More More More: Kurt Vile Announces Big U.S. Fall Tour in Support of Matador Debut

By Mario Speedwagon on

Kurt Vile (not to be confused with Kurt Weill, who is totally dead and who my boss keeps thinking I am talking about when I talk about Kurt Vile) will be heading out on a monster tour this fall in support of his forthcoming Matador debut, Childish Prodigy (TMT News).

Last week, Vile played shows in Jersey City, NJ (for WFMU) and Philadelphia, PA, but starting this week, he will be touring the West Coast non-stop until early September. He'll take a roughly month-long break before embarking on yet another extensive U.S. leg. that'll take him ALL OVER THE PLACE.

For more information, check out his MySpace.

Kurt Vile tourdates:
08.25.09 - Santa Ana, CA - Galaxy Theature #%
08.26.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubador % !
08.27.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
08.28.09 - Santa Barbara, CA - Muddy Waters %
08.29.09 - Big Sur, CA - Big Sur (Mexican Summer/Folk Yeah fest)
08.30.09 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill % !
09.01.09 - Portland, OR - Berbati’s Pan %!
09.02.09 - Eugene, OR - Basement 1287 ^
09.03.09 - San Francisco, CA - House Party ^
09.04.09 - Sacramento, CA - TBA ^
09.05.09 - Los Angeles, CA - FYF Fest ^
10.02.09 - Philadelphia, PA - AKA Music
10.03.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Kungfu Necktie
10.07.09 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
10.08.09 - Poughkeepsie, NY - Vassar College
10.11.09 - Lexington, KY - Al’s Bar (WFRL’s Boomslang After Show)
10.12.09 - Bloomington, IN - Video Saloon
10.13.09 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10.14.09 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
10.17.09 - Seattle, WA - High Dive &
10.18.09 - Portland, OR - Holocene ^ &
10.21.09 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
10.22.09 - Santa Cruz, CA - Crepe Place
10.23.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
10.25.09 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
10.27.09 - Tempe, AZ - Modified Arts
10.29.09 - Lubbock, TX - Bash Riprocks
10.30.09 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
10.31.09 - Dallas, TX -Lounge on Elm Street
11.02.09 - Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone *
11.03.09 - Atlanta, GA - 529 *
11.05.09 - Washington DC - Black Cat

# Built to Spill

% Woods

^ Eat Skull

& Crystal Stilts

* Lovvers

! Dungen

[Photo: Justin Clowes]

Senator Al Franken to Attend the Future of Music Coalition’s Policy Summit

By Brom on 08-24-2009

From October 4-6 in Washington D.C., various music industry nerds will come together to discuss riveting topics like "Ten Years after Napster," "Future of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act," and "Intellectual Property, Privacy & Network Rights." Making an appearance at this year's Future of Music Coalition’s Policy Summit will be everyone’s favorite liberal comedian/Senator: Al Franken. Whilst America rages in battles over health care reform, climate change, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Senator Franken has shown admirable courage in getting the country’s priorities straight. Sure, there may be 46 million Americans without health insurance and the country accounts for a quarter of the world’s carbon emissions, but are we really going to be concerned about that when online pirates are out of control, musicians aren’t fairly compensated for their labor, and copyright becomes a laughing stock?

The question on everyone’s lips should be: Does one of America’s most famous senators support the war on illegal file-sharing? The political debate in this country drastically needs to turn to these important issues, now.

(I'm just joking around, kids. Find more info about the Future of Music Coalition's Policy Summit here.)

RIP: Dean Turner of Magic Dirt

By Shane Mack on 08-24-2009

From The Australian:

Hundreds of fan tributes have appeared on Australian band Magic Dirt's website following the news of bass player Dean Turner's death from cancer.

The 37-year-old founding member of the Geelong had been suffering from the disease for more than a year and died on Friday.

Magic Dirt began their career in the early 1990s and went on to become a staple of the Australian touring and festival circuit with their guitar-driven punk pop.

The band, fronted by Adalita Srsen, had success with albums such as Friends in Danger and What Are Rockstars Doing Today. They had just begun an Australian tour at the time of Turner's death.

- Magic Dirt official website
- Magic Dirt MySpace
- Magic Dirt Wikipedia entry

David Sylvian Discovers Manafon; It Turns Out to Be a Welsh Village

By Swanderfish on 08-24-2009

If you're well into your 20s and it's only today when you realized the overtone of sarcasm in the uber-expensive Ten reissue that you got as a birthday present from your elder brother (36, landscape designer), well here's your chance to get even by purchasing him David Sylvian's highly conceptual deluxe-edition of Manafon, which should fit perfectly in his bookcase, right next to the never-opened Baudelaire bilinguas. If you feel like spending more and want me to tell you what to buy, you can either get a standard edition for yourself (that will look equally cool next to Crying Light) or, say, Fuck Yeah Fest Fest tickets. Choose wisely.

Despite the pretentious title, website, and wordy release notes full of abstract nouns used by grown-ups to write about minimalist art objects, the album sampler for David Sylvian's new album on SamadhiSound sounds promising. It's also said to be a “sister album” to Blemish (TMT Review), with Fennesz adding his two glitchy cents.

But it's a pity Mr. Sylvian doesn't seem to care about state parks.

Manafon tracklist:

1. Small Metal Gods
2. The Rabbit Skinner
3. Random Acts of Senseless Violence
4. The Greatest Living Englishman
5. 125 Spheres
6. Snow White in Appalachia
7. Emily Dickinson
8. The Department of Dead Letters
9. Manafon

Mario Speedwagon’s Under The Radar News Round Up: Daniel Johnston Goes On Tour in Support of New LP; Vic Chesnutt To Release New LP and Tour; J. Tillman Has A New LP Too

By Mario Speedwagon on 08-21-2009

- Daniel Johnston (pictured) will be heading out on tour this fall in the US and in Europe. His tour kicks off on September 3 in Portland, Oregon and ends November 11 in The Netherlands. According to his publicist, Is and Always Was, Johnston's first studio album in 7 years, is set for release in October this year. More details on the tour can be found at his official website.

- Vic Chesnutt will release his latest record, At The Cut on September 22 via Constellation Records. The new album features Guy Picciotto of Fugazi and members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion. This will be his 16th record, since releasing his first record 19 years ago. He'll hit the road with Guy and Godspeed members in support of the record. The tour kicks off October 23 in Ottowa, Ontario and ends December 5 in Austin, TX at the Central Presbyterian Church. Details on the tour can be found at the Constellation site. And check out this “Chain” MP3 from the new LP.

- J. Tillman will unleash a new LP on September 22 called Year In The Kingdom. This is J. Tillman’s sixth album. As you know, he is also in Fleet Foxes and will be on tour with them for all of August and most of September. He will embark on his own tour in support of his new record in the fall.

BTW, I’ve been laughing at this all day: The Number To Heaven.

Photo: [Tim Broddin]

Pyramids and Nadja Collaborate on New LP, Because Sometimes the World Just Makes Sense

By E. Nagurney on 08-21-2009

Pyramids are a metal band whose sound is based on droning guitars and shoegaze textures. They are from Denton, Texas. Last year, they put out an acclaimed self-titled record (TMT Review) on Hydra Head. That particular album also possessed last year’s best album art, according to us.

Nadja are a metal duo (Aiden Baker and Leah Buckareff) whose sound is based on droning guitars and shoegaze textures. They are from Toronto, Canada. They have put out a number of albums on respected labels like Alien8 and Robotic Empire. None of their album covers are quite as good as that Pyramids one, but this one is pretty neat.

And so, in a move that makes an incredible amount of sense, Pyramids and Nadja have collaborated on a new LP, which is coming out October 27 on Hydra Head. The collective six members of the two groups play on all four of the record’s tracks, though with help from a pretty extensive guest list. Like most things involved with this project, all these guests make a certain amount of sense: Simon Raymonde of '80s legends Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil, Albin Julius of Austrian psych-rock project Der Blutharsch, Chris Simpson of '90s emo group Mineral, Colin Marston of tech-metal giants Dysrhythmia, and James Plotkin of black metal band Khanate, who produced the record. Assuming the world continues making sense at this rate, the album will likely contain lots of pretty drones, ambient textures, and long, dirge-like songs. Then again, maybe it’ll wind up sounding like a synth-pop record.

Pyramids With Nadja tracklisting:

1. Into the Silent Waves
2. Another War
3. The Sound of Ice and Grass
4. An Angel Was Heard to Cry Over the City of Rome

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