By Rodel Delfin Well, we couldn’t start this week’s column without a mention of UCLA making it to the Final Four once again this year. Yes, we did lose to Florida, who get props for back-to-back NCAA championship titles. But the UCLA-Florida semi-final game was decided in the first two minutes when Bruin star Arron Afflalo got his second foul, putting him on the bench until the second half. What was he thinking? We acknowledge the Gators are a better team, so there’s always next year, when we’ll be getting some bigger recruits on board, starting with high school All-American center Kevin Love. We think Ben Howland is doing a fantastic coaching job, and we’re stoked for next season… Lots of chatter going on about Sanctuary Records Group, as insiders share that the company has decided to exit the frontline music business. We hear Sanctuary will retain their successful catalog acts, but it looks like current label artists like the Ataris and Tegan & Sara are about to become hot free agents. Stay tuned… SXSW buzz act Airbourne reportedly exited the confab with a solid post-conference buzz. Prior to South-by, there was some uncertainty about the band being able to pull it off in live performance, but that was dispelled when they successfully rocked their Austin shows. The Aussie group reportedly flew straight to the Big Apple for label meet-and-greets, and the latest word is that there is label action brewing in both the U.S. and the U.K. Meanwhile, the band has a publishing offer in from the new Nettwerk-EA joint venture, Artwerk. Yeah, we’re talking about EA Sports, the videogame company. We hear other pubcos are now coming in. Gotta love them Aussies… Another act that is getting some serious post-South-by weasel action is Seattle-based act Schoolyard Heroes. They’re rocking some local Washington shows this month before their upcoming Bamboozle gig. See Buzz/Gigs… Our old friend and former A&R guy Benjie Gordon tells us that after working two-and-a-half years in a posh Beverly Hills office for No Good TV as their music programming director, they have finally gone live with the company’s website. For a sneak preview, go to www.ngtv.com… Our friends at BMI will be hosting their next “See It Here First” showcase in Birmingham, AL, next week, featuring Wild Sweet Orange, Through the Sparks, the Dexateens, Skyline Drive and Duquette Johnson. See Buzz/Gigs for details… MORE ON THE YAMIN FRONT: Another player deserving of a mention is Sony/ATV A&R exec Rich Christina, who also gets A&R credit for working on Elliott Yamin’s album. Christina brought in producers Stargate and Mike Mangini to work on the project… BUZZIN’: Carl Stubner, Serj Tankian and IAMX… Hit me up: [email protected]
BUZZ/GIGS:
SHARON LITTLE Thurs., April 12, 7:30 p.m., Knitting Factory, N.Y.
BMI SHOWCASE Thurs., April 12, 8:00 p.m., Bottletree, Birmingham, AL
SCHOOLYARD HEROES Sat., April 14, 8:00 p.m., Hell’s Kitchen, Tacoma, WA
