White Fence announces summer tour, continues to not be a fish
“Hey Eric, what’s up?”
Nothing.
“You hear that the guy from White Fence doesn’t have to drink water?”
What? Tim Presley? That can’t be right. He’s a person, he’s gotta be drinking water.
“Nah, bro. Hung out with him for, like, two hours last night. Didn’t drink a single drop of water. I think he’s like, a reverse fish. Or like a slug but with water instead of salt? A water slug.”
Not a thing. And, no, that just really cannot be right. You are a crazy person.
“Whatever, bro. Must be tough in the summer. No water to cool you down. You hear he’s going on tour this summer?”
I did hear that. In fact, I’ve got the dates right here. Some of them are with Mac DeMarco, some of them are with Jessica Pratt, some of them are with Father John Misty.
“I love Mac DeMarco.”
Okay.
White Fence dates:
06.13.13 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl (Panache Northside Festival Showcase) *
06.14.13 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory (Northside Festival)
06.21.13 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore ^
07.30.13 - Las Vegas, NV - The Bunkhouse +
07.31.13 - Reno, NV - Holland Project +
08.02.13 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon Festival
08.03.13 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon Festival
08.04.13 - Seattle, WA - Neumo’s +
08.05.13 - Vancouver, WA - Biltmore Cabaret +
08.10.13 - Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour +
08.11.13 - San Diego, CA - Casbah +
* Mac DeMarco
^ Father John Misty
+ Jessica Pratt
• White Fence: https://www.facebook.com/pages/White-Fence/109125289153214
• Castle Face: http://www.castlefacerecords.com
Mike Paradinas’ label, Planet Mu, to release Mike Paradinas’ new µ-Ziq album, Chewed Corners, on June 25 (Mike Paradinas Day?)
As seen previously, I can wax pseudo-intellectual on µ-Ziq (Mike Paradinas) all day. There’s a strange attraction in his music that makes me susceptible to extended bouts of wanking off at the mouth. Don’t worry though, on this occasion I’ll spare us both the embarrassment and just get straight to the point: a new µ-Ziq record is being released by Planet Mu on June 25.
Chewed Corners will be Paradinas’ first proper album since 2007, and will be preceded by an EP, XTEP, on May 21. Both sets introduce an approach that is radically more accessible and melodious than the shadow-tinged probings of µ-Ziq’s back catalogue. Angular rigidity has taken backseat to lush structures, and the resulting songs are less cerebral, more corporeal, retro-futuristic, and acutely cinematic (seriously, how much Vangelis did this guy listen to?). But “how did it all turn out?” you ask; I’ll leave it to our reviewers to answer that one, so tune back in soon.
You can preview XTEP here.
Chewed Corners tracklisting:
01. Taikon
02. Christ Dust
03. Wipe
04. Monyth
05. Twangle Melkas
06. Melting Bas
07. Houzz 10
08. Feeble Minded
09. Hug
10. Mountain Island Boner
11. Tickly Flanks
12. Smooch
13. Gunnar
14. Weakling Paradinas
XTEP tracklisting:
01. XT
02. Ritm
03. Pulsar
04. Monj2
05. New Bimple
• Planet Mu: http: http://www.planet.mu
Mount Moriah to engulf the United States in their terrible wings
Some say there is a terrible secret hiding within Mount Moriah. While the mountain stands sullen and stoic, there are many who believe that the mountain is no mountain at all. Though the naked eye sees only stone, many of the area mystics believe that the stone is but a thin barrier protecting the world from the great bird that lay within the mountain. The bird was, in ancient times, petrified by a wizard, so that it could not bring upon the end days with its mighty screech. If the bird was to awaken, all would be lost.
Well, maybe that’s true and maybe it’s not. Who can really be sure? In the absence of any terrible apocalypse birds, there exists Merge-signed folk trio Mount Moriah, who are on a tour of the United States at this very moment. Will they set the land ablaze and squelch out any life that dare cross their path? Eh, no. They’ll just play some music, much of which will likely derive from their recently-released sophomore record, Miracle Temple.
Mount Moriah dates:
05.18.13 - Jarvisburg, NC - BURG Festival @ Sanctuary Vineyards
06.13.13 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe
06.14.13 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern
06.15.13 - Columbus, OH - The Basement
06.16.13 - Bloomington, IN - The Bishop
06.17.13 - St. Louis, MO - Old Rock House
06.18.13 - Lawrence, KS - Replay Lounge
06.20.13 - Denver, CO - Hi Dive
06.21.13 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room
o6.22.13 - Dubuque, IA - Eronel
06.23.13. - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
06.24.13 - Madison, WI - The Frequency
06.25.13 - Columbia, MO - Mojo’s
06.26.13 - Nashville, TN - The High Watt
• Mount Moriah: http://www.mountmoriahband.com
• Merge: http://www.mergerecords.com
Stephen O’Malley to curate experimental stage at OFF Festival, unveils line of “Pitch Black Darkness” robes
Hey kids! Have you ever wanted to look like sunn 0))) dreamboat Steven O’Malley? Well, now you can! O’Malley is releasing his own line of custom robes, under his new “Pitch Black Darkness” line. These robes are guaranteed by O’Malley himself to “absorb the entirety of light and return with only the lonely darkness of space,” along with not shrinking in the wash. Get yours now at Stephen O’Malley’s Pitch Black Darkness Robe Dot Com!
That’s not happening. What is happening, though, is O’Malley curating an experimental stage at Katowice, Poland’s OFF Festival. O’Malley himself will be playing the stage as his KTL project with Editions Mego head Peter Rehberg. Others on the stage include Chelsea Wolfe, Bohren and der Club of Gore, Zeni Geva, Circle, Furia, and Piotr Kurek. If you’re some sort of jerk and aren’t interested in any of this O’Malley-approved experimental stuff, there are plenty of other notable artists playing OFF: Deerhunter, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Jens Lekman, Laurel Halo, Fatima Al Qadiri, My Bloody Valentine, Mykki Blanco, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Pop Group, Peanut Butter Wolf, Thee Oh Sees, Girls Against Boys, and more and more. If you can’t find anything you like there, well, don’t go. A simple solution.
If you do, however, want to go, tickets are still on sale here. Four-day passes are sold out, though, so you’ll have to settle with three days. However, from what I understand, the festival only runs three days. I am unsure what they mean by four-day passes, but they’re sold out, so don’t worry about it.
• OFF Festival: http://off-festival.pl
• Stephen O’Malley: http://www.ideologic.org
Savages announce tour in a stunning manner, silencing EVERYONE.
Hey dude, you’re into Savages by now, right? (cuz if you’re not… woe betide you; you’re WAY BEHIND THE TIMES.) Great, well then I probably don’t need to explain anything here at all, because you’re already up on it! See you later, fellow hip-as-balls Savages fanatic! …Wait. What’s that? Ohhhhhhh, I see: you haven’t gotten into them just because you’re waiting for the TMT review to tell you whether or not their new album fits your taste! Perfectly acceptable excuse. Let me just give you the rundown real quick-like.
First, it’s UK stuff. Credible as shit. Second, they released their hotly-anticipated, post-punk, post-art, post-cool, post-everything album Silence Yourself this week on Matador/Pop Noire. Bleak, arty, rockin’. Pick up a copy. Third, on Thursday, May 9, they will be live-streaming “a very special concert event” in partnership with The Creators Project at a place in London called The Ministry of Sound (which this press release I’m holding says is an “intentionally unusual choice of venue for a guitar band with one of the best surround sound systems in the world”). You definitely should tune in here at 9:15 PM GMT (4:15 EST) to get caught up to speed. In fact, the whole night is curated by the band and includes sets from the band’s producer, Johnny Hostile, Changeover, and Curfew. I know, it’s a lot of names. Better keep this news story up on your smartphone while you watch on your tablet.
Anyway, fourth! Let’s see… oh yes; forth, there’s a friggin’ tour. Whenever there’s a new record, there’s gotta be a tour, right? Right. Here it is. Yeah, you’ll notice that there’s some shows in Berlin and Prague and shit with Portishead and Iggy Pop in London. No big deal, whatever. Try to come off unimpressed.
05.09.13 - London, UK - Ministry of Sound
05.13.13 - Brussels, Belgium - Botanique-Orangie
05.15.13 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
05.16.13 - Cologne, Germany - Geb9
05.17.13 - Berlin, Germany - Lido
05.19.13 - Frankfurt, Germany - Zoom
05.20.13 - Zurich, Switzerland - Kinski
05.21.13 - Milan, Italy - Magnolia Club
05.22.13 - Nimes, France - TBA
05.23.13 - Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
05.25.13 - London, UK - Field Day Festival
05.29.13 - London, UK - Red Gallery
06.01.13 - Porto, Portugal - Primavera Sound
06.06.13 - Paris, France - La Maroquinerie
06.08.13 - Manchester, UK - Parklife Festival
06.18.13 - Berlin, Germany - Zitadelle *
06.19.13 - Prague, Czech Republic - Tipsport *
06.20.13 - London, UK - Yoko Ono’s Meltdown #
06.22.13 - Hilvarenbeek, Holland - Best Kept Secret Festival
06.28-29.13 - Pilton, UK - Glastonbury Festival
07.04.13 - Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07.11.13 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
07.12.13 - Boston, MA - Middle East
07.13.13 - Washington, DC - Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel
07.14.13 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
07.15.13 - Montreal, QC - La Tulipe
07.16.13 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club
07.20.13 - Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07.21.13 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
07.23.13 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theater
08.30.13 - North Dorset, UK - End of the Road Festival
10.04-06.13 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
10.11-13.13 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
* Portishead
# Iggy Pop
• Savages: http://savagesband.com
• Matador: http://www.matadorrecords.com
• Pop Noire: http://popnoire.com
High Wolf to release new album Kairos: Chronos on Not Not Fun, time to admit canis lupus has taken over the year
It’s the year of the wolf, apparently. Not that any particular Zodiac will actually support that supposition. Despite the lack of celestial evidence, this lupine body of time rolls forward with High Wolf announcing the imminent release of Kairos: Chronos on Not Not Fun. What does it bring to the lines of noise, anger, abject despair, and smirking cleverness already being drawn this year? High Wolf’s usual flair for rhythmic, transcendence-seeking ambience, of course…
Which isn’t exactly keeping the party line of bared teeth and snarling, drooling ferocity, but balance is good in all things. For every glowering, bloodied monstrosity that we never see get slapped with a handful of glass by Liam Neeson, there is Balto. Except a quick perusal of the internet finds that Balto was in fact a sled dog, and that metaphor quickly crumbles. Also, who knows if High Wolf cares for being compared to an animated film that charmed its way into a generation’s dreams? Alright High Wolf, you are not the Balto of transcendental ambient; there is no poorly researched film metaphor for the kind of music you make or the kind of shows you put on. If an example to back up this statement is needed, here is “Kulti” off Kairos: Chronos, which is out June 4, a mere 28 moons away.
Kairos: Chronos tracklisting:
01. Kulti
02. Sigularity
03. RIP X
04. An Empire Upon an Empire
05. 707
06. Alvarado
• High Wolf: http://highwolf.wordpress.com
• Not Not Fun: http://www.notnotfun.com
From a galaxy far, far away comes Lil Jabba’s debut LP
In the near, near future, in a galaxy far, far away (England), Lil Jabba’s debut LP Scales will burst forth like a new star bursting forth out of a cloud of dust and pixie magic and whatever else is involved in stars being formed. (The NASA website was too long for a lazy person to read, although it does include awesome sections like “Stars and Their Fates” and “From the Remains, New Stars Arise,” which is coincidentally the name for my new screamo band. I just formed this band in response to reading this NASA webpage.) Anyway, Brooklyn/Baltimore-based, Australian-born experimental footwork dude Lil Jabba has this new LP coming out on London’s Local Action as a vinyl/digital release on July 1.
Affiliated with Chicago’s Teklife crew (DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn, and friends), Jabba is the type of guy who’s into limited cassette releases, bike gangs, and creating visual art. Some of the tracks on Scales have been previously released on cassette, some of them have been introduced to fans via THE INTERNET, much like his past material. You know how it is. The album can be pre-ordered online, and you can preview an album track below. The digital release includes two bonus tracks: “Cavern” and “Spektor.”
Scales tracklisting:
01. Red Current
02. Cavern
03. Maven
04. Raiders
05. Loki
06. Echinacea
07. Tomorrow
08. Gorgon
09. Station North
10. Spektor
11. Precision
12. Serum
• Lil Jabba: https://www.facebook.com/LiLJaBBA
• Local Action: http://localactionrecords.bigcartel.com
Steve Albini mutters some facts about the new Shellac record from the comfort of his coveralls
So, I think I’m on the right side of history when I say, “I want more albums to be announced in the form of awkward video interviews.” Boy howdy do I want more albums to be announced in the form of awkward video interviews!! I mean, for one, since they’re more visual than blog posts and press releases (duh!) it’ll let us all get a good look at our favorite artists, coveralls, unidentified beverages, and all. What’s more, since there’s not much to be done with videos aside from posts saying, “Here look at this,” it’ll free up some time in my schedule for things like sleeping and learning to love myself more honestly. Awkward video interviews are the goddamn future.
Since we all know Steve Albini is so invested in the future, it should come as no surprise that he’s on the avant garde as far as awkward video album release announcements go (omg! do you think the video camera that the interviewer used was digital??). As you can see below, you’ve got eight whole minutes of uncomfortable silences, odd misunderstandings, and vague responses from the man himself to look forward to. And that all comes after what I imagine was a protracted period in which Albini insisted on setting up several room mics to capture the “natural sound of [his] voice” for the video.
For being eight minutes long, though, the video actually announces very little (I can’t help but wonder: is this a sign of things to come? I look forward to a 30-minute extravaganza in which a band like, I don’t know, Vampire Weekend announces little more than the existence of an announcement). As of yet, the album has no title, and no release date, though it will likely be put out by the zombie of Touch & Go. No artwork yet either, but when the artwork comes, it will almost definitely be better than anything Uriah Heep ever made. There will be nine, or maybe eight, possibly 10, no probably just nine songs on it, and one of them will be a song about how humans are monkeys called “Dude, Incredible” (could also be “Dude Incredible” sans comma. The one downside to videos is the clues you get re: comma placement are pretty scant; it could be “,,,Dude,, Incredible,,,,,” for all I know). Shellac’s also doing a few dates in Europe right around now. If you’re nearby, I recommend catching the shows so you too can have the chance to argue with Mr. Albini regarding whether or not he’s played at certain venues if you ever interview run in to him at Whole Foods.
Tourdates:
05.19.13 - Vienna, Austria - Arena Wien Open Air
05.22-26.13 - Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
05.26.13 - Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp
05.27.13 - Leipzig, Germany - Conne Island
05.28.13 - Hamburg, Germany - Übel & Gefährlich
05.29.13 - Berlin, Germany - Berghain/Panorama Bar
05.30.13-06.01.13 - Porto, Portugal - Primavera Sound Festival
• Shellac: http://www.touchandgorecords.com/bands/band.php?id=22
• Touch & Go: http://www.touchandgorecords.com
Lauryn Hill receives three-month prison sentence from big government robber barons
So, if you’re like me (and I really hope you are because I feel very alone right now) you’ve been following this whole Lauryn Hill tax evasion story closer than a Joy Division reference. You’ve also no doubt seen our previous coverage of the developments in which our Liz Louche loosely compared the folks at Sony to the likes of the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus. Well, now the story’s changed and I’ve got one thing to say: Santa Claus is dead and we have killed him.
Okay, I’ve actually got a couple more things to say than that, but most of them are about how Sony are a bunch of jerks, and how, with all due respect, I’m gonna have to go ahead and disagree with Liz Louche about the whole Santa Claus/fairy godparents connection (actually, fwiw, I’m starting to wonder if corporate record labels really only care about money, and not at all about the smiles that may or may not light up our little faces come Christmas/Easter/Monday morning).
First, according to the Associated Press, it turns out Lauryn Hill is going to prison after all, despite her recently inked deal with Sony. She’ll spend three months in prison and an additional three months in “home confinement.” #thanksSony, am I right? I mean, it’s not her fault she got a little “mis-educated” about tax policy. You had one job, Sony! Geez. It gets worse though. Apparently the corporate suits at Sony are forcing Ms. Hill to fulfill her five-song contract EVEN THOUGH THEY DID NOT STOP UNCLE SAM FROM SENDING HER TO THE CLINK. Un-freaking-real! I’ll even bet the bigwigs at Sony are in bed with some of the mediumwigs at the IRS, trying to squeeze every last ounce of creative and monetary blood, sweat, and tears out of her. For her part, Ms. Hill is exuding all sorts of rebellious energy, throwing off the shackles of corporate control the best way she knows how: by adding a parenthetical onto the title of her song, “Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix).” Get it! You can find her note about the song on her Facebook, and purchase the song from iTunes.
• Lauryn Hill: http://www.lauryn-hill.com
• Heartless Corporate Monsters: http://www.sonymusic.com
Boyd Rice and Cold Cave announce tour; maybe they’ll change things up this time and wear Hawaiian shirts?
Boyd Rice gets around like a cat in heat. He’s worked with everyone up to and including Frank Tovey, Coil, Chris and Cosey, and David Tibet. Now he is teaming with Wes Eisold of Cold Cave to bring doom, gloom, and that wonderful brew of industrial he does so well to exactly 10 cities in North America.
*sigh*
Really, here’s hoping this is the tour he finally pulls out all the stops and goes full Tiki. No more black curtains, hyper-bright aggressive spotlights, and ambiguous use of Nazi imagery. It’s time for little wooden Tiki idols, Hawaiian shirts, and Zombies with little fiddly umbrellas in them. His synthesizer will be covered in dashboard hula girls that’ll be rocking out right along with him. Maybe he can draw little pentagrams on their tummies, just to keep all parties satisfied. I don’t know if all this would fit with his most recent album, Back to Mono, which I’d imagine is the focus of this tour, but a boy can dream. Maybe dreaming hard enough will get us all an appearance by The Rock Cats.
Boyd Rice/NON June tourdates:
06.14.13 - Los Angeles, CA - Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock
06.15.13 - San Francisco, CA - Public Works
06.19.13 - Philadelphia, PA - Morgan’s Pier
06.20.13 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
06.22.13 - Columbus, OH - Skullys Music Diner
06.24.13 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
06.25.13 - Pontiac, MI - Pike Room at The Crofoot
06.26.13 - Toronto, ON - The Shop at Parts & Labor
06.28.13 - Cambridge, MA - TT the Bear’s
06.29.13 - Brooklyn, NY - 285 Kent
• Boyd Rice/NON: http://www.boydrice.com
• Cold Cave: http://coldcave.net
• The Rock Cats: http://www.circuscats.com/rockcats.html
