Our good friends at The Quietus have been long-time supporters of Cold Cave and they’ve not been quiet in their admiration (you can see what we mean here, here, here, here and here). So when those aforementioned gentlemen asked Cold Cave card-carrying member Dominick Fernow to compile a mix for the website, the response was never going to be anything other than a resounding affirmative.
April
1st – The Ruby Lounge, Manchester [buy tickets]
2nd – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
4th – Rough Trade East, London (free in-store show)
5th – The Lexington, London (The Quietus presents) [buy tickets]
And if you happen to be in the New York zip code, new album Cherish The Light Years can be picked up a week early from Hospital Productions (the record store run by Dom). Head to their homepage for more information.
Following the wild success of Yo La Tengo’s Spinning Wheel tour of North America earlier this year, additional dates, (wheel-spinners are marked *) have been scheduled, with a smatter of festival dates thrown in.
Tue, May 10 – Brooklyn, NY – Bell House * (tickets on sale, Friday, April 1, or at Other Music for no service charge)
Wed, May 11 – Brooklyn, NY – Bell House * (tickets on sale, Friday, April 1, or at Other Music for no service charge)
Sat, May 14 – Nelsonville, OH – Nelsonville Music Festival
Sat, June 18 – Denver, CO – Westword Music Showcase
Mon, June 20 – Columbia, MO – Blue Note * (tickets available at the box office with no service charge)
Tue, June 21 – Iowa CIty, IA * – Englert Theater (on sale Mon, 4/4 at the box office with no service charge)
Thu, June 23 – Minneapolis, MN – 400 Bar * (tickets available at Down In The Valley with no service charge)
Fri, June 24 – Minneapolis, MN – 400 Bar * (tickets available at Down In The Valley with no service charge) *
Sat, June 25 – Chicago, IL – Green Music Festival
Sun, June 26 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean *
as mentioned in this space, a tour dubbed “Reinventing The Wheel” is taking place in the UK in early June :
June, 6th Edinburgh Queens Hall
June 7th The Sage Gateshead
June 8th Leeds Cockpit
June 9th Birmingham O2 Academy 2
June 10th Oxford O2 Academy
June 12th London Royal Festival Hall (as part of the Meltdown Festival)
Cold Cave’s forthcoming LP, ‘Cherish the Light Years” “official street date” is April 5 but those in the NYC area can pick up a copy one week early (aka NOW) at Cold Cave member, Dominick Fernow’s awesome record boutique, Hospital Productions (60 E. 3rd St. NY, NY). And although the Cold Cave CD/LP shouldn’t be too hard to find once you get there, be sure to pick up some of the other treasures to be found at the store.
By truepanthersounds on Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Hey, remember in January when we told you about the destined-to-be-awesome Magic Kids/Cults tour? Well the day has arrived, they kick off the journey tonight in Brooklyn. Get out there!
Wed. 3/30 Brooklyn, NY @Knitting Factory*
Thu 3/31 New York, NY @Mercury Lounge*
Fri 4/1 Boston, MA @Brighton Music Hall*
Sat 4/2 Montreal, QC @Il Motore*
Mon 4/4 Toronto, ONT @The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern*
Tue 4/5 Buffalo, NY @Soundland*
Wed 4/6 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop*
Thur 4/7 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle*
Fri 4/8 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry*
Mon 4/11 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile*
Tue 4/12 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios*
Thu 4/14 San Francisco, CA @The Independent*
*w/ Cults
If you haven’t gotten your hands on ‘Memphis‘ yet, well, what are you waiting for?
To celebrate the release of the second of four singles from their upcoming album David Comes To Life, Fucked Up will be playing a midnight show at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs on Friday, April 15. This is of course during the weekend of the Coachella Festival. The digital single is called “A Little Death” and will be available both here on the Matablog and on iTunes on that Friday.
After hitting Brooklyn and Hoboken this past January with two blistering, sold-out shows, Mission of Burma are set to follow up with a handful of new dates in the upcoming months. First, they will officially usher in the summer in the northeast with a pair of Memorial Day weekend shows in Rhode Island and Maine, and then they’ll head to Texas in July for a one-off at the Mohawk in Austin. A limited number of tickets for all three shows are available for presale starting today at 10AM.
Dates:
Thu, May 26 – The Met Cafe, Pawtucket, RI (Presale)
To be perfectly frank, we thought about blowing off Record Store Day this year. It’s not that we don’t support record stores – far from it, it’s what 37 of 38 employees prefer – but the huge glut of supposedly limited-edition releases, the scrum to get to the counter in the morning, and then the instant reappearance of many of the records on eBay at inflated sums are all an unintended and unwelcome side-effect of the event.
That said, we couldn’t help ourselves, and neither could three of our artists, so we proudly announce the following limited-edition items. They’re all awesome, they’re all limited, and if you don’t succeed on getting your hands on them on Record Store Day, just remember that the prices on eBay will (most likely) come down over time.
SO, on Saturday, April 16, Matador will have the following RSD exclusives:
From Byrdesdale Garden City in the UK comes the compilation album DAVID’S TOWN. Featuring 11 unreleased tracks from local bands including Gacy and the Boys, Animal Man, Grain and Hateful Coil, in styles varying from DIY to post-punk to power pop, this limited edition from FU-Discs was recorded in Byrdesdale between 1976 and 1979 and not released until now. An essential document of a thriving scene.
Next comes the new 7″ single from THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS, “Moves.” Currently moving up the radio charts, and of course featured in Tom Scharpling’s genius video for the track, it comes with the unreleased B-side “Drug Deal Of The Heart,” recorded at the sessions for the album Together. (Note: the band is playing Coachella on RSD weekend, and then will tour out of there through April and May.)
Finally we have the new 12″ from ESBEN AND THE WITCH, the great trio from Brighton, UK – many of you will have seen one of their great shows at SXSW this month. They just wrapped up their US tour and returned to their homeland. The single is the radio edit of “Chorea” and features a remix of their pounding classic “Eumenides” by Stuart Braithwaite of MOGWAI, along with an entirely unreleased 18-minute version of “Corridors” recorded for The Creators Project and only played at a special installation in London for Karl Sadler‘s Lit Forest. (Note: Esben return to the road in the UK starting this Friday.)
As usual, we will be taking down our webstore in observation of Record Store Day. Get out there, get in line, and spend some money, goddammit!!!
As if he wasn’t busy enough of late with a terrific run of solo shows (included a bunch during South By Southwest’s music and interactive festivals earlier month) and composing the music for Julie Klausner’s “How Was Your Week” podcasts, Ted Leo recently extended his arsenal of talents to include interviewing the great and near-greats of the rock scene as part of the Independent Film Channel’s coverage of SXSW. Some of the interviews in questions are linked below, and while I’m very impressed with Ted’s work — and I say this with all due respect — it feels to me like he learned no lessons whatsoever from this footage of the late Tom Snyder I suggested he watch. What the fuck, I am just shouting into the ether over here?
Along with Ted’s chat with Liz Phair (above), here are links to discussions with the following :
Around the release date for ‘Cherish The Light Years’ (still available for pre-order with a 15% discount) and ahead of their North American Spring tour, Cold Cave take a little time out to visit Europe for a few dates around the UK, followed by a couple in mainland Europe. These will be their first European dates in almost a year and their first with their new 5-piece line up, consisting of Wes Eisold, Dominick Fernow, Jennifer Clavin, Tonie Joy andAlex Garcia-Rivera. Get yourself along to one of the following shows ready to witness their stupendous new sounds at one of the following dates:
March
29th – Start The Bus, Bristol, UK
30th – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK
31st – Stereo, Glasgow, UK
April
1st – Ruby Lounge, Manchester, UK
2nd – Ifor Bach, Cardiff, UK
4th-Rough Trade East, London, UK – free in-store show. On stage @ 7pm, wristbands available from 6pm/when purchasing album.
5th – The Lexington, London, UK (The Quietus Night)
6th – De Kreun, Kortrijk, Belgium
9th – Jack Daniels Music Day, Barcelona, Spain
You can also stream ‘Cherish The Light Years’ ahead of its release next week right here, at KCRW, The Quietus and myriad supporters’ sites around the web.
Following a terrific performance at last October’s Matador 21/ Lost Weekend in Las Vegas, Come are again returning to the stage, playing Brooklyn’s Bell House on Saturday, April 16, along with Chicago’s Eleventh Dream Day (whose new Thrill Jockey album, ‘Riot Now’ is available at better record shops). Tickets are available here.
(ADDENDUM : Come are also playing Cambridge, MA’s Oberon Theatre on April 14).
This May will see Perfume Genius returning to Europe to play dates, which will be the first of the year for Mike. It’ll see them playing their biggest venues in the UK to date and will end at Primavera Sound festival (where you’ll also catch Glasser and Kurt Vile).
Bring on the May (touring madness). Dates listed below.
May
14 – Sheffield City Hall (Grand Ballroom), Sheffield
Only this time, it’s in congress with his current run of dates opening for fellow long-hair guitarissta J Mascis.
Kurt is confirmed to stop in a few more record shops around here before heading west (but don’t fret… there are even more to come).
You guys are so lucky.
Right from the start, Toronto’s Fucked Up have been pushing musical and conceptual boundaries. Their third album, the 18-song, 78-minute David Comes To Life is a rock opera, an album set to a play. Though no less monumental, it is far more melodic than their breakthrough The Chemistry of Common Life. There are more female vocals, which work in perfect contrast to Damian Abraham’s highly effective wounded bull growl. The band sound tighter, with more space for the flourishes and imaginative songwriting that entwine their love of fey British indie pop with heavy riffing, and some genuinely twisted turns. Perhaps most grippingly, the triple-guitar interplay between Mike Haliechuk, Josh Zucker and Ben Cook has risen to symphonic levels. They channel musicians from Angus Young, Pete Townshend and Noel Gallagher to Bob Stinson and Lyle Preslar with ease and grace.
As for the story – more on that to come.
Here is the first of four DIGITAL singles that will be released from the album leading up to its June 7 release date. It’s entitled The Other Shoe, and you can get it here:
Making its UK debut this summer comes Yo La Tengo’s much talked about Reinventing The Wheel Tour. A show of two halves with no support act where anything goes…
…so long as the wheel has the final say.
A single spin of the wheel dictates the first half, guaranteeing it to be unlike any other on the tour. The second half will see Yo La Tengo perform a Yo La Tengo show. If you’re lucky enough to have seen Yo La Tengo play multiple times, you’ll know that they never play the same set twice, so that too will be unlike any other on the tour. Sufficed to say, this will be a unique tour on every level. Spin that wheel !
Reinventing The Wheel makes its way to the UK this June with the band playing the following shows –
JUNE
6th Edinburgh Queens Hall
7th The Sage Gateshead
8th Leeds Cockpit
9th Birmingham O2 Academy 2
10th Oxford O2 Academy
12th London Royal Festival Hall (as part of the Meltdown Festival)
Tickets will go on sale on Monday. Please check with the relevant venue for more details.
GOOD NEWS: Kurt Vile & the Violators will headline the Bowery Ballroom in NYC (June 11) First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia (June 12), headlining both venues with Philly-buds Pissed Jeans opening (EDIT: Meg Baird has been added as an opener to both shows!).
March
Thursday 24 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge w/J Mascis
Friday 25 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg w/J Mascis
Saturday 26 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall w/J Mascis
Monday 28 – Red Hook, NY – Bard College
Tuesday 29 – Pittsburgh, PA – Andy Warhol Museum
Wednesday 30 – Cleveland Heights, OH – Grog Shop w/J Mascis
Thursday 31 – Ann Arbor, AL Blind Pig w/J Mascis
April
Friday 01 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean w/J Mascis
Saturday 02 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry w/J Mascis
Sunday 03 – Iowa City, IA – The Mill
Tuesday 05 – Gambier, OH – Kenyon College
Wednesday 06 – Nashville, TN – The End
Thursday 07 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl w/J Mascis
Friday 08 - Athens, GA – Melting Point w/J Mascis
Saturday 09 – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle Music Hall w/J Mascis
Sunday 10 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle w/J Mascis
Monday 11 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
Thursday 21 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
Friday 22 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Saturday 23 – Portland, OR – Bunk Bar
Sunday 24 – Seattle, WA – Sunset Tavern
Monday 25 – Vancouver, BC – The Waldorf Hotel
May
Sunday 08 – Koln, DE – King Georg
Monday 09 – Munich, FR – Feierwerk
Tuesday 10 – Vienna, AT – Chelsea Club
Wednesday 11 - Berlin, DE – Festaal Kreuzberg
Thursday 12 – Copehagen, DK - Vega
Friday 13 – Aarhus, DK – Voxhaul
Saturday 14 – Minehead, UK – ATP Nightmare b4 Xmas
Sunday 15 – Utrecht, NL – Tivoli
Monday 16 – Amsterdam, NL – Bitterzoet
Tuesday 17 – Brussel, BE – Les Nuits de Botanique
Wednesday 18 – Gent, BE – Charlatan
Thursday 19 – London, UK – Corsica Studios
Friday 20 – Liverpool, UK – Sound City @ Kazimier
Saturday 21 – Glasgow, UK – Stagg & Dagger Festival
Monday 23 – Paris, FR – La Maroquinerie
Wednesday 25 – Bordeaux, FR - Place Saint Michel
Thursday 26 – Rennes, FR – Top of the Folk @ L’antipode
Saturday 28 – Barcelona, ES – Primavera Sound Festival
Sunday 29 – Istanbul, TR – Ghetto
JUNE Saturday 11 – New York, NY — Bowery Ballroom (on sale: April 1) Saturday 12 – Philadelphia, PA — First Unitarian Church
By truepanthersounds on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
Another exciting week of Glasser news. First off, she wowed a packed First Presbyterian Church crowd during the Pitchfork SXSW showcase. Those of you who weren’t there are in luck bc our friends at iTunes recorded the show and now have it available as a live EP. It’s available now and includes some reworkings of album cuts as well as the below, a cover of Irish standard “Let No Man Steal Your Thyme”
Some of you who weren’t down in Austin can still catch the show because she’s going to hit the road as main support for TV On The Radio!! Wow Yes!! We can announce a few of the dates now, but there are more coming so stay on the lookout:
Friu 4/15 Indio, CA @ Coachella
Fri 4/22 Chicago, IL @ Metro *
Sat 4/23 Minneaplis, MN @ First Ave *
Sun 4/24 Minneaplis, MN @ First Ave *
Tue 4/26 Denver, CO @ Ogden *
Mon 4/02 San Diego, CA @ 4th and B *
*w/TV On The Radio
As mentioned earlier this month, May 24 marks the release date for the new 2XLP / compact disc / digital album from Thurston Moore, ‘Demolished Thoughts’. The Beck-produced 9 song collection is an achingly beautiful work that ranks amongst Moore’s most nuanced and personal. Though we’re still a ways off from revealing Thurston’s touring plans for the summer, we’re pleased to reveal the first MP3 from ‘Demolished Thoughts’, the album’s opening song, “Benediction”.
“Benediction” [192kbps mp3]
(there’s not really a good reason for the above jpeg, but if you happen to own one of these tapes and don’t want it anymore, DON’T KEEP THE MONEY)
Yo La Tengo are playing a benefit this coming Wednesday night, March 23, at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ, with all proceeds going to Peace Winds Japan. The show starts at 9pm — there may or may not be a support band (this is all coming together rather fast). Tickets are $50 and go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am eastern, exclusively through Ticketfly, who’ve agreed to donate their fees to the cause in question. If you can’t attend and would like to help out, Peace Winds Japan accepts donations here.
More from sturdy PM Todd Netter on the SXSW action. Here he reports on hard-working Brightonians Esben and the Witch, who in addition to playing NINE shows are doing tons of interviews, playing to adoring audiences and facing off hostile hip hop fans at the FADER Fort.
If, like most good folk, you keep up with the whats and whys of America’s favorite freeform radio station, WFMU, or if, like most of the music industry, you are in Austin for SXSW, you may have come across the glaring “Special Guest TBA” in the midnight slot of tonight’s WFMU’s SXSW showcase at Barbarella (611 Red River, right in the heart of the fabled 6th Street red light district). Meme-conscious readers may have noted the day of the showcase and assumed that the ever-resourceful WFMU had snared the first-ever live performance by tween sensation Rebecca Black, but if I do say so myself the actual truth is even better: tonight’s Special Guest at the WFMU showcase is Philadelphia’s own Kurt Vile, whose new album Smoke Ring For My Halo is still just as crazily good as we’ve been saying for a while now.
If you happen to be stuck in some cultural backwater that doesn’t even have its very own Stevie Ray Vaughan statue, fear not, because WFMU will be broadcasting the entire showcase, starting at 9:00PM EST/8:00PM CST, at 91.1FM and online at wfmu.org. Those of you who are familiar with time zones will be aware that that means Kurt is on at 1:00AM EST, which is technically Saturday, which kind of screws up the Rebecca Black reference from earlier in this post. What can I say.
We couldn’t be happier to have Esben and the Witch in Austin for SXSW. If you haven’t seen them perform before then the following parties, showcases, etc are your chance. For those not attending SXSW the band will be keeping track of their daily experience via WFUV’s “The Alternate Side” blog. Click here to read their first entry and follow along throughout the week. Admittedly it sounds like there off to a tough start in Texas but you know what they say, what doesn’t kill you at SXSW might just create some industry “buzz”, and well that should ultimately do you in.
For real though, don’t miss your chance to see Esben and the Witch in Austin! And for all things Esben and the Witch please visit their site.
Esben and the Witch :
Tuesday, March 15, 10pm, M for Montreal Showcase, Spill, 212 E. 6th St. (SXSWi event)
Wednesday, March 16, 2:30pm Flavorpill / I Rock I Roll Day Party, Lipstick, 24, 606 E. 7th St. (RSVP)
Wednesday, March 16, 8pm, Windish Booking Showcase*, ND Studios, 501 N. Highway I-35 (5th St. and Brushy Avenue)
Thursday, March 17, 2:30pm, Pop Montreal Party, Beauty Bar, 617 E. 7th St.
Thursday, March 17, 6:45pm, FADER Fort, 1101 E. 5th St. (RSVP)
Friday, March 18, 3:15pm, Windish Agency Party, Emo’s Jr., 603 Red River
Friday, March 18, midnight, BBC/Huw Stephens Showcase *, Latitude 30, 215 San Jacinto
Saturday, March 19, 2:40pm, Mess With Texas, Eastside Drive, 1001 E. 6th St. (RSVP)
(scenes from SXSW 2005 : Matador co-owner, Austin resident for all of 15 minutes politely instructs a motorist to “go the fuck back where you came from” before recognizing his dog’s veterinarian)
It’s that time of year, when the fair of city of Austin is besieged by thousands of aspiring musicians, label creeps, bloggers, tech pimps, cinema parasites and self-styled marketing reptiles, all of ‘em urinating in my front garden on their way to and from some dubious “showcase” or launch party designed to appeal to their MOST CRAVEN INSTINCTS. I watch all of this from my front porch, my air rifle sitting atop a cooler of Guyaki Yerba Matte, wondering exactly how much jail time I’d serve for shooting the bluetooth earpiece off the skull of a gentleman trying to negotiate a contract at the foot of my driveway.
At which point, I’m reminded that he’s actually a guest in my home and our conference call that I’ve been ignoring is already 10 minutes old. Where are my manners? Sure, Austin’s chock-a-block with SCHMUCKS ON THE MAKE this week, but who am I to point an accusatory finger at these lovely visitors when they provide this label with such a fabulous opportunity to hawk our wares? The following Matador artists are playing (too many times) in Austin this week. Shows marked * will require an SXSW badge or wristband for priority entry ; happily, such gigs are in the overwhelming minority compared to the open-to-the-great unwashed public events listed below. I look forward to seeing you around town this week, and thank you again for keeping Austin, TX’s property values well above the national average.
Esben and the Witch :
Tuesday, March 15, 10pm, M for Montreal Showcase, Spill, 212 E. 6th St. (SXSWi event)
Wednesday, March 16, 2:30pm Flavorpill / I Rock I Roll Day Party, Lipstick, 24, 606 E. 7th St. (RSVP)
Wednesday, March 16, 8pm, Windish Booking Showcase*, ND Studios, 501 N. Highway I-35 (5th St. and Brushy Avenue)
Thursday, March 17, 2:30pm, Pop Montreal Party, Beauty Bar, 617 E. 7th St.
Thursday, March 17, 6:45pm, FADER Fort, 1101 E. 5th St. (RSVP)
Friday, March 18, 3:15pm, Windish Agency Party, Emo’s Jr., 603 Red River
Friday, March 18, midnight, BBC/Huw Stephens Showcase *, Latitude 30, 215 San Jacinto
Saturday, March 19, 2:40pm, Mess With Texas, Eastside Drive, 1001 E. 6th St. (RSVP)
Saturday, March 19, 4:40pm, Dazed & Confused party, Flamingo Cantina, 515 E. 6th St.
Ted Leo (solo)
Wednesday, March 16, 10pm, Brooklyn Vegan Showcase*, The Swan Dive, 651 Red River,
Thursday, March 17, 5:30pm, Other Music/Dig For Fire present, French Legation, 802 San Marcos
Friday, March 18, 3pm, Flower Booking/Onion AV Club Party, Mohawk, 912 Red River
Saturday, March 19, 4:55pm, Mess With Texas, Eastside Drive, 1001 E. 6th St. (RSVP)
Glasser
Thursday, March 17, 10pm Pitchfork presents *, Central Presbyterian Church, 200 E. 8th St.
Friday, March 18, Rhapsody Pary, Club Deville, 900 Red River (RSVP)
Kurt Vile & The Violators
Friday, March 18, Rhapsody Party, Club Deville, 900 Red River (RSVP)
Saturday, March 19, 3:30pm, Auditorium Shores, 950 W. Riverside Drive, free, all ages
Saturday, March 19, 6pm, Waterloo Records parking lot, 600 N. Lamar Blvd.
On Tuesday May 24*, Matador will be releasing ‘Demolished Thoughts’, the 4th solo album from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore (5th if you count 1998′s ‘Root’) and the first to be produced by Beck Hansen. Recorded in Los Angeles and Northampton, MA this past autumn & winter, with a title culled from The Faith’s “It’s Time”, ‘Demolished Thoughts’ is an equally beautiful and brooding work ; while there’s more than a few tonal similarities to some of your favorite Moore compositions from years past, the execution this time around is nothing short of staggering. No disrespect to 1995′s ‘Psychic Hearts’ or 2007′s ‘Trees Outside The Academy’ is intended on our part when we promise ‘Demolished Thoughts’ burnishes Thurston’s rep as a classic songwriter in ways we never anticipated when this album was first being talked about last year.
In addition to Moore’s guitars and vocals, other players include violinist Samara Lubelski (she of prior Moore recordings and touring, her own solo works, Metal Mountains, Hall Of Fame, Tower Recordings, Metabolismus, etc.), harpist Mary Lattimore (also heard on Kurt Vile’s latest), bassist Bram Inscore, drummer Joey Waronker and Beck.
Live performance info, a pre-release MP3 and other details to follow in this space.
Kurt Vile (the man/myth/legend behind the stunning Smoke Ring For My Halo, out today on all popular formats), Ted Leo (star of Reginald Van Voorst’s Broadway musical The Brutalist Bricks), and A.C. Newman (inspiration for the character “Carl Newman” from the motion picture Moves: The Rise & Rise Of The New Pornographers) will all be joining Tom on the air tonight. We really don’t know what’s going to happen, but if it’s anything like last week’s show with Ted and Carl, it’ll be must-listen radio, plus you can get cool prizes for pledging money (including a signed Smoke Ring test pressing and the already-infamous “Rated GG” 7″ single). WFMU can be found at 91.1FM on your NY/NJ radio dial, or at wfmu.org.
Finally, lest you think we’re done talking about Kurt on his release day, please note that in addition to lending his talents to WFMU, Mr. Vile will be playing not once, not twice, but thrice at some of New York’s finest recordmongers this evening: 5PM at Academy Records in Williamsburg (with Thurston Moore & Bill Nace’s Northampton Wools), 7PM at Generation Records, and 9PM at Other Music. Who loves ya, indie retail?
During their recent visit to New York, Brighton nightmare pop trio Esben And The Witch paid a visit to the WNYU studio (pictured above) to record a session for the New Afternoon Show. That session airs today, and at the risk of stating the obvious, it is essential listening. The session airs around 5:00PM EST, but the show goes from 4:00PM to 7:30PM EST so why not check out the whole thing? It’s good, I promise. The greater New York area can listen at 89.1FM, those elsewhere can get their fix at wnyu.org.
If you’re in the latter group, you may want to peruse the list below to see if Esben And The Witch will be playing soon in your town. Austin residents/visitors, please note those four days the band will be spending there; more details to come.
Today (UK/Europe) and tomorrow (North America) see the release Kurt Vile’s latest/greatest album, Smoke Ring For My Halo (purchase the album here).
Pitchfork, who today revealed that they really like the record, also shot Kurt and the Violators on a cold ass rooftop a few weeks back (thanks for covering that Claire!). If you need more convincing that Kurt and the songs from Smoke Ring are pretty special, well, here you go:
After that, Kurt and the Violators will play a bunch of concerts:
March
Thursday 10 – Ithica, NY – Castaways w/J Mascis
Friday 11 - Toronto, ON – The Great Hall w/J Mascis
Saturday 12 – Kingston ONT, NT – The Mansion
Sunday 13 – Burlington, VT – Monkey House
Monday 14 – Milford, CT – Daniel Street
Tuesday 22 – Battleboro, VT – Headroom Stages w/J Mascis
Wednesday 23 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live Downstairs w/J Mascis
Thursday 24 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge w/J Mascis
Friday 25 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg w/J Mascis
Saturday 26 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall w/J Mascis
Monday 28 – Red Hook, NY – Bard College
Tuesday 29 – Pittsburgh, PA – Andy Warhol Museum
Wednesday 30 – Cleveland Heights, OH – Grog Shop w/J Mascis
Thursday 31 – Ann Arbor, AL Blind Pig w/J Mascis
April
Friday 01 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean w/J Mascis
Saturday 02 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry w/J Mascis
Sunday 03 – Iowa City, IA – The Mill
Tuesday 05 – Gambier, OH – Kenyon College
Wednesday 06 – Nashville, TN – The End
Thursday 07 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl w/J Mascis
Friday 08 - Athens, GA – Melting Point w/J Mascis
Saturday 09 – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle Music Hall w/J Mascis
Sunday 10 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle w/J Mascis
Monday 11 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
Thursday 21 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
Friday 22 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Saturday 23 – Portland, OR – Bunk Bar
Sunday 24 – Seattle, WA – Sunset Tavern
Monday 25 – Vancouver, BC – The Waldorf Hotel
May
Sunday 08 – Koln, DE – King Georg
Monday 09 – Munich, FR – Feierwerk
Tuesday 10 – Vienna, AT – Chelsea Club
Wednesday 11 - Berlin, DE – Festaal Kreuzberg
Thursday 12 – Copehagen, DK - Vega
Friday 13 – Aarhus, DK – Voxhaul
Saturday 14 – Minehead, UK – ATP Nightmare b4 Xmas
Sunday 15 – Utrecht, NL – Tivoli
Monday 16 – Amsterdam, NL – Bitterzoet
Tuesday 17 – Brussel, BE – Les Nuits de Botanique
Wednesday 18 – Gent, BE – Charlatan
Thursday 19 – London, UK – Corsica Studios
Friday 20 – Liverpool, UK – Sound City @ Kazimier
Saturday 21 – Glasgow, UK – Stagg & Dagger Festival
Monday 23 – Paris, FR – La Maroquinerie
Wednesday 25 – Bordeaux, FR - Place Saint Michel
Thursday 26 – Rennes, FR – Top of the Folk @ L’antipode
Saturday 28 – Barcelona, ES – Primavera Sound Festival
Sunday 29 – Istanbul, TR – Ghetto
As you may have seen on the internets the last few days, our very own Glasser performed on the Jimmy Fallon show on Monday. The concept of using QR codes on TV came from a desire to create a more interactive experience for viewers of the show (shouting out “yo hit me up on Twitter” just didn’t cut it). So we places a series of QR codes around the stage to embed special content in the performance.
About the QR Codes
We wanted to solve the problem of how can people at home or in an audience feel a greater level of participation than just sitting and listening. By using QR codes people will explore and find embedded content that was previously not available to them and have a richer viewing experience. Glasser is not a 2-dimensional artist- the primary thing that drew us into her music was the 3D world that her music and her personality invoke- it’s a world you want to dive into.
Rather than just use standard QR code generators, Glasser wanted to re-interpret the album cover for Ring. To achieve this, RISD graduate student, Kyuha Shim, built a system using programming language that receives color data sets from Glasser’s album graphics and adapts them to the modules that she designed. The result is an aesthetic for the QR codes that both departs from the monochromatic standards for QR codes, and more importantly ties the experience back to the album sleeve originally designed by Tauba Auerbach.
About the Embedded Content
Each QR code on the set of the performance links to a unique Glasser-related space, primarily via QR scanners on mobile phones.
They are a series of online 3D “zones” developed by Mitch Trale with Glasser. The zones create an added visual layer to the experience while also being a portal for content. While it was initially only accessible through the QR codes, it’s now embeddable for you and whoever else to post around and share. You can get the album cheap, download mp3s, view a music vid and watch the performance itself. Hope you have as much psychedelic/next-level fun messing around in this zone as we did conceiving and executing this whole crazy idea.
The best part is that the experience lives on after the show. Hopefully people will continue to discover and share the codes long after the broadcast is over.
You can dive into the zone below.By clicking HERE HINT THE ACTUAL FALLON PERFORMANCE IS IN THE BLUE GEM
Contributors:
Glasser (Cameron Mesirow): Concept
MCT: Zone Design + Development
Christopher P. Allick + Trevor Gilley- Technical + Creative Direction
Pablo Rochat + Kyuha Shim (RISD)- QR Code Design
