El Perro Del Mar announces The Pale Fire for November, while I stand here burning up from the orange fire
By E. Nagurney on Sep 13 2012
Don’t let the cool kids tell you otherwise: being on fire stinks. Take it from me, I am currently on fire and, really, it stinks. It hurts and it’s too hot and my skin is falling off my bones. Yuck. What are you going to do, though? When you’re on fire, probably nothing. Too late to stop drop and roll, too late to not be on fire. Sigh. Might as well use my last moments in this life to tell you about El Perro Del Mar’s new album. Hey, it’s called The Pale Fire! What a coincidence.
As you may well know, El Perro Del Mar is the indie pop project of Swedish songwriter Sarah Assbring. Last seen in the world of recording in 2009, the year she released Love Is Not Pop, Assbring has been busy, well, not putting out records since. Look, I’m being burned alive right now, I can’t be counted on for these details. Regardless, El Perro Del Mar is back with a new record called The Pale Fire. It will be coming out on November 13 through The Control Group. It will be considerably more enjoyable than having your entire body covered in hot, hot flames. This may seem faint praise; even the worst record is better than being on fire. But there is an important distinction. You see, the worst record is only a little better than being on fire. This record will be a lot better than being on fire. I assure you this.
I really hate being on fire.
The Pale Fire tracklist:
01. Pale Fire
02. Hold Off the Dawn
03. Home Is to Feel Like That
04. I Carry the Fire
05. Love Confusion
06. Walk on By
07. Love in Vain
08. To the Beat of a Dying World
09. I Was a Boy
10. Dark Knight
• El Perro Del Mar: http://www.elperrodelmar.com
• Control Group: http://controlgroupco.com
Emeralds quartz new listeners with long-awaited Editions Mego album of a vitreous lustre
By Squeo on Sep 13 2012
Emeralds released Does It Look Like I’m Here? (TMT Review) back in 2010, and it got plenty of acclaim, even from people who normally only listen to The Avett Brothers. In spite of the publicity boost, the synth/guitar trio has remained unusually silent in the following years — though “silent” for them means the release of Living With Yourself, Get Lost, Trouble Books & Mark McGuire, Certain Circumstances, Nightshade, A Young Person’s Guide to Mark McGuire, Inner Tube, Tragedy & Geometry, Sunshine Units, House, The Path of Spectrolite, Last Vacuum Demos, Vol. 1, II, Akashic Record (Events: 1986 - 1990), some splits, and 18 other albums picked by John Elliott for the Mego imprint Spectrum Spools. Enough Emeralds-related vinyl to crush a toddler, sure, but not nearly enough to slash deep into the heart of a full-sized human.
So Emeralds are back with the announcement of (and preorder link for) a new group album called Just to Feel Anything, out on vinyl and CD November 5 via Editions Mego. The album was written, recorded, mixed, and gently cradled late at night in Akron, Ohio this past June, with mastering by James Plotkin (the man), artwork by Mark Fell (the myth), and vinyl cutting by Rashad Becker (the mensch). Mego describes the album as “a sophisticated progression in both sound and structure,” managing to “shine a laser-sharp light into the future, while preserving their uniquely intelligent historical perspective,” much like Seth and Scott Avett shine a sepia-dull light into the past, while preserving their uniquely ahistorical old-timey vests and washboards and stuff. Head to the album page if you want a track-by-track rundown on what to expect. I can already say I’m surprised at the way the sounds on this album jump out of the speakers.
Just to Feel Anything tracklist:
01. Before Your Eyes
02. Adrenochrome
03. Through & Through
04. Everything Is Inverted
05. The Loser Keeps America Clean
06. Just to Feel Anything
07. Search For Me in the Wasteland
• Emeralds: http://clevelandwagon.blogspot.com
• Editions Mego: http://editionsmego.com
Shearwater go to Europe in November to play some shows, see A TON of birds
By E. Nagurney on Sep 13 2012
Jonathan Meiburg is well-known as the leader of Shearwater, a former member of Okkervil River, and a former sideman to Bill Callahan. He is also well-known as an ornithologist. Actually, I’m not sure how well-known it is that he’s an ornithologist. I learned that fact from a friend who is also an ornithologist. But it makes sense! He named an album Rook (TMT Review), which just happens to be a bird. Granted, he also named recent albums Animal Joy (TMT Review) and The Golden Archipelago (TMT Review), neither of which have anything to do with birds. Whatever. Fact is, he’s a bird man.
The bird man’s band Shearwater are touring Europe this November. While they’re there, they’ll play shows, but you know what else I bet they’ll do? Look at birds. What kind of birds does Iceland have? Germany? Austria? The UK? Netherlands? I have no idea, but I bet Meiburg knows. I bet he’ll try to see all of them on this tour. I bet this, because he loves birds.
Shearwater dates:
11.02.12 - Reykjavik, Iceland - Iceland Airwaves
11.04.12 - Berlin, Germany - Katine am Berghaim
11.05.12 - Leipzig, Germany - UT Connewitz
11.06.12 - Prague, Czech Republic - Lucerna Music Bar
11.07.12 - Vienna, Austria - Fluc
11.08.12 - Budapest, Hungary - Akvarium Klub
11.10.12 - Bologna, Italy - Covo Club
11.11.12 - Zurich, Switzerland - Vladukt
11.24.12 - London, UK - The Garage
11.25.12 - Bristol, UK - The Fleece
11.26.12 - Manchester, UK - St. Philips Church
11.27.12 - Glasgow, UK - Art School
11.29.12 - Liverpool, UK - Eric’s
11.30.12 - Brighton, UK - Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar
12.02.12 - Middelburg, Netherlands - De Spot
• Shearwater: http://shearwatermusic.com
• Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com
RIAA vs. a woman from Minnesota: guess who was ordered to pay $222,000
By Mike Reid on Sep 13 2012
Memo to my future self, and a word of advice to all you pirates out there: if you find yourself bent over, on the receiving end of a lawsuit from the RIAA, for god’s sake, take the settlement. As far as I know, of the relatively few who have actually tried to resist the RIAA’s litigious efforts, absolutely none have come out alive. Well, they’ve come out alive, but they may as well be dead, because many (if not all) of the defendants have found themselves owing the RIAA hundreds of thousands of dollars, as opposed to just a few thousand, which is what the settlements have averaged around.
In 2008, the RIAA supposedly abandoned its practice of suing individuals, but one case in particular, from 2006, was finally (more or less) closed this week. The suit in question involved a woman from Minnesota named Jammie Thomas-Rasset, who was initially accused of sharing more than 1,700 music files via the now-defunct p2p program KaZaA. That number was reduced to 24 songs, to which the RIAA offered her a $5,000 settlement. You know what happens next…
Thomas-Rassett rejected that settlement, as well as a separate offer in 2009 for $25,000, and now faces a $222,000 bill, following an appeals court ruling on Tuesday. A district court had previously reduced the damages to $54,000 from $1.9 million, but the appeals court saw it fit to revise this number to the amount reached at the first trial in 2007, assigning a $9,250 value to each individual song. Thomas-Rassett is also forbidden from making available “sound recordings for distribution,” as if that really needed to be specified.
In a statement issued following the ruling, the RIAA said, “We are pleased with the appellate court’s decision and look forward to putting this case behind us.” Thomas-Rassett, meanwhile, offered no comment, with her mouth agape.
• RIAA: http://www.riaa.com
Pussy Riot to be freed? Russian Prime Minister calls for the band’s release
By Nobodaddy on Sep 12 2012
I know, I know, and you were just getting used to the idea that rock bands who speak ill of their country’s government should be hastily tossed in jail! Looks like you just might have to adjust your expectations once again, though, as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated today that he thought the three-piece punk group’s two-year sentences were, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, “too harsh and he doesn’t see any point in keeping them behind bars”.
Recall that, following a five-month detainment after an anti-Putin demonstration in Moscow’s main cathedral, the group was found guilty last month of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years in prison. While such statements are certainly no guarantee of what’s to come; it is nonetheless encouraging news to the band and its many supporters around the world in the weeks leading up to their October 1 appeal.
Speaking at a regional United Russia party meeting, Medvedev stated that, in his view, “prolonging their time in prison in connection to this case seems unproductive,” noting that the six-plus months during which they’ve been in the slammer already is probably more than adequate punishment. Check it:
The term is very strong. I would even say a terrible burden. I don’t want to replace the judge … but the time they have already served is, in essence, more than enough to make them think about what happened, whether it was from their own stupidity or for other reasons.
Medvedev also added that he was still “sickened” by the band’s actions, though. Just so you know.
• Free Pussy Riot: http://freepussyriot.org
