Mario Speedwagon’s Under The Radar News Round Up: The Thrill Jockey Edition (Pontiak, Thank You, And Arbourteum Tour); Plus Fuck Buttons Tour, Monolith Festival

By Mario Speedwagon on

- Baltimore’s Arbouretum are heading out on tour like, TODAY. Unfortunately, for us ‘mericans, it’s in the UK. The band is heading out on a week-long journey to Penryn, Exeter, Birmingham, London, Winchester, Colchester, and Manchester. You can check out the specific dates on the Thrill Jockey site.

- Pontiak will be heading off to tour Europe-land as well this week. The band kicks things off Sunday in Birmingham, UK, ending two weeks later in Ravenna, Italy. Pontiak’s latest jam, Maker, came out in April. Check out their dates on the Thrill Jockey site.

- Thank You, also from Baltimore, also on Thrill Jockey, are also fucking going to Europe. They head overseas in the fall and will be playing shows in Germany, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, and the UK. As I’ve mentioned in the two blurbs above, you can check out their dates at the Thrill Jockey site. Do I really need to link it again? (I also want to throw this out there: if any of y’all need a roadie, hit me up!)

- Guess who’s not from Baltimore, not on Thrill Jockey, but is also going on tour in Europe? Fucking Fuck Buttons. Granted, they’re from Bristol. These guys are releasing their album Tarot Sport October 12 via ATP Recordings. Beforehand, they will head off on a small tour of the UK in mid September. Check out the Fuck Buttons website for tour updates.

- Monolith Festival will return to Red Rocks Amphitheatre this fall on September 12 and 13. The line up includes Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Mars Volta (blech), Girl Talk, of Montreal, MSTRKRFT, Phoenix, M Ward, Chromeo, The Dandy Warholds (wha?), DOOM, Passion Pit, and a bunch more. The lineup is way better than another Colorado music festival that shall remain unnamed. Tickets are on sale now at Monolith Festival's official website.

Thom Yorke and Bon Iver to Contribute to Upcoming New Moon Film

By Kat Gardiner on 07-24-2009

If you're a little too young to be stoked by grunge's anticipated return, sharpen your abstinent teeth to this one: It has been confirmed that both Thom Yorke (Radiohead, On a Friday) and Bon Iver are releasing exclusive tracks for New Moon, the vampiric sequel in the Twilight series.

Chris Weitz, the director of the movie, seems to hold more stock in Yorke's contribution ("Unless it's sounds of him belching, I think I'll put it in.") than Bon Iver's ("He says he wrote it for the film, but who ever knows if it might just be something laying around in his cupboard.") Geez, Chris. We know where your heart lies.

Also on the soundtrack will be British band Band Of Skulls, which leads me to the inevitable question I know we've all asked: is there some sort of incredibly popular Indie Rock Band Name Generator out there on the web that, after you input, say, your birthday, spits out band names with words like crystal, deer, skull, horse, the, wolf, eagle, mice, black, and dead? Seriously.

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

By E. Nagurney on 07-24-2009

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

More

News
  • Recent
  • Popular

Music Reviews
  • Recent
  • Popular