wampus multimedia announces warren zevon tribute

Wampus Multimedia opens the doors this week to submissions for its CD tribute to Warren Zevon. Following the label's If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman (2001), and its upcoming tribute to Lou Reed (April 2003), the compilation will feature selections from throughout Zevon's reign as rock's most acerbic troubadour and cynical romantic.

A skilled purveyor of thundering story-songs and disarming ballads, Zevon rose to prominence in the mid-1970s on the strength of Warren Zevon and Excitable Boy. The first, a gem of literate melodicism, was mined for material by uber-starlet Linda Ronstadt, and the second housed his irrepressible signature hit, "Werewolves of London." Aside from containing perhaps the most finely wrought couplet in the history of rock ("little old lady got mutilated late last night / Werewolves of London again"), the track established Zevon as a sort of Dada-ist Bruce Springsteen, a brilliant composer and musician whose rolling piano workouts informed Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town and many other classics.

In the 1980s, Zevon battled alcoholism and delivered the spirited Sentimental Hygiene and Transverse City, establishing himself as the Hunter S. Thompson of audio journalism. His work grew increasingly direct and personal in the 1990s, culminating in the excellent box set, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, in 1996. The millennium brought one of his most beautifully balanced and moving records, the chillingly prescient Life'll Kill Ya.

The Wampus CD tribute to Warren Zevon is scheduled for an April 2004 release. Wampus will donate one dollar from the sale of each Zevon CD to the American Cancer Society.

Want to submit? Find out how.

http://wampus.com/warren.html

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Wampus Distributes tvfordogs Pre-release

Wampus Multimedia has released an advance version of Heavy Denver, the forthcoming CD by tvfordogs, to select members of the American media.

You might think of tvfordogs, a modern rock act from the U.K., as the next Radiohead or Coldplay. But that would be to sell this ground-breaking outfit short of their place in the pantheon of compelling British rock acts. Although you might, while spinning Heavy Denver, hear enticingly familiar snippets in the alchemy, you'll soon detect an undeniably personal view of our postmodern world. And you'll drop your drink. And then you'll be along for the ride.

Wampus releases Heavy Denver in the United States in late November. Check out "Capsule Wardrobe."

http://mp3.com/tvfordogs_us

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Wampus Readies Amateur God CD

Imagine if David Lynch directed a postmodern remake of the classic film Frankenstein. Then imagine the sort of soundtrack he might choose -- ominous Transylvanian atmospherics designed to fill viewers with a deep and joyful sense of dread. With the soon-to-be-released Near Life Experience, Slovenian ambient-techno auteur Amateur God crosses the Atlantic with a collection so firmly rooted in the past that it becomes disturbingly relevant in the uncertain present. Near Life Experience hits store shelves in late October.

Check out the disturbingly ingratiating "Malgre Tout."

http://mp3.com/AmateurGod

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Wampus Releases New Indie Titles

http://wampus.com/catalog.html

Various Artists / If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman

If I Were a Richman is a wildly entertaining ride through the repertoire of one of rock's most original and eclectic songwriters. Delivering a broad overview of Richman's career, it features selections from Jojo's '70s, '80s, and '90s songbooks. Like Lou Reed & the Velvet Underground before him, Richman's deceptively straightforward music defies easy categorization. From his Velvet-inflected early days with the original Modern Lovers, through numerous iterations of the Lovers, to his latter-day solo career, Richman's work has mixed an arresting sense of innocence with a deep sensitivity to human emotion.

Wampeters / Murder Your Darlings

D.C. post-modernists reinvent the contrarian rock sensibility. Smoldering chamber rock descended from the Band, the Beatles, and the Beach Boys. "A great narrative album. The last great mainstream release that exemplifies this method of development of style and sound is Wilco's Summer Teeth." --Heidi Drockelman, IndieMusic.com

Kowtow Popof / Eat My Dust

Tenacious tunesmith serves up explosive pop 'n' roll. Unparalleled lyrics, unforgettable hooks. Graham Parker as T-Rex. "Preternaturally surrealist post-pop." --Eve Zibart, The Washington Post

Arms of Kismet / unreleased tracks

It's postmodern rock for the savvy, ironic streetcrawler. Check out tracks from next year's debut Arms of Kismet CD, including the brand new "Your Beautiful Career."

Mark Doyon / Bonneville Stories

Fiction from Arms of Kismet's Mark Doyon that's as dark as optimism gets. "A brilliant collection of beautifully written stories that made me cringe, grimace, and laugh, while sometimes moving me to great pity.... There just aren't any flaws here, and I can't possibly do this book justice in a review. No one could, really...." --Laurie Edwards, CultureDose.com

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Coming in 2002-03

Dedicated to the support and promotion of independent music, Wampus is home to growing roster of indie artists. Two innovative programs help artists reach their audience -- signature and affiliate. Interested in becoming a Wampus artist? Read all about it.

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Wampus Multimedia values you as a supporter of independent music and will never share your contact information with anyone.  We welcome your ideas and suggestions with regard to promoting the work of indie artists.  Contact us anytime at records@wampus.com.