Boomshakalaka! The Ex announce new LP for January!
By E. Nagurney on Oct 27 2010
Holy jeez, what are any of you doing reading music news on this here music website? NBA Jam is out for Wii! If I have to do one more thing in my life that isn’t playing NBA Jam, things like eating and sleeping and writing stories for Tiny Mix Tapes, I will scream. Scream “Slamma Jamma!” that is. Gonna take it to the hole with my boy Detlef Schrempf.
When my Jam Fever (a recognized medical condition) subsides, perhaps then I’ll have time for a new album by Dutch punk legends The Ex. As the jam is awfully strong in me, I’d reckon that won’t happen until sometime around January 25. Rather convenient, since The Ex’s new record Catch My Shoe comes out that very day via the band’s own Ex Records. The record will mark the band’s 25th CD/LP release (EXCLAMATION POINTS) on their own label, as well as their 123rd release (EVEN BIGGER EVEN MORE EXCLAMATION POINTS) overall as a band.
That’s quite the body of work, but you’ve got to remember, The Ex have been around for a good 30 years now. They’ve had a bit of time to put out more than a bit of work. But! Everything’s not the same in ol’ Ex town. Catch My Shoe marks a pretty big change, being that it is their first album with new singer Arnold de Boer. Original singer G.W. Sok left the band last year, probably because he heard about NBA Jam.
Catch My Shoe tracklist:
01. Maybe I Was The Pilot
02. Double Order
03. Cold Weather Is Back
04. Bicycle Illusion
05. Eoleyo
06. Tree Float
07. Keep on Walking
08. Life Whining
09. 24 Problems
• The Ex: http://www.theex.nl
Weezer reveal Best Coast and Free Energy as openers for “Memories” tour, because Rivers Cuomo is a taste-maker now
By Nobodaddy on Oct 27 2010
What, were The Rentals too busy? Spacetwin and The Special Goodness holed up in the studio?? Nerf Herder and Ozma too “huge” now to play second banana??? Sheesh. Whatever, Rivers Cuomo. Go ahead and confirm on your message board that Best Coast will be opening your “Memories” tour shows in L.A. and that Free Energy will open in New York and Boston. See if I care that you’re wasting an opportunity to put together some truly old-school bills when you tour Pinkerton and Weezer (The Blue Album) around the US this fall and winter! Your loss, man. MATT SHARP FOREVER.
MMRZ T0UR:
11.26.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Amphitheater * %
11.27.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Amphitheater # %
11.29.10 - San Francisco, CA - Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium *
11.30.10 - San Francisco, CA - Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium #
12.14.10 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre * ^
12.15.10 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre # ^
12.17.10 - New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom * ^
12.18.10 - New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom # ^
01.07.10 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Entertainment Center *
01.08.10 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Entertainment Center #
* The Blue Album
# Pinkerton
% Best Coast
^ Free Energy
• Weezer: http://weezer.com
• Best Coast: http://bestycoasty.blogspot.com
• Free Energy: http://www.freeenergymusic.com
The Frames celebrate their 20th anniversary by going on the road
By Annapocalypse on Oct 27 2010
It’s hard to believe that The Frames have been around for 20 years, especially since most people think that frontman Glen Hansard is just some actor that got famous from the movie Once. But still, The Frames carry on, and this fall they will be celebrating their band anniversary by hitting the road. Not only will they possibly play your city, but they’ll also be donating a portion of their ticket sales to the (RED) Global Fund, which just so happens to be the world’s leading financier of programs to fight AIDS, TB, and malaria. Well done, Frames.
11.19.10 - Philadelphia, PA - TLA
11.20.10 - New York City, NY - Terminal 5
11.21.10 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11.23.10 - Chicago, IL - The Vic
11.26.10 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
11.27.10 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
11.28.10 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
11.30.10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Avalon
• The Frames: http://www.theframes.ie
• (RED): http://www.joinred.com
Lightspeed Champion trades in rabbit for Van Dyke Parks on new EP
By Annapocalypse on Oct 27 2010
For his new 10-inch/digital EP Bye Bye, due December 13 on Domino, Lightspeed Champion (a.k.a. Dev Hynes) decided to ditch the black rabbit and get serious. So serious, in fact, that he somehow got acclaimed Brian Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks to guest on his EP. Bet he wished he’d gotten Parks’ number before recording Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You (TMT Review) earlier this year! In addition, Hynes also recorded a cover of The Beach Boys classic, “‘Til I Die.”
Hynes had the following to say (in a press release) about working with Van Dyke Parks: “It was pretty surreal. [Parks is] someone I’ve listened to for what seems like forever. I found myself listening to the stems and works in progress as a fan of him, then I’d remember that it’s something we’re working on together… then I’d freak out… then I’d have a drink and I’d feel fine.” Surf’s Up, indeed.
Bye Bye tracklisting:
01. ‘Til I Die
02. Underwater There Is Nothing
03. Bye Bye Icarus
04. The Mess You’re In
• Lightspeed Champion: http://www.lightspeedchampion.com
• Domino: http://www.dominorecordco.com
The Cars are working on a new LP, but they asked me not to make any “this is ‘Just What I Needed’” jokes, so… I got nothing
By Nobodaddy on Oct 26 2010
Okay, so let’s talk about “cars” as a thing. Fact is, they aren’t as cool as they used to be. Instead of being desired for their loud engines and sexy chrome bodies, they’re kinda more well known for… uh, good mileage and sensible leasing options. Not exactly the hippest thing to name your band after, here in 2010. But when it comes to things like dance beats, prominent synths, and hooky, beach party choruses, new wave synth-poppers The Cars are the hippest damn band around in 2010. Hell, the only current artist(s) not taking advantage of at least one of those criteria is like, I don’t know, Kings of Leon or something. And let’s face it, nobody who’s credible wants to be like Kings of Leon. Because then that artist would sound like Kings of Leon. Ew.
And like all savvy musicians, Ric Ocasek and his band are doing all they can to differentiate themselves from Kings of Leon by making a new Cars record (the band’s first studio effort in 23 years, to be exact) that sounds decidedly like The Cars of yore. As Billboard recently reported, the band, who had reformed earlier this year, have holed up at a studio in Millbrook, New York and recorded “a number of songs” there. Last week, the group even posted a preview of a new track called “Blue Tip” on their Facebook page. (Sure, that might be a weird place to leak a clip, but give ‘em a break. They haven’t had to promote themselves since Back to the Future II.)
Additional details are pretty scarce at the moment, but the band has hinted that they might actually tour behind this new record. Ocasek, along with keyboardist Greg Hawkes, drummer David Robinson, and guitarist Elliot Easton, comprise the four surviving members of the original Cars lineup (bassist Benjamin Orr passed away in 2000 after a bout with pancreatic cancer). Gee, I sure hope they’re ready to get browbeaten into playing Candy-O songs all night long on this “new album” tour.
• The Cars: http://thecarsunlocked.com
