Ghostface Killah releases Apollo Brown-produced version of Twelve Reasons to Die in all formats, embraces the listicle
Tony Starks, hip-hop extraordinaire, motivational speaker, and much-lauded mortality advocate, recently rocked everyone’s world with his music listicle Twelve Reasons to Die (TMT Review). Twelve Reasons to Die packed such a punch because it asked one simple question (viz., “Why do you fear death?”) before going on to pose 12 reasons why death is neither horrible nor particularly life-altering. Indeed, in Ghostface’s own words, death is “actually mostly okay.” He says, “I’ve been dead for like six years and it’s totally alright,” going on to explain, “It’s kind of like White Castle if you think about it. Everybody’s all like, ‘blah blah blah, so awful, worst thing,’ but then they try it — after that they’re hooked.”
Now, because the internet is hungry for content and listicles can be turned out at a high rate of speed, Soul Temple will be releasing an Apollo Brown-produced variant of Ghost’s motivational listicle-cum-LP on all formats. The new release is called Twelve Reasons to Die: The Brown Tape and began as a Record Store Day-exclusive cassette. However, it’s available right this instant both as a stream (see below) and a digital download from the Soul Temple Bandcamp. CDs and vinyl are slated to ship in early June, and it will be available on iTunes and from physical retailers starting June 11. There are even rumors that hooded figures will be sneaking copies into the burnt-out Sam Goody down the street from your parents’ old house.
Ghostface is also touring the US right now with his good pal in death-advocacy, Killah Priest. The two will be puttering around the country through late May, rocking people’s preconceived notions about the finality of death, so be sure to come out if they visit your town. The concerts are sure to must-see-for-fear-of-the-metaphysical-consequences events!
Tourdates:
04.30.13 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews
05.01.13 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Pyramid Scheme
05.02.13 - Bloomington, IN - The Bluebird
05.03.13 - Columbus, OH - A&R Room
05.04.13 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls Theatre
05.05.13 - Syracuse, NY - The Westcott Theatre
05.07.13 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Music
05.08.13 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hall
05.09.13 - Boston, MA - The Wilbur
05.10.13 - New Haven, CT - Toads Place
05.11.13 - Providence, RI - The Met
05.12.13 - Philadelphia, PA - The Blockley
05.13.13 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
05.14.13 - Baltimore, MD - Soundstage
05.16.13 - Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle
05.17.13 - Asheville, NC - Asheville Music Hall
05.18.13 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
05.19.13 - Tampa Bay, FL - The Orpheum
05.20.13 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
05.22.13 - Austin, TX - Emo’s
• Ghostface Killah: https://www.facebook.com/GhostfaceKillahOfficial
• Soul Temple: http://soultemplemusic.bandcamp.com
All Tomorrow’s Parties discontinuing their holiday festivals; final party set for late November. Pour out some whiskey.
Happy Friday, everyone! If ever you’ve needed an excuse to reach for another office donut, throw back that extra “I really shouldn’t” whiskey ginger, or just bust out the black-feathered horses and carriage for a good old-fashioned Cockney funeral, well, boy have I got one for you today! The venerable festival gods at ATP have announced that their winter holiday camp series of festival events will be ringing in their last solstice this year. According to The Quietus, the reasoning behind the decision to stop putting on winter events is to “allow ATP to focus on their growing schedule of city and international based events in 2014 and beyond.”
So goodbye, Butlin’s Minehead weekends of inarticulable bliss. Goodbye nights of unknown pleasures and days of horrible, wretched, vile hangovers at Pontin’s Camber Sands. Since 2000, ATP has hosted the likes of Patti Smith, Matt Groening, Nick Cave, and Iggy Pop whilst they curated/performed at assorted holiday camp festivals by the sea. And now, the last ride on the carousel of good music and bad decisions comes around.
Appropriately/sadly titled End of an Era Parts 1 and 2, the final Camber Sands festivals will take place on November 22-24 and November 29-December 1, respectively. The first weekend, put on in conjunction with Barcelona’s incredible Primavera Sound fest, will be headlined by Television, performing Marquee Moon in its entirety. The legendary New Yorkers will be joined by Thurston Moore’s new project Chelsea Light Moving, Dinosaur Jr, Mike Watt, Dinos Chapman, Les Savy Fav, múm, Oneohtrix Point Never, Hebronix, Forest Swords, The Haxan Cloak, Demdike Stare, Wolf Eyes, BEAK>, Eraa, and more TBA. The following weekend sees neglected English drone rockers Loop reforming for a special weekend with friends The Pop Group, 23 Skidoo, Dirty Beaches, Fennesz, Edan (DJ set), The KVB, Eaux, Hookworms, and Thought Forms. So, tonight, sweet ATP holiday camp festivals, we pour one out for you. RIP, fair festival. And please “grow” your “schedule of city and international based events” to Los Angeles.
• ATP: http://www.atpfestival.com
Lauryn Hill avoids jail time after inking deal with Sony’s fairy godmothers
Hey kids! You know about the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, right? Sure ya do! But whaddaya know about the Monopoly Man? Sure thing, the bespectacled top-hat-waving ol’ money grubber is just as 100% real as you or I or the bunny that brings you teeth-rotting sweets! And if ever you believe enough and have enough heart and are in biiiiiiiiig enough trouble with the IRS, just close your eyes and wish hard enough. He’ll appear with a couple big ol’ sacks of money, a new tune to whistle, and a whole lotta heart.
At least that’s what happened for hip-hop genius/legend Ms. Lauryn Hill. See, sometimes it happens that celebrities “forget” to pay their taxes, or have issues with giving money to the government or whatever. And this is pretty much what happened with Ms. Hill for the years 2005-2007, when she reportedly pulled in $1.8 million from film and music royalties. So the IRS got pissed. (But more than anything its feelings were hurt. Ahhhhh.) And the IRS threatened Hill with jail time and a $100,000 fine. Luckily, Ms. Hill had faith and a ton of really awesome hit songs, and when she clicked her heels and said his name backwards three times, Uncle Pennybags and his cohorts at Sony Music materialized in a cloud of magical smoke. Sony offered Hill a million dollar deal, plus money for studio time. The IRS offered Hill till May 6 to pay down some of that $$$ she owed. And Hill offered us, the people, the promise of five new songs. So how directly is Hill’s debt to the IRS directly related to her deal with Sony? Is it at all? No one’s exactly saying, but that’s how magical record industry fairies are — keepers of secrets, wielders of great fortunes. And in the end, isn’t it happily ever after for everyone concerned? The end.
• Lauryn Hill: http://www.lauryn-hill.com
• Sony: http://www.sonymusic.com
RIP: George Jones, country legend
From The New York Times:
George Jones, the definitive country singer of the last half-century, died Friday at a hospital in Nashville. He was 81.
He was hospitalized on April 18 with fever and irregular blood pressure, the Web site of Webster & Associates, his publicists, said in announcing the death.
Mr. Jones, who was nicknamed Possum for his close-set eyes and pointed nose, and later No-Show Jones for the concerts he missed during drink and drug binges, was a legendary figure in country music. His singing, which was universally respected and just as widely imitated, found vulnerability and doubt behind the cheerful drive of honky-tonk. With a baritone voice that was as elastic as a steel-guitar string, he brought suspense to every syllable, merging bluesy slides with the tight, quivering ornaments of Appalachian singing.
In his most memorable songs, all the pleasures of a down-home Saturday night couldn’t free him from private pain. His up-tempo songs had undercurrents of solitude, and the ballads that became his specialty were suffused with stoic desolation. “When you’re onstage or recording, you put yourself in those stories,” he once said.
• George Jones: http://www.georgejones.com
Faun Fables ready their enchanted forest stagecoach for spritely spring tour
The melodious forest elves behind Faun Fables have packed their tiny guitars in tiny magical seed pod cases and hitched their wisest rabbits to a tiny, enchanted stagecoach, which can only mean one thing: the Oakland-based duo are ready for a spring tour! Sylvan creatures Dawn McCarthy and Nils Frykdahl have shoved two kids (their own) and a nanny along with them in their tiny, enchanted stagecoach and the whole family’s literally taking the show on the road, traveling to venues across the US and the part of Canada everybody goes to. (Sorry, Saskatchewan, maybe next time.) Their last album, Light of a Vaster Dark (TMT Review), was released on Drag City back in 2010, so maybe there’s some new material on the way.
Then, later this summer, head faun Dawn McCarthy will be striking out on tour with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy in support of their most recent release together, What the Brothers Sang. Released earlier this year, the album is a collection of covers of Everly Brothers tunes. The McCarthy/Billy tour sees the duo journeying up to Alaska and the Yukon Territories (!!!!!!) before dipping back down to the lower 48.
Faun Fables tourdates:
05.04.13 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kirby Court
05.07.13 - Denver, CO - The Marquis Theater
05.09.13 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
05.10.13 - Madison, WI - Dragonfly
05.11.13 - Evanston, IL - SPACE
05.13.13 - Toronto, ON - Double Double Land
05.14.13 - Montreal, QC - Divan Orange
05.15.13 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory
05.16.13 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie
05.17.13 - Pittsburgh, PA - Thunderbird Cafe
06.08.13 - Knoxville, TN - The Pilot Light
06.09.13 - Chattanooga, TN - Barking Legs Theatre
06.22.13 - Berkeley, CA - Starry Plough
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Dawn McCarthy tourdates:
07.17.13 - Palmer, AK - Vagabond Blues
07.18.13 - Anchorage, AK - Tap Root
07.20-21.13 - Dawson, YT - Dawson City Music Festival
07.25.13 - Detroit, MI - Trinosophes *
07.28.13 - Newport, RI - Newport Folk Festival
07.29.13 - New York, NY - Town Hall *
07.30.13 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer *
07.31.13 - Washington, DC - Sixth & I Historic Synagogue *
08.03.13 - Newport, KY - The Southgate House Revival *
* Van Campbell
• Faun Fables: http://www.faunfables.com
• Drag City: https://www.dragcity.com
RIP: Bob Brozman, guitarist and ethnomusicologist
From Worldisc:
Bob Brozman was found dead at his home in Santa Cruz, CA in the evening of April 23, 2013.
Brozman, the steel-guitar innovator who got his start playing on the streets of Santa Cruz, died at age 59.A legend in the world of blues and roots music who integrated styles from all around the world into his music, Brozman was one of the world’s most beloved musical figures. His uniquely bold playing style and banter with the audience at his live shows gave him the opportunity not just to
entertain with his sharp wit, but also challenge core assumptions about the function of rhythm and sound.“Bob is beloved to me, and to so many in so many countries,” says longtime friend and pianist, George Winston. “His legacy will live on and will no doubt become the standard-bearer to musical innovators for decades to come.”
• Bob Brozman: http://www.bobbrozman.com
• Worldisc: http://worldisc.net
Hopscotch Festival announces impressive 2013 lineup; Merzbow to roam freely in the North Carolina countryside
Get ready for some awkward conversations with your friends that end when someone angrily storms off to get more beer after saying, “No, no, it’s no big deal, I’m definitely not mad that we’re going to miss Grouper because you want to see some trendy garage rock band,” because Hopscotch has announced its 2013 lineup. Taking place in Raleigh, North Carolina from September 5 through September 7 and featuring almost 175 artists in 15 different venues, Hopscotch has a wide enough array of artists for anyone to get in a situation where they’re pissed at their friends for having such lame taste. Look forward to bickering over the costs and benefits of trying to get in front for artists like Big Boi, Sleep, Spiritualized, Foot Village, The Breeders playing Last Splash, Wolf Eyes, Pharmakon, Holly Herndon, John Cale, and countless others! You can check out the full list on the Hopscotch website.
In addition to more artists in one place than any one human could ever reasonably hope to see in a single weekend, there’s also going to be the big bonus threat of famed Japanese noise musician Merzbow lurking just out of your line of sight. The festival’s planners have reportedly already released Merzbow into the North Carolina countryside. He will spend the next several months stalking woodland creatures and hiding in caves, gathering his strength so that when he emerges in early September, he will be in peak physical condition to perform his duties as the festival’s “improviser in residence.” As the improviser in residence, in addition to his own solo set, Merzbow will wander around the festival collaborating both with artists and (probably) people standing in line at food trucks, which sounds awesome and terrifying. Awesome because I’ve always kinda wanted to hear what a Merzbow/Waxahatchee collab would sound like, and terrifying because absent any specific legal language, there’s really nothing to stop Merzbow from deciding that “improviser in residence” actually means “dude who runs around pranking everyone with shaving cream all weekend.”
• Hopscotch Music Festival: http://hopscotchmusicfest.com
Quasimoto’s new album Yessir Whatever is a rarities collection and is coming out in June on Stones Throw. There’s really no reason to read on from here, actually.
Shit, remember what a craaaaaazy day Monday, April 22, 2013 was? It was like no one knew what was going to happen next! There was all this hyped-up mystery and intrigue and whatnot surrounding the release of a new Quasimoto album and shit, and people were going totally bonkers! For a little while, the whole world felt raw and new and limitless in its potential! It was so invigorating!
But. Now it’s Thursday, April 25, and everything pretty much sucks again. Stones Throw has spilled the beans about the new Quasimoto thing, and it turns out that it’s not a new album by Lord Quas at all. It’s “12 tracks recorded over a roughly 12-year period” of rarities/unreleased stuff. Typical! But hey, at least it’s coming out June 18 on LP & CD (the LP comes with a bonus 7-inch), both of which feature some pretty cool artwork, including a “peel-off cover sticker revealing Quasimoto’s guts.” Oh, and pre-orders and digital versions are available right now from the Stones Throw site. Maybe that’ll make life interesting again for a couple hours? Or minutes? God, I hope so. There’s such a hole in my heart, readers.
Yessir Whatever tracklisting:
01. Broad Factor
02. Seasons Change
03. The Front
04. Youngblood
05. Astronaut
06. Planned Attack
07. Brothers Can’t See Me
08. Catchin’ the Vibe
09. Am I Confused?
10 Sparkdala
11. Green Power
12. LAX to JFK
• Quasimoto: http://www.stonesthrow.com/quasimoto
• Stones Throw: http://www.stonesthrow.com
Godspeed You! Black Emperor announce more 2013 tourdates, everyone’s day gets a little bit better
The idea of Godspeed You! Black Emperor hopping around North America once again gives me warm and fuzzy feelings. Sure, they brought their often-imitated-but-never-matched brand of awesome (in the most literal sense) post-rock around the US last year in support of ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (TMT Review), but sometimes it’s just comforting to know they’re still close by. Like that time-worn teddy bear tucked up on a bedroom shelf, Godspeed You! Black Emperor comforts me from the nightmares of modern living. Knowing that they’re going to be spreading their glorious and radical music across borders from Oslo to California is going to let me sleep well tonight
In light of that, and the fact that I have not seen an official name for this tour, I’m going to unofficially christen it “Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s 2013 Warm and Fuzzy, Radical Leftist Teddy Bear tour.” I think it’s fitting and also quite lovely. So, if they’re coming to your area hit that show up, and be sure to give them a big hug and say “thank you for touring again and bringing a glow to my city.” Oh, but be polite: ask before hugging.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor 2013 (Warm and Fuzzy, Radical Leftist Teddy Bear) tourdates:
08.03.13 - Katowice, Poland - OFF Festival
08.08.13 - Oslo, Norway - Oya Festival
08.09.13 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Way Out West Festival
08.11.13 - Helsinki, Finland - Flow Festival
08.15-17.13 - Kiewit, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08.17.13 - St. Malo, France - La Route du Rock
08.18.13 - Paris, France - Le Trianon
09.04.13 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
09.05.13 - Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market
09.06.13 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
09.07.13 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
09.09.13 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
09.12.13 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre
09.14.13 - Pomona, CA - The Fox Theatre
09.15.13 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
09.16.13 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor: http://www.brainwashed.com/godspeed
New Order tour the parks, pavilions, and centers of a certain half of North America this summer
Why are some men rich and some men poor? Why are some of us born into, say, the royal family of a small European principality, and some of us into crappy Midwestern suburbs? Why is New Order coming to some American cities and not others? These are the hard questions that we, the living, must face. New Order rocked Coachella last weekend, and they’ll do it again this weekend. Then, they shall rest. But after that, come July, they’ll be zipping back stateside this summer for a few very special dates, including several cities they haven’t been to in years. BUT NOT MINE. NOT MINE. :-(
Anyway, the seminal synth rockers kick off their summer US tour at the lovely and historic Austin Music Hall, before heading out on an eight-date tour that will see the band rock parks, pavilions, and centers across the Eastern US. And Canada! See, they’re going to Montreal to be part of that city’s magical Osheaga festival, and holding it down at Lollapalooza in Chicago, too. Tickets for most dates go on sale toward the end of this week.
Dates:
07.19.13 - Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall
07.21.13 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheatre
07.24.13 - Brooklyn, NY - Williamsburg Park
07.26.13 - Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center for the Performing Arts
07.28.13 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion
07.31.13 - Boston, MA - Bank Of America Pavilion
08.02.13 - Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
TBD - Montreal, QC - Osheaga
• New Order: http://www.newordernow.net
![ZS - Grain [EP]](http://www.tinymixtapes.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/Thumbnail/1304/zs grain.jpg)
