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

15 – Bodega, Nottingham (tickets)

16 – Bush Hall, London (tickets)

17 – The Kings Arms, Manchester (tickets)

18 – The Sugar Club, Dublin (tickets)

20 – Les Nuits Botanique, Brussels (tickets)

21 – De Duif Church, Amsterdam (tickets)

28 – Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona

Perfume Genius – ‘Lookout, Lookout’

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.

*Photo by Shawn Brackbill

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:

The Other Shoe (192k MP3)

photo by Daniel Boud

The band will also tour Europe and the UK around release, a full list of dates are below.

May

6th – White Rabbit, Plymouth – UK (tickets)

7th – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff – UK (tickets) *MATINEE SHOW

7th – The Croft, Bristol – UK

8th – Institue, Birmingham – UK

9th – The Well, Leeds – UK

10th – Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh – UK (tickets)

11th – The Cluny, Newcastle – UK (tickets)

12th – Future Sonic – Sound Control, Manchester – UK

13th – Vera, Gronigen – Netherlands (tickets)

14th – 013 Small Hall, Tilburg – Netherlands

15th – Melkweg, Amsterdam – Netherlands (tickets)

16th – Festaal Kreuzberg, Berlin – Germany (tickets)

17th – Underground, Cologne – Germany (tickets)

18th – Batofar, Paris – France

19th – Trix, Antwerp – Belgium (tickets)

20th – Stag and Dagger @ Village Underground, London – UK (tickets)

21st – Liverpool Sound City @ Kazimir, Liverpool – UK (tickets)

davidcomestolife.com
Looking For Gold

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

[photo by Shawn Brackbill, check out more cool shots at Self-Titled Magazine]

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”

Glasser iTunes Live: SXSW EP available HERE

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.

Our trusty Product Manager Todd Netter reports from SXSW…