Future Islands Sign to Thrill Jockey, Prep New Album for Spring; We Hope This Helps Dan Deacon's Back Heal a Little Bit

By Rachel B on

I'm a New Yorker at heart, but I'll be the first to admit that Baltimore's DIY music fiddlings are slowly but surely catching up to the the Brooklyn music behemoth in reputation. Just look at Dan Deacon, Ponytail, Double Dagger, and practically the entire Whartscape lineup. Brooklyn's got nothing on that.

And now Baltimore's own fuzz n' buzz outfit Future Islands are staking their claim on the indie mainstream (wow, oxymoron). After receiving a slew of positive feedback for their 2008 release Wave Like Home (TMT Review), Future Islands are now newly signed to Thrill Jockey and are expected to release In Evening Air come spring 2010. And speaking of Brooklyn, be sure to stop by Death By Audio for Future Islands' record release show on December 17. The rest of their tourdates are below.
11.19.09 - Sheperdstown, WV - Blue Moon Saloon *
11.20.09 - Greenville, NC - Lucky's *
11.21.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
11.22.09 - Asheville, NC - New French Bar *
11.23.09 - Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light *
11.24.09 - Charlotte, NC - The Milestone *
11.25.09 - Charleston, SC - Adolini's Pizza *
11.27.09 - Raleigh, NC - Berkeley Cafe *
11.28.09 - Baltimore, MD - Floristree *
12.03.09 - Greenville, NC - Tipsy Teapot
12.04.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - The Cave
12.05.09 - Wilmington, NC - Drifters ^
12.13.09 - Baltimore, MD - Jesus Camp %
12.17.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Death By Audio $

* Thank You

^ Lonnie Walker

% Javelin

$ Javelin, Jones, Moss of Aura

Ticketmaster Accused of Holding Back Tickets for Taylor Swift and Keith Urban Concerts

By Annapocalypse on 11-19-2009

Another week, another Ticketmaster scandal. This time, the ticket giant is accused of holding back tickets for Taylor Swift and Keith Urban concerts and distributing them to fan clubs and other exclusive communities instead of putting them up for public sale. Specifically, thousands of tickets were dispersed to American Express and fan clubs for different concerts in Nashville, severely reducing the odds of an average fan being able to score tickets to the shows. Out of 13,300 seats for the Taylor Swift show, around 1,600 tickets were available to the general public when tickets went on sale, and 5,000 of the 13,300 tickets were held for American Express customers due in part to a deal the credit card company has with different artists. For Urban’s concert, 14,900 seats were available, but more than 10,400 tickets had already been sold before the public on-sale date, most of which went to Urban’s fan club and to American Express.

This issue has caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., who introduced the Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing Act (BOSS ACT!), in hopes of putting an end to absurd ticket holds. "When you have a highly desirable product with incredible demand, all kinds of shenanigans go on," Lefsetz said in an interview with WTVF-TV. "Listen, the whole business is smoke and mirrors. Because no one is policing them telling them to tell the truth."

Reprise Records Retroactively Decides That Wilco’s Being There Isn’t Selling So Hot Anymore 13 Years After Its Initial Release and Drops Wilco All Over Again!!! OMG!!! Wait, But Then Nonesuch Releases It on Vinyl + CD + MP3 and Everyone Agrees All Over Again That Wilco Are “Edgy” and “Underdogs” and “Awesome” (The Word “Handsome” Is Still Rarely Used)

By Nobodaddy on 11-19-2009

Remember Wilco’s second album? ...No? Oh man, that’s gonna make this story kinda difficult then, isn’t it? Hmm... okay, okay, it’s the one after A.M. that everyone says Wilco kinda “came into their own sound” on? A.K.A., it’s the one with “Misunderstood” on it, followed by all those songs that sound just like A.M.? Ah! See? NOW you know what I’m talking about! Aaaand, I proceed:

Wilco’s present hoity-toity label home, Nonesuch Records has just announced a reissue of this 19-track, double-album-sized love letter to charming and amusingly 90s-sounding alt-rock on every format that counts. That’s right, for $21, you can pick yourself up double vinyl, CD, AND MP3 sonic documents of such questionable Tweedy managerial decisions as: employing a full-time dobro player, NOT firing Ken Coomer sooner, and so on! Wow! Here’s the tracklist! Order now!

Side 1:

1. Misunderstood
2. Far, Far Away
3. Monday
4. Outtasite (Outta Mind)
5. Forget the Flowers

Side 2:

1. Red-Eyed and Blue
2. I Got You (At the End of the Century)
3. What's the World Got in Store
4. Hotel Arizona
5. Say You Miss Me

Side 3:

1. Sunken Treasure
2. Someday Soon
3. Outta Mind (Outta Sight)
4. Someone Else's Song
5. Kingpin

Side 4:

1. (Was I) In Your Dreams
2. Why Would You Wanna Live
3. The Lonely 1
4. Dreamer in My Dreams

John Lydon Discusses Public Image Limited Tour, New Material, and the Delicious Taste of 100% British Butter

By Liz Louche on 11-19-2009

It’s always a good day for music fans when John Lydon is in the news. Hell, it’s a good day for everybody, especially those of us who enjoy wacky stories on the internet. Most of the recent hype concerning the Sex Pistols/Public Image Limited vocalist has been as a result of his appearances on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Judge Judy, and a now-notorious butter commercial. Apparently the butter commercial has both a) given Mr. Lydon the capital to mount several Public Image Limited tourdates in the U.K. (the first such dates in 17 years) as well as b) gotten him a lot of guff from people who think hawking butter isn’t punk rock. Which begs the question: is butter not punk rock? What would be? Margarine? Not putting anything on your toast? Because that’s not hardcore. It’s just boring.

So Lydon’s butter money is helping to finance the dates below. And if those dates sell well enough, Public Image Limited is seriously thinking about recording again. It’s truly the Circle of Life. When asked if the band would be playing the hits during their upcoming tour, Lydon said, “Don't be ridiculous! What do you think this is? The Beatles? She loves you yeah yeah yeah? No no no! You get what you're given and it'll be even better then.” Take that, butter haters

12.15.09 - Birmingham, England - O2 Academy
12.16.09 - Leeds, England - O2 Academy
12.18.09 - Glasgow, Scotland - O2 Academy
12.19.09 - Manchester, England – Manchester Academy
12.21.09 – London, England - Brixton Academy
12.22.09 - London, England - Electric Ballroom
12.23.09 - London, England - Electric Ballroom

Judge Rules in Favor of RIAA in Malicious Prosecution Lawsuit

By Brom on 11-19-2009

In 2007, Tanya Andersen was exonerated in a lawsuit brought against her by the RIAA. The child labor-exploiting, baby-eating, SUV-driving music industry argued that the defendant had downloaded gangster rap over Kazaa, a P2P file-sharing application. She countersued in the same year, claiming that the RIAA had attempted to prosecute her maliciously.

Unfortunately for Ms. Andersen (and millions of internet users who hate child labor, eating babies, and SUVs), Judge Anna J. Brown has ruled that "the RIAA had sufficient legal justification to initially file suit against Andersen, saying that they could have ‘reasonably believed’ that she was responsible for sharing copyrighted tracks on a P2P network in 2004." Andersen originally claimed that the suit should never have been brought in the first place, saying there was no way of knowing who the person was "behind the computer when the MediaSentry investigator detected KaZaA user gotenkito's shared folder."

There's still a chance of the RIAA getting a kick in the nuts, with the court yet to decide on whether the organization's conduct was appropriate in attempting to secure the prosecution of Andersen.

Belle and Sebastian Hint at New Album

By Mr P on 11-18-2009

From Belle and Sebastian's official website:

[Thanks to Fausto Koerich for the tip!]

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