If This PS Console Could Talk: If These Trees Could Talk's "Malabar Front" is featured in Sony's online campaign for the upcoming PlayStation game inFamous.
Over a two-minute trailer, the Akron instrumental band's music surges from indie-shoegaze to crashing metal in a perfect cinematic match for the futuristic action game. The clip is at Sony's PlayStation Network, us.playsstation.com. Trailer agency g-NET found the song online and submitted it to Sony.
"We had quite a few [songs] on the short list, some with words, some without, some well-known, some not so well-known," says Asad Qizilbash, Sony Computer Entertainment America product marketing manager. "'Malabar Front' stood out, as you didn't know it, but yet it sounded familiar."
The song is from the Akron quintet's self-titled 2006 EP. The trailer has spiked Internet traffic and sales of the disc and the band's new full-length debut, Above the Earth, Below the Sky. The band is independent, but distributes vinyl copies via Kentucky label Mylene Sheath. Linus Records sells the group's CDs in Japan.
Trees will play Annabell's (784 W. Market St., Akron) at 10 p.m. Friday, April 24. It's free.
The Hi-Fi Concert Club has a new phone number and website. They're now at 216.221.4747 and thehificoncertclub.com. Partner (and View From Everest guitarist) Jimmy Maler says the club isn't going anywhere: "We have been put in financial stress, but closing the doors has never been discussed as an option."
After 14 years, Sappy Bell called it a day after a final gig at Peabody's on St. Patrick's Day. The metal veterans were voted the Best Metal Band by Free Times readers in 2008. Career highlights include a 2007 run on the Warped Tour, regional tours, a handful of indie releases and appearances on comps. Vocalist John Sloboda has aligned with Scalera guitarist James Skrtich for the new Vendetta Point. "In a way, it will be Sappy Bell 2.0, but technically that would make us v. 6.8 or something, and I just think that's overboard," says Sloboda. Take a listen to an early demo at MySpace.com/VendettaPoint.
The 13th annual High School Rock Off is now a TV series. Local cable-access channel NEON filmed the January event and distilled the 18-band finals to ten half-hour episodes. New episodes air Fridays at 9:30 p.m., with a repeat Sunday at noon.
