The MataBlog is edited by Matador Records’ co-moaner Gerard Cosloy and individual entries are the work of whoever’s name is next to them. If you enjoyed something in the MataBlog, thank you very much! If there was something you found particularly troubling, please be advised that a) maybe you should read it again and b) the contents of this blog do not necessarily represent the opinions of Matador Records, Beggars Group, the combined staff of either company, nor the Matador artist roster. Opinions are like friends — hardly anyone has one worth listening to.
Life is horribly dark right now. And yet, it is not unfunny.
That’s the sentiment that animates Water From Your Eyes on their new album, and first for Matador, ‘Everyone’s Crushed,’ out May 26. On the follow-up to the Brooklyn duo’s 2021 breakthrough, ‘Structure,’ Rachel Brown (they/them) and Nate Amos (he/him) find silliness and fatalism dancing in a frantic lockstep, using heart palpitating rhythms and absurdist, deadpan lyrics to convey stories of personal and societal unease. Described by Brown as Water From Your Eyes’ most collaborative record ever, it’s a swollen contusion of an album: experimental pop music that’s pretty and violent, raw and indelible.
Watch the video for first single ‘Barley,’ directed by the band’s Rachel Brown:
“Barley is a rhythmic sound collage experiment drawing from modern classical, classic rock, and dance music,” explain the band. “The lyrics suggest repeated futile attempts at attaining the unattainable and allude to Sting and Sonic Youth. The video mirrors these concepts in scope, texture, and variety - juxtaposing feelings of entrapment and late stage capitalism against the sense of freedom inherent to the vast American landscape. Despite all this heady bullshit the song is, at its core, fun.”
‘Everyone’s Crushed’ is shot through with unresolved tension, its nine tracks skittishly refusing to seek out resolute endings or stick to traditional structures. Many songs were written using serialism and microtonalism, and at times evoke the futurist-pop moves of Japanese composer Haruomi Hosono and the brutalism of Glenn Branca. “Barley”is a dance-rock track sequenced in alien tonality, with Brown speaking garbled transmissions (“One two three/Counter/You’re a cool thing count mountains”) over a bed of hallucinatory guitars. “14” leans into contemporary classical, with curtains of overlapping de-tuned strings underscoring lyrics that Nate describes as something out of a “gross-out horror movie”: “I’m ready to throw you up.”
Water From Your Eyes still possess an off kilter, shitposty quality. ‘Everyone’s Crushed’ manages to reference classic rock twice – first, on “Barley,” when Brown accidentally invokes Sting with the lyric “walk in fields of gold,” and again on “True Life”, when they sing: “Neil let me sing your song/It’s been this way for so long/Give me another chance.” Those weren’t the song’s original lyrics – Brown and Amos initially wanted to interpolate the bridge to “Cinnamon Girl” – but this is a typically meta compromise for the pair, a way to turn “True Life” into a song about writing the song “True Life”.
‘Everyone’s Crushed’ maps the liminal space between humor and darkness, between cracking up and freaking out. In the album’s closing moments Brown speaks in direct terms, “Clap those hands/Buy my product/There are no happy endings/I’m spending/I’m spending.” It’s playful and totally serious, punky bordering on anarchic, and a resolution to the record’s opening sentiment - “I just wanted to pray for the rain/Wishful thinking for sunny days.”
'Everyone's Crushed' Track List 1. Structure 2. Barley 3. Out There 4. Open 5. Everyone’s Crushed 6. True Life 7. Remember Not My Name 8. 14 9. Buy My Product
Fresh from supporting Interpol in Europe, Water From Your Eyes will host a weekly live residency in New York throughout March, followed by a North American tour supporting Snail Mail in April and May . A full list of upcoming dates can be found below and tickets are available HERE.
Water From Your Eyes on Tour Thursday, March 16 NYC Residency Night 1 at Secret Location *SOLD OUT* Friday, March 24 NYC Residency Night 2 @ P.I.T *SOLD OUT* Friday, March 31 NYC Residency Bowling Night at Melody Lanes Friday, April 7 Mission Creek Festival, Iowa City IA Sunday, May 7 Shaky Knees Festival, Atlanta GA Friday, April 7 Mission Creek Festival, Iowa City IA Saturday, April 8 Slowdown, Omaha NE # Monday, April 10 Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins CO # Tuesday, April 11 Fox Theatre, Boulder CO # Wednesday, April 12 Soundwell, Salt Lake City UT # Thursday, April 13 AREA15, Las Vegas NV # Saturday, April 15 Coachella, Indio CA Sunday, April 16 Fremont Theatre, San Luis Obispo CA # Tuesday, April 18 Cargo Concert Hall, Reno NV # Wednesday, April 19 Goldfield Trading Post, Roseville CA % Thursday, April 20 Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz CA % Saturday, April 22 Coachella, Indio CA Sunday, April 23 Yucca North, Flagstaff AZ # Monday, April 24 The Lowbrow Palace, El Paso TX # Tuesday, April 25 Sister, Albuquerque NM # Thursday, April 27 The Jones Assembly, Oklahoma City OK # Friday, April 28 George’s Majestic Lounge, Fayetteville AR # Saturday, April 29 Black Lodge, Memphis TN # Monday, May 1 The Vogue, Indianapolis IN # Tuesday, May 2 Woodward Theater, Cincinnati OH # Thursday, May 4 123 Pleasant Street, Morgantown WV # Saturday, May 6 The Ramkat, Winston-Salem NC # Sunday, May 7 Shaky Knees, Atlanta GA Saturday, June 24 Sled Island, Calgary AB
Belle and Sebastian have premiered the second installment of their Amazon Original sessions: live performances of two tracks from their brand new album 'Late Developers,' "Give A Little Time" and "So In The Moment."
Belle and Sebastian on Tour : Tuesday, April 25 Metropolitan Theatre, Mexico City MX Friday, April 28 Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee WI Saturday, April 29 Majestic Theatre, Detroit MI Sunday, April 30 The Athenaeum Theatre, Columbus OH Tuesday, May 2 History, Toronto ON Wednesday, May 3 Bronson Centre, Ottawa ON Thursday, May 4 Higher Ground, Burlington VT Friday, May 5 The State Theatre, Ithaca NY Saturday, May 6 College Street Music Hall, New Haven CT Monday, May 8 Basilica Hudson, Hudson NY Tuesday, May 9 White Eagle Hall, Jersey City NJ Wednesday, May 10 The National, Richmond VA Friday, May 12 The Eastern, Atlanta GA Saturday, May 13 St. Augustine Amphitheatre, St. Augustine FL Sunday, May 14 Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale FL Monday, May 15 Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg FL Wednesday, May 17 Saturn, Birmingham AL Thursday, May 18 The Pageant, St. Louis MO Friday, May 19 Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo MI Sunday 2 July: 3Olympia, Dublin Monday 3 July: Limelight1, Belfast Wednesday 5 July: Newcastle, O2 City Hall Thursday 6 July: Hull, University Union Asylum Saturday 8 July: Liverpool, Olympia Sunday 9 July: Edinburgh, Usher Hall Monday 10 July: Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom Wednesday 12 July: Sheffield, O2 Academy Thursday 13 July: Oxford, O2 Academy Friday 14 July: Birmingham, O2 Institute Saturday 15 July: Cardiff, Great Hall Monday 17 July: London, Roundhouse Tuesday 18 July: London, Roundhouse Wednesday 19 July: Brighton Dome Friday 21 July: Manchester Academy Saturday 22 July: Cambridge, Corn Exchange
Algiers' monumental fourth record 'Shook' is released today. A sprawling call-to-action as tight and angular as it is soul-borne. Boasting a canonical crew of collaborators reaching far beyond preconceived genre divisions, 'Shook' is the sound of Algiers at their most urgent and deadly.
Alongside today's album release the group have announced a new run of dates for the UK and Europe in May:
Wednesday, May 10th Hard Club, Porto Portugal Friday, May 12th Future Yard Birkenhead UK Saturday, May 13th In Colour, Leeds UK Monday, May 15th Mono, Glasgow UK Tuesday, May 16th Canvas, Manchester UK Wednesday, May 17th 02 Institute 2, Birmingham UK* Thursday, May 18th Elsewhere, Margate UK Friday, May 19th Chalk, Brighton UK Saturday, May 20th Esquires Bedford UK Sunday, May 21st 02 Academy 2, Oxford UK* Monday, May 22nd Fleece, Bristol UK Tuesday, May 23rd Merleyn, Nijmegen NL Thursday, May 25th Voxhall, Aarhus DK Friday, May 26th Loppen, Copenhagen DK Saturday, May 27th Mejeriet, Lund SE Sunday, May 28th Slaktkyrkan, Stockholm SE Tuesday, May 30th BLA, Oslo NO
^ New dates on-sale now
* General on-sale Monday
Other Algiers dates:
Friday, February 24 Lucerna, Prague CZ Saturday, February 25 Niebo, Warsaw PL Wednesday, March 1 Beatpol, Dresden DE Thursday, March 2 Hole44, Berlin DE Friday, March 3 Forum, Bielefeld DE Saturday, March 4 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE Sunday, March 5 Club Volta, Cologne DE Tuesday, March 7 Petit Bain, Paris FR Wednesday, March 8 The Dome, London UK Thursday January 26 Washington’s Foco, Fort Collins CO March 15-17 SXSW, Austin TX Sunday, March 19 Rebel Lounge, Phoenix AZ Monday, March 20 Soda Bar, San Diego CA Tuesday, March 21 Knitting Factory NOHO, Los Angeles CA Thursday, March 23 Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco CA Saturday, March 25 Show Bar at Revolution Hall, Portland OR Sunday, March 26 Madame Lou’s, Seattle WA Wednesday, March 29 7th St Entry, Minneapolis MN Thursday, March 30 Sleeping Village, Chicago IL Friday, March 31 Whirling Tiger, Louisville KY Sunday, April 2 Big Ears Festival, Knoxville TN Monday, April 3 The Pinhook, Durham NC Tuesday, April 4 DC9, Washington DC Wednesday, April 5 PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia PA Thursday, April 6 Racket, New York NY Friday, April 7 Casa del Popolo, Montreal QC Saturday, April 8 The Garrison, Toronto ON
It is with great pride that we announce that Chicago trio Lifeguard have joined the Matador Records roster.
Formed in 2019, Lifeguard is Asher Case (bass, vocals), Isaac Lowenstein (drums, percussion), and Kai Slater (guitar, vocals). The trio is young – they met in junior high – but have already found a place at the forefront of an important emerging music community in their hometown.
They are also prolific. In just three years, the trio have put out a full-length, two EPs, and two 7” singles – on their own and also through the labels Chunklet Industries and Born Yesterday. Each release has been sharper than the last, with the band honing a distinct balance of melody and noise, rhythm and drone. You can listen to their most recent EP, 'Crowd Can Talk' (2022) here.
In July, Lifeguard will embark on a US tour with labelmates and fellow Chicagoans, Horsegirl. New music is expected in the spring.
Ahead of the physical release of The Niger EPs vols. 1 & 2 next month, Mdou Moctar has announced several shows in the U.S. slated for this Spring. Tickets available this Friday at 10am local time HERE.
Mdou Moctar on Tour Thursday, March 2 Perth Festival, Northbridge AU Saturday, March 4 Nine Lives 2023, Brisbane AU Thursday, March 9 Brunswick Music Festival, Brunswick West AU Friday, March 10 Theatre Royal, Castlemaine AU Saturday, March 11 Golden Plains, Melbourne AU Sunday, March 12 Womadelaide, Adelaide AU Tuesday, March 14 Sydney Opera House, Sydney AU Friday, March 17 WOMAD New Zealand, New Plymouth New Zealand Thursday, April 27 Art Co, Dallas TX Friday, April 28 Austin Psych Fest Sunday, April 30 New Orleans Jazz Festival, New Orleans LA Tuesday, May 2 Intuition Ale Works, Jacksonville FL Wednesday, May 3 Miami Beach Bandshell, Miami Beach FL Thursday, May 4 The Social, Orlando FL Friday, May 5 The Georgia Theatre, Athens GA Saturday, May 6 Cat's Cradle, Carrboro NC Monday, May 15 Electric Ballroom Camden, London UK
Marking one year since the release of 'Lucifer on the Sofa,' Spoon's career-spanning performance on Austin City Limits, broadcast this past weekend, has been archived online and will be available to watch for the next four(-ish) weeks.
Spoon on Tour Saturday, April 15 Love Street Music Fest, Houston TX Friday, April 28 Bear Shadow, Highlands NC Saturday, April 29 Music Farm, Charleston SC Sunday, April 30 The Caverns, Pelham TN Saturday, May 27 Whitewater Amphitheater, New Braunfels TX Wednesday, June 14 Bergenfest, Bergen NO Thursday, June 15 Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo NO Friday June 16 Pumpehuset, Copenhagen DK Sunday, June 18 Zenith Paris, Paris FR * Monday, June 19 Zenith Paris, Paris FR * Wednesday, June 21 London 02, London UK * Thursday, June 22 AO Arena, Manchester UK * Saturday, June 24 OVO Hydro, Glasgow UK * Tuesday, June 27 Palladium, Cologne DE * Wednesday, June 28 Stadtpart Open Air, Hamburg DE * Friday, June 30 Rock Wechter, Wechter BE Sunday, July 2 Main Square Festival, Arras FR Tuesday, July 4 Festival de Nîmes, Nîmes FR Thursday, July 6 NOS Alive, Oeiras PT
The new Yo La Tengo album 'This Stupid World' is available today at all fine record stores (terrible ones, too) as well as via your favorite streaming platforms.
On February 24th, Algiers will release their fourth album, ‘SHOOK.’ It’s a record that’s deeply informed by collaboration and community, with almost every track including a guest or feature. Today, you can hear “73%,” one of the album’s most raw and explosive moments and also one of a handful of songs that highlights Algiers’ core lineup.
Algiers on tour : Thursday, February 9 Workman’s Dublin IE Wednesday, February 15 Botanique, Brussels BE Thursday, February 16 Salzhaus, Winterthur CH Friday, February 17 Bronson, Ravenna IT Saturday, February 18 Capitol, Pordenone IT Monday, February 20 Kino Siska, Ljubjana SL Tuesday, February 21 Flex, Vienna AT Wednesday, February 22 Posthof, Linz AT Friday, February 24 Lucerna, Prague CZ Saturday, February 25 Niebo, Warsaw PL Wednesday, March 1 Beatpol, Dresden DE Thursday, March 2 Hole44, Berlin DE Friday, March 3 Forum, Bielefeld DE Saturday, March 4 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE Sunday, March 5 Club Volta, Cologne DE Tuesday, March 7 Petit Bain, Paris FR Wednesday, March 8 The Dome, London UK Thursday January 26 Washington’s Foco, Fort Collins CO March 15-17 SXSW, Austin TX Sunday, March 19 Rebel Lounge, Phoenix AZ Monday, March 20 Soda Bar, San Diego CA Tuesday, March 21 Knitting Factory NOHO, Los Angeles CA Thursday, March 23 Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco CA Saturday, March 25 Show Bar at Revolution Hall, Portland OR Sunday, March 26 Madame Lou’s, Seattle WA Wednesday, March 29 7th St Entry, Minneapolis MN Thursday, March 30 Sleeping Village, Chicago IL Friday, March 31 Whirling Tiger, Louisville KY Sunday, April 2 Big Ears Festival, Knoxville TN Monday, April 3 The Pinhook, Durham NC Tuesday, April 4 DC9, Washington DC Wednesday, April 5 PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia PA Thursday, April 6 Racket, New York NY Friday, April 7 Casa del Popolo, Montreal QC Saturday, April 8 The Garrison, Toronto ON
Ahead of Friday's release of the new album, ‘This Stupid World’, Yo La Tengo have released the sprawling album opener “Sinatra Drive Breakdown”. Referencing the Hoboken waterfront boulevard, “Sinatra Drive Breakdown” is driven by hypnotic rhythm and spontaneous bursts of guitar, as the band intones, “I see clearly how it ends / I see the moon rise as the sun descends”.
The band embark on a tour of the US next week, followed by UK and European shows in April and May, with many of the dates sold out. The full itinerary is below.
The mesmerizing, utterly unclassifiable films of Jean Painlevé have to be seen to be believed: delightful, surrealist-influenced dream works that are also serious science. The French filmmaker-scientist-inventor had a decades-spanning career in which he created hundreds of short films on subjects ranging from astronomy to pigeons to, most famously, such marine-life marvels as the seahorse and the sea urchin. Set to an original score—never before available to stream—by indie-rock heroes Yo La Tengo, the suite of eight underwater miniatures presented here captures the strange beauty and wonder of the aquatic world with a Dadaist’s eye.
Yo La Tengo’s latest album, This Stupid World, will be released on February 10 by Matador Records.
This past weekend, Pavement made its first-ever appearance on Austin City Limits with a one-hour performance that includes “hits” and highlights drawn from throughout the band’s storied catalog. The set will be available to stream at pbs.org for the remainder of the month.
Pavement on Tour Wednesday, February 15 Tokyo Dome City Hall, Tokyo JP Thursday, February 16 Tokyo Dome City Hall, Tokyo JP Saturday, February 18 Namba Hatch, Osaka JP Wednesday, February 22 - Perth Concert Hall, Perth, WA Friday, February 24 - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA Saturday, February 25 MONA FOMA, Hobart TAS Tuesday, February 28 Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, QLD Wednesday, March 1 Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul, NSW Thursday, March 2 Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW Friday, March 3 Palais Theatre, Melbourne, VIC Saturday, March 4 Tent Pole Festival, Mt Duneed Estate, Geelong, VIC Tuesday, March 7 The Civic, Auckland NZ Wednesday, March 8 St. James Theatre, Wellington NZ May 12-14, Kilby Block Party, Salt Lake City UT Thursday, July 20 Bluedot Festival, Macclesfield UK Thursday, July 27 Harpa, Reykjavik IS Friday, July 28 Harpa, Reykjavik IS Saturday, July 29 Harpa, Reykjavik IS
The MataBlog is edited by Matador Records’ co-moaner Gerard Cosloy and individual entries are the work of whoever’s name is next to them. If you enjoyed something in the MataBlog, thank you very much! If there was something you found particularly troubling, please be advised that a) maybe you should read it again and b) the contents of this blog do not necessarily represent the opinions of Matador Records, Beggars Group, the combined staff of either company, nor the Matador artist roster. Opinions are like friends — hardly anyone has one worth listening to.
