Stay tuned at www.SageFrancis.net for more info:

The new album Li(f)e by hip hop iconoclast Sage Francis is an impassioned and timely critique of cultural hypocrisy and organized religion. The record’s cover art has been created by renowned artist and illustrator Shepard Fairey who first gained notoriety with his “André the Giant” street art and later with his iconic Obama “Hope” poster. For the cover of Li(f)e Fairey has employed his distinctive agitprop style to create a suitably provocative image of an unwavering and winged Francis caught in the crosshairs as flames rise beneath him.

THE MUSIC

Musically Li(f)e is refreshingly unique. Francis’ biting and sardonic wordplay now further empowered by talented musicians including producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine) and Jim Becker and Tim Rutili of acclaimed Chicago outfit Califone.

Francis has also enlisted a roster of uniquely talented songwriters including ex Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle, Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie, Tim Fite, members of Calexico, DeVotchKa, and Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse – each of whose compositions were then interpreted by Francis and the band. The result is a challenging and defiantly honest new album from an ever evolving artist.

THE TOUR

Sage Francis will be performing songs from Li(f)e at the upcoming South By Southwest Festival on THURSDAY March 18 at The Independent, 501 Studios, 501 Brushy Street at 12:30 am.

Francis will then be embarking on a North American tour beginning with B. Dolan and Free Moral Agents starting this May.

Sage Francis Tour Dates:

Click here to view the embedded video.

SXSW @ The Independent on Thursday, March 18 at 12:30 a.m.

Cambridge, MA – Middle East – 5/12/10
Burlington, VT – Higher Ground – 5/13/10
Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall – 5/14/10
Ottawa, ON – Ritual Nightclub – 5/15/10
Toronto, ON – The Opera House – 5/16/10
Detroit, MI – Alvin’s – 5/18/10
Chicago, IL – The Bottom Lounge – 5/19/10
Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall – 5/20/10
Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue – 5/21/10
Columbia, MO – The Blue Note – 5/22/10
Denver, CO – Gothic Theater – 5/24/10
Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge – 5/25/10
Missoula, MT – Badlander – 5/26/10
Edmonton, AB – The Starlite Room – 5/28/10
Calgary, AB – Distillery – 5/29/10
Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret – 5/31/10
Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo – 6/01/10
Portland, OR – Berbati’s Pan – 6/02/10
San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore – 6/04/10
Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst – 6/05/10
Los Angeles, CA – HENRY FONDA THEATRE – 6/06/10
Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern – 6/07/10
Pomana, CA – The Glass House – 6/09/10
Tempe, AZ – The Clubhouse – 6/10/10
Tucson, AZ – Club Congress – 6/11/10
Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater – 6/12/10
Dallas, TX – Granada Theatre – 6/14/10
Austin, TX – Mohawk – 6/15/10
Houston, TX – House of Blues – 6/16/10
Orlando, FL – Club at Firestone – 6/18/10
Atlanta, GA – The Loft – 6/19/10
Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle – 6/21/10
Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel – 6/22/10
Baltimore, MD – The Ottobar – 6/23/10
Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero – 6/24/10
New York, NY – Webster Hall – 6/25/10

Pre-sale package deals will be made available next Monday along with a new blog dedicated strictly to the Li(f)e album at www.SageFrancis.net

The Basic Package ($11.99) includes:

* “Fallen House, Sunken City” CD
* Fallen House sticker

The Deluxe Package ($19.99) includes:

* “Fallen House, Sunken City” CD
* Alias’ “Fallen House” INSTRUMENTALS CD
* Fallen House sticker
* Autographed Fallen House 11″x17″ poster
* SFR roster 11″x17″poster
* SFR sticker

NOW AVAILABLE: “Fallen House” as a 320kbps DIGITAL ALBUM DOWNLOAD!

ALSO AVAILABLE: The “Fallen House, Sunken City” SIGNED SCREENPRINTED POSTER! ($19.99)

These are extremely limited 18″x24″ screen print posters. Only 100 in existence. Each one is numbered and signed by B. Dolan and the designer/printer (Uncle Pete). Click here for more details.

PRE-ORDERS for the VINYL version of FHSC are NOW AVAILABLE!
For $16.99 you get:

* “Fallen House, Sunken City” Double Vinyl LP
* “Fallen House, Sunken City” Digital Download Card (full album)
* Alias’ “Fallen House” INSTRUMENTALS CD
* Fallen House sticker
* Fallen House 11″x17″ poster
* SFR roster 11″x17″poster
* SFR sticker

The orders will be sent as soon as we get the vinyl back from our manufacturer which may not be until May (but we expect it sooner.) At this point we will raise the price of the package deal. Click here to order yours.

Click here for your FREE DOWNLOAD of the first single, “50 Ways To Bleed Your Customer”! (Right click and ’save as’)

Tracklisting:

01 Leaving New York
02 Fifty Ways to Bleed Your Customer
03 Economy of Words (Bail it Out)
04 Earthmovers
05 The Reptilian Agenda
06 The Hunter
07 Marvin
08 Kitchen Sink
09 Border Crossing
10 Fall of T.R.O.Y. featuring P.O.S. & Cadence Weapon
11 Mr. Buddy Buddy
12 Body of Work

ALL PRE-ORDERS HAVE BEEN SHIPPED AS OF THE RELEASE DATE. PLEASE BE PATIENT AS THE POST OFFICE WORKS ITS MAGIC, YOUR MUSICS ARE ON THE WAY!!!

Happy Birthday, B Dolan

The “Fallen House, Sunken City” record release show on 2/27/10 at Jerky’s in Providence, RI was one of the best shows I’ve ever been a part of for a variety of reasons. Before I get into the details, I’d like to apologize to the people who were turned away at the door due to this being a sold out show. As much as we hope that our shows will sell out, I never expect it to happen. Some people traveled as far as Detroit to see this show and I really hope those who traveled from out of state purchased their tickets ahead of time!  B. Dolan, Alias, What Cheer? Brigade, and I (along with the full Strange Famous fam) would like to thank the people who came out to support. For those who missed it, here’s a full video of the final song that was performed with B. Dolan and What Cheer? Brigade at the record release show:

Click here to view the embedded video.

By the time I got to the club it was already packed to the brim. I hit the stage at 10pm and performed 8 songs I’ve never done before. My new album, Li(f)e, drops on May 11th so this show seemed like a good opportunity for me to work out certain kinks. With that in mind, it was very stressful doing so much new material rather than relying on older songs that the crowd could immediately latch onto. The response to my performance left me feeling more confident about what I’m about to unleash on the world. It also gave me a clear indication of what I need to fix and improve upon before I tour the globe. Thanks, RI.

As soon as I exited the stage the Providence marching band, What Cheer? Brigade, took the crowd by complete surprise. I mean…what do you really expect to see when you’re told that a marching band is going to be playing at a hiphop show? It’s not something that can easily be explained in words but as soon as they started their set (from the stage and from the floor) they made instant fans of everyone at Jerky’s.

Alias was scheduled to perform next, but due to throat problems he opted to skip out on a rap set and, instead, he took to the beat station. Despite not getting a solo set from the man behind the brilliant production of “Fallen House, Sunken City” it was crucial having his presence at this record release show. I’d like to thank him and his wife (carrying their unborn child!) for making the trek down to Providence to help us celebrate. Congratulations on the baybayyyy!!!

B. Dolan hit the stage about an hour earlier than I expected him to. The club was completely sold out by this point so I was in a back room settling up with management when I heard him kick his set off with “Leaving NY.” As I was supposed to be hyping for the man of the hour I made a dash to the backstage area, threw on my Earthmovers flight suit, and joined in for the remainder of the set which last about an hour and a half.

Added bonus…it’s B. Dolan’s birthday this week. So…

For the very last song of the night, Dolan worked it out so that What Cheer? Brigade would play the music they recorded for the Border Crossing song on “Fallen House, Sunken City.” Beyond that, there was an additional choir section that consisted of Shane Hall and friends. Before this point in the show B. Dolan had already given a clinic on how hiphop shows should be thrown. But what happened as an encore totally blew the roof off the place. You haven’t lived until you’ve rapped on stage with a marching band as the crowd goes completely ape shit. If you missed this show but you live in the vicinity of Providence then…shame shame know your name. All of this happened for a $10 ticket.

I’m going to end this blog with a few more photos from the show, but before I do that I’d like to thanks the friends and fans who traveled from NYC, CT, MA, NH, ME, MI, and wherever else to support our music. Mr. B Dolan, Alias, What Cheer, SFR crew, the people who cleaned up the cake afterward…you rule.

STRANGE FAMOUS!!! www.FallenHouse.com

The “Fallen House Sunken City” album is being mailed out to our customers right now. We also have new t-shirt designs available so be sure to check those out. Thank you for your continued support!

-Sage

The official “Fallen House Sunken City” Mens T-Shirt features the suicidal gorilla from the album cover, plus “B. Dolan” and the SFR logo on back.

Design by Irena Girlbot. Printed locally by ClassSick Custom in Pawtucket, RI.

The official T-shirt for the first single from B. Dolan’s “Fallen House, Sunken City” album features the same logo worn by the construction crew in the video for “Earthmovers”, plus “B. Dolan” and the SFR logo on the right sleeve.

Click here to check out the “Earthmovers” shirt.

Grey shirts with cream print available in Mens’ sizes S-XXL.

Design by Kese. Printed locally by ClassSick Custom in Pawtucket, RI.

Check out www.FallenHouse.com for exclusive album package deals, free downloads, videos, tour dates, and more from B. Dolan & Alias!

We sought out the director, Kyle Harbaugh, after seeing the amazing work he did for KC native Mac Lethal. I was prepared for high quality work, but the kind of things Harbaugh worked out for “Earthmovers” is beyond anything we could have reasonably expected. From site locations to costume design, dance squad to film crew, we were blown away at each turn. I definitely look forward to doing more work with Mr. Harbaugh, Hunuman Brown-Eagle, and the rest of the folks…the next video will be  for my upcoming Li(f)e album. But mainly I’m excited to seeing the final result of this video.

Without giving too much away, here are some photos we took on one of the locations. Feel free to string together your own story until we release the actual video (early March.) Download the free MP3 at www.FallenHouse.com

This would make the bloopers reel if the pic didn't speak for itself

guess which one is me...

Earthmovers…they rule.

Expect the video in early March. “Fallen House Sunken City” albums are being mailed to our customers RIGHT NOW.  T-shirts are available right now! One t-shirt is the album cover, another t-shirt is the Earthmovers design.

If you’re coming to our show at Jerky’s (Providence, RI) on Feb 27th expect some new things from everyone involved. In fact, I’ll be performing material from my upcoming album and I go on first so get there early.

The B in B. Dolan stands for beast.

Check out pics, video, and Sage’s review of the show here: http://tinyurl.com/BestShowEva

Feb 27th at Jerky’s in Providence, RI (71 Richmond St)
The FALLEN HOUSE, SUNKEN CITY Record Release Show

B. Dolan
Alias
“What Cheer?” Brigade
special guest performance by: Sage Francis
More acts TBA
$10 at the door, 18+, Doors at 9pm

It’s a Saturday night, folks. We’re going to SMASH THE FUCKING PLACE TO PIECES. Do not miss this.

To purchase tickets in advance, click:
http://www.venuevents.net/event/833

For more info and all album details please visit:
www.FallenHouse.com

If you’re on Facebook then share this event page with friends: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11101822&id=734000485#/event.php?eid=281820714775&ref=mf

Click here to order your exclusive SFRstore package, including Curtis’ CD, a 4″ SFR Plum Logo gold foil sticker, and a brand new 11×17 poster featuring the entire Strange Famous Records roster!

Click here for your FREE DOWNLOAD of Curtis Plum’s “Indie Rocker.”

Mock-up of SFR Plum Logo Sticker:

The most common response to the announcement of his 2009 signing to SFR was, “Who the fuck is Curtis Plum?” Let’s start with the basics: Curtis Plum is a character who makes Casio keyboard beats and raps in a Katharine Hepburn accent. But wait… there’s more!

Aside from the assistance from label mate Reanimator on a couple of tracks, all of Plum’s beats are completely self-produced. Every song on Call My Cellphone has a theme of its own, and these themes are turned upside-down with a dose of his signature style of twisted humor. Rather than the tread-worn punchline style of most hip hop ‘humorists’, Plum opens up his mind and empties it all over the borders of hip-hop topics, blurring the line between keeping it real and creating the surreal. It takes a special kind of emcee to tick off a list of 20 ways in which he can be “Up in Ya Face.”

Despite the lo-fi nature of his recordings, the music is oddly hypnotic. The melodies are as catchy as his lines are quotable, and when all elements come together the songs become maddeningly infectious. There is an old school sensibility to the sparseness in Plum’s production style, which gives the vocals adequate room to breathe. This is essential to Plum’s effectiveness, as he has a penchant for great storytelling. He goes from being a “Bike Cop” poppin’ wheelies of justice, to being Vin Diesel’s best friend… consoling him at yet another winless night at the Oscars.

Here are the facts: Curtis Plum is a bizarre cat who has delivered an incredibly fun and enjoyable album. This will most likely be the only album we get from the man, in this incarnation at least, so eat up every minute of it. Plum will not be touring any time soon due to how his last tour got cut short thanks to a horrible run-in with the Pittsburgh police. With that in mind, be sure to bump this album in your rides with cellphones held high. Pop a wheelie of justice. Or don’t. He’s cool either way.

Tracklist:
01 Bike Cop
02 Up In Ya Face
03 Indie Rocker
04 Xbox Trife Life
05 Call My Cellphone
06 Vin Diesel
07 Get On The Dancefloor
08 Jack In The Pine Box
09 Lil Wayne Tried To Rape Me
10 Bike Cop Reanimated

“Earthmovers” is the post-racial, pre-apocalypse, dance floor sensation of 2010. This is the first radio single off of B. Dolan’s forthcoming album “Fallen House, Sunken City,” produced entirely by Alias. The album drops March 2nd on Strange Famous Records and exclusive pre-order package deals are available at www.FallenHouse.com

CLICK HERE and ’save as’ for your FREE DOWNLOAD of “Earthmovers”!