Certainly no stranger to WFMU-appearances, Ted Leo will perform a solo set on the live broadcast of The Cherry Blossom Clinic direct from the WFMU Record Fair, this Saturday at 4:30 PM EST.

Tune in at wfmu.org or better yet, see Ted LIVE at the Metropolitan Pavilion while you scope out the wares of some of the finest record vendors in the world.

WFMU Record Fair
Metropolitan Pavilion (125 W. 18th St)
Sat, Oct 23
4:30pm

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists will also be playing a handful of dates in December including the aforementioned show with the New Pornographers in NYC.

Thu, Dec 2 – Northampton MA – Pearl St
Fri, Dec 3 – Pawtucket RI – The Met Cafe
Sat, Dec 4 – Lemoyne PA – Champion Ship
Mon, Dec 6 – New York NY – Terminal 5 (with the New Pornographers)
Tue, Dec 7 – Baltimore MD – GSpot (with Heks Orkest)
Wed, Dec 8 – Richmond VA – Strange Matter (with Heks Orkest)

photo from the ACL Festival flickr

God knows there’s a bunch of fun stuff going on during the annual College Music Journal Music Marathon, but we want to make sure everyone’s aware that we, along with the other Beggars Group labels — True Panther, 4AD, Rough Trade, XL and Young Turks — AND our buddies at Sub Pop, are going to be throwing a bit of a rager this Thursday, October 21, from 10pm to 4am. All the info is above on the flyer, and below for those of you on dial-up connections.

4AD/Matador/Rough Trade/Sub Pop/True Panther/XL/Young Turks CMJ Party

Thursday, October 21

10pm to 4am

Stanton Public (17 Stanton Street, btw. Bowery and Chrystie)

FREE, no RSVP needed

Ages 21 and up

DJ sets by Lemonade, True Panther Soundsystem, Dave Martin (Matador Records) and Gerard Cosloy (Matador Records), plus special guests (you never know who’ll show up to these things)

Drinks courtesy of PBR

Giveaways from Converse

Free t-shirts from the lovely folks at I Buy Music

Don’t miss it!

The wheels on the Magic Kids tour bus keep on turning during their super busy European tour and just to keep them a little more on their toes we can announce they’ll be playing an extra London show. They now headline the NME Radar show at Upstairs at The Garage on the 27th of October, with support coming from the much-hyped new band Islet. A full list of all their upcoming European shows are below, they’ll also be recording a BBC radio session at Madia Vale while we have them here too!

(photo taken from coldengrey‘s Flickr)

Last month, an audience of lucky Austinites was witness to a live performance of favorites both new and old by Shearwater in the Austin City Limits studio, part of the “KUT Live” series sponsored by, you guessed it, Austin’s own KUT. Those both in and out of Austin who missed out at the time can hear the performance when KUT broadcasts it tonight at 9:00PM EDT/8:00PM CDT. KUT is located at 90.5 on your Austin radio dial, and if this whole Internet thing has caught your fancy then you can also listen online in a variety of ways. Sadly, you will have to just imagine the snazzy Texas Capitol Building backdrop, as seen above.

Photo by Jason Creps

In just under half an hour, The New Pornographers will be going live on the KCRW airwaves as today’s guests on Morning Becomes Eclectic. Tune in at 89.9FM, or online at kcrw.org to hear songs from their new album, Together.

Don’t forget that Carl and the gang have more tour dates coming up. Catch them if you can:

July
Monday 19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box w/Imaad Wasif, The Dodos
Tuesday 20 – Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box w/Imaad Wasif, The Dodos
Wednesday 21 - Tuscon, AZ – Rialto Theatre w/Imaad Wasif, The Dodos
Friday 23 - Austin, TX – Stubb’s BBQ
Saturday 24 – Dallas, TX – The Showroom at Palladium
Sunday 25 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
Monday 26 – Lawrence, KS – Liberty Hall
Wednesday 28 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
Thursday 29 – Salt Lake City, UT – Twilight Concert Series
Friday 30 - Boise, ID – Egyptian Theatre

August
Wednesday 04 - Madison, WI – Orpheum Theatre

Finally, if you have yet to pick up your very own copy of Together, there’s no time like the present.

Photo by Shawn Brackbill

Ted Leo and his band of merry New Jerseyites (taking liberties, yes…) will take over radioland today at 2:30PM EDT when they bring their own brand of punk genius to WNYC’s Soundcheck with John Schaefer. If you like to rock it old school, tune in on 93.9FM (or REALLY old school on 820AM) in the New York City area. If you fancy yourself more of a Web 2.0 type of person, then feel free to click on over to WNYC’s website in order to hear what is sure to be an amazing session.

photo by Pooneh Ghana

The gentlemen of Harlem return to the airwaves today with a live KXLU session airing today at 1:00PM EDT / 10:00AM PDT on the Mike & Jon Show. If you’re in the City of Angels you can tune in at 88.9FM on your radio dial; otherwise, tune to kxlu.com on your Internet dial.

Don’t forget that Harlem have a slew of upcoming tour dates, as seen below.

July
Friday 09 - Los Angeles, CA – Echo (Part Time Punks)
Saturday 10 – San Diego, CA – Bar Pink
Tuesday 13 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club w/The Dead Weather
Wednesday 14 - Boston, MA – House of Blues Boston w/The Dead Weather
Saturday 17 – Brooklyn, NY – Siren Fest
Monday 19 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues San Diego w/The Dead Weather
Wednesday 21 - Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium w/The Dead Weather
Thursday 22 – San Francisco, CA – Warfield Theatre w/The Dead Weather
Saturday 24 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom w/The Dead Weather
Sunday 25 – Seattle, WA – Capitol Hill Block Party Festival w/The Dead Weather
Monday 26 – Billings, MT – Babcock Theatre w/The Dead Weather
Wednesday 28 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue w/The Dead Weather
Thursday 29 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave w/The Dead Weather
Friday 30 - Chicago, IL – The Congress Theater w/The Dead Weather
Saturday 31 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore – Detroit w/The Dead Weather

August
Monday 02 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live! w/The Dead Weather
Tuesday 03 – Brooklyn, NY – Prospect Park Bandshell – Celebrate Brooklyn w/The Dead Weather
Saturday 07 – Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza & Empty Bottle w/Wavves

September
Thursday 09-11 – Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch Fest

Photo by Guy Eppel

Our very own man of the world Pink Eyes will be a guest on WNYC’s Soundcheck today, weighing in on Arizona’s controversial, and to co-opt Pink Eyes’ band name, fucked up new legislation. He wrote an op-ed piece for Stereogum that you can read here and then at 2PM EDT tune in to hear him debate his stance. For you NYC readers and listeners, WNYC is found at 93.9 on the FM dial and 820 on the AM side.

photo by Bob Weston

WFMU returns to Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival, which starts tonight and features a lineup that is pretty damned impressive. Just like last year, WFMU will be broadcasting Primavera sets from various artists, including the following Matador bands at the following times (all EDT):

FRIDAY, MAY 28
12:10pm Mission of Burma
5:40pm The New Pornographers
8:45pm Pavement

SATURDAY, MAY 29
1:10pm Condo Fucks
2:20pm Cold Cave

The full WFMU Primavera broadcast schedule, which includes sets by The Fall, Wire, Liquid Liquid, and other luminaries, can be found at WFMU’s Beware of the Blog. All times are subject to change, so pay attention to WFMU’s Twitter and Facebook for updates. Tune in to WFMU at 91.1FM in NY/NJ, 90.1FM in the Hudson Valley, and wfmu.org for everyone else.

(video from Shearwater’s session for Radio K at SXSW)

Listeners to Salt Lake City’s KRCL can wake up this morning to the sounds of Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg at 9:00AM MDT. Jonathan will be playing a solo set  and spinning some songs he was listening to during the recording of Shearwater’s new album, The Golden Archipelago (which, by the way, can be had for a rainbow of reasonable prices at our online store). Salt Lake City can tune in at 90.9FM, other places can listen online at krcl.org.

Photo courtesy of Holden Richards

Actually, if you’re one of the lucky winners, you’ll be hearing this Shearwater intimate performance live from The Triple Door in Seattle this afternoon, ahead of their gig at the very same venue this evening (still need tickets? Get ‘em here). Fortunately for the rest of us schlubs, the session will be aired back in its entirety at 5PM PDT (for those of you who have trouble with the mathematics, that’s 8PM EDT). KEXP, as you are most likely full aware, airs terrestrially at 90.3 on your FM dial in the greater 206 and online at KEXP.org.

The gentlemen and lady of Yo La Tengo kick off their three-night stand in San Francisco tonight, but Bay Area listeners can get even more Yo La Tengo by tuning in to KUSF’s Sleeves on Hearts show tomorrow, April 23 at 11:00AM Pacific for a special live appearance by the one and only James McNew. What records has James picked up on tour? How heavy is the Merzdallion? When can we expect Georgia’s next Petite Tweet? Tune in tomorrow at 90.3FM or kusf.org to hear the answer to probably one of these questions at most.

If you’re in SF and haven’t picked up a ticket to one of these shows, what are you waiting for? Tickets are available without a surcharge at the Fillmore box office (1805 Geary Boulevard), with a $1 surcharge at Aquarius Records in SF or Mod Lang in Berkeley, or you can buy tickets online.

If you party, and who among us doesn’t party, then you can answer the question “do you party?” by tuning in to Do You Party?, the dance music show that graces the airwaves of Minneapolis institution Radio K. Barcelona’s Delorean paid them a visit during a recent stop in the Twin Cities, and the resulting DJ set can be heard tonight at 9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT. Party people in Minneapolis can listen on the usual baffling array of frequencies (104.5 FM [Minneapolis-St. Paul], 100.7 FM [St. Paul], 106.5 FM [Minneapolis] & 770 AM [Metro area]), and people who like their party a little less complicated can click here to listen online.

Fresh off the announcement of their signing to True Panther Sounds, Barcelona’s Delorean are in New York for a string of shows, and while they’re here, Igor and Ekhi will be stopping by the Fader’s radio show, The Let Out, on East Village Radio for a live guest DJ set. It happens at 6:00PM Eastern time on eastvillageradio.com. Tune in!

(photo by Amy V. Cooper)

Chances are you’re either tired of hearing about SXSW, or you’re too drunk to be reading this. What I have here, though, is worth pushing through your SXSW fatigue and putting down that margarita (it’s 9 in the morning, for chrissake). The fine folks at Radio K made the trip to SXSW again this year, and as in years past they have an illustrious list of bands recording sessions for them. One of those bands is our own Shearwater, whose session will be airing today at noon Central time. Minneapolitans can tune in to Radio K at 104.5 FM (Minneapolis-St. Paul), 100.7 FM (St. Paul), 106.5 FM (Minneapolis) & 770 AM (Metro area), while the rest of us can listen online.

Shearwater’s amazing new album, The Golden Archipelago, can be purchased in all the usual formats by going right here.

(photo by Pooneh Ghana)

It may not be possible for readers of this blog not to be aware of the annual Bobby Soxx Memorial Festival that’s taking place in Austin this week (known to insiders as SOXXXSW), and it is likely just as impossible that you’re unaware of the many shows that Austin’s Harlem will be playing during said festival. On the off chance that you missed it, a complete list of Harlem’s shows (along with the shows of Matador labelmates Fucked Up, The Cave Singers & Shearwater) can be found right here.

Prior to all that, though, you can get warmed up by tuning in to Austin’s friendly neighborhood public radio station, KUT, and checking out an instudio from Harlem tonight at 9:00PM Central. Those of you who live within driving distance of Emo’s can find KUT at 90.5 on your FM dial, while the rest of the Internet-enabled universe can listen at kut.org.

Should you feel compelled to bring the Harlem magic home with you, please note that our online store has quite the deal on their upcoming album, Hippies: 15% off, free poster, and you get the mp3s instantly.

photo by Steve Gullick

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that WFMU, the world’s most freewheeling freeform radio station, is currently in fundraising mode, and like swallows returning to Capistrano or murderers returning to the scene of the crime, Yo La Tengo will once again be taking to the airwaves and playing your cover requests in exchange for cold, hard cash to keep WFMU running for another year. If you’re frustrated that Georgia, Ira and James always ignore your requests for “Heartbeat, It’s A Love Beat”, this is your chance to have your revenge and contribute to a great cause. Call in at 800.989.9368 to give hosts Pseu Braun & Gaylord Fields your money and requests tonight from 8:00PM to 11:00PM, and of course tune in at 91.1FM, or 90.1FM in the Hudson Valley, or at wfmu.org.

The planet’s best radio station, WFMU, is the middle of their annual fund-raising marathon. If you’re a regular listener to WFMU’s ridiculously diverse free-form lineup, you already know the station is 100% dependent on listener contributions to continue bringing you the most provocative music/humor/edutainment, and with their newly revised iPhone application, you have access to acres of WFMU archives in the palm of your paw. One of our favorite WFMU fixtures, Tom Scharpling, will be joined tonight by Ted Leo and longtime The Best Show On WFMU conspirator, former Seven Mary Three drummer Jon Wurster. Tom’s pitch can be found below :

The show is going to feature TED LEO and JON WURSTER in the studio. Ted is going to play songs and I know he has some crazy surprises up his sleeve. And the Wurster stuff is going to be hilarious.

The premium is called the BEST SHOW 2010 CHUMP STEAMROLLER FUN PACK. You can only get it by pledging DURING MY SHOW.

A pledge of 75 or more automatically gets it. In the Fun Pack:

The first ever BEST SHOW ON WFMU DVD! It’s a full-length DVD called FANTASIA IN BEST SHOW MINOR, and it’s going to be amazing. It features stuff you’re never going to believe. Here are some of the people who are going to be involved in the DVD:

PATTON OSWALT
TED LEO
PAUL F. TOMPKINS
ZACH GALIFIANAKIS
FUCKED UP
TIM AND ERIC
JOHN HODGMAN
AIMEE MANN
SCHARPLING AND WURSTER
YO LA TENGO
KURT VILE
MATT FRACTION
TODD BARRY
JASON WOLINER

And SO MANY MORE. There’s going to be puppets. Animation. Scharpling and Wurster stuff like you’ve never seen before. Travelogues from callers like Fredericks from New Port Richie, Julie from Cincinnati, AP Mike and more! Seriously – there are so many people working so hard on this thing. It’s gonna be legendary. And when the marathon is over, this thing is COMPLETELY UNAVAILABLE.

The second part of the Chump Steamroller Fun Pack is a set of BEST SHOW TRADING CARDS depicting your favorite callers and characters from the show. They are being designed by Chris Moses and Joe Allen – two guys who have done amazing jobs with previous Best Show projects – and they are outdoing themselves on this! We’re lining up artists – for starters Michael Kupperman and Brian Musikoff are on board – and they gonna be jaw droppingly great. And again, these cards will be GONE FOREVER if you don’t pledge DURING MY MARATHON SHOWS!

Last but not least, the first ever BEST SHOW BUMPER STICKER. Also awesome and also available ONLY BY PLEDGING DURING MY MARATHON SHOWS. Once the marathon is over, THEY ARE GONE FOREVER.

And as an added bonus, anyone who pledges $1000 gets something special just from me. It’s a secret. Seriously – I am not trying to be vague here but trust me on this one. I’ve got something JUST FOR YOU. I’ll make you happy with it – I PROMISE.

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO CALL OR PLEDGE ONLINE DURING MY SHOW, I will gladly write the pledge up myself. You can email me your information – name, address and pledge amount – and I will fill it out myself. All addresses and information is completely confidential and is not sold or distributed in any way shape or form, so don’t worry about your privacy. Write me at toms@wfmu.org and I’ll take care of it.

THE FACTS:
Tuesday March 2nd between 8-11 PM EST
CALL 1-800-989-9368 or PLEDGE ONLINE at www.wfmu.org on TUESDAY MARCH 2nd between 8-11 PM EST and be counted!

The flyer above pretty much says it all, but if your browser’s not displaying images or you have trouble with military time (and are also unaware of how the subject line of a blog post relates to the content of said post), here are the pertinent details: Fucked Up of Toronto, ON and Kurt Vile of Philadelphia, PA are paying visits to the latter city’s own WKDU before tonight’s show at the Barbary, and each will be treating your ears to a live session at 91.7FM or wkdu.org. Fucked Up plays at around 2:30PM EST (it’s college radio, we thrive on uncertainty in this biz), and Kurt follows at 5:30PM EST (or thereabout).

In addition to the opportunity to see the FU & KV show tonight in Philly, there are a few more chances to see this dynamic duo in action:

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

Those of you looking for a more permanent way to spend time with the aforementioned artists (though when you get right down to it, is anything really permanent) should click on over to the Matastore to purchase the latest Fucked Up and Kurt Vile jams, both of which come highly recommended by the discriminating music fans of Philadelphia and the world.

Undaunted by the Great Blizzard of 2010, unafraid of New York’s exploding Radio Shacks, and dressed for Fashion Week success (as seen above), Austin’s own Harlem have made their way to our fair city to play a couple of shows for the townies. If you’re not lucky enough to have caught them last night at the Mercury Lounge, and you can’t make it out to either of their shows this weekend, you can get a feel for the Harlem live experience by tuning in to the New Afternoon Show on WNYU today for a live session with Jose, Curtis & Coomers. The fun starts at 6:00PM Eastern, and you can tune in at 89.1FM (in New York) or at wnyu.org (in places that have the Internet).

If you’d like to see Harlem play live this weekend (and you should), here are the details:

Fri, 2/12 – Monster Island (with Frankie + The Outs, The Siberians)
Sat, 2/13 – Union Pool (with Jemina Pearl)

Those looking for a way to pre-order their excellent Matador debut, Hippies, we have you covered as well.

Photo by Rob Scheuerman

In a mere 30 minutes, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists shall rock the house together at Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live for a Free At Noon extravaganza. If you weren’t lucky enough to get tickets ahead of time (you may still be able to weasel your way in, but I can’t promise anything), you can listen live on XPN.org, or 88.5 terrestrially, as well as on a host of stations all around the country. Check npr.org to find stations in your varied ‘hoods (as well as KUT in Austin, WBFO in Buffalo, and Vermont Public Radio) so you can tune in and rock out to jams from the new album, The Brutalist Bricks.

Philly/New York City tagteam agitsynthers (say that five times fast) Cold Cave paid a visit recently to the hallowed halls of the WXPN studios and recorded a session for Y-Rock on XPN. Luckily for you, that session is due to air tonight at 9PM EST. In the greater 215, tune in at 88.5FM and for the rest of you darkwave fanatics, feel free to listen online.

(photo by Jayme Thornton)

The gentlemen and lady of Cold Cave just capped off a great run of West Coast tour dates with two shows in Los Angeles. They’ll be back in more frigid northeastern climes soon, but before that they’ll be making an appearance on KCRW‘s Morning Becomes Eclectic at 11:15AM PST / 2:15 EST. Angelenos should listen at 89.9FM; Non-gelenos can join the party at kcrw.com.

Cold Cave just released the limited edition Death Comes Close 12″ EP. Both it and their full-length debut, Love Comes Close, are available at our webstore.

Photo used without permission, taken from Christoph!’s photostream on Flickr

There’s a whole host of Yo La action to update you with this week. Tonight, the band will be speaking to Gideon Coe live on BBC 6 Music, show starting at 9pm.  You can listen live via DAB digital radio, or log onto Gideon’s 6Music page here for a live stream.  The band will be discussing Popular Songs, their career and playing some of their favourite tracks from their most loved artists.

And tomorrow, at 7pm, Yo La Tengo will be playing a rare instore show, Freewheeling style, at London’s Rough Trade East store.  It’s a free show, but you’ll only get in with a wristband.  WRISTBAND COLLECTION 1 HOUR PRIOR TO STAGE TIME, STRICTLY ONE PER PERSON.  So get down to the store early to guarantee entry.

Rough Trade East can be found :

‘Dray Walk’
Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London
E1 6QL

The band will also be playing this weekend’s All Tomorrow’s Parties Nightmare Before Christmas festival at Butlins, Minehead.

Yo La Tengo : Friday 4th December, 8.30pm-9.45pm

As well as YLT, you can also catch Sonic Youth and Fucked Up down at ATP.  Check the ATP listings for everyone else playing.

Sonic Youth : Saturday 5th December, 8.45pm-10pm

Fucked Up : Saturday 5th December, 2.15am-3.15am

(photo by WOXY’s Loren Kilpatrick)

A couple of weeks ago, Mission Of Burma entertained several thousand rain-drenched Austin folk as part of the annual Fun Fun Fun Festival in Waterloo Park. The afternoon prior, the band visited WOXY‘s new South Austin studios (located just a stone’s throw from my house — please, that’s just an expression. DON’T BE THROWING ANYTHING) and the resulting session is available for download here, save for Burma’s cover of the Yardbirds’ “”Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”.

Just a reminder that following a recent run on the West Coast, a few tickets still remain for the following dates :

1/15 – Paradise, Boston
1/16 – Paradise, Boston

1/29 – Bowery Ballroom, NYC
1/30 – Bowery Ballroom, NYC

(The Sound, The Speed, The Light, LP/CD and digital album, available from The Matador Store)

(“Innermost” b/w “Here It Comes” MP3/FLAC single, also available from The Matador Store)

Remember yesterday when Julian Plenti got his groove on for KEXP? Today it’s Girls’ turn. Tune in at 12Noon PST (3PM EST for those of you who are hard of understanding) at 90.3 FM in the Seattle area to hear the sonic loveliness of the San Francisco minstrels. Or, if you’re not lucky enough to be in Seattle, or are in Seattle and don’t have a radio (who ARE you, exactly?), you can always keep up on the station’s website.

Tell a friend. Or 12.

Girls stopped by the beautiful KCMP studios in St. Paul, Minnesota this last weekend and dropped three beautiful, melancholy jams for a still and crisp aired Midwestern afternoon. Their versions of “Ghostmouth” and “Lauren Marie” sound extra gauzy and lush in the room ordinarily used for recording classical music, a performance of non-album track “Heartbreaker” takes the whole thing over the top. Thanks to The Current for being such great hosts and making these songs sound so good!

Stream it HERE

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The man, the myth, the legend, Julian Plenti, brings his live show extravaganza to the Seattle airwaves today with a performance for KEXP. You can catch the set live at 3PM PST (6PM EST) on the dial at 90.3FM and online at KEXP.org.

Plenti and his bandmates then will thrill and amaze at Chop Suey later this evening, before continuing their tour in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York and Philadelphia through the rest of November.

(photo by Peter Ellenby)

Tune in to KUSF this afternoon for a special solo live performance by the one and only Spiral Stairs at 4 PM Pacific/7 PM Eastern. San Franciscans can listen at 90.3 FM, while those in the wider world web can point their internet machine to kusf.org.

Following a busy weekend in Northern California, with a show in Santa Cruz on Saturday night, a brunch style in-store at Aquarius in San Francisco on Sunday, and a festival appearance at the Treasure Island Music Festival, Yo La Tengo are continuing to bring their music and insight to the people of Northern California and beyond by appearing live on KQED.

Go online at 10am PST (1pm EST) today to stream their appearance live.  Available at KQED’s live streaming LINK!