9/29/2011

Anika: US Tour 2011


Stones Throw recording artist Anika
embarks on long awaited
North American debut tour this Fall.
Dates include ATP, NYC, MoogFest, LA, SF, Chicago, Seattle, Austin, Detroit , Toronto
+ more




After extensive touring throughout the U.K. and Europe, the England-born, Berlin-bred Anika finally embarks on a long awaited tour of North America. Flanked by key appearances at the Portishead-curated All Tomorrows Parties in Asbury Park, NJ and MoogFest in Asheville, NC.

Fans and critics alike were captivated, if not caught off guard; disarmed by the raw emotion of Anika's self-titled debut album (Stones Throw / Invada). Released amidst the blizzard of last December, Anika painted a stark black & white with telling covers and teeming originals. Inhabiting and subsequently haunting the words of Bob Dylan, Yoko Ono and Peggy Lee - atop a musical foundation built by Geoff Barrow (Portishead) and the members of Beak>. William Fuller (Bass) and Matthew Williams (Keys, Guitar) of Beak> join the run, alongside Andrew Sutor (Drums) and Rasha Shaheen (Backing Vox, Keys, Guitar) making up Anika's live-band.
The New York Times called the release "Startling". The Los Angeles Times deemed it "Striking". With Rolling Stone (Germany) granting the debut disc a 4.5 of 5 rating. Anika's and her fellow musicians approach is simple, but basked in subdued complexities. Anika's debut North American tour proves to bring these elements to the stage.

Watch Anika's official first video "No One's There" directed by John Minton and as featured on XlR8R and Pitchfork



ANIKA NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
SEPTEMBER
27th NEW YORK, US (LIVE) - Le Poisson Rouge $15/17 - 21+
29th PRINCETON, NJ, USA (LIVE) - Princeton University
30th PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, USA (LIVE) - Voyeur
OCTOBER
2nd NEW JERSEY, US (LIVE) - ATP, Asbury Park Convention Hall w/ Pop Group more info
5th BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, USA (LIVE) - Sonar
7th MONTREAL - TBA
8th TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA (LIVE) - Wrong Bar
9th DETROIT - CAVE
10th CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA (LIVE) - Empty Bottle
14th PORTLAND, OREGON, USA (LIVE) - Mississippi Studios
16th SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, USA (LIVE) - The Crocodile
18th ARCATA, CALIFORNIA, USA (LIVE) - The Jambalaya
19th SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA (LIVE) - The Independent

21st LONG BEACH, CA (LIVE) - Fingerprints 7pm
22nd LOS ANGELES (LIVE) - Echoplex 10pm (new date)
25th AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA (LIVE) - Emos
26th LOUISIANA, NEW ORLEANS, USA (LIVE) - Siberia w/ Zola Jesus
29th ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, USA (LIVE) - Moog Fest


photo credit: Jean-Baptiste Toussaint / photo credit: John Minton
\

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Cate Le Bon shares new single, on tour this Fall w/ St. Vincent


Cate Le Bon shares new single, on tour this Fall w/ St. Vincent
MP3: "Puts Me To Work" -
STREAM: "Puts Me To Work" -

Cate Le Bon
A new force in song craft, Cate Le Bon currently resides in Cardiff's infamous French quarter and befitting a songwriter who only writes in the dark, her music is a heady and highly personal Gallic stew of equal parts Nico, Malkmus and the chronicler's own emotional observations on the impossibility of existence.

Disheartened by the constant stream of dead animals she found herself burying in her parents farm in Penboyr, West Wales, and inspired by her fathers impeccable record collection (The Velvets, Neil Young, Pavement et. al) Cate packed her things and begrudgingly set sail for the neon lights and ample rehearsal space available in her country's capital.

Following a string of club night shows in the city, Cate caught the attention of Super Furry Animals front man Gruff Rhys who over a cigar and a glass of brandy offered her some support slots with his band. Cate continued to gig extensively in the UK releasing singles and a Welsh language EP (Edrych Yn Llygaid Ceffyl Benthyg) on the Indie Record label Peski.

Knowing that there's never too much of a good thing, Rhys roped Cate into his hip hop exchange program Neon Neon. What began as a guest vocal appearance on their debut single, "I Lust You," resulted in a year of touring the world as part of their band.

During a month's break from the road, with her confidence and enthusiasm doubled, Cate retired to Y Gerlan in the mountains of North Wales for a prophetic 10 day recording session which resulted in the release of her debut full length album Me Oh My to rapturous critical acclaim. On the back of the album's US release in April 2010, Cate completed a two month tour stretching from SXSW in Texas to Café Hotel in Los Angeles, sending postcards from Boston, Buffalo, San Francisco and New York along the way.

Like a dutiful daughter Cate returned for the British festival season, seeing out the summer at Glastonbury, The Great Escape and Field Day to name a few, and snatching free time between performances to write new material in her North Walian bolthole.

At the dawn of 2011, Cate re-entered the studio to start work on a new record of her own. Drawing on her experiences of the last year, Cate has created collection of pop nuggets that sound like they've fallen off the back of a broken carousel, imbued with the playfulness of Faust and Syd Barrett and the tropical melodies of Os Mutantes. Existential word play abounds and fuzz fused guitar lines tear through like an angry bee in a CAN on CYRK, which is due in the US via The Control Group label in early 2012. "Puts Me To Work" is the first single from that record.

CATE LE BON
all dates w/ St. Vincent

10/02 - Minneapolis, MN @ McGuire Theatre (2 shows)
10/03 - Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
10/05 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
10/06 - St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House
10/07 - Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
10/08 - Boulder, CO Boulder Theater
10/10 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
10/12 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
10/13 - Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
10/14 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
10/18 - Los Angeles, CA @ Music Box
10/20 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
10/22 - Dallas, TX @ Kessler Theater
10/23 - Dallas, TX @ Kessler Theater
10/24 - Austin, TX @ Moody Theater at ACL Live
10/25 - Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald's
10/26 - New Orleans, LA @ Tiptina's
10/28 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
10/30 - Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater
11/01 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
11/02 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/03 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
11/04 - Boston, MA @ Royale
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Nouvelle Vague @ El Rey





NOUVELLE VAGUE plays at the El Rey tonight Sept 29th, as part of the Ooh La La Festival.
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9/28/2011

D-Generation Interview



D-GENERATION
Interview by Alexander Laurence

D-Generation is a punk band from New York City. They started in 1991, and seemed so essential to the landscape of 90s music. David Fricke recently called them the link between The Ramones and The Strokes. The band is Jesse Malin (vocals), Danny Sage (guitar), Richard Bacchus (guitar), Howie Pyro (bass guitar), and Michael Wildwood (drums). They released three albums: D Generation (1994), No Lunch (1996), and Through The Darkness (1999).The band broke up soon after their third album, and for the past ten years they have moved on to other bands and solo projects. Jesse Malin is well known for a successful solo career. The songs of DGEN have been in the films “Airheads” and “The Faculty.” There was so much activity in this band, you wonder why they weren’t ten times as popular back then. They did tour with bands like Social Distortion, Kiss, The Ramones, Green Day, and even The Offspring. D-Generation is a legendary band, and I got to speak with them during their recent tour. They played at Irving Plaza and the Troubadour, places where they were amazing back in the day. I spoke with Danny Sage and Jesse Malin.

AL: How did D-Generation get together this time after a twelve year break?

Danny: We get offers. We get asked to do these festivals in Spain almost every year. Maybe the past five years. And when they ask us, me and Jesse are not speaking, or I want to kill my brother, who is the drummer of the band.

AL: There is tension in the band?

Danny: Yes. The band is really volatile. Jesse and I have played since we were in junior high school. And the drummer is my little brother. Rick is like the new guy in the band and I have known him for twenty-two years. We know each other really well. We are family. It can be amazing like the other night at Irving Plaza. It was like in the top three shows the band has ever played.

AL: What was the problem? People didn’t get D-Generation?

Danny: People are stupid. People like Big Macs. I don’t know. That’s my take on it.

AL: David Fricke just wrote that you were the link between The Ramones and The Strokes. What do you think about that?

Danny: Chronologically I suppose. I don’t know The Strokes. I am embarrassed to say that I don’t know anything about them. I think that I see them in the street periodically. They came out after the point that I didn’t care about rock and roll. That was around 2000. Then I moved out here to Los Angeles for four years, so I missed the whole Strokes thing. I guess David Fricke is talking about vibrant rock and roll, and I take it as a compliment. I know David well enough that he means that in the best way possible.

AL: Was it hard for bands in NYC in the 1990s to have success?

Danny: Yeah. I think that people are fickle. We weren’t easy to digest.

AL: In NYC at that time there was Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Luna, Ivy, Toilet Boys and Lunachicks. Then there was you guys. I think if I remember correctly D-Generation was a big buzzband and on the cover of magazines back then.

Danny: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion started before us, but most of those bands started after us.

AL: Today is the day Nirvana “Nevermind” came out twenty years ago. What do you think of grunge? Your band started at the same time.

Danny: We had impeccible bad timing. Whatever. Our band wasn’t trying to please anyone. We couldn’t give a fuck. That’s why we are still great. But that is a rough road.

AL: There is a history of bands from the 1970s like Suicide and The Stooges: people were actually afraid of these bands. They were scary people.

Danny: As it should be. I am proud that people think of us that way. Those are all my favorite bands: Ramones, Stones, Pistols, and The Stooges. I dig those bands but it’s a rough road if you think that you are going to sell records.

AL: Was there friction between your band and the label? D-Generation didn’t fit in with the grunge thing.

Danny: Sony and Columbia was shocked that we didn’t sell 17 million records in the first week. They were business people. It wasn’t the time where a band was allowed to make three or four records and develop. There were acts on Columbia Records like Bruce Springsteen and Aerosmith who took many albums to be popular. They couldn’t break Aerosmith for five years. There was a big press blitz for Bruce Springsteen when he first came out, but he didn’t succeed until the third album. When we released No Lunch in 1996, we were expected to sell a lot of records in two weeks. If you didn’t sell records, they were done with you.

AL: So when your toured back then, you were popular in NYC and LA, and unknown everywhere else?

Danny: Yeah. Exactly. I don’t think it’s this genre or that genre. People always want something easy. If we wore plaid and packaged it in a different way, I would be living in a mansion right now. We didn’t do things that way. We were just being us.

AL: What was the relationship of the band to Coney Island High?

Danny: I don’t know. A place I got laid a few times with girls in the bathrooms. There was a bunch of different owners: Jesse and an ex-girlfriend. Jesse was an owner. He didn’t work there and he couldn’t mix a drink. He could open a beer with his teeth which I was very impressed with.

AL: It seemed like there was a lot of things going on in 1996: there was D-Generation, clubs like Coney Island High, the film Trainspotting, the Please Kill Me book came out, and there was a book party for it at the Gershwin Hotel. It seemed like the bed was fertile for a band like D-Generation to take over?

Danny: They were into our band. But you are talking about smart clued in people in New York, LA and London. Those people in Indiana who were into Stone Temple Pilots were different. A few people got it, but for most of them, rock and roll isn’t their life. It’s a passive part-time thing. For us, it’s our life. They didn’t get involved because it wasn’t their life.

Jesse: We had that in New York in 1996. But it didn’t happen in other cities. We weren’t being marketed to the right people. We were on a big label, but we didn’t have a video on those stations like MTV or VH1 that had power. We weren’t on the radio. People found out about us through word of mouth.

AL: Was there people at MTV that hated you?

Jesse: We pissed off half the label. The guy who signed us was a weird bird. He had good intentions. He was passionate about the band. It was his first experience. He was so intense about the band that people got jealous and competitive with him. We would only talk to two guys at the company: the guy who signed us and the president of the company. Britpop was big at the time. Oasis and Radiohead were big at the time. It was more like stand offish introverted rock and roll. It was snobby. We were more like a James Brown sweating off our balls in your face. It was a different energy. New York, LA, Chicago, and parts of Europe got what we were doing, but it was frustrating. We had signed a big deal and we would go out on these big exciting tours and it would be a battle with the audience.

AL: You did play with Green Day and The Offspring. What did you think of their take on Punk music?

Jesse: By that time, it was the latter part of the 1990s, and we started to finally connect with those audiences. We were speeding up the set. Green Day and The Offspring liked us. Those crowds were younger. With Kiss and The Ramones, it was an older crowd and closed minded.

AL: For me punk music is a wide thing that includes bands like Suicide, Wire, PIL, and Magazine. When did punk rock only come to mean this narrow thing with Sid Vicious and Stiff Little Fingers records?

Danny: Not everybody is as clued in. Not everyone gets the joke. Most people don’t get the joke. They think if you buy a Sid Vicious T-Shirt and break a window, then that is what it’s all about. You are giving people too much credit.



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Broadcast "Come On Let's Go"



Trish Keenan (1968-2011) died earlier this year.




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Neon Indian @ Bootleg



Neon Indian plays at the Bootleg Theatre tonight, Sept 28th.
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9/25/2011

Alessi's Ark "Hummingbird"



Alessi's Ark live in Chicago.
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9/24/2011

Nirvana Twenty Years Later



Nirvana "Nevermind" came out twenty years ago today.
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Har Mar Superstar @ Satellite



Har Mar Superstar will be playing at the Satellite tonight, Sept 24th.
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9/23/2011

Abbot Kinney Festival



MIA DOI TODD



KISSES




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9/22/2011

Richard Hell vs. Rod McKuen

Richard Hell and the Voidoids: one of the seminal punk bands of the class of 1977. Richard Hell was one of the first innovators of the punk style. Malcolm McClaren talks a lot about him in the punk lexicon: Hell had the style and the songs. The Sex Pistols came up with a song call "Pretty Vacant" which was a similar sounding idea to Hell's "Blank Generation." But in reality "Pretty Vacant" was a much superior song with a killer riff: it reeked of the blank stare of youth into the abyss. Hell's "Blank Generation" was not about a void or the emptiness within; it was fill in the blank, do it yourself.

In any movie or film about punk rock music, you always hear about Richard Hell. He was in Television and the Heartbreakers. His music is not much like Television at all. It's more traditional rock and roll: an angry Chuck Berry? Apparently the Heartbreakers didn't want to play any of Hell's songs, even though "Love Comes In Spurts" sounds a lot like "One Track Mind." In histories about punk, Hell is always the outsider and the free agent. Hell didn't have any relationship with the two main women of the NYC scene: Patti Smith or Debbie Harry. He preferred Patty Smyth of Scandal, who he later married.

Richard Hell and the Voidoids did two mediocre albums that didn't sell. They hardly toured. The two most memorable songs seem like copies of other people's songs. Richard Hell even wrote a novel, GO, which has a lot in common with On The Road. The second album Destiny Street contained a bunch of cover songs by Dylan and Ray Davies. So in the end, Hell as a serious musician is a bit nebulous, and he's much like a blank slate that people attribute values to.

In the 1980s, Richard Hell spent most of that time in a drug coma. He appeared in a few films. He wasn't a great actor either. He wrote a lot for magazines. I can't recall much of his criticism. He started some publications. He has published more books than he did records. But I can't recall anyone having read them. It's like people are more into the idea of a Richard Hell book, than the actual experience of reading one.

Cheetah Chrome and Dee Dee Ramone have published great memoirs about the punk era. Richard Hell rarely reflects on this period or even remembers it. (note: Hell's recent memoir was actually pretty good).

So all we are left with is RICHARD HELL: a punk rock pin-up. The inventor of the safety pin as fashion and the downtown scumbag look. I am not sure if Richard Hell was ever poor. He used to live in the same building as Allen Ginsberg. Okay, right place right time, and maybe genius happens by osmosis? So we are left with Richard Hell the author of one great song "Blank Generation" that inspired this whole punk thing. Then it turns out Hell plagiarized that song too. There was a song in the 1950s by Rod McKuen "The Beat Generation." It was like a Beat-ploitation song. As if Maynard G. Krebs himself wrote a song on bongos. McKuen himself wrote some light poetry that was popular but never taken serious.

Hell took this song by McKuen with its jazzy descending four notes (odd for punk standards) and updated the lyrics. The song "Stray Cat Strut" shares a similar chord progression, but the Stray Cats are actually doing something brilliant and musical with a tired boogie woogie riff. Hell's idea is basically a madlib for modern people. "Blank Generation" is a novelty song moreso than a huckster version like McKuen's original. Here are the two songs below. You can decide for yourself whether this is inspiration or plagiarism.

NOTE: The Sex Pistols also lifted "Holidays In The Sun" from The Jam's "In The City." But in case of the Sex Pistols, both their liftings seem to outperform the original source.



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Joseph Arthur @ Troubadour



Joseph Arthur is playing at the Troubadour tonight, September 22nd.
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9/21/2011

Giorgio Moroder "METROPOLIS"

Giorgio Moroder's "METROPOLIS"!
(brand-new HD restoration!)

October 7th - October 11th

The legendary rockin’ alternate version of Fritz Lang’s silent sci-fi classic, on the big screen for the first time in almost thirty years! In 1981, electronic music pioneer/three-time Oscar-winning composer Giorgio Moroder began a years-long endeavor to restore Metropolis, the very first attempt since the film’s original 1920s release. During the process, Moroder gave the film a controversial new score, which included pop songs from some of the biggest stars of the early MTV era (Pat Benatar, Billy Squier, Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler, Adam Ant, Jon Anderson and more!) Missing footage was also re-edited back into the film, intertitles were removed and replaced with subtitles, and sound effects/color tinting were added, creating an all new experience, and an all-new film. But for more than a quarter century, Moroder’s Metropolis has remained out of circulation, until now. Utilizing one of the few remaining prints available, Kino Lorber has created a brand-new HD transfer in the best possible quality — just as it was seen in its August 1984 release!


Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927/1984, HD presentation, 82 min.


-- SHOWTIMES --

OCT 7th: 7:45pm

OCT 8th: 3:00pm, 5:15pm, 7:30pm

OCT 9th: 3:00pm, 5:15pm, 10:45pm

OCT 10th: 5:15pm

OCT 11th: 7:30pm, 9:45pm



Tickets For All Screenings - $10 / free for members

Watch the trailer for Giorgio Moroder's "METROPOLIS", and get more info on ticketing!

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Hugh Cornwell: US Tour




EAST COAST TOUR WITH CLEM BURKE AND STEVE FISHMAN BEGINS OCTOBER 21ST


RECORDING NEW ALBUM IN CHICAGO THIS DECEMBER WITH STEVE ALBINI



TOUR DATES:

Tuesday 18 Oct - Bronson Bar, LA - CANCELED

Friday 21 Oct - Rockville, MD Robert E. Parilla PAC - Montgomery College
Saturday 22 Oct - Long Branch, NJ Brighton Bar
Sunday 23 Oct - Bordentown, NJ The Record Collector
Tuesday 25 Oct - Fall River, MA Narrows Center for the Arts
Wednesday 26 - New York, NY Mercury Lounge EARLY SHOW
Thursday 27 Oct - Boston, MA Church of Boston
Friday 28 Oct - Rochester, NY Lovin Cup Brews and Bistro
Saturday 29 Oct - Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
Sunday 30 Oct - Toledo, OH Frankies
Monday 31 Oct - Chicago, IL Reggie’s Rock Club

Former Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell hits the road this October for a series of East Coast dates. The 90 minute set will feature classic solo material, including the acclaimed free to download ‘Hooverdam’ and a collection of Stranglers epic hits. The three piece band features Hugh Cornwell on guitar/vocals, Steve Fishman on bass/vocals and Clem Burke (Blondie) on drums.

Hugh Cornwell is one of the UK's finest songwriting talents and accomplished live performers - the original guitarist, singer and main songwriter in The Stranglers, he enjoyed massive UK and European success with ten hit albums and twenty one Top Forty singles, etching himself into the UK and Europe’s musical psyche with songs such as 'Peaches', 'No More Heroes', 'Golden Brown', 'Always the Sun', 'Grip', 'Nice N Sleazy', 'Duchess' and 'No Mercy'. One of the biggest hits, 'Golden Brown', saw renewed popularity when it was featured in Guy Ritchie's blockbuster, 'Snatch', as did ‘Peaches’ when It was played in its entirety through the opening sequence of ‘Sexy Beast’.

Hugh has released eight solo albums, most recently the acclaimed 'Hooverdam', produced and mixed in ToeRag Studios by Liam Watson, (known for the Grammy winning White Stripes’ album 'Elephant'). 'Hooverdam' is available as a high-quality free download in twelve languages from Hugh's website at www.hughcornwell.com bringing his music free to the world's population. The release is a triple-sleeved digipak, featuring both studio CD and full length live studio performance DVD in one exclusive package, as well as being available on vinyl. With the free download, Cornwell breaks new ground and proves once again to be a unique force in British music.

Cornwell will record his next album, 'Totem and Taboo', in Chicago at Electrical Studios with Steve Albini in December.

"Consistently excellent." Philadelphia Weekly

“Hooverdam is a cousin to Lou Reed's storming 1988 LP, New York. A very coherent album with a timeless quality” Record Collector

“He remains a hugely popular and prolific performer who’s songwriting retains its fiery eloquence and whose gigs still crackle with electricity” Classic Rock


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9/20/2011

Alessi's Ark @ Troubadour



Alessi's Ark is playing at the Troubadour tonight Sept 20th 830pm, with Laura Marling.
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9/19/2011

James Blake @ Music Box



James Blake is playing the Henry Fonda Music Box tonight, Sept 19th.
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9/18/2011

Alessi's Ark @ Hollywood Forever



Alessi's Ark performs at Hollywood Forever today, Sunday September 18th.
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9/16/2011

Surfer Blood @ Echoplex



SURFER BLOOD plays tonight @ The Echoplex, Sept 16th.
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Peter Hook + Joy Division @ El Rey



Peter Hook and the Light @ the El Rey, tonight September 16th, 2011.
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9/15/2011

Alessi's Ark "On The Plains"


Follow Alessi's Ark Online:

Watch the New Video For "On The Plains"

As Alessi prepares to hit the road for her tour with Laura Marling this weekend, we are excited to bring you the all-new video for her song "On The Plains" from her upcoming album Time Travel. The video features some great live footage of Alessi performing and enjoying an evening in Durham, NC the night of her show at The Casbah during her last trip to the US. Click the player below to watch the video now and make sure to get your tickets for the upcoming tour early as some shows are close to selling out!

US Tour Dates w/ Laura Marling Start This Weekend

Having been associated with Marling for quite some time via their mutual involvement in the Sunday evening London "Communion" gigs organized by Mumford & Sons' Ben Lovett, Alessi and Marling will bring the US version of their successful European run to the United States for a string of major-market dates. Check out the full list of dates below and order tickets for any show HERE.


While Mumford's success is certainly the sun around which the artists in this particular London scene have continued to orbit, in the past several years Alessi's Ark, Marling, Noah and the Whale, Peggy Sue, The Vaccines and several other artists whose teeth were cut in the scene have blasted off successful careers of their own, spreading the inclusiveness and songwriting-centric ethos of Lovett's informal collective.
PRE-ORDER TIME TRAVEL AT THE US BELLA UNION STORE


"Oh, by now, I must have grown", Alessi Laurent-Marke croons beautifully, four songs into her stunning sophomore album Time Travel. And hasn't she just - not yet 21 but already a seasoned pro, having recorded her debut album aged just 17, with members of Bright Eyes, and touring with the likes of Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons and Brighton cult faves the Willkommen Collective. Time Travel is the first Alessi's Ark album since signing to Bella Union, where her acutely melodic and exquisitely tender folk-pop charms haven't just grown; they've blossomed into something extraordinarily mature.


The 12-track Time Travel keeps alternating between anxiety and joy, between childlike wishes and grown-up truths - how change can force us apart but also signify growth. "Run" acknowledges that you must let friends go, "to chase their dreams, even if it takes them away from you". "Wire" imagines a man who knows he hasn't chased his dreams, and time is running out. The album's one cover version, Lesley Gore's 1965 smash "Maybe I Know," is a classic from the '60s girl-group glory days of teen angst disguised as sweet and innocent pop. "On the surface, the song is very pretty but the lyrics are very sad and dark." STREET DATE: 9/27/11



"... the songs have a deftness that defies her years - 8/10" - NME

"The understated arrangements suggest you're listening to a woman with impeccable taste...4 Stars" - MOJO


Click HERE to visit the Alessi's Ark Facebook page and stream the entire Time Travel album now.

alessisark.com | us.bellaunion.com
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9/14/2011

The Morning After Girls



the morning after girls EMBARK ON NATIONAL TOUR!

WITH THE BLACK BOX REVELATION (9/19-10/21)

PLAYING NEW MATERIAL


New York, NY –Xemu Records artist the morning after girls will embark on a national tour next week with The Black Box Revelation (Merovingian Music). The tour will hit both coasts, lasting over a month and will end with a performance at the CMJ Festival in NYC in October. Originally from Australia, now based in New York, the morning after girls will be supporting their most recent release alone on Xemu Records (Dead Meadow, Spindrift) as well as playing brand new material that is yet to be recorded.

alone drew critical acclaim from many tastemaking press outlets including Flavorwire who said the album “ditched the lo-fi psychedelia of their early EPs for lusher prospects, evoking contemporaries like Silversun Pickups and the Dandy Warhol’s while summoning the seminal swirls of Swervedriver and Ride.” Prefix Magazine summed up their thoughts of the album by saying “the morning after girls have managed to create music that blurs the line between the familiar and something quite special you haven’t heard before.”

Forming nearly a decade ago and delivering several EP’s before alone, the band have toured throughout Australia, The US, and Europe with artists including Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Dandy Warhol’s, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

TOUR DATES BELOW

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/THE-MORNING-AFTER-GIRLS):

9/19 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s
9/20 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
9/21 Washington DC DC9
9/22 Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery
9/24 Richmond, VA Strange Matter
9/25 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
9/26 Charleston, SC Tin Roof
9/27 Atlanta, GA Basement
9/28 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
9/29 Dallas, TX Double Wide
10/5 San Diego, CA Soda Bar
10/8 San Francisco, CA Kimo’s
10/11 Denver, CO Hi-Dive
10/12 Kansas City, MO Riot Room
10/14 Milwaukee, WI Club Garibaldi
10/16 Chicago, IL Double Door
10/17 Cleveland, OH Now That’s Class
10/18 Detroit, MI Small’s
10/21 New York, NY The Studio at Webster Hall (CMJ)



Black Box Revelation
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Trentemøller us tour



Trentemøller Reveals Details For Reworked / Remixed Double CD

Returns to North America for Coast to Coast Fall Tour

"Trentemøller's expansive, moody sound seems tailor-made for soundtracks." - SPIN "5 Acts To Watch"

"Whether you like your beats to purr or roar, chances are there's something for you in Dane Anders Trentemøller..." - Pitchfork

Stream Trentemøller's Remix of "Raincoats" & Efterklang's Remix of "Tide" (Available to Post)

Danish electronic artist Anders Trentemøller has revealed the details and track listing for his forthcoming double album, Reworked / Remixed, to be released November 8th on his own label In My Room. Featuring UNKLE, I Blame Coco, Depeche Mode, Modeselektor with Thom Yorke, Efterklang, Mew, Kasper Bjørke and many more, the album celebrates some of the producer's favorite remixes he's crafted for other artists, as well as his own songs that other musicians have reworked. Following a sensational North American spring tour and a summer of European festival appearances, Trentemøller will return to North America with a full band set up this fall in continued support his acclaimed full-length Into The Great Wide Yonder.

With over 20 slick productions to choose from, Reworked / Remixed is a treat for any Trentemøller fan, or indeed a great introduction into his sound. From crisp electronic beats, to atmospheric and filmic moments, to heavy post-rock mutations and beyond. All the reworked tracks are taken from last year's Into The Great Wide Yonder album, which fused melancholic, emotional melodies with a more indie/electro-rock studio focus.


Featuring three-dimensional layers, cinematic lighting and unique special effects, Trentemøller's ever-evolving live performances were lauded at this year's SXSW, Ultra Music Festival, and Coachella, resulting in Yahoo! Music saying he was the "biggest breakout of Coachella 2011...perhaps he'll be headlining Coachella in 2012." To get an idea of what to expect on this tour, watch the incredible live video of his performance of "Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go!!!" in front of 50,000 fans at Roskilde Festival.


Reworked/ Remixed (Double CD) Track listing:

CD1
01. Trentemøller: Sycamore Feeling (Marie Fisker Version)
02. UNKLE: The Answer feat. Big in Japan (Baltimore) (Trentemøller Remix)
03. The Dø: Too Insistent (Trentemøller Remix)
04. Trentemøller: Tide (Efterklang Remix)
05. Trentemøller: Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go !!! (Andrew Weatherall Prinz Mix)
06. Franz Ferdinand: No You Girls (Trentemøller Remix)
07. Trentemøller: Tide (Modeselektors Last Remix Ever)
08. Modeselektor feat. Thom Yorke: White Flash (Trentemøller Remix)
09. Lars and The Hands Of Light: Me Me Me (Trentemøller Remix)
10. Kasper Bjørke: Does Not Matter feat. The Pierces (Trentemøller Remix)
11. Trentemøller: Tide (Alternative Instrumental Version)

CD2
01. Trentemøller: Neverglade (Trentemøller Remix)
02. Chimes And Bells: The Mole (Trentemøller Remix)
03. Trentemøller: ... Even Though You're With Another Girl (I Blame Coco Version)
04. Efterklang: Raincoats (Trentemøller Remix)
05. Trentemøller: Neverglade (UNKLE Surrender Sounds Session #16)
06. Depeche Mode: Wrong (Trentemøller Club Remix)
07. Sleep Party People: The Dwarf And The Horse (Trentemøller Remix)
08. Mew: Beach (Trentemøller Remix)
09. Trentemøller: ... Even Though You're With Another Girl (Kollektiv Turmstrasse Remix)
10. Giana Factory: Dirty Snow (Trentemøller Remix)
11. Trentemøller: Neverglade (Instrumental Version)

Trentemøller w/ Full Band Live In Concert
10/12 - Boston, MA - Royale
10/13 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of the Living Arts
10/14 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
10/15 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis
10/16 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix
10/18 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10/19 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
10/21 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
10/22 - Salt Lake City, UT - Complex
10/ 25 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee
10/26 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
10/27 - Los Angeles, CA - The Music Box
10/29 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
10/31 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
11/01 - Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market
11 /02- Vancouver, BA - Commodore


For more info, please visit:


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9/13/2011

The Horrors @ Detroit Bar







THE HORRORS are playing tonight with The Stepkids at Detroit Bar, Sept 13th. And on Thursday, Sept 15th, at the El Rey.
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Patrick Wolf @ Hollywood Forever





Patrick Wolf plays Hollywood Forever tonight Sept 13th, and tomorrow too.
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9/09/2011

Liars @ Space 1520



LIARS are playing Space 1520 tomorrow, September 10th, 7pm
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9/08/2011

Jim Jones Revue @ the Echo



JIM JONES REVUE is playing the Echo tonight, September 8th, 2011.
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9/07/2011

First Aid Kit @ Troubadour



FIRST AID KIT return to LA on November 8th, 2011, at the Troubadour for the first time.
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Psychic Ills "Hazed Dream"

PSYCHIC ILLS ANNOUNCE THEIR 3RD ALBUM & SACRED BONES DEBUT
HAZED DREAM

HEAR "MIND DAZE" OVER AT THE FADER

VIEW TEASER OF HAZED DREAM



There are seekers and there are reapers -- those who head out into the ether with an open head to whatever magic they might find, and those who would wait until the light of day to cherry-pick only the spangliest bits for future broadcast. Psychic Ills are most certainly seekers, but with their third album and Sacred Bones debut, Hazed Dream, the New York outfit discover a rare alchemy that's as thrilling for the journey as it is for what it delivers: eleven psychedelically surging platters awash in warm tones, imbued with a tangible ease, and anchored by Tres Warren's eternally unruffled voice.

The man's own explanation says as much as a dozen press releases could, even if he says relatively little: "Some developments in our lives led to new approaches. The music came out the old fashioned way ... a way that had been avoided for a while. It was about putting some words to some chords and keeping it simple. Getting back to something. Feeling a feeling. Shaking out the NY brain boil. Movin' away from some old bad vibes, by creating some new good ones. Dreaming out the bad. Takin' it easy on ourselves, and those around us. This album lives in a sunny place. A half memory. A hazed dream."

But Tres, bassist Elizabeth Hart and drummer Brian Tamborello have been winding their way to this beatific space for a good while. Psychic Ills was born as an experiment in home recording in 2003, and quickly evolved into an exercise in all-night full-band exploration in a neighborhood where noise wasn't a problem. Their earliest travels-on long-lost vinyl or otherwise unreleased-were eventually rounded up in Early Violence, but it was 2006's LP debut Dins (also on Social Registry) that captured the squalling guitars, tribal rhythms and molasses-thick atmosphere the group was known to summon live.

The clang and chaos dissipated for 2009's Mirror Eye, which found the Ills with all hands on a synthesizer at some point. The album was a sonic palate cleanser, an oft improvised dive into deep drone and electronic buzz that earned them road time with Butthole Surfers and the Melvins, as well as shows with spiritual forebearer Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3, who the band first came in contact with when he remixed a song for one of their first releases. Over the next year, a handful of small-run releases (Astral Occurrence, Catoptric, Telesthetic Tape) displayed a band loyally free-wheeling their way toward some ineffable nugget of truth, while a FRKWYS remix EP saw the Ills reworked by the likes of legends: Gibby Haynes, Juan Atkins, and Faust's Hans-Joachim Irmler.

Enter Hazed Dream, which trades the hypnotic for the happily narcotic. Recorded live to tape by Mitch Rackin (Gang Gang Dance, Black Dice) at Brooklyn's Seaside Lounge, the album shows the Ills' evolved ear for divine songcraft, from lazily ambling opener "Midnight Moon," held together by whirring organ tones and hand-smacked percussion, to the vaguely samba-like closer, "Same Old Song," which gets its groove from loping bass and fuzzed-up guitar. In between, of course, are sunburned mantras colored by Eastern melodies ("Incense Head"), blues-damaged come-ons complete with blasted harmonica solos ("Mexican Wedding"), and humid, dust-caked tributes to nomadic living ("Travelin' Man").

"I was walking down the highway in Heaven," Tres sings on the pastoral rambler, "Ring Finger," and before long he adds, "It was an easy time." We can always count on Psychic Ills to remind us that no matter what shape the destination takes, it is, truly, the trip that matters.

hazed dream_albumart

PSYCHIC ILLS

HAZED DREAM

SACRED BONES

STREET DATE: OCTOBER, 18th 2011

1. Midnight Moon

2. Mind Daze

3. Incense Head

4. Mexican Wedding

5. That's Alright

6. Ring Finger

7. Travelin' Man

8. Sungaze

9. Dream Repetiton

10. I'll Follow You Through the Floor

11. Same Old Song


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9/06/2011

First Aid Kit "Dancing Barefoot"


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9/05/2011

The Horrors come to Los Angeles









THE HORRORS return to Southern California for the first time in two years. They are playing four shows in the southland. They are playing with The Stepkids. The tour dates announced are as follows:


9/10 – San Francisco, CA – Bimbo’s 365 Club

9/12 – Pomona, CA – The Glass House

9/13 – Costa Mesa, CA – The Detroit Bar

9/15 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theater

9/16 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
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9/03/2011

Iggy and The Stooges @ Hollywood Palladium



Breaking news! Iggy and The Stooges have canceled and postponed the Hollywood show on September 7th and the whole west coast tour this week. Iggy has broken his foot and needs 6-8 weeks to heal. Stayed tuned for more news and new dates.
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Jim Jones Revue @ the Echo




JIM JONES REVUE will be playing at the ECHO on THURSDAY September 8th. They are one of the best rock and roll live bands today. In celebration of all those great shows over this year, we are giving away two pairs of tickets to you amazing LA music lovers out there. All you have to do is send your name or email address and mention JIM JONES REVUE.

To win, please do one of the following:

1) Leave a comment below with name or email.
2) Follow us on twitter, or
3) send an email to PORTINFINITE @ aol.com and we will pick a winner.

Don't just stand around. This is for real. Enter sooner than later. Good luck.
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9/01/2011

Unknown Mortal Orchestra


Unknown Mortal Orchestra announces Fall headlining dates, watch their Noisey.com feature now

VIDEO: Noisey.com feature -

http://www.noisey.com/#!/view/meet-unknown-mortal-orchestra

STREAM: "Little Blu House" -

http://soundcloud.com/fatpossum/unknown-mortal-orchestra-1


Unknown Mortal Orchestra (photo by Angel Ceballos)

Unknown Mortal Orchestra already has an insane touring schedule for the rest of 2011, today the band added even more North American dates to their tour, which will find the band headlining in October.



Bio:

Unknown Mortal Orchestra first dropped into the world in late 2010 as a bandcamp account carrying a single called "Ffunny Ffrends."

"Ffunny Ffrends" was everything you imagined it might be - alien beatnik pop music that echoed 60s psychedelia and krautrock minimalism with just a hint of gentle weirdness that suggested its roots might equally lie in the verdant indie of the equally distant New Zealand scene.

Ruban Nielson is a New Zealand native who had transplanted to Portland, Oregon with his band Mint Chicks. UMO was a project conceived as Ruban's escape hatch to a new musical dimension where his vision of junkshop record collector pop could be realized in a sound that recalled Captain Beefheart, Sly Stone and RZA jamming on some kids TV theme too dark to ever be broadcast.

Out of the home studio, Ruban was joined by local Portland producer Jake Portrait on bass and teenage prodigy Julien Ehrlich on drums. They have been on the road all year, sleeping in ditches and running drunkenly from venues when need be, curling ears and turning heads with their intoxicating sound all the way.



UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA

09/08 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater / MFNW %
09/09 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club #
09/10 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Festival $
09/11 Washington, DC Black Cat #
09/12 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church #
09/14 New York, NY Webster Hall #
09/15 Brooklyn, NY Glasslands Gallery +
09/16 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club #
09/17 Montreal, QC Cabaret Mile End #
09/18 Toronto, ON Opera House #
09/19 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre #
09/20 Bloomington, IN The Bishop #
09/21 Grinnell, IA Grinnel College Gardner Lounge
09/22 Urbana, IL Pygmalion #
09/23 Cincinnati, OH Midpoint Music Festival #
09/24 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall #
09/25 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock #
09/26 Fargo, ND The Aquarium (Dempseys Upstairs)
09/28 Seattle, WA The Crocodile #
09/29 Vancouver, BC Venue #
09/30 Portland, OR Branx #
10/01 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall #
10/02 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall #
10/03 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre #
10/04 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
10/05 Tucson, AZ Club Congress
10/06 El Paso, TX Lowbrow Palace #
10/07 Dallas, TX Club Dada #
10/08 Austin, TX The Mohawk #
10/09 Houston, TX Fitzgerald's #
10/10 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jack's #
10/11 Tallahassee, FL Club Downunder #
10/12 Mobile, AL Alabama Music Box
10/13 Birmingham, AL Bottletree #
10/14 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade #
10/15 Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern #

10/16 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle

10/17 Winston-Salem, NC The Werehouse

10/18 Richmond, VA Strange Matter

10/19 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's

10/25 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place

10/28 Columbia, MO University of Missouri

10/29 St. Louis, MO Billiken Club

10/30 Kansas City, MO Recordbar

10/31 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge

11/05 Santa Cruz, CA 418 Project

11/06 San Diego, CA Casbah

11/07 Oakland, CA The New Parish

* = w/ The Submarines
# = w/ Toro Y Moi
% = w/ Little Dragon
$ = w/ Times New Viking
+ = w/ Woven Bones, Blouse, Man/Miracle


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