Maybe it’s a nor-west thing. You know; elk, fur
trappers, nature, catching reindeer. Maybe not. But
the Blitzen Trapper group o’ six are packing up
their gear and moving out of the confines of
Portland to barter their sound elsewhere. The band,
together since the turn of the century have been
seemingly trapped in their local confines for too
long, so the expanded western tour is a welcomed
surprise. As if to trump that did-ya-know tid-bit,
the guys have been invited to join The Hold Steady
on tour for a twelve date stint. Snares and jaw
traps not included.
Bear Traps Hurt Tour:
05-26 Sasquatch! Festival - George, WA
05-28 Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR *
05-30 Slim's - San Francisco, CA *
05-31 El Rey - Los Angeles, CA *
06-01 Cane's - San Diego, CA *
06-02 Brick House - Phoenix, AZ *
06-04 Plush - Tucson, AZ *
06-07 Walter's on Washington - Houston, TX *
06-08 Emo's - Austin, TX *
06-09 Hailey's - Denton, TX *
06-10 The Opolis - Norman, OK *
06-11 Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack - Little Rock, AR
*
06-12 Blue Note - Columbia, MO *
06-05 Holocene [Release Party] - Portland, OR
Is this a pre-cursor to ABC not renewing Friday
Night Lights – of which the bands music is often
featured? Hardly. Much more serious is the fact that
the band has canceled their Europe and overseas
dates for the summer thru September due to a death
in the family. Explosions in the Sky have been
seemingly touring non-stop since the release of the
much under played All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone.
Our hearts go out to the band as they cope with the
loss.
All dates are said to be rescheduled after the
summer. For a review of the album, check out the
link below.
Hot off winning the Australian Music Prize for Album
of the Year (think UK’s Mercury Prize), indie import
Augie March are ready to invade local shores in the
late summer with their local debut release of Mo,
You Bloody Choir on August 7th. Hailed by some as
the next coming of JC himself, the childhood friends
have been honing their sound since the mid nineties
but with their third studio album on the cusp of US
release, they might just be the band to watch for in
the fall months. Check out the video for their first
single off the new album titled ‘One Crowded Hour’
and all its jangly goodness.
Track Listing:
01 One Crowded Hour
02 Victoria's Secrets
03 Cold Acre
04 Stranger Strange
05 Mother Greer
06 Honey Month
07 Just Passing Through
08 Thin Captain Crackers
09 Bottle Baby
10 Mt. Wellington Reverie
11 Baron of Sentiment
12 Bolte and Dinstan Talk Youth
13 Clockwork
14 Vernoona
Rough neck rockers with the powdered façade Land
of Talk and all their providence glory are extending
their US dates in support of their just released
Applause Cheer Boo Hiss. The tour will see majority
of dates with The Rosebuds, but will eclipse with a
show that will have them opening for the likes of
The Decembrists and Grizzly Bear. Get out there and
see Elizabeth in her guns of fury-like arms as she
whales on the guitar with her gruff but inviting
vocal howls. Oh, and the band ain’t to shabby
either.
Look for our review on Friday.
Land of Tour:
05-28 Horseshoe Tavern – Toronto, ON ^
05-29 Blind Pig – Ann Arbor, MI ^
05-30 Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH ^
05-31 Little Brothers – Columbus, OH ^
06-01 Subterranean – Chicago, IL ^
06-02 The Stones Throw - Eau Claire, WI ^
06-03 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN ^
06-04 Jackpot Saloon – Lawrence, KS ^
06-05 Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO ^
06-08 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA ^
06-09 Media Club – Vancouver, BC ^
06-10 Doug Fir – Portland, OR ^
06-12 Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
^
06-13 Cellar Door – Visalia, CA ^
06-15 Glass House – Pomona, CA ^
06-16 Spaceland – Los Angeles, CA ^
06-17 Plush – Tucson, AZ ^
06-19 The Cavern – Dallas, TX ^
06-20 The Parish - Austin, TX ^
06-21 Spanish Moon – Baton Rouge, LA ^
06-22 The Bottle Tree - Birmingham, AL ^
06-23 The Earl – Atlanta, GA ^
07-16 Central Park SummerStage - New York, NY +
If you are ready to ditch that significant other,
we have a break-up album for you – literally.
Mendoza Line’s upcoming 30 Year Low is a
mini-chronicle of real life break-up of the bands
front couple Tim Bracy and Shannon McArdle. Of
course, their staple political and narrative songs
will be littered throughout but the band is
reportedly minus Shannon moving forward as she seeks
other projects. Therefore, 30 Year will be the
original bands swan song. Bracy will stay on board
Mendoza Line to direct down other avenues. 30 Year
Low will be available in early August. Check out the
track from the upcoming album ‘Aspect of an Old
Maid’ and get ready for a boisterous style romp.
Choice Sounds:
Mendoza Line ‘Aspect of an Old Maid’
[from upcoming 30 Year Low LP]
Not just a taunting anymore or a another drug
reference (which we think they might be); the Sean
Na Na band led by Sean Tillman are readying a new
album Family Trees: Must CoPe We on June 5th
from Dim Mak. The bands third album is seemingly
stronger than the past effort My Majesty with
a much beefier sound. Part Mountain Goats and other
parts Replacements, Sean Na Na are definitely one to
put on your radar come June.
Track Listing:
01 We've Been Here Before
02 Don't Look Me Sideways
03 Fold, Hit, Or Stand
04 Photo Booth
05 Hairspray
06 Can't Get a Spark
07 I'll Take It All
08 Hunter
09 Help Me Up the Hill
10 Black Bag
11 Hands, Paws & Claws
12 Straight Dope
Blow boy and solo mantra YACHT has released a new
video for the single ‘See A Penny (Pick It Up)’. The
video sees a lonely penny (YAHCHT) trying to find
his brotheren only to discover they have been
squashed on train tracks in Portland. The video is
not nearly as awkward as his live performance can be
– just a beat machine and a seemingly pre-pubesent
boy throwing lyrics atop. But then again, opening
for the likes of LCD Soundsystem itself can be worse
than your first time. I guess the trifecta with
Architecture in Helsinki at the tail end of the tour
then is down right pre-mature.
Lucky Tour:
05-11 Avalon – Boston, MA *
05-12 Studio B – Brooklyn, NY *
05-13 9:30 Club – Washington, DC *
05-14 Webster Hall – New York, NY *
05-15 Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, UT
05-16 Hi-Dive - Denver, CO
05-17 Jackpot Saloon - Lawrence, KS
05-18 Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center - St. Louis, MO
05-19 Conservatory - Oklahoma City, OK
05-20 Rubber Gloves - Denton, TX
05-21 Proletariat - Houston, TX
05-22 Emo's - Austin, TX ^
05-24 Modified Arts - Phoenix, AZ ^
05-25 The Che - San Diego, CA
05-26 Baldy Brewery - Upland, CA
05-27 The Echo - Los Angeles, CA ^
05-28 Delta of Venus - Davis, CA ^
05-31 Manium Warehouse - Olympia, WA ^
06-02 Holocene - Portland, OR ^
06-13 Neumo's - Seattle, WA #
06-14 Richards on Richards - Vancouver, BC #
06-15 Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR #
06-16 Bimbo's 365 Club - San Francisco, CA #
06-18 Glasshouse - Pomona, CA #
06-19 Henry Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA #
* with LCD Soundsystem
# with Architecture in Helsinki
^ with Tussle
The Smashing Pumpkins are just two months away
from their anticipated new release Zeitgiest
on July 7th, but it looks like the band just can’t
get away from turmoil. This time, however, it isn’t
internal. Management for the band has confirmed that
the groups Chicago based studio was robbed. The
thieves were caught shortly after but before you go
ga-ga looking for leaked music, downshift it a bit
and learn to buy you tunes like normal folk. In a
letter from the Pumpkins management, album artwork
was stolen from the studio and then shortly
thereafter posted on a SP fansite; Netphoria.
The artwork reportedly featured samples of Billy but
one of interest had Paris Hilton with a bomb
exploding behind her. It’s like Billy can read our
minds.
No word on charges against the criminal masterminds
behind the heist of the decade (read: day). But hell
have no fury like a Corgan scorned.
Peter Bjorn and John took the stage at a stuffy and
crowded Empty Bottle in Chicago, IL last night.
Opening with ‘Writer’s Block’ the seemingly straight
forward we-play-the-album show took a well needed
turn for the best when it explored different
versions of their staples like ‘Amsterdam’ and
‘Young Folks’ – playing an almost acoustic like
alternate while still plugged in. Lead Peter Moren
hopped on a stage no bigger than a three yards
square while Bjorn tussled with Johns drums most of
the night. Aside from the tight quarters, the band
sounded less studio than what we expected – which is
a good thing – and more real than their
pop-saturated catchy third album Writers Block.
Fujiya & Miyagi opened for the Swedes with its brand
of bass picking guitar mashed sampling. Sure their
lyrics are trite but who cares when they sound this
entertaining?! We sure as hell didn’t as we
hypnotically gyrated to ‘Ankle Injuries’ and the
flat out show stopper ‘Cassettesingles’. One to
watch, indeed.
Artists standing up for the greater good of
humanity can always come across as gaudy. So it’s
great when we hear about the small stands that they
take often times overlooked by the press. Case in
point is The Coup’s MC Boots Riley. Along with actor
Danny Glover, renowned MC has pulled out of their
planned keynote speeches at UC Berkeley’s Black
Graduation Ceremony planned for May 12th. The action
was in response to the University of California
Custodians Union’s year and a half fight for wage
increases and has drawn the support of Presidential
hopefuls Barack Obama and John Edwards. In a recent
press release, the artist had this to say:
"In solidarity with the Custodian's Union (AFSCME
Local 3299), I willnot be making the UC Berkeley
2007 Black Graduation commencementspeech. Many ideas
were talked about regarding how to showsolidarity
with and not get in the way of this fight. Some said
that Ishould use the opportunity to speak to the
audience about the union'sdemands. However, being
that the speaking theme I was given was'Revolution:
Command Change,' I feel the best way to embody this
theme
is not to give lip service to it, but to show that
we must be involvedin the struggles that are
happening around us every day."
“I wish the graduates who are going to be involved
in the BlackGraduation well. I hope they understand
that no matter what degree youattain through
academia, you must be on the right side of the
struggle,"
"If the Union and UC Berkeley are able to agree on a
contract before the commencement ceremony on May 12,
I will be more than happy to deliver my speech.”
It is reported that the current custodial staff
make only $4 to $6 dollars an hour.
It feels like ages since we heard or even spoke
about Go! Team on these pages. Well, get your gym
socks pulled up and ready to cheer once again in the
privacy of your own home because the upbeat troupe
has dished the goods on the upcoming album. The as
of yet untitled album has a tentative release date
in the UK only of September 10th. At time of press,
no US label has picked up the distribution love. But
with guests like Marina Ribatski from Bonde do Role
and The Rappers Delight Club (those tikes that spit
rhymes over Sufjan Stevens songs) a release on
Jamestown founded soil is eminent. You won’t have to
go all import crazy because the kids will release
two singles before the album hits foreign shores.
‘Grip it Like a Vice’ will be available on July 2nd
while ‘Doing It Right’ will follow shortly after on
September 3rd.
After yesterday’s response to our 411 on Bonde Do
Role’s remix album at the hands of CSS for ‘Office
Boy’, we just had to give you more love. The video
seemingly splices canned footage of classic office
like work-folk with singer Marina Ribatski jumping
around in a yellow dress. Hey, according to
Entertainment Weekly, Yellow is this Summer’s
tangerine. This is one f-ed up office.
Leave it to the button-down
cool-like-the-other-side-of-the-pillow duo AIR to
get a choreographed ballet as the blueprint for a
video. The video for ‘Mer Du Japon’ as directed by
Guillaume de la Perriere but planned by the French
dance king Angelin Preljocaj. And like a Minds Eye
gone silly – that is a flying dragon… Get your
khakis on and watch.
Folky folk and tours just seem to go together
unless your Marko Thompson these days. So, it’s no
surprise that folk chicks Tegan and Sara have
announced their short flight around North America.
The tour will support the duo’s upcoming album The
Con on July 24th.
Con Artist Tour:
07-14 Belfry Theatre - Victoria, BC
07-15 Belfry Theatre - Victoria, BC
07-16 East Cultural Centre - Vancouver, BC
07-18 Triple Door - Seattle, WA
07-19 Triple Door - Seattle, WA
07-20 Bagdad Theatre - Portland, OR
07-22 The Brava - San Francisco, CA
07-23 The Brava - San Francisco, CA
07-24 Amoeba Records [store performance] - Los
Angeles, CA
07-26 Malibu Performing Arts Center - Malibu, CA
07-27 Malibu Performing Arts Center - Malibu, CA
08-01 Hiro Ballroom - New York, NY
08-04 TBA - Boston, MA
08-05 The International House - Philadelphia, PA
08-06 The Gem Theatre - Detroit, MI
08-07 Lakeshore Theatre - Chicago, IL
Brother and sister duo Fiery Furnaces may still
be tight lipped on their much anticipated fifth
studio album but they are finally letting the cat
out of the oven on tour info.
The currently untitled follow up to 2006 Bitter Tea
has reportedly begun its recording process but isn’t
expected to come out until late summer but there
have been hints of a live ep planned.
Tea For Two Tour:
06-21 Grog Shop - Cleveland Heights, OH
06-22 Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
06-23 Blind Pig - Ann Arbor, MI
06-25 The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern - Toronto,
Ontario
06-26 Babylon Club - Ottawa, Ontario
06-28 North Star - Philadelphia, PA
06-29 Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA
06-30 Maxwell's - Hoboken, NJ
07-01 Studio B - Brooklyn, NY
07-05 Black Cat - Washington, DC
07-06 Lincoln Theatre - Raleigh, NC
07-07 The Earl - Atlanta, GA
The Sea Wolf EP debut Get To The River Before It
Runs Too Low may be out this week but the band is
already hitting the road to promote the album.
They’ll be aptly joined with the ex-Granddaddy
artist All Smiles in Chicago but with Silverspun
Pickups for majority of the tour. Check out the
first single off the album ‘Your’re A Wolf’ below.
Choice Sounds:
Sea Wolf ‘You’re A Wolf’
[from Get To The River Before It
Runs Too Low EP]
Hairy Sea Legs Tour:
05-08 Water Street Music Hall - Rochester, NY *
05-09 The Phoenix - Toronto, ON *
05-10 Town Ballroom - Buffalo, NY *
05-11 Union Hall - Brooklyn, NY ^
05-13 Recher Theatre - Baltimore, MD *
05-14 Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA *
05-15 Webster Hall - New York, NY *
05-18 Radio Convention - Louisville, KY
05-19 The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL #
05-21 Gaslight - Lawrence, KS
05-22 Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO
05-24 The Grand Ballroom - San Francisco, CA $
06-07 NXNE Festival - Toronto, ONT
* with Silverspun Pickups
^ with Elk City
# with All Smiles
$ with Devotchka
Jeff Tweedy and the Wilco fam’ will be invading
the Garrison Keillor fictional villa of A Prairie
Home Companion* on May 12th. The show, synonymous
with music, will be broadcase from the State
Theater. Not sure how this ties in with the bands
upcoming release of Sky Blue Sky, but we’ll see how
the country twang of Tweedy and Co. play over public
radio airwaves soon enough. Check you local
listings.
British duo outfit and longtime schoolboy friends
UNKLE have announced the tracks for their
forthcoming release War Stories. The
bands third LP will also feature tracks with Queen
of The Stone Age's Josh Homme, Ian Astbury from The
Cult, as well as 3D from Massive Attack. War
Stories should hit stores on July 9th.
Track Listing:
01 Intro
02 Chemistry
03 Hold My Hand
04 Restless (feat. Josh Homme)
05 Keys To The Kingdom (feat. Gavin Clark)
06 Price You Pay
07 Burn My Shadow (feat. Ian Astbury)
08 May Day (feat. The Duke Spirit)
09 Persons & Machinery (feat. Autolux)
10 Twilight (feat. 3D)
11 Morning Rage
12 Lawless
13 Broken (feat. Gavin Clark)
14 When Things Explode (feat. Ian Astbury)
Soon to be hubby and she-hubby, Dan Boeckner (of
Wolf Parade fame and endless work ethic) and Alexia
Perry of Handsome furs have even more to celebrate.
Marriage-schmarige - they have a debut to worry
about! Will the husband stand by your side?
Don't think so! Will she honor and cherish you
like an LP does? Not likely! Plague Park, the debut
album by the band is scheduled to hit stores May 22nd.
Check out the video for the first single 'Dumb
Animals' below.
Track Listing:
01 What We Had
02 Hearts Of Iron
03 Handsome Furs Hate This City
04 Snakes On The Ladder
05 Cannot Get Started
06 Sing! Captain
07 Dead + Rural
08 Dumb Animals
09 The Radio's Hot Sun
Niche? More like we’re about to bitch. Super-cool
Atlanta group Deerhunter is apparently releasing
their Whirlball 7” single in their home state only –
in one store. The single also comes with exclusive
tracks from The Carbonas and Coathangers. But the
only way you can get it is at the local Criminal
Records store in Atlanta. Get your eBay account
updated.
video: Beirut ‘Gulag Orkestar’ [live w/ Final
Fantasy]
Atomic sized meltdowns and exhaustion aside, we
love it when Beirut go to 11. Check out the live
performance of ‘Gulag Okestar’ (make sure you turn
up the speakers) with the likes of Arcade Fire
members, Final Fantasy and a crowd that gets
involved enough to make you think encore lighters
would be back in style. Brooklyn Vegan even posted a
fact-oid that Sufjan Stevens was in the audience.
video: Beirut ‘Gulag Orkestar’ [live w/ Final
Fantasy]
The crazy South American bunch CSS as well as
Architecture in Helsinki are taking part in a
remix/single blowout from trendy tronica group and
Diplo approved Bonde Do Role. The youthful trio is
ready to launch a new single called ‘Office Boy’ on
May 21st. But what’s it worth doing something right
if you can’t do it four times differently? Bonde Do
Role think the same way, as the kids will release
four – yes four different versions of ‘Office Boy’
all different than the last spanned across three
platforms. Two of said plats will be 7 inch prints
while the CD version will include remixes by CSS,
Architecture in Helsinki and Shir Khan. The iTunes
download will be a remix version only of the song by
Brodisnki. Time to cash in those coins.
We’re pretty sure this cover will be used as desktop
embarrassment to any of our own office boys.
Track Listing:
CD:
01 Office Boy
02 Office Boy [CSS remix]
03 Office Boy [Architecture in Helsinki remix]
04 Office Boy [Shir Khan remix]
Download:
01 Office Boy [Brodinski remix]
Blue 7":
A - Office Boy
B - Contaminada
Pink 7":
A - Office Boy [CSS remix]
B - Miami Beach
Surprised? For once we are. While we have
received multiple sources saying that the
Babyshambles front-man and ex-Libertine partner had
kicked all monkeys from his back and gone the
straight-and-narrow of cleanliness, it turns out we
were duped. Over the weekend, Pete Doherty was
stopped by police on suspicion of carrying a Class A
substance. The BBC is reporting that the rock-star
was taken to a local police station in West London.
I guess all those court appearances were farce.
Maybe he should try acting next.
Argue as you may, Common is true hip-hop. Of
course, the competition is rather scarce with labels
putting our more drivel than a box set of The
Killers ‘Samstown’. And sure he had that crazy
over-played Gap commercial but even that was
catchier than some of Kanye’s stuff. Why all this
surmountable hub-ub? Well, we got a hold of the new
Common track ‘The People’ today off his upcoming
album Finding Forever due out July 10th. Full of
summer bliss, ‘The People’ is standard affair when
compared to most of his past catalogue but still
just as good to sit through. But we are hoping some
of the other tracks will be a bit fresher.
Choice Sounds:
Common ‘The People’
In even more Common news, apparently brit-sweetheart
Lily Allen recorded ‘Driven Me Wild’ alongside the
artist for the new album after being introduced to
her music by producer Kanye West.
And you thought getting street cred in your hood
was a bitch. Looks like newcomers The Fratellis are
looking to flex their superiority in the direction
of fellow brit-tart Lily Allen’s direction. In a
recent interview with The Sun, the band is quoted as
calling Lily Allen a “snobby fucking brat”.
Unfounded you may think, but not so to the boys.
Apparently the story goes like this: the band was in
the process of reveving the Brit Award when walking
up on stage Lily Allen shouted “You’re a robbing
cock” to Fratellis band member John Fratelli. Hence
forth the harsh words in the interview. They went on
to complain on how she canceled part of her tour for
personal reasons.
But don’t take sides just yet. Seems like the boys
are more like Lily than they would like to admit.
The trio recently just canceled a slew of US dates –
ala exhaustion… much like Lily Allen did a few weeks
back. Brats.
What seems like a UPS commercial gone awry is
really just a warehouse rager waiting to happen in
I’m From Barcelona’s new video for the single
‘Collection of Stamps.’ Of course, the human
keyboard would have been just as awkward in Big as
well.
The 29 member group is spreading the tour love
thinner than a nun. The band will only be appearing
in the US (as of now) at two festivals – in August.
I’m From Mars, Your From Barcelona Tour:
08-04 Lollapalooza – Chicago, IL
08-05 McCarren Park Pool – Brooklyn, NY
Those savy boys of Chk Chk Chk (!!!). Not
only can they go the Prince route and symbolize
their name, but they can creep you out enough to not
want to go to any dark room basement parties for
years. So, if you get an invite from the band
for a house party, maybe you should watch the
informational video that also doubles as the band's
video for the song 'Must Be The Moon' off their
latest and greatest Myth Takes album.
Need more love; check out the review link below.
photos: Air / Kate Havnevik | Chicago, IL |
05.04.07
Banana Republic spoke models better known to the
music community as Air took the stage along side
Kate Havnevik in Chicago over the weekend. Looking
as if they had just come down off a fluffy cloud of
fashion, Air took the stage and breezed through a
quick 80 minute set. New material was relatively
scarce, while old faithfuls made the strongest
showing…
Check out the full review of the event, more pics,
and other shows by clicking here.
