The Apples in Stereo travel through space and time and end up in Denver
By Kid Midnight on Jul 20 2010
The Apples in Stereo have been riding the quantum waves of praise for their new album Travellers in Space and Time (TMT review), and now they’re set to head through space and time on a West Coast tour of America that kicks off on October 22 in Denver, Colorado. I’m a little jealous of The Apples in Stereo because, whenever I travel through space and time, I just keep ending up at the community college downtown. Do you think the galaxy is trying to tell me something? Am I meant to be an electrician or veterinary technician?
Despite the jokes about space and time that I write (because I’m a writer, not an electrician), The Apples in Stereo are apparently quite serious about moving their music through both time and space and have recently used The Universe Broadcasting Project (507 HD channels in 66 different galaxies), which is a high-tech way of saying stupid shit at the endless expanse of black, black space in the hopes that someone, somewhere will answer. (Hey, that’s a lot like my love life!) The UBP is actually a fancy messaging service that uses satellite array technology and alchemy to broadcast messages into Deep Space 9. The Apples have appropriately sent their new album, and messages from fans, through UBP in the hopes that they can finally get a gig on Uranus. You can read all about it at WIRED.
If you would like to interact with the band in a non-space-related way, then check out the tourdates below or head over to Step Through the Portal where you can check out music videos, The Apples’ back catalogue, and even the history of the Elephant 6 Collective, where the Apples got their start.
The Apples in Stereo Fall tour:
10.22.10 - Denver, CO - The Bluebird Theater
10.23.10 - Colorado Springs, CO - Armstrong Hall
10.24.10 - Salt Lake City, UT - The State Room
10.25.10 - Boise, ID - Neurolux
10.26.10 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café
10.27.10 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
10.28.10 - Arcata, CA - The Depot @Humboldt State Univ.
10.30.10 - San Franciso, CA - The Independent
10.31.10 - San Jose, CA - The Blank Club
11.01.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
11.02.10 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
11.03.10 - Tucson, AZ - Plush
11.06.10 - Austin, TX - TBD
11.07.10 - Houston, TX - Walter’s On Washington
11.08.10 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
• The Apples in Stereo: http://www.applesinstereo.com
RIP: Andy Hummel, Big Star bassist
By Shane Mack on Jul 19 2010
From Entertainment Weekly:
Andy Hummel, who played bass guitar in power-pop icons Big Star’s original line-up, has died of cancer at age 59. A representative for Rhino Records, which recently released a superlative box set of Big Star’s work, confirmed the sad news to EW.
Hummel’s passing comes just four months after Big Star leader Alex Chilton‘s life was claimed at the same far too young age of 59. Singer-songwriter Chris Bell died in a 1978 car crash, several years after leaving Big Star. Drummer Jody Stephens is now the only surviving member of the foursome that recorded 1972′s note-perfect debut #1 Record.
• Big Star: http://bigstarband.com
Baby, I spent your money: ODB’s preeminent baby mama sold rights to his last album for $10K
By Mike McHugh on Jul 19 2010
When rap’s class clown Ol’ Dirty Bastard checked into that great Brooklyn Zoo in the sky in 2004, he left a lot behind. A primo contract with Roc-A-Fella records, a finished album called A Son Unique, and 13 kids by four different mothers to boot. But thanks to one of those Big Baby Jesus-loving ladies, ODB’s widow Icelene Jones, that baker’s dozen of progeny lost out on a potential windfall.
According to ex-ODB manager Jarred Weisfeld, Jones quietly rushed out a deal for A Son Unique, selling the rights to the whole shebang for a measly $10,000. Wiesfeld claims Jones spent the entire 10 grand on herself quickly thereafter. Worst of all, whoever bought the album after Roc-a-Fella permanently shelved it in 2006 has yet to give the record a proper release. The best A Son Unique got was a limited run at the iTunes store before disappearing for a life in the profitless void of internet piracy.
So great job, Icelene! Not only did you prevent most of the public from hearing the last work of the strangest man in show business, but you went the extra mile to ensure that no one could possibly make any money out of it, ever!
• Ol’ Dirty Bastard: http://www.myspace.com/oldirtybastard
Dreamend is a member of Black Moth Super Rainbow, so of course it’s time for a solo album
By Harold Shueberg on Jul 19 2010
• Announcement: Black Moth Super Rainbow member Ryan Graveface is releasing a new solo album under the moniker of Dreamend.
• What: It will carry the title So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite. It’s about a serial killer.
• When: August 10, 2010.
• How: Graveface Records.
• Other Shit: It differs from BMSR. It’s gonna have some wicked artwork. I’m talkin’ phenakistoscope wicked. Tobacco helped out.
Album Tracks:
01. Pink Cloud in the Woods
02. Where You Belong
03. Magnesium Light (listen here)
04. Interlude
05. Repent
06. A Thought
07. Pieces
08. My Old Brittle Bones
09. Aching Silence
10. An Admission
Tour:
09.09.10 - Washington, DC - DC9 * #
09.10.10 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church * #
09.11.10 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar * #
09.16.10 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse * #
09.17.10 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground * #
09.18.10 - Boston, MA - Middle East * #
09.23.10 - Toledo, OH - Mickey Finn’s * #
09.24.10 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig * #
09.25.10 - Kalamazoo, MI - The Strutt * #
09.29.10 - Greensboro, NC - Artistika on UNCG Campus #
09.30.10 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 #
10.01.10 - Knoxville, TN - Square Room #
10.02.10 - Morgantown, WV - 123 Pleasant Street #
* Junk Culture
# Tobacco
• Dreamend: http://www.myspace.com/dreamend
• Graveface: http://www.graveface.com
Laetitia Sadier announces solo record that isn’t Stereolab/Monade — good for her
By Erika H on Jul 19 2010
There’s nothing better than having your name on something in big letters. Papa John felt it when he franchised his pizza; dumb kids feel it when they write their name in wet concrete for future generations of dumb kids. Laetitia Sadier hasn’t really had that privilege, except in the details on Stereolab liner notes or behind “Featuring…” (Atlas Sound’s “Quick Canal,” for example, or Mice Parade’s 2007 self-titled). The last time she tried to break free from Stereolab (if only superficially), the rupture was half-assed. The resulting band, Monade, was hardly a solo endeavor, as evinced by the fact that Sadier wasn’t exactly alone (hence the word “band”).
Now that Stereolab is on hiatus, Laetitia is going all the way and releasing her first truly solo album, The Trip, under her own name (that’s when you know it’s legit). Okay, so on this debut album, Laetitia’s not entirely alone – she worked with a few guests (Richard Swift, April March, Julien Gasc, and Emmanuel Mario) – but it seems a little cheap to nitpick. She wrote all but three songs on the album (two are covers of “By the Sea and “Un Soir, Un Chien,” by Wendy & Bonnie and Les Rita Mitsouko, respectively), and with that voice, how can you go wrong?
The Trip is out on September 21 from Drag City.
Tracklist:
01. One Million Year Trip
02. Fluid Sand
03. Our Interest Are the Same
04. The Natural Child
05. Statues Can Bend
06. By the Sea
07. Unfasten
08. Un Soir, Un Chien
09. Another Monster
10. Ceci Est le Coeur
11. Summertime
12. Release, Open Your Little Earthling Hands
• Laetitia Sadier: http://www.myspace.com/laetitiasadier
• Drag City: http://www.dragcity.com
