Themselves Return With New Mix Tape, New LP and Some Festival Dates
By Kid Midnight on Mar 23 2009
The duo of Doseone and Jel, who, after conquering the world of post-postmodern conceptualized art-rock as crucial members of Subtle, are returning to their more hip-hop flavored roots by bringing Themselves back after a six-year hiatus. Yes, it probably does have something to do with the recent 10-year anniversary of anticon., as Themselves have long been a flagship act for the label.
First off, the duo will be releasing a free mix tape, titled FREEhoudini, which will be dropping “in various places around the internets” in early March. Whoops! Am I too late?? The mix tape features a bevy of guests, including Slug, Aesop Rock, Busdriver, WHY?, Buck 65, Passage, DJ Baku, Alias, Pedestrian, Sole, Serengeti, D Styles, and The Lionesque. Doesone describes the music on FREEhoudini as “an inspired Themselves rendition of the classic mix-tape medium, housing a medley of original music, it features every rapper we have ever shared a cause with in the past decade. It is also a gift, for these curious times in the consumption of music."
In August, Themselves plan to release their third (official) full-length album, titled CrownsDown. When pressed for more information, Doseone only offered a cryptic tease: "CrownsDown is our statue -- to rap as it reared us -- and the arch and arrow, of what it is to be us, in a decade of music made and the temperature of these two thousands." Trippy stuff, dudes!
Finally, Themselves have recently completed a handful of shows at SXSW and are about to embark on a North American tour that'll lead them to Coachella
03.25.09 - St. Louis, MO - Firebird
03.26.09 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
03.27.09 - Pontiac, MI - The Pike Room at Crofoot Ballroom
03.28.09 - Toronto, ON - Sneaky Dee’s
03.29.09 - Montreal, Quebec - Club Lambi
04.01.09 - Allston, MA - Great Scott
04.02.09 - Princeton, NJ - Terrace F. Club at Princeton University
04.03.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
04.04.09 - New York, NY - The Studio at Webster Hall
04.06.09 - Philadelphia, PA - The Barbary w/ Pattern Is Movement
04.07.09 - Washington DC - DC9
04.08.09 - Blackburg, VA - The Lantern
04.09.09 - Atlanta, GA - 529
04.10.09 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree Cafe
04.11.09 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
04.13.09 - Denton, TX - Hailey’s
04.14.09 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
04.19.09 - Indio, CA - Coachella
05.05.09 - Brussels, Brussels-capital - Ancienne Belgique
By Kat Gardiner on Mar 23 2009
One of the things any true Bob Dylan fan loves about the man is his ability to change. To shift shapes abruptly and drastically and not to give one iota what you think. And for every single reissue, rehash, best of, essential collection, and bootleg series, there's an album out there that the majority of fans probably hate (Infidels, Street Legal, and Shot of Love to name a few). Which really shows some balls, if you ask me. When was the last time The Rolling Stones attempted change? 1982? It would be so easy for him to rest on his 1966 laurels. Hell, a lot of his fans really wish he would numerous times throughout his career.
All I'm saying is that I hope you weren't getting too attached to the way things were going, because there's word that this new album, {Together Through Life, promises to drop his newest incarnation (from 1997's Time Out of Mind, through 2001's Love and Theft, onto 2006's Modern Times) in favor a new one. Well, a new old one. From what I gather, it's to be a kind of self-aware nod to old Chess Records of the 1950s. When asked about that comparison, he didn't really flinch that much: "...the old Chess records, the Sun records... I think that’s my favorite sound for a record," Dylan said in a recent interview with Bill Flanagan. "I like the mood of those records -- the intensity. The sound is uncluttered. There’s power and suspense. The whole vibration feels like it could be coming from inside your mind. It’s alive. It’s right there. Kind of sticks in your head like a toothache."
I think that describes most of this guy's music, but hey, he could be talking about Chuck Berry and Memphis Slim, too. Just as long as he doesn't get all Blueshammer on this shit, I think we'll be just fine.
Dylan's European tour:
03.23.09 - Stockholm, Sweden - Globe Arena
03.25.09 - Oslo, Norway - Spektrum
03.27.09 - Jönköping , Sweden - Kinnarps Arena
03.28.09 - Malmö , Sweden - Malmö Arena
03.29.09 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Forum
03.31.09 - Hanover, Germany - AWD Arena
04.01.09 - Berlin, Germany - Max- Schmeling - Halle
04.02.09 - Erfurt , Germany - Messehalle
04.04.09 - Munich, Germany - Zenith
04.05.09 - Saarbrücken , Germany - Saarlandhalle
04.07.09 - Paris, France - Palais des Congres
04.08.09 - Paris, France - Palais des Congres
04.10.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Heineken Music Hall
04.12.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Heineken Music Hall
04.14.09 - Basel, Switzerland - St. Jakobshalle
04.15.09 - Milan, Italy - MediolanumForum
04.17.09 - Rome, Italy - PalaLottomatica
04.18.09 - Florence, Italy - MandelaForum
04.20.09 - Geneva, Switzerland - Geneva Arena
04.21.09 - Strasbourg, France - Zenith
04.22.09 - Brussels, Belgium - Forest National
04.24.09 - Sheffield, England - Sheffield Arena
04.25.09 - London, England - O2 Arena
04.28.09 - Cardiff, Wales - CIA
04.29.09 - Birmingham, England - NIA
05.01.09 - Liverpool, England - Echo Arena
05.02.09 - Glasgow, Scotland - SECC
05.03.09 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Edinburgh Playhouse
05.05.09 - Dublin, Ireland - O2 Arena
05.06.09 - Dublin, Ireland - O2 Arena
By Shane Mack on Mar 23 2009
From The New York Times:
Israel Cachao López, the Cuban bassist and composer who was a pioneer of the mambo, died on Saturday in Coral Gables, Fla. He was 89 and lived in Coral Gables.The cause was complications resulting from kidney failure, said Nelson Albareda, whose company, Eventus, was his manager.
From The New York Times:
Israel Cachao López, the Cuban bassist and composer who was a pioneer of the mambo, died on Saturday in Coral Gables, Fla. He was 89 and lived in Coral Gables.The cause was complications resulting from kidney failure, said Nelson Albareda, whose company, Eventus, was his manager.
Cachao, as he was universally known, transformed the rhythm of Cuban music when he and his brother, the pianist and cellist Orestes López, extended and accelerated the final section of the stately Cuban danzón into the mambo. “My brother and I would say to each other, ‘Mambea, mambea ahí,’ which meant to add swing to that part,” he said in a 2006 interview with The Miami Herald. The springy mambo bass lines Cachao created in the late 1930’s — simultaneously driving and playful — became a foundation of modern Cuban music, of the salsa that grew out of it, and also of Latin-influenced rock ’n’ roll and rhythm-and-blues. For much of the 20th century, Cachao’s innovations set the world dancing.
- Cachao López Wikipedia entry
Jimmy Chamberlin Leaves Smashing Pumpkins; Billy Corgan Continues Alone
By Kat Gardiner on Mar 23 2009
Q: What do you get when you take The Smashing Pumpkins, remove all the original members except for Billy "John Locke" Corgan, and record an album in the ’00s?A: Zwan?
Wrong! Trick question. You call it The Smashing Pumpkins. Yes, that's right. America's favorite megalomaniacal has-been front man has either finally kicked Jimmy Chamberlin, his last original bandmate/foothold on legitimacy, out of the band or annoyed him enough to get him to leave the group. According to a post on SP's website, Corgan will retain the Smashing Pumpkins name and record a new album this spring.
This isn't very surprising, though. This is, after all, the man who, five years after breaking up his band, took out a full-page ad in The Chicago Tribune to announce to the world (and his uninformed ex-bandmates) of his intentions to reunite. This is the man who last November berated a fan in mid-set, telling him "By the way, I like that song that you wrote. I believe it was number one. ‘Take Your Dick Out of My Ass and Stick It in My Mouth’? That was a big hit in Europe." This is the man who tricked a poor defenseless Dorothy into killing the Wicked Witch of the West.
So, really. How can we possibly be surprised?
Tiny Mix Tapes @ SXSW 2009!
By TMT Staff on Mar 23 2009
A bunch of us incorrigible TMTers are at SXSW 2009, so regular ol' news will take a backseat for a bit. In its place, we'll be posting a ton of showcase/band reviews direct from the "Live Music Capital of the World" (ahem -- Austin, TX).
Check out our coverage below, updated in real-time -- sorta kinda.
Wednesday
- Bitch Magazine / Kill Rock Stars Day Party @ Club De Ville
- Akron/Family, Endless Boogie, The Week That Was @ various venues
- Austin Music Awards @ Austin Music Hall
- 4AD Showcase @ Central Presbyterian Church
- Fat Fox, My Old Kentucky Blog, Austin Rock Camp for Girls Showcases
- Spaceland Throw Down Party @ Maggie Mae's
- Austinist Party / Austin Music Awards / Dananananakroyd
Thursday
- Found Magazine and Quackmedia Party Pt. I, Thee Oh Sees
- Primal Scream (Sponsored by BlackBerry!) @ Cedar Street Courtyard
- Found Magazine and Quackmedia Party Pt. II
- The Carrots, Eat Skull, Brimstone Howl, Psychedelic Horseshit
- Flower Love Traveling Band, Wavves, Max Tundra
- The Henry Clay People, Vetiver, Nite Jewel, Crystal Stilts, Let’s Wrestle
- Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans & YouTube @ Mohawk
Friday
- Todd P. Presents Ground Control Party
- Insound Day Party @ Club DeVille
- Touch & Go/Quarterstick Showcase @ Flamingo Cantina
- Hungarian Indie Rock/Islamic Metal and Rap @ Club 115
- Beach House, Mi Ami, P.O.S., Silver Apples
- Parenthetical Girls, Future of the Left, Trail of Dead, Third Eye Blind
- Manhattan Love Suicides, Peter Bjorn and John, Grizzly Bear, Dinosaur Jr
Saturday
- caUSE co-MOTION!, The Knux, The Bird and the Bee
- Mess With Texas Party @ Waterloo Park; AIDS Wolf, Clipd Beaks, HEALTH
- Daniel Johnston, Grupo Fantasma @ Emo's
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Visit SXSW by going here or here.
