Hold Onto Your Reverb, Crystal Stilts Are Going on Tour
Crystal Stilts, everyone's favorite spooky psyche band doused in the blood of Morrissey's ghost, are going on tour to promote their debut album Alight of Night (TMT Review), which was released on Slumberland last October. There are some new songs out there for the echo-inclined among us, too, with a brand new 7-inch, "Love Is a Wave," on their merch table, if you're into that sort of thing. But if records are just too analog for you, check out their recent Daytrotter session to hear some new jams.
Tourdates:
04.09.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie*
04.12.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall*
04.24.09 - Seattle, WA - University of Washington^
04.26.09 - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell’s
05.08.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Bell House#
05.18.09 - Rome, IT - Circolo degli Artisti
05.19.09 - Ravenna, IT - Hana Bi
05.20.09 - Milan, IT - Casa 139
05.21.09 - Turin, IT- Spazio 211
05.22.09 - London, UK - ICA
05.23.09 - Bristol, UK - Dot to Dot
05.24.09 - Notting’am, UK - Dot to Dot
05.25.09 - London, UK - Luminaire
05.27.09 - Paris, FR - Point Ephemere
05.28.09 - Bordeaux, FR - BT 59
05.29.09 - Barcelona, SP - Primavera
05.30.09 - Barcelona, SP - Primavera
05.31.09 - Marseille, FR - La Machine a coudre
06.18.09 - Manhattan, NY - Cake Shop@
* Comet Gain
^ Wavves
# Blank Dogs & Religious Knives
@ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
April Pontiak Showers Bring May Pontiak Tours… By Showers I Mean They’re Putting Out a New Album. I’m Not Implying that Pontiak are Urinating on Anybody. Honest. Ain’t No Bands Urinating Here. Just a New Album and Tour, That’s All. Hey, Stop Looking at Me Like That. Oh You Damn Well Know What I’m Talking About, The “Is He Actually Gonna Pee on Me Right Now” Stare. For the Thousandth Time, TMT Readership, I’m Not Going to Pee on You! Also that First Line is an Off Rhyme So Yeah Deal with THAT or something.
Fraternal riff masons Pontiak get shit done quick. Hardly half a year has passed since their beefy sophomore effort Sun on Sun (TMT Review) dropped, but nevertheless Pontiak have just released a brand new record of well-contained chaos and backyard stoner drudge this past Tuesday. The recording of the new LP, dubbed Maker, nearly mimicked that of Sun on Sun, with Pontiak cutting almost every track live in their tiny rural studio. The major difference between Maker and its predecessor, though, lies in guitarist Van Carney’s amps, which blew out during recording but incidentally provided him with just the type of deteriorating monstrosity he was looking for all along. Aww, Pontiak should option a movie with this record and have Ryan Gosling play Van Carney and Rachel McAdams could play the dying amplifier. Think of the romance! Think of the heartbreak! Think of all the heavy riffs and beer!
Maker marks the Carney brothers’ third release in less than a year after collaborating with fellow Thrill Jockeyers Arbouretum on a record called Kale along with Sun on Sun. Pontiak will continue their streak of productivity with a big-ass two-month tour, preceded by a date in their native Baltimore. May your tour be full of joy and your amps always on the on the brink of death, fellas.
04.24.09 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar
05.01.09 - New York, NY - Cake Shop
05.02.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Death By Audio
05.03.09 - New Haven, CT - Bar w/Ocean
05.05.09 - Portland, ME - Space Gallery
05.08.09 - Toronto, ON - Drakes Hotel
05.09.09 - Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
05.11.09 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
05.13.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Sugar Maple
05.15.09 - Des Moines, IA - The House of Bricks
05.16.09 - Lawrence, KS - The Replay Lounge
05.18.09 - Denver, CO - Hi Dive
05.21.09 - Oakland, CA - The Stork Club
05.22.09 - Ashland, OR - The Stilwater
05.23.09 - Portland, OR - Rotture
05.27.09 - Olympia, WA - All Ages Project
05.28.09 - Chico, CA - Cafe Coda
05.29.09 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
06.01.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Blue Monkey
06.02.09 - San Diego, CA - Radio Room
06.03.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Trunkspace
06.06.09 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
06.09.09 - Tallahassee, FL - The Engine Room
06.11.09 - Tampa, FL - Crow Bar
06.12.09 - Orlando, FL - Backbooth
06.13.09 - Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbits
06.16.09 - Asheville, NC - Emerald Lounge
06.18.09 - Richmond, VA - Nara Sushi
07.24.09 - Birmingham, UK - Supersonic Festival
MoHa! Is Going on Tour, BUT WHAT IS MICHELLE WEARING.
MoHa!, one of my absolute favorite bands in the history of the universe, are on tour in places where I am not. But I'm not going to complain. Sure, I'd love to see them perform tracks from last year's Rune Grammofon release One-Way Ticket to Candyland (TMT Review), an album I consider flawless (and I hate people who use that word!), but hell, life ain't fair. Plus, I suppose just knowing that the group is out there playing music is enough to keep me satisfied.
So, no, I am not going to whine, no siree. I'm perfectly happy formatting these FUCKING tourdates...
Talibam!, Scorch Trio, Ultralyd:
04.08.09 - Olomouc, Czeck Republic - Ponorka - Hospoda u Muzea
04.09.09 - Budapest, Hungary - Cöxpon Cafe Thater
04.10.09 - Timisoara, Romania - Simultan
04.12.09 - Bucharest, Romania - Rokolectiv
04.13.09 - Plovdiv, Bulgaria - TBA
04.14.09 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Pistolet
04.16.09 - Thessaloniki, Greece - Street Attack
04.17.09 - Kavala, Greece - TEI - Accion Mutante
04.18.09 - Athens, Greece - Mixanourgeio
04.21.09 - Bari, Italy - Bohemian
04.23.09 - Ancona, Italy - La Cupa
04.24.09 - Perugia, Italy - Ex Mattatoio
04.25.09 - Rome, Italy - Sinister Noise
04.26.09 - Firenze, Italy - Ex Fila Connessione Metropolitane
04.28.09 - Mulhouse, Italy - Noumatrouff
05.04.09 - Lyon, France - Grrnd Zero
05.05.09 - Barcelona, Spain - Sala Monasterio
05.06.09 - Zaragoza, Spain - Arrebato
05.07.09 - Alicante, Spain - Bar Coyote
05.08.09 - Madrid, Spain - El Perro club
05.09.09 - Bilbao, Spain - L'mono + Akauzazte
05.10.09 - Getaria, Spain - Gaztetxe de Getaria
05.11.09 - Poitiers, France - Clauricaume Café
05.12.09 - Nantes, France - BITCHE
05.13.09 - Le Mans, France - L´inventare
05.14.09 - Kortrijk, Belgium - The Strip
Rivers Cuomo Preps Live CD, Gives Rainn Wilson Yet Another Chance for Goofy Mugging
Thirsty for a drink from the mighty River of Cuomo? Get yer canteen!
The release of last year's Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers
Cuomo has sparked the upcoming release of the Weezer frontman's live
CD and accompanying DVD. It was recorded in December 2008 at Fingerprintz Records in Long Beach, CA, during a promotional in-store solo
performance of Weezer and Cuomo solo songs that included plenty of
participation from the 150-member audience. The DVD will feature an
interview between Cuomo and actor/musician Jason Schwartzman.
Hopefully all you fans of nerdy, sensitive geek boys are sitting down,
because it doesn't end there. Cuomo and Schwartzman have also been
recording new material together, which they will debut April 11
on Sirius Radio's Alternative Radio Countdown. Not only that, but
apparently Rainn Wilson, best known as The Office's Dwight Schrute,
makes an appearance on the new material. Just what he's doing there is
the million-dollar question.
In other Weezer news, the band will be playing its first tour date of
2009 at Tokyo's Fujirock Festival on July 26. Other U.S. and
international dates are in the works, possibly in support of the
band's seventh album, which is rumored to be dropping later this year. They are also rumored to go on tour with the newly reunited Blink-182.
Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band Announce Free Documentary & Comparably Expensive Summer Tour Dates
When last we caught up with the lonesome crowded Conor Oberst and his Mystic Valley Band (TMT News), they were prepping their oddly cheesily-titled sophomore album Outer South for a May 5 release on Merge.
Well, now it seems as though that’s just not enough. Conor Oberst wants to show gratitude to his fans for sticking by him in his latest period of Neil Young Envy, so on April 15, he and his Mystic Valley bros are releasing a free documentary that chronicles the past year or so in the life of the band. Titled One of My Kind, the documentary will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the band’s journey over the last year and a half. Made by the band’s guitar-tech Phil Schaffart and presented by the internet’s premiere “good cause taste-maker” Causecast, the 60-minute film basically chronicles the hanging-out-and-makin’-bank of Conor and Co., from the recording of their first album in Tepoztlan, Mexico to their worldwide tour in 2008 and the making of Outer South in El Paso, Texas.
This thing will be available as a free stream or HD download exclusively on Causecast IFC.com, conoroberst.com, mergerecords.com, and wichita-recordings.com. Additionally, Causecast.org partner sites IFC.com, The Huffington Post, and MySpace IMPACT will each feature exclusive outtakes, trailers, and live acoustic performances from the film. Meanwhile, you can watch a trailer of the film here.
Outer South is currently available for pre-order at Merge, some U.S. shows are happening in the coming days, and the documentary will be up next week. But in the meantime, you should be plenty busy clicking on all of these links that we threw in here for you...
Well? What are you waiting for? Click on them. ALL of them. We’ll know if you don’t. We’ve got technology over here. You really don't want to make the Wichita Recordings people angry.
Tourdates:
04.09.09 - Omaha, NE - The Slowdown
04.10.09 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
04.11.09 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up
04.12.09 - El Paso, TX - Barnett Harley Davidson
04.13.09 - Albuquerque, NM - The Sunshine Theater
04.14.09 - Tempe. AZ - The Marquee
04.15.09 - Pomona, CA - The Glasshouse
04.17.09 - Indio, CA - Coachella
06.17.09 - Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep
06.18.09 - Telluride, CO - Telluride BlueGrass Festival
06.19.09 - Moab, UT - Star Hall
06.20.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Library Square
06.21.09 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
06.22.09 - Missoula, MT - Wilma Theater
06.24.09 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
06.25.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Summer Fest
06.26.09 - Omaha, NE - Anchor Inn
06.28.09 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont
06.29.09 - Columbia, MO - Blue Note
06.30.09 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
07.01.09 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
07.02.09 - Bearsville, NY - Bearsville Theater
07.03.09 - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
La Otracina to Embark on Tour Today; Southeastern United States in Immediate Danger of Psychic Flooding; Experts Fear Many Minds Will be Blown
Brooklyn psych connoisseurs La Otracina are about to leave the rainy, slightly chilly weather of New York for warmer skies, boiled peanuts, and southern kicks. The band, fresh off the release of Blood Moon Riders on Holy Mountain, will bring their blazing form of overt mind-bending hard rock theatrics to several spots in the Carolinas and Florida, including a tour finale in Richmond, Virginia. They will come armed with plenty of Pentagram bootlegs for the long drive and will more than likely be looking to cop a bag once they get to your town.
Here’s their itinerary.
04.08.09 - Greensboro, NC - 1701 West Friendly (house show) #
04.09.09 - Charleston, SC - 89 Columbus St (house show) $
04.10.09 - Orlando, FL - Will's Pub ^
04.11.09 - Lakeland, FL - Melvin Gallery (Florida Southern College) @
04.12.09 - Tampa, FL - The Roosevelt @
04.13.09 - Gainesville, FL - The Kickstand *
04.14.09 - Greenville, SC - X-Records &
04.15.09 - Richmond, VA - Dude Manch 618 E. Franklin (house show) %
04.24.09 - NAAM Record Release Show (venue TBA)
05.20.09 - New York, NY - The Stone
# The Three Brained Robot, Iron Bitchface
$ The Dead Hippies, Appolyon
^ Bleeding Rainbow, Happy Valley
@ Evening People
* Nomenclature, The Future Now, Tanks in Series
& Orchard
% Yardwork, Caves/Caverns
Ted Leo And The Pharmacists Announce New Tourdates, Me to Invent Fake Corrupt Politicians To Inspire New Album
Now that George W. Bush is long gone, Ted Leo and his band of Pharmacists are probably having trouble coming up with ways of lashing out at The Man for their new album. Because there are only so many songs you can write about the Iraq War, I've taken it upon myself to invent fake corrupt politicians to inspire him. Here’s a list of leaders I plan to email him:
- Baron Von Clighorn: a German dictator who is responsible for waging war with the state of Pennsylvania after his Philly cheese steak gave him the runs.
- Igor The Heavyweight: an overweight eight-year-old that ran away from his fat camp in Russia and went on a killing spree all over Europe, targeting fast food employees. Ran for office after getting out of jail and won.
- Joseph Fineman: a former AIG employee that took his bonus and ran... all the way to congress, where he now fights for big business injustices.
Hear new Ted Leo songs about those corrupt politicians and more on their upcoming tour:
04.11.09 - Houston, TX - Rice University Quad
06.08.09 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
06.10.09 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre %
06.11.09 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt
06.12.09 - Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree %
06.14.09 - Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Arts And Music Festival
06.15.09 - Newport, KY - Southgate House %
06.16.09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Diesel %
06.19.09 - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place %
06.20.09 - Providence, RI - AS220 %
% Titus Andronicus
TicketsNow Forced to Surrender All Broker Information
Looks like the good times might be over for brokers of Ticketmaster subsidiary TicketsNow – their records are as good as public, due to “special interest” and subpoenas from the ongoing governmental investigation of the ticket giant's shadiness. Brokers (an awfully generous term) will have no choice but to surrender records regarding individual tickets sold and even provide copies of their contracts with TicketsNow.
It's an interesting turn of events, as brokers have always been the money-making lapdogs of the ticket behemoth but now appear to be grade-A dirty laundry. Just taking a stab here, but perhaps investigators might be interested in exactly how many tickets never make it anywhere near the individual consumer for direct sale, resulting in absurdly quick sell-out times and, yes, scalping by brokers on the internet.
The text of the e-mail sent to brokers is as follows:
As you are aware, recent events have resulted in a heightened level of interest in Ticketmaster's and TicketsNow's businesses. One by-product of this heightened interest is that we have received a number of subpoenas and demands for sworn information about TicketsNow and its broker clients. These include formal requests for information and/or subpoenas from, among others, the United States Department of Justice, the New Jersey Attorney General's office, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Canadian Competition Bureau.The purpose of this letter is to inform you that we are now required to hand over certain information about TicketsNow's broker clients and their sales activities. In particular, we are required to identify: (i) information regarding any seller of tickets on TicketsNow for the May 21 and May 23, 2009 Bruce Springsteen concerts at the IZOD Center in New Jersey; (ii) the names and contact information of all ticket brokers with whom TicketsNow does business; and (iii) copies of TicketsNow broker contracts.
We are taking steps to protect the confidentiality of these materials once produced but feel we are required to provide these materials in response to lawful demands. Therefore, please be advised that we will respond to these subpoenas and demands for information one week from today. We appreciate your understanding in this matter. Any questions should be directed to legalinquiries@ticketmaster.com.
Ticketmaster Legal Department
Ponytail Hit the Road; Not One of Them to Actually Rep a Ponytail
Baltimore's newest obsession Ponytail have hit the road and are coming to your town (if you're lucky!). They are touring in support of their highly acclaimed second record, Ice Cream Spiritual (TMT Review), which came out on We Are Free in June of last year. If you haven't had the chance to see the band before, here are some words: "It's a release, a party, a cathartic getaway from the life around you. I have laid witness to Ponytail over and over, and the feeling never dwindles and the sounds never dull. Their faces are always illuminating and it transfers to your heart and grins. Your world is the now and it feels amazing. It's the sheeeezbaum!" Sounds amazing, right?! Well go check it out!
"Lookout weekend/ 'Cause here I come/ Because weekends/ Were made for fun":
04.23.09 - Washington DC - DC9
04.24.09 - Wesleyan, CT - Eclectic House
04.25.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg*
04.26.09 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
04.27.09 - Burlington, CT - Monkey House
04.28.09 - Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
04.29.09 - Toronto, Ontario - The Deleon White Gallery
04.30.09 - Detroit, MI - Pike Room
05.01.09 - Mt. Pleasant, MI - Rubble Bar
05.03.09 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
05.04,09 - Lawrence, KS - Jackpot+
05.05.09 - Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
05.07.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
05.08.09 - Boise, ID - Neurolux
05.09.09 - Seattle, WA - Vera Project
05.10.09 - Portland, OR - Holocene
05.12.09 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
05.13.09 - Visalia, CA - Howie and Sons
05.15.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
05.16.09 - Irvine, CA - Acrobatics Everyday
05.17.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Phix Gallery
05.19.09 - Lubbock, TX - Bash Riprocks
05.20.09 - Austin, TX - Emo's Chaos in Tejas pre-party
05.21.09 - Dallas, TX - The Cavern
05.22.09 - Brimingham, AL - The Bottletree
05.23.09 - Atlanta, GA - 529
05.24.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
05.25.09 - Baltimore, MD - The Ottobar
* Marnie Stern, Think About Life
+ Vivian Girls
Kill Rock Stars Sign New Distribution Deal, Continue Killing Rock Stars
OH MY GOD!
TOUCH AND GO RECORDS STOPPED DISTRIBUTION FOR A BUNCH OF OTHER INDIE LABELS!
NOBODY TOLD ME!
Just joking, I read the website that I work for; and even though there were initial rumors of T&G completely shutting down (it won’t), the label is mainly just discontinuing distribution for other labels and won’t release new music for awhile. But now most people are wondering: “What’s going to happen to all the labels that used T&G as a distributor?” I don’t know about most of the labels (like Merge, Drag City, Suicide Squeeze, or Jade Tree), but like the headline read: Kill Rock Stars has moved on and found a new distributor.
The venerable Northwest indie label announced on Monday that it has signed a new deal with independent distribution company, Redeye. The entire KRS catalog will now be carried by the indie firm ensuring that records by Elliott Smith, The Decemberists, Bikini Kill, and Sleater-Kinney will still be available to emo kids and riot grrrls everywhere.
Redeye distributes labels like Barsuk, Warp, Luaka Bop, Daptone, and Yep Roc and also ensures that releases by artists like Public Enemy, The Faint, The Donnas, Lisa Loeb, and Cake make it to store shelves.
The first Redeye-distributed record from Kill Rock Stars will be the new album by The Thermals, Now We Can See, expected for release on April 7.
Detroit Garage Rockers Tyvjk Remind the European Union of Motor City's Real Chief Export (Hint: It Ain't Cars)
....okay, there are the riots. And headquarters of the people responsible for all those Calvins we see peeing on each other. Oh, and there's that extreme poverty, racial tension, and economic collapse that surrounds the city like a horrible cloud of insidious smoke. There's that, too. But in spite of all that shit (or maybe because of it), you end up with a by-product unparalleled in cities larger, richer, and arguably smarter.
You get music. Killer amazing music. You get Motown. You get Iggy and The Stooges and MC5 (that's Motor City Five, by the way). And then there's John Lee Hooker, Parliament-Funkadelic, Sonny Bono, Question Mark & the Mysterians, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, and Alice Cooper; The Gories,The White Stripes, The Dirtbombs, The Von Bondies, J Dilla, and Eminem. See what I'm saying? Besides New York, Chicago, and LA, can you think of anywhere else that has given us so much and so varied a musical retrospective?
Now, enter Tyvjk (a.k.a. Tyvek a.k.a. TVK), and think messy garage art punk. Think hammers and nails eeking out a melody and four-tracks recording sporadically. These guys take that Detroit molten lava, throw it against the wall -- not in anger, but in pure joy -- just to see how it settles. They've been compared to The Velvet Underground and MC5, as well as Times New Viking and The Vivian Girls. I just think they're good old fashioned punk rock from the days before "punk rock" was a thing you needed to scream through or dress up as. They don't have a website yet (beyond their MySpace page); they've only released 7-inches (most notably on Sub Pop's singles club - TMT News). Hell, even John Waters is a fan.
Sounds like a good time to catch a show, if you ask me. They play tonight at the Most Wanted Fine Art Gallery in Pittsburgh, then it's off to Europe with Cheveu
04.10.09 - Düdingen, Switzerland - Bad Bonn
04.11.09 - Torino, Italy - Asilo Occupato
04.12.09 - Rome, Italy - Locanda Atlantide
04.13.09 - Italy - TBA
04.14.09 - Italy - TBA
04.15.09 - Zagreb, Croatia - Spunk
04.16.09 - Graz, Austria - Forum Stadtpark
04.17.09 - Praha, Czech Republic - TBA
04.18.09 - Hamburg, Germany - Beat Club
04.19.09 - Göteborg, Sweden - Utmarken
04.20.09 - Helsingor, Denmark - Musikhuset Elvaerket
04.21.09 - Germany - TBA
04.22.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Occii
04.23.09 - Tournai, Belguim - TBA
04.24.09 - Paris, France - Fleche D’or (Pheromoans)
04.25.09 - Ris Orangis, France - La Ferme De La Justice (Aeroflot)
