12/27/2016

The Smell announces 19th Anniversary Weekend Celebration events

The Smell announces 19th Anniversary Weekend Celebration events, featuring No Age, Ty Segall, Best Coast, Bleached & much more!

3-nights of events planned at The Smell and The Belasco Theater Jan. 6, 7 & 8 with proceeds going to The Smell's relocation fund
 
 
The Smell announces its 19th Anniversary events, which will feature three nights of events, starting with a Penniback Records night at The Smell on Jan. 6 (full details below), followed by a special off-site concert at The Belasco Theater on Jan. 7 (see flyer above, full details below), and a Danger Collective Records night at The Smell on Jan. 8 (full details below). Proceeds from all three nights will go towards The Smell's Relocation Fund (more on that here) #savethesmell
Night 1: Jan. 6 @ The Smell
Penniblack Records presents:
Jurassic Shark
Super Lunch
Clit Kat
Kuromi
8pm
$10 / all ages
Tickets at the door
Night 2: Jan. 7 @ The Belasco Theater
No Age
Best Coast

Bleached
Ty Segall
Vice Cooler
Special Surprise Guest
5pm
$35 / all ages
Tickets
Night 3: Jan. 8 @ The Smell
Danger Collective Records presents:
Current Joys (member of Surf Curse)
TEEKS
BOYO (solo)
Momma
8pm
$10 / all ages
Tickets at the door

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12/23/2016

NIN Not The Actual Events EP Out Now

Not The Actual Events
NOT THE ACTUAL EVENTS EP OUT NOW
Late last year, Reznor declared, "New NIN coming in 2016.  Other stuff, too.”  The other stuff amounted to the scores for NASA's Juno short film, the climate change documentary “Before the Flood” (featuring the song “A Minute To Breathe”) and the about-to-be-released Peter Berg film “Patriots Day”.  Now just in time he makes good on the Nine Inch Nails side of things.
Not The Actual Events, the new 5 song EP finds Reznor and now official bandmate Atticus Ross taking an unexpected left turn from 2013’s Hesitation Marks and sounding unrecognizable from their current film work.
“It’s an unfriendly, fairly impenetrable record that we needed to make” says Reznor.  “It’s an EP because that ended up being the proper length to tell that story.”
Not The Actual Events is self-released and is available now on all digital platforms. The NIN store is offering two formats:  180g 1-sided Vinyl, and a unique limited Digital + Physical Component version. Preorders of 180g vinyl will receive high resolution digital files instantly.

LISTEN

PURCHASE
 
Burning Bright (Field On Fire)
BURNING BRIGHT (FIELD ON FIRE)

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12/20/2016

Nashville Musician Jessi Zazu (Those Darlins) Announces New Project and Medical Bill Fundraising Effort

Nashville Musician Jessi Zazu Announces New Project And Medical Bill Fundraising Effort

The Former Lead Singer Of Those Darlins Has Recently Been Diagnosed With Metastatic Cancer
photo by Jeanette D. Moses for Paste Magazine

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Former lead singer of local band Those Darlins Jessi Zazu has been facing serious health issues since she was diagnosed with cancer seven months ago. This October, she learned that her cancer had metastasized, and her fight against the disease will last longer than originally anticipated. To help cover the cost of living expenses and bills, she has launched a fundraising website at https://www.youcaring.com/jessizazu-718972.

Despite her diagnosis, Zazu has been working on art and music projects, including a new album. Please find her official statement here:

As most of you know, Those Darlins decided to call it quits as a band in early 2016. We all mutually felt it was time to take a step back and pursue other projects, and it has been a really good decision for all of us. My plan was to continue on exploring my own musical path with my bandmate Linwood Regensburg, and we had a baby project in the oven even as we were finishing up our final blow-out tour with Those Darlins (which was a blast!).

Although I was in poor health during the span of that tour, I never would have guessed that a week after I arrived back to my home in Nashville, Tennessee I would be hospitalized and diagnosed with stage 2 cervical cancer. It came as a big shock, and my plans for making music and forging ahead in my art career suddenly took a back seat. I decided to keep the news relatively private, because I was hoping I could complete the treatment, beat the cancer, and move on from a temporary road block.

Unfortunately, this November, I found out that the cancer had already metastasized and spread through my lymphatic system, probably before I was first diagnosed. This is typically what they would call a "no cure scenario", but I refuse to believe that to be the case. I feel healthy, happy, hopeful, determined, positive, and full of sparks and nails. In a sense: there's a tumor growing on my body, I don't know what lays in store, but I ain't afraid anymore. Yes, I guess I am a mystic mind after all.

photo by Linwood Regensburg

In these next few months I plan to continue recording with Linwood and looking forward to a musical future with the world. I also am working on a visual art show about my experiences this year.

Zazu elaborates further on her experience and new project in this video.

(Those who want to send Jessi notes, CDs or art to wish her well should address all mail to Jessi Zazu, P.O. Box 92017, Nashville, TN 37209)

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Tristen releases charity holiday song; announces tour with Vanessa Carlton

TRISTEN RELEASES A HOLIDAY SONG 
"IN WINTER BLUES"
TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE

ANNOUNCES 2017 TOUR WITH VANESSA CARLTON 
“Nashville’s best-kept secret” (The Boston Globe) singer-songwriter and poet Tristen, releases a stunningly somber and beautifully orchestrated original holiday song, "In Winter Blues," to raise money for the International Rescue Committee, an organization founded by Albert Einstein and currently helping vulnerable families caught in the world’s worst humanitarian crises to survive and rebuild their lives.

A farewell to an old love, "In Winter Blues" portrays the devastating loneliness of being single during the holidays, where the songwriter “cried behind the evergreen” and boasts that “real friends make a toast to remind me they never liked you anyway." In addition to its lush arrangement and pristine vocals, the song features Nashville pedal steel legend Jim Hoke (NRBQ, Dolly Parton, Billy Joel) and local folk darling, Erin Rae McKaskle on backing vocals. 

Tristen gained notice as an artist with “pop hooks and pure inspiration” (NPR) through her 2011 folk-oriented recordCharlatans at the Garden Gate and was later recast as “a synth-pop siren” (SPIN) by her 2013 record CAVES. Outlets including Rolling StoneThe Wall Street Journal, and KCRW have all recognized Tristen’s skill as a songwriter and performer. Tristen spent 2015 as a backing singer and keyboard player in Jenny Lewis’s band and released her first book of poetry, Saturnine, earlier this fall which features a foreword by rock and roll poet Ezra Furman.

Public link to download and donation here:
https://tristen.bandcamp.com

***
Tristen will be joining Vanessa Carlton on her 2017 US & Canada tour dates listed below.

22-Feb - Indianapolis, IN - Schrott Center for the Performing Arts
23-Feb - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
24-Feb - Chicago, IL - City Winery
25-Feb - Evanston, IL - SPACE
26-Feb - Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theatre
28-Feb - Columbus, OH - Rumba Cafe
2-Mar - Stratford, ON - Masonic Hall
3-Mar - Toronto, ON - The Great Hall
4-Mar - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount
6-Mar - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
7-Mar - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse Music Hall
9-Mar - Bay Shore, NY - YMCA Boulton Ctr. For The Perf. Arts
10-Mar - New York, NY - City Winery
11-Mar - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
12-Mar - Richmond, VA - Tin Pan
16-Mar - Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere
17-Mar - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
18-Mar - Atlanta, GA - City Winery
19-Mar - Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley
21-Mar - Birmingham, AL - WorkPlay
23-Mar - San Antonio, TX - Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
24-Mar - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
25-Mar - Austin, TX - The Parish Room


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IMMERSION Analogue Creatures Living On An Island



IMMERSION  Analogue Creatures Living On An Island OUT 25 NOV 2016 - PRE ORDER NOW

1. Always The Sea
2. Nanocluster
3. Fireflys
4. Shapeshifters
5. Living On An Island
6. Mechanical Creatures
7. Spinner
8. Organic Cities
9. Slow Light



Immersion’s new album of seductive instrumentals takes in a wide range of moods and energies. Their music is a kind of Electro-Kosmishe - the sound of the 21st century, which nonetheless draws inspiration from German pioneers such as Cluster and Popol Vuh. And, like those groups, Immersion can create a world which is simultaneously devotional and sensual.

Combining the considerable talents of Malka Spigel of Minimal Compact and Colin Newman of Wire, Immersion is a true collaboration, with no delineation between who plays or does what.  “We don’t have fixed roles in Immersion,” says Spigel. Newman concurs: “You can’t really tell who plays what.” 
Between 1994 and 1999, Immersion released three critically acclaimed albums of expansive instrumental electronica – music which encompassed the meditative and the hallucinatory. They also garnered remixes by some of the biggest names in electronic music. And then?  Then, they faded from view…

Cut to a mere 17 years later, and a new Immersion album glides into earshot. Their sound is unmistakable. And yet, clearly, the duo have evolved. Immersion has returned a different beast. The pulsing and sliding analogue synths are still present and correct. Indeed, the stately and plaintive Mechanical Creatures, with its constantly evolving web of analogue synth throbs, could easily find a home on Fripp and Eno’s classic Evening Star album. But there are also several sonic advancements from Immersion’s previous recordings.

The most noticeable differences are the introduction of guitars into the mix and an increased sense of urgency to their compositions. This means Analogue Creatures Living On An Island cannot be classified as ambient music. Although it does have its contemplative moments - such as the gently unfolding Slow Light - the majority of the album is powered by a strong sense of motion. Nanocluster is a tense and insistent composition. Coming over like the score to some futuristic spy film, it demonstrates Immersion’s skill at creating miniature sound worlds alive with detail. Meanwhile, the urgent forward propulsion of Organic Cities weaves in shades of prime era Tangerine Dream - and may well be the album’s highlight. The fact the album has been largely constructed using analogue instrumentation rather than digital, definitely gives it a warmth and depth which sets it apart.

During Immersion’s 17 years hiatus, Spigel and Newman have been far from idle. Spigel released acclaimed solo albums, exhibited her distinctive photography, and performed sold-out shows with a reformed Minimal Compact. Newman helmed the revitalised Wire through a series of stunning gigs and poll-topping albums.  Besides which, the pair collaborated with Max Franken and Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner) as Githead, purveyors of skewed art-pop. And yet, despite all these outlets for their creativity, they decided the time was right to reactivate Immersion. “It felt like the right moment for us to do something with synths again,” says Newman. “We had the urge to create instrumental, free-flowing music, which didn’t depend on any kind of verse/chorus/middle eight format. Music that could also be propulsive with out resorting to any kind of obvious drumming.”
And it’s true the album exhibits a very organic flow. Another contributory factor could well be the duo’s relocation from London to Brighton.  “We live ten minutes away from the sea,” says Spigel. “We walk by it almost every day. It’s different every time we see it, even every hour.  We’ve definitely been inspired by the light and the sound.” This influence is perhaps heard most strongly on Spinner, the sonic equivalent of a bright spray of light radiating across a seascape.   

Analogue Creatures Living On An Island is the point where Immersion emerge from being one of the UK electronica scene’s best kept secrets, and gain the recognition they so richly deserve.

VINYL
For those who prefer vinyl, the album is available spread across two 10” singles: Analogue Creatures and Living On An Island.

The tracklisting is the same – only the running order differs. Analogue Creatures is Out Now. Living On an Island is released on 25 November.

1. Always The Sea
2. Shapeshifters
3. Organic Cities
4. Mechanical Creatures
5. Slow Light

1. Fireflys
2. Nanocluster
3. Spinner
4. Living On An Island

GIGS
Immersion only rarely plays live – just two appearances up to the beginning of 2016 – but occasional live shows are now taking place. The most recent, our third in 2016, was at the Pop-Kultur Festival in Berlin in early September, as a collaboration with Ronald Lippok. You can read a review of it on the Quietus. The next will be at The Verdict, in Brighton, on 1 October as part of the Coloured Memories event. This is followed by a show on 19 November at the Ozen Bar, Tel Aviv, and will include a collaboration with Ulrich Schnauss.

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12/19/2016

Jesca Hoop: 2017 Tour Dates to support "Memories Are Now" + "Behind The Scenes" short film, BBC6 Session

Jesca Hoop schedules 2017 U.S. and U.K. Tour Dates

New album Memories Are Now available February 10th
Photo credit: Angel Ceballos
Watch Behind The Scenes short film
YouTube: http://u.subpop.com/2hE0SsA

BBC 6 Radio Session
YouTube: http://u.subpop.com/2hGMj7g
Jesca Hoop has scheduled 2017 tour dates to follow her forthcoming Sub Pop debut Memories Are Now, available February 10th.

The U.S. shows begin February 26th in Austin, TX and includestops in Philadelphia, Atlanta, DC, Boston, New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The U.K. shows begin March 28th and include stops in London, Leeds, Bristol, Norwich, Manchester, Brighton, and Cambridge. Additional live dates will be announced soon. Please visit www.jescahoop.com/tour for updates.

Feb. 26 - Austin, TX -  3TEN @ Austin City Limits Live
Feb. 28 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
Mar. 02 - Vienna, VA - Jammin’ Java
Mar. 05 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle
Mar. 06 - Allston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
Mar. 08 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
Mar. 14 - Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
Mar. 17 - Seattle, WA - Fremont Abbey Arts Center
Mar. 18 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
Mar. 20 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
Mar. 21 - Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy
Mar. 28 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
Mar. 29 - London, UK - The Lexington
Mar. 30 - Bristol, UK - Exchange
Apr. 02 - Norwich, UK - Epic Studios
Apr. 03 - Cambridge, UK - Portland Arms
Apr. 04 - Brighton, UK - Patterns
Apr. 06 - Manchester, UK -  Gorilla


Memories Are Now is an album of stunning original songs, raw yet brimming with energy, forged from rich life experience and emotional depth. Beautifully delivered by an artist that has steadfastly honed her unique craft of musical storytelling.
For an in-depth insight into the recording of the Memories Are Now, please view this short film  [YouTube]. The release of Memories Are Now comes on the heels of Love Letter for Fire, Jesca’sacclaimed duets album with Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam. Memories Are Now was recorded at NRG Studios, produced by Blake Mills (Alabama Shakes), engineered by Eric Caudieux, mixed by Greg Koller and mastered by Ian Sefchick at Capitol Mastering. 
Jesca recently recorded an intimate performance on Marc Riley’s BBC 6 radio show, which features select tracks off her new album [watch here].

Memories Are Now will be released on CD / LP / DL and is available for pre-order now [link]. LP pre-orders through megamart.subpop.com will receive the limited Loser Edition on gold colored vinyl (while supplies last).




















































































































#jescahoop
#memoriesarenow
#thelostsky
#blakemills
#subpop

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Julie Byrne shares "Follow My Voice," new album 'Not Even Happiness' out 1/27

JULIE BYRNE SHARES "FOLLOW MY VOICE"

NEW ALBUM, NOT EVEN HAPPINESS, 
OUT 1/27
VIA BA DA BING & BASIN ROCK RECORDS

Photo Credit: Jonathan Bouknight

LISTEN TO "FOLLOW MY VOICE"


Nomadic singer-songwriter Julie Byrne, has shared "Follow My Voice," the opening track from her upcoming album, Not Even HappinessStereogum, who interviewed Byrne today and premiered the track, are saying "Byrne is one of the finest contemporary examples of an artist who can do so much for the soul by lending you some of hers."

A more confident beast than her debut, Not Even Happiness adds atmospheric instrumentation and electronic flourishes to Byrne's unusual guitar tunings and fingerpicked melodies, moving the songs from the front-porch into subtle anthemia. Not Even Happiness is available for pre-order now and due out January 27th via Ba Da Bing Records in North America and Basin Rock in Europe. 

Julie Byrne has also announced a record release show on 1/27 at Rough Trade NYC. Details below.

LISTEN TO PREVIOUS SINGLE "NATURAL BLUE"

TOUR DATES:
1/27 - Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade NYC *


PRAISE FOR JULIE BYRNE:
"With grace and acuity, Byrne shows how the most commonplace aspects of life can turn supernatural if you tilt your eye a way, how the simplest things-melodies, open space, the sky-are often the strongest." - Pitchfork

"With her softly echoing guitar and slight strings, Byrne channels some ancient wavelength, then suddenly sticks a pin in the universal." -NPR

"So perfect it's hard to believe it's real... Songs that feel complete, fully formed, as if they came to us via nature." -USA Today

"Layers of acoustic guitar and self-harmonies hitting like the water and the sky meeting, violins threading between them like ships against the horizon." - Consequence of Sound

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Judy Collins - Love Letter To Sondheim

Judy Collins "Love Letter To Sondheim"
coming to DVD and home video platforms February 24th

Collins takes the audience through Sondheim's remarkable treasure-trove of music

A Love Letter to Stephen Sondheim was filmed in May 2016 at The Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver, CO. Judy Collinstakes the audience through Sondheim's remarkable treasure-trove of music, interweaving stories of Broadway with her personal anecdotes. 

"I have loved the songs and the shows of Stephen Sondheim since recording "Send in the Clowns" in my album Judith in 1974," said Collins "My version of the great Sondheim ballad has garnered a Grammy, the top ten slot in Billboard twice in a decade, and is still played on the radio all over the world. Ever since the success of "Send in the Clowns" I have longed to sing the rest of Sondheim's greatest songs. Now, I have the opportunity do to that. These songs glow with familiarity and inhabit the rooms and vistas of all our lives, scenes and melodies from "Little Night Music," "Sweeney Todd," "Sundays in the Park with George," "Company," "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Into the Woods." I pray to do justice to these great songs, and to their composer, one of our National Treasures, Stephen Sondheim."

All orchestrations are by Jonathan Tunick, who has been orchestrating Stephen Sondheim's musicals for decades. Tunicks's orchestration was used by Collins for "Send in the Clowns, " bring Sondheim his only chart topping song in his esteemed history. Collins is joined on the program by the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Glen Cortese.

The DVD can be ordered at the MVD Shop or on Amazon

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12/16/2016

The 50 Best records of 2016




BEST Records of 2016

1. DAVID BOWIE “Blackstar”
2. LEONARD COHEN “You Want It Darker”
3. MITSKI “Puberty 2”
4. SWANS “Glowing Man”
5. KEVIN MORBY “Singing Saw”
6. THEE OH SEES “Weird Exits”
7. SAVAGES “Adore Life”
8. DEATH GRIPS “Bottomless Pit”
9. ANGEL OLSEN “My Woman”
10. WARPAINT “Heads Up”


WARPAINT

11. IGGY POP “Post Pop Depression”
12. BAT FOR LASHES “The Bride”
13. WEYES BLOOD “Front Row Seat to Earth”
14. ITASCA “Open To Chance”
15. PSYCHIC ILLS “Inner Journey Out”
16. SCOTT WALKER “Childhood Of A Leader”
17. STILL CORNERS “Dead Blue”
18. HOPE SANDOVAL and the Warm Inventions “Until The Hunter”
19. CATE LE BON “Crab Day”
20. HERON OBLIVION “Heron Oblivion”

BAT FOR LASHES

STILL CORNERS

 CATE LE BON

21. THE GROWLERS “City Club”
22. HAMILTON LEITHAUSER “I Had A Dream You Were Mine”
23. NICOLAS JAAR “Sirens”
24. CONOR OBERST “Ruminations”
25. TY SEGALL “Emotional Mugger”
26. SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS “SVIIB”
27. WIRE “Nocturnal Koreans”
28. ANOHNI “Hopelessness”
29. NICK CAVE “Skeleton Tree”
30. AGNES OBEL “Citizen of Glass”

WIRE

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS

31. DEVENDRA BANHART “Ape In Pink Marble”
32. HALEY BONAR “Impossible Dream”
33. JULIA JACKLIN “Don’t Let The Kids Win”
34. FRANKIE COSMOS “Next Thing”
35. PARQUET COURTS “Human Performance”
36. VUM “Cryptocrystalline”
37. JULIANNA BARWICK “Will”
38. JAPANESE BREAKFAST “Psychopomp”
39. SUNFLOWER BEAN “Human Ceremony”
40. MARISSA NADLER “Strangers”

 VUM

41. AURORA “All My Demons Greeting Me A Friend”
42. JOSEPH HEIN “AM Gold”
43. DIANE BIRCH “Nous”
44. AUTOLUX “Pussy’s Dead”
45. TIM PRESLEY “The Wink”
46. ALLAH LAS “Calico Review”
47. NITE JEWEL “Liquid Cool”
48. SUZANNE VEGA “Lover, Beloved”
49. THE MYSTERY LIGHTS “Mystery Lights”

50. TACOCAT “Lost Time”

TIM PRESLEY



photos by Angel Ceballos


Here is a Spotify Playlist of the best 2016 music: https://play.spotify.com/user/1255538808/playlist/13vgy0dWxjIms0EUXXGJcN



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