Upcoming Raincoats Documentary Projected to Kick as Much Ass as Their Music
The "godmothers of grunge," post-punk rockers The Raincoats blew minds and won hearts with their raw vocals, animal energy, and jangly guitars shortly after forming as an all-female group back in the late 70s. Brits Anna DeSilva, Gina Birch, and Palmolive (of The Slits, who later left the band) were true iconoclasts, from the music they made all the way down to their refusal to shave their legs. But, curiously, the story about how The Raincoats unwittingly instigated the riot grrrrl movement and defined the post-punk sound has never been told on the big screen.
UNTIL NOW! Instead of waiting around for somebody else to come along, bassist Gina Birch kept true to punk’s DIY ethos and made her own damn movie about her band. The documentary, called Fairytales: A Work in Progress, showcases live footage -- most of it unseen -- and interviews with the many musicians and artists who have cited the band as a major influence. As the story goes, Kurt Cobain was an adoring fan of the band. In the liner notes of Insecticide, he wrote about meeting Anna DeSilva in her cousin’s antique shop while on a search for a duplicate copy of their debut album (TMT Review). He went on to constantly praise the group, encouraged them to reunite, and played a major role in getting their albums reissued so their music could reach younger ears.
The documentary will feature new interviews with Anna DeSilva, Gina Birchvocalist, journalist Vivian Goldman, Goeff Travis from Rough Trade Records, Beth Ditto of The Gossip, Peaches, No Bra, Chicks on Speed, Sonic Youth, Andy Gill from Gang of Four, and former bandmembers Viv Albertine and Palmolive (of The Slits), and Jane Woodgate (of The Modettes).
Dates of its stateside release have yet to be announced, but it wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to guess that anyone with a decent amount of respect for post-punk will be eagerly awaiting. Watch the trailer for the film here.
Comebacks Galore! Themselves to Tour with Eyedea & Abilities
Fresh off their newly minted “comeback” mix tape theFREEhoudini and teetering on the eve of their “comeback” album CrownsDown -- set for release on October 10, 2009 via anticon. -- Themselves have announced a fall tour with recently reactivated hip-hop duo Eyedea & Abilities.
CrownsDown, the group's first proper full-length album in seven years, is described by the band as “a careful and vicious exhibition of mastered rap tactics and sampling ethics.” Themselves created and structured the album as a means of exploring “the essential ten commandments” of hip-hop. Not quite sure what that means? Let me explain: Jel and Doseone, in preparation for writing and recording, dug through their crates of “favorite hip-hop albums ever” and created a list of the common, most effective forms of hip-hop songs and then tailored their own sound to meet these self-described patterns. The album has 10 tracks that span crowd favorites, ranging from the ”guess who’s back,” the “don’t bite,” the “don’t fuck with my DJ,” and the “dropping science,” as well as six other archetypal hip-hop jamz.
Meanwhile, Eyedea & Abilities will also be touring in support of a new album, By The Throat, their first new material in five years, released earlier this year. Check them out with Themselves on the majority of these tourdates:
11.19.09 - Austin, TX - Highball #
11.20.09 - Denton, TX - Hailey's #
11.21.09 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon #
11.22.09 - New Orleans, LA - The Parish Room - HOB #
11.23.09 - Atlanta, GA - 529 #
11.24.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 #
11.25.09 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel #
11.27.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory #
11.28.09 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs #
11.29.09 - Providence, RI - Jerky's Live Music Hall #
12.01.09 - Toronto, ONT - El Mocambo #
12.02.09 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig #
12.03.09 - Chicago, IL - Reggie's #
12.04.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity #
12.05.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club #
12.11.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
12.12.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
* Busdriver
# Eyedea & Abilities
CrownsDown tracklist:
1. Back II Burn
2. Oversleeping
3. The Mark
4. Gangster Of Disbelief
5. Daxstrong
6. You Ain't It
7. Roman Is As Roman Does
8. Skinning The Drum
9. Deadcatclear II
10. Gold Teeth Will Roll
Deer Tick Open for Neko Case, Offer Free Tickets to the Lucky Fan That Can Guess How Many Bottles of Whiskey Will Be Consumed Backstage
Two "alt-country" artists on the road together is a guaranteed recipe for some late-night whiskey drinking. And since Deer Tick’s John McCauley has been doing the alt-country thing since he was 18, I'm assuming he's a pro at finishing off a bottle of Maker's Mark. But can Neko Case keep up? We shall see, as Deer Tick joins Neko on the road for five shows, but not before they play with pals Jonny Corndawg and at a CMJ showcase.
Maybe after your next hangover you might want to pick up their new album, Born on Flag Day, which is out now on Partisan Records
10.13.09 - Paris, TX - Buffalo Joe's #
10.14.09 - Oxford, MS - The Lyric #
10.15.09 - Nashville, TN - The Basement #
10.16.09 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn #
10.17.09 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt #
10.18.09 - Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theatre #
10.19.09 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 ^
10.20.09 - Washington, DC - Black Cat Backstage ^
10.21.09 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar ^
10.22.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom ^ (Partisan Records CMJ Showcase)
10.23.09 - Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel ^
10.24.09 - Boston, MA - Harper's Ferry ^
11.04.09 - Troy, NY - Revolution Hall
11.05.09 - Wallingford, CT - The Space
11.06.09 - Newport, RI - Newport Blues Cafe
11.07.09 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
11.08.09 - Boston, MA - Church
11.18.09 - Charlotte, NC - Knight Theatre *
11.19.09 - Orlando, FL - The Plaza Theatre *
11.20.09 - Tallahassee, FL - The Moon *
11.21.09 - New Orleans, LA - The Republic *
11.22.09 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live *
* Neko Case
# Jonny Corndawg
^ Partisan Records Tour w/ Chris Denny and the Natives, Holy Sons, and Dolorean
Animal Collective Confirm New EP Fall Be Kind, "Brothersport" Single
A couple days ago, rumors abounded about a potential new release from Animal Collective called Fall Be Kind, mostly stemming from this Amazon order page (TMT News). Was it an EP? An LP? A mini-film starring Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser reprising their roles from hit movie Bedazzled?
Unfortunately, it's not the latter. Speaking to Pitchfork, Animal Collective confirmed that Fall Be Kind is indeed an EP, set for release December 8 via Domino. Described by Avey Tare as "a little bit darker," the EP features five brand new tracks, some of which were recorded during the Merriweather Post Pavilion (TMT Review) sessions. (Sit back and watch all the news sources reporting about AC's new "dark" EP!)
Meanwhile, the band is releasing a "Brothersport" single November 9, with a live version of new track "Bleed" as a B-side. You can read more about the EP, single, and the film they're working on (with no Hurley or Fraser -- boo!) at Pitchfork.
Fall Be Kind tracklist:
1. Graze
2. What Would I Want? Sky
3. Bleed
4. On a Highway
5. I Think I Can
Retribution Gospel Choir Sign to Sub Pop
Every up-and-coming indie band wants to sign to a label as influential as Sub Pop, but only a few will actually get the chance to do so. Unsurprisingly, Retribution Gospel Choir have announced that they’re hopping on the Sub Pop roster. As you may know, Alan Sparhawk of Low happens to play guitar and sing in Retribution Gospel Choir. And Low is on Sub Pop. Make sense, right?
Sub Pop will release Retribution Gospel Choir’s second album on January 26 of next year. The band is also planning an extensive North American tour to begin in late January. They currently have one show scheduled for December 15 at the Mercury Lounge in New York City, but don't forget about Low!
Devendra Banhart Announces November Tour, Needs Us to Come to Prove Himself to Warner Bros.
Whoa, don’t freak out, but I think I might be psychic. All of a sudden I am seeing the future, like, crystal clear. I mean, for one thing, I am pretty sure that I can see where Devendra Banhart’s career is is going! I’m getting something here... it looks like... the dependably Devendra Banhart-esque Devendra Banhart is all set to release his sixth Devendra Banhart album of Banhartedly Devendric songs about little kids, dead Beatles, things that are vaguely Hispanic/Latin American, and beards or the lack of them. Specifically, the new record — which I can somehow assure you without even having heard it that it will sound as Devendrastic as each of his past five Banharted efforts have — is called What Will We Be, and it drops on October 27 (at which point I’ll hear all of it... in the Starbucks I go to every day).
Hmm, lets see, I’m getting some other gut feelings too. I am imagining that it was recorded in some sleepy Northern California town or another, and that it was probably co-produced by some buddy of Devendra’s. Maybe Paul Butler from U.K. outfit Band of Bees? The only real curveball that I see here? It’s that this is his first for the major Warner Brothers label (oooo, ahhhh, etc.).
Now, wait, there’s more. Ah, it looks like just as TMT and all of the other sites out there are getting their hands on the record and giving it the “3 out of 5” or “6.0” or whatever it is that all post-Rejoicing in the Hands Devendra records obligatorily receive, my guess is that Banhart will probably be hitting the road in support of the new album’s forthcoming release, embarking on... oh, say, a two-week North American tour to prime the pump. I see antics and goofiness a-plenty for him and his crew. The shows’ll probably be a Devendra Banhartish mix of awesome, annoying, intriguing, and frustrating. My guess is that a lot of his fan-fans will be there. And the rest of us who already know what he sounds like because we heard him play once four or five years ago somewhere? Well, we’ll probably just stay home and listen to Rejoicing in the Hands (TMT Review)... or maybe Nino Rojo (TMT Review). I forget which is which sometimes.
Tourdates:
11.16.09 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
11.17.09 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
11.19.09 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
11.20.09 - Boston, MA – Berklee College of Music
11.22.09 - New York, NY - Town Hall
11.24.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
11.25.09 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11.27.09 - Toronto, ON - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Low Write Music for Upcoming Dance Piece, Switch Up Their Usual M.O. of Writing Songs for People Who Smoke a Lot of Pot and Sit Around a Lot or Are Really Depressed and Sit Around a Lot
First Nick Cave and Warren Ellis composed scores for a stage version of Kafka’s “Metamorphosis.” Then The Knife wrote that opera about Darwin. And now Low have created the original music and vocal orchestration for an upcoming dance piece by choreographer Morgan Thorson. Where would we be without indie musician/highbrow art collabos to make us feel classy? Thank God we have Low to add to this ever-expanding list of performance pieces!
The husband-and-wife team of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker are taking the show on the road for a few select, very spread-out dates this fall/winter/spring. (“Spread out” like across three seasons. Why no summer dates, friends?) The project, entitled “Heaven,” concerns “the trinity of dance, music, and light while exploring the various manifestations of ecstasy in religious practices and the ritualistic nature of dance.” Choreographer Thorson has garnered rave reviews in The New York Times, and my mom gives Low the thumbs up. A surefire hit, if you ask me.
10.15.09 - Houston, TX - Diverseworks Art Space
10.16.09 - Houston, TX - Diverseworks Art Space
10.17.09 - Houston, TX - Diverseworks Art Space
10.25.09 - New York, NY - PS 122
10.28.09 - New York, NY - PS 122
10.29.09 - New York, NY - PS 122
10.30.09 - New York, NY - PS 122 (early show and late show)
11.19.09 - Menomonie, WI - University of Wisconsin - Stout
01.29.10 - Middletown, CT - Wesleyan University
01.30.10 - Middletown, CT - Wesleyan University
03.04.10 - Minneapolis, MN - Walker Art Center
03.05.10 - Minneapolis, MN - Walker Art Center
03.06.10 - Minneapolis, MN - Walker Art Center
RIP: Shelby Singleton, record producer, Sun Records
From The Tennessean (via The Daily Swarm):
Shelby Singleton died just before 1 p.m. Wednesday in Alive Hospice Care at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, at age 77.Mr. Singleton was a renegade producer, record executive, song-hunter and promoter who helped fuse country and R&B music in the 1960s and who perpetuated the Sun Records label since 1969. He had been battling brain cancer.
“A lot of people in this town owe a lot to Shelby,” said friend and protégé Jerry Kennedy, himself a famed producer. “He created a place here for a lot of us. Shelby did things in a different way. He was a maverick.”
Always Swing with a Buddy: Nouvelle Vague Return with 3rd Album and Dive into the Deep End of Duetting
Why reinvent the wheel when you can just trick it out a bit? It would be like altering something beloved like Coca-Cola from its present 100% pure cocaine-and-boot-polish mixture to some opaque fizzy liquid beverage using natural flavors, colors, and preservatives. Can you imagine the catastrophic social and commercial implications!? No, gifted producers Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux knew not to completely overhaul things when it came time to plan the latest Nouvelle Vague album. But they did tweak the sound (more C&W, roots, and bluegrass influence this time out) and tinker the approach a little (there are a few duets instead of starlets singing solo). The resulting recording is the imaginatively titled 3 and it will come out October 20 on Peacefrog.
The four duets on 3 are interesting, coupling one of Nouvelle Vague's songbirds with the chosen song's original performer/writer. Melanie appears with Depeche Mode's Martin Gore on his "Master and Servant" and with Echo and the Bunnymen's Ian McCullough on his "All My Colours," Marina Celeste sings with Terry Hall (Specials/Fun Boy Three, etc.) on a version of his "Our Lips Are Sealed" (made famous by The Go-Go's in the early 1980s and famous for another generation by Hilary and Haylie Duff in 2004), and Nadeah Miranda croons with Barry Adamson (Magazine) on his "Parade." Unlike Nouvelle Vague's music, here is a tracklisting that is complicated and troublesome...
Legend: "Song" (Nouvelle Vague singer and, where applicable, featured guest singer), [original artist]
1. "Master and Servant" (Melanie Pain feat. Martin Gore) [Depeche Mode]
2. "Blister in the Sun" (Eloisia) [Violent Femmes]
3. "Road to Nowhere" (Nedeah Miranda) [Talking Heads]
4. "All My Colours" (Melanie feat. Ian McCullough) [Echo and the Bunnymen]
5. "The American" (Silja) [Simple Minds]
6. "Heaven" (Karina Zeviani) [Psychedelic Furs]
7. "Parade" (Nadeah Miranda feat. Barry Adamson) [Magazine]
8. "Metal" (Eloisia) [Gary Numan]
9. "Ca Plane Pour Moi" (LeeLou) [Plastic Bertrand]
10. "Our Lips Our Sealed" (Marina Celeste feat. Terry Hall) [The Go-Go's]
11. "God Save the Queen" (Melanie Pain) [Sex Pistols]
12. "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" (Sophie Delila) [Soft Cell]
13. "So Lonely" (Nadeah Miranda) [The Police]
Get yer ooh la las out:
10.08.09 - Helsinki, Finland - Korjaamo Culture Factory
10.09.09 - Stockholm, Sweden - Berns
10.10.09 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
10.11.09 - Copenhagen, Denmark - DR Koncerthuset
10.12.09 - Vilnius, Lithuania - Club New York
10.16.09 - London, England - Roundhouse
10.17.09 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar
10.18.09 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli
10.20.09 - Ghent, Belgium - Minnemeers
10.21.09 - Leuven, Belgium - Depot
10.23.09 - Marcheprime, France - La Caravelle
10.24.09 - Angoulême, France - La Nef
10.27.09 - Paris, France - Olympia
10.28.09 - Berne, Switzerland - Venue Bierhubeli
10.29.09 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Les Docks
10.30.09 - Zurich, Switzerland - Jazznojazz Festival
10.31.09 - Le Mans, France - Festival Be Bop n Roll
11.04.09 - Caen, France - Big Band Café
11.05.09 - St. Die, France - Centre Culturel
11.07.09 - Strasbourg, France - Laiterie
11.10.09 - Lyon, France - Transbordeur
12.01.09 - Brussels, Belgium - Le Botanique
12.04.09 - Lisbon, Portugal - Aula Magna
12.05.09 - Porto, Portugal - Sa de Bandeira
Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore to Launch Art Book Publishing Company, All of Us to Launch Art Books
You’re creative, right? I mean, you use fisheye lenses, don’t you? And didn’t you write out your last birthday party invitations (to a vegan cookie tasting at a lofted art gallery) in haiku trains? And when you found that roadkill outside on your street, you grabbed your camera and filmed it, right?
Well, then get your game face on, David Lynch, because this past weekend, the Los Angeles Times reported that none other than Thurston Moore might be interested in being your very own personal arts patron! The SY mainstay has, of course, put in some good hours in the past co-writing art and photo books like Abby Banks' Punk House: Interiors in Anarchy and Michael Lavine's forthcoming Grunge. Now, he’s branching out even further into the realm of liberal arts guru with the launch of Ecstatic Peace Library, his very own boutique publishing house that savvily builds off of his already swingin’ Ecstatic Peace! record label. Creative synergy at work.
Anyway, catalogs of Ecstatic Peace Library's first releases were distributed at the New York Art Book Fair this past weekend to kind of prime the pump. They'll also be available via the Ecstatic Peace Library’s website on January 1. As of now, Moore is planning to release books from wife and bandmate Kim Gordon (insert emasculating “whip” noises here), Goo cover artist Raymond Pettibon, and 1991: The Year Punk Broke director Dave Markey. According to the L.A. Times, the books will be accompanied by recordings made by the authors. Sweet. Oh, and the books will all be distributed through the, uh, much more established and legit D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I've got a photo book of dirty diapers, odd coffee stains on paper placemats, and ironic-out-of-context vanity license plates to make. I smell a best-seller, Thurston!
"WE WILL BE MAKING AN ALBUM!" says Radiohead's Ed O'Brien
Radiohead have threatend to stop releasing full-length albums several times since Kid A, only to later retract the statement or cite misquotation. It happened before both Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows (TMT Review), and it's now happening again. After an apparent misquote, in which The Believer quotes Thom Yorke saying "None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again. …] But we’ve all said that we can’t possibly dive into that again. It’ll kill us," Ed O'Brien set the record straight recently with the NME (via [AtEase), saying that Radiohead are indeed planning to record another full-length album.
"We were misquoted," said O'Brien. "WE WILL BE MAKING AN ALBUM!" At the moment, Radiohead are unsure of how they'll approach a downloadable version, but O'Brien says they will "definitely" be releasing the new album on CD and vinyl sometime next year. "We love the artwork; that’s really important, the physicality. And we all like vinyl. That’s not going to go away. I still like CDs as well. I got the Speech Debelle CD the other day – I nearly downloaded it from iTunes but I thought, ‘No. I want the physical thing.’"
So what do the new tunes sound like so far? O'Brien's keeping quiet, but he did tell the NME that "These Are My Twisted Words," a track released earlier this summer, was "a kind of one-off" and isn't a good indication of the new album.
The band heads back to the studio this winter, assuming O'Brien's not also being misquoted.
