Ariel Pink Tours: With or Without Farty Armpit Sounds?
By Emceegreg on Jul 14 2008
Since growing a cult following, Ariel Pink has formulated quite the live band, revising the self-recorded sound of Pink's earlier DIY albums. The band consists of keyboardist Kenny Gilmore (Lilys), bassist Tim Koh (White Magic, Lavender Diamond, Miho Hatori/Cibo Matto, All Night Radio, My Barbarian), drummer Jimi Hey (Beachwood Sparks, All Night Radio, Devendra Banhart, Mark Olson/The Jayhawks, Chris Robinson, Indian Jewelry, The Rapture, Strictly Ballroom), and guitarist Cole M. Greif-Neill (Ethnik Klensr, Young & Natural, The Samps).
Sure that all sounds fine and dandy, maybe even a little impressive, but I can't help but feel a void.
That void is the Ethiopian armpit music of Keith Terry. What makes Pink's lo-fi material so mesmerizing is not just his keen awareness of pop sensibilities and structures, but rather his incorporation of armpit sounds replacing bass drums. So, why not hire someone to authentically recreate the sound? What would any tour be without this guy?
If you're not dumb and immature like me, you might want to go to some of the following dates for Pink's amazing live show and a limited-edition, tour-only vinyl (released in partnership with Vinyl International).
"Thanks Mama I'm Dead Tour 2008":
Team Clermont Announces Summer Camp Festival Lineup, Featuring Music, Kickball, Scavenger Hunt, and Four Square!
By Annapocalypse on Jul 14 2008
Back in college, I was a DJ and Alternative Music Director for my University’s radio station (like many of you, I’m sure). So reading Team Clermont’s name (a PR firm based in Georgia, for those not in the know) transported me back to a time of dead air, broken CD players, and themed radio shows, and I found myself getting a bit nostalgic for my college radio years. Sad, I know. But, before I put on Loveless and contemplate how long it will take me to get drunk enough to call my college boyfriend, let me tell you about Team Clermont’s Summer Camp Festival.
The annual festival will be held July 31-August 2 around Athens, Georgia, Team Clermont's abode. Featuring such events as arts and crafts, karaoke, kickball, four square, and corn hole, the festival is already way cooler than everything else you have going on this summer. Where else can you get drunk, listen to awesome bands, and play four square?! On its final day, there will be a "Campfire Sing-Along," featuring cover bands dedicated to ESG, Paul MCartney & Wings, Mclusky, and Sonic Youth.
Here’s the schedule of Summer Camp’s list of activities/band lineup:
Day One: “Camp Orientation” (07.31.08 - Caledonia Lounge)
- So Many Dynamos
- Mostly Bears
- Megafaun
- Benji Hughes
Day Two (08.01.08 - Little Kings)
- Music Director Scavenger Hunt (12-2 PM)
- “Talent Night” featuring karaoke, dance party with DJs Cookies & Cream, arts and crafts, four square and corn hole tournaments, and a face-painting station
Day Three (08.02.08 - East Athens Community Park)
- Koalas vs. Walruses Kickball Showdown (10 AM-2 PM)
- Graham MacRae
Day Three Pt. II: “Campfire Sing-Along” (08.02.08 - 40 Watt Club)
- Tiny Sticks (ESG cover band featuring Josh McKay of Macha/Seaworthy, Bryan Poole, Heather Heyn formerly of Dark Meat, Aaron Wegelin formerly of Elf Power)
- Hi Hi Hi (covering Paul McCartney & Wings, featuring Bryan Poole from Of Montreal/Dark Meat/Elf Power/the Late BP Helium and Jason Nesmith of Casper & the Cookies)
- F*ck This Band (Mclusky cover band featuring Jeff Tobias of We Versus The Shark, Dark Meat and Pegasuses-XL; Scott Smith of We Versus The Shark; Andy Pruett of Cinemechanica; and Brion Kennedy)
- Nic Fit (Sonic Youth cover band featuring members of Dead Confederate).
Alright, now time for Loveless.
“The City That Knows How”.. to Steal Your Shit: Maria Taylor’s Van Robbed in San Francisco, People Suck
By Mario Speedwagon on Jul 14 2008
On Thursday, July 10, Saddle Creek darling Maria Taylor’s van was broken into while she and her band were in San Francisco. The jerks busted out the back window and stole six guitars (the right-handed ones belong to Maria, the lefties belong to guitarist Taylor Hollingsworth), two suitcases, two pedals and tons of Maria’s new EP, Savanna Drive.
Luckily on Friday, Maria and her band recovered one of the missing bass guitars at a local pawnshop. However, the loser pawnshop owner made them pay $250 to get it back, even though they had their police report. Much of the gear that was stolen has sentimental value and the band is quite upset.
I know how they feel, sort of. Some assholes broke into my house a month ago and stole all the computers in our house, two digital cameras, and my posh terabyte external hard drive. It had the most jams on it.
Anyway, here is the damage.
Stolen Gear:
- Left-handed Red Gretsch Tennessee Rose Guitar
- Left-handed Martin Acoustic Guitar
- Left-handed White American Fender Precision bass -- recovered at a pawnshop
- Right-handed Purple Fender Jazz Bass guitar
- Right-handed 1976 Black Les Paul Deluxe
- Right-handed Alvarez acoustic guitar (hand-painted white with black swirls -- guitar strap is nailed on)
- Boss Tuner Pedal
- Boss Distortion Pedal
If anyone has any information regarding the stolen goods, please email info@saddle-creek.com.
Lykke Li Tacks on North America To Her European Tour
By Nicole C. on Jul 11 2008
21-year-old Swedish-lo-fi pop darling Lykke Li is set to embark on a 10-city North American road trip in support of her debut album, Youth Novels (TMT Review), which is scheduled for release August 19 in the U.S. Sadly, Li's short tour romp will not be named "Madonna's Immaculate Collection Rules Tour of ’08," which does very little to honor the time Li spent with the album while living on a mountaintop in Portugal. Anyway, Li will also stop off in a couple Canadian cities, riding through America's hat in between hitting up various other international stopovers for previously scheduled shows and summer festivals.
For a full listing of all worldwide dates, visit her MySpace.
Full North America tour listing:
Melvin Van Peebles Collaborates with Madlib, Sues ASCAP for $20 Million, Prompts Reassessment of Relative Baadasssssness of Litigation
By Petey V on Jul 11 2008
According to Variety's blog The Set List, Blaxploitation renaissance man Melvin Van Peebles (TMT Feature) recently filed a $20 million lawsuit with the New York State Supreme Court against ASCAP, a major organization that collects licensing fees and distributes royalties to musicians, songwriters, composers, and publishers.
Van Peebles is perhaps best known for directing, starring in, and composing the score for 1971's Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, but he's also the writer and director of many other films, the writer and composer of the Broadway show Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death, and the musical mastermind behind 10 full-length albums (many of them soundtracks).
Van Peebles' concern stems from ASCAP's failure to list all of his 157 registered compositions in their newfangled electronic database, which includes only 24 of them. He alleges that the disappearance occurred between 1992 and 2005. This oversight, he alleges, prevents him from charging appropriate licensing fees to those performing or using his songs. The Set List, on some detective shit, reports that "allmusic.com lists only one of his tunes being covered by an artist not associated with one of films, Grace Jones, who recorded ‘The Apple Stretcher.’"
However, as astute Set List commenter "dave" notes, Van Peebles has long been a source of hip-hop samples. Indeed, according to sampling database the-breaks.com, more than a dozen hip-hop tracks have used pieces of Van Peebles' recordings. ASCAP's sampling policy puts the organization in a position to negotiate fees for sample usage, further legitimating Van Peebles' complaint about his missing compositions.
Interestingly, Van Peebles' future projects include a collaboration with Madlib, whose Quasimoto alias is one of the heaviest users of Van Peebles samples. According to Madlib's label, Stones Throw Records, Van Peebles' next release will be a double album encompassing one disc called Brer Soul Meets Quasimoto as well as an album-length "Madlib Invazion remix." Van Peebles also recently completed his eighth feature film as director, entitled Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus ItchyFooted Mutha. The film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in late April.
