Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti announce North American summer tour in a spooky "lo-fi" voice

By Nobodaddy on

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti announce North American summer tour in a spooky "lo-fi" voice

Now that Ariel Pink is “popular” and “awesome” instead of “annoying” and “a confusing Animal Collective joke,” you better believe he’s taking advantage of it. His band’s 4AD debut record, Before Today, will be released worldwide June 8 on CD, LP, digital download, sheet music for castrate, and hand-cranked music box. Meanwhile, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti will be haunting New York’s Mercury Lounge on May 4 for a (sold out) show before heading to Europe to “chill out for a month or two.” Or tour there. I don’t know. Either way, the band, which now consists of Pink (vocals), Tim Koh (bass/vocals), Kenny Gilmore (guitar/vocals), and Aaron Sperske (drums/vocals), will then return to North America on July 9 for a triumphant run of North American dates to support that new record.

In case you were wondering, Before Today was recorded in Encino at the House of Blues (once Tito Jackson’s home studio) with Sunny Levine (grandson of Quincy Jones!) and Rik Pekkonen (Bill Withers, Seals & Crofts, Bread), as well as at the band’s home studios. Prior to its release, the band will release “Round and Round” (backed with “Mistaken Wedding”) as a limited edition 7-inch and digital download single on April 26. As a bonus, REAL FANS can hear “Round and Round” at the Chocolate Grinder right now and new subscribers to the band’s mailing list can also download the track as a free MP3 here. Poseurs will be kicked in their digital asses out the digital door.

Ariel Pink’s Haunted North America:

05.04.10 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
07.09.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
07.10.10 - San Francisco, CA - Bimbo’s
07.12.10 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir
07.13.10 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
07.14.10 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore
07.16.10 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
07.17.10 - Denver, CO - Bluebird
07.19.10 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
07.20.10 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
07.21.10 - Detroit, MI - Pike Room
07.22.10 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club
07.23.10 - Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
07.24.10 - New York, NY - The Fillmore / Irving Plaza
07.25.10 - Boston, MA - Middle East
07.27.10 - Philadelphia, PA - JB’s
07.28.10 - Washington, DC - Rock N Roll Hotel
07.29.10 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
07.30.10 - Atlanta, GA - Earl
07.31.10 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
08.02.10 - Denton, TX - Hailey’s
08.03.10 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
08.05.10 - Tucson, AZ - Plush
08.06.10 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
08.07.10 - Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar

• Ariel Pink: http://www.arielpinkshauntedgraffiti.com
• 4AD: http://www.4ad.com

M.I.A., you’ve done it again: announces LP release date on an advertising blimp

By Erika H on Apr 22 2010

Blimps can be the harbinger of many things. They are also big, conspicuous parties in the sky — and M.I.A. knows this. Rap-Up reported that a blimp passed over Jay-Z’s set at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival last Friday, with a digital billboard announcing a few M.I.A. festival appearances (HARD Summer Music Festival in Los Angeles and New York [TMT report]) — standard fare for blimp music advertisement, maybe. But then came the release date for her third LP on the ticker: “New Album 6.29.10.” What a way to break the news. (Now imagine if Explosions in the Sky were somehow connected with the Hindenburg.)

• M.I.A.: http://www.miauk.com

Vampire Weekend plans more releases for 2010; are you mad yet?

By E. Nagurney on Apr 22 2010

New York sunshine pop juggernauts/hate-magnets Vampire Weekend released their insanely popular Contra (sequel to 2008’s insanely popular self-titled debut) a mere three months ago, yet they’re already planning more releases for the rest of 2010. In an interview with BBC6 (via TwentyFourBit), frontman Ezra Koenig made reference to “a few little things we’ve worked on that’ll come out this year.” The singer didn’t lay out any specifics on what exactly those releases would be, but he did mention that the group started preliminary talks about their third record almost immediately after finishing Contra. Basically, if you hate these guys, you have a new LP and some extra material to get furious about in the relatively near future.

It’s also worth noting that the BBC6 interview as a whole is ripe with juicy hater bait. Here’s a prime quote for you: “I’m amazed that we even chart anyway frankly a bunch of knuckleheads like us.” You guys have fun with that one.

• Vampire Weekend: http://www.vampireweekend.com

Voxtrot split up, book farewell tour

By Rachel B on Apr 22 2010

You remember Voxtrot… right? Oh, they’re still around, but not for long. The creators of such alt-pop tunes as “Kid Gloves” and “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, & Wives” had their heyday in 2006-2007, back when blog buzz was still the hot new thing. But alas, all good things… you know.

After just one full-length album and a handful of EPs, Austin-based Voxtrot are calling it quits after embarking on a short farewell tour bitterly titled “Goodbye Cruel World.” Voxtrot’s frontman Ramesh Srivastava wrote on the band’s website: “The career path of Voxtrot was truly one of long, simmering build, explosion, and almost instantaneous decay. Slowly, I am learning to replace any feelings of regret with positive memories of how amazing the whole thing was, and how it has, in an unexpected way, fortified my character.” Awww… goodbye cruel (coughmusicindustrycough) world, indeed!

Check out Voxtrot’s goodbye tourdates below:

05.21.10 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
05.22.10 - Appleton, WI - Lawrence University
05.27.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex *
05.29.10 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
06.03.10 - Austin, TX - Emo’s
06.23.10 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
06.25.10 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

* International Waters

• Voxtrot: http://www.voxtrot.net

Omar Souleyman unearths tracks for new album, Jazeera Nights; announces UK tour

By Harold Shueberg on Apr 21 2010

In case you were wondering whether or not they know how to get down in Northern Syria, yes, yes they do, and Omar Souleyman is out to prove it. Prince of Northern Syrian Dabke music, Souleyman is following up his excellent Dabke 2020 (TMT Review) with a new album set for release on May 11. Jazeera Nights is a collection of songs pulling from Souleyman’s tape releases dating way back to 1995.

Some serious mad props to Sublime Frequencies for unearthing some high quality unheard sounds, this obviously being one of them.

Tracks:
01. Hafer Gabrak Bidi (I Will Dig Your Grave With My Hands)
02. Ala Il Hanash Madgouga (The Bedouin Tattoo)
03. Hot Il Khanjar Bi Gleibi (Stab My Heart)
04. Kell Il Banat Inkhatban (All The Girls Are Engaged)
05. Labji Wa Bajji Il Hajar (My Tears Will Make The Stones Cry)
06. Dazeitlak Dezzelli (I Signal, You Deny)
07. Li Raja Behawakom (I Beg You, Baby)
08. Mandal/Metel Il Sukkar Ala Il Shai (I Don’t Know/Like The Sugar In The Tea)
09. Eih Min Elemkom (From The Day That I Told You).

If you’re in the UK area, you might be lucky enough to see the man do his thing live:

05.11.10 - Bristol, UK - Metropolis #
05.12.10 - Glasgow, UK - Stereo
05.13.10 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
05.14.10 - Manchester, UK - Sound Control (FutureEverything Festival)
05.15.10 - Minehead, UK - All Tomorrows Parties
05.17.10 - London, UK - Scala

# Konono No 1

• Omar Souleyman: http://www.myspace.com/omarsouleyman
• Sublime Frequencies: http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

This story about Swiss metal band KNUT releasing a new album will not contain a single genitalia-related pun

By Max Sebela on Apr 21 2010

It’s been five years since KNUT released their 2005 album, Terraformer (TMT Review). In that five years, a lot has changed. For one, an internet user can no longer Google search KNUT without confronting pictures of a German polar bear celebrity. Also, Micheline Calmy-Rey became the second female Swiss president in 2007. Then there was that whole global financial meltdown a few months ago.

Still, I don’t think those things matter much for KNUT. The band has released only three proper albums since their 1998 debut Basterdizer, and on each of those albums not a whole lot changed. They played some sludgy thrash metal, melted a lot of European faces, and kept the progressive sound that made their debut so refreshing. Now, KNUT is back to grab and twist at your two swollen… ears… for a fourth time.

On June 26, KNUT will release Wonder on Hydra Head. The band claims the full-length “stands as a testament to our will for survival and defiance in times of adversity and crippling doubt.” But even if it doesn’t fulfill that promise, Wonder is at least going to smash a few KNUTs (damn, I almost made it).

Wonder tracklist:

01. Leet
02. Damned Extroverts
03. Suckers
04. Calamity
05. Ultralight Backpacking
06. Segue 1
07. Fast Forward Bastard
08. Lemmings
09. If We Can’t Fly There, We’ll Take the Boat
10. Segue 2
11. Wonder/Daily Grind

• KNUT: http://www.myspace.com/unknut
• Hydra Head: http://www.hydrahead.com

[Photo: Juan-Carlos Hernández]

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