(sure, we’re allowed to have an annual holiday party, but who’s supposed to pay for the cleanup?)

Once upon a time — when the bulk of our internet activity was longer than 140 characters — the Matador website feature periodic news updates (almost all of ‘em brutally late in arrival), along with an informal selection of staff and roster listening favorites. Said feature fell by the wayside when we made the fateful transition to the Matablog some 3 1/2 years ago. But fuck it, it’s the holiday season, and what better way to embrace the spirit of sharing than with a ferocious onslaught of grandstanding, oneupmanship and elitist self-fellatio?

But enough about our plans for Matador’s 21st Anniversary celebrations.  Without further Freddy Adu, here’s an impressive array of ‘09/decade favorite records, events & things from some of your most beloved Matador artists and the people who enable them. Dig in, after the jump :

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Sonic Youth, Andrew “Dice” Clay, there have been a lot of amazing shows in the past few days. Hickory-dickory-dock, folksss…

As readers of America’s most popular music blog have probably already heard, yours truly had a particularly unpleasant Monday night/Tuesday morning ; to wit, my South Austin home completely burned to the ground. Everything I owned — along with the possessions of 2 roommates/dear friends, was lost in the blaze.

Over the past two days, I’ve been truly humbled and touched by how many of you — friends and strangers alike — have reached out to offer support, a place to crash, something to eat, etc. Sadly, I can say that such expressions of humanity were not unanimous.

As readers of America’s 2nd or 3rd most popular record label blog are probably aware, I’ve made a frequent practice at poking fun at Victory Records and the brains behind the operation, Tony Brummel.

Earlier today I received the following e-mail message from someone claiming to be Brummel ;

I’ve got to admit, I had previously underestimated Brummel. Not only would I have bet real money he couldn’t spell karma if you spotted him the K-A-R, but he’s even capable of attaching a .gif all by himself. But here’s the serious conclusion you can take away from this ill-advised attempt at a rejoinder ; Brummel considers my watching my home and possessions turned to ashes karmic payback for….criticism of his record label? An innocent pet burning to death is acceptable payback for mocking his dopey-as-fuck records, ads and business practices?

If you’re a fan of Victory or the label’s bands, I’ve got no quarrel with you. We all like what we like and no one needs to apologize for that not even fans of these schmucks. Honestly, though I can’t speak on behalf of his current or former roster (or employees),  I don’t think Tony Victory’s aesthetic crimes are deserving of anything other than good old fashioned ribbing.  What he expressed to me today, however, is another story.  I think he deserves to have it widely circulated. Brummel can rub himself raw at the thought of my suffering personal or material loss ; if something similar happens to him, I’ll be the first person to ship Tony a box of good records.  They might be the first decent ones he’s ever heard.

hi

hi

(work crews feverishly prepare for the announcement of just what we’ve been watching and eating in 2008)

Every December I send out a rambling, somewhat desperate electronic message to the Matador artist roster (well, most of ‘em) along w/ label staff and our Beggars’ colleagues, begging for their favorite people/places/things/records/memories from the year about to conclude. We’ve got our longest list of best-of’s so far, though keep in mind, if Gabe and Dave’s submissions were edited, we’d be back to our mid ’90’s brevity all over again. Read ‘em and weep, after the jump – G.C.

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This just in from the Monte RV depot in Linden, NJ:

Just leaving linden nj to pick up the hospitality vehicle el monte calls the “jamboree” – an appropriate name for the upcoming festivities we soon will encounter.

-Miwa

Look for this beast parked out front of the Rogan Store all day.

If you missed this truly amazing evening with Shearwater, or just want to see it over and over the show is now readily available. The wonderful people at Baeble Music recorded it and are streaming the first set in which they played Rook in it’s entirety. Here’s a preview of show with the band playing Leviathan, Bound.  Full set can be enjoyed here.

You’ve probably already heard about Jay-Z’s mock tribute to Oasis’ “Wonderwall” at the Glastonbury Festival this past Saturday night. While rock blogs across the globe are showing the same YouTube clip from the BBC3’s footage of the event, I’m pleased to say the Matablog editorial staff have discovered secret video of the former Marcy Projects product leading his all-star band through an early morning rehearsal.

Here is a taster of how we are going to celebrate when the Earles and Jensen Soundscans accelerate, this is just the tip of the iceberg wait till they totally take off then our pecks will really be glistening

If I had found it at the beginning of the set, I’m not sure I would have carried on. It was a banana skin, thrown at my feet as I played last weekend’s Download festival. On the outside, someone had written “Bizzle you black cunt”. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Being who I am, I’d probably do it again. I’m pretty sure my DJ wouldn’t though. We’re used to getting looks and things like that when we tour middle England, six black guys getting out of a van, you can see they’re looking at you and getting defensive. That can get frustrating, but you deal with it. This was different. Why did they have to bring my race into it? Lethal Bizzle, Guardian Music Blog, 6/20/08

Late to posting this: a couple of months ago I became intrigued by John Thorne’s writing on poached chicken, in his first book, Simple Cooking. He modifies a recipe by Barbara Tropp, where you submerse an entire chicken in boiling water, cover it, turn off the heat, wait for two hours and then eat. Thorne uses a Reynolds oven-proof bag (first time I’d come across this item, but it was available at my local supermarket), and increases the cooking time to three hours. You rub the chicken with olive oil and herbs, put it in the bag, and then suck all the air out of the bag, or at least as much as possible. I’m not a huge fan of sucking on a bag containing a raw chicken, but it is an absolute must since the chicken will not submerge otherwise.

Do not attempt this recipe if you like attractive food. The chicken will emerge pallid and sweaty, though “meltingly tender” and, as Thorne puts it, “full of its own flavor.”

I know for me, every day is Record Store Day, but now there is an official day to celebrate independently owned record stores and it is this Saturday, April 19th! RECORD STORE DAY!

The following bands/members will be participating by:
The New Pornographers – John – DJing at Vintage Vinyl (St. Louis, MO) @ 3:00
Times New Viking – Adam – DJing at Used Kids Records (Columbus, OH) throughout the day between bands
The Cave Singers- In-store performance at CD World (Eugene, OR) @ 3:00
Dead Meadow – Jason – DJing at Other Music (NYC) @ 3:00

Also, this is a list of the very special, very limited edition items we produced specifically for this day:
Matador Turntable Slipmats
Stephen Malkmus – Cold Son 10″
FREE Matador Sampler CD

No square inch of scenery left to chew, no square inch of Shatner’s ass to kiss, and no clips of the interview on YouTube yet, but one can enjoy Mike Patton exploring everything that happened in music between The Infectious Grooves and Linkin Park!

The Cave Singers will be performing at End of an Ear on Friday, Oct. 19th at 5pm. The performance is free to all so please come enjoy!

(photograph by jenny j.)

The Cave Singers at End of an Ear
Friday, 10/19 at 5pm
2209 South First Street
Austin, TX

You can also catch them later that night at Emo’s, supporting Black Mountain.

Sonic Boom Records in Seattle is turning 10 years old this month and A.C. Newman will be joining in the celebration. This Saturday, Sept. 15th at 6pm, A.C. Newman will be DJ-ing down at the Sonic Boom Capitol Hill store.  Get down.

A.C. Newman at Sonic Boom Records

Saturday, Sept. 15th at 6PM 

514 15th Ave. E.

206.568.BOOM 

Jennifer O'Connor will be playing a free in-store this Thursday, August 16th at the newly renovated Lounge at Sound Fix Records in Brooklyn.  She is set to play at 9:15 that evening.

Jennifer O'Connor at Sound Fix Records
Thursday, 8/16 @ 9:15pm
110 Bedford Ave.
Brooklyn, NY

Jonathan Meiburg and Thor Harris of Shearwater have been given the opportunity to play a free, all ages in-store performance at Slow Train in Salt Lake City next Thursday, June 28th at 6pm sharp.  

Yes, the fine men of Matmos will once again grace these shores (England, that is) on July 1st for a date in the Royal Festival Hall with our old pal Cornelius.

More information can be found here.

And obviously, this will be nothing less than MIND-BLOWING. 

Two free in-stores, two cities, same time.  Love Of Diagrams will be performing a free, all ages show at Amoeba Music in San Francisco this Saturday at 4pm.  Meanwhile, Jonathan Meiburg and Thor Harris of Shearwater will performing at End Of An Ear in Austin.

(Shearwater pic swiped fromPitchfork) 

Simultaneous action, Saturday, April 14th at 4pm.

Love of Diagrams at Amoeba Music, 1855 Haight St., San Francisco CA 94117

Shearwater at End Of An Ear, 2209 South First St., Austin TX 78704

Matmos, along with Jay Lesser, will be playing at the Donau Festival in Austria in a couple of weeks time. 

What kind of festival is it? Well, it's being curated by David Tibet, so I imagine it'll be very similar to Lollapalooza. The website is here.

EDIT: Actually guys, I've never been to Lollapalooza. Fennesz, SUNN O))), Nurse With Wound, Khan, Six Organs of Admittance – it's all that kind of thing, right?  

EDIT: Oh, maybe a more accurate comparison would be like a more fun No Fun Fest. So, fun, then. 

EDIT: By 'fun', I mean PUNISHING NOIZE. And The Notwist.  

Proving that nothing in Ms Marshall's world is predictable, we've just heard that she will be playing a 2nd show at the Triptych Festival in Glasgow:

Thursday 26th April,

Venue: The Ferry 25 Anderston Quay, Glasgow.

www.triptychfestival.com

Chan will be joined at this show by Dirty Delta Blues associate, Mr Judah Bauer.

 Love Of Diagrams seem to have brought the spring with them, despite the fact that they arrived in London after a bitterly cold few days in New York.  The sun was shining for their recent press trip and couple of London shows.  The sun is still shining but who knows for how long.  Love of Diagrams are still here but we do know for how long.  They play again in Huddersfield at Club NME on March 20, On Paris on March 23 at La Fleche D’Or, and Nottingham’s Stealth Club on the 24th.  Then they head back to the States for 30 dates with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.  

The intrepid antipodeans arrived in London having had very little sleep during their pre-album US jaunt so went eagerly to bed in the (not-so) lavish Beggars flat, which is decked out with signed Rolling Stones posters, Bauhaus picture disks, a dubious horror DVD collection and bunk beds.  In the middle of the night a mighty thump was heard.  Watching too many scary movies again kids?  Well, erm, no.  It was the sound of vocalist/bassist Antonia falling from the top bunk and landing on her arm during an episode of attempted sleepwalking.

Despite having a sore wrist, Antonia still managed to be able to move her fingers deftly enough to deliver a blinding set at new trendy London club Chalk at The Scala on Saturday March 10th.  The audience was duly impressed by the trio’s tight set and brayed for more once it was over.  It was also my first time seeing the band and the thing that struck me was how ‘punk’ they sounded.  The great songs on the records sound even more intense and blistering live, and so catchy!  I’ve spent the last week with ‘Double’ and ‘Pace Or the Patience’ lodged in my brain… hummm hummm hum hum…

Slightly shaken and disturbed after seeing the new David Lynch flick “Inland Empire”, Love Of Diagrams hit the stage at The Hoxton Bar And Grill on Monday with another rip-roaring set.  A room filled with loyal fans and a few Australians were delighted to have LOD all to themselves, although a few technical hitches cut the set short and my friend nearly yelled himself hoarse trying to get them to return to play “No Way Out.”  Ah well.  There’s always tomorrow.

Tomorrow came and went but not before Love Of Diagrams played the third gig of the week to complete the triangle of shows (if we’re speaking diagrammatically) at Artrocker at the Buffalo Bar.  A packed room provided the most appreciative audience so far.  I stood by the speaker so it sounded very LOUD, in a GOOD way.  They played another brilliant set, the crowd went wild and again left us wanting more.  Can’t wait to see them again.  Hopefully they’ll be back A LOT.
 

Yes, we have the dates you've all been waiting for….it's Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues in Europe.

wed 25th – April: Glasgow The Ferry (actually this is a solo show)

fri 27 – 29th April:  All Tomorrow's Parties Festival, Minehead

tue 01 – May: London The Forum
wed 02 – May: Brussels Royal Circus
thu 03 – May: Eindhoven Effenaar
fri 04 – May: Heidelberg Karlstorbahnhof
sat 05 – May: Luzern Boa
sun 06 – May: Milan Magazzini
mon 07 – May: Bologna Estragon
tue 08 – May: Rome Piper
wed 09 – May: Madrid Joy Eslava
thu 10 – May: Dublin Tripod

These will all, without exception, be fantastic.