Japandroids Schedule Fall Tour! Everyone Is Shouting All The Time! Aaaaaahhhh!

By E. Nagurney on

Vancouver-based garager rockers Japandroids are going on tour! They’re going on tour in the fall! Why am I shouting!? Because that’s how Japandroids do it! They shout a lot! I figured this is how Japandroids would write this story! Solidarity, man!

The duo is actually on the road right now in the midst of a West Coast tour wrapping up in the beginning of August! Then they’ll take a break for a month! Then the boys are leaving town again for a pretty massive East Coast tour in September and October! On the way, they’ll pick up their buddies Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, who are touring on their self-titled debut, and The Coathangers, who just dropped their sophomore LP Scrambles (TMT Review)!

Japandroids are touring in support of their shout-tastic debut LP Post-Nothing (TMT Review), released earlier this year on Unfamiliar! One release wasn’t enough for these guys, though! Post-Nothing is getting a wider release on Polyvinyl August 4! People have been saying a lot of good things about the record, so good move on Polyvinyl’s part! Pitchfork, NY Times, Spin, NPR, and Cokemachineglow, among others, have given it a big thumbs up! Even Tiny Mix Tapes liked it! It received the coveted four-little-balls-out-of-five-little-balls award!

Shouting all of Japandroids tourdates would make a man hoarse:
07.25.09 - Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party
07.28.09 - Portland, OR - Holocene
07.29.09 - Sacramento, CA - Blue Lamp
07.30.09 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
07.31.09 - Los Angeles CA - Spaceland^
08.01.09 - Visalia, CA - Howie & Sons
08.07.09 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre
09.05.09 - Victoria, BC - Lucky Bar*
09.07.09 - Kelowna, BC - Habitat*
09.09.09 - Calgary, AB - Broken City*
09.10.09 - Saskatoon, SK - Amigos*
09.11.09 - Winnipeg, MB - The Lo Pub*
09.12.09 - Fargo, ND - Aquarium*
09.13.09 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club*
09.14.09 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon*
09.16.09 - Urbana, IL - Pygmalion Festival
09.17.09 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stik*
09.18.09 - Guleph, ON - Albion*
09.19.09 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern*
09.21.09 - Columbus, OH - The Summit*
09.24.09 - New York City, NY - Mercury Lounge*
09.28.09 - Buffalo, NY - Big Orbit’s Soundlab*
09.29.09 - Hamilton, ON - Casbah*
09.30.09 - Peterborough, ON - The Montreal House*
10.03.09 - Ottawa, ON - Zaphods**
10.04.09 - Quebec City, QC - Le Cercle**
10.05.09 - Boston, MA - Great Scott**
10.06.09 - Philadelphia, PA - The Barbary**
10.07.09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks**
10.08.09 - Cleveland, OH - Now That’s Class**
10.09.09 - Chicago, IL - Schubas**
10.13.09 - Dallas, TX - The Cavern**
10.14.09 - Austin, TX - Emos**
10.16.09 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks
10.17.09 - Atlanta, GA - 529
10.18.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
10.19.09 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
10.24.09 - Halifax, NS - The Paragon (Halifax Pop Explosion)
10.27.09 - London, UK - White Heat @ Madame Jojo’s

^ Future of the Left

* Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

** The Coathangers

Conor Oberst Craves Maturity, Retires Bright Eyes

By Kid Midnight on 07-24-2009

Conor Oberst, who you may also know as Bright Eyes, has informed the world that he no longer wants to be known as Bright Eyes. The name change was first speculated when Oberst told Rolling Stone that the moniker, “needs to stop at some point. I’d like to clean up, lock the door, say goodbye.”

Speculation became confirmation when Robb Nansel, head of Bright Eyes’ label Saddle Creek, stated that: “I think (Oberst) feels like Bright Eyes has a certain association, for better or worse. I think he's trying to distance himself a little bit from what that means to people."

I think what Oberst wants is, of course, to no longer be that whiny little musical whiz kid who can’t help but cry whenever he sang. Or, at least, he doesn’t want you to think he was ever like that.

Oberst is expected to release a final album under the Bright Eyes next year. And, yes, I will buy that album.

Monsters Of Folk Go On Tour, Donate To Charity; As It Turns Out, Man Is The Real Monster

By E. Nagurney on 07-23-2009

Aren’t monsters supposed to be jerks? You know, terrorizing villages and sucking blood and killing people and stuff like that? I thought that’s what monsters were all about. I’ve never seen a vampire or a wolfman helping old ladies across the street or volunteering at a library.

That’s why I don’t think these so-called Monsters of Folk are monsters at all. Instead of striking fear in the countryside, the folk-rock supergroup (featuring M. Ward, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis) are going on their inaugural tour this fall. The way they describe it, the shows won’t even be very monstrous, what with the four members trading instruments and roles throughout the show. Like Frankenstein’s monster would ever let a mummy touch his kit. A real band of monsters probably couldn’t even get it together to put out a record, yet Monsters of Folk have a self-titled debut coming out September 22 on Shangri-La.

If all that doesn’t hurt their monster cred enough, the guys are even giving to charity by partnering with Air Traffic Control, a resource for musicians' philanthropic and social change work. Through this partnership, the band will donate a buck from every ticket sold to local non-profits. Nice guys, those Monsters of Folk -- not monsters at all.

Monsters of Folk dates:
10.13.09 - Vancouver, BC - Orpheum
10.14.09 - Portland, OR - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
10.15.09 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
10.17.09 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
10.18.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Greek Theatre
10.20.09 - San Diego, CA - Spreckels Theatre
10.21.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum Theater
10.22.09 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
10.28.09 - Omaha, NE - Holland Center
10.29.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre
10.30.09 - Chicago, IL - Auditorium Theatre
10.31.09 - Louisville, KY - Louisville Palace Theatre
11.02.09 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
11.03.09 - Boston, MA - The Orpheum
11.06.09 - New York, NY - United Place
11.08.09 - New York, NY - Beacon Theater
11.09.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Academy of Music
11.12.09 - Stockholm, SE - Philadelphia Church
11.14.09 - Berlin, DE - Huxleys
11.15.09 - Copenhagen, DK - Vega
11.17.09 - London, UK - Troxy
11.18.09 - Paris, FR - Elysee Montmarte
11.19.09 - Koln, DE - E-Werk
11.21.09 - The Hague, NL - Crossing Border
11.22.09 - Antwerp, BE - Crossing Border

Beach House Trade In Lakefront Property for Tour Bus, Change Name to “Moving Vehicle”

By Elzee on 07-23-2009

Apparently the housing crisis effects musicians, too! In a public statement tinged with defeat, dream-poppers Beach House announced that they plan to sell their $1.3 million lakefront estate in Maryland and move into a tour bus for the duration of the economic downturn.

“We thought our band’s name and corresponding lifestyle were a little excessive for the current economy,” said vocalist Victoria Legrand. “So, in solidarity with our fans, we plan to tour indefinitely and rename ourselves to fit our new living situation.”

Guitarist and keyboardist Alex Scally had little to comment, adding only that the band would be supporting Grizzly Bear in October, because “their tour bus is way nicer than ours, and it’s going to be a hard adjustment not living in a mansion anymore.”

The band only has dates planned through the end of October, though, so it will be interesting to see if another name change will be in the works. Look out for a new album from "Makeshift Shack" in the coming months! For now, the band formerly known as Beach House may be coming to a city near you..

08.14.09 - Oslo, Norway - Oya Festival
08.15.09 - Malmo, Sweden - Malmo Festival
08.16.09 - Berlin, Germany - Magnet Club*
08.17.09 - Hamburg, Germany - Knust*
08.18.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso*
08.19.09 - Paris, France - Nouveau Casino*
08.21.09 - London, UK - Union Chapel*
08.22.09 - Brecon Beacons, UK - Green Man Festival
08.30.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Williamsburg Waterfront+
09.06.09 - Portlaoise, IE - Electric Picnic
09.19.09 - Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan^
09.20.09 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
09.22.09- Anacortes, WA - Dept. of Safety
09.23.09 - Bellingham, WA - Nightlight Lounge
09.24.09 - Victoria, BC - Rifflandia
09.26.09 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater+
09.27.09 - Chicago, IL - Metro+
09.30.09 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue+
10.01.09 - Columbia, MO - Blue Note+
10.05.09 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse+
10.06.09 - Norfolk, VA - Norva+
10.07.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory+
10.08.09 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre+
10.20.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium+
10.21.09 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern+

* Vetiver

+ Grizzly Bear

^ John Vanderslice

A Hawk And A Hacksaw To Release Délivrance in August

By Kat Gardiner on 07-23-2009

Despite what The Minutemen say (the vigilantes, not the band), we're all immigrants here. For some, the need for outside input is superficial, while others yearn to expatriate themselves and experience the world far from America. I don't think I'm jumping the gun to say that A Hawk And A Hacksaw fall into the latter camp.

Délivrance, their new album on The Leaf Label, finds the duo of ex-E6er Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost completely enveloped in the world of Eastern European folk. The Baltic World saw the duo, welcomed them in with open arms, and then started dancing in the streets. Now they return to The States with a slight Transylvainian accent, musically of course.

Look for the album to be released in The New World August 25.

Délivrance tracklist:

1. Foni Tu Argile
2. Kertész
3. The Man Who Sold His Beard
4. Hummingbirds
5. Raggle Taggle
6. I Am Not A Gambling Man
7. Turkiye
8. Zibiciu
9. Vasalisa Carries A Flaming Skull Through The Forest
10. Lassü

Acuarela Records Starts 7-inch Singles Club with Mount Eerie, Jamie Stewart, and Tara Jane O’Neil

By Elzee on 07-23-2009

Si puedes leer español y te gustan los vinilos de 7”, debes registrar para el nuevo “Club de Singles” de Acuarela Records. La etiqueta, de Madrid, tiene muchos müsicos excelentes, y -- wait, they have an English translation of their website! Let’s try this again...

Madrid’s Acuarela Records is starting a totally bangin’ 7-inch club! The label, which has launched the careers of multiple Spanish artists as well as released music from the likes of Destroyer, Xiu Xiu, Julie Doiron, and more, has decided to release vinyl for the first time in years. Each single include exclusive tracks and is limited to 1000 copies, with no CD copies made.

So far Jamie Stewart, Tara Jane O'Neil, Mount Eerie, and many other artists have been confirmed, and the first two records -- from Agent Ribbons and The Wave Pictures -- are available on the Acuarela website. You can read about the club in English here o, si prefieres español, puedes leer sobre el club aquí.

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