For several of us at Matador Records & Filmworks, ‘Rohnert Park’, the 3rd album from Northern California’s CEREMONY wasn’t merely one of our favorites of 2010, it also represented one of those moments where we sit around in a dark room and wonder aloud, “can you imagine what these guys will do next?”
Those moments usually don’t last long. Often one of the cleaners will turn on the lights and we’ll have to explain they’ve not walked in on some kind of corporate hazing ritual. In this instance, however, the moment seemed to extend for several months, finally culminating in the worst kept secret in our version of the rock biz this spring ; Ceremony’s next full-length studio album will be a Matador release in 2012.
Big Smile’s Conor Crackford called ‘Rohnert Park’, “one of the best hardcore punk albums of the new decade, a testament to punk’s relevance in the American Apocalypse and to classic hardcore’s endurance as a form of pop in it’s own right,” a statement that feels less like hyperbole and something closer to a truism after living with that record in our heads over the past year. We’ve too much respect for what Ross, Anthony, Andy , Justin and Jake have already done and too much optimism over where they’re going than to raise the spectre of post-hardcore. For starters, that would suggest we think hardcore is done & dusted . It would imply there’s a label mandate about Ceremony’s next creative move. Both of these things are untrue. There’s gonna be a new album recorded this autumn, released in the first half of next year, and beyond that, we expect to be as surprised as you (albeit a bit earlier).
The announcement of Ceremony’s signing to Matador also coincides with the band’s swan song for Bridge 9, a 6-song 12″ EP/CD/digital EP entitled ‘Covers’. Songs by Urban Waste (“Public Opinion”), Pixies (“Nimrod’s Son”), Crisis (“Holocaust”), Eddie and the Subtitles (“American Society”), Vile (“5 to 10″) and Wire (“Pink Flag”) are reinterpreted by Ceremony on this collection of outtakes from the ‘Rohnert Park’ sessions. Bridge Nine are taking preorders starting today.
“Sick” (mp3, from ‘Rohnert Park’, courtesy of Bridge Nine)
June
Thursday — 30 — Greenpoint NY — House of Vans — with No Age, Health, Cults
July
Friday — 1 — Brooklyn, NY — 538 Johnson Ave — with Veins, Give, Zero Progress, Hounds of Hate
Saturday — 2 — Baltimore, MD — Charm City Art Space — with Joyce Manor, Sacrum, Fox & The Hound
Sunday — 3 — Philadelphia, PA — The Barbary — with Kromosom, Gypsy, Pink Coffins (3pm)
Sunday — 3 — Philadelphia, PA — Philly Punx Pinic at Blockley Pourhouse — with Kromosom, Bloodcrow Butchers, Cleansing Wave, Dopestroke, Piss Ant
Friday — 22 — Santa Barbara, CA — Sound And Fury Festival
Sunday — 24 — Rokycany, CZ — Fluff Fest
Monday — 25 — Wein, AT — Arena
Tuesday — 26 — Munchen, DE — Feierwerk
Wednesday — 27 — Stuttgart, DE — Juha West
Thursday — 28 — Zurich, CH — Dynamo Werk 21
Friday — 29 — Koln, DE — Underground
Saturday — 30 — Mol, BE — Breakout Fest
August
Sunday — 1 — Hannover, DE — Bei Chez Heinz
Monday — 2 — Hamburg, DE — Hafenklang
Tuesday — 3 — Berlin, DE — Hafenklang
Wednesday — 4 — Fredericia, DK — Fredericia Hardcore Festival
Thursday — 5 — Leisnig, DK — Sucks’n'Summer
Friday — 6 — Brugge, BE — JH Comma
Sunday — 8 —Port Lympne, UK — Hevy Fest
After updating the Complete Discography page, we discovered that the New Releases page hadn’t been updated since September 2010. Maintaining a website is a funny thing, especially if it’s packed with static templates created in May 2001, when browser windows were narrower and PHP was virtually unheard of.
We often wish other labels maintained a new releases section so that we could see what they have been putting out lately, and what’s coming up soon. However there’s not much point to having one if you don’t keep it updated.
Check out the New Releases page to catch up on Matador and True Panther releases you may have missed in 2010 and 2011, and to see what’s coming up this July and August:
The four singles and 7 songs comprising the introduction and epilogue to David Comes To Life are out today for lucky participants in our Buy Early Get Now promotion.
The first 6 songs comprise an “Act 0″ to the play and introduce the setting and the characters, as laid out below. And the final one-sided 7″, “Octavio Made The Bomb,” forms the conclusion to the opera.
We’ll be laying out ways for the rest of you to get hold of this music later in the year.
OLE-960A “Byrdesdale Garden City” turned paradise into a factory
OLE-960B “Into The Light” pleasure on the edge of a knife
OLE-961A “Do All Words Can Do” David Eliade
OLE-961B “What Would You Do (For Veronica)?” Veronica Boisson
OLE-962A “Remember Me (That’s All I Ask)” Vivian Benson
OLE-962B “What They Didn’t Know” Octavio St. Laurent
OLE-963 (one-sided) “Octavio Made The Bomb” He was the one all along
Here you can find the answers to such burning questions as:
- why are there two catalog numbers for the Bailter Space “Thermos” LP?
- which early Matador Yo La Tengo single almost had different catalog numbers for its different FORMATS?
- what was the name of Matador’s promo-only hip hop compilation?
- what are Matador’s three jukebox-only 7″es?
- what Matador release contains “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”?
- what do the format number codes mean?
- how do I calculate the check digit for a Matador barcode?
- what Mammoth artist did Atlantic put on a split promotional cassette with a Matador artist (without asking us)?
- what is the 1200 series? the 8000 series? the 9000 series? the ELO series?
- what True Panther releases have come out since Matador acquired the label?
Even if you remembered to DVR watch Thurston’s appearance on national TV last night, here’s even more to chew on. Video courtesy ‘Late Night With Jimmy Fallon’ / NBC.
Photo of Dan and Rachel nicked from M4DW0RK‘s Flickr
Starting this weekend at the legendary Glastonbury festival, Esben and the Witch will be playing at a host of festivals across Europe this Summer, plus taking their first steps into Japan at Summersonic in August. Whilst you’re perusing the dates, why not check out the new remix of Marching Song by Mark van Hoen (Locust, Seefeel) on the YouTube link below.
June
26th – Glastonbury Festival, UK
July
6th – Teatro Lara / Estrella Galicia party, Madrid, Spain
9th – Pohoda Festival, Trencin, Slovakia
10th – Volksbühne, Berlin, Germany w/ Deerhunter
15th – Latitude Festival, Southwold, UK
16th – Rock’n Coke Festival, Istanbul, Turkey
August
5th – Stuck Festival, Salzburg, Austria
6th – Piazza Castello, Castelbuono, Sicily
13th – Summersonic Festival, Tokyo, Japan
18th – Paredes De Coura, Porto, Portugal
19th – Pukklepop, Hasselt, Belgium.
September
4th – Electric Picnic, Stradbally, Ireland
9th – Bestival, Isle of Wight, UK
As well as these, E&TW are also featured at a couple of film festivals this Summer. The incredible video for Marching Song is up for awards at the following film festivals in July.
Scott Cudmore directs the first video from Fucked Up’s David Comes To Life. His “Queen Of Hearts” is a spectacular reimagining of the song, shot on film in a remote schoolhouse in northern Ontario. Watch it in HD and full screen for best results.
Fucked Up start their East Coast tour this Thursday in New York, heading down to Atlanta and then back up through Chicago. West Coast follows starting July 22. Then Canada in August with Foo Fighters, and back to Europe for the rest of the month.
June:
Thursday – 23 – New York, NY – Terminal 5 – with Dinosaur Jr. and OFF!
Friday – 24 – Boston, MA – Royale Nightclub – with JEFF The Brotherhood, iceage
Sunday – 26 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church – with JEFF The Brotherhood
Monday – 27 – Washington, DC – Rock And Roll Hotel – with JEFF The Brotherhood
Tuesday – 28 – Raleigh, NC – Kings Barcade – with JEFF The Brotherhood
Wednesday – 29 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl – with JEFF The Brotherhood
Thursday – 30 – Nashville TN – Exit/In – with JEFF The Brotherhood
July:
Friday – 01 – St Louis, MO – Firebird – with JEFF The Brotherhood
Saturday – 02 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall – with JEFF The Brotherhood
Sunday – 03 – London, ON – Call The Office
Friday – 22 – Seattle, WA – Capitol Hill Block Party
Saturday – 23 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
Monday – 25 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
Tuesday – 26 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
Wednesday – 27 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
Saturday – 30 – Montreal, QC – Osheaga Festival
August:
Tuesday – 09 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Center – with Foo Fighters
Wednesday – 10 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre – with Foo Fighters
Saturday – 13 – Sweden, Gothenburg – Way Out West
Sunday – 14 – Denmark, Aarhus – Voxhall
Monday – 15 – Germany, Hamburg – Hafenklang – Headline
Tuesday – 16 – Germany, Berlin – SO36 w/ OFF
Wednesday – 17 – Germany, Munich – 59 to 1 w/ OFF
Thursday – 18 – Germany, Weisbaden – Schlachthof w/ OFF
Friday – 19 Germany, Cologne – Underground w/ OFF
Saturday – 20 – Belgium, Hasselt – Pukkelpop – Club Tent
Sunday – 21- Switzerland, Geneva – Usine
Monday – 22 – Italy, Milan – Magnolia
Tuesday – 23 – Russia, Moscow – Flacken Design Centre
Wednesday – 24 – UK, Portsmouth – Wedgewood Rooms
Thursday – 25 – UK – London, XOYO w/ OFF
Friday – 26 – UK – Leeds, Leeds Festival – NME Stage
Saturday – 27 – Finland, Jyvaskyla – Luttakko Liekeissa
Sunday – 28 – UK, Reading – Reading Festival – NME Stage
I recently was fortunate enough to acquire an Ultra Pridewet grinder, a contraption from Southern India that I’ve been lusting after for some time. It promised to take some of the labor out of making Thai curry pastes, an unforeseen use that was discovered on this egullet thread. Up till now I’ve been pounding the pastes by hand, one ingredient at a time, up and down not round and round, in a large granite Thai mortar and pestle. The resulting paste is smooth and creamy, a texture that is impossible to achieve in a food processor or a blender with their metal blades. The wet grinder rolls massive stone “blades” over each ingredient, mimicking the action of a pestle, really pulverizing them (and not heating them and slightly “cooking” them in the process).
You see the result above – the paste for a dry red curry of chicken, sitting on top of the blade mechanism. The paste contains seeded, soaked dried red chiles, salt, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime zest, coriander root, red shallot, garlic and roasted shrimp paste. Here’s the finished dish:
I adapted the recipe from David Thompson, who makes it with lobster. I deep-fried slices of chicken thigh for about 30 seconds, so still slightly pink in the middle, removed the chicken, and saved 5 tablespoons of the oil. I then fried the curry paste in the oil for quite a long time until fragrant, and seasoned with fish sauce and white sugar. I then added baby bok choy and stirfried in the oily paste briefly until not quite done, and removed it. Re-added the chicken and simmered, moistening with some chicken stock, then re-added the bok choy and cooked until done (perhaps another 30 seconds max). I checked the flavor and balanced the seasoning – the curry should be quite dry and oily, and taste salty, hot, rich and slightly sweet in that order. I garnished with shredded kaffir lime leaves and cilantro leaves.
This is stir-fried minced beef with chiles and holy basil, another David Thompson preparation. The chiles are a mix of long, medium-hot green or red chiles for dark & earthy flavor, and the short, fiery, floral Thai bird chiles. It is cooked in a wok over extremely high heat (watch the garlic in the chile paste reconstitute itself in seconds and don’t burn it!), and seasoned with both light and dark soy sauce. The holy basil leaves must actually be stirred into the dish over heat and not simply laid on top as a garnish, since the intense lemony-minty flavor of holy basil only truly emerges when it is cooked.
Make sure you are buying true holy basil, with its small green leaves, not Thai basil with its large, purple-veined leaves and stems. They are quite different and serve different purposes. This does not stop many stores from selling Thai basil as holy basil, including the great Manhattan grocery Kalustyan’s (otherwise a terrific place to find Thai ingredients, including some that are hard to locate in Chinatown).
This is Thompson’s jungle curry – his recipe calls for duck and snake beans; in this instance I used chicken and apple eggplants. The recipe calls for two pastes, one of jungle curry paste (fresh green bird chiles, salt, medium chile, galangal, lemongrass, wild ginger, red shallot, garlic and roasted shrimp paste) and one of garlic, wild ginger, salt and more fresh green bird chiles. It is fiery hot but bursting with herbal flavor from holy basil and green peppercorns. Some of his ingredients I’ve not been able to find, including (on this occasion) wild ginger or grachai, and pea eggplants. I’ve substituted young ginger and mature ginger for the grachai and had great success.
Fucked Up @ NXNE, footage courtesy NOW Magazine. Calling the assembled throng in Dundas Sq. a sea of humanity would be a slight exaggeration. A giant lake, however, might be accurate enough for our purposes.
The annoying thing about these signing announcements is any presumption of gravitas ; ask anyone who’s been through it — actually getting inked to Matador in and of itself isn’t actually a significant achievement (though there’s a mountain of legal fees over the course of time that suggests otherwise). Existing on your own terms, making mind blowing records that will be remembered for ages, that’s the kind of thing that’s worthy of celebration. And on that score, Kyle, Hans, Ryan and Jason (above, l-r) fashioned an impossible to ignore resume long before a certain New York record label (ok, this one) began stalking the fuck out of them.
Formed in 2005 by vocalist/guitarist Hans Zimmerman with the rest of the lineup in place by ’07, The Young’s early singles for Chicago’s Criminal IQ and Austin’s Super Secret were followed by an appearance on Matador’s ‘Casual Victim Pile’ compilation LP/CD. Though that modest output was hardly without merit, the subsequent full-length album on NYC’s Mexican Summer, ‘Voyagers Of Legend’ was nothing less than the underground rock revelation of 2010. “There hasn’t been a full-length this spot-on with mood and 1%’er hooks in years,” declared our good friend Andrew Earles, while the folks at 29-95.com prefered to drop the “P” word, insisting ‘Voyagers’ was “an implacable psychedelic rock journey.. almost cruelly evocative.” Those fortunate enough to have seen their recent shows sharing bills with the likes of Sic Alps and Lower Dens, know all too well their recorded works to date are only skimming the surface of what these guys are capable of. And now that we’ve put horrible, unfair pressure on them to produce, we’ll simply announce The Young have signed to Matador and shall begin recording their second album later this summer.
theyoungblog.tumblr.com/
Last week we posted the Belle and Sebastian video for “Come On Sister” and if that’s not enough video goodness, Belle and Sebastian have another video out today for “I Didn’t See It Coming” (Richard X mix) by Glasgow based artist, Lesley Barnes.
This summer, you’ll be able to pick up the new Belle and Sebastian 12” (July 26 release). This vinyl-only release includes reworked versions of Write About Love tracks – including a Cold Cave remix of “I Didn’t See It Coming”.
Come On Sister 12” Track Listing:
Come On Sister (Tony Doogan mix)
I Didn’t See It Coming (Richard X mix)
I Didn’t See It Coming (Cold Cave mix)
Blue Eyes of a Millionaire (Album version)
Pre-order the Come On Sister 12” on the Matador Store
We’re pleased to announce that Thurston Moore will be performing on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Wed, 6/22, so adjust your DVRs accordingly.
And as the old adage goes, if you can’t beat them then join them in the studio audience of a hour long, late night talk show.
from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon:
Click on the link below and you will be directed to our “Band Bench” Sweepstakes entry form. Enter for a chance to win seats on our band benches and an opportunity to surround the stage during Thurston Moore’s performance.
Please make sure you include the following band code: TUM, in your entry form.
It’s odd that of all the congeries of dead-end weird ass rock places around CBGB, Mars Bar is the last to go. Apparently it will be at the end of this month, to be replaced by a “12-story luxury high rise.” There is no more CBGB, there is only DBGB and John Varvatos, a good miniature for what this city has become.
I was at Mars Bar at 8 PM on a Monday night a couple of months ago – apparently early enough to avoid the throngs of tourists who now crowd into it nightly. There were regulars hunched over their bourbons, and a shuffling personage programming and barking over the jukebox. It was the first time I’d been there in years and years. It was the place where I first did cocaine (summer of 1988). Nothing had changed.
You have to wonder where the equivalent places are nowadays. I’m guessing the inner suburbs.
We’re pleased to report Fucked Up will be playing some additional summertime dates in support of their June 7 monster of an LP, David Comes To Life. New dates highlighted below.
Touring kicks off on June 16th with shows at NXNE (including an early show w/ Descendents & OFF!). And a reminder to those of you in the NYC area, the band play Terminal 5 a week from tomorrow (Thurs, June 23) supporting Dino Jr. See you there!
In support their forthcoming LP, Mirror Traffic, Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks are heading out on the road playing a slew of US & Canadian dates. We couldn’t be more psyched so without further delay…
9/20 – Detroit, MI, Majestic Theater – onsale 6/17
9/21 – Toronto, ON, Phoenix Concert Theatre – onsale 6/17
9/22 – Ottowa, ON, Ritual – onsale TBA
9/23 – Montreal, QC, Corona Theatre – onsale 6/17
9/24 – Boston, MA, Royale – onsale 6/17
9/26 – New York, NY, Terminal 5 – onsale 6/17
9/28 – Philadelphia, PA , Theatre of Living Arts – onsale 6/17
9/29 – Baltimore, MD, Ram’s Head Live – onsale 6/16
9/30 – Charlottesville, VA, Jefferson Theater – onsale TBA
10/2 – Atlanta, GA, Variety Playhouse – onsale 6/17
10/4 – Nashville, TN, Mercy Lounge – onsale 6/17
10/5 – Indianapolis, IN, Earth House – onsale TBA
10/6 – Chicago, IL, Vic Theatre – onsale 6/25
10/7 – Milwaukee WI, Turner Hall – onsale 6/17
10/8 – Minneapolis, MN, Pantages Theatre – onsale 6/24
10/11- Seattle, WA, Neptune Theatre – onsale 6/24
10/12 – Vancouver, BC, The Biltmore Cabaret – onsale 6/25
10/13 – Portland, OR, Crystal Ballroom – onsale TBA
10/19 – Los Angeles, CA, The Music Box – onsale 6/18
10/20 – Solana Beach, CA, Belly Up Tavern – onsale TBA
Don’t forget you can pre-order Mirror Traffic (out 8/23) from the Matador Store
And you can check out the Mirror Traffic track listing right here:
Less than a month ago, La Blogotheque filmed Thurston Moore and Samara Lubelski performing songs from ‘Demolished Thoughts’ at Thurston’s NYC apartment, resulting in a striking, unique and very special “Take Away Show”. These videos are essential viewing, complete with shots of Manhattan’s streets, Thurston’s reminiscences on his early days in the city and some insights into the record.
And of course, do not miss ‘Demolished Thoughts’ live
Thurston Moore dates :
Sat, June 25, Solid Sound Festival, North Adams, MA
Sunday, June 26, Solid Sound Festival, North Adams, MA
Friday, July 15, Pitchfork Festival, Chicago, IL
Saturday, July 16, High Noon, Madison, WI (tickets on sale April 29 at 10am)
7/18 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theatre (tickets, on sale April 29, noon))
7/21 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre (tickets, on sale April 29)
7/22 Seattle, WA – Capitol Hill Block Party
7/23 Portland, OR – Alladin Theatre (tickets)
7/26 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall (tickets)
7/28 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour (tickets)
7/29 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour (tickets)
7/30 San Diego, CA – Casbah (tickets)
8/4 Salt Lake City, UT – Twilight Concert Series
Paul Fegan has directed a clip for a new version of Come On Sister – which was remixed by Tony Doogan. This stars all seven band members faced with the grim realities of life off the road:
Damn good, right? Perfect for the end of the work week.
…Be sure to keep it here for more Belle news over the coming weeks…
I’m sure you’re all fully aware that this week sees the release of the third studio album by Fucked Up, David Comes To Life. The album is a tale of love and loss, destruction and redemption, following the story of the protagonist David and his love for Veronica. Five main characters appear in the narrative, each with their own part to play.
In keeping with the love affair of David and Veronica, Matador are running a competition in the UK to win some Fucked Up goodies*, compiled with love by the band. We are asking you to write/draw/create something inspired by love. Five different ‘character’ designs have been distributed across the UK’s best independent record stores – 1000 of each. If you find a postcard, make your creation on the left, be it a poem, illustration, story etc (include which store you picked it up from and an email for yourself at the bottom), then post it back to Matador at the address below. The band will judge the entries and the winner will receive a signed, framed poster from the band, plus a goody bag of swag that we can steal from the band’s Big Cartel. The store you found your postcard in will also receive a signed, framed David Comes To Life poster, so everyone’s happy. Including me, as I love getting post. Not enough people write love letters with a pen and paper anymore, right?
Send your entries to Matador at the address below:
DAVID COMES TO LIFE
MATADOR RECORDS
17-19 ALMA ROAD
LONDON
SW18 1AA
Remember to add your email address and your chosen record store, otherwise we can’t get your prizes to you.
The participating stores:
ACTION RECORDS – PRESTON
AMULET – (MAILORDER)
AVALANCHE – EDINBURGH
BANQUET – KINGSTON
BOOMKAT – (MAILORDER)
CRASH – LEEDS
DRIFT – TOTNES
HEAD – BIRMINGHAM
JUMBO – LEEDS
MONORAIL – GLASGOW
NORMAN RECORDS – (MAILORDER)
ONE UP – ABERDEEN
PICCADILLY RECORDS – MANCHESTER
RESIDENT – BRIGHTON
RISE – BRISTOL
ROUGH TRADE EAST – LONDON
ROUGH TRADE WEST – LONDON
ROUNDER – BRIGHTON
SISTER RAY – LONDON
SPILLERS – CARDIFF
Just back from a trip overseas (including Spain’s Primavera festival), Kurt Vile & The Violators are gearing up to hit the road once again, kicking the whole thing off with a sold-out show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom.
In preparation of the next grip of dates supporting ‘Smoke Ring For My Halo‘, today we’re sharing a high-fidelity LIVE version of the album highlight “On Tour”.
This track, culled from a Rhapsody Originals session, is now available for MP3 purchase (and Rhapsody subscribers can stream it, as well).
As a reminder, here are those dates again, with some new dates in August, in bold.
June
11th: Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY (with Meg Baird and Purling Hiss) SOLD OUT
12th: First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA (with Meg Baird and Pissed Jeans) Tickets
24th: Sled Island Fest, Calgary, AB Tickets
25th: Sled Island Fest, Calgary, AB Tickets
29th: Vega, Groningen
30th: Uebel & Gefährlich, Hamburg
July
11th: Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA (with Woods) Tickets
12th: La Sala Rossa, Montreal, QUE (with Woods) Tickets
13th: Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ONT (with Woods) Tickets
14th: Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH (with Woods) Tickets Tickets
15th: Russian Recording, Bloomington, IN (with Woods) Tickets
17th: Pitchfork Fest, Chicago, IL Tickets
18th: Varsity Theatre, Minneapolis, MN (with Thurston Moore) Tickets
21st: Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver, BC (with Thurston Moore) Tickets
22nd: Capitol Hill Block Party, Seattle, WA Tickets
23rd: Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR (with Thurston Moore) Tickets
26th: Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA (with Thurston Moore) Tickets
28th: Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA (with Thurston Moore) Tickets
29th: Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA (with Thurston Moore) Tickets
30th: Casbah, San Diego, CA (with Thurston Moore) Tickets 31st: Rhythm Room, Tempe, AZ
August 4th: Twilight Concert Series @ Pioneer Park, Salt Lake City, UT (with Thurston Moore) – FREE 9th: Cats Cradle, Carrboro, NC – Tickets 10th: Rock N Roll Hotel, Washington, DC (with Woods)
11th: Wellmont Theatre, Montclair, NJ (with M. Ward)
12th: Williamsburg Waterfront, Brooklyn, NY (with Sonic Youth and Wild Flag) Tickets
September 16th: Austin City Limits Festival, Zilker Park, Austin, TX
(ATTN : Yo La Tengo will not be performing on shows headlined by any of the above artists this autumn. Thank you)
I don’t know if it’s the crap AT&T reception in my part of Austin or maybe I was just distracted while watching the Anthony Weiner press conference. Either way, when our good friend Todd Netter rang the other day to announce Yo La Tengo were doing a bunch of shows opening for Nash Kato, I was a tad confused. I mean, sure, who doesn’t love (early) Urge Overkill? But I thought it over a bit and came to the conclusion maybe this wasn’t the most insane idea of all time. For starters, the artists have plenty of mutual friends in common, and there’s other career similarities, too (flamboyant attire, patronage of Quentin Tarantino they’re trios, neither has ever been indicted for treason).
The dates are as follows :
Tue, 9/6 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Wed, 9/7 – Philadelphia, PA – Academy of Music
Thu, 9/8 – Philadelphia, PA – Academy of Music
Fri, 9/9 – Boston, MA – Bank of America Pavilion
(UPDATE : ok, it turns out these shows are supporting THE NATIONAL. DUH. Look, I’m really sorry about this but you have no idea how difficult it is keeping all these things straight. Perhaps we oughta just limit future discussions to email and/or IM to eliminate the possibility of such errors in the future.)
Hear a free song from the new album by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Mirror Traffic (out August 23). The fifth Malkmus album was recorded by Beck in Los Angeles over the past two and a half years, and contains 15 songs. This one is entitled “Senator”:
Preorder the album from the Matador Store and receive a free poster. In addition, the first 100 orders will receive a rare flexidisc of “Jo Jo’s Jacket,” OLE-493, released as a promotional item for the first Stephen Malkmus album in December 2000.
The vinyl edition of Mirror Traffic is a 3-sided LP with an etching on side 4.
Photos courtesy of Michael Gallacher / twistyfoldy
Last night, the people of Edinburgh were treated to a full set of Dump. By the look on Ira’s face, we’re assuming that he was pretty happy with the hand that the wheel of fate had dealt him. And so, Yo La Tengo pack up the wheel and the tour continues tonight in Gateshead. I’m sure there’s some math(s) that could be done to predict the possibility of getting a Science set, S Songs, Condo Fucks etc., but I only got a B in my Maths GCSE and even then, I’m sure I went into the exam with equations written on my arm.
Remaining Yo La Tengo dates in the UK:
Tue 7 June – GATESHEAD, SAGE tickets Wed 8 June – LEEDS, COCKPIT tickets Thu 9 June – BIRMINGHAM, O2 ACADEMY 2 tickets Fri 10 June – OXFORD, O2 ACADEMY tickets Sun 12 June – LONDON, ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL tickets
To celebrate the release of Fucked Up’s David Comes To Life, the album will be on sale for $3.99 (in MP3) as “MIDNIGHT MADNESS” takes over MatadorRecords.com starting at 12am EST tonight.
The catch is, the album will only be $3.99 for about 2 minutes. That’s right. From midnight until noon tomorrow, the price of the MP3 album will be steadily going up until it hits full price once again.
And that’s not all…. while we can’t compete with Fucked Up’s physical world antics in Toronto, our version of “MIDNIGHT MADNESS” will also include a virtual pop-up store with a screening room, characters from the “story”, a live webcam from Toronto “MIDNIGHT MADNESS” and a preview of our just about ready to launch “MataCloudTM.”
Can’t get your head around all of this? That’s cool, because all you will have to do is check back at this space in 15 hours to really understand.
I’d never made puttanesca before but it’s one of my favorite pastas. Astonishingly I wasn’t able to find a recipe in either Marcella Hazan or Ruth Rogers, so I went online and found this recipe in Diner’s Journal (uncredited).
You start by sauteing anchovies and smashed garlic for quite a while in plenty of olive oil. The anchovies dissolve almost immediately, creating a sort of brown sludge in which the crushed tomatoes, black pepper and salt (not too much salt!) will bubble for another 10-20 minutes. (This initial phase unexpectedly reminded me of Thai cuisine, which often combines garlic with fish sauce or shrimp paste.)
Now, make the pasta. (Your pasta water has already been boiling, right?) At the same time, add olives, capers and crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce and simmer for the last 10 minutes or so. This is why you have to be careful with the salt – the anchovies, olives and capers may well add enough salt on their own.
I garnished with fresh parsley and served with a salad of butter lettuce, hyssop and summer savory from the garden. This pasta is incredibly delicious and more-ish. Easy to make and easy to consume. It’s described as a winter dish by the Times, but it has summer written all over it for me.
Fans of Kurt Vile and/or record label blogs may be aware that a few months ago, Philadelphia’s Kurt Vile took part in hometown station WXPN’s Free At Noon concert series, which was broadcast on WXPN and on the web. If you missed that show and/or the broadcast, you’ll be delighted to know that a portion of the show will be airing on today’s installment of XPN’s World Cafe. It all starts at 2:00PM EDT, and can be heard on 88.5FM in Philly or at xpn.org.
