The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart Team Up With Cymbals Eat Guitars For Fall Tour; Bloggers Seek Out Change of Underwear

By Nobodaddy on 06-18-2009

I know, right? Who would have thought that they haven’t done this already? It all seems so simple!

- Step one: Organizers of Tokara The Sun & Moon Festival book themselves a boat. Check.
- Step two: they google the internet to find the most sun worshippin’-est band on the planet. Double check!
- Step three: Boredoms (along with New York’s Gang Gang Dance and Japan’s Goma) show up at their doorstep with a dozen or so drum kits in tow to play a show on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean during the next Saros 136 eclipse, which, according to all the Boredoms fans at NASA, will take place July 22. The whole ludicrous spectacle is titled “The Lucy in the Sky With Diamond Ring Tour,” and yes, it's guaranteed to be the trippiest fucking thing you’ve ever seen.

But why all the hubbub in the first place? Well, this July’s eclipse will be extraordinarily long — the totality of the eclipse, the point at which the moon is fully obscuring the sun, will reach a whopping (and eerie!) 6 minutes, 39 seconds. According to those NASA sunworshipers, the umbra of the eclipse will cut a path straight across China and the South Pacific, with the best viewpoint off the southern coast of Japan, at 24.2 degrees N, 144.1 degrees E, when the sun is 86 degrees overhead. In other words, shit’s gonna get really wild

But don’t pack your bags just yet. Tickets for this whole “happening” cost a whopping 168,000 yen (about $1,700). And if you read this website daily AND are a giant fan of noise rock, chances are you’re hanging out in a demographic that just doesn’t have that kind of scratch just sitting around. Though, to be fair, for that money, you DO get a heck of a lot: a concert, three DJ sets, organic food, a bed to sleep in, and an area for your kids to keep themselves entertained -- not to mention that whole three-day party on a boat during a total solar eclipse thing. So, in that case: goodbye fall tuition payments -- hello Boredoms!

And speaking of those rascals, don’t forget that Boadrum 9 will be happening at Terminal 5 in New York City September 9 (I’m sure you recall their 77Boadrum show in Brooklyn on 07/07/2007 that brought together 77 drummers for a spectacular outdoor concert, as well as the repeat performance on 08/08/2008 with 88 drummers in New York and California). And while it’s pretty doubtful that 99 drummers will be able to squeeze into the venue, you just never know with these guys. After all, these are the same band that are soundtracking a solar eclipse party from a cruise ship, remember? Tickets for Boadrum 9 are available here.

By Jon Lorenz on 06-18-2009

I guess some people do still read books, especially when there isn't a movie adaptation. And since there isn't yet a movie documenting Merge, one of the greatest indie labels today, it'll be in the best interest of you and your community to go seek out Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label that Got Big and Stayed Small.

John Cook, the author of Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, first saw Superchunk back in 1994 and has since followed members Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance and their famed Merge label. The book tells the story of Mac and Laura's evolution from being 20 year olds putting out records in their rented home in Durham, NC to now having 13 employees, an office, and putting out records by some of indie music's top names.

The book includes "photographs of] the life and times of the label and its bands, as well as concert memorabilia, record label art, and a link to a streaming Internet soundtrack for the book." So, if you can put down [Slaughterhouse Five for a few days, go out and buy Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records on September 15. Then you'll be able to spout all sorts of information about the early days of Arcade Fire and impress your friends at the lunch table! Yay!