(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)

Here’s a new song from Shearwater’s The Golden Archipelago (out Feb 15 UK / Feb 23 US). A haunting call to arms, it is entitled “Black Eyes:” Black Eyes (192k mp3)
	Photo by Kathryn Yu

Preorder the album with 15% discount plus limited-edition perfect-bound book.

At the same time we can announce the Shearwater Spring US tour:

Sat 3/13 AUSTIN, TX – Red 7 (Jonathan Meiburg solo, supporting Xiu Xiu)
Wed 3/24 ATLANTA, GA – The Earl – with Wye Oak
Thu 3/25 CHAPEL HILL, NC – Local 506 – with Wye Oak
Fri 3/26 WASHINGTON, DC – Rock N Roll Hotel – with Wye Oak
Sat 3/27 NEW YORK, NY – Bowery Ballroom- with Wye Oak
Sun 3/28 PHILADELPHIA, PA – Johnny Brenda’s- with Wye Oak
Tue 3/30 BOSTON, MA – T.T. the Bears – with Wye Oak
Wed 3/31 MONTREAL, QC – La Sala Rosa – with Wye Oak
Thu 4/1 TORONTO, ON – Lee’s Palace – with Wye Oak
Fri 4/2 ITHACA, NY – Castaways – with Wye Oak
Sun 4/4 CHICAGO, IL – Lincoln Hall – with Wye Oak
Tue 4/6 MINNEAPOLIS, MN – 400 Bar – with Wye Oak
Wed 4/7 GRINNELL, IA – Gardner Lounge at Grinnell College – with Wye Oak
Thu 4/8 LAWRENCE, KS – Bottleneck – with Wye Oak
Fri 4/9 NORMAN, OK – The Opolis – with Wye Oak
Thu 4/22 PHOENIX, AZ – Rhythm Room
Fri 4/23 TUCSON, AZ – Club Congress
Sat 4/24 LOS ANGELES, CA – Spaceland
Sun 4/25 SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Bottom Of The Hill
Tue 4/27 PORTLAND, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
Wed 4/28 VANCOUVER, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret
Thu 4/29 SEATTLE, WA – Triple Door
Fri 4/30 PULLMAN, WA – The BellTower
Sat 5/1 BOISE, ID – Neurolux
Tue 5/4 DENVER, CO – The Walnut Room
Fri 5/7 AUSTIN, TX – The Parish

* Some more information on “Black Eyes.” Every track on The Golden Archipelago is associated with an island somewhere around the world, in this case the buried South Pacific city of Nan Madol, off the eastern shore of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. The name means “spaces between” – it was actually a series of artificial islands linked by a network of canals, and inhabited until about 1500 A.D. The city was gradually abandoned and exists today in a state of decay and can only be visited by governmental permission.

The band have completed work on the limited-edition dossier that explains and enlarges upon the themes of the album. Contents range from the national anthem of the displaced Bikini Atoll islanders to photos of isolated islands where animals remain unafraid of human beings. The dossier is 73 full-color 8 1/2 X 10″ sheets in a stamped envelope. You still have to the end of January to donate to secure your own copy (via kickstarter.com).

shearwatermusic.com

A new year, a new single from Girls. Laura is probably our favorite track from the album. Such a ripper! At this point, you’ve probably heard enough of us going on and on about our love for this thing so just know that the 7″ comes with an exclusive b-side, the haunting and heartbreaking “Oh, Boy”.

Laura (256k mp3)
Laura (FLAC)

Pre-order from the Matador Store and get a free 3″ Girls button, previously available only at shows and a few days during CMJ.

Pre-order the single HERE from the Matador Store
Order “Album” HERE

Girls are also embarking on yet another US tour with some of our favorite bands right now, Magic Kids, Smith Westerns and Hunx and His Punx. A real family jam. The tour culminates Valentines Day, which features all four bands and marks the almost two-year anniversary of Girls’ first show ever at Cafe Du Nord. Just found this old post from back in the day and got a little teary-eyed.

Mon 1/25 Detroit Bar. Costa Mesa, CA $@
Tue 1/26 Club Congress. Tucson, AZ $@
Wed 1/27 The Launchpad. Aburquerque, NM $@
Fri 1/29 The Parish. Austin, TX *@
Sat 1/30 House of Blues. Dallas, TX *@
Sun 1/31 Walter’s On Washington. Houston, TX *@
Tue 2/2 One Eyed Jacks. New Orleans, LA *@
Thu 2/4 Bottletree. Birmingham, AL *@
Fri 2/5 The Earl. Atlanta, GA *@
Sat 2/6 Exit/In. Nashville, TN *@
Sun 2/7 The Gargoyle. St. Louis, MO *@
Mon 2/8 The Blue Note. Columbia, MO *@
Wed 2/10 Bluebird Theater. Denver, CO *@
Fri 2/12 Urban Lounge. Salt Lake City, UT *@
Sun 2/14 Great American Music Hall. San Francisco, CA *@$

* w/Magic Kids
$ w/Hunx and His Punx
@ w/Smith Westerns

(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.

“The Golden Archipelago” is the third album in a triptych of mindblowingly beautiful, dense and ambitious excursions about man’s impact on the natural world from Austin’s SHEARWATER.

This time singer-songwriter Jonathan Meiburg turns his attention to life on islands – a world of lushness and austerity, silence and sudden cataclysms. From rising sea levels to displaced populations, Meiburg travels from the Falklands to Madgascar, from the Bikini Atoll to the Tierra Del Fuego.

The music matches the grandeur and melancholy of its subject matter. This is a true album in the larger sense of the word. Meiburg’s soaring vocals and complex song structures recall opuses like Kate Bush’s “Hounds Of Love,” Hüsker Dü’s “Zen Arcade” and classic Pink Floyd.

The CD comes packaged with a 50-page perfect-bound book that is a set of extracts from a dossier of records, photos, regulations and images collected by Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg. The LP contains 2 bonus tracks & an MP3 download coupon (that includes the album + PDF of the dossier). (Note: LP pre-orders will ALSO receive a copy of the CD-sized perfect bound book.)

Serious researchers will have a way to obtain the actual, full-sized, full-color 73-page dossier in its special envelope – this will be announced soon, so keep your eyes on this space.

Preorder the album, and get a 15% discount plus the extras noted above.

Below is the first MP3 from The Golden Archipelago, “Castaways.” You can just play the MP3, or you can download a zip file containing either a 256K MP3 or a FLAC of the track, along with a digital single artwork and some images from book extracts of the dossier:

Castaways (192k mp3)

Castaways (zipfile of 256k mp3, single artwork, dossier pages)

Castaways (zipfile of FLAC, single artwork, dossier pages)

Shearwater will be touring Europe and the US the spring. US dates still to be announced; European dates are as follows:

17 Feb: Melkweg – Amsterdam (NL)
18 Feb: Botanique – Brussel (B)
19 Feb: Le Nouveau Casino – Paris (F)
20 Feb: La Route du Rock winter edition @ L’Omnibus – Saint-Malô (F)
21 Feb: The Freebutt – Brighton (UK)
22 Feb: The Brudenell Social Club – Leeds (UK)
23 Feb: Captains Rest – Glasgow (UK)
25 Feb: Scala – London (UK)
26 Feb: 4AD – Diksmuide (B)
27 Feb: Knust – Hamburg (D)
28 Feb: Magnet club – Berlin (D)

2 Mar: Rote Sonne – Munich (D)
3 Mar: L’Usine (PTR) – Geneva (CH)
4 Mar: Nouveau Monde – Fribourg (CH)
5 Mar: La Casa 139 – Milan (I)

shearwatermusic.com
matadorrecords.com/shearwater

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

Here is the first MP3 from Fucked Up’s 25-song COUPLE TRACKS singles compilation, coming out January 26.

Neat Parts (192k mp3)

originally released as the B-side to the “Triumph Of Life” 7″ (Vice/Jade Tree, 2006)

Here is what the band has to say about the song in the extensive liner notes:

“Neat Parts contains an acoustic guitar. The only thing you can do with a guitar that’s more embarrassing than sitting in a studio with headphones on playing an acoustic guitar, is riding the subway with one strapped to your back so everyone knows you are going to band practice. Otherwise this is a snappy little bside. The title doesn’t mean anything, it just sounds cool. I think we might have seen it written on the wall at our practice space. The drum beat from this song and ‘Teenage Problems’ is taken from the Undertones song ‘My Perfect Cousin.’”

To confuse matters slightly, Fucked Up will be releasing a 7″ entitled “Couple Tracks” / “Holden” on the same day as the comp. These are two brand-new songs. Although the cover image will be identical to the album, the packaging is going to be a little bit unusual – we’ll get into that closer to release day.

There will be special ways to get the 7″ both from us (including if you’ve preordered already) and from select indie retailers, to be announced shortly. We’ll also have something to announce about getting your hands on some rare original 7″es collected on the comp. For now, your best bet is to preorder the album, currently with a 15% discount – more details coming soon: UPDATE – YOU CAN NOW PREORDER THE SINGLE AS A PREORDER BUNDLE WITH THE ALBUM, CLICK THE LINK BELOW:

Preorder the album (with full details on track listing).

Tons of shows coming up in Europe starting this week, and North America in February:

Wed 25 Nov 2009 – London, UK – Barfly
Thu 26 Nov 2009 – London, UK – Barfly
Fri 27 Nov 2009 – Brussels, Belgium – Le Botanique
Sat 28 Nov 2009 – Urecht, Holland – Ekko ‘Le Guess Who Festival’
Sun 29 Nov 2009 – Leipzig, Germany – Conne Island
Mon 30 Nov 2009 – Krakow, Poland – Drukarnia
Tue 01 Dec 2009 – Vienna, Austria – Arena
Wed 02 Dec 2009 – Graz, Austria – PPC
Thu 03 Dec 2009 – Dusseldorf, Germany – Rotkompot
Sat 05 Dec 2009 – Minehead, UK – All Tomorrows Parties
Tue 23 Feb 2010 – St. Catherines, ON – L3 Nightclub w/ Leatherface

(ADDENDUM : the following February dates with Kurt Vile have just been confirmed)

Fri-Feb-12 Oberlin, OH The ‘Sco (Dionysus Disco) / Oberlin College
Sat-Feb-13 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
Sun-Feb-14 Bloomington, IN Video Saloon
Mon-Feb-15 Newport, KY Southgate House
Tue-Feb-16 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
Wed-Feb-17 Philadelphia, PA Barbary
Thu-Feb-18 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s
Fri-Feb-19 Brooklyn, NY Europa
Sat-Feb-20 Boston, MA Middle East Downstairs)

matadorrecords.com/fucked_up
lookingforgold.blogspot.com