For those in the area, Kurt Vile & the Violators will be playing Brooklyn tonight at Monster Island Basement (128 River St @ Metropolitan Ave) with Girls, Real Estate and Beach Fossils. More details here.
We’ve got a slew of dates to share below including a July 2 show at the Electric Factory in Philly opening for Sonic Youth and an August 25 show at Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana opening for Built To Spill.
Keep it here for updates on Kurt’s full-length Matador release, ‘Childish Prodigy’ (Autumn 2009) and further show information.
TOUR DATES:
Friday June 26 (w/ Violators) @ Monster Island Basement – Brooklyn, NY
w/ Girls
Thursday, July 2 (w/ Violators) @ Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
w/ Sonic Youth
Saturday, July 4 (w/ Violators) @ 979 Broadway btwn Myrtle Ave & Ditmars St – Brooklyn, NY
Woodsist/Captured Tracks Fest (Outdoors)
w/ The Oh Sees, Vivian Girls, Woods, Dum Dum Girls and more.
Sunday, July 5 (w/ Violators) @ Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA
KRAAK Fest – w/ Jack Rose, Meg Baird and US Girls
Friday, July 17 (w/ Violators) @ Bruars Falls – Brooklyn, NY
w/ Blues Control and Coconuts
Saturday, July 18 (w/ Violators) @ Church – Boston, MA
Homegrown Fest
w/ Blues Control, Bobb Trimble, Gary War and more
Sunday, July 19 (w/ Violators) @ Montague Bookmill – Montague, MA
w/ Blues Control
Thursday, July 23 @ Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA
w/ Tyvek and Coconuts
Tuesday, August 11 @ Talking Head Club – Baltimore, MD
w/ Espers
Thursday, August 13 (w/ Violators) @ Transfigurations - Asheville, NC
Harvest Records Fest
Friday, August 14 @ Cakeshop – NYC, NY
Saturday, August 15 @ Silent Barn – Ridgewood, NY
Sunday, August 16 @ Vox Populi – Philadelphia, PA
Wednesday, August 19 (w/ Violators) @ Rittenhouse Square – Philadelphia, PA
Tuesday, August 25 @ Galaxy Theatre – Santa Ana, CA
w/ Built To Spill/Woods
Wednesday, August 26 @ The Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
w/ Dungen/Woods
Saturday, August 29 @ Kemado/Mexican Summer/Folk Yeah Festival – Big Sur, CA
w/ Dungen/Woods
Sunday, August 30 @ Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA
w/ Dungen/Woods
Tuesday, September 1 @ TBD – Portland, OR
w/ Dungen/Woods
After a pair of albums under the group nom de plume Preston School Of Industry, Pavement co-founder Scott Kannberg, aka Spiral Stairs, makes his bona fide solo debut with an October 20 LP/CD/digital album release of ‘The Real Feel’ (OLE 858). Following an extended sojourn in Melbourne, Spiral returned to Seattle rejuvenated at the end of ’08, and commenced recording with a collection of pals including members of PSOI, the Posies, guitarist Ian Moore, Gersey, and Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew. Mixed by the Posies’ Jon Auer, this album is by far the most crafted and introspective of Spiral’s post-Pavement works.
In the words of associate Parker Gibbs, ‘The Real Feel’, “has a vibe similar to classic 70′s albums by Fleetwood Mac (‘Then Play On’), Captain Beefhart (‘Safe As Milk’), and guitar god Richard Thompson, not to mention Aussie psych rock icons Died Pretty. Comparisons aside, this is 100% Spiral Stairs rock, the same rock that made Pavement the most influential band of the 90″s (take that Hoobastank!) and the same strange, dischordant, playful and melodic Spiral Stairs rock that your parents loved.”
“This is indie rock at its best and brightest,” continues Gibbs, “with Spiral Stairs getting back to the basics that have made him a legend in his own mind and to all of the children willing to enter his home.” And on that somewhat troubling note, we’ll add the vinyl edition of ‘The Real Feel’ features a different running order and a limited edition bonus 7″. Live activity throughout the continent of North America is planned for this Autumn, and we’ll surely be letting you know more about that in the days and weeks ahead.
The first track we’ve seen fit to leak from ‘The Real Feel’ is “Maltese Terrier” (MP3). Please note no raccoons were harmed during the making of the album artwork. Not by us, anyway.
For the second time in 3 weeks, we humbly thank the Audio Perv for his uploading prowess. ”No Way” can be found on Sonic Youth’s new LP/CD/digital album ‘The Eternal’, conveniently available from The Matador Store.
Hey, laugh at this guy all you want, but at least he was out there plugging vinyl at the height of the CD revolution. Video link swiped from Boing Boing.
It’s Dutch nieuwe haring season, raw fillets of herring from the first catches of the season. I guess you’re supposed to drag it through the raw onions and then dip it into your mouth holding it by the tail, but I preferred it the way I got it at various shacks around Amsterdam: on bread and butter with the raw onions on top. It’s meltingly delicious, and does not shy away from being raw fish. This is not sushi. It’s very robust. Fantastic with beer, probably even better with vodka or champagne. For those of you in New York, Russ & Daughters still has it, flown in fresh from Holland. Get it now – it won’t last long.
Sonic Youth will be performing “No Way” from ‘The Eternal’ tonight on NBC’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (12:30 EST). Jimmy’s other guests are John Legiuzamo and Nick Cannon. Nils, please remember you’re supposed to get my Criterion Collection copy
We are proud to announce the September 22 release of the debut full-length from Girls, entitledAlbum. The record will be released by True Panther Sounds, the label that released Girls’ debut 7″, “Lust For Life,” last year, in conjunction with Matador.
Built on the powerful songwriting of Christopher Owens and the ethereal production of Chet “JR” White, Girls recordedAlbum in a variety of bedrooms and rehearsal studios in their adopted hometown, San Francisco. The resulting 12 tracks are the perfect San Francisco summer record, evoking a narcotic, sunny afternoon in Dolores Park, yet promising the eventual hangover of summer’s departure.Album is a redemptive song-cycle about the various characters and desires that color Christopher Owens’s life. Described by the band as “honest, loose, ethereal, obnoxious and perfect,” it is a sincere tribute to the majesty of great pop music and the healing power of rock and roll.
Album’s seven-minute opus, “Hellhole Ratrace,” rated by Pitchfork as “one of the 100 best songs of the year,” will be available prior to the album‘s release date on a limited-edition 10″ vinyl single.
Through the auspices of iMeem, you can stream the entire God Help The Girl full-length. The Stuart Murdoch-helmed project is available on LP/CD and digital album now at the Matador Store.
(l-r, Coomers, Curtis, Jose. In the background – not sure, but hopefully he won’t sue)
It’s a poorly kept secret around the office and the band’s hometown but one we can finally confirm — Matador has signed the Austin, TX trio HARLEM to a multi-record, worldwide deal.
Led by dual vocalists Michael Coomers and Curtis O’Mara (the duo switch between guitar and drums, both onstage and off), Harlem started in Tucson, AZ before relocating to Austin where they’ve generated a mountain of attention, both with their fantastic live shows and their self-issued 2008 LP/CD ‘Free Drugs’ (Female Fantasy — currently available via Matador Direct)
Pitchfork’s Roque Strew has hailed Harlem as “a marvel of cartoonishly masculine, crudely analog brevity”, while Gorilla Vs. Bear considers ‘Free Drugs’ to be “super infectious, instantly endearing”, and kindly supplying a quote that we’ll gladly take out of context, the Austin Chronicle’s Audra Schroeder has fallen preil to the album’s “anxious, stuttering charm”. I know, that all sounds highly suspicious, but anyone who’s heard ‘Free Drugs’ or witnessed Harlem laying waste to any number of shoebox sized venues (some of which, were in fact, shoeboxes) can attest, the band’s casual virtuosity is only eclipsed by their otherworldly songwriting skills.
Recently joined by bassist Jose Boyer, Harlem will be recording their 2nd album this summer for release on Matador in 2010.
The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo show rolls into London town tonight, for Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown. A first for us Brits, in the band’s own words, The Freewheeling Show is something of an interactive experience :
“No set list; instead the audience is encouraged (if not required) to interact with the band, leading we’re never quite sure where.” So get your questions at the ready.
And the band will be back in the UK in November, no Freewheeling this time, it’s back to the good old fashioned rock n roll show. Dates below :
Sonic Youth is the top story on Newsweek’s site today and this feature will be in the magazine next week. (direct link)
I usually don’t blog about press, but this is a great piece about how culture suffers when art is marginalized, and (if you’ll allow me to stretch) the discouraging (and uniquely American?) absorption by purportedly open-minded indie/slacker types of Conservative disdain toward intellectualism and forward-thinking art.
“The retrenchment behind indie lines is more the mainstream’s loss than it is Sonic Youth’s. So while industry watchers prefer to fret over the declining sales power of Britney Spears’s comeback records, the rest of us should be more concerned about what happens when art music sends fewer and fewer ambassadors to the straight world.”
It’s only a couple weeks into Newsweek’s relaunch (in which it concedes weekly news recapping to the Internet, opting instead for “reported narratives” and “argued essays”) and hey, looks like a decent strategy so far.
Sonic Youth will be performing “Sacred Trickster” from the just-released ‘The Eternal’ tonight on “The Late Show With David Letterman” (CBS, 11:35 EST). Dave’s other guest will be comedian Rick Shapiro Kathy Griffin.
Times New Viking return to the East Coast this Saturday night at Brooklyn’s Bell House, playing alongside the reunited Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments and the Mad Scene. If this clip from 2008 is any indication, Ron House hasn’t lost a step, but wouldn’t you rather have an informed opinion?
June 23 sees the release of the God Help the Girl, a story set to music by Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian.
In the latest video from the album, available for purchase here, Stuart seeks out and auditions a group of young singers who ultimately provide the vocal backbone for God Help the Girl.
Fans will recognize “Funny Little Frog” from Belle’s most recent album, “The Life Pursuit”.
On June 23 we will finally be releasing one of the deluxe Pavement reissues on vinyl. Originally slated to come out at the same time as the double CD last fall, endless production issues held up the package.
The set contains 4 HQ-120 gram LPs pressed at RTI in a heavy-duty matte-stock folding cardboard gatefold set, as depicted above. It also contains a 16-page 12″ by 12″ full-color matte-stock booklet, plus a download card for all 48 tracks.
Note! the vinyl contains 8 tracks that would not fit on the CD version (some of which were only discovered after that set was released). They are:
Westie Can Drum (Elastica) – previously unreleased recording
Stereo (Remix) – remixed by Steve Fisk for the second pressing of the promotional single for radio
Agony Of The Stars – unreleased song recorded for the film ‘Sweethearts’
Birds in the Majic Industry – B-side to “Stereo” CD single (a second, unreleased version was on the double CD of the album, and is also included here)
Painted Soldiers – unreleased, live from KCRW 2/25/97
What Goes On – a Velvet Underground cover, unreleased, live from KCRW 2/25/97
Kris Kraft – unreleased, live from KRW 2/25/97
And Then (7″ version) – B-side to “Spit On A Stranger” 7″
That last track, the majestic, monumental 7″ version of “And Then” (a version of the song also known as “The Hexx”) was originally intended to be the opening track of the Brighten The Corners release. The band decided to remove it entirely and relegate it to a B-side at the very last minute.
We know that this is expensive… and we know that many of you have already spent your hard-earned dollars on the double CD version. Unfortunately the economics of producing deluxe sets like this one (in either format), combined with the timing problems that bedevil this kind of release, means that we are not in a position to offer people any discount or buy-back. Sorry. If this one proves successful, then we will move forward with vinyl releases on the previous three deluxe editions.
On a lighter note, some of you may remember our “Date w/ IKEA” contest to mark the CD release, which we called Brighten Your Corners. Home furnishings-challenged fans were encouraged to submit photographs of their sad apartments. The winner, Jenny Bergen of New York, got a date with Bob Nastanovich to the IKEA in Red Hook, courtesy of the free ferry across New York Harbor in the dead of February, along with money to spend on furniture. We filmed the “date” and you can watch it here:
In celebration of their new album, The Eternal, Sonic Youth will take over L.A.s hottest new record shop. For one day only, on June 9th, Origami Vinyl will become Sonic Youth’s House of Shifting Plates and Ridiculous Juice, as dubbed by the band itself. Origami’s wall of featured albums will display selections hand-picked by Thurston, Kim, Lee, Steve and Mark – ranging from Okkyung Lee to John Lennon – as well as a wide range of Sonic Youth and Sonic Youth related releases. The band has also invited their friends Pocahaunted and Shiloe to play sets at the store. Deathbomb Arc, a local label in Los Angeles that has released some Thurston Moore stuff on vinyl, gave us the following very limited edition goodies to sell in-store:
Gang Wizard / Algebrassiere
split 12″
originally co-released between Deathbomb Arc & Ecstatic Peace
Test pressings packaged in exclusive handmade art by Melissa
Kinsman.
From 5:30 till 6:30 on June 9th, Melissa will be in-store to
personalize the art on these for the lucky buyers.
Thurston Moore / Men Who Can’t Love
split 12″
originally released as a part of the Thrash Sabbatical box set by
Deathbomb Arc
Overrun of this record from the box set has been hiding at DBA HQ for
some time.
Now repackaged in exclusive handmade art by Josh Taylor.
Origami has also teamed up with local artist, Seizer, to create a special limited edition silkscreen print of the art attached. The art poster will be limited to 50 copies, hand numbered and signed, available for pre-order the day of the event.
As if that weren’t enough, Two Boots Pizza will create a special “Eternal” pie that resembles the album’s artwork. Slices of this pie will be given away free during the event at Origami. Phil, owner of Two Boots and long-time friend of the band, is excited to be a part of the band’s new release.
The details of the event are:
Sonic Youth’s House of Shifting Plates and Ridiculous Juice
Tuesday, June 9th from 5.30pm – 9pm
with live performances by Pocahaunted and Shiloe
Limited edition goodies provided by Deathbomb Arc and Not Not Fun
Free “Eternal” Pizza slices provided by Two Boots
+ other SPECIAL surprises
1816 W. Sunset Blvd, Echo Park, Ca 90026
213.413.3030 www.origamiorigami.com
Today marks the official launch of Sonic Youth Week on Pitchfork and Pitchfork TV, in celebration of the release of “The Eternal” (which you can buy here).
Things actually kicked off on Friday with the One Week Only screening of Lee Ranaldo and Leah Singer’s film “Drift”. Check it out.
Here’s what’s in store for Sonic Youth Week, beginning with part one of the absolutely MINDMELTING Sonic Youth A>D>D session (Sonic Youth, in four-track cassette and VHS glory. As incredible as that sounds, it’s better.):
“Antenna”
“Sacred Trickster”
Monday June 8 – A>D>D session, part one
Tuesday June 9 – A>D>D session, part two
Wednesday June 10 – Sonic Youth: The Pitchfork Interview, Part One
Thursday June 11 – Sonic Youth: The Pitchfork Interview, Part Two
Friday June 12 – Sonic Youth curated the videos on Pitchfork TV. Some incredible selections.
Sonic Youth will celebrate the release of their new record ‘The Eternal’ by giving a special free live performance Tuesday, June 9th at at the Apple Store, Soho in NYC
(http://www.apple.com/retail/soho/).
Doors are at 7:30 and the performance is at 9:00. Guest passes are required to attend this event and are available for pickup at 10am Monday June 8th at the Apple Store, SoHo. One non-transferable pass per person (with photo ID) will be granted on a first come, first served basis. Please also bring your ID to the event along with your guest pass.
Nils informed me, several years ago, that it was incredibly easy to make homemade ricotta. I filed that information away and did nothing with it until, after a visit to Buon Italia in Chelsea Market, I ended up with a bag of Setaro lumaconi, the large snail-shell pasta that is meant to be stuffed. With ricotta.
I found the recipe on eggs on sunday. I already had the ingredients, as you probably do: whole milk, heavy cream, coarse salt and lemon juice. You may or may not have cheesecloth – I had tons left over from my ventures into Thai food. The whole thing takes 15 minutes max, and voila, you have made cheese! I felt incredibly competent afterwards.
We stuffed the ricotta into lumaconi with chopped ham and baked it.
This recipe is from Marcella Hazan, who in turn got it from a celebrated 1970s Bologna restaurant with the unlikely name of Al Cantunzein. The classic recipe uses homemade pappardelle. I used factory-made rigatoni. It’s lovely, a perfect summer pasta, with the often elusive flavors of the bell peppers, sweet and bitter, laced through the dish.
Stir and fry two tablespoons of chopped onions in 4 tablespoons of olive oil at medium-high heat. When the onions turn a pale gold, add 4 sweet Italian pork sausage (no fennel or other spices mixed in, please), chopped into half-inch rounds. Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring, then add 1 red and 2 yellow bell peppers, seeded, peeled and chopped into 1-inch squares, and saute for another 7-8 minutes. Add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, stir well, and then pour in one can of drained, chopped San Marzano tomatoes (no basil or other spices added), and cook at a lively simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the tomatoes float free of the oil. Combine with pasta, toss thoroughly, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2/3 cup of grated reggiano, and toss thoroughly again. Serve immediately with plenty more reggiano to grate on top.
Easy recipe – the only pain is peeling the damn peppers! I hate that.
Wine was a lively 2007 Saint-Véran from Jean Manciat
Cat Power will be on the road this summer playing a series of outdoor venues in support of The Pretenders. With the execption of the 8/29 bill, Juliette & The Licks will open all of the shows below. Tickets are currently on sale. First person to name the former Matador recording artist who has Juliette & The Licks in his MySpace Top 10 wins a Matador back catalog item of our choosing!
8/8, Hampton Beach, NH (Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom)
8/9, Asbury Park, NJ (Stone Pony)
8/10, New York, NY (Central Park Summerstage)
8/12, Boston, MA (Bank of America Pavillion)
8 /13, Upper Darby, PA (Tower Theatre)
8/14, Washington, DC (Warner Theatre)
8/16, Columbus, OH (LC Pavillion Outdoor)
8/18, Chicago, IL (Aragon Ballroom)
8/20, Council Bluffs, IA (Harrah’s Council Bluffs- Stir Cove)
8/22, Littleton, CO (Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield)
8/23, Salt Lake City, UT (Red Butte Garden Ampitheatre)
8/25, Troutdale, OR (Edgefield Ampitheatre)
8/26, Vancouver, BC (Malkin Bowl)
8/27, Redmond, WA (Marymoor Ampitheatre)
8/29, Saratoga, CA (The Mountain Winery) *
9/1, Pala, CA (Pala Casino — Starlight Theater)
9/3, Los Angeles, CA (The Greek Theatre)
We have an old saying at Matador HQ, “the only thing predictable about Yo La Tengo albums is their high level of excellence and crazy amount of musical ground covered”. Trouble is, even if you believe we really have an old saying that unwieldly, it doesn’t really do justice in this instance. The new Yo La Tengo CD/2XLP/digital album ‘Popular Songs” (OLE 856-1,2) could be the bravest musical statement to date in a career full of ‘em. Recorded in Hoboken and Nashville in early 2009 with longtime associate Roger Mountenot, ‘Popular Songs’ finds the trio of Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan and James McNew at the height of their creative powers, fashioning an epic work that’s cooly confident as it is wildly adventurous.
Even for longtime followers of Yo La Tengo, the stylistic range encompassed on ‘Popular Songs’ is startling ; the band aren’t merely conversant with rock & pop subgenres stretching into the double digits, but their unselfconscious mastery of such is simply uncanny. Without absolving you of the sacred responsibility of listening to this album from start to finish (with no commercial interruptions!) , we can say with full confidence there are portions of ‘Popular Songs’ where a cursory needle drop reveals a band that doesn’t sound instantly like Yo La Tengo — or at least how you recognized them prior to now. In the words of Mike Wolf, “Yo La Tengo is not afraid. They walk confidently forward, into the unknown, hand in hand. And 12 (or 14) albums in, they may just be hitting their stride.”
“Periodically Double Or Triple” is the first MP3 from ‘Popular Songs’. In the days to follow, we’ll have further announcements regarding a Buy Early Get Now campaign for the album, along with Yo La Tengo’s autumn tour plans.
The second of three bonus Sonic Youth MP3s has been posted on the Buy Early Get Now site, and it’s pretty fascinating – the 6-minute demo version of “(I Got A) Catholic Block” from 1987. Go log in and grab it.
And if you haven’t preordered for Buy Early Get Now yet, it’s still not too late – we have a few of the live LPs left. Order HERE
Starting today, iLike is streaming the full Sonic Youth album from their socially-aware web site.
Streaming of full albums might seem like so April 28, 2009 to all you loyal Buy Early Get Now-ists, but rest assured that no one streaming this album on iLike will get a Live LP as part of the promised “special experiences” for the winners of the accompanying “Trickster Challenge” quiz contest.
Oh… and while we’re talking about Buy Early Get Now, a new song has been posted to your account. It’s a demo from 1987 called “Castle Catholic Block (Demo)”. It pretty much rips.
The second album from Seattle’s Cave Singers is coming on August 18. It is entitled ‘Welcome Joy’ and adds a world of color and nuance to the already great songs from their 2007 debut. The trio of Peter Quirk, Derek Fudesco and Marty Lund were joined on this record by Amber Webber (Black Mountain, Lightning Dust) and Ashley Webber (Lightning Dust). They recorded the album at The Hive in Vancouver with Colin Stewart.
Our first MP3 is the gorgeous, brooding, building “Beach House”:
Look out for the Cave Singers this September and October as they’ll be touring across North America with Lightning Dust. Keep your eyes peeled for details, which will be coming soon.
Sonic Youth is the top story on 
