Unwed Sailor Prep LP 5, Tour Relentlessly (Okay, Not Really Relentlessly)
By Paulb on 11-20-2007
Seattle, WA quartet Unwed Sailor have finished recording their fifth LP, Little Wars, which contains songs they've been rocking effortlessly on tour all year. The LP is set for a March 18 release and will feature all four members of the band, as well as Phillip Blackwell of Questions In Dialect and band pals Matt Depper, Matt Putman and Nic Tse.
The LP was apparently constructed around and in honor of lead single "Copper Islands," which you can listen to repeatedly at your little heart's content at Unwed Sailor's MySpace. The band describes the new LP as, "energetic and highly melodic, but gently colored and focused by layered keyboards and percussion with a delicate ambiance," which makes it sound more like the music you'd hear pushing your cart through Whole Foods, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Little Wars' March release forces the band to make an early attempt at recouping a portion of the money spent recording. How? By touring un-relentlessly beginning November 30 in the Windy City.
The Return To Open Arms:
* This Will Destroy You
No Fun Fest 2008 Lineup Announced; I Can Already Taste the Soul Sausage
By Papaya on 11-20-2007
As I write this stranded in an airport in Birmingham, Alabama, I can't help but note the irony that I'm having a little "No Fun Fest" of my own. Mine, however, is a literal no fun fest, which has nothing to do with the No Fun label. For example, mine doesn't include any music or interesting activities, but rather a lot of waiting around with relatives in a bizarrely sterile environment with nothing to do but kick back and soak in the boredom. I have discovered some awesome YouTube videos, though, which can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Also, the terrorist threat level today is "orange."
The real No Fun Fest will take place May 16-18 at the Knitting Factory in New York City, and the bill-in-progress includes: Tony Conrad (pictured) and M.V. Carbon, Skaters, Burning Star Core, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Emeralds, Alan Licht, Rick Potts, Nautical Almanac, Carlos Giffoni, Religious Knives, Hiroshi Hasegawa (of C.C.C.C.), and others. A full list can be found at the No Fun Fest official site.
Ladytron Signs to New Label, Midterm
By Hanky Panky on 11-20-2007
Midterms are in the air, as you may have sensed from Nobodaddy's stress-inspired story last Wednesday (TMT News). Frankly, if I have to struggle with information I have learned and barely retained, then I think you should too. Thus, Tiny Mix Tapes is proud to inflict upon you: The Ladytron Challenge!!!!!
This test will be multiple choice with each question worth 666 points, so please do the best you can. Your reputation as reader with a strong repertoire of musical knowledge depends on it. Furthermore, Tiny Mix Tapes staff, myself included, shall personally shame each individual who scores poorly.
Properly motivated? Let's go!
1. Who is Ladytron?
a. Helen Marnie
b. Mira Aroyo
c. Daniel Hunt
d. Reuben Wu
e. All of the above, and don't you forget it.
Answer: E -- That's correct, vintage analogue electro-pop sensation, Ladytron (shit that was a lot of adjectives), has been harnessing the power and talent of Helen Marnie, Mira Aroyo, Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu since they formed the group in 1999. An anonymous and overly informed asshole on Wikipedia notes that, "When playing live, Ladytron uses vintage synthesizers/keyboards, including a Korg MS-10 (played by Wu), an MS-20 (Aroyo), Roland SH-2 (Hunt), as well as four MS-2000Bs." And you know what that means? It means Ladytron doesn't fuck around.
2. Ladytron has how many studio releases?
a. Several hundred
b. Just 100
c. 3
d. None -- they're currently working on their self-titled debut
Answer: C -- Three albums currently exist by the Ladytron-tastic
five-some. Debuting with 604 in 2001, their Light & Magic release
kicked clubs' asses worldwide with pedophilic anthem "Seventeen,"
whose popularity was only superseded by the single "Destroy Everything
You Touch" off their 2005 album, Witching Hour. Ladytron is currently
harnessing their collective sexiness into a new mind-blowing album
(title pending), set to be released to many electro-pop heads'
delight in May 2008.
3. Which label has Ladytron signed to?
a. Emperor Norton Records
b. Ed Banger Records
c. Nettwerk Music Group
d. XL Recordings
Answer: C -- Ladytron has joined the Nettwerk Music Group family alongside acts such as Datarock and Felix da Housecat, two acts who I've never fully appreciated. (Extra Credit will be rewarded to those who agree that the Datarock self-titled debut was nowhere near as ass-kicking as many have touted it to be.)
4. What sort of sheisty shit is Ladytron up to these days?
a. Dancing
b. Gigging
c. Being sexy
d. Engaging in rock-star workaholic-ism
e. All of the above
Answer: E -- Always sexy, dancing, touring, and working, Ladytron has been making appearances worldwide in support of their Witching Hour material for nearly two years now, both headlining and as support for acts such as Nine Inch Nails and The Chemical Brothers. Ever the multi-taskers, Ladytron continued to develop new material while on the road and are now in the studio with co-producer Vicarious Bliss of Ed Banger records to nail down the new release. "We came straight from our final shows in the US to the studio in Paris to complete what we have been working on for the last year or so," said band member Daniel Hunt in a Nettwerk press release. "The sessions are exciting, and we can't wait to get the new tracks out there."
A full North American tour is being slated for late spring of 2008.
Steal This Film 2 Leaked on BitTorrent; Irony Crushes Unsuspecting Leechers
By Elzee on 11-20-2007
Like rain on your wedding day, dying right after winning the lottery, and that t-shirt you bought at Urban Outfitters last week, irony takes a toll on everyone. It's preying on innocent fiction writers and hipsters alike, and now it's taken a new victim: the makers of documentary Steal This Film 2. The original Steal This Film documented The Pirate Bay controversy and its fallout; the sequel takes a look at the role of file-sharing in our culture on a broader scale. It's scheduled for release on trackers across the globe in a couple days.
Wait, you say, that's not ironic?! Well, reader, what's ironic is that someone leaked a cammed version of the film onto The Pirate Bay last Wednesday. The quality's pretty bad, so I would suggest waiting for it to be properly leaked. Jamie King, producer of STF2, told TorrentFreak, "We think people better not watch it, as we'll track them down via haxxoring their IPs and sue their asses off." Oh man, I think he was being ironic. Can someone please find that My Chemical Romance album? Because it's really good. No, seriously, someone get it for me.
