Superchunk Blowin’ Some Chunks for the First Time in Eight Years, EP Due in April
By Couscous on 02-20-2009
Here's to slacking, motherfuckers. Legendary indie rock band Superchunk, who we last heard from in the studio in 2001 with Here's to Shutting Up!, have announced plans to release a new EP entitled Leaves in the Gutter to coincide with their upcoming performance at Coachella. The release is a way to "clear the decks" of nearly a decade of gestating material in order to prep an upcoming full-length album, says singer Mac McCaughan.
"A couple of (the songs) I really like, but they already feel like they're from another era and wouldn't fit on a new album anyway," he says, "and the newer ones are from the new era but we've recorded them and they sound good so here they are."
Wow, eight years. Really guys? Nothing doing for the entire Bush Administration? Not a single obligatory post-9/11 song or anti-war ballad? Okay, okay -- we'll take what we can get. Leaves in the Gutter comes out April 7; Superchunk play Coachella April 18.
Leaves in the Gutter tracklisting:
1. Learned to Surf
2. Misfits & Mistakes
3. Screw It Up
4. Knock Knock Knock
5. Learned to Surf (acoustic demo)
Think Punk!: Members of NY Experimental Music Scene Discover Passion for Modern Dance in Remake of Karole Armitage and Rhys Chatham’s Drastic Classicism
By Emilie Friedlander on 02-20-2009
Riddle: What do you get when you cast Parts & Labor’s Sarah Lipstate, GHQ’s Steve Gunn, Paul Duncan, Tom Gerke, and both members of Talibam! in a dance performance?
Hint: The answer does NOT involve a live appearance by the above parties in tutus and fitted bodices.
Answer: Think Punk!, an evening of music and dance by world-renowned choreographer Karole Armitage, whose dismantling of classical technique and ties to the New York No Wave scene earned her a reputation as “the punk ballerina” in the early ’80s.
On show at The Kitchen next month, Think Punk! casts a younger generation of New York noisemakers in a remake of Drastic Classicism, a hybrid of choreographed movement and rock ‘n’ roll à la Mudd Club, born out of a 1981 collaboration between Armitage and composer Rhys Chatham. Additional selections include The Watteau Duets (1985), a leather-clad deconstruction of the ballet pas de deux set to music by David Linton; Wild Thing (1987), featuring music by Jimi Hendrix and décor by artist Jeff Koons; and Mashup (2009), whose score ambitiously crosses Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante” and X-Ray Spex’s “Oh Bondage, Up Yours!”
Picture Robert Longo’s “Men in the Cities” series come to life.
03.04.09 - 03.07.09 – New York, NY – The Kitchen
03.11.09 - 03.14.09 – New York, NY – The Kitchen
Mogwai Schedule Spring Tour, Make Up For Lost Time
By Annapocalypse on 02-20-2009
Hey, remember last year when Mogwai canceled all those North American tourdates? Well, they’ve finally decided to live up to their New Year’s resolution to not cancel anymore shows by booking an entire U.S. tour this spring. Now, if only Mogwai could give me back the 63 minutes I spent listening to their most recent album, The Hawk Is Howling (TMT Review), last year, then all would be forgiven. (JK.)
Making up for lost time:
04.20.09 - Houston, TX - Numbers
04.21.09 - New Orleans, LA - Republic
04.22.09 - Birmingham, AL - Workplay Theatre
04.23.09 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
04.24.09 - Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle
04.25.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
04.27.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04.28.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04.29.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
05.01.09 - Boston, MA - Wilbur Theatre
05.02.09 - Northampton, MA - Pearl Street
05.03.09 - Montreal, QUE - Metropolis
05.04.09 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix
05.05.09 - Buffalo, NY - Tralf Music Hall
05.06.09 - Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
05.08.09 - Chicago, IL - Congress Theatre
05.09.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall
05.10.09 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
05.11.09 - Omaha, NE - The Slowdown
05.12.09 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
05.13.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue
05.15.09 - San Diego, CA - Belly Up Tavern
05.16.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre
St. Vincent’s New LP Actor Set for Spring, Clinches 2009 as Year with Better Music Than 2008
By Kasia Galaxy on 02-20-2009
In the recent slew of releases to actually look forward to glares at 2008], [St. Vincent -- also known as Annie Clark -- will release Actor, the follow-up to her 2007 debut Marry Me. Clark herself stepped behind the boards alongside John Congleton (who has worked with Modest Mouse and The Polyphonic Spree) and enlisted a few handfuls of musicians (who have also worked with famous people like Sufjan Stevens and Philip Glass). The album drops May 5 via 4AD.
Since I have a massive girl crush on St. Vincent, this exciting news has already influenced me to start happily waving in merging cars left and right. 2009 is indeed looking up so far.
Actor tracklisting:
1. The Strangers
2. Save Me From What I Want
3. Neighbours
4. Actor Out Of Work
5. Black Rainbow
6. Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood
7. Marrow
8. The Bed
9. The Party
10. Just The Same But Brand New
11. The Sequel
02.27.09 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall (Noise Pop Festival)
03.18.09 - Austin, TX - Central Presbytarian Church (SXSW)
03.20.09 - Austin, TX - Antone's (SXSW)
Critically Acclaimed TV on the Radio Set out on a (Presumably) Critically Acclaimed Tour of Hit-And-Miss Canada and Critically Derided USA
By Mike McHugh on 02-20-2009
Although sensible publications like The Guardian and Consequence of Sound normally share little in common with bottom-feeding taste-lechers like MTV and Rolling Stone, at the end of 2008 they all agreed on one thing: TV on the Radio’s Dear Science (TMT Review) was the best album of the year. How TVOTR finally managed to shift the media’s focus from Kyp Malone’s almost entirely hair-consumed face to their music will forever remain a mystery. Regardless of how they pulled it off, TVOTR are taking a victory lap around the USA and Canada beginning in May, sandwiched by an April performance at Coachella and a June show at Bonnaroo. But remember: Staring too long into Malone’s beard has the same affect on your eyes as a solar eclipse, so either bring your own safety goggles to the show or prepare to be gouged at the merch table.
04.18.09 - Indio, CA - Coachella
05.12.09 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
05.16.09 - Austin, TX - Stubbs
05.18.09 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
05.22.09 - Oakland, CA - Fox Oakland Theatre
05.23.09 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
05.25.09 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Malkin Bowl
05.27.09 - Edmonton, Alberta - Edmonton Events Center
05.28.09 - Calgary, Alberta - Macewan Hall
05.29.09 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Louis' Pub
06.02.09 - Toronto, Ontario - Sound Academy
06.03.09 - Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
06.04.09 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
06.05.09 - New York, NY - Central Park Summer Stage
06.08.09 - Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club
06.11-09 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
