellent performance and inspired design, and that flowed convincingly from one to another. It was also very much a showcase; the program provided an in-depth presentation of the abilities and accomplishments of the Company dancers, both individually and in ensemble works. It was also a celebration of the fifth anniversary of Extensions Dance, a celebration of a remarkably successful season for the Company, and a celebration of the contributions of two Extensions performers, Miranda Borkan and Natalie Pearson, both of whom will attend the prestigious Alvin Ailey / Fordham University partnership program in New York.

‘ohana Dreamdance’s “Time Now Choreography Mixes” release features both of the tracks composed for choreographer Lizzie MacKenzie. The full original score is the Time Now MacKenzie Choreography Mix; it’s an arrangement of the two original tracks “Time Now” and “Some Time” that ‘ohana Dreamdance producers Dan Agosto and Johnny Nevin wrote for the Extensions Dance Company performance. Besides the Choreography mix and the two original tracks, the release includes a four minute Piano-only version, which is now available as a free download from All Over The Place Records distributor IODA (the Independent Online Digital Alliance).

IODA runs a service called Promonet. It provides access to sample tracks from many IODA distributed labels, and makes them available to bloggers and review sites, as well as to IODA distributed labels, like All Over The Place.

The download is coming from IODA Promonet, and the link is pasteable into a lot of different social media locations: by all means copy any of the links (but especially the free download link) as much as you wantl. (In Windows, right-click, on a Mac, Control-click the icon and Copy Link. Here it is:

'ohana Dreamdance
"Time Now" (mp3)
from "Time Now Choreography Mixes - EP"
(All Over The Place Records)

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As if making the best music that you can weren’t complicated enough, releasing that music so that people who would enjoy it can find it, buy it or stream it (legally, you would hope), and listen to it is another life of complication. You need help to do this at all, and you need even more help to do it right. We get a lot of that help from our distributor, the Independent Online Distribution Alliance, IODA.

There’s a whole series of stories to do about IODA, but here’s just a small look into who they are and what they do for artists like ‘ohana Dreamdance and labels like All Over The Place.

On Sunday, March 7, at 5 p.m.,Wheeling Orchesis will team with the Arlington Dance Ensemble for the 16th annual Dance for Life's Next Generation. This year's benefit, held in Wheeling High School's Sang Theater, will be emceed by Scott Corchin (WHS Orchesis alumni and on air personality at Kiss 103.5) and Lizzie MacKenzie (River North Dance Chicago).  All proceeds will be donated to the Dance for Life Fund and The Children's Place Association, organizations dedicated to the support of those living with HIV/AIDS. 

Diane Rawlinson is the founder and co-artistic director of its Dance For Life’s affiliated youth benefit concert (Dance For Life’s Next Generation) since 1995. This year’s benefit features alot of friends of All Over The Place Records -- aotpr artist D. Jeremy is an alumnus of Wheeling Orchesis, of which Diane is the director. Lizzie MacKenzie is co-hosting the event with Scott Corchin, who is featured in the D. Jeremy video for “Loser”, and plays on D. Jeremy’s track “Feel The Love”. Finally, the event features a performance by Extensions Dance Company, performing Lizzie MacKenzie’s new work “Time Now”, to an original ‘ohana Dreamdance score written by Dan Agosto and Johnny Nevin.