Green Akron

This week I got to take a tour of the Global Business Accelerator in Akron. It's been around for 25 years but I'm not sure how many people realize it exists.

It's in Canal Place where the BF Goodrich Tire factory used to be. The whole thing takes up 9 floors. Basically, they house 43 new businesses and help them get started. Some of those businesses are working on new "green" technologies, and as we took the tour we learned that in spite of the current economic climate, the businesses in the Accelerator are growing and thriving.

It was very cool to see an organization working on something positive for the future of Akron, creating jobs in the hole left by an old tire factory. I'm going to talk more with some of the people working on green technologies in the Global Business Accelerator during a live broadcast on Earth Day (April 22nd). We've got some big stuff planned and I think it's going to be really fun -- plus it all ends with a free concert with local musician/Summit friend Zach, and you can't beat free music.

More about the Summit's Earth Day celebration here.

In the meantime, here's the playlist from last week's Found Sound:

A.C. Newman – “Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer” – Get Guilty (Matador)

Spoon – “Well Alright” – Dark Was the Night (4AD)

Dan Auerbach – “Heartbroken, in Disrepair” – Keep it Hid (Nonesuch)

Neil Young – “Johnny Magic” – Fork in the Road (out 4/7 on Reprise)

The Heartless Bastards – “Out to Sea” – The Mountain (Fat Possum)

Neko Case – “People Gotta Lotta Nerve” – Middle Cyclone (ANTI-)

Hot Chip and Peter Gabriel – “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” – XL Recordings Sampler

Hot Chip – “Transmission” – War Child/Heroes Compilation (Astralwerks)

Maria Taylor – “Cartoons and Forever Plans” – LadyLuck (out 4/7 on Nettwerk)

O+S – “Permanent Scar” – O+S (out 3/24 on Saddle Creek)

Cursive – “I Couldn’t Love You Any More” – Mama, I’m Swollen (out 3/10 on Saddle Creek)

U2 – “No Line on the Horizon” – No Line on the Horizon (Interscope)

Adele and the Raconteurs – “Many Shades of Black” – XL Recordings Sampler

Ben Kweller – “On Her Own” – Changing Horses (ATO)

Morrissey – “Something is Squeezing My Skull” – Years of Refusal (Attack/Lost Highway)

Music news of the weird

So... I promise never to talk about Miley Cyrus on this blog again but I have to bring this up because it's so strange. Miley (aka Hannah Montana, spawn of Billy Ray) was on a radio show the other day and told a long, convoluted story about how Radiohead snubbed her at the Grammy's. She says she's a huge Radiohead fan and requested to meet the band backstage, but their "people" told her "they don't do that."

You can listen to the whole ordeal as recounted by Miley below. I recommend skipping ahead to the end because that's where all the good stuff is and I'm pretty sure that listening to Miley talk kills brain cells.

One of the DJs on the show claims that he's never heard of Radiohead. Who lets these people in radio studios?

GAH. Now imagine Thom Yorke having an encounter with this young lady:

Found Sound... episode 2!

Here's last week's playlist:

Metric – “Help, I’m Alive” – Fantasies (out 4/14 on Metric Music)

Depeche Mode – “Wrong” – Sounds of the Universe (out 4/21 on Capitol)

My Brightest Diamond – “Feeling Good” – Dark Was the Night (4AD)

The Decemberists – “The Rake’s Song” – The Hazards of Love (out 3/24 on Capitol)

Robyn Hitchcock – “Up to Our Nex” – Goodnight Oslo (Yep Roc)

Phoenix – “1901” – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (out 5/25 on V2)

U2 – “Magnificent” – No Line on the Horizon (out 3/3 on Interscope)

Elbow – “Running to Stand Still” – War Child/Heroes Compilation (Astralwerks)

Animal Collective – “Brother Sport” – Merriweather Post Pavillion (Domino)

Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – “Zero” – It’s Blitz! (out 4/14 on Interscope)

Bell – “It’s Oh So Quiet” – Bjork cover from Stereogum.com

Bell X1 – “The Great Defector” – Blue Lights on the Runway (out 3/3 on Yep Roc)

School of Seven Bells – “Prince of Peace” – Alpinisms (Ghostly International)

Neko Case – “People Gotta Lotta Nerve” – Middle Cyclone (out 3/3 on ANTI-)

Jessica Lea Mayfield – “For Today” – With Blasphemy So Heartfelt (Polymer Sounds)


Jessica Lea Mayfield has quite a bit of buzz right now... she's from Kent and has recently picked up a touring slot opening for Ray LaMontagne... which means she'll be at his show at the State Theatre on April 17th.

Speaking of live shows, have you signed up for our Bonnaroo contest yet? We've got a pair of VIP passes to give away. Having been to the festival for the last three years, I highly recommend signing up. I'll post more about what it's like in the future, maybe even dig up some pictures from past years!

In the meantime, all the details are here.