While this week’s release of Matador’s 19-band Austin/Denton compilation, ‘Casual Victim Pile’ has met with mostly favorable notices, some have rightly raised the question, “where’s the inflammatory, entirely unnecessary attacks on other genres / scenes etc.?”   So with that in mind, we commissioned Denny Schmickle to design (and Obsolete Industries to print) a limited edition poster for next week’s 3-night stand at Beerland.  Please, if 60 of these managed to completely obscure the entrance to the Saxon Pub,  rest assured this was purely the handiwork of an overzealous street team.

That said, a limited quantity of the above poster will be free with paid admission ($5) to next Thursday’s NIGHT ONE featuring Follow That Bird!, Dikes Of Holland, Kingdom Of Suicide Lovers, The Distant Seconds and The Persimmons.  On the subsequent Friday (Woven Bones, The Young, Wild America, Flesh Lights, Elvis, The No No No Hopes) and Saturday (Harlem, The Golden Boys, Bad Sports, Love Collector, The Stuffies, Lost Controls) nights, Alan B will be playing records between sets and our good friends from End Of An Ear Records will be peddling LP & CD copies of ‘CVP’.

(Wild America, photo taken from ballrogs kill’s Flickr stream)

WOXY.com co-sponsor of next week’s shows (along with Austinist), will be broadcasting live sessions from Follow That Bird! (February 4, 4:30pm), Wild America (February 5, 12:30pm) and Love Collector (February 6, 4:30pm) as part of their Lounge Acts series.

(Order ‘Casual Victim Pile’ on LP, CD or digital album from The Matador Store)

(Jose, Coomers and Curtis dealing with the elements at Fun Fun Fun last November. pic taken from Pooneh Ghana’s Flickr page)

In addition to a mid February trio of shows in New York City and a Feb. 6 appearance as part of Matador’s Casual Victim Pile revue at Austin’s Beerland, Harlem are pointing their compass in a western direction at the end of the month, previewing selections from their forthcoming ‘Hippies’ LP/CD/digital album.  Or so we hope.  We’re not really in the business of dictating repertoire, mostly because it’s embarrassing when we get the song titles wrong (admittedly, this doesn’t happen so often with Harlem, but keep in mind, they’re pretty new on the label).  A video for “Friendly Ghost” will be unveiled pretty soon, once we’ve received a thumbs-up from the extremely powerful Ghost Lobby that tends to control most of the entertainment business.

Thu, 2/18 – Phoenix AZ – Trunk Space (tickets)
Fri, 2/19 – Los Angeles CA – L’KEG Gallery
Sat, 2/20 – Los Angeles CA – Spaceland (tickets)
Sun, 2/21 – San Diego CA – Casbah (tickets)
Tue, 2/23 – San Jose CA – Blank Club (tickets)
Wed, 2/24 – San Francisco CA – Cafe Du Nord – Noise Pop (tickets)
Fri, 2/26 – Portland OR – Dantes (tickets)
Sat, 2/27 – Seattle WA – Funhouse (tickets)
Wed, 3/3 – Santa Cruz CA – The Crepe Place (tickets)
Thu, 3/4 – Costa Mesa CA – Detroit Bar
Fri., 3/5 – Tucson, AZ – Club Congress (tickets)

(Preorder ‘Hippies’ on LP or  CD for 15% before April 6 from The Matador Store – poster included)

“Friendly Ghost” (192k mp3)

(photo by Pooneh Ghana)

In addition to their previously mentioned February 6 show at Beerland as part of the Casual Victim Pile festivities, Harlem are heading to the greater NYC area for what our pal Cronos might call “a promo tour” in mid February. Other activities that week may or may not include radio sessions, meetings with foreign dignitaries and a visit to one of those “Fame” high schools (but only if we can obtain permission first).

Wed, 2/10 – Mercury Lounge (early show) (tickets)
Fri, 2/12 – Monster Island (with Frankie + The Outs, The Siberians)
Sat, 2/13 – Union Pool -(with Jemina Pearl)

‘Hippies’ (LP/CD/digital album) is in stores and/or available via popular download services April 6.

“Friendly Ghost” (192k mp3)

(top, bottom : insanely great comp. of Austin/Denton talent, entry point to cathedral of sophisticated entertainment)

For a couple of months now we’ve been in semi to full-on promo blather mode about our ‘Casual Victim Pile’ compilation 2XLP/CD, out January 26. As promised (with some gracious assistance from Austinist and WOXY)  all of the comp’s 19 bands  —- save for Tre Orsi (outta town) and The Teeners (split up) — are taking part in a 3 night series at Austin’s Beerland. Lineups below don’t necessarily reflect the running order (though they might), but we’re hopeful with a $5 cover each evening you’ll get your money’s worth.

Thursday Feb. 4

Follow That Bird!
Dikes Of Holland
Kingdom Of Suicide Lovers
The Distant Seconds
The Persimmons

Friday, Feb. 5

Woven Bones
The Young
Wild America
Flesh Lights
Elvis
The No No No Hopes

Saturday, Feb. 6

Harlem
The Golden Boys
Bad Sports
Love Collector
The Stuffies
Lost Controls

Persons living outside the Central Texas region are fully encouraged to fly in for the event —- you’re welcome to stay on my couch at one of Austin’s many economically priced hotels.  And keep in mind, the following Sunday is Super Bowl XLIV, and there’s almost certainly going to be a huge party at my house one of Austin’s many generic sports bars/taverns.

Failing that, four of CVP’s leading lights are playing Denton, TX on Sunday, January 17. Bad Sports, Tre Orsi, Follow That Bird! and Dikes Of Holland are joined by Teenage Cool Kids at Rubber Gloves. The following Monday is Martin Luther King Day, and if you’re hoping to make the trip from Austin, you can always catch a ride with me Greyhound ($28.40 roundtrip). But you can figure out your own travel plans – what am I, Expedia? ‘Casual Victim Pile’ is still available for preorders from The Matador Store, double vinyl for the discount price of $15.30, single CD for $8.50

(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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(photo by Pooneh Ghana)

As mentioned some months ago, the Austin, TX based trio  Harlem had their summer vacation canceled by Matador Records and they ended being forced to work long hours at Costa Mesa’s Distillery in an effort to produce a worthy followup to 2008’s ‘Free Drugs’. Apparently, there are laws against this kind of thing and eventually, the band had to return to their glamorous lifestyle of making club gigs seem like living room shows (and living room shows feel like club shows with better furniture and cheaper drinks).

Now that the dust has cleared, however, the resulting 16-song pop meisterwerk, recorded with the assistance of Mike McHugh, reveals the triumvirate of Coomers, Curtis and Jose in fine fettle. The gents really “knocked it out of the park” as ice hockey fans are so fond of saying, but we remain hopeful, if not confident this album will have great appeal even for those of you who’ve never laced ‘em up.   Harlem’s 2nd album, ‘Hippies’ hits North American record shops, farmers markets and digital storefronts on April 6 on the always popular LP, CD and MP3/FLAC configurations.  Here’s a taste ;

“Friendly Ghost” (192k mp3)

Though Harlem’s early 2010 dates will be announced soon, we’d be remiss in not mentioning they’re playing Austin’s Emo’s tonight in support of labelmate Jay Reatard, and again on December 17 at the Mohawk with Crystal Antlers.   There’s more news to follow very soon (pre-album 7″, videos to make, travel plans to book, tire pressures to check, etc.)

As noted in this very space some 5 weeks ago, on January 26, 2010, Matador will be releasing ‘Casual Victim Pile’, a double LP/single CD/19 track digital album, in which 17 Austin bands (plus a pair from Denton) are either (take your pick) exposed to a wider audience for the first time….or find themselves brutally exploited by a NYC entertainment monolith  after their friends’ labels have worked so hard to lay the groundwork.  Or maybe it’ll be some combination of the two.  Pretty hard to say this early.

In any event, it’s been a couple of decades since we’ve tried our hands at a regional compilation, and the last time we did this, the notion of an pre-album MP3 hadn’t yet come up.  No matter who we leave out of the mix on this post, it’s pretty hard to get a sense of the stylistic range represented on ‘CVP’, and while I’d hesistate to call the artists below polar opposites — their family trees are only one degree of separation apart — you might at least get a hint this project is not all-about-one-kinda-thing.

(photo by Will Slack)

Though Follow That Bird! have yet to hit either coast, they’ve ventured beyond state lines this year, and the trio’s new, one-sided 10″ EP on Monofonous Press probably won’t be available much longer. Long before last year’s addition of bassist Mitchell Tellstrom, the duo of Lauren Green and Tiffanie Lanmon had staked a claim as one of the nation’s more exciting live bands. These days, however, they’re improving so rapidly, I only pray it’s not a ‘Flowers For Algernon’ type-scenario that will end in tragedy.   “The Ghosts That Wake You” (160k – mp3) is the first song on side one of ‘Casual Victim Pile’ (or if you prefer, the first on a CD that only plays on one side)\

(photo by Shannon Bozeman)

Love Collector (formerly the Modern Fuckers) have one of the comp’s more glittering pedigrees (Ape Shits, Sex Advice, The Fells, The Dirty Sweets, Deadly Companions, old ties to CVP compatriots Lost Controls, The Stuffies and The Persimmons) and their most recent 7″, “My Baby Goes Waaah” b/w “Tell Me”, “Come Back” (Big Action) is yet another “blink and you won’t be able to buy it” classic single.  Recorded under the supervision of the Marked Men’s Mark Ryan, “First 48″ (160k mp3) — which may or may not remind you of this television program —  is the first song on side two of ‘CVP’.

As promised during the last news item about the comp.,  most of the album’s participants will be taking part in a 3-night stand we have planned for Austin’s Beerland on Thursday, February 4, Friday , February 5 and Saturday, February 6.  The full bill and running order will be announced soon.

There’s a ton more news surrounding the folks on this album, but space is almost as limited as your patience.  Tre Orsi’s new LP will be out in February , Bad Sports‘ self-titled debut album just came out on Douchemaster.  The Golden Boys‘ amazing 4th album, the Greg Ashley-assisted ‘Electric Wolfman’ is newly available from Daggerman.  While stores struggle to find copies of Woven Bones‘ new 12″, the trio are touring in preperation for a new full length on HoZac.  I could tell you a thing or two about the new Harlem album coming out in Spring 2010 but that’s supposed to be the subject of it’s own multi-paragraph news update (and it will be — sooner than you think).

“Casual Victim Pile’ is currently available for pre-orders from The Matador Store for the discount price of $15.30 for the double vinyl, $8.50 for the 19 song CD.

A few months ago, we not-so-casually mentioned the addition of Ted Leo & The Pharmacists to the Matador roster of Talented & Good-Looking Artistic Persons.  Admittedly, it was the bog standard Matador signing announcement.   Obligatory mention of Ted’s impressive back catalog.  Citation of Ted as one of our all-time favorite live artists and songwriters.  Oh-so-predictable references to Chipotle and Trump Realty.

Of course, that was before we heard the new album.  And make no mistake, ‘The Brutalist Bricks’ — available on LP, CD and via all popular digital storefronts March 9, 2010 — is one of those career-defining, “can you believe what you’re hearing?” kinda records that makes most other activity the day you first play it nearly impossible (in other words, we’re suggesting you shower before you open the package).   Recorded through 2009 at Brooklyn’s Seaside Lounge, ‘Bricks’ could be the most confident, kinetic and varied work in Ted’s canon, and considering his body of work until now, that’s no easy claim to make.   If you’ve seen Ted/Rx at any point in the past year, you’ve probably heard a few of the songs before, but the final studio versions pack a considerable punch. And here’s a punch to tide you over (we’d prefer you pay for the full beating) :

“Even Heroes Have To Die”  (192k MP3)

Upcoming dates :

(Ted Leo & The Pharmacists)

Wed, Dec 2nd – Philadelphia PA – First Unitarian Church
Thu, Dec 3rd – Washington DC – The Black Cat
Sat, Dec 5th – Cambridge MA – Middle East
Sun, Dec 6th – New York NY – Bowery Ballroom (sold out)

Thurs, December 10 – Spain – Madrid – Primavera Club ‘09
Friday, December 11 – Spain – Barcelona – Primavera Club ‘09
Saturday, December 12 – Spain – Barcelona – Primavera Club ‘09

Ted Leo (solo):

Mon., December 14 – UK – Brighton – Engine Room (with Dillinger Four + Hard Skin)
Tues., December 15 – UK – Canterbury – Bramleys
Weds, December 16 – UK – London – Brixton Windmill
Thurs., December 17  – UK – Kingston – New Slang
Fri., December 18  – UK – London – Grosvenor (with Wat Tyler)

Ted Leo -website, MySpace,  Twitter