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 previously reported by our buddies over at ATP you’re in for a treat if you happen to be in London this new years eve as there’s an amazing gig with Sonic Youth headlining a 4-band bill. Make sure to get down there early to see Factory Floor opening the party, followed by The Pop Group and the ‘ATP house band’ Shellac, with Mr Stuart Braithwaite spinning records between sets.
Even though we’d been convinced that all that slaving away at the myriad marketing gimmicks, “promo opportunities” and general suffering we put bands through would leave us with some very exhausted talent, it turns out that these guys just can’t stop doing thangs… read on to see what some of our beloved have been up to.
Though she’s on tour with the New Pornographers, as we speak, Kathryn Calder just put the finishing touches on her new solo record. On August 11 the world’ll be treated to ‘Are You My Mother?’ which features an all-star band featuring Neko, Kurt and Todd from The New Pornographers and a handful of other Canadian musical luminaries. Check File Under: Music for more info.
Mogwaiwill be releasing the pretty stunning looking live LP entitled, ‘Special Moves’to coincide with the release of their first live film ‘Burning’, which was filmed in Brooklyn during the band’s tour in support of ‘The Hawk Is Howling’ in April of 2009. Check Mogwai’s site for info on ordering the record and where you can catch screenings of ‘Burning’.
Following the release of their live-film, Dead Meadow released their second live album ‘Three Kings’ and soundtrack to aforementioned film, on the Xemu label in April.
Matmos‘ Drew Daniel and Martin Schmitt have teamed up with So Percussion on a collaboration entitled ‘Treasure State‘ — expect to have your mind twisted on July 8. Cantaloupe Records sez: “The record had a complex gestation period: at the invitation of Brett Allen, the members of Matmos and So Percussion went to the SnowGhost Studios in Whitefish, Montana– the Treasure State which gives the album its title– and collaboratively generated the bulk of the songs. San Francisco plunderphonicist Wobbly then chopped and edited the results on several tracks, and finally, with frequent interventions from Matmos’ M. C. Schmidt, “fifth” So Percussion member and producer Lawson White overdubbed extra elements, processed, and mixed the results.” There’s a handful of live dates, to boot!
While on their recent US tour, Mogwai’s Barry Burns had a chance to pop into a few places to flex his DJing muscles. He made it over to Viva-Radio’s Brooklyn studio on the day of the one of the band’s Music Hall show to record a DJ set and have a chat with Ted Shumaker. The results can be heard in all their glory next week.
[Photo of Mogwai at the Music Hall of Williamsburg last night by Ryan Muir]
Tonights’ Music Hall of Williamsburg show is the second of Mogwai’s three sold out shows in Brooklyn. They’re taking some time while in town to DJ at some nearby radio stations
Tonight at 6:30PM EST, tune into WNYU‘s New Afternoon Show for a DJ set and interview with Stuart. WNYU can be found on 89.1 for listeners in the New York City and streaming at www.wnyu.org for the rest.
Tomorrow afternoon, Stuart will bring his playlist to East Village Radio, starting at 2:30 PM EST.
Don’t miss it!
Catch Mogwai on their remaining dates and take advantage of the Hawk Is Howling CD+DVD/ticket bundle while you still can.
April
Tuesday 28 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg
Wednesday 29 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg May
Friday 01 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre
Saturday 02 Northampton, MA Pearl Street
Sunday 03 Montreal, QC Metropolis
Monday 04 Toronto, ON The Phoenix
Tuesday 05 Buffalo, NY The Tralf Music Hall
Wednesday 06 Pontiac, MI Crofoot Ballroom
Friday 08 Chicago, IL Congress Theater
Saturday 09 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
Sunday 10 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Monday 11 Omaha, NE Slowdown
Tuesday 12 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
Wednesday 13 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
Friday 15 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
Saturday 16 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theatre
Sunday 17 San Francisco, CA Grand Ballroom
We got pretty excited about the upcoming Mogwai tour so we created a special bundle for those of you who haven’t picked up The Hawk Is Howling yet.
Click HERE or on the Ticket Hawk (scalper?) above to purchase the bundle. You will receive a ticket for the Mogwai show of your choice and receive the deluxe CD/DVD version of The Hawk Is Howling in your mailbox. You get the ticket you want for the regular price and the album you need with a generous discount. Make sure to print out your order confirmation and bring it with you to the show, you’ll be on the Matador guest list for the night!
April
Monday 20 Houston, TX Numbers
Tuesday 21 New Orleans, LA Republic
Wednesday 22 Birmingham, AL Workplay
Thursday 23 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
Friday 24 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
Saturday 25 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero Theater
Monday 27 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg
Tuesday 28 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg
Wednesday 29 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg May
Friday 01 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre
Saturday 02 Northampton, MA Pearl Street
Sunday 03 Montreal, QC Metropolis
Monday 04 Toronto, ON The Phoenix
Tuesday 05 Buffalo, NY The Tralf Music Hall
Wednesday 06 Pontiac, MI Crofoot Ballroom
Friday 08 Chicago, IL Congress Theater
Saturday 09 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
Sunday 10 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Monday 11 Omaha, NE Slowdown
Tuesday 12 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
Wednesday 13 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
Friday 15 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
Saturday 16 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theatre
Sunday 17 San Francisco, CA Grand Ballroom
Crazy rock fest season is most def. upon us, and us such, you can look forward to the Matablog being routinely scooped this spring and summer by concert promoters and other rockblogs announcing which of our bands are playing in a big field somewhere. Today’s joyous news has Shearwater playing the 2nd edition of the All Points West festival (Liberty State Park, NJ) on July 31, on a bill topped by the Beastie Boys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Vampire Weekend.
Two days later, Mogwai — about to start a US tour two weeks from today in Houston — will play the Sunday, August 2 version of APW II , on a bill headlined by Coldplay, Echo & The Bunnymen and MGMT.
Finally, we’ve neglected to mention previously that Shearwater are playing Austin, TX tomorrow night (March 31) in support of Neko Case at Stubb’s.
This coming Tuesday, the limited-edition double vinyl gatefold 10″ EP from Cat Power hits the stores. Entitled Dark End Of The Street, it includes six bewitching cover songs from the Jukebox sessions and not included on that album. This would make a wonderful Christmas or Hannukah present for someone who likes gatefold covers, or cover songs, and it’s available for preorder now.
We have a lot of other deluxe packages from this year appropriate for stocking-stuffers or under-the-tree action. The deluxe 44-song, 48-page book, die-cut slipcase edition of Pavement’s Brighten The Corners, for example (and if you preorder now, you can still – just – get the ultra-limited live vinyl bonus LP, exclusive to this release). Two weeks ago we released Belle and Sebastian’s justly acclaimed BBC Sessions, with essential radio performances from their early 1996-2001 period. The deluxe version of the CD comes with a second disc containing a complete concert in Belfast from December 2001. The set includes covers of I’m Waiting For The Man, The Boys Are Back In Town and Here Comes The Sun. This is strictly limited and once it goes, it’s gone.
There’s also the deluxe version of the Mogwai’s latest, The Hawk Is Howling, which comes with a bonus DVD containing two videos for “Batcat” (including one nightmarish one directed by Dominic Hailstone of Chris Cunningham / Aphex Twin video fame), and a short documentary about the band by Vincent Moon.
And of course, last March, we released to-die-for versions of the three original Mission Of Burma albums on Ace of Hearts. We’ve banged on enough about the real all-analog mastering from the original tapes, the precious live footage from the late ’70s and early ’80s, the gatefold sleeves on the vinyl, and the books with interviews and photos and more. We’re prouder of these packages than any other reissue we’ve ever done. All three are available for a very short time longer in a vinyl bundle deal for 50 bucks.
There are also a few deluxe copies of Cat Power’s Jukebox left with the gatefold foil digipak and second CD. Then there’s just about every vinyl release from this year, nearly all printed at Stoughton and pressed on RTI HQ180 vinyl. Single LPs here and double LPs here.
“Zidane : A Twenty-First Century Portrait”, the feature length documentary by Douglas Gordon and Philppe Parreno, is being shown from tomorrow through October 30 at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music. As lovers of between-Matador-releases are well aware, Mogwai provided the original soundtrack for this stunning visual work.
In 2006, the Frenchman Zinédine Zidane, the most gifted—and certainly the most enigmatic—of recent soccer players, received a suitably unusual tribute. “Zidane: A Twenty-first Century Portrait,” screening at Anthology Film Archives and at BAM Oct. 24-30, is a documentary directed by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno and filmed by the great Darius Khondji. It focusses on Zidane alone during a match in April, 2005, between his club at the time, Real Madrid, and Villarreal. There is no commentary, no buildup, nothing about his career or his Algerian background. We are granted only fleeting opportunities to observe the patterns of the game; most of the movie tracks its man in solitude as he bides his time and bursts into activity. Even when he is ejected near the end, for his role in a brawl, we barely see the incident—all of which will be exasperating, to filmgoers and soccer fans alike. Allow yourself to submit to the film’s design, however, to the scuffling roar of its recorded sound and the pulse of its music, and, like a session of hypnotherapy, it may just work its magic. – Anthony Lane, The New Yorker
Dead Meadow shot by 
