Albert Hammond Jr. of
Strokes fame may not have the complete backing from
his bandmates for the songs he wrote and performed
for his upcoming solo release Yours To Keep,
but who needs it when you are getting this much
hype! As previously reported, Hammond’s upcoming
album, due out March 6th, was aided with appearances
by Ben Kweller, Sean Lennon, and more. But what we
didn’t have for you then was the albums first single
‘In Transit’ nor the pretty cover artwork.
Not impressed by such visual stimulants? Well how
about the eighteen new dates he just recently added
that includes a an extended romp with The Mooney
Suzuki and opening for a little known indie group we
like to call Bloc Party. He’s also finishing up his
first leg with Incubus. If that doesn’t give you a
stroke, nothing will.
Track Listing:
01 Cartoon Music for Superheroes
02 In Transit
03 Everyone Gets a Star
04 Bright Young Thing
05 Blue Skies
06 101
07 Call an Ambulance
08 Scared
09 Holiday
10 Hard to Live in the City
11 Postal Blowfish (bonus track)
12 Well...All Right (bonus track)
Party In Hammond Invite Tour:
01-25 House Of Blues – N Myrtle Beach, SC *
01-26 9:30 Club – Washington DC *
01-29 Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA *
01-30 Avalon – Boston, MA *
01-31 Hammerstein Ballroom – New York, NY *
02-02 State Theatre – Detroit, MI *
02-03 Agora Theatre – Cleveland, OH *
02-04 Kool Haus – Toronto, ON *
02-06 Riviera Theatre – Chicago, IL *
02-07 Uptown Theatre – Kansas City, MO *
02-08 Fillmore Auditorium – Denver, CO *
02-11 Wiltern Theatre - Los Angeles, CA *
02-12 Wiltern Theatre - Los Angeles, CA *
02-13 Wiltern Theatre - Los Angeles, CA *
02-14 Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA #
03-02 Crocodile Café - Seattle, WA #
03-03 Roseland Grill - Portland, OR #
03-05 Crocodile Café - Solana Beach, CA #
03-06 El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, CA #
03-08 Popscene - San Francisco, CA #
03-10 Marquis Theatre - Denver, CO #
03-13 Gypsy Tea Room - Dallas, TX #
03-14 Meridian - Houston, TX #
03-15 SXSW New Line Showcase - Austin, TX
03-17 Roxy Theatre - Atlanta, GA #
03-18 Exit Inn - Nashville, TN #
03-23 Congress Theatre - Chicago, IL ^
03-24 Royal Oak Theatre - Detroit, MI ^
03-25 Koolhaus - Toronto, ONT ^
03-27 Metropolis - Montreal, QUE ^
03-28 Orpheum Theatre - Boston, MA ^
03-30 United Palace Theatre - New York, NY ^
03-31 United Palace Theatre - New York, NY ^
^ with Bloc Party
# with The Mooney Suzuki
* with Incubus
Death Cab for Cutie’s
guitarist and producer extrodinare Chris Walla is
currently hard at work on his solo album entitled
It’s Unsustainable. Slated for an autumn
release, the album is said to feature only bandmates
Nathan Good and Jason McGeer. All other instruments
will be filled by the Walla. Although no songs have
been confirmed, the camp is reporting that two songs
that didn’t make the cut for last year’s Death Cab
for Cutie release Plans will see the light of day on
the new solo album.
Walla is fresh off the heels of his production stint
with Tegan & Sara and The Decemberists.
After a sit out for the
past month due to a fractured arm sustained in while
snowboarding the French Alps, Snow Patrol drummer
Jonny Quinn is said to be meeting up with the band
next month while touring Australia. The band’s
longtime friend Graham Hopkins has been filling in
his shoes on the tour up until this point.
“I thought it was time that someone from Snow Patrol
learnt to snowboard, so I took myself off to
Chamonix. However on the first day I tumbled down a
hill and broke my elbow. Fortunately it is not a bad
break and it looks like I will be set for
Australia."
In other Snow Patrol newsies, the band is set to
release the next single off of Eyes Open,
properly entitled ‘Open Your Eyes’. All proceeds of
the single will be donated to Save The Children’s
Rewrite the Future campaign. The foundation was set
up to help educate children in war ridden countries.
There is just not enough
hip-hop to go around these days of post traumatic
Federline experiences. Thankfully, one of the best
are set to return. The collective Wu-Tang founded by
RZA are working on a new album entitled 8
Diagrams. Of course, it wouldn’t be Tang without
some sort of Kung Fu reference; as the title of the
album is indeed a nod to such. The album is
reportedly to contain all nine original members –
including Ol’ Dirty Bastard – once again keeping up
with the joneses from the grave.
After teasing us in ’06
with his Broken EP, trip-hip-hop and electro-rock
fusion Braken is back this year with his office
anticipated LP We Know About The Need. The
album, to be released on January 29th care of the
Bay Area Anticon label, is available now via
download from Anticon.com. Tour dates are sure to
follow but for now, you can bask in his ‘Heathens’
melody for free by clicking below.
Track Listing:
01 Of Athroll Slains
02 Heathens
03 (Int)
04 Fight Or Flight
05 Safe Safe Safe
06 Music For Adverts
07 Evil Teeth
08 Four Thousand Style
09 La Monte Lament
10 Many Horses
11 Back On The Calder Line
In an effort to save
some $217 million for the following fiscal year,
North America based EMI is merging their divisions
of Capital and Virgin labels into one single
collaboration. The new group, to be called Capitol
Music Group, will retain their imprints but staffing
is expected to be downsized including Capitol’s
president Andrew Slater who is stepping down after
six years. We’ll have more as it develops.
Jimmy Hendrix once said
that music was his religion. Looks like Elvis
Perkins is a convert as well. The artist is ready to
release his debut effort Ash Wednesday on XL
Recordings on February 20th. We may just hop aboard
as well after hearing Perkins secular, hymn-sical
ways on the acoustic guitar and his saintly voice as
such performed in the opener ‘While You Were
Sleeping’. Disregard any bad Bill Pullman thoughts
as sacrilegious.
Track Listing:
01 While You Were Sleeping
02 All the Night Without Love
03 May Day!
04 Moon Woman II
05 It's Only Me
06 Emile's Vietnam in the Sky
07 Ash Wednesday
08 The Night & the Liquor
09 It's A Sad World After All
10 Sleep Sandwich
11 Good Friday
Plague-less Tour:
02-27 Great Scott - Allston, MA *
03-01 Joes Pub - New York, NY *
03-02 Tin Angel - Philadelphia, PA *
03-03 Iota Club and Café - Arlington, VA *
03-06 Local 506 - Chapel Hill, NC *
03-07 The Earl - Atlanta, GA *
03-08 Pilot Light - Knoxville, TN *
03-09 Grimeys (The Basement) - Nashville, TN
03-10 Bottletree - Birmingham, AL *
03-11 The Parish @ HOB - New Orleans, LA *
03-14 Gypsy Tea Room - Dallas, TX
03-19 O'Shaughnessy - Santa Fe, NM +
03-20 Solar Culture - Tucson, AZ +
03-21 The Casbah - San Diego, CA +
03-24 Largo - Los Angeles, CA +
03-25 Cafe du Nord - San Francisco, CA +
03-26 The Attic - Santa Cruz, CA +
03-29 Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR +
03-30 The Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA +
03-31 Media Club - Vancouver, BC
04-03 Soiled Dove - Denver, CO +
04-04 Sokol Underground - Omaha, NE +
04-05 400 Bar - Minneapolis, MN +
04-06 Schubas - Chicago, IL +
04-09 Mod Club - Toronto, ON
04-11 Main Hall - Montreal, QC
04-12 Higher Ground - Burlington, VT +
04-13 Iron Horse Music Hall - Northampton, MA +
04-15 Mountain Stage - Morgantown, WV
04-19 Union Hall - Brooklyn, NY
Falling somewhere between Damien Rice’s haunting
bravado and an Irish rock effort, Like Love Lust is
quite an achievement. But, we can’t tell you much
more than that until the review in two weeks. But,
we’ll leave you with a free mp3 to check out what we
mean. The lean guitars of ‘LLL’ will make you a
believer in her sultry ways.
Track Listing:
01 Eisenhower Moon
02 LLL
03 You Might Walk Away
04 The Air is Thin
05 Spectral Begins
06 How Will We Know?
07 Hard Not To Believe
08 Aftermath
09 Station Grey
10 I Like The Sound
11 Morning, It Comes
12 The Open Halls of the Soul
Jesse is also hitting the road in February with
Sparklehorse on a very involved cross-country trek
that will end with a blistering romp in Austin Texas
with other Barsuk alumni like Menomena and Viva Voce
as part of the SXSW Showcase.
Sykes the Limit Tour:
02-02 Antone's - Austin, TX *
02-04 Gypsy Tea Room - Dallas, TX *
02-05 Santa Fe Brewing Company - Santa Fe, NM *
02-06 Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ *
02-07 Belly Up - Solana Beach, CA *
02-09 Henry Fonda Theater - Los Angeles, CA *
02-10 Fillmore - San Francisco, CA *
02-13 Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR *
02-14 Showbox - Seattle, WA *
02-15 Richard's on Richards - Vancouver, Canada *
02-17 Gothic Theatre - Englewood, CO *
02-19 First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN *
02-20 High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI *
02-21 Double Door - Chicago, IL *
02-22 St. Andrews Hall - Detroit, MI *
02-23 Mod Theatre - Toronto, Canada *
02-24 Soda Club - Montreal, Canada *
02-26 Paradise - Boston, MA *
02-28 Webster Hall - New York, NY *
03-01 Ram's Head Live! - Baltimore, MD *
03-02 Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC *
03-03 Music Farm - Charleston, SC *
03-04 Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA *
03-15 Buffalo Billboards - Austin, TX ^
* with Sparklehorse
^ with Menomena, Aqueduct, Viva Voce Barsuk SXSW
What could be summed up
as a one man show but not perfect until he’s joined
by his accomplises, Loney Dear is readying their new
effort Loney, Noir for release February 6th care of
Sup Pop. The multi-instrumental affair marks a major
label release after years of self promotion and
press from Emil Svanangen. The benefits of such are
a much more tightly wound effort of layerd guitars,
drums, and even sax and clarinet. Check out the
sickly quality single from the album ‘I Am John’ and
look for the review in the coming weeks.
Track Listing:
01 Sinister In A State of Hope
02 I Am John
03 Saturday Waits
04 Hard Days 1.2.3.4.
05 I Am the Odd One
06 No One Can Win
07 I Will Call You Lover Again
08 Carrying A Stone
09 The Meter Marks OK
10 And I Won’t Cause Anything At All
If you haven’t heard of the Basement yet, its not
because you still live in your parents – although
that point is probably heavily argumentative in
different realms. No, you aren’t familiar with The
Basement yet because of your pastey appearance, but
because the group resides in UK. But the indie-rock
outfit is ready to travel the seas to bring their
infectious sound to American ears. Another Arctic
Monkeys you say? Blasphemer! But your not too far
off seeing as how producer Mike Corssey worked with
both acts. This time, though, the sing-along nature
of The Basements are a bit more personal – a group
activity of sorts that is poised to win you over.
The band will announce their US tour shortly after
they finish their French romp with M. Ward in the
winter.
Whether or not you took
their 2006 effort Silent Shout, The Knife are
destined or determined to cut into your radio play
time. This time around, the group is releasing the
fourth single off said album, ‘Marble House’ on
February 20th which will include a slick remix at
the hands of TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek,
Planningtorock, Rex The Dog, and Booka Shade. As if
that wasn’t enough single love to make you not go
stag, the release will also include a video for
‘Marble House’.
Track Listing:
CD
01 Marble House - Edit
02 Marble House - davidandrewsitek's KNIFEHORSE
Remix
03 Marble House - Planningtorock Remix
04 Marble House - Emperor Machine Vox Edit
05 Marble House - Rex The Dog Remix
06 Marble House - Booka Shade Remix
VIDEO: Marble House
12”
A1 Marble House - Rex The Dog Remix
A2 Marble House - Booka Shade's Polar Light Remix
B1 Marble House - Booka Shade Remix
B2 Marble House - Planningtorock Remix
Of course, seeing is believing with this group and
they are ready to let their fanbase know. In April,
the live DVD Silent Shout Delux Edition will be
released. The 3 disc set will not only include the
praised album but a DVD of the Andreas Nilsson live
show and videos from the bands previous albums
Silent Shout and Deep Cuts. The third disc is an
audio version of the live shows.
The socially charged
Antibalas is ready to politically mind-fuck the
world with its Anti debut. And no other city in
America can scream corruption to get your political
correction going than Chicago. The band recently
wrapped up recording with producer John McEntire who
also worked with Stereolab. The result was Titled
Security to be released on March 6th. But if you are
familiar with their afrobeats of the past four
albums, be ready for a shocker as the band has
admitted that Security will take a much darker turn.
Race for the Tour:
03-10 Warsaw - Brooklyn, NY
03-16 Antone's - Austin, TX
03-21 Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA
03-22 Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
03-28 Toad's Place - New Haven, CT
03-29 Higher Ground - Burlington, VT
03-31 Middle East Underground - Cambridge MA
04-04 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
04-07 The Orange Peel - Asheville, NC
04-24 First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
04-26 Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, WI
04-29 Southgate House - Newport, KY
… and all the girls
screamed. The Beatle-esq group Locksley is readying
a Midwest and East Coast stint that will surely
garner them some much needed attention for their
indie pop flare that easily goes against popular
nostalgia. The group will be joined by The Rapture
on select date as well. Their recent release Don’t
Make Me Wait even garnered some praise by us which
you can read in full below but take this as your
warning:
“Kai Kennedy and Jesse Laz-Hirsch trade lyrical
banter with the gruff of John and saccharine of Paul
complete with howling lyrics reminiscent of all
albums pre Rubber Soul.”
02-02 20th Century Theatre - Cincinnati, OH
02-03 Rex Theatre - Pittsburgh, PA
02-05 The Rave - Milwaukee, WI
02-06 Birdy’s - Indianapolis, IN
02-07 Darkhorse Tavern - State College, PA *
02-09 Mill Street Brews - Boston, MA *
02-10 Pearl Street - Northampton, MA
Denmark based but punk
heavy Nekromantix are readying their third Hellcat
release, Life Is a Grave & I Dig It. The
creepy rock style will makes its way to store
shelves on April 10th. The release also will
coincide with the band’s headlining tour. Expect
nothing but adrenaline from the band that Rancid
frontman Tim Armstrong brought to fruition. Singer
Necroman himself has this to say about the way the
album progressed:
"Unlike our last album, the songs were rehearsed
well before entering
the studio this time and they were recorded live
with very few overdubs
to keep that live energy. The lyrics are about life,
death, love and
everything that is around, but wrapped up in a
horror story or
thriller-style universe. These stories can be
inspired and based on
either real stories or being plain fiction."
Tix for the Tour:
04-12 House of Blues - San Diego
04-13 Glass House - Pomona, CA
04-14 House of Blues - Los Angeles
04-15 Galaxy Concert Theatre - Santa Ana, CA
04-18 Club House - Tempe, AZ
04-19 House of Rock & Roll - El Paso, TX
04-20 White Rabbit - San Antonio, TX
04-21 Emo's, Austin - TX
04-22 The Galaxy Club - Dallas, TX
04-23 Meridian - Houston, TX
04-24 Cell Block - Mobile, AL
04-25 Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
04-26 Jack Rabbits - Jacksonville, FL
04-29 The Social - Orlando, FL
05-01 Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
05-02 Soupbox Laundro-Lounge - Wilmington, NC
05-03 Alley Katz - Richmond, VA
05-04 Otto Bar - Baltimore, MD
05-10 The Living Room - Providence, R.I.
05-16 Magic Stick - Detroit, MI
05-17 Mr. Small's - Pittsburgh, PA
05-18 Buffalo Icon - Buffalo, NY
05-19 Agora Theatre - Cleveland, OH
05-20 Metro - Chicago, IL
And so it is Freaky
Friday when you get this bit of info on your desk.
Chic Bjork is currently working with Antony Hegarty
from Antony & the Johnsons on her upcoming album. As
if Hegarty’s work on some of the tracks wasn’t
enough to broaden her sound, reports out of the camp
also state that the newest mega-producer Timbaland
is also hard at work on a few cuts of his own for
the as of yet untitled album.
The album is scheduled for a spring release and will
feature other acts like Brian Chippendale from
Lightning Bolt as well as Konono nr.1 and more.
The ever presence of Radiohead Thom Yorke on blogs –
whether it is a stance on government or updating his
fans – he may officially be a web geek. Thankfully,
this time his tid bit of info only confirms what
we’ve been reporting for some time as inevitable
after his solo stint. From Dead Air Space, Yorke
reports that the band is officially heading back to
the studio this week to begin work on their upcoming
untitled album.
“Back at work, so we have started up again had a
good day today working on a version of '15 Step' and
rebuilding our studio… ”
Of course, it wouldn’t be Yorke without a petition,
now would it? He goes on to request that fans sign
an anti-nuclear petition rolling around.
They are EP’ed no more.
The Berg Sans Nipple, arguably one of the best names
ever for a band, are releasing their long player
Along The Quai this week. At the helm this time
around is Antoine Gaillet of M83 fame who helped
mold the bands new sound on the album. The duo that
consists of Nebraskan native Shane Aspegren and
Parisian Lori Sean Berg once again combine their
diverse talents of heavy laden beats and slick
electronic cuts to bring their first ‘proper’ North
American release.
Hold your breath for our review but you can sample
two tracks from their upcoming album here. Who loves
you!
Choice Sounds:
Berg Sans Nipple ‘Song I Along’
Berg Sans Nipple ‘The Quai’
We don’t appreciate
over-achievement much around these walls. We find it
a bit, what’s the word, unpleasant? But that won’t
stop us from listening to Blake Miller’s latest
effort Together With Cats. The 19 year old artist
may make us feel like we have yet to accomplish much
of anything in life in retrospect, but one listen to
Together With Cats makes us happy to have someone
else do the work for us.
Choice Sounds:
Blake Miller ‘Summer She’s Hiding’
Blake Miller ‘Cut Your Hair’
Australian trio Love of
Diagrams are readying their US debut via Matador
records in April. The band’s second full length
Mosaic was released last year in their home but took
some fan coersing to get the love in the states. Bob
Weston helmed the boards for this one who’s previous
resumes shows both Mission of Burma and Shellac. Of
course, half of what we do is introduce you to music
that you should know about so check out the video
for the bands first single off of their current self
titled EP, ‘No Way Out’.
Video: Love Of Diagrams
‘No Way Out’
The band is also closing
the winter months with a US tour that has them going
to only major locations coast to coast. Check em’
out if you can.
Outbackyard Tour:
02-26 Spaceland - Los Angeles, CA
02-27 Safari Sam's - Los Angeles, CA
02-28 Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA
*
03-02 Schuba's - Chicago, IL
03-03 Hideout - Chicago, IL
03-05 Middle East Upstairs – Cambridge, MA
03-06 Southpaw - Brooklyn, NY
Self proclaimed ‘Futuristic Classic Rock Record’,
Aqueduct’s latest Or Give Me Death is throwing some
big words out there to live by. But from what we’ve
heard of the album, not due out until February 20th
via Barsuk, it’s pretty dead-on-balls accurate. Of
course, to call it simple rock would be an ironic
considering it also borrows from West Coast hip hop
influences with its beats and Midwest brass. David
Terry’s vocal work is evoking with his engaging
range. But we’ll leave the final word for the
review, right? Of course, if you ever witnessed them
live with the bassist interpretive dancing, you’d be
intrigued as well. You can sample some of the songs
off the new album below including the
probably-not-Wesley-influenced romp ‘As You Wish’.
Track Listing:
01 Lying in the Bed I’ve Made
02 Living A Lie
03 Broken Records
04 Keep It Together
05 Just The Way I Are
06 Unavailable
07 Split the Difference
08 As You Wish
09 Zero The Controls
10 Wasted Energy
11 You’ll Get Yours
12 With Friends Like These
Anathallo is living it
up these days with some heavy hitters. The boys of
the great north – relocated to the bitterly cold
Chicago rurals have been invited to play along side
Neko Case and Sujfan Stevens at the Calvin Faith and
Music Conference held the last weekend in March. As
if that wouldn’t make any small indie act giddy for
some time, the group was also invited to Coachella
Festival this year in California. The band is
reporting that they didn’t even know they were going
to play at the festival until the lineup was
announced.
Maybe it was the need to show our bordered bretheren
some much needed tour love since they are about to
become big, but Anathallo is heading into Canada in
the spring to play their improves off.
Don’t Call Us Sufjan Tour:
05-10 Croatian Cultural Centre - Vancouver, BC
05-11 Edmonton Event Centre - Edmonton, AB
05-12 MacEwan Hall - Calgary, AB
05-14 Burton Cummings Theatre - Winnipeg, MB
05-17 Kool Haus - Toronto, ON
05-18 Kool Haus - Toronto, ON
05-19 Spectrum de Montreal - Montreal, PQ
05-22 Higher Ground - Burlington, VT
05-23 Lupo's - Providence, RI
05-24 Webster Theatre - Hartford, CT
