The Books Tour, Premiere New Songs/Video Presentations at Upcoming Dates, Call Reading Rainbow’s LeVar Burton Just to Say Hey

By Mike McHugh on

How many books do you think you’ve read since The Books’ 2005 effort Lost and Safe (TMT Review )? 50? Maybe a bit more? Is 50 too conservative of a ballpark for all you Joe and Jane Colleges out there? Well, no matter what your reading habits may be, I’m sure all you beautiful butterflies have done a whole lot of growing in the four years since the dulcet collage of a new Books album emanated from your speakers. Sure, their teeny tiny EP of elevator music dropped in 2006, but it’s been far too long since you had yourself a fresh Books LP to plonk onto/into the stereo. Lucky for you, then, that The Books have got a whole mess of new material, and they want you to hear it!

Unfortunately, The Books aren’t releasing a new album just yet. But on the bright side, fans can expect to hear a whole mess of new pickin’ and pastchin’ on the band’s upcoming tour. Along with the new tunes, The Books went to the trouble of trudging through hours and hours of found video to prepare a series of video collages to accompany their live set. Awww, ain’t that sweet of them? While the new pieces are all eventually going to be part of a new album, right now fans will just have to get all that good Bookery in person or in, you know, a book. Either way, you’re going to learn something and probably get kind of gassy.
08.14.09 - Raleigh, NC - The Lincoln Theatre
08.15.09 - Asheville, NC - Diana Wortham Theatre
09.15.09 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church Sanctuary *
09.16.09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Andy Warhol Museum *
09.17.09 - Columbus, OH - Wexner Center *
09.18.09 - Grand Rapids, MI - Ladies Literary Club *
09.19.09 - Urbana, IL - Krannert Center *
09.20.09 - St Louis, MO - The Luminary Center for the Arts *
09.22.09 - Atlanta, GA - Eyedrum
09.23.09 - Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theatre
09.25.09 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern *
09.26.09 - Princeton, NJ - Terrace F. Club *
11.25.09 - Vancouver, BC - The Cultch

* Lymbyc Systym

Echo and The Bunnymen Record New Album, Play Old Album Ocean Rain in Concert Instead

By Liz Louche on 08-06-2009

Has Southern rapper Flo Rida’s ubiquitous summer smash “Sugar” -- with its Echo and The Bunnymen-inflected reminder of the female vocalist’s “lips like sugar” and its totally perplexing sample of the Eiffel 65 freak hit “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” -- got you craving something more original, something more, say, post-punk? That chorus! That lady voice! It’s so saccharine that you really feel that, yes, perhaps her lips do consist entirely of pure cane sugar and possibly some high fructose corn syrup as well. But that’s not what this is about, and by now you can probably figure out the direction this story’s taking. That’s right: Eiffel 65 has been added to the roster for this fall’s All Tomorrow’s Parties in New York State!! Nah, I’m just messing with you guys. Echo and the Bunnymen are releasing a new album. That’s the news.

The band’s most recent output came four years ago with Siberia (TMT Review), but now, on October 13, all that will change with the release of The Fountain! Recorded in Liverpool by Scottish producer John McLaughlin, the album promises “pulsating rock anthems and Bowie-ish pop” (according to the press release). Ooh -- pulsating! But wait -- there’s more! After some very popular appearances at London’s Camden Crawl and South by Southwest, the band has been booked to play the All Points West festival in New Jersey alongside MGMT, Fleet Foxes, Jay-Z, Arctic Monkeys, and Coldplay.

AND, in extra-special news, the Bunnymen are now booking several North American dates, during which they will play their seminal 1985 album Ocean Rain in its entirety. A few confirmed dates are listed below alongside UK dates, with more on the way

10.12.09 - Wolverhampton, UK - Wulfrun Hall
10.13.09 - Manchester, UK - Ritz
10.14.09 - Glasgow, UK - Barrowlands
10.15.09 - London, UK - Roundhouse
10.20.09 - Toronto, ON - Queen Elizabeth Theater
10.22.09 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
10.24.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Nokia Theatre
12.12.09 - Oxford, UK - O2 Academy
12.18.09 - Liverpool, UK - O2 Academy

Man Searching for Bigfoot Stumbles Upon Something Weirder: Matt Valentine in the Deep Woods of Vermont Having Tea with Thurston Moore, Michael Jackson, and Sasquatch; MV & EE Ready Barn Nova

By Jon Lorenz on 08-06-2009

As you might know just from hearing about them, MV & EE seem to have their own language, as most free-lovin' hippies do. If you don't pay close attention, you just might lose track of them and their many backing bands (The Bummer Road, The Golden Road, Medicine Show, etc.). MV & EE with The Golden Road will be releasing their new record, Barn Nova, on October 13 via Ecstatic Peace!.

The record was recorded in what MV calls "Spectrasound," using his production technique to "place tones dancing all around the stereo sound field." This time around, The Golden Road is made up of many key players, including J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) and Jeremy Earl (Woods)... plus some guys named Doc Dunn, Mike Smith, and Justin Pizzoferrato. As tends to happen, MV & EE "share a wealth of ideas including a serious reverence and desire to upgrade/expand the classic-rock idiom." Inspired by the likes of Jerry Garcia, John Cipollina, and Tom Verlaine, Matt Valentine displays an insatiable appetite for varying idioms with an eye on serious exploration and development. Meanwhile, Elder's harmony leads recall the glorious twinned guitar lines of Canned Heat's Al Wilson & Henry Vestine at their most potent.

This will be the group's millionth release, but the band's fourth major release for the Ecstatic Peace! label.

Barn Nova tracklisting:

1. Feelin' Fine
2. Get Right Church
3. Snapperhead
4. Summer Magic
5. Wandering Nomad
6. Bedroom Eyes
7. Fully Tanked
8. You Feel

A (Reconfigured) Sunny Day in Glasgow Release a New Dreamy Pop Album This Fall and Tour

By Kat Gardiner on 08-06-2009

So, you (Ben Daniels, bandleader) record an album in your bedroom with your best friend (Josh Meakim, drummer/recording engineer), your twin sisters (Robin & Lauren Daniels), and one lone microphone (a Shure?). You call the arrangement A Sunny Day in Glasgow. It blows some folks' minds with its dreaminess.

Fast-forward to this year, when you decide to ditch the bedroom and record in a large New Jersey dance studio. Then your bassist (Brice Hickey) breaks his leg many times over unloading equipment, and your sister leaves to nurse him back to health. Your other sister then goes to school far, far away. Why are you still happy? Because you still managed to record a consistent album with the same dreamgaze elements that wet all those folks' shorts before, just with some new members. And this time they aren't even related to you (Annie Fredrickson, Beverly Science)! Choice.

The new album's called Ashes Grammar; it'll be available on boring formats and cream/navy colored double vinyl through Mis Ojos Discos, and you can pick up all formats (if you'd like) on September 15.

Tracklisting:

1. Magna for Annie, Josh, & Robin
2. Secrets at the Prom
3. Slaughter Killing Carnage (The Meaning of Words)
4. Failure
5. Curse Words
6. Close Chorus
7. Shy
8. Lights
9. Passionate Introverts (Dinosaurs)
10. West Philly Vocoder
11. Evil, with Evil, against Evil
12. The White Witch
13. Nitetime Rainbows
14. Canalfish
15. Loudly
16. Blood White
17. Ashes Grammar
18. Ashes Maths
19. Miss My Friends
20. Starting at a Disadvantage
21. Life's Great
22. Headphone Space

A fall tour to support Ashes Grammar is in the works, but damned if I know where they're playing yet.

Har Mar Superstar Announces New LP, Featuring Guest Spots from Andrew WK, Boom Bip, Adam Green

By E. Nagurney on 08-05-2009

The long wait is over! Har Mar Superstar is finally releasing a new record! The seemingly endless drought of Casio-driven sex jams sung by an overweight, balding man with a nasally voice has finally ended!

Okay, so I don’t know who out there has actually been fiending for a new Har Mar Superstar record, but their day in the sun is here. Actually, their real day in the sun is coming October 13, when Har Mar (a.k.a. Minneapolis’s Sean Tillman) drops his fourth record, Dark Touch, on Dilettante Records. This thing ought to be weird, too. First, check the list of collaborators: Andrew WK producer John Fields, Clark Baechle and Jacob Thiele of The Faint, ex-Moldy Peach Adam Green, Rhymesayers rapper P.O.S., Boom Bip of Neon Neon, some band called Flowers of Doom, and The O.C. actress Samaire Armstrong. Second, there is a song (“Tall Boy”) originally written for Britney Spears, along with another (“Girls Night”) written for The Cheetah Girls.

You know, I’ve really got nothing particularly against ol’ Har Mar Superstar, but really? He's the last person I expected to make a comeback. Apparently, Tillman’s been pretty busy since 2004’s The Handler. Along with Dark Touch, the guy’s appearing alongside Ellen Page and Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat in the Drew Barrymore-directed Whip It and working on some movie scripts and sitcom pilots. Here’s hoping Tillman finds some time to tour, just so people can have this experience.

Phoenix Announce More U.S. Shows, Still Refuse to Play Phoenix, Arizona

By Annapocalypse on 08-05-2009

The other day, my boyfriend and I were having a discussion about how awesome Phoenix’s upcoming show in Chicago is going to be. During our conversation, he posed a question to me: have Phoenix ever actually played a show in Phoenix, Arizona? Determined to find out the answer, I consulted Google... to no avail. Next, I turned to Last.fm’s event page to much success. The answer is no, my friends, Phoenix (to my internet research knowledge) have never played a show in Arizona. And if my 10-minute long comprehensive search is somehow wrong, at the very least, they haven’t played Arizona in years. So what does this all mean? I think someone (*cough* Phoenix the band *cough*) is afraid of a little competition (cough Phoenix the city cough). Don’t worry guys, there’s enough room in The Grand Canyon state for you to play a show there every once in awhile.

Check out the Frenchmen on the road this fall in the following cities:
09.13.09 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Monolith Festival)
09.16.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Greek Theater &
09.17.09 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
09.21.09 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
09.22.09 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave

09.23.09 - Chicago, IL - The Riviera Theatre
09.24.09 - Madison, WI - UW Madison Memorial Terrace
09.25.09 - New York, NY - Central Park Summerstage $
09.26.09 - New York, NY - Central Park Summerstage $
09.27.09 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09.28.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
09.30.09 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10.01.09 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina’s
10.02.09 - Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits)

& Metric

$ Passion Pit

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