Trail Of Dead Announces Summer Tourdates; Wait, They Haven’t Broken Up Yet?!
After five record labels, countless lineup changes, hundreds of smashed guitars, and a shitload of drama, it’s sort of shocking that ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead are still together. What’s not really that shocking though is that they still haven’t been able to impress critics since 2002’s Source Tags and Codes. AND WE KNOW ALL.
Still, Trail of Dead forge onward, and this time they’re coming to a city near you, presumably. After a European tour, the pasty-faced Texans will return July 26 to get their pool party on at Jelly NYC’s Summer Pool Party series in Brooklyn, NY at the new Williamsburg Waterfront music venue. Oh god, hipsters in bathing suits? No thanks! Trail of Dead will also play the All Points West festival August 1 and in their hometown of Austin for the Austin City Limits Festival October 3.
07.04.09 - Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival (Odeon Stage)
07.05.09 - Hannover, Germany - Musikzentrum
07.06.09 - Heidelberg, Germany - Karistorbahnhof
07.07.09 - Salzburg, Austria - Rockhouse
07.08.09 - Innsbruck, Austria - Poolbar Festival
07.10.09 - Haarlem, Holland - Paatronat
07.11.09 - Bochum, Germany - Zeche
07.17.09 - Dour, Belgium - Dourfestival
07.18.09 - Herk de Stad, Beligum - Rock Herd Festival
07.26.09 - Brooklyn, NY – Williamsburg Waterfront
07.27.09 - Milford, CT - Daniel Street
07.29.09 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
07.30.09 - Lancaster, PA - Chameleon
07.31.09 - Providence, RI - Jerky’s Live Music Hall
08.01.09 - New York City, NY - All Points West
10.03.09 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits
Unbelievable News! Violent Femmes Front Man Gordon Gano Is Still Alive! Slightly Less Unbelievable Sub-News: Violent Femmes Front Man Gordon Gano to Release New Album
While Wisconson-based, snarky, smarmy, snarly folk-punk-alterna-blues troupe Violent Femmes impatiently waits their turn in the numbingly long line that currently sprawls outward from the “MID-'80s–MID-'90s BANDS WAITING TO REUNITE, TOUR, PLAY ALBUMS IN THEIR ENTIRETY AT FESTS, AND TALK/NOT TALK ABOUT RECORDING A NEW ALBUM TOGETHER” counter at the DMV or wherever, singer Gordon Gano has chosen to pass the interim time by releasing a new album... for the first time in some seven years (the Femmes must be getting close to the front of that line by now).
Due September 15 on the niche-market-elder-statesmen-loving Yep Roc label, the new album Under the Sun is credited to Gordon Gano & The Ryans and is apparently “a collaboration” between Gano and Bogmen leaders/scorers of tepid films (Fever Pitch, anyone?) Brendan & Billy Ryan. Take it away, glowing press release:
“The music that inspired his collaboration with the Ryan brothers spawned during fertile sessions in the café’s, bars and laundromats of New York City’s West Village [...] Brendan and Billy Ryan bring musicality and new color to Gordon’s visceral lyricism and signature adenoidal drawl. A filled-out next chapter to the music of the Femmes, Under the Sun is the music of a mature band, a band made of men not boys, men who have supplanted wonder for angst, controlled passion for reckless...” blah blah blah, bloop, bleep-bleep blah. You get the idea: it’s the best record ever. It’s for old people. Let’s move on to the details.
The whole shebang was largely recorded at the Carriage House in Stamford, CT and features Gordon “2G” Gano on vocals/guitar/violin. As for the Ryan brothers, Brendan handles keyboards/accordion/horn duties, while Billy tackles guitar/backing vocals. Other must assuredly competent-as-fuck but appositely low-profile contributors include Frank Black... whoops, I mean, Frank Ferrer (sorry to pique your interest like that) of Guns N' Roses and Psychedelic Furs on drums, and Lonnie Hillyer of Maggie’s Dream and Bernie Worrell on bass. Some real unit-movers, huh? Meanwhile, Phil Palazzolo (The New Pornographers, Neko Case) engineered and mixed the project. There is no tracklist as of yet, but rest assured, if we get our hands on one... uh, and if it’s a slow news day, we’ll go ahead and post one for you.
Andrew Bird Takes St. Vincent Back To School With Him This Fall
Although it’s barely July, Andrew Bird has already made plans for the fall. Starting in October, The Birdman is taking St. Vincent back to school — the school of touring, that is. The two stalwart indie heroes will join forces on the road together this fall. TMT managed to get a copy of The Birdman’s lesson plan for the fall, featuring a few tips for St. Vincent:
- English 101: How To Write Lyrics On The Road
- Music 305: Building Your Own Recording Studio
- Algebra 202: How To Use Your Fans’ Disposable Income To Your Advantage
- Whistling 338: You Will Never Be As Good As Me, Seriously
St. Birdman:
09.29.09 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theater
09.30.09 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
10.02.09 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits
10.03.09 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's Uptown
10.05.09 - Birmingham, AL - Workplay Soundstage
10.07.09 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
10.08.09 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
10.09.09 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
10.10.09 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
10.12.09 - Charleston, SC - The Music Farm
10.13.09 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theater
10.14.09 - Cincinnati OH - Bogarts
10.16.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
10.17.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
10.18.09 - Kalamazoo, MI - State Theater
10.19.09 - Columbus, OH - Southern Theater
10.21.09 - Buffalo, NY - Asbury Hall
10.24.09 - South Portland, ME - S. Portland High School Auditorium
10.25.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
10.26.09 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
10.27.09 - Providence, RI - Lupo's
10.28.09 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
St. Vincent:
07.05.09 - London, England - Wireless Festival
07.06.09 - Bristol, England - Thekla
07.08.09 - London, England - ICA
07.11.09 - Naas, Ireland - Oxegen Festival
07.13.09 - Manchester, England - Night & Day
07.14.09 - Glasgow, Scotland - Nice & Sleazy's
08.01.09 - Jersey City, NJ - All Points West Festival
The Birdman:
07.10.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
07.11.09 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre #
07.13.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden #
07.14.09 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
07.16.09 - Jacksonville, OR - Britt Pavilion
07.17.09 - Redmond, WA - Marymoor Amphitheatre *
07.18.09 - Troutdale, OR - McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater *
07.19.09 - Troutdale, OR - McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater *
07.26.09 - South Lake Tahoe, CA - Wanderlust Festival
08.07.09 - Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
09.19.09 - Madison, WI - Forward Music Festival
*The Decemberists
#Death Cab For Cutie
Stars: They’re Just Like Us! The Clientele Release New Album, Hang Out in Jane Austen-y Cottages
I imagine The Clientele as some sort of mystery band — the sort of music you hear drifting toward you on a lazy summer breeze in that just slightly magical time as the sun sets, before the moon rises. Dusk, many would say -- although, clearly The Clientele would call it “the gloaming.” It’s hard for me to imagine a few normal-looking dudes and one lady sitting around hashing out what kind of drum beat to play when and who owes how much on the rent money for their practice space. So thank God there are Merge Records press releases to make that vital connection between sordid everyday reality and mystical fan hypothesis for me.
Check this out! Sure, the band formed in suburban Hampshire, England several years ago, and practiced in a thatched cottage. Sure, the singer is named Alasdair (MacLean’s the surname), and rumor has it that early on in their career, the group nailed down their stance on Surrealist poetry (pro), versus their collective stance on blues-style solos and aggro shouting (con). I hear what you’re saying. This band sounds like it’s populated by the lovable pre-war British creatures of The Wind in the Willows. But trust me — they do things that aren’t 100% bucolic and Albion sometimes.
Things like... releasing albums! The Clientele have three full-lengths under their belt so far, as well as their debut collection of early 7-inch singles entitled Suburban Light. They also contributed a track to the Sandra Bullock/Keanu Reeves time travel weepie The Lake House. And now they have a new album due October 6 on Merge, Bonfires on the Heath, which sounds like pretty much the most delightful foray into Wuthering Heights territory this side of Kate Bush.
The band is performing later this summer at Merge’s anniversary showcase in New York.
07.19.09 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Tracklisting:
1. I Wonder Who We Are
2. Bonfires On The Heath
3. Harvest Time
4. Never Anyone But You
5. Jennifer & Julia
6. Sketch
7. Tonight
8. Share the Night
9. I Know I'll See Your Face
10. Never Saw Them Before
11. Graven Wood
12. Walking in the Park
Jack’s Mannequin, The Fray, Pepper, Oh My! Mile High Festival Delivers The Worst Lineup of The Summer Season
They were up against some stiff competition, but it looks like the Mile High Festival, taking place in Colorado’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on July 18 and 19, takes the cake for the worst lineup of any 2009 summer festival. Or maybe of all-time?
Let’s examine the recently announced lineup for evidence:
Saturday, July 18: TOOL, Widespread Panic, Incubus, Ben Harper & Relentless7, G. Love and Special Sauce, Big Head Todd & The Monsters, The Black Keys, Ani DiFranco, Matt Nathanson, Galactic, Paolo Nutini, Gomez, The Greyboy Allstars, Railroad Earth, India.Arie, Lyrics Born, Rocco DeLuca and The Burden, needtobreathe, Band of Heathens, Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam, The Northern Way (formerly Set Forth), Lukas Nelson & the Promise of the Real, Early Pearl .Sunday, July 19: Widespread Panic, The Fray, Thievery Corporation, 3OH!3, Gov’t Mule, Gogol Bordello, John Butler, Devotchka, Buddy Guy, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Pepper, The Wailers, Matisayhu, Jack’s Mannequin, Guster, Mat Kearney, Dead Confederate, Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons, Erin McCarley, Paper Bird, Honeyhoney, Joe Pug, Electric Touch.
At least The Black Keys, Lyrics Born, and, uh, Tool will balance out some of the hippy favorites.
Tickets for the festival are on sale now, including single-day passes, two-day packages, and VIP ticket options (I hear Brandon Boyd will personally smoke you out if you get a VIP pass). Buy tickets online or at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park Box Office. Visit the Mile High Festival website for complete details.
The Twilight Sad to Release New LP in September Despite Ongoing Depression
Forget the Night Ahead, The Twilight Sad’s sophomore effort, will be out via the Fat Cat label on September 22. The band’s frontman, James Graham, describes the record as “definitely rougher around the edges than the first one. It's not a flat, technically polished album. It's very rough but melodic at the same time. We didn't want to make an album that sounded too produced. This album is more raw than the first one, but again it's still developed.”
On listening to “Reflection of the Television” (download available here) and “I Became a Prostitute,” two tracks from the new LP, Graham’s comments would seem to hold true. Personally I can’t honestly say I’m excited by this change in direction for the Glaswegians, especially since I thought Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters was brilliant, but we’ll see when the album finally comes out.
Tracklisting for Forget the Night Ahead is as follows:
1. Reflection of the Television
2. I Became a Prostitute
3. Seven Years of Letters
4. Made to Disappear
5. Scissors
6. The Room
7. That Birthday Present
8. Floorboards Under the Bed
9. Interrupted
10. The Neighbours Can't Breathe
11. At the Burnside
The band will also be appearing at the Monolith Festival and Musicfest Northwest in September:
09.13.09 – Morrison, CO - Monolith Festival
09.17.09 – Portland, OR - Musicfest Northwest
Whoa! Swine Flu Infects Jens Lekman, Puts Him Under Quarantine at Sweden Home
From his Jens Lekman's blog:
I picked home one last souvenir from South America, it's called the H1N1 virus. Wrongfully known as the Swineflue.I was crossing the Atlantic when things started getting really bad, the fever was hallucinogenic and shaking me like a leaf and I grabbed the sleeve of the Air France steward. "I'm not feeling well, I should see a doctor" I said and the reply came as a brilliant mix of death anxiety and french rudeness: "Uh, yes... Terminal D... go there maybe... when we land". After that the stewards and stewardesses took long detours. A ring of empty seats formed around me. Peoples eyes were kind but determined, they read "Poor you, I really wish you all the best but if you come near me or my kid I will have to stab you with this plastic fork". I got up and went to the bathroom where I fainted.
Now I'm in quarantine for ten days. I can see the summer through my window and it's just perfect. Summer is always best through a window.
Aw. That's sweet. Get well soon, Jens. We're with you with in interweb spirit.
Just don't cough on me.
Shake Your Butt, Europe! (Not Too Hard!) Pixies to Do Doolittle on Tour This Fall
Ah, Pixies. For as much as they hate one another, you gotta love how painfully apparent it is that they love money just a little bit more. Already set to drop the half-assed-cash-grab Minotaur box set this fall — which seems to be little more than their discography stuffed in a box (there’s a few pictures, but I mean, come on! Have you seen the band? There’s a reason they never put their faces on a lunch box, kids...) — it has now been confirmed that the Pixies will continue their “no apologies, all nostalgia” vibe when they tour Europe in October, by playing 1989's classic Doolittle in its rocky entirety.
Yes, the band has promised to play every song from this landmark record, along with all the associated B-sides. Why? Well, unofficially, probably because it’s easy and they don’t have to talk to each other as much this way. But, uh, officially speaking, it’s probably because Doolittle turns 20 this year. "We wanted to do something special for Doolittle's 20th anniversary,” Frank Black said in a statement, “and we thought this was a good opportunity to play all of the songs from that album, something we don't normally do at a regular gig." So there you have it. Get ready for all of the “hope everything is alright” chants and “Cookie, I think you’re tame” sing-a-longs you can handle! Aw, who am I kidding? I can’t wait to hear “Dead” live...
Dateslittle:
10.01.09 - Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
10.02.09 - Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
10.04.09 - Glasgow, Scotland - SECC
10.06.09 - London, England - Brixton Academy
10.07.09 - London, England - Brixton Academy
10.08.09 - London, England - Brixton Academy
10.09.09 - London, England - Brixton Academy
10.11.09 - Frankfurt, Germany - Jahrhunderhalle
10.13.09 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Heineken Music Hall
10.14.09 - Brussels, Belgium - Forest National
10.15.09 - Paris, France - Zenith
The Pirate Bay Sold for $7.8 Million (Maybe)
Earlier today, Swedish software company Global Gaming Factory X announced in a press release that they are in the process of acquiring The Pirate Bay, the irreverent file-sharing giant whose recent "spectrial" resulted in guilty verdicts for all four co-founders. After several weeks of cat-and-mouse (including accusations from The Pirate Bay that the judge was biased due to an association with copyright lobbyists, a threat from co-founder Peter Sunde to sue Sweden for human rights violations only days ago, and the launch of The Video Bay, TPB's answer to YouTube), the controversial legal feud -- and, indeed, The Pirate Bay as we know it -- seems to be coming to an end.
What this means, exactly, is still very unclear, as ambiguous and somewhat contradictory statements come trickling in from Global Gaming Factory X and The Pirate Bay. Writes TPB in a recent blog post:
If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it. That's the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to. And -- you can now not only share files but shares with people. Everybody can indeed be the owner of The Pirate Bay now. That's awesome and will take the heat of [sic] us.
Meanwhile, CEO Hans Pandeya says that "[GGF] would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get
paid for content that is downloaded via the site."
Completion of the acquisition is expected for August 2009, "subject to GGF obtaining financing for" it.
More details are sure to be made available throughout the week. Stay tuned.
Dandy Warhols Tour Some States, Release 7-Year-Old LP
Well, he's finally done it. I like their tunes and all, but I think Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols has finally pissed off so many people that he is completely avoiding both coasts on his next tour. That's right, he's sticking to places like Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, and Sauget, Illinois -- places where there are still some bridges left to burn.
Their new CD, The Dandy Warhols are Sound, the "Director's Cut" of 2003's Welcome To The Monkey House, comes out July 14 on their own Beat the World Records. As describe on their website:
...late 2001 and into 2002 we recorded an album’s worth of tracks here in Portland and took those tracks to New York’s Electric Lady Studios to mix with famed mixing engineer Russell Elavedo, and the result of those mixing sessions was The Dandy Warhols Are Sound. We absolutely loved this record. However, Capitol, our label a the time, did not. They opted out of using our preferred mixes and remixed the record on their own to create Welcome To The Monkey House, a great album that we, and most of you, also love. [...] We had always intended to release this unheard gem on our own, but life and other records and tours and babies and crepes and red wine got in the way. Now finally, after almost seven years, on July 14, 2009 The Dandy Warhols will be proud to present to you The Dandy Warhols Are Sound.
Tourdates:
09.01.09 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue Theater
09.03.09 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont Club
09.04.09 - Sauget, IL (St. Louis, MO) - Pop's
09.05.09 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
09.07.09 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
09.08.09 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
09.09.09 - Austin, TX - Emo's
09.11.09 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre
09.12.09 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up Aspen
09.13.09 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater (Monolith Festival)
Rhino to Release 63-Song Party, People! Factory Records Digital Compilation Is Industrial Strength
In 1980, Factory Records released The Durutti Column's The Return of the Durutti Column album in the now infamous Guy Debord-inspired sandpaper record sleeve. Although that is an awesome and inspired situationist packaging notion -- protecting the record from and destroying other records around it -- there will be no problems with sleeve chafing when Rhino Records releases Factory Records: Communications 1978-92 on July 7 because it is a digital compilation. We should clarify; July 7 is the issue date for "other" DSPs, but the collection is already available now, exclusively on the mighty iTunes. While Factory Records: Communications 1978-92 has already seen the light of day as a concrete, handable, audio format (um, a CD box set), this is the first time many of these tracks have been available in digital download form, if that is any sort of consumer lure.
Anyway, with a song list as good as is printed below, we won't begrudge Rhino for taking the opportunity to give the people what they might not think they want, but what they most certainly need. Alongside the big-time names (Joy Division, New Order, James, Happy Mondays) are equally crucial works by a number of acts whose post-rock cachet grows every year (Crispy Ambulance, Section 25, Stockholm Monsters, and the aforementioned Durutti Column). The set comes with a digital booklet with liner notes by former NME journalist Paul Morley and a track-by-track analysis by Factory Records historian James Nice.
Use Hearing Protection:
1. Joy Division - "Digital"
2. Cabaret Voltaire - "Baeder Meinhof"
3. Joy Division - "Glass" (2007 Remastered)*
4. OMD - "Electricity" (Remastered Original 7" version)*
5. Joy Division - "She's Lost Control"
6. The Distractions - "Time Goes By Slowly"*
7. Joy Division - "Transmission"
8. The Durutti Column - "Sketch For Summer"*
9. X-O-Dus - "English Black Boys"*
10. Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
11. Section 25 - "Girls Don't Count"
12. Crawling Chaos - "Sex Machine"
13. Joy Division - "As You Said"*
14. The Names - "Night Shift"
15. New Order - "Ceremony" (Original Version)
16. Minny Pops - "Dolphin's Spurt"
17. John Dowie - "It's Hard To Be An Egg"*
18. Crispy Ambulance - "Deaf"
19. Section 25 - "Dirty Disco"
20. New Order - "Everything's Gone Green"*
21. Tunnelvision - "Watching The Hydroplanes"
22. The Durutti Column - "Messidor"*
23. Royal Family And The Poor - "Art On 45"
24. Swamp Children - "Taste What's Rhythm"
25. New Order - "Temptation"
26. 52nd Street - "Cool As Ice"
27. New Order - "Blue Monday"
28. Cabaret Voltaire - "Yashar" (John Robie Remix)*
29. Quando Quango - "Love Tempo"
30. The Wake - "Talk About The Past"
31. New Order - "Confusion"
32. Marcel King - "Reach For Love"
33. Section 25 - "Looking from A Hilltop (Restructure)"
34. Stockholm Monsters - "All At Once"
35. Life - "Tell Me"*
36. The Durutti Column - "A Little Mercy"*
37. James - "Hymn From A Village"
38. Kalima - "Trickery"
39. Quando Quango - "Genius"*
40. Happy Mondays - "Freaky Dancin"*
41. Miaow - "When It All Comes Down"
42. The Railway Children - "Brighter"
43. New Order - "1963" (12" Version)*
44. The Durutti Column - "Otis"
45. Biting Tongues - "Compressor"
46. New Order - "True Faith"
47. Happy Mondays - "24 Hour Party People"
48. New Order - "Fine Time"
49. Happy Mondays - "W.F.L. (We Think About The Future)"
50. Revenge - "Seven Reasons"
51. Happy Mondays - "Hallelujah" (Club Mix)
52. Electronic - "Getting Away With It"
53. Happy Mondays - "Step On"
54. Northside - "Shall We Take A Trip"
55. New Order - "World In Motion"
56. Happy Mondays - "Kinky Afro"
57. The Durutti Column - "Home"
58. Electronic - "Get The Message"
59. Happy Mondays - "Loose Fit"
60. Northside - "Take 5"
61. Cath Carroll - "Moves Like You" (Remix)
62. The Other Two - "Tasty Fish"*
63. Happy Mondays - "Sunshine and Love" (Lionrock Remix)*
* previously unreleased digitally
