The Easter Bunny came early this year. I know he/she usually brings eggs and chocolate. This year the Viva Bunny is bringing some fresh new designs via the American Apparel print shop. What is this 1985! Print Shop. I love it. But seriously check this out. Not only can you walk around showing off your new shirt, but you can custom design that bad boy to score some extra cool points around the block.

And its super easy to do to. Just follow these fun directions!

Go to Print Shop Men's or PrintShop Women's pick the shirt (or tote bag) you want to print on, click 'customize this item' in the upper right corner, and then click the media gallery icon for Viva Radio contributor t-shirt graphics!

 
Cat Hartwell of Closet Jams:

View on a t-shirt or a tote.

Elena Reimeryte of Silent Killers:

View on a t-shirt or a tote.

View on a t-shirt or a tote.

Sambarella DJ of The Gruv Gallery:

View on a t-shirt or a tote.

Jay Schleidt of Acid Living Room:

View on a t-shirt or a tote.

Max Williams of Maximum Thrills:

View on a t-shirt or a tote.

Peter Jacobson of wrecks:

View on a t-shirt or a tote.

Don't see a contributor t-shirt you'd like? Let us know.

Our good ole Viva alumni pals Lindsay Mound and Billy J, aka COLOR WAR, just shot a brand new video on their IPhone in Maryland this past weekend. It's the future guys. You can shoot videos, sing, dance, and see blossoming trees all before April in 2012. Lindsay used to be our wonderful program manager at Viva Radio and Billy J did this amazing series called the Adolescent Sessions. It was just grand.

The two of them have been at the COLOR WAR since 2009 with plenty of single releases in the last year. This latest one Plate Tectonics has peaks of Stevie Nicks on vocals and plenty of throbbing Mike Oldfield bass lines to soar you throw the spring blossom.

You can also check out COLOR WAR's 8-song EP currently available for download on their Bandcamp page.

You can get your copy now via Urinal Cake Records: There's just 300 copies for the world – the first 100 are pressed on Hot Pants Pink Vinyl. Until then, this video just about sums it up.

Our wonderful Columbus, Ohio veteran contributor Carlos Avendano has been non stop in 2012. As the Full Moon approaches toward the end of March and into April his latest playlist entitled, "A Flute Behind the Grocery Store" is indication that a song is nearby, or at least skirt steak is on sale at Krogers. Don't miss Zestrogen Tuesdays at 10AM and always archived. Find the flute Carlos!

Karen Dalton - Katie Cruel
Ryan York - Please
Lone - Crimson Drank
Thomas Barrandon - Over The Wall
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal W
Kona Triangle - Astoria`s Ascent
Julie Covington - The Way Things Ought To Be
Isabella's Vocal Group - Chiopcy Ktorych Kocham
Badge - It Doesn't Mean
Elza Soares - Chove Chuva
Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme
David Snell - Windmills of Your Mind
Nina Simone - If I Should Lose You
Lone - Orange Tree
The Millennium - Karmic Dream Sequence #1
Heatwave - Star of the Story
Steve Winwood - Valerie

Viva Radio: First of all, what is the Acid Living Room?

Jay Schleidt: The Acid Living Room is an inter-dimensional tunnel for communication between otherworldly beings. Usually this takes the form of unique home recordings sent in by musicians and sound artists from around the world.

Viva-radio has aired the show since the beginning of 2007. My friend Andrew secured the show as an extension / rebirth of a couple house venues and college radio show he operated in Murfreesboro, TN. He signed me on originally as a co-host, and I have since taken the reigns in artists communications and episode construction.

VR: Where did the idea for an all home-made music show come from?

JS: I've been a home-taper since I was young, inventing my own music and recording it for personal enjoyment. This led to a desire to release my sounds and those of my talented friends, culminating in a few recording labels over the years. Because of this, people get in touch regularly to let me hear their brand new under the radar music. There is a never ending supply of incredible new music being continually created by amazing people, usually without any sort of outlet except their immediate friends.

VR: And what do you hope to accomplish with this?

JS: Mind expansion. Exposure for unknown geniuses.

VR: Are there any specific genres you tend to gravitate toward when curating each show?

JS: Variety is the key to my heart. I try to quilt each episode together knowing that everybody has something unique to offer. I enjoy all types of music and non-music. The artists who submit are usually working outside of the conventional music norms and might not even consider themselves to exist within a specific genre. Found sound collage folk, avant-garde hip-hop...industrial improv surf witch pop.

Though a great deal of raw experimental styles are featured, I do tend to shy away from having really harsh noise on the show (but since ALR has a late time slot, towards the end of an occasional episode you'll hear a brutal noise composition). In 2012, anybody who wants to do so has the power to record their own brand of music anywhere they desire. I've gotten live performances and studio recordings in addition to the multitude of 4-track tape jams.

JS: Send mp3 tracks (up to 10 minutes each) of your music -or if you run a label, things you've released- to jay.schleidt@gmail.com—physical tapes, cds, vinyl are welcomed too. If I decide to spin it I will let you know. I have gotten a few emails from marketing companies promoting hot new artists with record deals offering me some sort of bandwagon subscription—I ignore those emails.

VR: Aside from Viva, how else do you spend your time?

JS: To pay the bills I pose nude for art classes and design album artwork (hire me!). I just recently created some cool images for a new album coming out by Ember Schrag on the Edible Onion label and Single Girl, Married Girl records. Tons of my hand-made cassette packaging, videos, and all sorts of visual and audible art can be seen here. My creations have appeared publicly in gallery exhibits in places like Oxford, Chicago, Ontario, Nashville, Arlington, San Francisco, Atlanta, Detroit, and Charleston. My recordings run around the track in their sonic variety; I've been on over 100 releases from all sorts of DIY labels. I make video projections for local musicians' live shows. I'm awesome in the kitchen with few ingredients and no recipe. I print shirts. I love making patterned tile backgrounds. I do not own a car, and I have a kitty.

Greenkeepers frontman James Curd has a new single out this month via Etc. Etc.. He also has my vote for "best stage name that is actually just the artist's real name" since Kurt Vile. Collab?

Titled Guide Me, this single finds Curd tranforming Brit-funk band Index's jam "Starlight" into a straight up house track (Is this skill a prerequisite for living in Chicago? I swear this city could even turn "The Star-Spangled Banner" into a killer dance song.).

Guide Me isn't being physically released, but the track is still backed by a couple remixes, 12" style, including a few from Frames, Gigamesh, and Al White. The Gigamesh remix is the standout track here, bringing a few boogie-esque keyboards to the front of the mix right in time for spring's sixty-degree nights. For those who like their dancing a little less hazy and a little more heavy, the Al White mix is up your alley. White treats his track like aural cocaine, cutting up the original and adding in a bunch of things you didn't ask for but are totally cool with because it's got you dancing and you probably didn't pay for it.

Guide Me is out this Friday, March 23. Stream it in its entirety below.

Ok I finally figured out this Internet thing. People including myself have attention spans of about 20 seconds these days. Here's what I'd be singing in the shower right now if I wasn't trapped inside an American Apparel store smelling dirty pizza exhaust on an eighty degree day in March.

Viva Radio Tennessee native Adam Cottle from Fauves in Abyssinia has a great new playlist up on Viva right now. Let him reawaken your seven centers of chakra energy as Spring is within reach. Check out his latest show every Sunday at 6pm and always archived at www.viva-radio.com/fauves

Christophe - Red Mountain
Nas - Memory Laneb
Bibio - Fire Ant
Fat Larry's Band - Act Like You Know
Sylvania East Side Symphony - Egbi Mi O/Black Man's Cry (Medley)
Major Lance - You Don't Want Me No More
Desmond Dekker - Beautiful and Dangerous
Nitty Gritty - Hog Inna Minty
Alain Goraguer - Strip Tease
Kano - Now Baby Now
Whitefield Brothers - Lullaby For Lagos
Kool & the Gang - Summer Madness
Ahmad Jamal - I Love Music
Spinvis - Dagen Van Gras, Dagen Van Stro
Cosmic Jokers - Galactic Joke

"Voodoo" -Beach Moms from Cal Fish on Vimeo.

Of course I'm going to plug my own show. It's Spring. I can only feel about fourteen of the twenty screws in my back right now and that's a good day for me. So lets get motivated! Let's release our inner chakra's tonight and get some goddamn chuckles in our cores.

Tonight's lineup is massive. Impress your friends. Tell them you know who's going to be on an animated internet viral short in the next seven to nine months. This is the big funny guys. For the full deets check out the info here at the Grand Victory!

Brooklyn cyber-punx and album art masters Pop. 1280 dropped by our studios recently for the 112th incarnation of Me + You. The band released their debut full length The Horror earlier this year on Sacred Bones Records. People got excited and threw around words like "dystopian" and "the return of industrial," but it turns out these dudes dig basketball way more than Steve Albini.

In fact, the guys are quick to let Ted know that they don't throw the G-word around (goth), accuse him of yellow journalism, and then compare themselves to Don Imus. Later they invite Ted to play basketball with them. It's a very up-and-down interview dynamic and I'm not even sure if any questions get answered during the second half of the interview.

Pop. 1280 straightened up and ended up playing four songs for us, including the debut live performance of "Dead Hand" from the band's Thirteen Steps 7". In addition to a few tracks from The Horror, they also reach back to 2010's The Grid EP with an in-the-red rendition of "Redtube."

The full segment airs today at noon on Me + You on Viva Radio. For those of you in Brooklyn, you can catch the band March 24 at Shea Stadium.

It seems just like yesterday when Mr. Wilkes Krier graced us with his presence at the Viva Studio's for Me + You Pt. 12 back in 2008. Many unique sounds and noises were heard that day. One of them was a twelve minute improv piano piece with lots of heavy breathing and extra bursts of nasal throat clearing.

Needless to say "Hoboken Toffee" was a surprise to hear. Go figure, it involved a little story about some of the best ice cream Andrew had tried in Australia. Here's a little blast from the Viva Vault today. Check out Andrew W.K. now on tour celebrating his 10th Anniversary of his album I Get Wet!

One of our most relaxing and smoothest contributors on Viva Radio, Carlos Pavan, has just posted a new playlist this week appropriately entitled Colorful. It's a nice stoney walk through the desert, sun, and sea. Who can pass up a little Talk Talk and Microdisney during these Winter months? Check out Smooth City every Thursday at 11am and always available on demand. Here's a little taste of his latest selections below!

Air - Moon Fever
Todd Terje - Inspector Norse
Phedre - In Decay
Prins Thomas - Nattonsket (Original Version)
Connan Mockasin - Faking Jazz Together
Talk Talk - I Believe In You
Microdisney - Moon
Psychic Ills - Mind Daze
Elite Gymnastics - Here, in Heaven 4 and 5 (CFCF Remix)
John Talabot - Last Land
El Guincho - Muerte Midi
Ovni - Sueno Un Camino