Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 156
February 10, 2025
New Mute Signing: PUNCHBAG || Release Debut Single "F*ck It"
NEW MUTE SIGNING: PUNCHBAG
RELEASE DEBUT SINGLE “FUCK IT”
Photo credit: Kitty Quinton
Today South London sibling duo PUNCHBAG has announced their signing to Mute and shared their debut single “Fuck It” with accompanying video.
Listen to / watch the video for “Fuck It” HERE.Swinging between dizzying extremes, where unapologetically sugar-sweet pop hooks clash with radical leftfield production, where overwhelming emotions can be purged in the space of a single throwaway lyric, where lines are blurred and redrawn between aggression and joy, softness and toughness, PUNCHBAG (consisting of Clara and Anders Bach) is a compelling proposition.
Debut single “Fuck It” introduces the duo with a grand wash of entrancing synths and piercing beats. Vocalist Clara sings of a life buffeted by anxiety and the fear of wasting time as instrumental momentum builds and builds. Then, just short of escape velocity, everything flips on its head. Guitarist and producer Anders' overdriven punk guitars attack in plunging dives as the vocals change in tone; sharp, snippy and unabashed. “We might as well just say go fuck it!” Clara exclaims. “’Cos we’re all gonna die, die, die!”
This central refrain might be viewed as PUNCHBAG’s manifesto, although “it’s not nihilistic,” Clara insists. “It’s more like, we only have so much time, so do the thing you want to do. Kiss the person you want to kiss, say that thing you want to say.”
Whispers of PUNCHBAG's knock-out live performances have been growing in volume since they played their first show less than a year ago. Colliding the raw unfiltered energy of punk with the overflowing ecstasy of pop, from the start they demonstrated an uncanny skill for commanding a crowd. “We take it seriously,” says Clara. “We’ve thought about it a lot, and it was important that from the first time we performed it was fully formed. We’re Virgos. We’re perfectionists.”
This steeliness is paired with a chaotic stage presence, defined by improvisatory dance moves and an infectious energy. “At the end of the set, I just scream until everyone’s jumping,” she says. “We want it to be cathartic, but also really joyful. Joy is one of the things that you can’t really argue with, it’s not an opinion – you can either get involved or not.”
“We’d rather someone had a strong adverse reaction to our music than it be just played in the background,” says Anders. He needn’t worry, of course, PUNCHBAG’s chaotic and utterly cathartic debut is guaranteed to grab attention.
PUNCHBAG self-released a visualizer for their song “Pretty Youth” on YouTube in late 2024. A song written about their "journey through erratic highs and gross lows of the idealised ‘coming of age’ experience", the song's visuals, shot by Jonni Wedge, dutifully capture the potent intensity of PUNCHBAG's live performances.
PUNCHBAG’s debut single “Fuck It” is out now on Mute and available across all digital platforms. Listen HERE.
PUNCHBAG will play shows in London, Bristol, Leeds and Brighton over the coming months. Follow PUNCHBAG on Instagram for news of more live shows in the coming months.
PUNCHBAG LIVE DATES:
2/21/2025 - Dublin, Borderline Festival
2/26/2025 - London, The Lower Third (Soho Calling ILMC)
3/6/2025 - London, Sebright Arms (w/ Nightbus)
3/15/2025 - Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall (Dark Arts All Dayer)
3/29/2025 - Bristol, Ritual Union Festival
5/16/2025 - Brighton, The Great Escape Festival
Further info / tickets HERE.
“Fuck It” single art
Purchase or stream “Fuck It” HERE.
CONNECT WITH PUNCHBAG:
INSTAGRAM | TIK TOK
Omnivore Announces 'The Exciting Sounds of Buck Owens And His Buckaroos Live From Richmond, Virgina, 1964'
The Exciting Sounds of Buck Owens And His Buckaroos
Live From Richmond, Virgina, 1964 out on March 28
Earliest known full concert recording of Buck and his Buckaroos
February 10, 2025: Today, Omnivore Recordings announced The Exciting Sounds of Buck Owens And His Buckaroos Live From Richmond, Virgina, 1964 will be released on March 28, pressed on strawberry jam-colored vinyl. It serves as the earliest known full concert recording of Buck and his Buckaroos, mastered from the original tape by Grammy®-winning engineer Michael Graves and including extensive liner notes from co-producer Scott B. Bomar.
Buck Owens and his Buckaroos were a phenomenon when they burst onto the scene in the early 1960s. in 1963–1964, they had five #1 Country hits including “Act Naturally,” “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me),” and “My Heart Skips A Beat.” Their live Carnegie Hall Concert release hit #1 in 1966, but how exciting they were onstage before that was largely unheard. Unless you were there. Until now.
The Exciting Sounds Of Buck Owens And His Buckaroos Live From Richmond, Virginia, 1964 is the recently discovered, earliest full-concert recording of The Buckaroos onstage. The band, performing the aforementioned #1 hits and more, shows how their presence and performance in front of a live audience cemented their status as one of the greatest acts of all time—in person and on record.
Painstakingly restored and mastered by multiple Grammy-winning engineer Michael Graves, The Exciting Sounds Of Buck Owens And His Buckaroos Live From Richmond, Virginia, 1964 shows a band ready to take over the world. (Even showing appreciation to their new labelmates, The Beatles, with a cover of “Twist And Shout.”) With a first pressing on strawberry jam colored vinyl, the record looks and sounds like it could and should have appeared in 1964, but with 21st century style and technology.
So, head to Richmond and hear Buck Owens And His Buckaroos firing on all cylinders. It may have happened over six decades ago, but it sounds as vital and important to music history now as ever.
Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/cilDvaQTXq0
Pre-order: www.omnivorerecordings.com/shop/live-from-richmond
Tracklist:
SIDE ONE
1. intro
2. Act Naturally – (Johnny Russell/Voni Morrison)
3. Love’s Gonna Live Here – (Buck Owens)
4. Together Again – (Buck Owens)
5. My Heart Skips A Beat – (Buck Owens)
6. band intros
7. Orange Blossom Special – (Ervin Rouse)
8. The Streets Of Laredo (The Young Cowboy) – (Trad., arr. by Buck Owens)
9. I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me) – (Buck Owens)
10. Close Up The Honky Tonks – (Red Simpson)
SIDE TWO
1. Mexican Polka/Buck’s Polka – (Buck Owens)
2. Truck Drivin’ Man – (Terry Fell)
3. A-11 – (Hank Cochran)
4. Release Me – (Eddie Miller/W.S. Stevenson)
5. Hello Trouble – (Eddie McDuff/Orville Couch)
6. I Don’t Hear You – (Buck Owens)
7. Dang Me – (Roger Miller)
8. Hello Walls No. 2 – (Willie Nelson/Sheb Wooley)
9. Long Tall Texan – (Henry Strzelecki)
10. Twist And Shout – (Phil Medley/Bert Russell)
Adult Mom Breaks Hiatus With New Single "Door Is Your Hand"
Adult Mom Breaks Hiatus With New Single
Today, Adult Mom delivers a powerful and darkly poetic song titled “Door Is Your Hand”, their first release in two years. Intertwined in jangly electric guitars and a triumphant power-pop chorus, songwriter Stevie Knipe’s lyrics radiate an unmistakable honesty as they confront a deeply personal topic with unflinching storytelling.
“I have been through a lot since we last released music, and the experiences have shaped me deeply,” they explain. “This song was a way for me to process harm and victimization in ways that maybe aren’t conventionally “good”. “I think over the years I’ve grown angrier, and then serene in that anger. Beautiful things come out of it.”
“Door Is Your Hand” - WATCH | LISTEN
From solo strumming on an acoustic guitar to recording a full-band anthem, Knipe outlines the multi-year journey of creating “Door Is Your Hand”. “The original song was written in 2020 alone on my guitar. I sketched up some different arrangements on GarageBand, and years later the band finally got together in PA at The Bunk to flesh it out. After sitting in a room and nitpicking every part of the song together, we eventually recorded it at Art Farm in Accord, NY in the summer of 2023.”
Originating as the solo project of Stevie Knipe at Purchase College, Adult Mom now falls between the playful spectrum of solo project and collaborative band with beloved friends and musicians Olivia Battell, Allegra Eidinger and Lily Mastrodimos. Through clever and intimate indie-pop songs, they offer a glimpse into the journey of a gender-weird queer navigating through heartache, trauma and subsequent growth.
Since forming in 2012, Adult Mom has released five EPs and three full-length albums; Momentary Lapse of Happily (2015), Soft Spots (2017), and the critically acclaimed Driver (2021). Expressed in a 4-star review by Rolling Stone, “Driver is the work of an artist entering the springtime of their brilliance, as good as singer-songwriter indie-rock can get. It’s the kind of record you can’t but feel lucky to live in.”
For more information on Adult Mom, visit:
ORCHID announce first unreleased music in 20 yrs, 'The Skull Sessions' - West Coast reunion tour underway SEA, PDX, LA & more this week.
HARDCORE LEGENDS ORCHID ANNOUNCE THE SKULL SESSIONS
First unreleased music in 20 years.
OUT MARCH 7 VIA BANDCAMP - PHYSICAL AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY IN PERSON ON CURRENT WEST COAST TOUR - SEA, PDX, LA & MORE — TICKETS HERE
LISTEN / SHARE “THE ACTION INDEX” NOW
The Skull Sessions Artwork
As we collectively gasp at the cascading horrors of 2025, Amherst’s favorite sons are unleashing their first crop of unreleased music in 20 years in the form of The Skull Sessions. A far cry from your standard collection of lo-fi demos, The Skull Sessions is an aural catalog of the revered hardcore band at their sonic and creative apex.
While these songs might be over two decades old, the stunning quality and urgency present in these recordings serve as the perfect fighting music for a new age.
Tracks 1 - 6: Following the success of their groundbreaking debut album, Orchid were looking to go in a more experimental direction with their follow-up. Craving a new degree of creative freedom, the band began to entertain serious thoughts about making their second LP themselves. These six songs were the first tracks ever recorded at guitarist Will Killingsworth’s now legendary Dead Air Studio. Serving as proof of concept as well as a venue to explore new sonic terrain, this document was never released or shared outside of the group. Orchid would later go on to record and produce their self-titled album themselves.
Tracks 7 - 13: Following a string of well received singles and split 7”s on various underground imprints, Orchid discussed the possibility of releasing their first proper studio album with Kent McClard of Ebullition Records. As McClard seemed passively interested but not entirely certain that he wanted to put out their record, the band endeavored to convince him the only way they knew how.
Recorded live in one take on a Fostex 16 track reel to reel in the Hampshire College after hours classroom that doubled as their practice space, Orchid played through a blistering set that included two tracks from the then-unreleased split with Combat Wounded Veteran as well as five songs intended for the forthcoming LP. Needless to say, Ebullition relented after hearing the tape and agreed to release their debut full-length, the now-iconic Chaos Is Me.
For The Skull Sessions' vinyl release, Orchid obtained the very tape that they had mailed to Kent over 25 years ago. Now freshly digitized and remastered, this recording has never been shared beyond Ebullition and the band until now.
Two tracks from The Skull Sessions are available to hear now via Orchid’s Bandcamp page, with the full album set for digital release on March 7th. An extremely limited edition of skull-shaped physical copies (in variants of black, red, and violet) can be purchased exclusively in person during Orchid’s current West Coast tour which is now underway.
Following a string of sold out East Coast dates which reunited Orchid live for the first time in 22 years, The Doom Loop Tour continues on the West Side. Kicking off in Seattle last night, the run will continue through Portland, San Francisco and the Los Angeles area. Each night includes a special handpicked lineup including support from Iron Lung, Great Falls, Physique, Bastard Noise, Regional Justice System, Agriculture and more. For more info and tickets go here.
Photo by A.J. Barillaro in 2000
The Skull Sessions Tracklist:
1. No We Don't Have Any T-Shirts
2. Discourse Of Desire
3. Tigers
4. Fashion Meets Passion
5. I Wanna Fight
6. Let's Commodify Sexuality
7. Panopticism
8. Frame Code
9. The Action Index
10. Epilogue Of A Car Crash
11. Eye Gouger
12. T-120
13. Weekend At The Fire Academy
Tracks 1-6: 2000 Studio Test Recording
Geoff, Will, Jeff, and Jayson
Recorded to Alesis ADAT at Dead Air.
Tracks 7-13: 1998 Live Practice Recording
Brad, Will, Jeff, and Jayson
Recorded live to Fostex 16 Track at FPH - Hampshire College.
Remastered 2024 at Dead Air.
Orchid Live Dates:
Tickets Here
2/09: Seattle, WA - The Black Lodge
(w/ GAG, Carrion Spring, Depiction of a Man)
2/10: Seattle, WA - Substation
(w/ Iron Lung, Great Falls)
2/11: Portland - Revolution Hall
(w/ Iron Lung, Great Falls, Physique)
2/13: San Francisco - Great American Music Hall
(w/ Jerome’s Dream, Strangelight)
2/14: Oakland at Eli's Mile High Club
(w/ Kowloon Walled City, Greyhound)
2/15: Los Angeles, CA - The Belasco
(w/ Jerome’s Dream, Bastard Noise, Regional Justice Center)
2/16: Pomona, CA - The Glass House
(w/ Agriculture, Habak)
Listen To Orchid: Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music
Rebekka Karijord Announces 'The Bell Tower' LP out 4/25 via Bella Union | Shares “Sanctuary” Single
Rebekka Karijord
Announces The Bell Tower LP
Due out April 25 via Bella Union
The Bell Tower album pre-order
Shares Lead Single: “ Sanctuary ”
Rebekka Karijord today announces the release of her new album The Bell Tower due out April 25 via Bella Union and available to pre-order here. The album is her second on Bella Union following the success of her collaborative project Complete Mountain Almanac, with Bryce and Aaron Dessner of The National, whose self-titled debut was released in January 2022. To accompany today’s announcement Rebekka has shared first single “Sanctuary”, one of the most emotionally charged moments of the album and a track that encompasses both The Bell Tower’s sonic signature and overarching theme. As the voice samples’ cool tones bubble forth, Rebekka sings of the beauty of the natural world, and the grief involved with watching it slowly be erased. Click HERE to listen.
““Sanctuary” is one of those songs that wrote itself,” she says. “It’s a song for my daughters–they’re seven and ten–and they grew up in nature, nature is their sanctuary. That's their safe place. They both know what climate change is, but how do you as a grown-up tell a child how drastic it is? It’s so massive to comprehend, and it's impossible as a parent to look your kid in the eyes and say, ‘This is not going to be like this forever,’ you know?” Musically, “Sanctuary” reflects this aching sorrow, its placid tones intermingling with its evocative lyrics. “My Daughter, have the Springs gone silent? / Will you ever dare to have a child?” Rebekka sings softly. “Or has the ocean reached your doorstep? And the sun turned hostile?”
Photo credit: Martina Hoogland Ivanow
From early on in her artistic journey, acclaimed composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Rebekka Karijord has been fascinated by the human voice. Known for her sweeping film scores (like for the Hulu Greta Thunberg documentary I Am Greta) as well as her work with artist Jessica Dessner and The National’s Bryce and Aaron Dessner in the group Complete Mountain Almanac, she brings a unique musical perspective and skillset to every one of her projects. The Bell Tower, her seventh solo album and one of her most ambitious records to date, is many things at once: it’s an ode to our planet in peril; it’s a missive from a mother to her children; it’s a meditation on humanity and our place within the natural world. On top of that, it’s also an experiment, something that evolved from an idea into an innovative and all-encompassing work that touches upon 19th-century poetry, environmental activism, and the cross-section of digital and organic instrumentation.
“Six years ago, I got in touch with the linguistic department at Stockholm University, who do voice research with contact microphones for people with hearing and vocal disabilities,” Rebekka explains. “I found that work really interesting, and they actually made a few of the microphones for me, which are technically really amazing. I ended up recording 25 female, non-binary, and male singers from all over the world, and built a sample instrument out of the individual voices, as well as my own.” This instrument is the basis upon which The Bell Tower is constructed, and the result is breathtaking—by manipulating the pitch, delay, and other characteristics of the samples, Rebekka unlocks an entire universe of sound, essentially all originating from the human voice.
This process went on for some time, and after the sample instrument had been built, Rebekka realized that, more than just an interesting experiment in sound, she had the beginnings of a record on her hands. “I wrote some pieces, but I felt that while the samples on their own were strong, something was missing. I contacted Roomful of Teeth, the American voice ensemble which features Caroline Shaw as a member, and they were super excited about the material.” Rebekka began writing and scoring music for eight members of Roomful of Teeth, but the nascent collection of songs still required more of a focal point. While tinkering with the music she had thus far, Rebekka came across an episode of the podcast On Being with an interview with the Buddhist poet, translator, and philosopher Joanna Macy, and something clicked.
“I heard a sequence where she was talking about ‘grief over a changing world,’ and that really became the record’s headline,” explains Rebekka. “With her permission, I started trying to set music to poems by Rainer Maria Rilke that she had translated. I felt the poems expressed something I have been yearning to write about myself. He described a longing for the natural world, for a deep belonging—but he also describes the Anthropocene and disintegration from nature, way ahead of his time. There is so much longing and movement in his words, so much intuition and sensitivity. That’s a great starting point for music.” The album’s title itself comes from Rilke’s poem “Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower”, referencing the transformative power of art, that can change fear into something beautiful and valuable.
Through this lens of poetry, Rebekka was able to contemplate the impact of climate change on not just our society at large, but on us individually as human beings bearing witness to its destruction. On the opening track of The Bell Tower, the emotional and reverent “Lacrimosa”, Rebekka directly samples a portion of the interview with Macy that sparked the album’s theme. “It seems clear that we who are alive now are [...] witnessing something for our planet that has not happened at any time before [...] There’s a need some of us feel, I know I do, to what looks like it must disappear, to say, ‘Thanks, you’re beautiful.’” The use of the digital voice instrument, with its clear and pure tones, adds to the solemnity of Macy’s words. It feels as if it is tapping into something ancient and spiritual, which in turn serves as a healing balm for the anxiety one feels when broaching the massive topic of environmentalism.
With Macy and Rilke now part of her songwriting process, Rebekka had to make the decision whether to add her own voice to the mix—literally. “I had always thought of this as a choir record, but I wasn't intending to have my own voice in it, although I did sketch some songs with my own voice” she says. “When I recorded Roomful of Teeth at the Grieg Hall in Bergen, the choir parts were amazing, they’re so good at all the extended techniques. After sitting with the recordings, I realized that the album needed a personal perspective, to be able to truly connect with the themes I was approaching .” As such, Rebekka’s voice serves as an anchor around the ethereal qualities of the vocal samples and choir recordings, sharing her own perspective with the listener.
While Rebekka has extensive experience in production, The Bell Tower is the first of her solo records she has produced completely on her own. To execute a project of this scope, she felt like a singular vision was needed to make sure everything stayed coherent. The album was then mixed by David Chalmin in Biarritz, France, and mastered by Taylor Dupree in New York, which was “when things really fell into place,” according to Rebekka. “They really understood the material.”
Rebekka’s vision is perhaps most evident on “Sanctuary”, the lead single off The Bell Tower and one of the album’s most arresting moments. Much like Joanna Macy’s earnest words on grieving nature, “Sanctuary” tries to imagine a path forward for those of us who cannot bear the effects of climate change, and what our current efforts mean to future generations. Addressed to Rebekka’s two young daughters, “Sanctuary” is at its core an expression of a mother’s love in the face of the unimaginable and is the most personal song on the album.
“Serenade”, another highlight from The Bell Tower, also looks towards the future. The track begins with the euphonious cooing of the vocal instrument, until Rebekka’s soprano voice comes in, supported by lush harmonies. ““Serenade” is a love song to nature. It's like laying down on a bed of moss and just being submerged in that feeling and forgetting yourself,” she says. Another track that embodies this sentiment is “Fugue”, which blends elements of electronica, experimental music, classical, and ambient. It’s perhaps the track where the technicality of the sample instrument is at its most bare, with several voices interlocking in uplifting arpeggios.
With all these different themes married together on one album that came together so organically, The Bell Tower is a body of work that must be listened to with intent in order to be fully appreciated. Whether it be Joanna Macy’s Buddhist environmentalism, Rilke’s spiritual reverence, the exploration of the full range of the human voice, a mastery of music production, or just the need for a quiet place to sit and think, The Bell Tower provides the listener with a fully-realized experience of what it feels like to live through the present. “Historically, we've been using nature in theater, in film, in music, as something that is a set design for our lives, where we are the protagonists,” Rebekka says. “An idea that has been resonating with me lately, what we need to deeply understand, is that we are all made of the same stardust. When we destroy nature, we are destroying ourselves. That’s what writing this album has been—an attempt to go deeper into that notion.”
The Bell Tower album artwork
February 7, 2025
SUSAN DAITCH Interview 2025
Award-winning author Susan Daitch's new novel, The Adjudicator, is a visionary cyberpunk mystery that explores the boundaries of consciousness and individual autonomy within an authoritarian state that controls the genetics of its citizens. Susan Daitch is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. In 1996 David Foster Wallace called her "one of the most intelligent and attentive writers at work in the U.S. today." #TPII49Website: https://www.susandaitch.net/Previous interview: https://portable-infinite.blogspot.co...
MULTI GRAMMY®-WINNING BAND ALABAMA SHAKES ANNOUNCE THEIR FIRST TOUR IN EIGHT YEARS, LAUNCHING JULY 16 IN CHICAGO
MULTI GRAMMY®-WINNING BAND ALABAMA SHAKES ANNOUNCE THEIR FIRST TOUR IN EIGHT YEARS,
LAUNCHING JULY 16 IN CHICAGO
CITI PRESALE STARTING MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10
GENERAL ON-SALE BEGINS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Photo Credit: Brantley Gutierrez
(February 7, 2025) After an eight-year absence, critically acclaimed, 4x GRAMMY® winners Alabama Shakes return, announcing summer tour dates and promising fans that new songs are also on the way.
Kicking off July 16 in Chicago at The Salt Shed-Fairgrounds, the North American headline run will include shows at such historic venues as Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre (July 20), the Greek Theatre in Berkeley (August 14), and Forest Hills Stadium in New York (September 17). The band will also play several festivals, including Minnesota Yacht Club and Louisville’s Bourbon and Beyond.
“Last year, Heath, Zac, and I started chatting about how much fun it would be to make music together and tour again as Alabama Shakes,” said vocalist/guitarist Brittany Howard, whose new solo album, WHAT NOW (Island Records), was nominated this year for a GRAMMY® Award for Best Alternative Music Album. “This band and these songs have been such a source of joy for all of us. It is crazy that it has been 10 years since we released Sound and Color and eight years since we played a show. But, we didn’t want this to entirely be a look back. We wanted it to be as much about the future as the past. So we have a bunch of new music that will be released soon. We just can’t wait to experience that ‘feeling’ when we start playing those first few notes of ‘Don’t Wanna Fight’ or ‘Gimme All Your Love.’”
Over the course of the tour, Alabama Shakes will be joined by a variety of special guests, including Bahamas, Shannon & The Clams, El Michels Affair, The Budos Band, Sam Evian, Lee Fields, Greyhounds, Y La Bamba, Caleb Elliott, and Alanna Royale. See below for itinerary.
Alabama Shakes have partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 per ticket goes to supporting organizations working for equity, access, and dignity for all.
VIP packages will be available for the tour offering premium seating, exclusive merchandise, and early venue access for a seamless, elevated concert experience. Visit wearesuper.co/alabamashakes for full VIP ticket details.
Citi is the official card of the tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Monday, February 10 at 10am local time through Thursday, February 13 at 10pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details, visit www.citientertainment.com. The artist presale will begin Tuesday, February 11 at 10am local time at alabamashakes.com. The general on-sale will begin Friday, February 14 at 10am local time at alabamashakes.com.
The tour will mark Alabama Shakes’ first official live performances since their 2017 set at Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Québec, which Montreal’s The Gazette praised as “mesmerizing, intoxicating and entirely authentic.” Howard and Alabama Shakes’ Heath Fogg (guitar) and Zac Cockrell (bass) have been in the studio, working on new material with longtime collaborator Shawn Everett.
Alabama Shakes exploded out of obscurity in 2012 with Boys & Girls, (ATO Records), which entered Billboard’s Independent Albums chart at No.1. Boys & Girls earned the band multiple GRAMMY nominations and was hailed as one of the year’s best albums by numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, which also named lead single “Hold On” the #1 Best Song of 2012. Soon after its release, the bandmates found themselves thrust into the global spotlight, achieving such milestones as performing at the White House and on “Saturday Night Live.”
The band’s legacy continued to grow with the groundbreaking Sound & Color (ATO Records). Released 10 years ago, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and won GRAMMY® Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The first single, “Don’t Wanna Fight,” took honors in the Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song categories. Sound & Color marked a profound evolution from Alabama Shakes’ debut album, as The New York Times Magazine observed, heralding the band’s “soul-stirring, shape-shifting new sound.” Both Sound & Color and Boys & Girls were certified Platinum by the RIAA.
After touring behind Sound & Color, Howard made her solo debut with the highly personal album Jaime – named for her sister, who taught her to play piano and write poetry, and who died of cancer when they were still teenagers. Jaime was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Alternative Music Album, and three tracks from the album received nominations, with “Stay High” winning in the Best Rock Song category. WHAT NOW followed in 2024. The GRAMMY-nominated album found its place on multiple Best Albums of 2024 lists, including The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR, The Guardian, Pitchfork, TIME, and many more.
Cockrell played on both Jaime and WHAT NOW and joined Howard on tour to support the albums. After helming the self-titled debut album of his collaborative project Sun on Shade in 2020, Fogg produced, co-wrote and performed on Lake Nakoma, his project with Colin Woltmann. He has also toured and recorded with Caleb Elliott.
ALABAMA SHAKES – 2025 TOUR
Date City Venue
July
16 Chicago, IL The Salt Shed-Fairgrounds #
18 Minneapolis, MN Minnesota Yacht Club Festival
19 La Vista, NE The Astro Amphitheater #
20 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
22 Bentonville, AR The Momentary •†
25 Nashville, TN Ascend Amphitheater •†
26 Birmingham, AL Coca-Cola Amphitheater •†
Aug.
8 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater +
9 Las Vegas NV BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau Las Vegas +
10 San Diego, CA Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre +
14 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
16 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena +
17 Bend, OR Hayden Homes Amphitheater +
20 Bonner, MT KettleHouse Amphitheater *
22 Salt Lake City, UT Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre *
24 Kansas City, MO Starlight Theatre *
Sept.
4 Milwaukee, WI Miller High Life Theatre ^
5 Rochester Hills, MI Meadow Brook Amphitheatre ^
6 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage o
8 Cleveland, OH Jacob’s Pavillion ^
9 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE (Outdoors) ^
11 Louisville, KY Bourbon and Beyond Festival
14 Boston, MA MGM Music Hall at Fenway <
17 Forest Hills, NY Forest Hills Stadium >
18 Philadelphia, PA TD Pavilion at The Mann <
19 Washington, DC The Anthem <
23 New Orleans, LA Saenger Theatre
25 Austin, TX Moody Center ‡
26 Houston, TX 713 Music Hall ‡
27 Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory ‡
# Lee Fields
• Caleb Elliott
† Alanna Royale
+ Shannon & The Clams
* Y La Bamba
^ Sam Evian
o Bahamas
< The Budos Band
> El Michels Affair
‡ Greyhounds
Follow Alabama Shakes:
Ambient guitarist Takuro Okada announces new album details, shares new track
Ambient guitarist Takuro Okada announces new album details, shares new track
The album is titled 'The Near End, The Dark Night, The County Line,' out March 7 on Temporal Drift
STREAM: "The Room" -
Streaming Services / Bandcamp
As fitting for Takuro Okada’s first collection to be released outside of his home country of Japan, the title, The Near End, The Dark Night, The County Line, evokes the vastness of an unknown world that lies just beyond the periphery of the senses. For Okada, growing up in Fussa, Tokyo–home to the Yokota U.S. Air Force base and the clash of customs and traditions that come with it–meant navigating through the familiar and the unfamiliar, observing and absorbing the uniquely hybrid culture that would play a large role in shaping his musical identity as a guitarist, producer, and band leader. While Okada honed his skills playing to American military members inside clubs along Fussa’s infamous “Bar Row,” at home he would experiment with home recording techniques and develop his skills as a producer.
This album contains selections from the expansive archive of recorded material Okada has amassed over the past decade. While his past releases have included notable collaborators such as Haruomi Hosono, Nels Cline, Sam Gendel, and Carlos Niño, among others who have contributed to his band and ensemble recordings, this collection showcases Okada as a solo musician, focusing mostly on his main instrument, the guitar. These tracks demonstrate his mastery in bringing out strange and beautiful tones from the instrument, from ambient and Americana, to psychedelic and other-worldly harmonics. This multiplicity of sounds serves as testament to Okada’s versatility as a musician, while his singular approach to the act of recording keeps it all cohesive as the unmistakable work of Takuro Okada.
Pre-save the album HERE
Pre-order the vinyl HERE
Download Hi-Res photos HERE
Download Hi-Res album cover HERE
About Takuro Okada:
Tokyo-based musician Takuro Okada first caught attention in Japan’s indie rock scene in 2012 with his band Mori Wa Ikiteiru, which released two albums through P-Vine Records before disbanding in 2015. Okada struck out on his own with his first solo album Nostalgia (2017) followed by the EP The Beach (2018), which included his take on “By The Pool” by Steve Hiett, who also supplied the iconic photo for the cover. With the acclaimed Morning Sun (2020), Okada explored his singer-songwriter side with a guitar-based approach. The same year he released the album 都市計画 (Urban Planning) (2020), an ambient collaboration with Duenn. His musical palette was broadened considerably with Betsu No Jikan (2022), an expansive ambient jazz set that included contributions from notable artists such as Haruomi Hosono, Carlos Niño, Sam Gendel, Jim O’Rourke, and Nels Cline. Besides his recorded work, Okada has kept busy as a session guitarist, composer, improvisational musician and producer, working with artists such as Taeko Ohnuki, Eiko Ishibashi, Yuga, and never young beach.
Takuro Okada
The Near End, The Dark Night, The County Line
(Temporal Drift)
Street Date: March 7, 2025
TRACKLIST:
01 Following Morning
02 The Room
03 Shadow (2024 mix)
04 Before
05 Mizu
06 Reflections / Entering #2
07 Mirror
08 Evening Song
09 Taco Beach
10 Ohme Part 1
11 Ohme Part 2
12 Howlin' Dog
13 The Near End, The Dark Night, The County Line
RELATED LINKS:
DORA JAR RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE “LUCKY”
DORA JAR RETURNS WITH STIRRING NEW SINGLE “LUCKY”
WATCH THE VEVO LIVE SESSION OF “LUCKY” HERE
EUROPEAN TOUR WITH GRACIE ABRAMS KICKS OFF TOMORROW IN MADRID
DEBUT ALBUM NO WAY TO RELAX WHEN YOU ARE ON FIRE OUT NOW
Artwork by Max Battle
"There’s an Elton John backbeat in her piano chords, but also a 21st-century sense of possibility..." - THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Impressive range, progressing from winding folk and distorted rock to offbeat, Sugar Ray-style pop to minimal trap and R&B. Many of Jar’s contemporaries gravitate toward plain, relatable lyrics, but the singer absorbs the fanciful logic of fairy tales..." - PITCHFORK
“Dora Jar’s angelic voice creates unforgettable moments within her music” - PIGEONS & PLANES
“larger-than-life, psychedelic pop vision with such undeniable magnetism.” - NPR
“Dora Jar is the class clown everyone actually likes” - ROLLING STONE
“Jar has a childlike ability to see magic in the world” - PAPER
“Wherever Dora Jar goes, it’s hard not to follow” - CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND
Today, rising folk-pop experimentalist Dora Jar returns with a stirring new single, “Lucky”. The first new music since the release of her highly-anticipated debut album No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire last year via Island Records, “Lucky” is an extension of the world Dora built across her debut. The new single arrives with a moving VEVO live session - stream “Lucky” HERE and watch the live session HERE. Tomorrow February 8, Dora heads out on a European tour with Gracie Abrams, kicking off in Madrid, Spain. For tickets and more information, visit https://www.dorajar.world/tour.
Across No Way To Relax When You Are One Fire’s 13 captivating tracks, Dora showcases her knack for transcending boundaries, gracefully defying the music industry's desire for easy categorization with her dark pop fantasia. The album is a culmination of a series of 2024 releases from Dora, including “Behind the Curtain”, “Ragdoll”, “Timelapse”, and “She Loves Me”, all exceptional highlights from an album that spans a wide range of musical styles ranging from folk to rock to pop. The album, heralded by PAPER, FLOOD, Office Magazine, NPR, Consequence of Sound, and more was recorded over the course of the last two years in a smattering of places: Poland, Alaska, California, and Mississippi (as Dora was in town building a “mud cob hut”). The list of collaborators also runs the gamut with Ralph Castelli (glaive), Henry Kwapis (Dominic Fike, Dijon), George Daniel (The 1975, Charli XCX), and Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend, Clairo) credited as producers. In September, Dora set out on a ‘Behind The Curtain’ North American headline tour, selling out shows in Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston.
Born in New York but raised in LA, the 25-year-old singer’s formative sound has already captured the attention of NPR, The New York Times, W Magazine, Billboard, Pigeons & Planes, Pitchfork and more. Dora quickly grew an audience with gentle indie rock tracks like “Multiply”, and her eclectic, playful, but mature songwriting skills led to the release of her debut EP, Digital Meadow in 2021, followed by 2022’s comfortably in pain. Over the course of 2022, she blessed fans with alluring singles “Bumblebee”, “Bump” and “Spell”, and joined Billie Eilish on her 'Happier Than Ever World Tour' in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. After selling out her first North American headline tour in 2022, Dora embarked on a national arena tour with The 1975 in 2023, playing sold-out shows at legendary venues like TD Garden in Boston and Madison Square Garden in New York City. With an electrifying festival debut at Lollapalooza in 2024, a debut album out, sold out headline shows, and new music on the horizon, Dora Jar is gearing up for an even more impressive 2025.
STREAM “LUCKY”
WATCH THE VEVO LIVE SESSION OF “LUCKY”
http://DoraJar.lnk.to/LuckyVEVO
STREAM NO WAY TO RELAX WHEN YOU ARE ON FIRE
https://DoraJar.lnk.to/NWTRWYOF
DORA JAR 2025 EUROPEAN TOUR DATES
Saturday, February 8th - Madrid, Spain - Palacio Vistalegre
Sunday, February 9th - Madrid, Spain - Palacio Vistalegre
Tuesday, February 11th - Lisbon, Portugal - MEO Arena
Saturday, February 15th - Stuttgart, Germany - Porsche Arena
Monday, February 17th - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome
Wednesday, February 19th - Hamburg, Germany - Sporthalle
Friday, February 21st - Düsseldorf, Germany - Mitsubishi Electric Halle
Saturday, February 22nd - Berlin, Germany - Velodrom
Monday, February 24th - Zürich, CH - Hallenstadion
Tuesday, February 25th - Milan, Italy - Unipol Forum
Thursday, February 27th - Paris, France - Accor Arena
Friday, February 28th - Bruxelles, Belgium - Forest National
Monday, March 3rd - Nottingham, UK - Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
Tuesday, March 4th - Leeds, UK - First Direct Arena
Thursday, March 6th - London, UK - The O2
Friday, March 7th - Manchester, UK - Co-op Live
Saturday, March 8th - Cardiff, UK - Utilita Arena Cardiff
Monday, March 10th - Dublin, Ireland - 3Arena
Wednesday, March 12th - Glasgow, UK - OVO Hydro
Photo by Max Battle
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OASIS ANNOUNCE “STANDING ON THE SHOULDER OF GIANTS” 25TH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION SILVER & COLORED VINYL RE-RELEASE OUT FEBRUARY 28TH
OASIS ANNOUNCE “STANDING ON THE SHOULDER OF GIANTS” 25TH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION SILVER & COLORED VINYL RE-RELEASE OUT FEBRUARY 28TH
PRE-ORDER HERE
Today – February 7th, 2025 - Oasis announce the 25th anniversary reissue of their fourth studio album, Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants – available on limited edition vinyl including silver LP and official store exclusive blue and purple marble LP on the anniversary of the original release date, February 28th. Pre-order here. Today’s news is accompanied by a new lyric video for the album’s first single “Go Let It Out,” originally released 25 years ago today. Sign up for the YouTube premiere here.
A pivotal moment in Oasis’ storied history, Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants marked the start of a new era for the band. “Go Let It Out” was the first release on Noel and Liam Gallagher’s own label Big Brother Recordings Ltd, established in January 2000 following the sudden closure of Oasis’ former UK label Creation Records. Big Brother’s debut release was rushed into production and released on February 7th, 2000, only seven weeks after the label’s inception.
Set up by Noel and Liam, together with their management team and entirely self-financed, Big Brother was the only real option for one of the most independently minded bands in the UK. Including the rights for the band’s existing catalogue as well as new releases, in the 25 years since its birth, Big Brother has gone on to be responsible for 10 No. 1 albums and over 15 billion streams globally.
Following the meteoric global success of Definitely Maybe (1994), What’s The Story (Morning Glory?) (1995) and Be Here Now (1997), with Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, Oasis embraced a bold development in their sound. Noel Gallagher took a broader and more experimental approach to recording, resulting in a departure from their earlier sounds towards a modern psychedelic rock influenced record. This experimentation and richer sonic palette was in part due to Noel taking more time to craft this record than he had previously enjoyed. New instruments and techniques were utilised, including drum loops, samples, electric sitar, Mellotron, synthesisers and backward guitars, all contributing to a progression in Oasis’ output. Several tracks on the album also saw Oasis use samples for the first time. “Fuckin’ In The Bushes” contains samples from Murray Lerner’s film “Message To Love Isle Of Wight 1970,” whilst “Go Let It Out” contains elements from Johnny Jenkins “I Walk on Gilded Splinters.” Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants also marked the first time that Liam Gallagher contributed songwriting to an Oasis album (“Little James”), with this continuing on subsequent albums.
Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants holds further significance as the first Oasis album to be released following the change to the original band line up. Gem Archer and Andy Bell took over guitar and bass duties respectively for the album's live activity, following the departure of Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs and Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan. Also significant to the recording process Mark “Spike” Stent took up production duties alongside Noel.
The bold new sounds were quickly embraced by Oasis’ fans, and Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants reached No.1 in the UK Album Charts, selling over 310,000 copies in its first week alone. It is now certified double platinum and has also sold in excess of 200,000 copies in the US. Moreover, the legacy of its songs continues to burn bright in Oasis back catalogue. “Fuckin’ In The Bushes” cemented itself in fans consciousness as the incendiary rallying cry Oasis walked on stage to for subsequent live shows. “Go Let It Out,” a classic slice of Noel’s very best songwriting, backed with hypnotic drum loop and Mellotron, topped the single charts in UK, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. And with the spiralling chaos of “Gas Panic!,” the band showed their ability to masterfully explore new territory with dark, sobering textures and an expertly crafted sense of unease.
The 25th anniversary of Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants lands at the start of a year that is sure to belong to Oasis as fans eagerly anticipate the Oasis Live ‘25 tour, the reunion that ended years of feverish speculation. Unprecedented demand and a resounding global appetite made the announcement the music story of 2024. Last year also saw the 30th anniversary edition of Definitely Maybe reach No.1 in the UK album charts for a second time in its history.
In the midst of a pivotal moment in the remarkable story of Oasis, reflecting on another during its 25th anniversary, feels particularly apt. With Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, Oasis embarked on a bold new chapter, one that would lay the foundation for everything that was to follow as the band took control of their own destiny.
TRACKLIST:
1. Fuckin’ In the Bushes
2. Go Let It Out
3. Who Feels Love?
4. Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is
5. Little James
6. Gas Panic!
7. Where Did It All Go Wrong?
8. Sunday Morning Call
9. I Can See A Liar
10. Roll It Over
All tracks produced by Mark “Spike” Stent and Noel Gallagher
All Songs written by Noel Gallagher except “Little James” written by Liam Gallagher
All tracks engineered by Mark “Spike” Stent and Paul Stacey
Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk Corporation, New York
Recorded at Wheeler End, Olympic Studios, Supernova Heights, England and Chateau De La Colle Noire, France
Oasis Live ‘25 Tour Dates:
JULY 2025
July 4th, 2025 – Cardiff, UK – Principality Stadium
July 5th, 2025 – Cardiff, UK – Principality Stadium
July 11th, 2025 – Manchester, UK – Heaton Park
July 12th, 2025 – Manchester, UK – Heaton Park
July 16th, 2025 – Manchester, UK – Heaton Park
July 19th, 2025 – Manchester, UK – Heaton Park
July 20th, 2025 – Manchester, UK – Heaton Park
July 25th, 2025 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
July 26th, 2025 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
July 30th, 2025 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
AUGUST 2025
August 2nd, 2025 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
August 3rd, 2025 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
August 8th, 2025 – Edinburgh, UK – Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
August 9th, 2025 – Edinburgh, UK – Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
August 12th, 2025 – Edinburgh, UK – Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
August 16th, 2025 – Dublin, IE – Croke Park
August 17th, 2025 – Dublin, IE – Croke Park
August 24th, 2025 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Stadium
August 25th, 2025 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Stadium
August 28th, 2025 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
August 31st, 2025 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium
SEPTEMBER 2025
September 1st, 2025 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium
September 6th, 2025 – Los Angeles, CA – Rose Bowl Stadium
September 7th, 2025 – Los Angeles, CA – Rose Bowl Stadium
September 12th, 2025 – Mexico City, MX – Estadio GNP Seguros
September 13th, 2025 – Mexico City, MX – Estadio GNP Seguros
September 27th, 2025 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
September 28th, 2025 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
OCTOBER 2025
October 21st, 2025 – Seoul, South Korea – Goyang Stadium
October 25th, 2025 – Tokyo, Japan – Tokyo Dome
October 26th, 2025 – Tokyo, Japan – Tokyo Dome
October 31st, 2025 – Melbourne, VIC – Marvel Stadium
NOVEMBER 2025
November 1st, 2025 – Melbourne, Australia – Marvel Stadium
November 4th, 2025 – Melbourne, Australia – Marvel Stadium
November 7th, 2025 – Sydney, Australia – Accor Stadium
November 8th, 2025 – Sydney, Australia – Accor Stadium
November 15th, 2025 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Estadio River Plate
November 16th, 2025 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Estadio River Plate
November 19th, 2025 – Santiago, Chile – Estadio Nacional
November 22nd, 2025 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Estádio MorumBIS
November 23rd, 2025 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Estádio MorumBIS
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