The Raconteurs are the latest big band to do something funny with the release of a record. It's all summarised here (by the way, judging by the comments on that page Guardian readers don't like music reviewers much, I wonder if they're below or above "George W. Bush", "non-organic, non-fair trade lentils" and "shops that have run out of Birkenstocks" on The List). Basically Jack, Brendan and the other 2 aren't sending out review copies to the media so the fans get to hear it at the same time as the press does on release day.
That was the plan anyway, iOops. The album appeared on the private torrent networks as early as 8AM last Friday in lossless M4A format so that seems to indicate that Spin have their facts right. I wonder if any heads will roll at Apple over this.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
Why? - Alopecia
One of my 2 favourite albums of the year.
You news, you lose
Oh you lucky, lucky North Americans.
Liars in the course of the past 2 years, by simply managing to release fantastic records that made my top 10 for the year twice in a row, have quietly slipped into my favourite bands list.
Thom Yorke is also a fan (he's been talking up Drums Not Dead for ages), in fact, apart from Deerhoof they're the only non-weirdo electronic bullshit band that I've heard him say positive things about in ages. He's so much of a fan in fact that he's invited them to open for Radiohead on the first leg of their upcoming North American tour.
These dates to be specific …
05-05 West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre
05-06 Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre
05-08 Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre
05-09 Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
05-11 Bristow, VA - Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge
05-14 St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
05-17 Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
05-18 Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center
The new Tapes n' Tapes album isn't quite as good as the first one I think.
A bit too polished at times but there are a few super songs on it. But you can find that out for your self by sampling the brand spanking new lead off single "Hang Them All" which will be released by XL on March 31st.
If you live in the UK that is. If you're elsewhere well that's what import stores are for. A song called "Wired" will be on the b-side.
Best band named after a piece of recording equipment ever.
Atlas Sound, the side project of Deerhunter main dude Bradford Cox inked a deal to release debut album Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel on 4AD on May 5th. In addition to the version of the album that Kranky have already released in NA there'll be a second CD of extras with the package.
New Los Campesinos! single!!!
Very concise headline I know but it sums up the story quite well I feel. My favourite barely legal Welsh indie pop guilty pleasure are releasing their second "concept single" (their term I assure you) on April 14th via Wichita.
The concept for the single is shortness as combined the running time for the 3 b-sides to "My Year In Lists" (for that is the A-Side) runs to 1:49 and are covers of songs by Deerhoof, Bikini Kill and Casiotone For The Painfuly Alone respectively.
01 My Year in Lists
02 The Eyebright Bugler (Deerhoof cover)
03 In Accordance to Natural Law (Bikini Kill cover)
04 Yr Boyfriend (Casiotone for the Painfully Alone cover)
KCRW fest lineup
The 10th annual KCRW world festival will take place in the Hollywood Bowl over 6 nights with a lineup ranging from the really cool to the really boring (throw in a few under the really awful heading too … UB40???). I could comment further or I could just list the bands. Lets go with the latter.
June 22
Thievery Corporation with Seu Jorge
Bebel Gilberto
Los Amigos Invisibles
Federico Aubele
Jason Bentley (host)
June 29
Devendra Banhart
Gilberto Gil
The Album Leaf with Mike Heron from the Incredible String Band
Anne Litt (host)
July 20
Feist
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Pacifika
Nic Harcourt (host)
Considering the way these dates are spread out I'm not sure if you could strictly call it a festival.
The YouTube video of the week
Following on from the guy who played it on the acoustic guitar all those months ago.
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Sunset Rubdown
03-27 Brooklyn, NY - Masonic Temple
03-29 Brooklyn, NY - Big Orbit's Soundlab
03-30 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
05-14 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown
05-15 Brighton, England - The Great Escape Festival
05-16-18 Minehead, England - Butlins Holiday Centre (Explosions in the Sky ATP)
05-19 Manchester, England - MoHo Live
05-20 Dublin, Ireland - Crawdaddy
05-21 Bristol, England - Thekla Social
05-22 London, England - The Luminaire
05-23 Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
05-24 Wetzlar, Germany - Franzis Wetzlar
05-25 Berlin, Germany - Zapata im Tacheles
05-26 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
05-28 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
05-29 Hässleholm, Sweden - Siesta Festival
05-30 Gothenburg, Sweden - Pusterviksbaren
05-31 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
06-02 Utrecht, Netherlands - Ekko
06-03 Paris, France - Festival Vilette Sonique
06-06 Barcelona, Spain - Sala Apolo
06-08 Lisbon, Portugal - Galeria Zé Dos Bois
Tapes n' Tapes
04-08 New York, NY - Virgin Megastore Union Square (in-store)
04-10 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
04-11 Chicago, IL - Metro *
04-12 Detroit, MI - The Magic Stick *
04-14 Toronto, Ontario - The Opera House *
04-15 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret Music Hall *
04-16 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground *
04-17 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club *
04-18 New York, NY - Irving Plaza *
04-19 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
04-22 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
04-23 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
04-24 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
04-25 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
04-26 St. Augustine, FL - Café 11 *
04-28 Orlando, FL - The Social *
04-29 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds *
04-30 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree *
05-02 Austin, TX - Antone's *
05-03 Denton, TX - Hailey's *
05-06 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress *
05-07 San Diego, CA - The Casbah *
05-08 West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour *
05-09 West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour *
05-10 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore *
05-12 Eugene, OR - W.O.W. Hall *
05-13 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards on Richards *
05-14 Seattle, WA - The Showbox *
05-16 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue *
05-17 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater *
05-28 London, England - The Garage
05-30 Birmingham, England - Barfly
06-01 Manchester, England - Academy
06-03 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
06-04 Brussels, Belgium - Recyclart
06-05 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
06-06 Njimegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje
06-07 Berlin, Germany - Bang Bang Club
06-09 Hamburg, Germany - Logo
06-10 Cologne, Germany - Gebaude 9
* with White Denim
Kraftwerk
04-19 Minneapolis, MN - Myth
04-20 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
04-23 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
04-26 Indio, CA – Coachella
Wilco
03-20 Byron Bay, Australia - East Coast Blues Festival
03-22 Whitianga, New Zealand - Bluesfest
03-23 Auckland, New Zealand - Bruce Mason Centre
03-24 Wellington, New Zealand - Opera House
03-26 Melbourne, Australia - Palace Theatre *
04-30 Rochester, MN - Mayo Civic Center
05-01 Fargo, ND - Fargo Civic Auditorium
05-02 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Burton Cummings Theatre
05-04 Bozeman, MT - Emerson Cultural Center
05-05 Missoula, MT - Adams Center
05-07 Grand Junction, CO - Avalon Theater
05-08 Colorado Springs, CO - Pikes Peak Center
05-09 Albuquerque, NM - Popejoy Hall
05-11 Austin, TX - Stubb's
05-12 Austin, TX - Stubb's
05-15 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
05-16 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
08-07 Charleston, SC - North Charleston PAC
* with the Drones
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts (Tea Partying Through Tornados)
Silver Jews – American Water
British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
The bit at the end
I went along to Baby Dee's gig on Saturday more out of curiosity piqued by reading her bio than anything. I'm really glad I did though. The first part of the gig stumped me a little, I'm still not sure if I liked it or not but the second group of songs where she was at the piano was magical.Baby Dee on MySpace.
Semi permanent plug for my blog. Thoughts on the new Man Man and Animal Collective releases, a cool Japanese toy and some other stuff.
