DAVID VANDERVELDE and Bobby Bare Jr. collaborate in the name of America...and Bread
June 30th, 2009
This sounds like a four-way match made in heaven. On August 11, Secretly Canadian's DAVID VANDERVELDE and songwriter Bobby Bare Jr. will release American Bread, a seven-song EP of covers from 70s soft rock pioneers America and Bread. The EP will be brought to you via Junket Boy.
ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS Plot Summer Symphony Tour, Unveil New Song In Web Concert Video Clip
June 23rd, 2009
A portion of ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS' recent performance Amsterdam's La Carre Theatre has recently surface at the Web site Uitzending Gemist HERE. The clip features Antony performing a new song titled "Salt, Silver, Oxygen."
Having recently wrapped a proper tour of Europe, ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS has embarked on their Summer Symphony Tour, with dates in Europe and UK and two band shows in Madrid on July 7th and Paris on July 9th. Antony's appearance at the Manchester International Festival on July 3 and 4 will include staging designed in a collaboration with artists Paul Normandale, Chris Levine and Carl Robertshaw. And during his concert during Paris Couture Week, Antony will perform in a costume created in a collaboration with Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci.
ANTONY Preps Aeon/Crazy in Love 7-inch for Aug. 4 releaese, First 200 Pre-orders Will Receive Antony-curated Zoetrope: All Story
June 17th, 2009
Antony and the Johnsons will release the “Aeon”/”Crazy in Love” 7" single on August 4th. “Aeon” is one of the highlights of the critical and commercial smash album “The Crying Light” which debuted at #1 on the European chart. The band gave "Aeon" its television debut earlier this year on The Late Show with David Letterman. And Antony and the Johnsons’ earnest and impassioned cover of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”, a long time live favorite, is being released officially for the first time.
The first 200 pre-orders the 7” of “Aeon” will receive a copy of the recent issue of Zoetrope: All Story, which features the full art direction of Antony. Zoetrope is Francis Ford Coppola’s quarterly magazine devoted to the best new short-fiction and one-act plays.
The band is currently on a European leg of their world tour. The summer shows see them playing with some of the most esteemed symphonies in Europe in prestigious venues including La Carre in Amsterdam, Manchester Opera House, and the Grand Theatre Romain de Fouviere in Lyon. See a full-list of tour dates HERE.
MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO. Featured On NPR's Song Of The Day
June 5th, 2009
Our good friends at NPR are currently loving MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO.'s latest longplayer Josephine (released July 21), most recently featuring a fine tune from the album as NPR's Song of the Day. In the post, NPR said of lead electrician Jason Molina's songwriting prowess: "His repetition of themes and imagery never comes off as lazy; it's creating a new kind of format for the blues, like haiku or cinquain or something."
And they had these fine words to say regarding featured track "Whip-poor-will": "It helps that "Whip-poor-will" is as achingly pretty and strangely catchy as anything Molina has written with Magnolia Electric Co. Propelled by a slide-guitar line that's somehow both sunny and sad, "Whip-poor-will" finds Molina's sad-sack narrator feeling small and looking helplessly skyward: "So all of you folks in heaven not too busy ringin' the bell / Some of us down here ain't doin' very well." Of course, that's a bit of a poetic understatement right there: Molina and pain make an inseparable pair. Fortunately, beauty is always hanging out nearby."
To see the entire story and listen to "Whip-poor-will," visit the NPR Song of the Day page HERE.
THROW ME THE STATUE Announces New LP, Creaturesque
June 4th, 2009
We are uber-stoked to announce Creaturesque (released Aug. 4 in the US, and Aug. 17 in the UK),the new album from Seattle pop-rock outfit THROW ME THE STATUE. Originally the one-man project of multifaceted musician and songwriter Scott Reitherman, TMTS has since expanded to a quartet with drummer Jarred Grimes, and multi-instrumentalists Aaron Goldman and Charlie Smith. The album is produced by TMTS and Phil Ek (The Shins, Built To Spill, Band Of Horses), and while the band retains much of the lo-fi bliss found on their critically acclaimed debut Moonbeams, Phil Ek's mixing of Creaturesque brings the band's maximalist pop sensibilities to new heights.
Perhaps more sonically upbeat than its predecessor, Creaturesque's details are at times painted in both optimistic and sobering tones. Reitherman's scattershot poetics touch on an array of ideas; it's oppressive American machisimo and Suburbanite sexuality. It's soft drugs and convertible cars. It's the struggle for higher expectations within the mess of modern life, and when wrapped up in the structures of TMTS' sure-handed tunes it's an all too delicious combination.
Get the first taste of Creaturesque, mp3 "Ancestors," by clicking right HERE.
RICHARD SWIFT And Spinner Premiere Video for Atlantic Ocean
June 3rd, 2009
The title track from RICHARD SWIFT latest, charming longplayer Atlantic Ocean gets things started off just right, with it's bouncy ramshackle-kraut vibe and Swift taking some kindhearted (and self-deprecating?) jabs at hipsterdom. Now, Swift and the good folks at Spinner have offered up the video premiere of "Atlantic Ocean."
Spinner talked to Swift and director Lance Troxel about the making of the video: "There's nothing like a good robot war in a car lot. Singer-songwriter Richard Swift will back us on this one and does in the video for 'The Atlantic Ocean,' from his album of the same name. "When filming the car lot shots, all the sales guys stood to the side, scratching their heads and one took pictures of us with this gigantic, opened laptop," director Lance Troxel tells Spinner. "I thought he looked stranger than our good, old-fashioned high-noon robot showdown. They seemed worried that we were making fun of Buicks." But Swift tells a different story. "Lance is a total liar," he says. "We didn't film any of this. We built a time machine and traveled back to September 27, 1987, and we stole a public access channel's midnight dance reel. Lance, I am getting really sick of your lying." Easy boys. Watch the exclusive premiere below."
BLK JKS Ready Mystery Remix 12-Inch For July 7, Plot Summer Tour, Dates with Femi Kuti
May 19th, 2009
Since the March release of their MYSTERY EP, BLK JKS have been on an absolute tear across the globe, including a highly anticipated return appearance at SXSW and an inaugural tour of the UK and Europe. Now, BLK JKS will embark on a U.S. tour stretching from Los Angeles to Brooklyn, including an appearance at Sasquatch Music Festival and two nights opening for Femi Kuti at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza in New York City. On other dates, the band will share the stage with artists as Foreign Born, Michael Franti & Spearhead and Cody Chestnut, which speaks to the genre-ending mission of the BLK JKS sound.
In the midst of all this activity, we're pleased to announce that we will release a limited edition club remix 12” by house music guru Osborne for the song “Mystery” on July 7. That's right, party people, BLK JKS care about you too. Very much, in fact.
FOREIGN BORN Offer Up New MP3 From Person To Person, Plan Summer Tour With The Veils
May 15th, 2009
The next morsel of the savory meal that is Foreign Born's Person To Person (due out June 23 in the U.S. and June 15 in the UK). Their new single "Early Warnings" picks up where their first single "Vacationing People" left off. It's a frolicking tune built on African guitar licks, hand claps, and group harmonies. It reminds us of cold beer under a hot summer sun cut with a slight hint of ocean breeze. In other words, a perfect song to usher in the beginning of Summer.
Meanwhile, the band has dates lined up with the likes of BLK JKS, Grizzly Bear and The Veil. See all the dates by simply clicking right HERE.
BODIES OF WATER Perform In Their Backyard For Swedish Television
May 11th, 2009
BODIES OF WATER recently welcomed a Swedish film crew into the backyard of their Los Angeles home. Joined by a handful of pet chickens and dogs for a performance of "If I Were A Bell," from the band's 2008 longplayer, A Certain Feeling. Now, Sveriges Television Sweden has been kind enough to See the clip of "If I Were A Bell" on its blog. Watch the video below and visit the PSL site HERE to see a great performance of "Doves Circled The Sky."
Richard Swift Gets Some BBC Play On Euro Tour, Preps Massive US Summer Tour In Support of The Fray
May 7th, 2009
RICHARD SWIFT recently visited our cousins on the other side of the pond in support his recent longplayer Atlantic Ocean. And it looks like they're loving the quality time. Last week, Marc Riley spun three Swift tunes ("Ballad of Old What's His Name," "Song For Milton Feher," and "Ballad of You Know Who") on BBC radio show. Listen to the entire program and see the entire tracklist by heading HERE.
Meanwhile, Swift has an upcoming summer tour of massive amphitheaters supporting The Fray.
