Also kudos to friends/colleagues of the Clive Davis Institute: Najee the 1′s music manager Marat Berenstein of Hit Me Music and article author John Leland.

Read the article HERE.

Get a free download of “Anarchy,” the first single release from Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music alumnus Sam Belkin’s band Nobody Can Dance.

If you prefer to buy your music, the song is available on most digital music stores.  Enter “Nobody Can Dance” in the search bar of a store like iTunes or Amazon.com and choose from 17 different tracks, many of which have titles we can’t repeat here.

Nobody Can Dance plays National Underground for FREE on Sept 29 and for M.E.A.N.Y. Fest 2009 on Oct. 2. To stream music or find out about other upcoming shows, visit Nobody Can Dance on the web.

Sam is in the suit and tie on the left.

“Shoulderpads” comes to us from rioux, the musical project from sophomore student Erin Rioux.

In rioux (yep, all lowercase), Michigan’s long legacy of experimental electronic music lives on, and the baritone vocals over quirky synth-pop also remind us of Remain in Light.

All music is written, recorded, and performed by rioux. The whimsical video is directed and produced by rioux collaborator Josh Cabrido.

Enjoy.

Freshman Clive Davis Department student and Pittsburgh native John Rectenwald goes by the pseudonym John Record – a name that suggests an intriguing cross between neo-soul singer-songwriter John Legend and late Chi-Lites’ frontman Eugene Record.

Not far off: “Money in the Bank,” produced, engineered, and mixed by Uri Djemal of Madpan Productions, captures a chilled-out, retro soul vibe.

John penned the lyrics and handles lead vocals and additional keyboards.

Visit him on Myspace.

Clive Davis Department student/dexterous pianist David McTiernan (pictured above, in the red striped flannel shirt on the far right) will take the helm as band director and arranger for a darkly comic Off-Broadway indie-rock musical called Open the Dark Door, playing at the upcoming New York Musical Theater Festival’s Next Link Series.

The plot sounds positively macabre: a love affair between the local executioner’s son, Skip, and the rebellious Luna, leads to a “crisis of faith” among the residents of fabled small town Mortland, USA. “Festive beheadings” ensue.

Book, music and lyrics are by Yale School of Drama graduate David Lefort Nugent.

David’s recruited his band, The Middle Eight (pictured above), to handle the musical duties. Performances at the American Theater of Actors start October 8th, and you can get tickets here.

Clive Davis Department junior and NYU Reynolds scholar Genesis “Be” Briggs (a.k.a. Lo-Key) was featured in yesterday’s Washington Square News.

The article discusses the Biloxi native’s recent collaboration with Tisch graduate / theater director/film director Andrea Wong for her music video “I Don’t Discriminate.”

Looks like the video shoot was bubbling over with NYU alums. From the article: ” The cast and crew principally included people Wong met while at NYU. Head stylist Shaelon Smith befriended Wong as a student at FIT, while production manager Mei-Ling Acevedo met Wong through her theater work. Many of the shoot’s production assistants are current NYU students who volunteered.”

While you wait for that video to drop in late September, you can check out above Genesis’ recent video for the single “More than a Warrior.”