Ted Leo and his Pharmacists live on ShockHound
Ted and the band stopped by ShockHound recently to perform some songs from their new album, The Brutalist Bricks (buy the album here).Here's the session, and an interview to boot:
TL & The Rx (did I get that right?) on the road:
June
Friday 18 - Milford, CT - Daniel Street
Saturday 19 - Portland, OR - Backspace
Sunday 20 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground S.
Monday 21 - Quebec City, QC - Le Cercle
Tuesday 22 - Montreal, QC - Il Motore
Thursday 24 - Ottawa, ON - Zaphod Beebleborx
Saturday 26 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
Sunday 27 - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
Columbus Individual Promises : "WILL BE A DIVISIVE INFLUENCE FOR FOOD"
The only thing I don't like about this Craigslist ad is that the person who placed it might not be available to fulfill a similar service in other U.S. cities (link swiped from Terminal Boredom)Are you in a band that's not going anywhere? Is there a particular member of your band that you want to be rid of but he's your best friend from grade school and you don't want to hurt his feelings? Did the bassist and your lead singer break up recently and now practice is three hours of awkward? Then I'm your guy.
Here's how it works. You bring me in. I play guitar. Doesn't matter if you need one, just bring me in.
Within 6 weeks, major changes will happen with your band. The drummer will accept a job offer out of state. The keyboardist will announce that he's getting married and the fiancee isn't into the whole band thing. The singer will be offered a better gig. One way or another, the band will fall apart. For my part, I won't say much or talk about anyone or complain. I'll just learn the songs, show up early for practice, and basically do whatever's required of me.
But we will never play out. The band will dissolve before that ever happens.
In some cases, just firing me will be enough to get your band moving in the right direction, but to be honest that doesn't happen very often. Usually it's something innocuous and it causes the band to break up.
Here's the deal, though. Some of the remnants will re-form a new band and they will thrive.
I'm asking for $300 up front. It's up front because, face it, we're not going to make any money gigging.
Delorean- GROW (Yours Truly session) + NEW Tour Dates
The wonderful folks over at Yours Truly did this sweet session with the Delorean guys in their Spanish home. They talk dubstep, their genesis, work and do an intimate and incredible version of "Grow" off of Subiza. PLUS, the guys announced another round of U.S. Tour dates. Tour dates below the video.Order Subiza HERE
Order Delorean Subiza T-shirt (w/instant mp3 album download) HERE
The version of "Grow" captured in this video is a studied and intimate version of what the band now plays live. It must be hard to be an ambitious musician in Barcelona. Having to tear yourself away from the lure of the white beaches and narrow cobblestone streets to compose in a windowless practice space almost seems impossible!
But it's here in this video- the bare moments of composition and rehearsal, dissection of every detail that eventually adds up to an ecstatic experience imbued with emotional and musical heart. Ekhi refers to a "musical competition" that drives them to step beyond themselves, to take the time to draw from their surroundings and community to create something better than what's come before. It's amazing that Yours Truly captured the band figuring out how to perform the sounds they composed in isolation live. The video shows us the song in its most essential state- underneath the wash of synths and samplers is care and passion, deliberate and constant change. Summoning transcendence is hard spellcasting work and I've seen few people as committed to that craft in my life as Delorean. Good music breathes. YES, thank you!
Friday 06.04 New York, NY - Pianos
Saturday 06.05 Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands Gallery
Sunday 06.06 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
Monday 06.07 Vancouver, British Columbia - Biltmore Cabaret
Tuesday 06.08 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
Thursday 06.10 San Francisco, CA - Popscene
Friday 06.11 Los Angeles, CA - Echo
Saturday 07-10 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Monday 07-12 Allston, MA - Great Scott
Tuesday 07-13 Montreal, Quebec - Le Belmont
Wednesday 07-14 Toronto, Ontario - Wrongbar
Thursday 07-15 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
Saturday 07-17 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
Listen to Shearwater perform live for KEXP tonight
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Photo courtesy of Holden Richards"]
[/caption]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.
I Streamed Delorean's Subiza and all I got was this Awesome T-Shirt
If you haven't heard Delorean's (recently BNM'd) Subiza yet, hear it now in its full glory on HERE
Pre-order from Matador Store and get instant mp3 download HERE
Also, you can buy a crisp new Delorean T-shirt that comes with an instant mp3 download of the album.
Digital music wear? MP3-Tee? Call it what you want. We wish we could just plug headphones into this shirt and go to the beach, but for now this is the best we can do, and frankly it seems pretty good. Order T-shirt (w/album download) HERE
NYC: The Ultimate Get Together
Austin had the original Together Shuttle, Portland made you dance for your tickets, Philly never ran out of free flowing beer, Boston had the most #tweeting participants, Seattle had the highest volume attended, Atlanta and LA were at your favorite local record stores, the list goes on... What's been so successful about our spring togetherness, has been the individuality of each market's party. The people, the variety of giveaways, and more! Most all of our #gettogethers have come and gone now in the last two weeks (aside from Cleveland tomorrow, and Phoenix 5/8), and we've had a blast with you all! So what could we possibly be posting about...?Possibly, the Ultimate Get Together. Special guests joining our #togetherness: The New Pornographers! Presented by: Matador Records, Other Music, & The New Pornographers: GET TOGETHER: NEW YORK TUESDAY MAY 4th @ ARROW BAR (85 Ave A) 8-10pm (arrive early for free drinks!) 21+ DJ Set with members of the band + albums available on site. Giveaways: Tickets to New P's 5/5 Fallon show/performance + autographed TOGETHER vinyl + tickets to 6/19 Terminal 5 + more! ...and of course, arrive early to be one of the first 20 to receive Carl Newman's spring Get Together mix. rsvp: [email protected] - must rsvp, but, still based upon capacity, arrive early!!
Winners drawn so far for TWEETING @ #gettogethers (please
New Morale Leadership
Tomorrow (4/28) at NYC's Le Poisson Rouge, Cold Cave will proffer the cassette 'New Morale Leadership' c24 to those in attendance. This release, with three separate covers (see above) features two sides that range in some of the finest noise experimentation the band has made to date, along with found-sound collage and a re-record of one of their classics. Each different colored cassette is limited to 100 copies and there's good chance that if you blink, they'll be gone, so check it out. (tickets here)
Don't forget that the Life Magazine remix EP is available for pre-order now, and the band will be all over Europe in May.
The New Pornographers "Together Shop" hits LA
Next Tuesday May 4 (aka street date for The New Pornographers new CD/LP "Together") Origami Vinyl in Echo Park will become The Together Shop. For one day only, The Together Shop will feature all things New Pornographers with special sales, ticket giveaways, exclusive album bundles and a one-day-only exclusive poster. Oh and did I mention that there will be free beer and pizza??
Origami Vinyl
1816 W Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles
Harlem - "Friendly Ghost" video x2
What is it they say, one good turn deserves another? On the eve of the debut of Harlem's second video from Hippies - for album standout "Friendly Ghost" - a second "Friendly Ghost" clip found its way to the inbox of our US licensing-goddess, Brigitte Green. It seems Harlem has a secret admirer - an ad-agency employee with a little too much time on his hands (well done, Mr. Greg Szmurlo).First, the official clip, directed by Harlem with videography by Blackmagic Rollercoaster (http://www.blackmagicrollercoaster.blogspot.com/):
And Mr. Szmurlo's version, also made with love:
Harlem is on the road:
April
Tuesday 27 - Montreal, QC - Green Room
Wednesday 28 - Toronto, ON - The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
Thursday 29 Cleveland, OH Now Thats Class
Friday 30 Detroit, MI Majestic Cafe (with City Center)
May
Saturday 01 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle (with Jaill)
Monday 03 - Milwaukee, WI - Mad Planet (with Jaill, Worrier)
Tuesday 04 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry (with Teenage Moods)
Wednesday 05 - Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
Thursday 06 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room
Friday 07 - Kansas City, MO - The Riot Room
Saturday 08 - St. Louis, MO - The Firebird
Monday 10 - Columbus, OH - The Summit
Tuesday 11 - Newport, KY - Southgate House Parlour
Wednesday 12 - Lousville, KY - Zanzabar
Thursday 13 - Nashville, TN - The End
Friday 14 - Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone Cafe
Saturday 15 - Dallas, TX - City Tavern
(order 'Hippies' from the Matador Store on LP, CD or digital files)
Cold Cave at NYC's Le Poisson Rouge This Thursday
I don't have much to add except I was at the dentist the other day and she was giving me all sorts of grief about the lack of patriotism on the Matador roster. Satisfied?
(if anyone can recommend a dentist that's not nearly as batshit insane, please reply via e-mail. thanks)
Listen to The New Pornographers 'Together' RIGHT NOW
NPR is streaming the new album from The New Pornographers, 'Together,' right now:
LISTEN HERE
The album comes out next Tuesday, May 4.
Preorder from us and get a 7" containing 3 unreleased tracks (all covers of Outrageous Cherry) and a free poster - here.
back from the gold soundz
[caption id="attachment_8829" align="alignnone" width="125" caption="first show in auckland"]
[/caption]hello to all...
if you haven't heard, pavement are back from the dead. we've been having a blast so far on the reunion tour. thanks so much for coming to see us! we started back in february in new zealand and australia. we played the cities of auckland, sydney, meredith, adelaide, perth, brissy, and melbs . thank you so much, all of us enjoyed your hospitality, generosity, and love. and being my future hemisphere, you did us proud! the great 3D's opened for us in auckland and it was like stepping back in time. hearing 'outer space' again was a special thing. what a sound! and the melbourne legends, gersey opened for us in australia . they were just as good as they were back in the day, actually much better!
[caption id="attachment_8830" align="alignnone" width="221" caption="backstage in sydney"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8832" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="this guy came up and sang on conduit..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8835" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="this is a pavlova! my favourite desert in the world..."]
[/caption]after the tour ended, the fun was just to begin since i was married in melbourne on march 20. so many of our family and friends stuck around and it was a very special day. if any of you have a chance, get married in melbourne, you'll never forget it! we honeymooned in thailand for a week, and had some crazy food!
[caption id="attachment_8834" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="kravit seafood raft restuarant phuket, thailand"]
[/caption]the tour resumed in tokyo with sm barely making the first show. he had problems with his visa and made it to the club 20 minutes before the show. i gotta say, after a 10 hour flight, he impressed us all. tokyo was crazy! the fans were amazing! all of us had a few days to see tokyo and had an awesome time. thanks to our friends there for showing us the sights. we then took the shinkansen to osaka. what an experience that was. speeding along at 200 mph is not very good on a weak stomach like mine. the crowd in osaka was very special as well. thanks so much for coming to see us! the next night in nagoya we played one of the smallest shows on the tour at club quattro , where pavement played long ago. 400 people rocked out and had a great time. all of the band and crew had a great time here! we ate too much fried chicken wings though! can't wait to come back for summersonic in august!
[caption id="attachment_8836" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="tokyo light show..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8837" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="tokyo rock city..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8838" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="shinkansen..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8840" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="la nast at hanshin tigers baseball..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8841" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="7th inning stretch at hanshin tigers game..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8842" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="6 pm set time in osaka..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8843" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="chicken wings in nagoya!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8844" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="nagoya club quattro... smallest show on the tour..."]
[/caption]after leaving japan, we arrived in la and chilled out for a couple days before our first US show in over 10 years. and we played it in of all places, the beautiful city of pomona! my grandparents live in corona, not far from pomona so i am very familiar with the place. a lot has changed that's for sure. they still have in and out burger though which was a nice change after so much japanese food. the show was really fun, as we ran thorough 30 songs and two hours of pavement hits. the crowd reaction was much different than japan so it kind of confused us for awhile but after we hit our stride, we knew people were having fun.
[caption id="attachment_8846" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="pomona hipsters!"]
[/caption]a few days later, coachella. yes, that coachella... home of pavement's worst show ever! those days are in the past folks. the band was pretty nervous leading up to this but ended up playing what we thought was a pretty great show. we were up on the big big stage, but we seemed like a band playing in small club. hope all who saw it enjoyed! we know we did! see you at the hollywood bowl with sonic youth and no age in sept.
[caption id="attachment_8847" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="the big time..."]
[/caption]speaking of september, we have announced some new shows in north america. seattle, portland, and vancouver! seems so far away!
we're getting ready for our european shows now. and we're looking forward to getting back to london, the site of pavement's last ever show. hopefully no handcuffs this time! and can't wait for the atp festival where we picked all 40 bands. seeing the clean again will be one of my highlights! but i can't forget broken social scene and the authorities! so many great bands!
i also want to mention that i'm playing a spiral stairs show in london on may 12th after the pavement brixton show. it's at the windmill pub in brixton, just down the street from the academy! we play at 12:30 am and it's cheap to get in! see you there!
ok, that's it for now. i'll try to keep all of you updated as the tour progresses, but there's also spiralstairsmusic.com for setlists and news as well as crookedrain.com for all other info.
also check out steve west's tour blog and our monitor guru jeremy lemos chicago reader blog.
thanks,
spiral
Thor To Governator : Brother, Can You Spare A Fighter Jet?
(from 1976, Thor on "The Merv Griffin Show". Taken from the unreleased DVD box set, "Thor : The Proto-Piazza")
Who amongst us hasn't sat awake at night fantasizing about various rock icons reaching out to state Governors for assistance? For instance, Larry Lifeless would like Deval Patrick to tear up some parking tickets. Bobby Steele having a word with David Paterson about widening lanes on the NY State highways (admittedly, I might be mixing this up with a "Seinfeld" episode). Sometimes, however, reality is far more amazing than anything we might come up with while high, as the following item from that treasure trove of insane press releases, Blabbermouth.net, illustrates.
Jon Mikl Thor has sought help from his old friend and fellow bodybuilder, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jon has asked Arnold to see if it was possible to board a military plane bound for Germany at the Beale Air Force Base in Northern California, 45 miles from Sacramento, to attempt to perform a concert at the Keep It True festival in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany on April 23.
Jon has helped Arnold before by performing with his band THOR at the Beale Air Force Base to entertain the military.
"The volcanic ash from the Icelandic eruption has stopped all travel from North America to Europe for commercial airlines," Thor explained.
"I don't always ask Arnold for help but this is a special request. If Arnold ever needed my help, I would be there in an instant."
There are interesting parallels in both Jon and Arnold's life. Both Jon Mikl Thor and Arnold Schwarzenegger won the Mr. Universe championship in their careers. Both have also had successful movie careers. Jon is planning on running for office in Washington state and Arnold already is a governor of California.
Shearwater On Tour
Shearwater's grand tour across the states picks back up tonight in Phoenix, AZ at the Rhythm Room.And what better way to celebrate than to share some live show footage of Shearwater performing "Hidden Lakes" at Mad Planet in Milwaukee in early April.
Shot by our friends at High Frequency
04/23/10 – Tucson, AZ at Club Congress
04/24/10 – Los Angeles, CA at Spaceland
04/25/10 – San Francisco, CA at Bottom of the Hill
04/27/10 – Portland, OR at Doug Fir
04/28/10 – Vancouver, BC at The Biltmore
04/29/10 – Seattle, WA at Triple Door
04/30/10 – Pullman, WA at The Belltower
05/01/10 – Boise, ID at Neurolux
05/02/10 – Salt Lake City, UT at The State Room
05/04/10 – Denver, CO at The Walnut Room
05/05/10 – Albuquerque, NM at Launchpad
05/07/10 – Austin, TX at The Parish
All dates with Hospital Ships and Wye Oak
James McNew of Yo La Tengo live on KUSF, April 23 at 11:00AM PDT
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.
Meeting Demands for More Get Togethers
Thank you New P's fans! My inbox has been experiencing a heavy volume of interest for more GET TOGETHERS. Well let's bring it. We've had a few additions in the last week. And, here you have it, another three slipping out. + NYC, Phoenix, & more to come!
#gettogetherCLEVELAND
Thurs 4/29 @ 6PM
@ Happy Dog (5801 Detroit Ave)
RSVP: [email protected]
#gettogetherORLANDO
Sat 4/24 @4PM
@ PARK AVE CDs (2916 Corrine Dr.)
RSVP: [email protected]
#gettogetherSF
Sat 4/24 @ 6PM
Mini Bar (837 Divisadero St.)
rsvp: [email protected]
Tweet Together: Don't forget to hash-tag# your city's get together to chat about the new album while you're there. Why? You may just receive a message, announcing you've won a New Porno's surprise catalogue vinyl package, including the new album, TOGETHER.
Magic Kids touring with Ariel Pink!
07-09 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex #
07-10 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's #
07-12 Portland, OR - Doug Fir #
07-13 Seattle, WA - Neumo's #
07-14 Vancouver, British Columbia - Biltmore #
07-16 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge #
07-17 Denver, CO - Bluebird #
07-19 Minneapolis, MN - Entry #
07-20 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall #
07-21 Detroit, MI - Pike Room #
07-22 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club #
07-23 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rosa #
07-24 New York, NY - The Fillmore at Irving Plaza #
07-25 Boston, MA - Middle East #
07-27 Philadelphia, PA - JB's #
07-28 Washington, DC - Rock N Roll Hotel #
07-29 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 #
07-30 Atlanta, GA - Earl #
07-31 Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree #
08-02 Denton, TX - Hailey's #
08-03 Austin, TX - Mohawk #
# with Ariel Pink and Pearl Harbor07-10 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's #
07-12 Portland, OR - Doug Fir #
07-13 Seattle, WA - Neumo's #
07-14 Vancouver, British Columbia - Biltmore #
07-16 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge #
07-17 Denver, CO - Bluebird #
07-19 Minneapolis, MN - Entry #
07-20 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall #
07-21 Detroit, MI - Pike Room #
07-22 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club #
07-23 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rosa #
07-24 New York, NY - The Fillmore at Irving Plaza #
07-25 Boston, MA - Middle East #
07-27 Philadelphia, PA - JB's #
07-28 Washington, DC - Rock N Roll Hotel #
07-29 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 #
07-30 Atlanta, GA - Earl #
07-31 Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree #
08-02 Denton, TX - Hailey's #
08-03 Austin, TX - Mohawk #
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/9003927[/vimeo]
Adam Goldberg Takes You Behind The Making Of The New Pornographers' 'Together'
Consider it something like a slightly more successful version of Chat Roulette (albeit fully clothed). 'Together' is out May 4 and on the 6th, the New Pornographers will be at Bearsville, NY's Bearsville Theatre performing much of the new album in public for the very first time. Tickets are available here.
Coming June 8 - Yo La Tengo's "Here To Fall" Remixes 12"/CD
Whether or not you share our opinion that Yo La Tengo's '09 epic 'Popular Songs' was one of the year's most important works is neither here nor there. We're always right about this stuff and the sooner you accept this fact, the easier we're gonna get along. But that's not to say we can imagine each and every musical combination that might emerge. Despite Yo La Tengo's history of having their works reimagined by artists as diverse as u-Zig, Tortoise, Kevin Shields, Kit Clayton, Sonic Boom and Nobekazu Takemura, the following development managed to catch us --- the smartest people in the history of the entertainment business --- by surprise.
On June 8, Yo La Tengo will unveil remixes of 'Popular Songs''s standout, "Here To Fall", as conceived by De La Soul, RJD2 and Pete Rock.
For a limited time, if you preorder the 4 track 12" or CD direct from the Matador Store, the remixes EP and 'Popular Songs' are bundled at substantial, we-can't-possibly-love-you-this-much discounts.
Harlem - 3 Big Nights In The Tri-State Area (Sorry, Connecticut)
The 3rd of the above events is what our friends in the United Kingdom like to call "oversubscribed". Tomorrow night's Mercury Lounge show is a contender to turn out the same way, so if you're thinking of stopping home to watch Richard Bey's straight-t0-web talk show, you might regret the decision. Even if the Harlem show isn't sold out, you might regret the decision.
(order 'Hippies' on LP, CD or digital formats from the Matador Store)