New Kevin Drew Video: "Backed Out On The..."

This video looks like so much fun. Broken Social Scene look like they can really party.

"This song was recorded with Joules Scott Key of Metric and Bang Lime on drums and J Mascis and Kevin Drew on guitar and vocals. The video happened last minute after a Dinosaur Jr show in Toronto. John Caffery from KIDS ON TV was hired to come and dance his ASS off and a spontaneous party was put into effect.

There were seven mirrors, one disco ball, four lights, one bottle of rum, three bottles of tequila, 62 beers, four crew and 17 people. It got put together on the day of the shoot and became the party of the year. It cost three thousand dollars to make... It was priceless." - Kevin Drew

Sha Sha-ing!

Last night [July 30th], Ben Kweller performed his first album Sha Sha in order, in its entirety at Southpaw. And it was amazing. BK is currently on tour with what he's dubbed the Trio on the Train Track, which means him, Chris Morrissey on bass and Mark Stepro on drums. They had so much energy last night, and were so excited to be doing this 3-night stint. And the crowd was psyched! I've never seen a crowd sing along to every word of every song before.



BK wore the polka dot/black shirt combo that he wore on the Sha Sha album art, and even came out with the hat and a red toothbrush! He also told the audience the story behind some of the songs and gave out some treats from his Sha Sha Box.

They encored with requests: "On My Way," "Sundress" and "Penny on the Train Track."

Tim Fite opened for BK last night. He's quite a character. He had incredible videos projected behind him, and was definitely fun and interesting to watch.



Catch BK and his trio at Southpaw again tonight for On My Way and on Wednesday for the self-titled Ben Kweller album. You won't be disappointed.

DOWNLOAD: Ben Kweller - "In Other Words" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ben Kweller - "Commerce, TX" (MP3)

Architecture On Tour

Architecture In Helsinki have just announced their North American tour this fall, to support Places Like This. The tour kicks off in Philly, ends in Florida and includes stints at Studio B and the Gramercy Theater.

10-10 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom
10-11 New York, NY - The Gramercy Theatre
10-12 Brooklyn, NY - Studio B
10-13 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
10-16 Chicago, IL - Metro
10-18 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
10-19 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe
10-24 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar
10-26 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
10-27 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue
10-29 Seattle, WA - The Showbox
10-30 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
11-01 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
11-02 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
11-05 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
11-10 Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture
11-13 Denton, TX - Hailey's
11-14 Austin, TX - Emo's
11-15 New Orleans, LA - The Republic
11-16 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder

Download "Debbie" off Places Like This for a bit of a 80s synth/ska combo.
DOWNLOAD: Architecture In Helsinki - "Debbie" (MP3)

Places Like This is out on August 21st via Polyvinyl.

Ben Kweller Residency Starts Tonight!

Whoops. I've really been slacking on the blog lately. But I'm back now! And tonight I'm going to see Ben Kweller perform Sha Sha at Southpaw. So excited.

Just wanted to announce the openers for the BK residency:
July 30th - Sha Sha - Tim Fite
July 31st - On My Way - Adam Green
August 1st - Ben Kweller - Jeffrey Lewis

See you there!

Michael Showalter's iPod

Last night [July 25th] I saw Michael Showalter at Union Hall, for one of the performances for the recording of his live CD. He was great, definitely the best I've seen him. One of my favorite bits from last night was his description of what's on his iPod. He started off the night by walking on stage to Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles." You know that song, you probably heard it in every movie in 2002. Anyway, he went on to say how he's always embarrassed about what's on his iTunes and iPod and usually renames the artists, but that he can no longer hide it. He played a bunch of songs that would be on a "typical" playlist of his:

Dave Matthews Band (renamed Sufjan Stevens) - "Crash" ('When I hear this song, I want to get a white baseball cap and wear it backwards. I want a red plastic cup full of beer. I want a tattoo of a circle of thorns.')
Sheryl Crow (renamed Cat Power) - "My Favorite Mistake"
Train - "Drops of Jupiter"
Christina Aguilera - "Beautiful"
Marc Cohn - "Walking In Memphis"
Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris"

Michael Showalter's album will be released via JDub Records. Don't know when though...

You can try and catch the second night of his recording at Union Hall tonight. Limited tickets should be available at the door.

New Kevin Drew Songs

Two new Kevin Drew songs are up on his myspace today: "Cocaine Skin" and "Backed Out On The." "Cocaine Skin" is a myspace exclusive b-side and "Backed Out On The" appears on Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew Spirit If...

"Back Out On The" sounds very Broken Social Scene-y, with more straightforward vocals. But of the two, I personally prefer "Cocaine Skin."

Kevin Drew and Feist perform at McCarren Pool on August 29th. Tix are still on sale.

Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew Spirit If... is out on September 18th via Arts & Crafts.

Fiery Sculptures

The Fiery Furnaces are playing at what looks like an amazing location next month. On August 26th, Fiery Furnaces will be playing a free show at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens. The show will be from 4PM - 6PM. This is the same night as the Book Eaters show.

New YACHT Video: "Women of the World"

"Women of the World" by YACHT

"Women of the World" is the YACHT song most commonly mistaken for a Jim
O'Rourke cover, when in fact both YACHT's version and O'Rourke's are merely
an Ivor Cutler poem set to music - O'Rourke's take being orch-pop and
YACHT's being hyper grunge. The video by James Sumner (who also directed
videos for Deerhunter and Dirty Projectors) is appropriately spastic.

Haven't seen enough seizure inducing fun? You can catch YACHT at McCarren Pool on August 19th for one of the JellyNYC Pool Parties, with Ghostland Observatory.

Siren Festival @ Coney Island

Got to Siren at about 4PM this year, and was just assaulted by the crowd. I guess because it was amazing weather this year, everyone came out. The line-up wasn't that great, so it couldn't have been for that reason.

Anyway, I headed straight to the main stage, by the Cyclone. The Black Lips went on shortly after I got there and they sounded really good. Not nearly as fun as the night before, when I saw them at Silent Barn, but good enough. Then I stuck around the main stage for the We Are Scientists set. I've definitely seen more solid shows from them. Don't know if they are suited to the festival atmosphere, as I know they like crowd interaction, and its hard to get that when there are 5,000 people in the crowd. The guitars were also quite low for their set, so I wish that I heard more of that. Then I tried to catch Matt & Kim at the Stillwell stage, but they ended right as I got there. Bummer. So I went back to the main stage, where M.I.A. was setting up. During my time away from that area, it had gotten at least 25% more crowded. So I headed to the Boardwalk to see if I could hear from there. Alas, the sound was not that powerful, so I just conceded to missing that set. Next up, I headed again to the Stillwell stage for Voxtrot. I really liked them, and haven't gotten a chance to see them live yet. They definitely put on the most solid set I saw that day.

After that, though, I had no energy to brave the crowds any longer, so I set off for Brighton Beach. Not a banner evening, but good enough for a free show!

Dirty Projectors @ Whitney Live

Last Friday [July 20th], Dirty Projectors played in the basement of the Whitney Museum, where there is a gift shop and cafe. They played a little Black Flag, some originals and mostly won the attention of the free-loading museum crowd. Friday nights at the Whitney happen to be pay-what-you-want, starting at 6PM. I got to the museum around 7ish, and there was a crowd rounding the corner and half way down 75th street. But the line moved pretty fast, and soon I was watching the band from the outside. Dirty Projectors played about a 40-minute set and I must say that I really enjoyed it. There's something that draws me to their sound. Alone, I think Dave Longstreth's voice gets tiresome, but combined with the female vox, their sound is amazingly pleasant.

Catch them in NYC at Mercury Lounge on September 28th.

DOWNLOAD: Dirty Projectors - "No More" (MP3)

Holy Trampolines! New Architecture In Helsinki Video

This new video for Architecture In Helsinki's "Hold Music" really makes me want to take that trampoline class at Crunch...

Also, if that video isn't enough for you, you can stream their whole album Places Like This on their myspace page. Places Like This is out on August 21st via Polyvinyl.

New Most Serene Republic Album: Population

The Most Serene Republic will release their new album Population on October 2nd via Arts & Crafts.

The album was self-produced by the band in Toronto over the last year, and was inspired by the sprawling suburbs of their hometown of Milton, Ontario. Musically, they sound as grandiose as ever. On Population, they showcase their prog and jazz influence, while building on the unique sound they carved out with their Arts & Crafts debut, Underwater Cinematographer, which Exclaim! Magazine described as “raucous, arty pop structures and ambient noise with a lo-fi, wall-of-sound approach.

Tracklisting:
1. Humble Peasants
2. Compliance
3. The Men Who Live Upstairs
4. Present of Future End
5. A Mix of Sun and Cloud
6. Battle Hymn of the Republic
7. Why So Looking Back
8. Sherry and Her Butterfly Net
9. Agenbit on Inwit
10. Career in Shaping Clay
11. Solpism Millionaires
12. Multiplication Tables
13. Neurasthenia

DOWNLOAD: The Most Serene Republic - "Sherry and Her Butterfly Net" (MP3)

Dirty Projectors On Tour

#55.1 - Dirty Projectors - Part 1
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Dirty Projectors are going on tour with YACHT next month and in September.

Dates via P4K:

08-23 Portland, ME - Space Gallery *
08-24 Montreal, Quebec - Casa Del Popolo *
08-25 Toronto, Ontario - Sneaky Dee''s *
08-27 Buffalo, NY - Soundlab *
08-28 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern *
08-29 Cincinnati, OH - Publico *
08-30 Bloomington, IN - Buskirk Chumley Theatre *
08-31 Ann Arbor, MI - The B-Side #
09-01 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen #
09-02 Grinnell, IA - Grinnell Lounge
09-03 Omaha, NE - Slowdown Jr.
09-04 Denver, CO - Hi Dive
09-05 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
09-08 Portland, OR - Satyricon ^
09-11 Sacramento, CA - Fools Foundation ^
09-12 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill ^
09-13 Visalia, CA - Howie & Sons ^
09-14 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo ^

* with Vampire Weekend
# with Nat Baldwin
^ with White Rainbow

BUT, they are also playing TONIGHT at The Whitney Museum for Whitney Live. So if you haven't yet, you can catch the Summer of Love exhibition and see some great music for basically free, because Fridays are pay-what-you-want admission at the museum. The show starts at 6PM tonight.

Above is a take away show from La Blogotheque. The second song they do is "Six Pack," and sounds nothing like the original Black Flag version. Like it?

You can also catch Dirty Projectors on August 4th at Death By Audio in Williamsburg for a Showpaper Benefit.

Revenge of the Book Eaters Show

Just like last year's show, this year's 826NYC benefit, Revenge of the Book Eaters, features some amazing artists performing at Beacon Theater.

826NYC and The Bowery Presents present REVENGE OF THE BOOK EATERS, a one-night-only event that brings together some of our most celebrated comedians, writers, and indie-rock songwriters for a rare evening of intimate performances, including FEIST, A.C. NEWMAN (of The New Pornographers), JIM JAMES (of My Morning Jacket), GRIZZLY BEAR, SARAH VOWELL (best-selling author and This American Life contributor), and DEMETRI MARTIN (Daily Show regular, comedy superstar). The night promises once and for all to try to settle the debate: words or music - which is better?

This event, which is named after a story by an 826NYC student, is a follow-up to last year's much-heralded event and six-city tour by the same name - a unique and awe-inspiring synthesis of the literary, comedy, and music communities in support of 826NYC's similarly innovative programming for kids.

Yay! Demetri Martin is hilarious.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am and range from $35 - $50. And of course BP is the promoter.

Ben Kweller Expands Tour!

Last time we posted about Ben Kweller, we announced his three-night residency at Southpaw taking place later this month. Now he has a whole tour planned, and ANOTHER three-night residency, this time at The Echo in Los Angeles.

All dates below:

July 30	Southpaw (Sha Sha)	Brooklyn, NY	SOLD OUT
July 31	Southpaw (On My Way)	Brooklyn, NY	BUY!
Aug 1	Southpaw (Ben Kweller)	Brooklyn, NY	SOLD OUT
Aug 7	Variety Playhouse	Atlanta, GA	BUY!
Aug 8	The Social	Orlando, FL	BUY!
Aug 9	Jack Rabbits	Jacksonville, FL	BUY!
Aug 10	Crowbar	Ybor City, FL	BUY!
Aug 11	Culture Room	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	BUY!
Aug 13	Work Play Theatre	Birmingham, AL	BUY!
Aug 15	The Parish	New Orleans, LA	BUY!
Aug 17	Walter's On Washington	Houston, TX	BUY!
Aug 18	Hailey's	Denton, TX	BUY!
Aug 20	Bricktown Ballroom	Oklahoma City, OK	BUY!
Aug 21	Bob's at Cain's Ballroom	Tulsa, OK	BUY!
Aug 22	Juanita's	Little Rock, AR	BUY!
Aug 23	Newby's	Memphis, TN	BUY!
Aug 24	Exit/In	Nashville, TN	BUY!
Aug 25	Grey Eagle	Asheville, NC	BUY!
Aug 26	Satellite Ballroom	Charlottesville, VA	BUY!
Aug 28	Off Broadway	St. Louis, MO	BUY!
Aug 29	Mojo's	Columbia, MO	BUY!
Aug 30	The Bottleneck	Lawrence, KS	BUY!
Aug 31	Club 156	Boulder, CO	BUY!
Sep 1	In The Venue	Salt Lake City, UT	BUY!
Sep 4	Bottom Of The Hill	San Francisco, CA	BUY!
Sep 5 Sep 6 Sep 7	The Echo	Los Angeles, CA	BUY 3 DAY PASSES!
Sep 5	The Echo (Sha Sha)	Los Angeles, CA	BUY!
Sep 6	The Echo (On My Way)	Los Angeles, CA	BUY!
Sep 7	The Echo (Ben Kweller)	Los Angeles, CA	BUY!
Sep 9	The Canyon	Las Vegas, NV	BUY!
Sep 11	Solar Culture	Tucson, AZ	BUY!
Sep 16	Austin City Limits Festival	Austin, TX	BUY!

Same deal with the LA residency. Each night will be a different BK album in it's entirety, with 3-day Fun passes available.

Patrick Wolf Vents About Bad Music

So, late last night Patrick Wolf posted this bulletin, with the subject "Somerset House:"

Mika is a twat

but then early this morning, he posted this "translation:"

and what I meant was
Please lets put an end to
over marketed, expensive heartless
tacky rubbish, autotune, airbrush
should i market myself to look OUTRAGEOUS and kooky or would
it be easier if I sold records by playing safe and serene
and for the family
to save more record sales. Cliff richard. enrique iglesias.
mutton dressed as lamb.
what we all need in this time
of super superficialities is gristle
and bone and passion and soul
and true stars that havent come from
the end of showbiz academy jazz hands school
I never got an education for what
i do, I woke up with a passion to sing
and write and communicate from the bottom
of my dirty teenage heart and we should be more aware
of what is fed to us as genetically modified music
and what is organic music, this is not about gender
or sexuality, its just a bad time for music and I cant
stand on the sideline with a fake smile.
Sure, everybody likes a good show.. and and entertainer
but liberace had the flying limousine and hotpants.

I went to hear my violinist Victoria Sutherland play Schuberts last piano trio yesterday morning, it was in st marys church on the strand right opposite somerset house where we played only about thirteen hours before.
it was the first time in many months I heard a piece of music that totally seized my body with emotion. I suddenly woke up out of the forced ataraxy of the previous night.

Franz Shubert died of syphilis and mercury poisoning at the age of 30 with almost all of his compositions refused to be played by orchestras or definitely unpublished,

I demand justice for good music and firebrands who
refiuse to compromise to be popular.
Or at least a good meal or two in the process to keep them going.

Stay true, free and fierce peoples and enjoy your summer....

xxx pw

As crazy and bitter as that first bulletin sounds, I kind of agree with his second posting. Creativity is definitely alive in the indie world, but where is it in the mainstream?

PS. After this and the drummer incident at Hiro Ballroom, I'm now officially scared of PW.

Rogue Wave Is Asleep At Heaven's Gate

Hailing from Oakland, California, rockers Rogue Wave have released two full-length albums on Sub Pop and are now going for their third. But they switched up labels. They're now with Mr. Banana Pancakes himself, Jack Johnson, on his Brushfire imprint. The new album is called Asleep At Heaven's Gate and is out on September 18th.

Via CMJ:

Collaborating with producer Roger Moutenot (Sleater-Kinney, Elvis Costello, Yo La Tengo) and guest musicians John Vanderslice and Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), the new effort echoes the tumultuous and triumphant events the band endured in 2006, including drummer Pat Spurgeon's kidney transplant, the birth of vocalist Zach Rogue's daughter and the addition of new bassist Patrick Abernethy.

DOWNLOAD: Rogue Wave - "Endless Shovel" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rogue Wave - "Publish My Love" (MP3)

Bjork Pre-sale for MSG

Bjork recently announced that she'll be playing Madison Square Garden on September 24th.

The pre-sale is NOW on Bjork's site.

Also on the pre-sale:

September 11th: Detroit Fox Theater
September 17th: Atlanta Fox Theater
September 21st: Montreal Jacques Cartier Pier

Grand Animals on High Street

Local boys Robbers On High Street release their new album Grand Animals next week on July 24th via New Line Records. They will also be promoting in the city a bit.

Tuesday July 24th – Listening Party at H-Fi, 169 Avenue A,
between 10th and 11th St., NY, NY

Friday July 27th – Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, NY, NY
w/ Aeroplane Pageant and the Jealous Girlfriends

Pre-order Grand Animals on Amazon.

DOWNLOAD: Robbers On High Street - "Crown Victoria" (MP3)

Harry Potter Week!

So as you may know the last Harry Potter book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out on Saturday. Same day at the Siren Festival! Ugh, just like two years ago. Anyway, to celebrate, maybe you'll want to see Harry and the Potters? You know, that indie rock duo of brothers that sing about the Harry Potter books? They're fun. I highly recommend their live show if you're an HP fan.

July 19th, Thursday
Queens, NY
Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden
5:00pm, $10 adults/$5 under 12
29-19 24th Ave, Astoria, NY 11102
Oh yes! You're going to have to be careful not to OD on Awesomeness tonight! This is a SUPER SPECIAL show! Also performing are the Hungarian Horntails and those jerks in Draco and the Malfoys. And to top it all off, we are going to be joined by the Dumbledore's Army HORN SECTION! Whoa! Oh my! Do not miss this!

I wish this show didn't start so early :(

Download a bunch of their songs on their Virb page.

Bishop Allen's Broken String

This just in: Bishop Allen's new album The Broken String is available for download NOW! The official release date is July 24th, but if you go to their online store and purchase the album you get MP3s immediately as well as the physical product shipped to you when it gets released. Sweet deal!

A lot of the tracks off The Broken String are from the 2006 EPs. Tracklisting below:



The Monitor
Rain
Click, Click, Click, Click
The Chinatown Bus
Flight 180
Like Castanets
Butterfly Nets
Shrinking Violet
Corazon
Middle Management
Choose Again
The News From Your Bed

DOWNLOAD: Bishop Allen - "Rain" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bishop Allen - "Click Click Click Click" (MP3)

Catch them for free at the Seaport next Friday for the River to River Festival, with Rock Plaza Central.

The Hip-Hopopotamus vs. The Rhymenocerous

I thought I'd leave you all this Friday with a feel-good clip from Flight of the Conchords. If you haven't been watching this show, you should be. It's brilliant.

I'm the motherflippin'.

New Pornographers: Fall Tour

The New Pornographers recently released dates for their tour this Fall, including two dates at Webster Hall on October 24th (my birthday!) and October 25th.

09/13 - Victoria, British Columbia - McPherson Ballroom
09/14 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
09/15 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
09/16 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
09/17 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
09/18 - San Diego, CA - House Of Blues
09/19 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
09/20 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
09/21 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
09/22 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
09/24 - Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater
09/25 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
09/26 - Boise, ID - The Egyptian Theatre
09/28 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Commordore Ballroom
10/14 - Missoula, MT - University Theater
10/15 - Winnipeg, MB - Garrick Centre
10/17 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
10/18 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10/19 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10/20 - North Tonawanda, NY - Riviera Theater
10/21 - Toronto, ON - Ducat King
10/24 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
10/25 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
10/26 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
10/31 - New Orleans, LA - House Of Blues

Above is a video about how to Buy Challengers Early, and Get Now. I've been listening to the Challengers pretty much non-stop since I got it. It's amazing. I think it's my favorite NP album, it just has a lot of depth and creativity. To me, this album is all about vocals. I love the way their utilize the different sounds in their voices to create texture and scope. Favorites tracks include "My Rights Versus Yours," "All The Old Showstoppers," "Challengers," "Failsafe" and "Myriad Harbour."

DOWNLOAD: The New Pornographers - "Myriad Harbour" (Mp3)

Challengers is out on August 21st via Matador.

The National Go INTERnational

Whoa, long and busy day at work today. I meant to post this this morning, but couldn't get to it. Anyway, bad joke aside (see post title), it seems like The National are about to take over the world.

Check out the dates for their Fall tour:
07/13 - Dour, Belgium - Dour Festival
07/14 - Herk, Belgium - Rock Herk Festival
07/15 - Southwold, England - Latitude Festival
08/05 - Zambujeira Do Mar, Portgal - Sudoeste Festival
08/15 - St. Malo, France - La Route Du Rock
08/17 - New York, NY - South Street Seaport
09/04 - Philadelphia, PA - Theater Of Living Arts
09/05 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09/06 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09/07 - Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle
09/08 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
09/10 - Orlando, FL - The Club At Firestone
09/11 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
09/12 - Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree
09/14 - Dallas, TX - Grenada Theater
09/16 - Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)
09/18 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
09/19 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
09/20 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
09/21 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
09/22 - Chicago, IL - The Vic
09/23 - Cincinnati, OH - Madison Theater
09/27 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
09/28 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
09/29 - San Francisco, CA - Ballroom
10/01 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
10/02 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
10/03 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
10/06 - Boston, MA - Roxy
10/07 - Montreal, Quebec - Le National
10/08 - Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Hall
11/01 - Dublin, Ireland - Village
11/02 - Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
11/03 - Sheffield, England - Leadmill
11/04 - Manchester, England - Academy 2
11/06 - Birmingham, England - Irish Centre
11/07 - London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
11/09 - Bristol, England - Anson Rooms
11/10 - Portsmouth, England - Pyramids
11/13 - Reims, France - La Cartonnerie
11/14 - Paris, France - Elysee Montmartre
11/15 - Rennes, France - Ubu Club
11/16 - Toulouse, France - Le Phare
11/17 - Barcelona, Spain - La del Apolo
11/19 - Clermont, France - Ferrand
11/20 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Le Romandie
11/21 - Milan, Italy - Transilvania
11/22 - Zurich, Switzerland - Abart
11/23 - Zagreb, Croatia - TBA
11/24 - Vienna, Austria - Szene Wien
11/26 - Stuttgart, Germany - Schocken 12
11/27 - Cologne, Germany - Prime Club
11/28 - Amsterdam, Holland - Melkweg
11/30 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Lille Vega
12/01 - Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
12/02 - Oslo, Norway - John Dee
12/03 - Malmo, Sweden - KB
12/05 - Hamburg, Germany - Knust
12/06 - Berlin, Germany - Postbahnhof

Europe -> States -> Back to Europe!

Meanwhile, Daytrotter posted a session with The National this week. Head to their site for a short interview and 4 free MP3s, including "Lucky You," "Gospel," "Slow Show" and a cover of the Psychedelic Furs' "Pretty In Pink!"

T in the Park

T in the Park is a three-day Scottish music festival that was held last week in Balado, Perth & Kinross. Tickets to the festival have recently been selling out in record time, and they had to shut out many people last week due to the organizer's closing the parking lots. This year's line-up included: Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, Interpol, Kings of Leon and Jamie T, among others. Early bird tickets (about 40,000) were released for next year's festival yesterday and sold out in 69 minutes, without the line-up even being announced. Those are some serious music fans there in Scotland.

BBC has a bunch of footage from this year's festival on their website.

Here are the Kings of Leon performing four songs, "Molly's Chamber," "The Bucket," "Milk" and my favorite "On Call." Check out Caleb's new look! Sweet haircut.



You can also check out live footage of Arcade Fire, Albert Hammond, Jr., Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Camera Obscura, Jamie T, Interpol, The Fratellis, CSS, Editors, The Thrills, The Kooks, Lily Allen and Rufus Wainwright on the BBC site.

New Matt Pond PA Album

After a tough year, Matt Pond PA will release their seventh album on September 25th on Altitude Records.

Via Billboard:

"The floor just seemed to drop out on us," Pond tells Billboard.com. "And the bulk of the response fell on me. But in the end, it was kinda good for me. I just had to fight for what I wanted [in this record] and it ended up being that. It continues [with] what I tend to write about -- dealing with death, apathy and women ... and how those tie together."

Pond says that the stalled recording efforts became particularly frustrating in part because the songs had been worked out in his head, yet couldn't be captured with a good recording. "The lyrics had been laid out, and the arrangements were all very clear," he says. "It just sucks that the recordings came out so bad. But those are things you can't take into account."

"Last Light" did have some bright rays, mainly through vocal contributions from Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. "Working with Kelly and Neko, that was one of the greatest parts of this," Pond says. "Kelly is so talented -- sometimes I'm embarrassed to send her my songs. She's pretty awe-inspiring and scary at the same time."

I fell in love with their 2004 release Emblems. Their mellow sound is really beautiful and it's something I put on when I want to just sit down for a while and think.

DOWNLOAD: Matt Pond PA - "Grave's Disease" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Matt Pond PA - "Lily One" (MP3)

Bad Art Auction/Band of Horses @ Hiro Ballroom

Last night [July 10th] was another New York Magazine event. This time it was a Bad Art Auction, hosted by Zach Galifianakis, with a performance by Band of Horses. Doors opened at 8PM, and the Zach finally came on stage at around 920PM. He did a little of his routine, and then proceeded with the auction. All proceeds from the auction went to New York Cares last night, or as Zach kept calling it New York, Who Cares?
There was definitely a lot of bad art there last night, including a portrait of Mel Gibson, a weird inflatable pig from Moby's private collection (which went for $300) and a portrait of NASCAR's Richard Petty that went for $500! And little did the bidder know, but there were two of those Richard Petty's floating around last night. Lucky duck walked away with two!




Later, around 11PM, Band of Horses finally went on and the crowd couldn't have been more excited for their set. Everyone packed it in up front, and the band opened with the first song off their new record, "Ghost." Later they played "I Went To The Barn Because I Like the," "LRC" (off the new record), "Monsters" and "The Great Salt Lake." My favorite is still "The Funeral," even though the band seems to be tired of playing it because they kept asking "Still not sick of this one yet, are ya?" Nope, I'm not. The two times I've seen Band of Horses live, "The Funeral" always floors me. They played a lot off Everything All the Time, and also a few new songs from their upcoming release (still untitled?), which will be out on Sub Pop in October.








Band of Horses plays a free McCarren Pool party on July 22nd with Annuals. Definitely gonna be at that one.

DOWNLOAD: Band of Horses - "The Funeral" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Band of Horses - "The Great Salt Lake" (MP3)

Stars: On Tour This Fall

Stars are going on tour this Fall to support In Our Bedroom After the War, which is out September 25th but legally available to download now.

OCT 17. Higher Ground. Burlington, VT.
OCT 18. Town Hall. New York, NY.
OCT 19. Berklee. Boston, MA.
OCT 20. 9:30 Club. Washington, DC.
OCT 24. Starlight Ballroom. Philadelphia, PA.
OCT 26. Cat's Cradle. Carrboro, NC.
OCT 27. The Variety Playhouse. Atlanta, GA.
OCT 28. Club Downunder. Tallahassee, FL.
OCT 30. Stubb's. Austin, TX.
OCT 31. House of Blues. Dallas, TX.
NOV 02. Vic Theatre. Chicago, IL.
NOV 03. Pantages Theatre. Minneapolis, MN.
NOV 04. Slowdown. Omaha, NE.
NOV 06. Gothic Theatre. Denver, CO.
NOV 08. Rialto Theatre. Tucson, AZ.
NOV 09. House of Blues. San Diego, CA.
NOV 10. The Orpheum. Los Angeles, CA.
NOV 13. Bimbo's. San Francisco, CA.
NOV 14. Bimbo's. San Francisco, CA.
NOV 15. The Crystal Ballroom. Portland OR.
NOV 16. The Showbox. Seattle, WA.

Pre-sale tickets are available here. I checked out the Town Hall date and tickets are $37.80! Yikes. While that is for hard tickets, and that price includes the $4 handling fee, I still think that's pretty steep. Wonder who the promoter is?