[Project] Hot Hands: A Tribute to Throwing Muses & Kristin Hersh News The disc is NOW AVAILABLE from the Kuma-chan online shop, amazon.com and CD Baby. UPDATE: The album is now available in digital format on the iTunes Music Store! Click the button below to go there now: The majority of all profits will go directly back to the artists who contributed tracks. By purchasing the CD you're helping to support the independent musicians whose great work and passion for the songs made this tribute possible. Content The tracks on the disc come from a wide variety of musicians and represent an equally wide variety of styles, from industrial/dance and heavy metal to folk, electronica, upbeat pop and more. The goal of the project was to not end up with 18 tracks of bands trying to sound just like Throwing Muses. We asked the participating artists to take the songs and put their own unique, creative stamp on them. This tribute was created by fans and for fans of Kristin and the Muses (and for fans of great indie music in general!). The musicians on this compilation represent a broad geographic distribution as well. There are a number of SF-area musicians, but we've also included contributions from all around the US, plus Canada, England, and Spain. Some of the names may be familiar to fans of indie music: Seattle's Xiu Xiu have received high acclaim for their dark and unsettling albums; Mary Lorson & Billy Cote were members of Madder Rose, Mary now fronts Saint Low, and the duo have released an album under their own names; Flare and The Blood Group have released highly praised albums on the Le Grand Magistery label; Paul Durham is the frontman for Black Lab; Dirty Power is headed by Patrick Goodwin of Pansy Division; Sharon Lewis was formerly in the duo Pooka; and QuasiMojo features Locksley Taylor of guitar-bliss masters Sianspheric. The album was mastered by Chris Xefos, who has had a long career as a musican (King Missile, Moth Wranglers, Drop Quarters) and producer. Here is some of the recent hot praise for Hot Hands: "I love the tribute cd, and to hear Mary singing Honeychain really moved me. A lot." --Tanya Donelly "A welcome surprise -- full of intriguing and well-done interpretations..." --Mikel Wadewitz, Frontiers Newsmagazine "Varied takes on the Muses with a moody, alterna-twist that does the band justice and lets these artists shine." --Robin Renée, Philadelphia Gay News "The songs sound good in all fashions presented here. A truly eclectic and respectful homage to a fabulous band and songwriter." --Aquarius Records "[Shows] a respect and affection for the original songs, creating an instant atmosphere of familiarity." --Steven McCarron, stayfun.co.uk "A serious salute. Inspired interpretations..." --Gregg Shapiro, The Windy City Times "Hot Hands pays homage to Throwing Muses and the band's primary songstress, Kristin Hersh, without mimicking or maiming the original material." --Christopher Treacy, The Boston Phoenix "The tracks from smaller acts and bravely declared fans are surprisingly talented and unanimously heartfelt." --Sarah Iddings, LostAtSea.net If you'd like to get a preview of the disc, you can download the "Hot Hands Megamix". This is a single mp3 file containing 20 to 25 seconds of each song mixed into a single track. The file is approximately 4.9MB and is encoded at 96kbps...so it won't sound as good as the actual CD, but we can keep the file to a reasonable size. Here is the final track list for the disc, with link to the artists' web sites: Furious   [SharashkA] Buzz   [The Blood Group] A Feeling   [Flying Winnebago & Annie Hayden] Hate My Way   [Dirty Power] Uncle June & Aunt Kiyoti   [Phil Locke] Honeychain   [Mary Lorson, Billy Coté & Kathy Ziegler] Bright Yellow Gun   [HypoFixx] Dizzy   [Flare] Your Ghost   [Paul Durham] Night Driving   [Taikonaut] Ellen West   [Rose Polenzani & Sharon Lewis] Gazebo Tree   [Gradicela] Graffiti   [PDSexton] Portia   [John Ashfield] Juno   [Xiu Xiu] Listerine   [QuasiMojo] Two Step   [Waycross] Bonus "Mystery" Track   [BLK w/BEAR] (See below for details on the "Name That Cover" contest for this track!) We also have a page set up with more detailed information about the tracks. Contest If you've bought a copy of Hot Hands, you may have gotten to the final track and wondered "What the heck is this?" and "Why isn't the song name listed on the disc?" That final track is the work of DC-based turntable deconstructionist BLK w/BEAR (whose recent collaboration with Rothko is available through the Kuma-chan store). It may not sound like it at first, but that track is indeed a cover of a Throwing Muses song. We held a "Name That Cover" contest, and the winner of a $30 gift certificate to the Kuma-chan shop was William T. of Washington, DC. The correct answer: "Garoux Des Larmes" Contact Feel free to e-mail us if you have questions or comments. Thanks!