O Praise The Lord! October Shall Bless Us with a Brand New Mountain Goats LP Full of The Scripture
Anyone familiar with John Darnielle's project The Mountain Goats will know that he has gone through plenty of changes since his beginning, from the days of lowest-fi folk-pop songs to his most recent slick, big-band recordings. Well, on October 6, Darnielle will take yet another step in his own storied history when he releases a record full of Bible lessons, with each song named after a certain passage in The Bible.
So, the first thing that must be asked of this change is: Will Bible sales go up from all the rabid indie kids, simply to read the passages that Darnielle is referencing? Probably! Secondly: Has Darnielle had some sort of religous awakening? Well, Darnielle already saw that one coming and preempted the backlash through his website, writing that "lots of people might want to be coy about answering that, that's never really been my style, so: no. It's not like that. It's not some heavy-narrative-distance deal either, though, and it's not a screed. It's twelve new songs: twelve hard lessons the Bible taught me, kind of."
Darnielle's 18th (?) album, The Life of the World to Come, was recorded at Electrical Audio with Brandon Eggleston, at Sonic Ranch with John Congleton, and at Baucom Road with Scott Solter, between April and June of this year. The band is made up of Jon Wurster and Peter Hughes, as well as Owen Pallett doing string arrangements and playing on select tracks. Anyone looking to take a sneak peak should visit the Mountain Goats website where you can download "Genesis 3:23."
Tracklisting:
1. 1 Samuel 15:23
2. Psalms 40:2
3. Genesis 3:23
4. Philippians 3:20-21
5. Hebrews 11:40
6. Genesis 30:3
7. Romans 10:9
8. 1 John 4:16
9. Matthew 25:21
10. Deuteronomy 2:10
11. Isaiah 45:23
12. Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace
Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers Return with New Album, North American Tour, and an Opportunity for Really Bad Wild West Fanfiction
Somewhere across the canyon, a lonely wind blows. The horses are drinking in deep, long gulps, and as you lift your eyes to the blazing sun, a vulture circles overhead. The carnival’s in town, Joe, they say, but you’re not listening. Because from somewhere in the distance a melody is playing, melancholic and tough. That voice: it sounds so familiar. Could it be… could it be… Mark Lanegan of The Screaming Trees and Queens of The Stone Age? Yessss, whisper the scattered trees. Yesssss, howls the coyote. He’s back with English band Soulsavers and some very, very special guests for the group’s third full-length, Broken.
“Special guests? In these here Godforsaken parts?” you ask. Why yessss. Friends like Mike Patton of Faith No More, Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce, Gibby Haynes of The Butthole Surfers, Richard Hawley, new Australian voice Red Ghost, and Martyn LeNoble, studio bassist for Porno for Pyros and Jane’s Addiction, all stop by for some sweet duet action. LeNoble will be helping Lanegran and Soulsavers take it to the streets, along with Spiritualized guitarist Rich Warren. The album drops August 18 on V2 Records and a North American tour winds its way through all the dusty, Harry Crews-influenced no-name towns of the United States. And you know, LA and DC and stuff.
Broken tracklisting:
1. The Seventh Proof
2. Death Bells
3. Unbalanced Pieces
4. You Will Miss Me When I Burn
5. Some Misunderstanding
6. All the Way Down
7. Shadows Fall
8. Can't Catch the Train
9. Pharaoh's Chariot
10. Praying Ground
11. Rolling Sky
12. Wise Blood
13. By My Side
Save the Date:
09.06.09 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
09.07.09 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09.09.09 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
09.10.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
09.12.09 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
09.15.09 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s
09.16.09 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
09.18.09 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks
09.19.09 - Atlanta, GA - The Loft
09.21.09 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
09.22.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
09.23.09 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
09.25.09 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club
09.26.09 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
09.27.09 - Chicago, IL - Double Door
Congressmen Look to Investigate Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger, All Sacco and Vanzetti-Style
The Simpsons got it spot on with Ticketmaster (from the Homerpalooza episode):
Mr. Burns: [chuckles] And to think, Smithers, you laughed when I bought Ticketmaster. "Nobody's going to pay a 100% service charge."}Smithers: Well, it's a policy that ensures a healthy mix of the rich and the ignorant, sir.
Unfortunately, if the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger goes through, we’ll all be suckers! The proposed merger would see Ticketmaster, the nation’s dominant ticket seller, combine with Live Nation, which has its own ticketing business.
But one thing is for sure: this deal is not going through without a fight. Britain’s Office for Fair Trading, a consumer watchdog, has already referred the merger to the country’s competition regulator, the Competition Commission, which will report on November 24. And Senator Herb Kohl is most certainly not going to be taken for a goddamn fool either. As chair of the Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee, Kohl wrote to Christine Varney, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, to argue "It is clear that this merger raises serious competitive concerns warranting thorough scrutiny.” In addition, Rep. Bill Pascrell wrote a letter expressing concern about the deal, which was signed by 50 members of the House of Representatives.
Kohl also says the venture would create "an enormous, vertically integrated entertainment giant, which will control everything from artist management, concert promotion, concert venues, and merchandise sales to primary and secondary market ticket sales."
On a lighter note, I did particularly enjoy Billboard’s comment that “the deal has been criticized by superstar Bruce Springsteen, politicians like Senator Charles Schumer, and legions of music fans commenting in Internet chat rooms.” Yeah, lets not forget those highly intelligent, sophisticated, and well-reasoned visitors of internet chat rooms, all (and I mean all) of whom engage with each other in an intellectual and erudite manner. Teh interwebz iz srs bsns!
RIP: Titus "Baatin" Glover of Slum Village
From the Detroit Free Pres (via SOHH):
Titus (Baatin) Glover, the Detroit rapper who co-founded the much-acclaimed Slum Village, has died.Many details remain unknown at this point, said Hex, the group's road manager.
Word of Baatin's passing circulated quickly this afternoon in music circles both locally and nationally, where Slum Village has long been an exalted name in underground hip-hop.
Fellow group founder James (J. Dilla) Yancey, Baatin's Pershing High School classmate, passed away in 2006.
Baatin, who turned 35 in March, had left Slum Village in 2002 amid health problems, but was reported to have returned for tracks on the group's upcoming album, "Villa Manifesto."
"He was a very spiritual brother," said Detroiter Khalid el-Hakim, founder of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum. "He brought a spirituality to Detroit hip-hop that you didn't see with other artists. That's what he was known for."
- Slum Village official website
- Slum Village Wikipedia entry
Mario Speedwagon’s Under The Radar News Round Up: Dischord Records Reissues Gray Matter and Jawbox, Atlas Sound and Broadcast Tour, The Walkmen Tour, Treasure Island Lineup Announced
- Dischord Records has posted about some future releases on their site. In September, they will reissue Gray Matter’s 1984 release Food For Thought and their 1985 release Take It Back on vinyl. Both records will come with a download code, and Take It Back will include an additional four songs from the "Alive and Kicking" 7-inch from 1991. Dischord will also be partnering up with Desoto Records to reissue Jawbox’s 1994 jam For our Own Special Sweetheart.
- Atlas Sound and Broadcast will together be hitting the road this fall. Their tour kicks off in Atlanta, GA on October 15 at the Earl (they have good burgers and boiled peanuts, y’all) and ends November 7 in Denton, TX at Hailey’s. Both acts also have releases slated for October: Atlas Sound will release their new LP Logos on October 20 via Kranky, and Broadcast will release their currently untitled EP on Warp.
- The Walkmen are heading out on a small East Coast-ish tour this September. The band has dates planned in Boston, Northampton, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Asheville, Nashville, Birmingham, and New Orleans, with a few off dates in Morrison, CO (Monolith Fest), Austin, TX (ACL), and San Francisco, CA (I got nothin’.) They’ll also be playing the Guggenheim Museum’s “It Came From Brooklyn” concert series on August 14 with High Places. That name “It Came From Brooklyn” makes me think I’m going to see a hipster zombie movie where all the zombies look like this. They probably won’t eat you because they’re all raw vegans, so it would probably have a hint of Troll 2 (swap out zombies for goblins).
- The lineup for San Francisco’s 3rd annual Treasure Island Festival has been announced. Bands scheduled to play include The Flaming Lips, MGMT, The Decemberists, MSTRKRFT, Beirut, Girl Talk, Grizzly Bear, Brazilian Girls, Yo La Tengo, The Walkmen, Passion Pit, and tons more. The festival takes place October 17 and 18 on Treasure Island (duh). More information can be found at the official website.
Record Store Day? Fuck That! Jay Reatard Does Month-Long Record Store Tour! (And a Boring European Tour...)
The Tard's been busy as of late. Between talkin' shit (albeit possibly well-deserved shit) on his Twitter, prepping his forthcoming release Watch Me Fall on Matador, and ripping through a few 30-minute sets more intense than a rocket launch, Jay and his band felt it was time to give back to the kids. All ages of kids, by way of a series of in-store dates at various independent music retailers. Though, to be clear: these are in-stores done in addition to the club or venue gig the following night.
Indeed, this is his tour, and we at TMT think that this is a phenomenal idea.
If you find yourself on the West Coast this month, you have plans:
08.18.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Amoeba Music Hollywood
08.19.09 - Long Beach, CA - Fingerprints
08.20.09 - San Diego, CA - M-Theory
08.21.09 - Santa Cruz, CA - Streetlight Records
08.22.09 - San Francisco, CA - Amoeba Music
08.23.09 - Berkeley, CA - Amoeba Music
08.25.09 - Portland, OR - Jackpot Records
08.26.09 - Seattle, WA - Easy Street Records
08.27.09 - Seattle, WA - Sonic Boom Records
08.28.09 - Vancouver, BC - Zulu Records
And if you live in Europe, well... congratulations:
10.28.09 - Paris FR - Maroquinerie
10.29.09 - Koln DE - Luxor
10.30.09 - Munich DE - 59 to 1
10.31.09 - Berlin DE - Lido (club night)
11.01.09 - Copenhagen DK - Loppen
11.02.09 - Oslo NO - John Dee
11.03.09 - Malmo SE - Babel
11.04.09 - Hamburg DE - Logo
11.05.09 - Prague CZ - Matrix
11.06.09 - Vienna AT - B72
11.07.09 - Bologna IT - Covo
11.08.09 - Clermont-Ferrand FR - La Cooperative De Mai
11.09.09 - Brussels BE - Botanique Rotunde
11.10.09 - Birmingham UK - Bar Academy
11.11.09 - Glasgow UK - King Tuts
11.12.09 - Manchester UK - Roadhouse
11.13.09 - London UK - Underworld
11.14.09 - Bristol UK - Croft
11.15.09 - Liverpool UK - Masque
11.16.09 - Dublin IE - Whelans
Os Mutantes Announce North American Tour in Support of First Album in 35 Years; Kurt Cobain Comes Back to Life, Reunites Nirvana and Joins Tour
Os Mutantes is another one of those bands that you annoyingly find out through Kurt Cobain's posthumous praise. His name has been used so many times as a way to hype up underground bands that it's become more annoying than hearing Courtney Love's voice. In this case, Cobain once begged Os Mutantes to reunite and tour with Nirvana -- but who cares? No one needs the approval of a dead man to know that it's a big deal when Os Mutantes are touring and releasing a new record!
On September 8, Os Mutantes will release their first album in 35 years, Haih or Amortecedor, on ANTI-. The band's leader Sergio Dias said "Living the conception and birth of this album, as an individual, was the most intense experience, for it was as if time has ceased to exist, and I was bouncing from life to life, decades through decades, revisiting myself as a 16-year-old boy playing guitar and feeling so free and, as any teenager, indestructible."
Dias and the gang have been prepped and are now ready to bring the tropicália to a stage near you. In support of Haih or Amortecedor, Os Mutantes will start their North American tour in LA, hit up a couple festivals (including Seattle's Bumbershoot), and wrap up a nearly two-month tour in Austin, TX. Dias says of their live performance, "It is the best thing possible. When we were playing at the Pitchfork festival it was like looking at yourself when you were a kid trying to mumble the words to ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ in English and not understanding the words. There weren't many Brazilians there but the kids were singing our songs in Portuguese. Playing with this band live is amazing. I can not describe anything better other than maybe going into space. It keeps me young."
Here are the dates:
08.28.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echoplex
08.29.09 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival
09.01.09 - Redway, CA - Mateel Community Center
09.02.09 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
09.03.09 - Vancouver, BC - The Commodore Ballroom
09.04.09 - Bellingham, WA - The Nightlight
09.05.09 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09.19.09 - Yosemite, CA - Symbiosis Fest
09.24.09 - Denver, CO - Cervantes
09.25.09 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
09.26.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Ctr
09.30.09 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
10.04.09 - Boston, MA - Sommerville Theater
10.08.09 - New York, NY - Webster Theater
10.09.09 - Pittsburgh, PN - Mr. Smalls
10.10.09 - Columbus, OH - Capitol Theater
10.11.09 - Lexington, KY - WRFL Fest
10.13.09 - Tampa, FL - Skipper's
10.14.09 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
10.16.09 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10.17.09 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's
10.18.09 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
Flight of The Conchords Told You They Were Freaky, They Told You, They Told You, They Told You! Now They’re Gonna Have to Go and Make an Album About It! Look What You Made Them Do!
If Flight of the Conchords told you that they’re freaky once, then they’ve told you that they’re freaky a thousand times. But no matter how much they say it, they can’t seem to get it through that thick dome of yours. So, the New Zealand comedy duo are going to have to do what any New Zealand comedy duo would do in this situation: make an album and title it I Told You I Was Freaky. That ought to finally hammer the point home. And who’s going to look like the biggest fool? You, that’s who!
Fear the embarrassment? You can try to make them change their mind, but you’ve only got until October 20 to do so. Maybe if you can’t get through to them, you can talk to someone at Sub Pop, the fine record label that’s putting out the new record. You know, the same label that put out last year’s self-titled debut (TMT Review), which just happened to be nominated for last year’s Best Comedy Album Grammy.
But maybe it'll all blow over, right? I hear you thinking to yourself, “I mean, these songs were already released on iTunes, nobody’ll want the album.” Wrong again! Along with the previously released iTunes singles, I Told You I Was Freaky contains three unreleased songs from the second season of the band’s HBO TV series.
Man, you really should have just believed them when they said they were freaky. Now look what you've done, jerkoff.
I Told You I Was Freaky tracklist:
1. Hurt Feelings
2. Sugalumps
3. We're Both in Love With a Sexy Lady
4. I Told You I Was Freaky
5. Demon Woman
6. Rambling Through the Avenues of Time
7. Fashion Is Danger
8. Petrov, Yelyena and Me
9. Too Many Dicks (On the Dance Floor)
10. You Don't Have to Be a Prostitute
11. Friends
12. Carol Brown
13. Angels
múm Slate New Album for September Release, Tour Extensively, Would Really Prefer You Didn’t Mention the Abysmal State of the Icelandic Economy
Remember last fall when America’s blustery free market finally swirled up into a 20-story tornado of economic irresponsibility and came whirling through the trailer park that is the US of A? Remember how it mangled all of our fiscal futures into indiscernible balls of molten VHS tapes and wet pillow shams, until at long last a Barack Obama-shaped sun peeked from behind the clouds and gave us all a wink, harkening us to take solace in the dawning of his radiant new day?
If you happen to be Icelandic, your memory of the current worldwide financial fiasco probably doesn’t jibe that well with my own. Iceland’s economic meltdown cost the nation over 75% of its fucking 2007 GDP, an event more akin to a meteor decimating the gated community across town than the twister that dusted up your grandpappy’s hitchin’ post. But what about Iceland’s throng of messianic political leaders who sailed swiftly to the rescue on the zephyr of hope and change? Fat chance! Iceland’s fearless leaders got the hell out while the getting the hell out was good. Christ, our elected officials won’t even bow out somewhat gracefully after getting caught red-handed blowing hard earned tax dollars on Argentine tug jobs. Anyways, by my humble estimation, things have to be seriously fucked up in Iceland right now. Real talk.
It was within such tumult that those serene old softies in müm found themselves recording their upcoming album Sing Along to Songs You Don’t Know. While Iceland melted, müm remained decidedly cool, addressing their native soil’s burgeoning apocalypse with their established brand of itchy tranquility. The record, their latest since 2007’s Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy (TMT Review ), was recorded primarily in the Icelandic countryside as well as the rural grandeur of Finland and Estonia, where I’m sure the band saw all sorts of super stuff in nature that helped keep their minds off the horrible, horrible state of their nation’s basic infrastructure. In an even greater effort to stay the hell away from home, müm will be on tour consistently from August to November while Sing Along to Songs You Don’t Know is slated for release September 22. Good luck out there, müm, and don’t get captured by insolvency
08.14.09 – Leicester, UK – Summer Sundae Festival
08.15.09 – Edinburgh, UK - Studio 24
08.17.09 - Cardiff, UK - National Museum of Wales
08.18 09 – Norwhich, UK - Norwich Art Center
08.25.09 – Amsterdam, Holland - Melkweg
08.26.09 – Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Exit 07
08.27.09 – Munich, Germany - Atomic Cafe
08.28.09 – Dresden, Germany - Beatpol (formerly Star Club)
08.30.09 – Katowice, Poland - Nowamuzyka Festival
09.01.09 – Brussels, Holland - Botanique
09.02.09 – Lucerne, Switzerland - Südpol
09.03.09 – Winterthur, Switzerland - Salzhaus
09.04.09 – Vlieland, Holland - The Great Wide Open Festival
09.05.09 – Berlin, Germany - Lido
09.06 09 – Hamburg, Germany - Knust
09.07.09 – Köln, Germany - Gebaeude 9
09.08.09 – Paris, France - Maroquinierie
09.09.09 - Strassbourg, France - La Laiterie
09.10.09 – Lille, France - Radar Festival
09.11.09 – Stavanger, Norway - Numusic Festival
09.19.09 – Kawasaki, Japan - Taico Club Festival
10.21.09 - Somerville, MA - The Somerville Theatre
10.22.09 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
10.23.09 - Washington DC - Black Cat
10.24.09 – New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
10.26.09 - Montreal, Quebec - Le National
10.27.09 - Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre
10.28.09 - Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
10.29.09 - Minneapolis, MN - McGuire Theater
11.01.09 - Calgary, AB - Marquee Room
11.02.09 - Vancouver, BC - Richards on Richards
11.03.09 - Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market
11.04.09 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
11.05.09 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
11.06.09 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
11.07.09 - Santa Ana, CA - Yost Theatre
One in Three Is a Music Pirate; You Should Be Ashamed of Yourselves!
Market research conducted by Interpret, based on the downloading habits of 64 million respondents, indicates that one-third of the group are music pirates. Around 24 million (36%) said they had downloaded music illegally in the last three months. The study also showed that “9% of music pirates have bought a full album online in the past three months. Downloading individual songs is even more popular in this group, with 16% indicating that they paid to download an individual song recently.”
This correspondent is utterly disgusted at these pilfering thieves -- many of whom, no doubt, are lazy college students with nothing better to do than leech off hard-working music executives. My dad (a record label manager) couldn’t afford a planned swimming pool extension to our mansion in rural England because of declining company revenues. Thanks to greedy online pirates, this correspondent can no longer hold his highly anticipated summer pool party where bikini-clad girls and illegal narcotics were going to be the highlight of an otherwise boring holiday in Walberswick, Suffolk.
Sonic Youth Announce West Coast Fall Dates, Coco Hailey Gordon Moore Announces “B@ck-2-Sk00l H0use P@rty @ My H0use” on Facebook
If there’s one thing that the guys (and grrrls) in Sonic Youth are good at, it’s, well, playing guitars, I guess. But, if there are two things that they’re good at, well, then the second thing must be touring with fucking class. So you say that New York City starts to get a little chilly and dark around the end of September? No problem! You just pack up your band and head out on a “West Coast Tour” that’s just over a week long and includes plenty of R&R and one of those easy, breezy Austin City Limits shows. Ahhh. Genius.
I can just picture it: Their new record, The Eternal (TMT Review), blaring its sunny, good vibes out of the Sony ghetto blaster; Lee and Thurston shakin’ the sandy water out of their shaggy, endless-summer hairdos on the beach as they beat pair after pair of hotshot kids who dare to take them on; Kim Gordon lovingly preparing delicious, macrobiotic meals on the sand for the boys and sipping sweetened iced tea in her sultry and seductive Bay Watch one-piece; ummm... that fourth guy, you know, what’s his name? Doin’ what he does?? Yeah. All that stuff! It’s good to be the Youth, man.
Oh, by the way, if there are THREE things that they’re good at, the third is definitely doing The Swim. Take a good look, there, Coco.
Sonic Youth Endless Summer Tour:
09.25.09 - Pomona, CA - Fox Theatre
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 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
10.02.09 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
10.04.09 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits
