They Might Be Giants Play New Dates, Tour Manager Seems to Have Just Given Up

By Kasia Galaxy on

A few years ago, I was somehow under the impression that John Popper, that guy from Blues Traveler, had died. Turned out, he had just lost a lot of weight. So, if I don't hear from you musicians in a while, assume that I've found an old CD of yours, wondered what you were doing, paid my respects in the event of death or weight loss, and moved on.

On that note, They Might Be Giants, who are not dead, are touring. And they're hitting quite the hodgepodge of places: assorted music fests, museums, a university, a casino. I know they won a Grammy for their children's album Here Come the 123s and all, but these are some rather odd venue choices nonetheless.

Anyway, now it's your turn to have "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" in your head.

The tourdates:
05.30.09 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
06.12.09 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hall
06.13.09 - Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Center (two shows)
06.14.09 - New Haven, CT - New Haven Town Green
07.04.09 - Aspen, CO - Aspen Institute
07.11.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Prospect Park Bandshell
07.25.09 - Camden, NJ - XPoNential Music Festival
09.19.09 - Raleigh, NC - North Carolina Museum of Art (two shows)
10.04.09 - New York, NY - American Museum of Natural History (two shows)
10.14.09 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room
10.17.09 - Kutztown, PA - Kutztown University
10.18.09 - New York, NY - Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
11.27.09 - Uncasville, CT - Wolf Den at Casino Mohegan

Oneida Drop Triple-Disc LP Rated O As Part Two of Thank Your Parents Triptych, Tour, Podcast, Come Up With More Badass Nicknames

By Kenny Bloggins on 05-27-2009

Haven't heard from Fat Bobby, Baby Hanoi Jane, and Kid Millions -- collectively known as the kraut-punk camp Oneida -- since last August's Preteen Weaponry (TMT Review), but the band was evidently serious about the three-part album series known as Thank Your Parents, as the second, three-disc installment, Rated O now has a definitive July 7 release date, courtesy of Jagjaguwar.

If you've got a jonesin' to grip new songs off the forthcoming album, you can hear a podcast (zomg intarwebz!!1) previewing the album (including "commentary, insight, and explanations into the album's] inner-workings") through iTunes. Click [this to check it out, and, through the magic of modern technology, it will automatically launch your iTunes app.

Rated O tracklisting:

1.1. Brownout In Lagos

1.2. What’s Up, Jackal?

1.3. 10:30 at the Oasis

1.4. Story of O

1.5. The Human Factor
2.1. The River
2.2. I Will Haunt You
2.3. The Life You Preferred
2.4. Ghost in the Room
2.5. Saturday
2.6. It Was a Wall
2.7. Luxury Travel
3.1. O
3.2. End of Time
3.3. Folk Wisdom

Finally, Oneida will celebrate Rated O's droppage this July with a handful of stateside dates and some European ones, too. The domestic shows will feature some big ballaz -- Amps For Christ, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Wooden Shjips, and more:
07.10.09 - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's
07.11.09 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill #
07.12.09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echoplex &
07.24.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Todd P Event - TBA %
07.25.09 - Medford, MA - Outside the Lines Studio %
07.26.09 - New Haven, CT - BAR
08.07.09 - Kutna Hora, CZ- Art Festival
08.08.09 - Berlin, GER - Berlin Festival
08.09.09 - Scheer, GER - Klangbad Festival
08.14.09 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso
08.15.09 - Tilburg, NL - TBC

# Wooden Shjips, Jonas Reinhardt

& Amps for Christ, Clipd Beaks

% Sunburned Hand of the Man

11 Die in Stampede at Moroccan Music Festival Promoting Tolerance… Ugh

By Kat Gardiner on 05-27-2009

Although probably very few of us out here in the culture vacuum known as ’merica know who Moroccan pop star Abdelaziz Stati is (I know I didn't), this last Sunday in a stadium show in Rabat, the capitol city of Morocco, 11 of the 70,000 attendees were killed in a stampede while they were leaving the show at the end of the 8th annual Mawazine festival. Forty others were injured.

The Mawazine festival is backed by King Mohammad and is aimed at promoting tolerance and publicizing Rabat as a worldly and open city, though some extremists in the country feel that pop music "encourages immoral behavior." This year, the festival drew a million people and featured an amazing 1,700 performers, including Kylie Minogue, Cheb Khaled, Warda Al-Jazairia, Ali Campbell (formerly of UB40), Johnny Clegg of White Zulu, and Stevie Wonder.

The Feel-Good Hit of the Summer: Destroyer to Do It Right with New 12-inch Vinyl EP This August; Lyrical Concerns Include the Invasion of Cuba, Parties, Madness, Suffering!

By Nobodaddy on 05-27-2009

Whoa, wake up, sucker! Dan Bejar is scoring with your girlfriend! On August 18, Merge will drop a brand new Destroyer EP, Bay of Pigs, exclusively on 12-inch vinyl. Wha-bam! But wait, the story gets sexier. Yes, this is a limited-edition EP with over 20 minutes of new Destroyer material. Yes, Destroyer will be on tour in July on the East Coast. And YES, he will perform at XX Merge (tickets still available for Memorial Hall show...) -- can you top that??? No. You can not. Accept it. Move on.

At 13:37, “Bay of Pigs” is the longest of Destroyer songs (i.e. waaaaay longer than YOUR songs, if you know what I’m sayin’). The song was recorded throughout the winter of 2009 with longtime Destroyer collaborators/members John Collins and David Carswell at their JCDC Studio in downtown Vancouver in what can be summed up in two words: “Ambient Disco.” Yeah, he went there. He’s not afraid. He’s fearless. But wait, don’t look now, because he’s also sensitive. “Bay of Pigs” (the track) is an account of the 1961 American invasion of Cuba, often referred to as... The Bay Of Pigs. (He’s also quite poetic).

Meanwhile, the music for the B-side track, “Ravers,” was played entirely on analogue synthesizer and recorded by Ted Bois (Destroyer, Pink Mountaintops) in April of 2009. Do you even have an analogue synthesizer?? The song explores some of the more meditative realms of 20th-century classical composition that you don’t even know about because you’re not next-level, and it has been described as “a casual rumination on parties, political parties, madness, and suffering (for one’s art).” See? He’s even capable of “casual” and “suffering” at the same goddamn time! Just forget it, man. You lose. Dan Bejar wins. Dan Bejar always wins. Welcome to Palookaville. Population: you.

Bay of Pigs Tracklist:

A: Bay of Pigs -- 13:37

B: Ravers -- 7:50

Destroyer dates:
07.22.09 – 07.25.09 – Chapel Hill, NC – Cat’s Cradle (XX MERGE)
07.27.09 – Atlanta, GA - The Earl
07.28.09 – Washington, DC - Black Cat
07.29.09 – Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
07.30.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
07.31.09 – Boston, MA - Paradise
08.02.09 – Sackville, NB - Sackville United Church

Wow! WTF? Oh Shit! What the Heck? Fest Announces Lineup

By Jon Lorenz on 05-26-2009

Damn, we never get fests this good out in Ohio. We have our share of cool events going on, but the lineup for this year's What the Heck? Fest -- taking place July 17-19 in Anacortes, WA -- is astounding.

Of course, the expected K Records crew is in full force, with everyone from K head honcho Calvin Johnson, Kimya Dawson, and Mount Eerie to Karl Blau and Tara Jane O'Neil. But the fest also features some unexpected extras, including Wolves in the Throne Room, Earth, and Grouper, as well as some out-of-state artists like Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Lucky Dragons. Meanwhile, Cryptacize will be twice performing “In The Yard, Havin’ Fun,” a prison musical that they co-wrote with Nick from No Kids. The lineup hasn't been completely finalized yet, so who knows who else will be added!

Tickets for the whole weekend are only $50. Peep the official website for a promo video and s'more info.

Check out the current lineup:

D+

Wolves in the Throne Room

Earth

Kimya Dawson

Grouper

Cryptacize

Mecca Normal

Vibrarians

Generifus

Katy Davidson The Jam Band

Your Heart Breaks

Lucky Dragons

Karl Blau

Mount Eerie

Calvin Johnson

Arrington de Dionyso

No Kids

Ô Paon

“In The Yard, Havin’ Fun” (a musical!)

Mirah

Rose Melberg

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

A Space City Intensive

Angelo Spencer

LAKE

Motorbikes

St. Merman

Tara Jane O’Neil

Al Larsen

Photosynthesis

Sigur Rós’ Jónsi to Release His First Solo LP, Not to Be Confused with His Riceboy Sleeps Project (And Certainly Not With His Depeche Mode Remix)

By Liz Louche on 05-26-2009

So, I chose this story because it was super short and I could finish it within the 20 minutes before The Daily Show starts; plus, it's been a long weekend, and all I wanna do is, you know, relax with a nice summery drink. Wait, no -- NO I DIDN’T. I am not that much of a slacker. NOPE. I chose the story because I am a good journalist! And I like Depeche Mode. Really, that’s why.

First up, Sigur Rós vocalist Jónsi Birgisson has announced that he is working on his first solo album, which will feature string arrangements by Nico Muhly. The as-yet untitled album will be in addition to his Riceboy Sleeps project (TMT News), which will hit the market July 20. According to Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise:

we are happy to announce that jónsi is now working on his first solo album. the album will be largely acoustic and feature string arrangements from contemporary classical composer nico muhly. according to nico, jónsi’s solo music can be described as “ecstatic.” the as-yet-untitled project will be produced by peter katis, who has recently produced albums by the interpol, national and tokyo police club. we will bring you more official info about jónsi’s solo album when we have it.

Jónsi has also remixed Depeche Mode's “Come Back,” which will be available on the “Peace” 7-inch single June 15 through the Mute label. “Peace” is the second single from Depeche Mode’s latest album, Sounds of the Universe, and the first ever to be remixed by a native speaker of a pretend language. Birgisson has stepped up to the ol’ remix plate in the past, most recently with occasional Sigur Rós collaborators/fellow Icelandic band Amiina’s single for “Seoul.” His remix for “Come Back” is only available on the 7-inch version of the single, so if you’re a fan of Birgisson and his band of merry Hopelandic men, don’t sleep on it.

More

News
  • Recent
  • Popular

Music Reviews
  • Recent
  • Popular