Meg Baird of Espers Is Doing A Solo Tour for the Soul (Don't You Like It When TMT Headlines & Stories Have Less Sarcasm And More Introspective Thought?)

By Scout Leader Kyle on

Sarcasm is a fickle thing, fellow TMT readers. Some of us are good at it, and some of us think we're good at it. Most people think that sarcasm is tough to write, but I think it's tough to read! Let's face it, it's both hard to dish out and hard to take in. You never know what to believe when a TMT writer admits they find the new Mariah Carey single playing in their heads on a daily basis or when Hanky Panky says the Sub Pop 20th anniversary fest will be "mediocre" (TMT News). You also probably don't really know what we think of Mr P. A lot of the time we talk about how big of an asshole he is, and we barely focus on how incredible of a guy he is and how his grammar skills rock. This also begs another question: why do we spend so much time writing about him? No one else does this except for us. I think we all just want to bone him but are too afraid to admit it. [Ready for a bonin' anytime, cutie. -- Editor]

Writing about Meg Baird of the Espers can be just as fickle. You ever have that feeling when you just don't know much about a subject or a particular person and you end up just winging it? Yeah, I feel that way a lot! I don't typically "wing it" in the traditional sense (I do research and fact-checking), but with a low-key musician like Meg Baird, you can't really say much of anything. Except that she plays dope folk music, has an album called Dear Companion, plays in Espers, and is touring. That's all you really need to know about her, and I'd like to think that if you haven't heard of Meg Baird you'll go look her up on MySpace and see if she's your cup of tea. If she is, then you can visit her at the following shows:

Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Festival in July, Baby

By Hanky Panky on Apr 16 2008

I don't know if Sub Pop has ever organized a festival before, which may be why the up-and-coming Sub Pop music and comedy festival is shaping up to be the worst festival ever announced. Titled the SP20 Festival, they've already missed the mark, because titling it SPF 20 would have been much wittier. Indeed, SP20 Festival isn't witty at all and thus fails to market itself by name and name alone.

Then comes the issue of music... and comedy. Granted, the general theme of "so and so art and music festival" is getting old and rarely has anything to do with art beyond a couple large-scale sculptures put in the middle of the festival ground featuring misting hoses to be utilized by sweaty freak-fans on the verge of heatstroke, but comedy seems an unlikely coupling for a music festival. Nevertheless, Sub Pop will give it a go, featuring label unknowns Eugene Mirman, Patton Oswalt, and label friend and fan Todd Barry. Where's Chris Rock? Where's Jon Stewart?

While past Sub Pop artists are the things of legend, a few mainstay individuals such as Kurt Cobain and Jeremy Enigk could not be secured for the SP20 lineup -- a disappointment to be sure -- but this has not left SP high and dry. With more cataloged artists than you can shake a stick at (what the hell does that mean anyway?), the lineup appears to be weak and growing weaker, with Beachwood Sparks, Comets on Fire, Fleet Foxes, Flight of the Conchords, The Fluid, Foals, Grand Archives, Green River, The Helio Sequence, Iron & Wine, Kinski, Low, Mudhoney, No Age, Pissed Jeans, Red Red Meat, The Ruby Suns, Seaweed, and Wolf Parade, with more to be announced in the coming months.

Inside the offices, SP will be arranging a series of re-releases, starting with Mudhoney's Superfuzz Bigmuff: Deluxe Edition (May 22) and a limited run of the Sub Pop Singles Club.

Ticket information (bear with me): Discounted $30 single-day or $50 two-day passes to the SP20 Festival go on sale Saturday April 26, at noon, if you feel the need to be anal-retentively prompt. Otherwise, ticket prices will increase to $35 single-day or $60 two-day passes on May 10. Tickets for the SP20 Comedy Show are $20 and go on sale April 26 at noon. All ticket proceeds will go toward an assortment of "beneficiaries" deemed worthy by Sub Pop and participating festival artists -- don't ask.

SP20 Festival:

SINGER Plan Lengthy Spring Jaunt; Robert Lowe Releases Gyromancy

By Paulb on Apr 15 2008

Drag City quartet SINGER has mapped out an unusually busy spring tour to promote the release of last month's gloriously mouthy Unhistories. The LP, a clear mishmash of four able-bodied young musical minds, relies heavily on the vocal ranges of its members rather than their unique powers of instrumentation. The group is also ably backed by the ferociously talented Todd Rittman (U.S. Maple), so the instrumentation aspect of the LP does anything but whimper in the corner. It's not entirely clear how long SINGER plan on staying around, but you'll have plenty of opportunities to see if the new relationship is fruitful.

SINGER's founding member Robert AA Lowe (Lichens, 90 Day Men) has also recently released a new LP entitled Gyromancy (Thrill Jockey) with Rose Lazar, a book/3-inch CD bundle in the tradition of Daniel AIU Higgs' Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot. Thrill Jockey gushes: "Gyromancy looks at future past, neo antiquity, ritual magic, and patterning. The book represents a dream walk through nature and all of its influences. Repetition of imagery keeps you aware of the cyclical patterns that nature presents us with. We get caught up in these patterns without noticing them, to the point that you have to stop and take a harder look. Gyromancy is an attempt at taking a harder look."

You can purchase Gyromancy here, or spend $2 more to get a hand-crafted, limited-to-100 edition here.

Tour Galore:

* Enon

& Cloudland Canyon

Sunset Rubdown To Last Until Sunrise

By Mango Starr on Apr 15 2008

I stood at the window, looking out across the beach and the ocean, watching as the sun approached the horizon. On this small Mediterranean island, no one but my loving husband was around to see my full nudity, unless one counted the birds that occasionally flew past my view of the sunset. There was a lone boat passing slowly by in the distance, its single sail raised high into the sky, but even if anyone on the boat thought to look toward the small abode, I doubted that even binoculars would allow me to be seen behind the window in the dim room.

I was physically and mentally exhausted. Our sunset-to-sunrise sexathon was nearing its end, yet despite the rawness I felt between my legs, my body still craved more, still yearned for that one final climax. And, given how my husband's manhood was lengthening against my back as his arms enveloped me with love and security, I knew that he felt the same.

Sunset Rubdown tourdates:

Indian Jewelry Want to Give You a $500 Macy’s Gift Certificate!

By David Nadelle on Apr 15 2008

Okay, they don't want to give you a $500 Macy's gift certificate. No one does. Ever. But Indian Jewelry do want to give you the gift of music when they hit the road in April and May, starting at The Mink in Houston, TX on April 18 and ending on my birthday at Bottle Tree in Birmingham, AL!

All terrible segues aside, Indian Jewelry are indeed playing live all over the place, and while I haven't seen them yet, I'm simply dying to. I can just imagine the hypnotic carnage that will be on display. It will surely be the sensory equivalent of getting a shocker from Hellboy. No doubt about it. For those that need titillation in their news stories, it looks like I.J. will only be playing one BALLroom on this upcoming tour

04.18.08 - Houston, TX - The Mink #
04.19.08 - Austin, TX - Emo’s Lounge $
04.21.08 - Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture
04.22.08 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
04.23.08 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Crepe Place
04.24.08 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern %
04.25.08 - Eureka, CA - The Little Red
04.26.08 - Portland, OR - Someday Lounge
04.27.08 - Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern
04.29.08 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
04.30.08 - Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
05.01.08 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown Jr

05.02.08 - Saint Paul, MN - Turf Club
05.03.08 - Chicago, IL - The Hideout ^
05.04.08 - Pontiac, MI - The Pike Room
05.05.08 - Akron, OH - Thursday’s
05.06.08 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
05.07.08 - Pittsburgh, PA - Belvedere’s
05.08.08 - New York, NY - Cake Shop
05.09.08 - Hanover, NH - Fuel Rocket Club @ Dartmouth College
05.10.08 - Providence, RI - AS 220
05.11.08 - New Haven, CT - Sundazed @ Bar
05.12.08 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brendas
05.14.08 - Washington, DC - The Red and The Black
05.15.08 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
05.16.08 - Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
05.17.08 - Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree

# A Thousand Cranes, Balaclavas, Wicked Poseur

$ The Carnys, ST37

% Magick Daggers, Excepter

^ Warhammer 48K

The fractious sect, who is beloved by both in-tune yogis and hip gem lovers everywhere, claim to have been holed up recording their latest, greatest in Humboldt Park, Chicago and a private residence in Houston, TX (but not in a Yearning for Zion polygamist community compound in West Texax -- I repeat, NOT in a Yearning for Zion polygamist community compound in West Texas). Now We Are Free will release the resulting skewered set, called Free Gold! (aka 120 Kilogramms of Gold & 10 KG of Diamond), on May 20. Don't let anybody fool you into thinking that it won't be a small miracle mix of musical art.

Free Gold! (aka 120 Kilogramms of Gold & 10 KG of Diamond) tracklist:

1. Swans
2. Temporary Famine Ship
3. Seasonal Economy
4. Pompeii
5. Walking on the Water
6. Too Much Honkytonking
7. Nonetheless
8. Bird Is Broke (Won't Sing)
9. Syllabic Viaagra
10. Everyday
11. Hello Africa
12. Werner's Subtle Bodies
13. Overdrive
14. Seventh Heaven

Indian Jewelry Want to Give You a $500 Macy’s Gift Certificate!

By Monocular Cognition on Apr 15 2008

Okay, they don't want to give you a $500 Macy's gift certificate. No one does. Ever. But Indian Jewelry do want to give you the gift of music when they hit the road in April and May, starting at The Mink in Houston, TX on April 18 and ending on my birthday at Bottle Tree in Birmingham, AL!

All terrible segues aside, Indian Jewelry are indeed playing live all over the place, and while I haven't seen them yet, I'm simply dying to. I can just imagine the hypnotic carnage that will be on display. It will surely be the sensory equivalent of getting a shocker from Hellboy. No doubt about it. For those that need titillation in their news stories, it looks like I.J. will only be playing one BALLroom on this upcoming tour

04.18.08 - Houston, TX - The Mink #
04.19.08 - Austin, TX - Emo’s Lounge $
04.21.08 - Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture
04.22.08 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
04.23.08 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Crepe Place
04.24.08 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern %
04.25.08 - Eureka, CA - The Little Red
04.26.08 - Portland, OR - Someday Lounge
04.27.08 - Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern
04.29.08 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
04.30.08 - Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
05.01.08 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown Jr

05.02.08 - Saint Paul, MN - Turf Club
05.03.08 - Chicago, IL - The Hideout ^
05.04.08 - Pontiac, MI - The Pike Room
05.05.08 - Akron, OH - Thursday’s
05.06.08 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
05.07.08 - Pittsburgh, PA - Belvedere’s
05.08.08 - New York, NY - Cake Shop
05.09.08 - Hanover, NH - Fuel Rocket Club @ Dartmouth College
05.10.08 - Providence, RI - AS 220
05.11.08 - New Haven, CT - Sundazed @ Bar
05.12.08 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brendas
05.14.08 - Washington, DC - The Red and The Black
05.15.08 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
05.16.08 - Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
05.17.08 - Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree

# A Thousand Cranes, Balaclavas, Wicked Poseur

$ The Carnys, ST37

% Magick Daggers, Excepter

^ Warhammer 48K

The fractious sect, who is beloved by both in-tune yogis and hip gem lovers everywhere, claim to have been holed up recording their latest, greatest in Humboldt Park, Chicago and a private residence in Houston, TX (but not in a Yearning for Zion polygamist community compound in West Texax -- I repeat, NOT in a Yearning for Zion polygamist community compound in West Texas). Now We Are Free will release the resulting skewered set, called Free Gold! (aka 120 Kilogramms of Gold & 10 KG of Diamond), on May 20. Don't let anybody fool you into thinking that it won't be a small miracle mix of musical art.

Free Gold! (aka 120 Kilogramms of Gold & 10 KG of Diamond) tracklist:

1. Swans
2. Temporary Famine Ship
3. Seasonal Economy
4. Pompeii
5. Walking on the Water
6. Too Much Honkytonking
7. Nonetheless
8. Bird Is Broke (Won't Sing)
9. Syllabic Viaagra
10. Everyday
11. Hello Africa
12. Werner's Subtle Bodies
13. Overdrive
14. Seventh Heaven

News
  • Recent
  • Popular

Music Reviews
  • Recent
  • Popular