Leeds spastic noise-rockers Pulled Apart By Horses have just revealed a new song, all for free, from their upcoming debut album. The record, which was produced/recorded by James Kenosha and mastered at Abbey road by Alex Wharton, will be released very early next year.
If you haven't had a chance to see this band, you need to do it now. Absolutely amazing gigs. If you're in the UK, now's your chance - the band is on the road with Biffy Clyro. Check their website for full details.
Over the past few years, it seems that every time I go to a different city I see Elvis Perkins in Dearland. First it was in NYC at CMJ '06, then a few months later when I moved to Boston. Even that summer, Perkins and his band were the first act I took it on a hot Friday morning in Chicago at Lollapalooza. I then finished the year of '07 the same way I started it by catching him with some then unknown Bon Iver guy as support. Half the set was made of grand live favorites like "Hey" and "Doomsday", songs that are now set to appear on Elvis Perkins in Dearland the album.
Dearland is Elvis' backing band, hence him being in it and the self-titledness behind their first album together. XL will drop the effort on March 10th of this year. I am sure I will catch him at least four times in that next seven months to celebrate.
Elvis Perkins in Dearland 1. Shampoo 2. Hey 3. Hours Last Stand 4. I Heard Your Voice in Dresden 5. Send My Fond Regards to Lonelyville 6. I'll Be Arriving 7. Chains, Chains, Chains 8. Doomsday 9. 123 Goodbye 10. How's Forever Been Baby
Earlier this week, it was David Byrne and Brian Eno who gave us their first album in nearly three decades via the internet. And it was at 4AM east coast time was when the world was invited to the most private sector of Bloc Party land when they unleashed upon the world Intimacy, their third album.
The band announced on Monday that, surprise, our record is done and you can buy in this Thursday. The album won't be in stores until October 28th, but you can buy it digitally this instant. I won't lie, A Weekend In The City wasn't my favorite Bloc Party album, but the open drum and bass and buzzsaw guitars of "Ares" have me reeled in. I still can't get in to "Mercury" though. Even after seeing them play it before 50,000 or so people at Lollapalooza, Kele Okereke looping and manipulating his own vocals, the song .. wait, I already mentioned this in my Lollapalooza write-up.
It appears that the album's title comes from Okereke's brutally honest lyrics this time around, after going through a break up last year. Maybe we'll finally get an album as good as their landmark debut, Silent Alarm. I'm finding out right now as we speak.
It has been three years since There's A Fire came in to my life. The album's title track got repeated plays by me in the summer of 2005, and even to this day those opening drums pound the memory of working at my old job and driving around on humid summer nights. And now with the announcement that Longwave has finally wrapped work on their fourth album, Secrets Are Sinister, I know that "No Direction" will be the song to make my cold winter days feel and hot and sticky.
Recorded mostly in their studio in the bowels of Brooklyn with the famed produced Peter Katis, Sinister also found the band teaming once again with Strangest Things producer Dave Fridmann who chimed in his production cues on "Life Is Wrong". The album features the quartet's trademark sound, matching epic arena sized guitars with dreamy landscapes.
The band is currently mapping out fall tour plans, but in the meantime will play a free show this Friday, August 15th, at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Secrets Are Sinister hits stores November 11th through Original Signal Recordings.
Sinister Songs: 1. Sirens In The Deep Sea 2. No Direction 3. Satellites 4. The Devil & The Liar 5. Life Is Wrong 6. Eyes Like Headlights 7. I Don't Dare 8. It's True 9. Shining Hours 10. Secrets Are Sinister
So, my co-worker checks this newKings Of Leon song out and I ask her how she likes it? "Terrible" she goes. "It's all electronic-y," a statement that made me all the more curious. So I download it to give it my first listen and turn around to let her know, "It's not electronic-y - it's Zeppelin'y!" A deep fuzz bass groove and tight drums accompany Caleb Followill's vocals that are just doused in reverb. Man it is quite good. Repeat listenings are required.
"Crawl" is the lead off track from the upcoming Kings of Leon album, Only By The Night, which RCA will unleash unto the world September 23rd.
Almost a year ago was the last time I caught the Cold War Kids - playing to one of the biggest crowds I saw at one of the side stages at Lollapalooza. Sure, I was excited to hear "St. John," "We Used To Vacation" and "Hang Me Up To Dry" for the millionth time live, but what was even more exciting was the few new songs they rolled out. While my mind is vague now on how some of the new songs sound, I do remember them introducing the track "Dreams Old Men Dream" and being blown away by the progressions the band was making.
Apparently, making progressions is the case with their sophomore effort, Loyalty To Loyalty, due this September on Downtown. According to the communique I've received, the 13 songs string together a masterpiece that is both lush and textured. It's an album brimming to the cusp with the poignant, intimate narratives and brooding atmospherics the Kids be known for.
Loyalty Numbers: Against Privacy Mexican Dogs Every Valley Is Not A Lake Welcome To The Occupation Golden Gate Jumpers Avalanche in B I've Seen Enough Every Man I Fall For Dreams Old Men Dream On The Night My Love Broke Through Relief Cryptomensia
The band will be touring this fall in support of Loyalty, with dates starting in late August:
Neil Halstead is a man who wears many hats. Outside of his growing solo career, he was also not only a founding member of Mojave 3, but also of Slowdive, the early 90s slowcore favorite. And now to add to his solo collection of music, he's readying his second album, Oh, Mighty Engine, due July 29th on Brushfire Records, his first for the label.
To get your, um, engines ready, we offer you the first taste of the new album in the form of the track "Paint A Face". It's a laid back acoustic number perfect to put on and sit back and ... paint faces to.
We mentioned it the other week and gave away an MP3 of the track "Fighter Girl," and today's the day for In The Ever, Mason Jennings' Brushfire debut. He recently sat down with The Current to discuss the new album:
Several months ago, The Dandy Warhols made their first hints at what was to come with their sixth album, ....Earth To The Dandy Warhols.... We were given teaser pimps on YouTube, showing the band at the studio, their guitars floating in outerspace, the soundtrack being provided by new songs from their latest offering. Each teaser ended with the album's title and today's date, May 5th, aka Cinco de Mayo. At midnight EST last night I sat hoping their website would give me something since they had been mum ever since then, so I went to bed thinking that the July 22 release date Wikipedia mentions was the new release date.
And then I woke up this morning, and aside from downloading that new Nine Inch Nails record (did Trent give you The Slip? Get it!? I hope I was the first to use that line -- more on this album later,) the Warhols website was totally revamped with a statement from the ... cosmos, let's say.
Earth is available today, in over 10,000 AMI jukeboxes around the US of A (and the rest of the world question mark.) Can someone locate me one of those here in Boston? If you lead me to a venue that has one of these and you care to sit and listen to the new album with me, the first round of Cinco de Mayo beers are on me. E-mail me for direct contact, please. If you can't track one of those down, the album will be available for purchase and download on May 19th, as part of a new subscription service that will also offering up new B-sides and live material.
Until then, they left us with only one parting gift - a free download of Earth's opening track, "The World The People Together (Come On)." It's pretty fresh if you ask me - hand claps, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and Courtney Taylor-squared's trademark falsetto adorn the near five-minute jam. I encourage repeated listens on headphones.
One place you can hear the new record today is at the album listening party the band is holding at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco from 5 until 11 PM local time. Zia of topless bass playing fame will also be spinning records and the band will schmooze and drink with you. Have fun.
Download: "The World The People Together (Come On)" [here]
Three summers ago, I was all over X&Y. When Coldplay dropped that record, it got plays non stop. Almost every song was good, dark, different, even the overplayed "Speed Of Sound," the album's lead off single, was bearable.
Since then, the band toured the world numerous times, I think Chris Martin and Gwenyth Paltrow had another baby, and they hunkered down with the legendary Brian Eno to record their fourth album, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends. Will this be their Joshua Tree, that remains to be seen, but we will get our first chance to see what exactly went down in the studio when the band gives away their new single, "Violet Hill," for one week only beginning tomorrow at 6:15 AM EST. Will it be a landmark recording? Will it be the greatest thing ever? Will it just be another Coldplay song? We will all know this time tomorrow.
On the touring front, the band only has two shows on the horizon, and they are both free. The band will play the Brixton Academy in London on Monday June 16th, and Madison Square Garden in NYC on Monday June 23. Stay tuned to their site for info on how to get your free tickets.
Viva La Tracklisting 01 Life in Technicolor 02 Cemeteries of London 03 Lost! 04 42 05 Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love 06 Yes 07 Viva la Vida 08 Violet Hill 09 Strawberry Swing 10 Death and All His Friends
It seems like it has been forever since The Futureheads released 2006's News & Tributes, but the wait will come to an end when the English quartet release their new album, This Is Not The World, on May 27th.
World will be the band's first album on their own imprint, Nul Recordings, after spending time on both Sire and Vagrant. The band recently released the first single from the album, "The Beginning Of The Twist," in the UK. Here is the video for that catchy gem:
The band will tour Europe in May and June, and I would only assume a US tour would follow soon after. I, for one, cannot wait.
We recently saw them play a show in NYC, and maybe we caught them at SXSW, but the Duke Spirit will return to the US next month in full swing to celebrate the state side release of Neptune.
They'll be spending most of April and the first few days of May on the road with San Francisco psych rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, who are still playing out in support of last year's rather phenomenal Baby 81. Before that, though, the UK group will play some headlining shows on the east coast.
Headlining Shows: 4/8 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom 4/9 Boston, MA - TT The Bear's 4/11 Philadelphia, PA - Northstar 4/12 Columbus, OH - CD101 Radio Show
Shows with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 4/13 State College, PA - State Theatre 4/15 East Lansing, MI - Rick's 4/16 Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection 4/17 Toledo, OH - Headliner's 4/18 Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's 4/19 Lexington, KY - The Dame 4/22 Charlotte, NC - Visualite Theatre 4/23 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club 4/24 Knoxville, TN - Valarium 4/25 St Louis, MO - Pops 4/26 Kansas City, MO - Liberty Hall 4/29 Columbus, OH – Skullys 4/30 Champaign, IL - Canopy Club 5/2 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Ballroom 5/3 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon 5/4 Chicago, IL - Metro
They once sang of Van Halen, Courtney Love, and all those ways to die (it was 5000, right?) and everyone's favorite vulcan, Dr. Spock. Now, the boys of Nerf Herder return to the fold with their upcoming album, the so epically titled Nerf Herder IV, and use the device of song as a way to pay tribute to one of most underappreciated species of the sea: the manatee. A fan has even gone so far as to make a rather clever video for the track "(Stand By Your) Manatee," and I must say it's one of the the funniest things I've seen in quite awhile.
Who knew manatees were so lovable?
Nerf Herder IV won't be out until April 29th, but the band is already streaming the whole record at their website. Do check it out.
A few days ago, I was reading a post on a message board I sometimes frequent from a person who works at a record store claiming there was a new Raconteursalbum coming out today. No one really believed it, but then again with the way rather large artists have been dropping things out of the sky these days (Radiohead, NIN, etc.,) maybe Jack White had a trick up his sleeve. Did he really have the band finish their new album, go to Warner Bros., and demand it be released ASAP? Yes. Yes he did.
And with that, Jack White's other band will release their sophomore album, Consolers Of The Lonely, next Tuesday. What's special about this compared to the NIN and Radiohead releases, though, is that this isn't just a digital release, it's a normal release: it will be out via CD, vinyl, and as a digital download via iTunes from your friends at Third Man/Warner Bros. Wow. Mighty impressive I must say, now we just have to wait and see how impressive the record is when it lands.
Until then, there's always Pee Wee's cameo in this video:
Download Audio/Video Tracklisting
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