The Dears Tour the World, Share Video Gang of Losers? Pshaw! Just look at those in that there press photo.
They are looking mighty swank, mighty swank indeed. And not the least bit loser-y. However, it takes a pretty penny to score such nice digs, and the Murray Lightburn-fronted Montreal sextet probably has a few bills to pay off, so they re taking to the open road this fall.
The tour kicked off last night in Bristol, and continues across England and Europe before swinging back this way for a Canadian homecoming (including an impressive four gigs at Toronto s Lee s Palace) and, finally, eight U.S. dates.
Expect a full-fledged tour of the States early next year.
Joining the Dears for those States dates are fellow signings , comprised of Montreal residents Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless. If you can t wait until spring 2007 to scoop up the Young Galaxy debut, click for a (zipped) mp3 of their gorgeous, cosmic spiritual Swing Your Heartache .
On a more serious note, click below as well to check out the new video for the Dears Whites Only Party , from Gang of Losers, which juxtaposes footage of civil rights activists with film snippets of corny, Hollywood-groomed drones and shots of the band rocking a live gig. Food for thought, as they say. .
I think it s fantastic, in both the great sense of the word and the fantasy sense of the word. There is absolutely nothing realistic about Wind It Up ; it takes place in a world where things like taste and genre and authenticity don t exist. Whether or not you want to live in that world is up to you.
The Neptunes-produced Wind It Up is from s second solo album, The Sweet Escape, due out December 5. And speaking of unrealistic worlds, the album features contributions from Gwen s No Doubt bandmate Tony Kanal, Akon, Nellee Hooper, Sean Garrett, Swizz Beatz, the Eurythmics Dave Stewart and..
.wait for it..
.Keane s Tim Rice-Oxley. (No, .
The other guy.) Also due out on December 5 is Harajuku Lovers Live, a Gwen concert DVD filmed by Sophie Muller. Stefani plans to tour America next April.
? What do you get when you put Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Simon Tong (The Verve), and Tony Allen (Fela Kuti) together in a room, and then throw producer Danger Mouse in for good measure? Well, judging from History Song , it kinda sounds like Gorillaz minus the hip-hop influence.
On the lead-off track from supergroup s (due out early January), lo-fi acoustic guitar bumps up against eerie piano and scratchy sound effects, creating a mysterious mood perfect for soundtracking scenes of cartoon intrigue. Tonight in London, the Good The Bad and the Queen will perform (or perhaps are performing as we speak!) their debut album in its entirety as part of the festival.
You can stream the concert .
Friends of B.P.
turn out in earnest Don t let his slightly unkempt appearance fool ya-- Athens, Georgia resident (also known as the living Bryan Poole) shaves and showers at least twice a week. Okay-- actually we have no clue about the man s personal grooming habits, but we do know that however cleanly he is now, he s about to get significantly less so, because it s time for him to sleep on floors, subsist on two-week old tuna sandwiches, and spend 90% of his waking hours trapped in a moving vehicle. Yep, it s tour time!
guitarist and dabbler the Late B.P. kicks off his own jaunt tonight at his hometown s 40 Watt Club.
Along the way he ll cross paths with Magnolia Electric Co. and Bishop Allen for a couple one-off shows. As an introduction to the Late B.
P. s world, why not check out the exclusive mp3 below? A high-energy cover of 60s Brit pop-rockers the Move s Lightning Never Strikes Twice , it features Helium along with Ben Crum on guitar, s Ed Livengood on drums, and Casper Fandango of on bass.
Dig it. Looks like we re in for five more festival-filled summers here in Chicago. Yesterday, s organizers signed a contract with the city to hold their annual extravaganza in downtown s Grant Park through 2011.
In exchange for the privilege of bringing boatloads of bands to the beautiful lakefront location, Lollapalooza will pay five million dollars to the s , reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The money will go towards our ability to fund new projects, youth programs and greening initiatives throughout Chicago s parks, according to a quote from Parkways Foundation president Laura Barnett in a press release. The 2007 festival will take place August 3-5, and according to the Sun-Times, may include up to 15,000 more people allowed per day, bringing the daily total up from 60,000 to 75,000, if the event sells out.
That s a lot of Porta Potties.
Friends of P. turn out in earnest Don t let those boyish good looks fool ya-- Abilene, Texas resident writes and sings as though he s weathered far more years than he actually has, being only in his early twenties.
hit us with Micah P. Hinson and the Opera Circuit earlier this month, and now not-so-little Micah takes to the tour circuit in support of the fine disc.
Along the way he ll cross paths with for a string of dates, and play one-offs with Figurines, Matt Pond PA, and Steve Shelley s Two Dollar Guitar.
As an introduction to Micah s world, why not check out the exclusive mp3 below? A quick, celebratory jam flecked with banjo plucks, Opera Circuit standout Letter to Huntsville delivers. Madlib, Madvillain Unveil Chrome Children Videos have finished their trilogy of videos for tracks from s recent Chrome Children compilation, and like the one for Dilla s Nothing Like This , they feature plenty of amorphous animated characters in ominous situations.
The main character in Daniel Garcia and art collective s video for s Take It Back (heavily edited for cursing) rides in a pink Cadillac while evil bunnies exchange money and burn the city around him. So he gets away by having his chauffeur drive the car into the sea, where there are..
. MORE EVIL BUNNIES!
Garcia also directed the video for s anti-nine-to-fivers anthem, Monkey Suite , this time along with visual effects group .
Doom is the star among a host of blank-eyed suits going about their business while he gets to host his own talk show and unleash energy force fields.
Here s something I will never understand: the supposed coolness of . him.
. . Yet he remains a bald British dude who sings and plays drums at the same time.
(Yes, I know he was on that Eno album. No, that doesn t absolve him.)
Nonetheless, this trailer for the video game, coming to PSPs on October 31, is pretty fun.
It features a creepy digital version of uncle Phil performing In the Air Tonight at some place called Hyman Memorial Stadium , which is either a dirty joke or a touching tribute to Phyllis Hyman. Elf Power, Melvins, Patton Oswalt Perform for Chunklet
So do the Jesus Lizard's David Yow, Harvey Milk, Zach Galifianakis, Big Business, and more throws a four-day bash in celebration of their 13-year anniversary? , clearly.
The publication has prepared an action-packed blowout to run from today through Sunday evening, and a slew of its favorite artists (and comedians, and puppet show acts) are diving in headfirst for the party. Of course, all of these bands suck and are totally overrated.
(the Jesus Lizard), Patton Oswalt, Zach Galiafinakis, Elf Power, Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Scharpling and Wurster), Harvey Milk, Tenement Halls, the Rattler, Big Business (performing in and before the Melvins), puppet crew Pull the String Players, and of four Georgia venues this weekend-- the 40 Watt Club, the Drunken Unicorn, Variety Playhouse, and WhirlyBall Atlanta.
The last place will serve as Well, well, well. Looks like are up to their old tricks again: releasing bong-loads of recordings, luring the kids out to live shows, and collaborating, side-projecting, and multimedia-mongering all willy-nilly-- last I heard, Thurston Moore was starting an improv noise ensemble with your mom. Anyhow, this latest dispatch on Youth-ful happenings may include any or all of the following: (1) info on a new B-sides/rarities comp; (2) SY s thoughts on label limbo; (3) info on the U.
S. premiere of and associates Perfect Partner; (4) side project mania; and (5) tour hysteria.
First up, the rarities comp.
Titled The Destroyed Room: B-Sides and Rarities, according to Billboard.com, the disc arrives December 12 via Geffen. Sonic Youth s and culled the collection s selections from the back sides of singles, various compilations, and bonus cuts from international editions of SY releases.
While the final tracklist has yet to be determined, The Destroyed Room will also a few tunes that even you-- yes you, with the washing machine tattooed on you chest-- have never heard before. Er, maybe.
Following the release of the comp, Sonic Youth become the musical equivalent of a free agent, having fulfilled their contractual obligations with Geffen.
Asked by Billboard.com if the band would stay with their longtime label, bassist Kim Gordon expressed uncertainty. I don t really think they want us to stay.
They fired a few key people working on [Rather Ripped] a week before it came out...
So, I don t know.
There s also talk of an expanded reissue of Daydream Nation-- to the at the Library of Congress-- which a label split might jeopardize.
What is it about today?
Long time no see, members. This evening, indie groovers across North America will welcome the cowbell-totin New Yorkers as they launch their , long-awaited -supporting trek at Washington, DC s 9:30 Club. by the Rapture all the way through the month-long jaunt, including a newly Pure Nightclub with Hot Chip, Whitey, Justice, Digitalism, and more.
appearance at venues across the continent, the Rapture will soon invade your brain for questions to ask the band and submit them . Then maybe, just maybe, you ll hear from the band via telephone during the show s taping! It will air very early on November 12.
Finally, we d like to alert early this month. When discussing some low points of the foursome s (now finished) European tour, he wrote, Waking to a spastic drug dog sniffing my bunk at the Swiss/Italian border. Getting my records and computer stolen at the Barcelona airport (more on this later).
He has yet to elaborate.
Kids have it so good these days. Back when we were wee ones, the coolest music we were exposed to via children s television was reruns of John Denver on The Muppet Show .
But today s tots have , the Washington, D.C.-based variety show that regularly features performances from our favorite bands.
The Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes, Deerhoof, Fiery Furnaces, the Evens, the Go! Team, Ted Leo, Metric, M.I.
A., Scissor Sisters, X, and are just a few of the acts who have guested on Pancake Mountain . Recently, two more leading lights joined that list, as taped an episode on October 9 at the 9:30 Club, and did the same on October 15.
In the first clip, BTS Doug Martsch is caught in an uncomfortable position when he s asked to advertise a sugary cereal; luckily, he s saved by an enormous bearded bald dude with the most mammoth earlobe stretchers I ve ever seen in my life. Then the band plays Big Dipper as a crowd of kids of all ages dances gleefully around them. Lewis and the Watson Twins shimmy in alluring shiny silver dresses (think of the children!
) while singing a new song, Fernando . A couple of their backing musicians are wearing animal costumes. The few kids that catch the camera s eye look bewildered.
very own. The electro-soul man will take on North America beginning tonight with a stint at Austin, Texas Parish. Then it s off across the continent through late November, when Lidell will wrap things up in Atlanta.
commit to those sky-high Ticketmaster fees for Lidell s show? Then drop $3.98 and download two new live (in Paris) videos from Jamie, and , on iTunes and judge for yourself.
It looks like Sweden isn t all clean streets, amazing healthcare, and golden hovercrafts (okay, we re not really sure about that last one). At a performance at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
on Sunday, October 22, Ola Salo-- lead singer of Swedish glam rockers -- made a poorly chosen comment involving an airplane and the White House that almost forced the band to cancel their current tour.
, the band s free set was part of an inauguration celebration of the Embassy s new location on the Potomac River along a popular approach to Reagan National Airport, according to a press release. During the performance, Salo saw a low-flying airplane and joked, In this country, you don t know where those planes are headed.
Well, this one seems to be heading in the right direction anyway...
the White House, before launching into One of Us Is Gonna Die Young, though the band claim the song [was not] in any way mocking President Bush, as [Brit] Hume reported on Fox News. Instead, they say the song is an anthem..
. about the need to celebrate every moment of one s life to the fullest. Because you never know when you might have to explain yourself to a foreign government.
Salo later explained, I meant [the plane] was heading in the right direction-- to the airport. But sometimes when I m onstage, it s my mouth moving and not connected to my brain. I couldn t resist making a joke, and adding the White House.
undies? Check. Ted Leo/Pharmacists, OK Go, Jenny Lewis, Feist?
Check/Check, Check, Check, and Check. Looks like have everything they need for their latest road trip. The foursome will launch its North American tour tonight at Upper Darby, Pennsylvania s Tower Theatre.
(That would be right outside of Philadelphia, folks.) The along the way. December 7.
Attendees are urged to bring a new, unwrapped book or toy to Clipse Release New Video, Push Up Release Date Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes: YES! are back; they re really back!
The latest news on the duo s Hell Hath No Fury LP-- the long-awaited follow-up to 2002 s Lord Willin -- is that the release date has actually been pushed UP from the December 12 to November 28. And this time, we believe it.
Here s a bit of evidence to support our belief: the video for Wamp Wamp (What It Do) [ft.
Slim Thug] , the second track from the record to receive the video treatment, the first being early single .
Wamp Wamp differs from that track in a couple of key ways. First, Pharrell relinquishes any sort of vocal duties, content with just a brief cameo in the R.
Malcolm Jones-directed video. Second, the synthesized fuzz of Mr. Me Too is replaced with live-sounding steel drums and congas wound so tight they sound about to explode.
Pusha T and Malice sound the same way. They bring an infectious energy to their verses while never quite showing their full hands. Slim Thug s Houston drowl (drawl + growl) is another nice addition.
Jones video for the track is standard hip hop fare: fancy cars, beautiful women, and lots of mugging for the camera. But he paces his shots well, keeping things moving and allowing the video to get out of the music s way. And considering how great that music is, we couldn t ask for much more.
And not in the cool way, either It ain t easy being a folk collective in the tumultuous twenty-first century. Philadelphia s discovered that sad truth firsthand this weekend as they attempted to fly out of Los Angeles LAX airport following their performance at the city s festival. While the band members emerged unscathed, one of their treasured instruments did not.
Understandably infuriated, Espers bassist/percussionist Chris Smith told all in a recent bulletin.
According to Smith, airline policy allows a musician to carry on a guitar, provided it s in a soft case. The band have done so numerous times so far this year.
Sometimes we have to assure folks that it is cool, wrote Smith, as the agents at the very front gates can be unaware that it is OK to carry on, but it always works out. We always confirm this when tix are purchased as well as day of flight via phone call.
We did all of this with , the airline in question for this trip.
While Espers had no trouble flying out of Philadelphia for the Arthur gig, flying home was a different story. Gang of Four's Allen Talks Wet Confetti, Faux-Hoax is back in the picture. As , the bassist is heading out to London next week to set the ball rolling on a new record, the post-punk movement isn t all Allen s been up to.
On Tuesday, he spoke with Pitchfork about Portland, Oregon trio . In addition to , Allen contributed bass to the track Sorry Dinosaur , which is available as an exclusive download below. The album, titled Laughing, Gasping, will be It all began with that infectious whistle on , then the unforgettable melodic lilt of Amsterdam , the fuzzed-out verve of Objects of My Affection , and the desolate cold of The Chills -- and before we knew it, Pitchfork was completely won over by , the latest full-length from Stockholm, Sweden-based trio .
Young Folks quickly found its way into our , and earlier this month, Writer s Block finally scored .
Eager to learn more about these latest indie pop ambassadors-- who ve actually been kicking it trio-style since the late 1990s, and as a duo long before that-- Pitchfork recently phoned up PB J s Peter Mor e n for a chat about shared songwriting duties, what keeps Sweden musically savvy, and he and his band s distaste for a certain 29-member indie pop collective.
Pitchfork: Do you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?
Peter Mor e n: Nah, it s too sweet. I like desserts, but the peanut butter-- I m not so sure about that. I d rather have a proper dessert and a proper main course.
Peanut butter and jelly s a mixture.
Pitchfork: Did you purposely configure your bandname so its acronym would be PB J?
Peter: [laughs] It wasn t on purpose.
The thing in the beginning was, we couldn t pick a proper name but then some friend said, Why don t you have your own names? So we started to think about that and after a while it seemed like a very good idea. Because a lot of bands have a pre-formed attitude or formula through their name-- you can tell what kind of music they play just by the name.
I wanted to avoid that and also have a down-to-earth feeling about the whole thing-- that it s just us and our songs, and not a whole big package of attitude and image.
Pitchfork: It seems like a lot of great music is coming out of Sweden these days.
Peter: We have this tradition here of picking up, early on, things from other countries-- like a lot of the jazz musicians went here early on, before they were known in other territories.
And also I think the Beatles did their first tour here outside the UK, so I think things come here quite early and that may have something to do with it. Also, we have this [federally-funded] music school where you can learn to play an instrument quite early on.
For me, personally, we come from really small places in the north of Sweden, and you have far between the houses.
There s a lot of deserted, beautiful nature, but not too many friends to hang out with, so you re really bored and you want to have something to do. And for us it was music.
Pitchfork: What have you been listening to lately?
Peter: I ve been listening a lot to M. Ward s new album [Post-War], and Yo La Tengo, the new one [I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass] quite a lot.
Pitchfork: Is there anything out there you hate, that you can t stand?
Peter: Yeah, there is, but I m not sure I should mention it. It s this Swedish band, I don t know if you can guess-- they ve been reviewed on your site, called . I can t stand them!
The lyrics are terrible! Terrible, terrible lyrics, and it s just too, too happy, and there s no depth at all. And also the idea that they have 29 people on stage and they don t do anything.
They don t sing any harmonies, they just stand around like it s a football crowd or something. It s just to lose money, I think.
Pitchfork: Haha, they re pretty popular in Stockholm and Sweden, right?
Peter: Yeah, they ve been playing them a lot on the radio...
I guess we re in the same league here. Perhaps they are a bit more popular. Those lucky .
First, director Chris Cunningham chose the British punk band as the vehicle through which to make his long-awaited . Now, Nick Zinner of the has shared his production talents with the group (and probably some hair and makeup tips, too.) recently stopped by London s KONK studio to twiddle the knobs on two tracks, Horrors forthcoming debut LP.
In an interview that ran October 18 on the band s MySpace page, Nick Zinner said that the Horrors were very of their final takes with a pint of virgin blood. He also mentioned that he d like to work with the boys again if his schedule allowed it.
Corin Tucker, Mike Mills Play Future of Music Benefit
So do Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, Tom Morello, Allison Moorer, the Coup's Boots Riley is best known for its efforts to help shape policy decisions about music and technology, but that isn t all the not-for-profit does.
Wherever there are musicians in need, the FMC will be there. And in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, there are plenty of musicians in need. Against the Machine s Tom Morello, the Coup s Boots Riley, Steve Earle, Jackson Browne, and Allison Moorer will head to New Orleans from November 3-6 to tour the city and hold discussions with local leaders.
The trip will culminate in a November 6 benefit Home, A Benefit for , and weekend, the visitors will play a private gig with local icons such as Al Carnival Time Johnson, Stanton Moore, and James Andrews at the Ernie K-Doe Mother-in-Law Lounge. They will also tour the city and learn Katrina devastated the city just over a year ago, New Orleans has seen an communities, FMC Executive Director Jenny Toomey commented in a press release. This gathering is Do you have a news tip for us?
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