The Pop Group reunite after nearly 30 years of being office admins
By Mr P on Jul 12 2010
While Swans have recently denied its “reunion” status (TMT News), saying that it’s “not some dumb-ass nostalgia act,” The Pop Group have decided to go the “dumb-ass nostalgia act” route by “blow[ing] the dust off the old songs and pick[ing] up where [they] left off.” According to ATP Concerts, Bristol’s acclaimed post-punkers The Pop Group are reuniting for four club dates in September, with two performances in Italy and a couple more in London.
The reunion features Mark Stewart (vocals), Gareth Sager (guitar, keys, sax), Bruce Smith (drums), and Dan Katsis (bass), the lineup from their second and final album, For How Much Longer Must We Tolerate Mass Murder. We suspect they’ll be playing tunes from that album and their debut release, Y. While only four dates have been announced so far, the band is at the very least planning to bring the “dumb-ass nostalgia act” to some festivals in 2011.
No word if The Pop Group plan on writing or recording new songs, but according to the band: “There was a lot left undone,….we were so young and volatile….Let’s face it, things are probably even MORE fucked now than they were in the early 80’s…..and WE are even more fucked off!” [UPDATE: According to the AV Club, The Pop Group have a new album, The Alternate, tentatively scheduled for release sometime in September.]
09.09.10 - Bologna, Italy - Locomotiv Club 9
09.10.10 - Turin, Italy - Spazio 211
09.11.10 - London, UK - The Garage *
09.12.10 - London, UK - The Garage *
* DJ TBC
Tickets for the London shows are on sale now.
• The Pop Group (Wiki): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pop_Group
• ATP Concerts: http://www.atpfestival.com
“Mega”faun to release “Mini”-LP
By Liz Louche on Jul 12 2010
Hahaha, this shit just writes itself. It’s funny because the title refers to two things that are at polar opposite ends of the size spectrum!
Okay, you’re right, that’s not funny at all. Let’s proceed.
North Carolina-based Megafaun have been nonstop busy these past couple years, what with North American and European tours, a roots music project for Duke University, and contributions to the album from indie/soul/whatever supergroup GAYNGS. Now the group has announced the follow-up to last year’s Gather, Form & Fly (TMT Review), a six-song mini-LP called Heretofore that is slated for release September 14 on Hometapes.
Megafaun just wrapped up a series of summer North American dates, but you can still catch them live in a month or two. You know, if you’re into that sorta thing.
Heretofore tracklisting:
01. Heretofore
02. Carolina Days
03. Eagle
04. Volunteers
05. Comprovisation for Connor Pass
06. Bonnie’s Song
Megadates:
08.06.10 - Portland, OR - Pickathon
08.07.10 - Portland, OR - Pickathon
08.13.10 - Marina di Ravenna, Italy - Hana Bi
08.15.10 - Leicester, UK - Summer Sundae Weekender
08.16.10 - London, UK - Lexington
08.19.10 - Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpopp Festival
08.21.10 - Trondheim, Norway - Pstereo Festival
08.22.10 - Wales, UK - Green Man Festival (Glanusk Park)
08.23.10 - Dublin, Ireland - Crawdaddy
08.24.10 - Cork, Ireland - Cyprus Avenue
08.26.10 - Groningen, Netherlands - Noorderzon Festival
08.27.10 - Venlo, Netherlands - Zomerparkfesten
08.28.10 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Ekko
08.29.10 - North York Moors, UK - The Band Room
09.11.10 - Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Fest at King’s
• Megafaun: http://www.megafaun.com
• Hometapes: http://www.home-tapes.com
Christian Fennesz, David Daniell, and Tony Buck announce new live LP Knoxville
By Harold Shueberg on Jul 12 2010
It’s not every day that you bear witness to an album being created in its full form within the context of a live setting. I mean, unless you’re a DMB or Phish fan. But even taking those powerhouses into account, rarely does one experience such an event within the context of a fully improvisational live show. One such lucky crowd was those who soaked up last year’s Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN on February 7, when a completely improvised performance took place between guitarist/computer wiz/sound manipulator Christian Fennesz, guitarist David Daniell, and drummer Tony Buck (of The Necks). The performance took place without any prior meeting or collaboration between the three musicians. Eat that, Mr. Matthews.
Since this performance was obviously of a unique and non-repeatable nature (and apparently completely mind blowing), Thrill Jockey has decided to step up and document this happening by giving it an overly appropriate name (Knoxville) and an LP and CD release come August 24 of this year. Thrill Jockey also reports that future performances can be expected from the trio. Ultimately, we can only hope that they’ll follow in the footsteps of Phish and release an album from every single one of those performances.
• Christian Fennesz: http://www.fennesz.com
• David Daniell: http://www.daviddaniell.com
• Tony Buck: http://www.thenecks.com
• Thrill Jockey: http://thrilljockey.com
Junk Culture tells kids to “say NO to tobacco,” then goes on tour with Tobacco! Hypocrite!
By E. Nagurney on Jul 9 2010
Illegal Art beat maestro Junk Culture (a.k.a. Deepak Mantena) is a good role model for the kids. Encoded somewhere in his tripped-out sound collages is a simple message to all the children: “Don’t smoke, don’t do drugs, and do your best!” Pretty stand up guy, obviously, but how does such a message come off when Mantena goes on tour with someone named Tobacco this fall?? Pretty fishy, but hey, nobody’s perfect. Besides, the guy went to school in my beloved home state of Mississippi, so he has my infinite respect. At the moment, Junk Culture is in the middle of a summer tour with Common Loon. Now Common Loon, that’s a name nobody could find an objectionable message in. Unless you hate loons.
Junk dates:
07.10.10 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall *
07.11.10 - Philadelphia, PA - The M Room *
07.12.10 - Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks *
07.13.10 - Youngstown, OH - Lemon Grove Cafe *
07.14.10 - Cincinatti, OH - Southgate House *
07.15.10 - Champaign, IL - Mike N Molly’s *
07.16.10 - St. Louis, MO - Antartica
09.09.10 - Washington, DC - DC9 !
09.10.10 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church !
09.11.10 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar !
09.16.10 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse !
09.17.10 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground !
09.18.10 - Boston, MA - Middle East !
09.23.10 - Toledo, OH - Mickey Finn’s !
09.24.10 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig !
09.25.10 - Kalamazoo, MI - The Strutt !
* Common Loon
! Tobacco, Dreamend
• Junk Culture: http://junkculture.biz
• Illegal Art: http://illegal-art.net
