Oxford Collapses! By Which I Mean, Oxford Collapse Disband; University of Oxford is Just Brilliant, Thanks.

By Nobodaddy on

And just like that, another hardworking indie rock band slowly goes the way of the buffalo. This is nothing new: touring is hard and often-unrewarding work, relationships get strained, you get older, the house beer (PBR cans) start tasting increasingly less delicious, making some actual money becomes sort of important, and poof, you’re issuing a statement via your independent record label Sub Pop’s website in no time. This time around, the victims happen to be Brooklyn trio Oxford Collapse.

After releasing two albums on Kanine (Some Wilderness in 2004 and A Good Ground in 2005), the boys from Brooklyn released their first album on Sub Pop, Remember The Night Parties, in 2006 and followed it up in 2008 with Bits. The erstwhile band has announced that it will meet up to kick shit old-school at two farewell shows on July 17 and 18 in Hoboken and New York City, respectively. The details of those final shows and band’s official statement follow below. And as break-up letters go, this one’s pretty good. If you see any of these guys at the shows, you might want to give them a heads up that TMT is always looking for interns. We probably pay just about as well as the road does.

Official band statement:

After eight years, 450 shows, and four albums, we’ve decided that we’ve reached the end of the line. To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, “what a long, strange, eye-opening, stomach-bursting, heart-breaking, bittersweet, educational, enlightening, mind-numbing, ‘why-are-we-doing-this-shit?’ / ‘who-gets-to-do-this-shit?,’ absurd, amazing trip it’s been.” To paraphrase another sage poet, “you gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em.”

Thanks go out to a million friends—all the awesome, talented people who helped us make records and put them out, everyone who put together tours for us, our families (who are still wondering when we will get real jobs), all the other wonderful and terrible bands we’ve loved touring, playing, hanging and eating with over the years. And of course a heartfelt thanks to everyone who ever came to see us play, bought something we were selling, said something nice, or let us sleep on their diarrhea-encrusted floors. (Except you, Branson, Missouri!)

To have one final go of it, the three of us are meeting up for a pair of shows in and around the city we called home in our time. Come out and party with us! Seriously, do not miss!!! Friday July 17th we are very psyched to be playing with old and dear friends Frightened Rabbit at Maxwell’s, and Saturday July 18th, for our last show ever, we’ll share the stage with best buds CaUSE Co-MOTION!, under-age phenoms The Beets, and our beloved Rape Excape, freshly reformed from the rubble of Princeton ‘04; plus a bunch of special guests! If you missed the original Last Waltz in ‘76, now’s your chance!


07.17.09 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s (SOLD OUT)
07.18.09 – New York, NY – Under the Tracks

Dirty Projectors Cancel Two Shows Due to Van Accident, Members Okay

By Mr P on 06-23-2009

According to Dirty Projectors' promoter, the band was involved in a van accident and has consequenltly cancelled this week's shows in Toronto and Montreal. Contrary to early reports, no member is "in serious condition." According to their publicist:

Dirty Projectors' van flipped outside of Detroit, MI on their way up to Toronto. Although the crash was serious, we're happy to report that all members of the band have been safely discharged from the hospital. The band will be flying home to New York in the morning to regroup and rest. Unfortunately, the band will have to cancel Toronto and Montreal.

Phew. We'll keep you updated if any more information comes in.

06.24.09 - Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
06.25.09 - Montreal, Quebec - Theatre Plaza

07.02.09 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
07.03.09 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
07.04.09 - Portland, OR - Holocene
07.07.09 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
07.08.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
07.09.09 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
07.19.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Williamsburg Waterfront
08.15.09 - Oslo, Norway - Oya Festival
09.09.09 - Paris, France - Maroquinerie
09.11.09 - Dorset, England - End Of The Road Festival
09.12.09 - Isle Of Wight, England - Bestival
09.13.09 - London, England - Scala
09.16.09 - Dublin, Ireland - Whelans
09.19.09 - Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
09.20.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
09.21.09 - Berlin, Germany - Kreuzberg Festival
09.25.09 - Toulouse, France - Le Printemps de Septembre Festival

RIP: Andy Hughes, producer for The Orb, Basement Jaxx, and Kovak

By Shane Mack on 06-23-2009

According to a press release:

Andy Hughes, electronic music producer/DJ who was born 11th November 1965 and, and who lived and grew up in Harrow, Middlesex, tragically passed away on Friday 12th June 2009 after a short illness.

Andy was a genius who gave so much inspiration and passion to all with his incredible work. He was loved by many aficionados of the trance/ambient genre, but will be especially remembered for his work with Alex Paterson and The Orb, most notably the album Orblivion and single Toxygene, which reached number 4 in the UK charts in 1997. Together with his musical partners Alex Patterson and former members Kris Weston, Simon Phillips and Thomas Fehlmann together with Nick Burton of Westworld fame. Andy created electronic and ambient/techno/house/dub masterpieces. These took him across the globe where he played to masses of fans in countries including the USA, Japan and Canada as well as a sell out concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1998.

- Andy Hughes Wikipedia entry
- Andy Hughes MySpace

TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone’s Heart-Melting Quota Down; Must Improve Public Service with Solo Project Rain Machine on ANTI-

By Heidi Vanderslice on 06-23-2009

Either he's stinging from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's PWN at Bonnaroo or he's just not satisfied with the amount of panties he receives in the mail, but either way, TV On the Radio frontman Kyp Malone has decided to strike out on his own with solo venture Rain Machine. Malone has hit the stage under this moniker, but the lucky ducks he chose for the first record are none other than ANTI-, home of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Neko Case. Apparently, Malone's been waiting for the right moment, saying, "I've been writing and recording songs alone since I moved to NYC in 2000, at first alone because I didn't know anyone, then through the years by choice because of a particular freedom that going it alone afforded... I didn't like how ‘Kyp Malone’ looked on mock ups of t-shirts and fliers, thus Rain Machine."

The debut album will be produced by Ian Brennan (Lucinda Williams, Jonathan Richman) and drop sometime this fall. Rain Machine promises the density and luxury of TVOTR and then some, as Malone describes the sound "a nearly full spectrum of frequencies audible to the human ear -- a reflection of a variety of emotions and situations real and imagined, some rhythm and some rhyme." Okay... you got me. I didn't like this pair much anyway. Too much lace. Where are the stamps?

[Updated] Sunny Day Real Estate Reunite to Fix the Housing Crisis!

By Elzee on 06-23-2009

According to the US Census Bureau, the median value of an American home in 2000 – the last year Sunny Day Real Estate were active – was $119, 600. That’s $174,200 in today’s dollars. The current median home value is $180,100, hardly a healthy increase. If you believe the government, it’s because we had a bad loan system, corrupt banks, yadda yadda, whatever. If you believe your heart, though, it's because Sunny Day Real Estate’s breakup put a cloud over the mortgage industry.

But there is hope, and this hope is more than a campaign slogan. That’s right, recently foreclosed homeowners, Sunny Day Real Estate are reuniting!

Singer Jeremy Enigk confirmed in an interview with a radio station in Seattle that the band got together in March and decided to tour again. And now, according to a Sub Pop press release:

Following a more than 10 year hiatus, all four original members of pioneering Seattle rock band Sunny Day Real Estate will regroup for a 20-date US tour starting Sept. 17th, 2009. In addition, Sub Pop Records will re-issue both Diary and the band’s second full-length album, commonly known as LP2 (or “The Pink Album” for its entirely pink cover). Both re-mastered albums will include rare bonus tracks as well as newly written liner notes and will be released on both CD and LP Sept. 15, 2009, just prior to the start of the tour.

If these shows go well enough and the boys work their magic, we may be out of this financial mess faster than you can say “sub-prime lending”!

The waiting could crush my heart:
09.17.09 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
09.18.09 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
09.20.09 - Murray, UT - Murray Theater
09.21.09 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
09.23.09 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
09.24.09 - Chicago, IL - Metro
09.25.09 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall
09.27.09 - New York, NY - Terminal Five
09.28.09 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
09.30.09 - Washington, D.C. - 930 Club
10.01.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
10.03.09 - Atlanta, GA - CW Center Stage
10.05.09 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
10.06.09 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live - Ballroom
10.07.09 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
10.09.09 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee
10.10.09 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
10.11.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
10.13.09 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
10.15.09 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
10.16.09 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater

Meanwhile, Jeremy Enigk released his latest solo album, OK Bear, last month via Lewis Hollow.

[Photo: Mark Swanson]

Upset The Rhythm Knows How to Party: Gets Drunk, Wakes Up in the U.S. in Time to Host Three Shows

By Jon Lorenz on 06-23-2009

Upset The Rhythm, a U.K. record label and pretty much nightly organizer of the best shows in town, has been filling up my Facebook inbox almost daily ever since I made the mistake of joining the Facebook frenzy. Even though I would never decide to hop on a plane to London just to see one of their shows, I still get an invite to every show that they put on. Almost every time, I get a little upset that I've yet again been fooled into thinking maybe that show was actually happening in my town.

Well, if you're one of the lucky ones who has the chance to go to every other good show, then maybe Upset the Rhythm is coming to your town. Yep, they will be partying it up in New York, L.A., and San Francisco during the first half of July. Each party will feature many of the bands on Upset the Rhythm's roster, including Lucky Dragons, Death Sentence: PANDA!, Bird Names, Future Islands, Wet Hair, and the reason this is all happening: Foot Village. As recently reported, Foot Village's Anti-Magic is coming out on UTR, and instead of just having a record release party, they decided to have UTR showcases in these three lucky cities. Upset The Rhythm's Chris and Claire are going to be flying over and joining in on the festivities.

I'm sure any day now I will get invites on Facebook to all three of these shows, and just as quickly I will hit the "No I Will Not Attend This Event" button. I will continue doing so until one fine day when I get a relevant invite from UTR. Highly unlikely!

The lineups for these shows are as follows:

- PARTY NUMBER ONE: NEW YORK

Friday, July 3 @ Monster Island Basement

Ambergris / Lucky Dragons / Silk Flowers / Bird Names / Soft Circle / John Maus / Future Islands / Wet Hair (Shawn from Racoo-oo-oon)

- PARTY NUMBER TWO: LOS ANGELES

Saturday, July 11 @ The Smell

Foot Village / Lucky Dragons / Gowns / Death Sentence: PANDA! / KIT / Softboiled Eggies / Former Ghosts / The Urxed (Rob from High Places) / BARR / No Age (DJ set)

- PARTY NUMBER THREE: SAN FRANCISCO

Sunday, July 12 @ The LAB

Foot Village / Gowns / Lucky Dragons / Death Sentence: PANDA! / T.I.T.S. / KIT / The Urxed / Former Ghosts

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