Sufjan Stevens Continues to Do Everything in the World Other Than Put Out a New Record, Schedules Fall Tour as a Middle Finger to You and Me
By Nobodaddy on 08-10-2009
Dear Sufjan:
On behalf of everyone everywhere, please stop stalling and make another “U.S. state” record. Everyone is waiting, man. Seriously. The live show is cool, and another U.S. tour scheduled for this fall is a really nice gesture and all... but you’re totally pissing everyone off here. I don’t care how handsome and non-threatening you are; you can’t just wink and smile and tour and smile and Christmas-album and b-side-comp and pray and BQE-box-set and smile and another-Christmas-album your way out of this thing here, dude. So once again, please-and-thank-you: stop fucking stalling. Get to work.
Respectfully Yours,
Everyone everywhere
P.S. Seriously, get to work.
Tourdates:
09.12.09 - Monticello, NY - ATP New York
09.21.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
09.22.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
09.23.09 - Ithaca, NY - Castaways
09.24.09 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
09.25.09 - Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
09.26.09 - Champaign, IL - The High Dive
09.27.09 - Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar
09.28.09 - Madison, WI - The Majestic
09.29.09 - Bloomington, IN - Buskirk Chumley
10.01.09 - Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Place
10.02.09 - Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret
10.03.09 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hal
10.04.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
10.05.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
10.06.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
10.07.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
P.P.S. Have you gotten to work yet?
Circle the Wagons! The Meat Puppets Are in Town!
By Liz Louche on 08-10-2009
The Meat Puppets have always done things their own way. Their shift from a more hardcore sound to the now-legendary underground rock/country hybrid known as “cowpunk,” their well-known battles with drugs, and all that touring with Stone Temple Pilots; it’s all well-documented, and it’s all part of the legend, for better or for worse. Original members/brothers Cris and Kurt Kirkwood have been performing under the Meat Puppets name since the band formed in the early 1980s and started releasing output for SST Records. The Meat Puppets reunited a couple years ago and are touring in support of their most recent album, Sewn Together, out now on Megaforce. When I saw them this summer, it was sweltering, packed, and totally awesome. And now you yourself can relive the magic of that night, but hopefully with less of a chance of heatstroke and your shorts getting all sweat-drenched and clingy. Gross.
Back in 1993, the band hit it big after appearing with Kurt Cobain on MTV’s Unplugged in 1993. The Kirkwoods and co. then embarked on their first tour with STP, and their album Too High to Die went gold. The band began working together again in 2006. Today, Sewn Together has got the critics all in a tizzy, and after a weekend stint with old tour buds Stone Temple Pilots, The Meat Puppets are ready to rock a venue near you. Taking over opening duties on much of the tour will be Athens, GA country/grunge practitioners Dead Confederate
09.05.09 - Tuscon, AZ - Club Congress
09.16.09 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theater *
09.17.09 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern *
09.18.09 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theater *
09.19.09 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's *
09.20.09 - Sebastopol, CA - Hopmonk Tavern *
09.22.09 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom *
09.23.09 - Chop Suey - Seattle, WA *
09.24.09 - Boise, ID - Grizzly Rose *
09.25.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *
09.26.09 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre *
10.24.09 - Atlanta, GA - 40 Watt Club *
10.31.09 - Houston, TX - Rudyard’s
11.01.09 - New Orleans, LA - Voo Doo Music Experience
11.03.09 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s
11.04.09 - Little Rock, AR - Revolution Room
11.05.09 - Tulsa, OK - Cain’s Ball Room
11.06.09 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
11.07.09 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
11.08.09 - Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
11.10.09 - Columbia, MO - Mojo’s
11.11.09 - DeKalb, IL - Otto’s
11.12.09 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
11.13.09 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
11.14.09 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
11.15.09 - Indianapolis, IN - Radio Radio
11.17.09 - Louisville, KY - Headliner’s
11.18.09 - Cleveland, OH - The Grog
11.19.09 - Ithaca, NY - Castaways
11.20.09 - Albany, NY - Valentines
11.21.09 - Teaneck, NJ - Mexacali Live
11.25.09 - New York City, NY - Bowery Ballroom
11.27.09 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
11.28.09 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
* Dead Confederate
Pope Benedict to Release First Album; Yes, the Real Pope
By Kid Midnight on 08-10-2009
Hot on the heels of the rapidly developing Christian music scene and the recent resurgence of Christian Doctrine, Pope Benedict of Rome has recorded his first album, Alma Mater, due November 30 on Geffen Records (home to Snoop Dogg, M.I.A., and the Kung Fu Panda soundtrack). The album will show off the multilingual abilities of the Popester through a selection of litanies, chants, recitations of prayers, and Bible passages, backed by The Choir of the Philharmonic Academy of Rome and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Said Colin Barlow, president of Geffen Records: “I think in this day and age, as the public are, as I am, people are fascinated by all kinds of music. We're not fed on one type of music.”
Can't get enough Pope? Check out the Vatican's official YouTube channel, and maybe you can find the video of the Pope in studio with Jesus Christ laying down some overdubs on online-only single "Pope B Blessing."
Mario Speedwagon’s Under The Radar News Round Up: !!! Tour North America, Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele Tour Europe, Basement Jaxx Release Scars This Fall, Shonen Knife Announce North American Dates (And Haven’t Aged Since 1981)
By Mario Speedwagon on 08-10-2009
- !!! are heading out on a bunch of mini weekend tours in September and October. In the beginning of September, they’ll hit up New York, Boston, and Washington DC. At the end of September, they’ll go to Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Tucson. Finally, in October, they will play Emo’s in Austin and Austin City Limits. To my knowledge, they don’t have any album plans, but you should check them out anyway because they’re fun live. You can check out the dates on the Touch and Go website.
- Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele is going on tour in August and September in Europe. They head to Paris on August 18 and end their tour September 13 in Bristol, UK. Dent May released his record The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele (TMT Review) in February 2009 via Paw Tracks, which is also where you can find a list of tourdates.
- Basement Jaxx will release their fifth studio album, Scars, on October 6, 2009 via XL Recordings. The album features appearances by Lightspeed Champion, Yo! Majesty, Sam Sparro, Santigold, Kelis “and some other chick” (according to their Wikipedia page, however the press release says its Maleka & Chipmunk), Eli “Paperboy” Reed, and Yoko Ono. Their last album was 2006’s Crazy Itch Radio.
- Shonen Knife has announced North American tourdates, shortly after exciting news of a new album, Super Group, dropping in the United States on August 25 via Good Charamel Records. To celebrate, the band will embark on a North American tour that starts October 16 in New York and ends November 18 in Buffalo. Tours in Europe and Australia to follow. All the tourdates are listed on the Good Charamel website.
Satan Forces Spencer Krug to Go On Tour with Sunset Rubdown Again
By Elzee on 08-10-2009
Not so long ago, the Devil was feeling a little bored down in the underworld and decided to check out what was up with Spencer Krug. The man had been a particular nuisance to the Devil for a long time. Many who might have sworn their allegiance to evil instead bought Sunset Rubdown’s latest LP, Dragonslayer (TMT Review), thinking it was a metal epic. This bothered the Devil, so he summoned Spencer Krug into the depths of Hell and demanded that Spencer Krug cease making epic rock music.
Spencer Krug, in his gracious and zen-like way, politely refused. This angered the Devil but also gained him some respect; instead of damning Krug to an eternity in Hell, the Devil challenged him to a game of skee-ball. Being the withdrawn composer that he is, Krug lost and is now damned to tour with his various bands for eternity.
And so it is that just after their exhaustive North American tour, Sunset Rubdown will be traversing Europe and some of America in the coming months. Give Spencer a high-five if you can – most people don’t even try to beat the Devil at skee-ball.
Europe:
09.02.09 - Groningen, Netherlands - Vera
09.03.09 - Malmo, Sweden - Debaser
09.04.09 - Goteborg, Sweden - Parken
09.05.09 - Stockholm, Sweden - Strand
09.06.09 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
09.07.09 - Hamburg, Germany - Knust
09.08.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
09.10.09 - Glasgow, UK - Stereo
09.11.09 - Belfast, UK - Spring and Airbrake
09.12.09 - Dublin, Ireland - Crawdaddy
09.13.09 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
09.14.09 - Manchester, UK - The Deaf Institute
09.15.09 - London, UK - Garage
09.16.09 - Cardiff, UK - The Glode
09.18.09 - Leffinge, Belgium - Leffingeleuren
09.19.09 - Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
09.20.09 - Berlin, Germany - Magnet Club
09.21.09 - Leipzig, Germany - Ut Connewitz
09.22.09 - Munchen, Germany - 59:1
09.23.09 - Vienna, Austria - B72
09.24.09 - Zagreb, Croatia - KSET
09.25.09 - Ljublijana, Slovenia - Menza Pri Koritu
09.26.09 - Pisa, Italy - Caracol
09.27.09 - Carpi, Italy – Mattatoio
09.30.09 - Lille, France - L'Aeronef
10.01.09 - Paris, France - Point FMR
U.S.A.:
10.16.09 - New York, NY - Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom
10.17.09 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar
10.18.09 - Columbus, OH - The Summit
10.19.09 - Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
10.20.09 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
10.21.09 - St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway Nightclub
10.22.09 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
10.24.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
10.26.09 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
10.27.09 - West Hollywood, CA - The Troubadour