Lee Ranaldo Injured; Sonic Youth Cancel Dates; Stephen Malkmus and Nels Cline Wait at Home by Their Telephones Anyway, Just in Case

By Nobodaddy on

Although the members of seminal New York downtown, art-rock, such and suchers Sonic Youth do indeed seem to remain mysteriously youthful sonically, there doesn’t seem to be as much of a guarantee in that same youth department, you know, physically.

Case in point: SY’s young and hip new home Matador announced yesterday on the Matablog that the badass guitarist and proprietor of middle-aged-done-right hair Lee Ranaldo has unfortunately fractured his middle-aged left wrist while playing the young man’s game that is tennis, thus requiring the band to reschedule their upcoming West Coast tour just a bit.

Two of the band’s dates have been canceled (September 26 in Santa Barbara and October 4 at the Austin City Limits Festival), and another five of them have been rescheduled for this coming January. According to Matador, tickets for the original dates will be honored in those applicable cases, and, where necessary, refunds will be available at the point of purchase (seems like you’re out of luck for the Austin City Limits Festival though; you’ll just have to slog through the fest anyway, feeling all youthless).

And sure, yeah, playing tennis may not seeeeeeem like a particularly “cool” way to injure yourself when you’re in fucking Sonic Youth... but hey, knowing Lee, this was no ordinary tennis game. He was probably playing Experimental Underground Art Tennis. And I hear that that’s a much harder sport.

Sonic Youth Cancelled/Postponed Dates:
09.25.09 - Pomona, CA - Fox Theater
09.26.09 - Santa Barbara, CA - Arlington Theatre
09.28.09- San Diego, CA - House of Blues
09.29.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
10.01.09 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theater
10.02.09 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
10.04.09 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits

New List O’ Dates:
10.21.09 - Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
10.22.09 - Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
10.23.09 - London, England - The Forum
10.25.09 - Paris, France - Palais des Congrés
11.07.09 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Planeta Terra Festival
11.21.09 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
11.22.09 - Boston, MA - Wilbur Theatre
11.23.09 - Boston, MA - Wilbur Theatre
12.05.09 - Minehead, England - ATP Nightmare Before Christmas
12.06.09 - Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street
01.04.10 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre (rescheduled)
01.05.10 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theatre (rescheduled)
01.07.10 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues (rescheduled)
01.08.10 - Pomona, CA - Fox Theatre (rescheduled)
01.09.10 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern (rescheduled)

Beach House Sign to Sub Pop, Tour with Grizzly Bear

By Mango Starr on Sep 10 2009

Sub Pop, best known for Chixdiggit and its NIKE shoe, will be releasing Beach House's third and as-yet untitled album. The Baltimore-based band's previous full-lengths, Beach House and Devotion (TMT Review), were both released via Carpark, who itself recently signed Toro Y Moi... so there!

According to Sub Pop, the new album is "their greatest work to date," which MAKE-UH ME SO HAPPY! Look out for it in early 2010.

Meanwhile, you can check out some new tunes on their previously reported tour, which will see Beach House joined by Grizzly Bear for a hefty hefty hefty portion.

Check it, direct it, and let's begin:
09.19.09 - Portland - the Berbati’s Pan (Musicfest NW)
09.20.09 - Seattle - Nuemos
09.22.09 - Anacortes, WA - Department of Safety
09.23.09 - Bellingham - The Nightlight
09.24.09 - Victoria BC - Rifflandia Festival
09.26.09 - Ann Arbor - Michigan Theatre #
09.27.09 - Chicago - the Metro #
09.28.09 - Chicago - the Metro #
09.30.09 - Minneapolis - First Avenue #
10.01.09 - Columbia, Missouri - Blue Note #
10.02.09 - Norman - the opolis
10.03.09 - Austin - EMOS
10.05.09 - Atlanta - Variety Playhouse #
10.06.09 - Norfolk - Norva #
10.07.09 - Philadelphia - Electric Factory #
10.08.09 - Boston - Orpheum Theatre #
10.09.09 - Poughkeepsie - Vassar College
10.19.09 - San Francisco - Bottom of the Hill
10.20.09 - LA - Hollywood Palladium #
10.21.09 - San Diego - Belly Up Tavern #

# Grizzly Bear

[Artwork: Elena Johnston]

Tickley Feather to Charm You Again This Fall on Record and On Tour, AnCo Swoons

By Kenny Bloggins on Sep 10 2009

Philadelphia's adorable late-night freak-folk crooner Annie Sachs, a.k.a. Tickley Feather, a.k.a. Animal Collective's BFF 4 life, follows up her eponymous debut next month with Hors d’oeuvres. The album promises to be a little more accessible (supposedly) and joyful album, as Sachs recently moved back to her old homestead of Virginia to embrace her roots and her "Southern Gothic meets Existential Hillbilly vibe." That doesn't exactly sound like more "accessible" work, so I'm looking forward to additional psychotic weirdness and looking glass journeys via 4-track recorder that Tickley's already established.

Hors d’oeuvres comes out October 19 via Paw Tracks.

Tracklisting:

1. Muscles
2. Sure Relaxing
3. Don’t Call, Marylin
4. Buzzy
5. Trashy Boys
6. Not A Drum
7. Roses Of Romance
8. Fly Like An Eagle
9. Club Rhythm 96 & Cell Phone
10. Tickley Plays Guitar

To get the masses stoked on the new jam hive, Feather's got two dates stateside, including a performance with HEALTH in Philadelphia and a show as part of the Paw Tracks showcase at this year's CMJ Music Marathon in New York. After that, it's off to lands who mostly speak in languages of a Germanic language (that does include English, though)

09.25.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Fire Unitarian Church #
10.23.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Cameo Gallery
11.03.09 - Cologne, GER - King Georg
11.04.09 - Darmstadt, GER - Oettinger Villa
11.05.09 - Berlin, GER - Schokoladen
11.06.09 - Prague, CZ - TBA
11.07.09 - Vienna, AUS - Transporter
11.08.09 - Munich, HER - Under 13
11.09.09 - Freiburg, GER - KTS
11.10.09 - Lyon, FR - Grrrnd Zero
11.11.09 - Metz, FR - L'Emile Vache
11.12.09 - Paris, FR - TBA
11.14.09 - Brighton, UK - The Lectern
11.16.09 - Glasgow, UK - TBA
11.18.09 - Dublin, IE - Whelans
11.20.09 - Gardiff, UK - Gaffalo
11.21.09 - London, UK - TBA

Move Over John Mellencamp and Neil Young! Phosphorescent to Play Farm Aid; Also Announces Fall Tour

By Annapocalypse on Sep 10 2009

Farm Aid isn’t just for Top 40 artists anymore. This October, Willie Nelson’s biggest fanboy Phosphorescent will join his idol, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Wilco, and, uh, Dave Matthews and Jason Mraz at this year’s Farm Aid event in St. Louis, MO. Who knows, maybe Phosphorescent will be lucky enough to persuade Willie Nelson to guest on a few songs from his tribute album, To Willie (TMT Review).

Tourdates:
10.02.09 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
10.04.09 - St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (Farm Aid)
10.05.09 - Memphis, TN - Hi Tone Cafe
10.07.09 - Nashville, TN - Exit In
10.08.09 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree Cafe
10.09.09 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
10.11.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
10.12.09 - Charlotteville, VA - IS Venue
10.13.09 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
10.14.09 - Baltimore, MD - The Ottobar
10.15.09 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
10.16.09 - Providence, RI - Providence Black Repertory Theater

RIP: Jake Brockman, former Echo and the Bunnymen keyboard player

By Shane Mack on Sep 9 2009

From the BBC:

Jake Brockman, who was 53 and married, lived in Bristol. He died when his bike was in collision with a converted ambulance near Kirk Michael on Tuesday.

Known to fans as the "Fifth Bunnyman", he had been associated with the Liverpool band since its 80s heyday and became a full-time member in 1989.

- Echo and the Bunnymen official website
- Echo and the Bunnymen MySpace
- Echo and the Bunnymen Wikipedia entry

Remastered Beatles Albums On Sale Now at 7-11, Ralphs, Whole Foods, Restoration Hardware; This Could Finally Be the Big Break Those Hard-Working Mop-Heads from Liverpool Have Been Looking For!

By Mike McHugh on Sep 9 2009

If there’s one thing The Beatles have struggled with throughout their storied existence, it’s reaching out to people in “everyday places.” Sure, you can almost assuredly find a Beatles record in every single place on earth that sells music, and for those places that don’t stock CDs, you’re more than likely to hear the Fab Four piped in through the store’s loudspeakers, whether by the classic quartet themselves or by the multitude of artists who have covered them. Hell, chances are if you walk into the right Tesco in Liverpool you just might meet Ringo Starr working the register. Ah, that’s a bit unfair to say about that particular Beatles drummer. Pete Best probably works there.

But for EMI’s senior vice-president of catalog marketing (uh, wha?) Bill Gagnon, “any and everywhere on the fucking planet” doesn’t quite equal “everyday places.” So in an effort to reach out to the simple folk of the world who wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to procure a Beatles CD, EMI is planning to stock the soon-to-be-released remastered Beatles catalog in a number of retail stores that wouldn’t normally carry musical frisbees, as the people who have never bought a Beatles record call them. Along with CD shilling standard Starbucks , the newly remastered discs will also be available in such mind-boggling locations as 7-11 and Restoration Hardware, as well as supermarkets like Whole Foods, Ralphs, and Pathmark. In the immortally idiotic words of EMI SVPoCM Bill Gagnon, “It will allow us to reach the everyday places people shop… We’re bringing the music to where they are.”

Hey EMI and surviving Beatles, you know how else you can “bring the music to where everyday people] are?” Release your fucking music [digitally , you clods! Feel free to rebuy some of the most celebrated pop music of all time today while you’re shopping for shoe polish and cat food. And hey, while you’re at it, buy Beatles Rock Band, too, because it’s out today too. Or don’t do any of that that and just save your money and go to law school like your parents always wanted. They’ll be so proud!

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