Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 2
October 1, 2025
CHAD W. POST interview 2025 (Mulligan Stew)
Chad W. Post is the director of Open Letter Books, a press at the University of Rochester dedicated to publishing contemporary literature from around the world. In addition, he is the managing editor of Three Percent, a blog and review site that promotes literature in translation and is home to both the Translation Database and the Best Translated Book Awards. His articles and book reviews have appeared in a range of publications including The Believer, Publishing Perspectives, the Wall Street Journal culture blog, and Quarterly Conversation.Three Percent: https://threepercentproblem.substack.com/Open Letter Books: https://www.openletterbooks.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chadwpost/
We are celebrating MULLIGAN STEW by Gilbert Sorrentino all month. Click here for chapter by chapter analysis: Mulligan Stew by Gilbert Sorrentino. - YouTube
The Last Dinner Party Release New Single And Video For "Second Best"
WATCH THE LYRIC VIDEO HERE
“FROM THE PYRE” TO BE RELEASED OCTOBER 17th
VIA ISLAND RECORDS
credit: Rachell Smith
Today, The Last Dinner Party share their new song, “Second Best,” from their forthcoming album From The Pyre (out 17th October 2025 via Island Records). Listen to “Second Best” here and watch the new lyric video here. From The Pyre is available for pre-save and to pre-order on all formats here.
Written by TLDP guitarist Emily Roberts and informed by the angular pop riffs of Sparks, “Second Best” is about the push and pull of being obsessed with someone but knowing that they will ultimately betray you again, and allowing it to happen because you still love them. “I wish I could go back and say to myself that I am worth more than that, and that no one needs to accept being second best,” Emily says of the track. “I hope that the song captures the pain, anger and despair I felt but most importantly the defiance and satisfaction I now have in being able to immortalise this person in a song and to look back on the situation with more maturity.”
Once Emily had created the bones of the track, Abi & Lizzie each added their own musical and lyrical stamps before Aurora & Georgia elevated ‘Second Best’ further with buoyant, dancing keys and a formidable bassline respectively.
“Second Best” is the third preview of The Last Dinner Party’s forthcoming second album From The Pyre, following western-flecked earworm ‘This Is The Killer Speaking’ and the introspective slow burn of ‘The Scythe’.
The London five-piece headed into the studio early 2025 with Grammy Award winning producer Markus Dravs (Wolf Alice, Florence & The Machine, Bjork) to start work on the follow-up to their number 1 debut album, 2023’s Prelude to Ecstasy. From The Pyre is the sound of a band having a lot of fun rather than feeling any innate pressure to follow-up on what was an explosively successful debut record. It’s also the sound of a young band developing and maturing their songwriting together, as tight a unit as the endless months out on the road pay testament to.
The Last Dinner Party on From The Pyre:
“This record is a collection of stories, and the concept of album-as-mythos binds them. ‘The Pyre’ itself is an allegorical place in which these tales originate, a place of violence and destruction but also regeneration, passion and light.
“The songs are character driven but still deeply personal, a commonplace life event pushed to pathological extreme. Being ghosted becomes a Western dance with a killer, and heartbreak laughs into the face of the apocalypse. Lyrics invoke rifles, scythes, sailors, saints, cowboys, floods, Mother Earth, Joan of Arc, and blazing infernos. We found this kind of evocative imagery to be the most honest and truthful way to discuss the way our experiences felt, giving each the emotional weight it deserves.”
“This record feels a little darker, more raw and more earthy; it takes place looking out at a sublime landscape rather than seated an opulent table. It also feels metatextual and cheeky in places, like a knowing look reflected back at ourselves.”
With two BRIT Awards to their name (including Breakthrough Artist earlier this year), and having sold out virtually every show they played right across the globe (including three sold-out hometown shows at London’s Eventim Apollo), The Last Dinner Party’s arrival and subsequent worldwide success was one of the most thrilling introductions to a new British band in decades, and From The Pyre’s opening introduction suggests that unparalleled success story shows no signs of relenting.
Pre-order From The Pyre here.
Tickets for The Last Dinner Party’s tour are available here
UK Headline Tour:
14th November – 3Arena, Dublin
17th November – Corn Exchange, Edinburgh
18th November - Barrowland, Glasgow
20th November – O2 City Hall, Newcastle
21st November – Octagon, Sheffield
23rd November – Bridlington Spa, Bridlington
25th November – UEA, Norwich
26th November – Aviva Studios, Manchester
29th November – The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
30th November – The Prospect Building, Bristol - SOLD OUT
2nd December – Utilita Arena, Cardiff
4th December – Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth
5th December – Brighton Centre, Brighton
7th December – O2 Academy Brixton, London - SOLD OUT
8th December – O2 Academy Brixton, London
2026
10th January – Red Hill Auditorium, Perth
13th January – AEC Theatre, Adelaide
15th January – Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne
17th January – ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney
19th January – Riverstage, Brisbane
22nd January – Spark Arena, Auckland
8th February – Colisieu dos Recreios, Lisbon
10th February – Sala La Riviera, Madrid
11th February – Razzmatazz, Barcelona
13th February – Fabrique, Milan
14th February – The Hall, Zurich
16th February – Zenith, Munich
17th February – Forum Karlín, Prague
19th February – Gasometer, Vienna
20th February – COS Torwar, Warsaw
22nd February – UFO im Velodrom, Berlin
23rd February – Palladium, Cologne
25th February – Le Zénith, Paris
27th February – Forest National, Brussels
1st March – AFAS Live, Amsterdam
3rd March – Vega, Copenhagen - SOLD OUT
4th March – Fållan, Stockholm
6th March – Sentrum Scene, Oslo
From The Pyre Tracklisting:
Agnus Dei / Count The Ways / Second Best / This Is The Killer Speaking / Rifle / Woman Is A Tree / I Hold Your Anger / Sail Away / The Scythe / Inferno
NINE INCH NAILS EXPAND ACCLAIMED ‘PEEL IT BACK TOUR’ WITH 20+ NEW NORTH AMERICAN DATES
General Onsale Begins Wednesday, October 8 at 12pm Local at NIN.com
Today, Nine Inch Nails announced the second North America leg of their critically acclaimed Peel It Back Tour. Produced by Live Nation, the new dates kick off Thursday, February 5 in New Orleans, LA at Smoothie King Center, with stops in Washington, DC, Montreal, Austin, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and more before wrapping Monday, March 16 in Sacramento, CA at Golden 1 Center. Friend and collaborator Boys Noize will join the band again on all upcoming dates.
The sold-out Peel It Back Tour first launched in June with a highly successful run across Europe and the UK, featuring shows in Dublin, London, Paris, Madrid and more. The band then brought the next-level production to North America with shows spanning across the country, including multiple nights each in Brooklyn, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Since kicking off, the tour has drawn over 450,000 fans across two legs and earned widespread critical acclaim. The Times, in an opening night review, said, "The show was a revelation — a thrilling onslaught that combined angst, sincerity and a nightmarish otherworldliness…" UPROXX hailed it as “a triumph of sound, obviously, but also sight. It could have been a movie, and Nine Inch Nails were the stars.” Consequence praised the “multi-sensory spectacle” as proof that “Nine Inch Nails have long been one of music’s most innovative bands,” while Dallas Observer described each night as “a visual masterpiece” and NME noted, “[The band] delivered a stacked setlist of huge hits and rarities.”
TICKETS: Tickets will be available starting Wednesday, October 8 at 12pm local time at nin.com.
PEEL IT BACK TOUR 2026 DATES:
Thu Feb 05 — New Orleans, LA — Smoothie King Center
Sat Feb 07 — Jacksonville, FL — VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Tue Feb 10 — Charlotte, NC — Spectrum Center
Wed Feb 11 — Washington, DC — Capital One Arena
Fri Feb 13 — Boston, MA — TD Garden
Sat Feb 14 — Newark, NJ — Prudential Center
Mon Feb 16 — Montreal, QC — Bell Centre
Wed Feb 18 — Hamilton, ON — TD Coliseum
Fri Feb 20 — Columbus, OH — Schottenstein Center
Sun Feb 22 — Grand Rapids, MI — Van Andel Arena
Mon Feb 23 — Milwaukee, WI — Fiserv Forum
Wed Feb 25 — St. Louis, MO — Enterprise Center
Fri Feb 27 — Tulsa, OK — BOK Center
Sun Mar 01 — Austin, TX — Moody Center
Tue Mar 03 — Dallas, TX — American Airlines Center
Fri Mar 06 — Glendale, AZ — Desert Diamond Arena
Sat Mar 07 — Las Vegas, NV — MGM Grand Garden Arena
Mon Mar 09 — San Diego, CA — Pechanga Arena
Tue Mar 10 — Anaheim, CA — Honda Center
Fri Mar 13 — Salt Lake City, UT — Delta Center
Sun Mar 15 — San Francisco, CA — Chase Center
Mon Mar 16 — Sacramento, CA — Golden 1 Center
On September 19th, Nine Inch Nails released TRON: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) via Interscope Records. It debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and #1 on the Soundtrack, Vinyl , Current Alternative, and Current Electronic albums charts. The album marks the first-ever film score by the pioneering group. As a work by Nine Inch Nails, TRON: Ares is a bracing departure from the acclaimed scores that bandmates Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have composed under their own names, which have won two Oscars, three Golden Globes, a GRAMMY and an Emmy. TRON: Ares’ architecture in sound: pulsating synths, distorted textures, and haunting melodies. Not one second of orchestra- Instead, the album erupts with the full force of Nine Inch Nails, breaking boundaries and humming with menace, melancholy and momentum as analog soul and digital dread collide. Listen HERE. See below for track listing. Disney’s TRON: Ares releases in U.S. theaters on October 10. Reznor and Ross served as Executive Producers on the film.
The New York Times hailed lead single "AS ALIVE AS YOU NEED ME TO BE” as “a return to the buzz-bomb synthesizers, stomping march beat, stereo ricochets and gut-wrenching vocals of the band’s heyday.” The track debuted at No. 1 on both the Official Physical Singles and the Official Vinyl Singles charts in the UK earlier this month. Stateside, with the single’s ascent into the top 10 of Billboard’s Alternative Airplay tally, Nine Inch Nails has the distinction of charting top 10 hits across four decades – from the 1990s to the 2020s.
Earlier this year, Reznor and Ross announced Future Ruins, a one-day music festival created and curated by the duo. Celebrating the visionary composers shaping the sound of modern cinema and television, the event features live performances across three stages—including select sets with full orchestra. Held on November 8, 2025, at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, Future Ruins invites audiences to experience the duo’s groundbreaking score work—and that of their peers—not as background, but as the main event. The music tells the story. This event also marks the first time Reznor and Ross will perform their score work live. Tickets are on sale now at FutureRuins.com.
Founded in 1988 by Reznor, Nine Inch Nails is widely considered one of the most innovative, influential acts in modern music. Known for fusing industrial, electronic, rock and ambient sounds into emotionally raw and sonically aggressive compositions, the band has won two GRAMMY® Awards and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. Nine Inch Nails’ multi-Platinum studio albums include their 1989 debut, Pretty Hate Machine, The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999), which was their first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200, a feat repeated by With Teeth (2005).
In 2008, Reznor and Ross launched a prolific career in composing music for film. Their first project, David Fincher’s The Social Network, earned the pair an Oscar and a Golden Globe. They’ve gone on to compose music for a diverse array of film and television projects, including the Watchmen series for HBO, which earned the duo an Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a series. Their score for the 2020 animated Pixar film Soul. won numerous awards, including an Oscar, GRAMMY, Golden Globe and British Academy Film Award. In the same year, their score for Fincher’s MANK received nominations for many of the same awards. Recent projects have included Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light, Fincher’s The Killer and a trio of projects with director Luca Guadagnino – Bones and All, Challengers and Queer.
Follow Nine Inch Nails:
Eater Roll Back The Years With God Save The Queen
Los Angeles, California: When Eater first emerged onto the nascent UK punk scene towards the end of 1976, they weren’t simply younger, louder and snottier than the rest of the bands breaking through at that time, but more so than most of their audience as well. Frontman Andy Blade was just 15 at the time, drummer Dee Generate was 13. The first time I saw them, I’d just turned 17. The little rotters made me feel ancient. Punk was already being described as the sound of disaffected youth; Eater were that same disaffection personified. Who better, then, to deliver the ultimate soundtrack to all that was happening all around them? “The tracks on Duplication are essentially my favourite songs out of the seminal punk classics,” explains Blade, “before punk rock became somewhat homogenized as a formula. Whilst it is a covers album - it is not just a covers album. “There is a difference because I was 'there' with my band during the explosive year of 1977 - these songs mean something to me in a visceral sense. There's a spirit to the tracks that seems to come alive as we rehearsed them. Most importantly, however, Duplication was great fun to create and I think, as a result, it is - I hope - great fun to listen to.” It is. Ten songs make up the album, and to call it punk rock’s greatest hits is almost an understatement. We are locked wholly into 1976-1977, with The Ramones’“Beat On The Brat” and the Damned’s “New Rose” both hearkening back to that earlier year. “New Rose,” in fact, was the first British punk single ever released! And Eater’s own debut, “Outside View” - also included here, was the third. From thereon, The Buzzcocks, Generation X, the Saints, the Clash, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers and the Only Ones flash past, but Blade cautions the listener not to expect simple note-perfect renditions of these doughty old warriors. “A lot of thought and a lot of love went into this album from choosing the songs, recording them, to deciding on a sleeve. The thing about Duplication is that we are not really trying to duplicate anything. In a way we're taking the piss out of this nostalgia fetish. “All the songs are quite faithful to the originals, but I do tend to 'own' songs when I sing them, so I have taken some liberties.”
photo by Esmé BonesThis is especially apparent on the band’s latest single, an an incendiary take on what is probably the most “punk” song of them all, The Sex Pistols’ “God Save The Queen”… released to coincide with Her Majesty’s silver jubilee, and accompanied by several tidal waves of media condemnation, not to mention physical attacks on the band members and a blanket broadcasting ban. Some retailers refused to stock the record, others omitted its name from the Top 30 chart. Has any piece of plastic ever caused so much fuss? Eater shared producers with the Pistols for a time - Dave Goodman, who handled their early singles and debut album, also oversaw three of the Pistols’ demo sessions, including their very first, in July 1976, and the January 1977 session which brought the band their second record deal (after they were sacked by EMI) with A&M Records. (Who also sacked them, but that’s another story.) And Eater got to hear all the demos, including “God Save The Queen” - although, at that time, it was still called “No Future.” Blade expalins, “. My only problem with the song was the first bridge - 'don't be told what you want' etc. It didn't scan and, to my mind, it made Johnny Rotten sound like an old time British comedian called Norman Wisdom. Uncool. “But the second bridge - 'when there's no future how can there be sin, we're the flowers in the dustbin' was genius, and I always wondered why they didn't just use the second bridge twice, like first time round and second time. So when we came to record it, I knew what I had to do - terribly sorry about that, Rotten/Jones/Matlock/Cook!” It’s unlikely the song’s progenitors will be offended. Sex Pistols covers might be ten-a-penny, but how many (don’t even try to answer this) simply Xerox the original, with the only the occasional misheard lyric to distinguish them? Eater retain the energy, the scorn and the anger that fueled the now-nearly half-century old original. But they add that same indefinable spark of - yes, youth, volume and rage - that was always the hallmark of Eater in their prime, but which a mere handful others of their contemporaries seem able to recapture. To paraphrase an old song about Star Trek…”It’s punk, Jim. But not as we’ve heard it for a very long time.” SINGLE: https://orcd.co/eater_godsavethequeenCD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=eater+duplicationDIGITAL: https://orcd.co/eater_duplication Track listing1. Breakdown2. Your Generation
3. Beat On The Brat
4. Outside View
5. I’m Stranded
6. God Save The Queen
7. White Riot
8. Chinese Rocks
9. New Rose
10. Another Girl, Another Planet
CLEOPATRA RECORDS, INC.Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Cleopatra Records Store www.CleopatraRecords.com
Show Me The Body shares "Sabotage" Beastie Boys cover with Popular Front music video
SHOW ME THE BODY RELEASES NEW SINGLE “SABOTAGE”
RELEASES MUSIC VIDEO FOR THE BEASTIE BOYS COVER IN COLLABORATION WITH POPULAR FRONT
10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION VINYL OF THEIR SEMINAL DEBUT LP BODY WAR OUT OCTOBER 17TH
BODY WAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW WITH ROC MARCIANO
OCTOBER 17TH AT 99 SCOTT IN BROOKLYN
Show Me The Body by Adam Zhu
“Sabotage”
LISTEN: https://i.showmethebody.com/sabotage
WATCH: https://i.showmethebody.com/sabotagemv
Sabotage.
Become an upsetter. Make yourself a disturbance. Become the problem. Disrupt what is clean and easy. International solidarity with all fighting struggling and working people.
Radical love compels me to fight.
Show Me The Body, 2025
(October 1, 2025) - Following the announcement of their forthcoming 10th anniversary vinyl release and hometown New York show, Show Me The Body are back with their new single “Sabotage,” which has become a highlight of their live show in recent years. “Sabotage” is a new rendition of the classic Beastie Boys number from their 1994 album Ill Communication. Produced by Kenneth Blume, the song is accompanied by a music video created in collaboration with the independent conflict news organization Popular Front. The visual interweaves footage from Show Me The Body’s recent pop-up show in London’s Southwark Park (presented by Popular Front) with archival footage from the organization.
On the collaboration with Popular Front, Show Me The Body’s Julian Cashwan Pratt says:
“I support and consume independent journalism in general, but full disclosure, I am a straight up a fan of Popular Front. Their crew does hard work to tell true stories, or as they put it “honest reporting.” To work together on “Sabotage” is a self-fulfilling prophecy. New York band with a New York song reaching out to the world at war with a message of love and solidarity.”
The lineage of the “Sabatoge” cover dates back to August 2023, when the band played a surprise show at Tompkins Square Park and debuted the cover during their set. The cover arrives ahead of their Body War 10th anniversary release show at 99 Scott in Brooklyn on October 17th, coinciding with the release of the special anniversary edition of Body War vinyl. The show will feature a lineup of all New Yorkers, including Roc Marciano, Wiki, Fatal Realm, Baby Osama, Ferment, alongside SMTB.
Show Me The Body’s historic, genre-defying album Body War exploded the band out of the NYC underground scene in 2016. Now, almost a decade of touring and many acclaimed releases later, the band has firmly solidified its legacy of confronting and permanently shifting the rigid limitations of the hardcore genre.
Formed in 2009, Show Me The Body is Julian Cashwan Pratt (founder; banjo and vocals) and Harlan Steed (founder; bass). Over the past 16 years, they have released several EPs and three full-length albums: Body War (2016), Dog Whistle (2019), and Trouble The Water (2022), and have zig-zagged around the globe bringing their high-energy live performance to countless stages, basements, and alleyways.
Show Me The Body has built a community over the last decade with their label and mutual-aid organization CORPUS. Now based in Queens, CORPUS began organizing non-traditional, intentional DIY spaces for NYC youth and has grown to a global capacity through its urgent, ceremonial live shows, subterranean punk and hip-hop mixed tours, and the CORPUS NYC platform. Along with CORPUS, Show Me The Body have cultivated a community of like-minded bands and artists, defying genre, with collaborations and shared bills from acts like Nick Hakim, Eartheater, Militarie Gun, Princess Nokia, Jesus Piece, Corbin, B L A C K I E, High Vis, ZeelooperZ, Special Interest, and many more. This ethos is fully displayed on their CORPUS I and CORPUS II mixtapes, the latter of which was released last year.
Check out “Sabatoge” above and pre-order the 10th anniversary edition vinyl of Body War here. Stay tuned for more from Show Me The Body coming very soon.
BODY WAR
10th Anniversary Edition vinyl
PRE-ORDER: https://found.ee/bodywarvinyl
BODY WAR
10th Anniversary Edition Show
10/17 @ 99 Scott
https://showmethebody.com/pages/tour
What the press has been saying about Show Me The Body for the last decade:
“punks that won’t let New York die”
The FADER (2016)
“simultaneously weary and wired, the sound of spaces being filled and emptied, of feeling suffocated and gasping for air”
The Guardian (2017)
“an original spin on the hardcore sound”
New Yorker (2018)
“The world’s most terrifying live band”
NME (2019)
“really fucking good”
Pitchfork (2022)
“A true phenomenon, a cult band that gets wild reactions wherever they play”
Stereogum (2023)
"such a singular force"
Revolver (2024)
"sonic scientists as much as musicians."
Alternative Press (2024)
Body War anniversary show flyer
Upcoming Live Show Dates:
10/17 - Brooklyn, NY @ 99 Scott
"Sabotage" single artwork
Connect with Show Me The Body
Dark Dreampop duo MAGIC WANDS Announce New Album 'Cascades' Out October 24 via Metropolis Records
MAGIC WANDS
Announce New Album
CASCADES
out October 24, 2025 via Metropolis
Pre-Order HERE
Featuring New Single
"TIME TO DREAM" HERE
Magic Wands OCTOBER 1, 2025 (Los Angeles, CA) -- Dark dreampop duo Magic Wands will release a new album entitled Cascades on October 24 via Metropolis Records. It includes their current single, "Time To Dream," as well as the previously issued "Hide," "Armour," "Moonshadow," and "Across The Water."
“Cascades was born from a fascination with how the past lingers inside us and explores transformation and the spaces where timelines blur into one,” the band explains. Shaped by the spirit of centuries-old poetry, gothic romance, and myth, the album pulses with post-punk and dream-pop sounds, shot through with lingering shadows of the old world, bridging the sound of their 2012 debut album Aloha Moon with more recent releases.
The album will be promoted with an appearance at The Substance Festival HERE in Los Angeles on November 7th with further shows to be arranged.
MAGIC WANDS - "Hide"Listen: https://youtu.be/vhnpl9xbUPo?si=aOWJZUL-TImmvifk
Formed in 2008 in Nashville by vocalists/guitarists Dexy and Chris Valentine but now based in Los Angeles, Magic Wands are known for a shimmering, dreamy sound that melds elements of shoegaze, dreampop, postpunk, and goth. Their music utilzes heavily-textured guitars, synth drones, and ethereal vocals to conjure an otherworldly atmosphere, plus song lyrics that are emotionally engaging.
The duo has built a loyal fanbase over the course of five studio albums to date, the most recent of which was Switch (2023). Songs from it were subsequently remixed by guest artists and released as Switched later that same year.
MAGIC WANDS - "Armour"Listen: https://youtu.be/_yEc_Qfg3po?si=RXUMrZyB_IP4L8y_
Magic Wands is a partnership built on alchemy of dark dreampop, goth-tinged postpunk, and a touch of cosmic romance.
They first cast their spell with the 2012 debut album Aloha Moon, an introduction to their world of glowing guitars, hypnotic rhythms, and lyrical mysticism. That vision deepened and expanded with Jupiter (2016), Abrakadabra (2018), and Illuminate (2020), each release charting new constellations in their evolving sound.
After further experimentation and exploration on Switch 2023, the band continues their journey with Cascades. It had the melodic hooks of their debut album Aloha Moon and the deconstructed foundation of the last album Switch. Evoking a sense of romance and nostalgia, it will sweep you into an introspective and dreamlike landscape of castles, gardens, rivers, and forests. With dark post-punk overtones, there is always a shimmer of moonlight in the distance.
Shaped by the duo’s signature cinematic atmosphere and celestial hooks, they hint at an album that explores transformation, reflection, and the pull of distant horizons.
Magic Wands make music like portals, each record a doorway into a different century, a different sky. Over a decade since Aloha Moon, their magic is only growing stronger.
Cascades is available for pre-order HERE. Stream their new single "Time To Dream" Here.
Cascades
(hi-res artwork) TRACKLISTING
1. Across The Water
2. Armour
3. Hide
4. Albatross
5. Moonshadow
6. Time To Dream
7. Cascades
8. Golden
9. Room With A View
10. RiverbedApple MusicFacebookXInstagram
YES Today Launches “The Fragile Tour 2025”—Band to Perform Their Iconic ‘Fragile’ Album in its Entirety Along with Their Classic Cuts
YES
TODAY LAUNCHES
“THE FRAGILE TOUR 2025”
THAT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH NOVEMBER 16
BAND TO PERFORM THEIR ICONIC
‘FRAGILE’ ALBUM IN ITS ENTIRETY
ALONG WITH THEIR CLASSIC CUTS
YES TO PERFORM IN FRONT OF A VIDEO WALL
OF ROGER DEAN’S ARTWORK TURNED INTO ANIMATION
Today (October 1), influential and pioneering Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees YES—who are Steve Howe (guitars, vocals), Geoff Downes (keyboards), Jon Davison (vocals, acoustic guitar), Billy Sherwood (bass guitar, vocals), and Jay Schellen (drums)—launch their “The Fragile Tour 2025” in Wallingford, CT. At these “evening with Yes” shows, the progressive rock titans will perform their iconic early ‘70s album Fragile in its entirety along with classics cuts from their legendary body of work. See the dates below and go to www.yesworld.com/live for ticketing information.
The band is excited to perform in front of a video wall featuring artwork by design visionary Roger Dean, whose longtime relationship with YES began with his design of the Fragile album. The animation of Dean’s iconic YES logos and album artwork through the years brings his visuals into this decade. His art will be on display in the merch area at all the shows.
“The first time I watched the animations with the music was just incredible; it’s wonderful that it was so much more powerful with both together,” says Dean.
The multi-platinum album Fragile album features their signature songs “Roundabout,” “Long Distance Runaround,” and “Heart of the Sunrise.” Marking the band’s fourth studio album, it was released in the UK in November 1971 and in the US in January 1972. The “Fragile Tour” is regarded as a key moment is YES’ history—it’s when the band became a headline act in the US.
“All the band’s albums had a unique feel and approach,” reflects Steve Howe. “After ‘The Yes Album,’ so many things came together, with [co-producer] Eddie Offord steering the proceedings. While the band focused on only four main songs with full arrangements, each of us wrote and designed a solo piece, which was Bill [Bruford]'s great idea. It's fairly 'odd-ball,' but we were at the height of our creativity, determined for success.” Howe adds: “It gave us confidence, further than our own in-stock belief, we'd crafted this unusual but noticeable musical twist to rock and what later became prog.”
Here's a preview of the video wall from the YES’ rehearsals this past week:
Photo by Nico Golfar
See below for the full list of tour dates:
Date
City, State
Venue
10/1
Wallingford, CT
Toyota Oakdale Theatre
10/2
Morristown, NJ
Mayo Performing Arts Center
10/4
Atlantic City, NJ
Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena
10/5
Port Chester, NY
The Capitol Theatre
10/7
Huntington, NY
The Paramount
10/8
Glenside, PA
Keswick Theatre
10/9
Glenside, PA
Keswick Theatre
10/11
York, PA
Appell Center for the Performing Arts
10/12
Jim Thorpe, PA
Penn's Peak
10/14
Washington, DC
Warner Theatre
10/16
Durham, NC
Carolina Theatre
10/18
Clearwater, FL
Ruth Eckerd Hall
10/19
Ft Lauderdale, FL
Broward Center, Au-Rene Theater
10/21
The Villages, FL
Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center
10/22
Charleston, SC
Charleston Music Hall
10/24
Atlanta, GA
Coca-Cola Roxy
10/25
Memphis, TN
Graceland Soundstage
10/27
Louisville, KY
The Louisville Palace
10/28
Cincinnati, OH
Taft Theatre
10/30
Indianapolis, IN
Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
10/31
Des Plaines, IL
Des Plaines Theatre
11/1
St. Charles, IL
The Arcada Theatre
11/3
Madison, WI
The Orpheum Theater
11/4
Milwaukee, WI
The Riverside Theater
11/6
St. Louis, MO
Stifel Theatre
11/7
Omaha, NE
Steelhouse Omaha
11/9
Denver, CO
Paramount Theatre
11/11
Mesa, AZ
Mesa Arts Center
11/13
Inglewood, CA
YouTube Theater
11/14
Alpine, CA
Viejas Casino
11/16
Reno, NV
Grand Theatre at The Grand Sierra Resort
Left to Right: Jay Schellen, Jon Davison, Billy Sherwood, Steve Howe, Geoff Downes
Photo Credit: Gottlieb Bros.
YES ONLINE:
After 45 Years, The Residents Bring 'Eskimo' to Stages Nationwide for the First Time
The Residents Bring Eskimo to Stages Nationwide
The avant-garde legends launch their first-ever Eskimo Live! Tour – a 15-date coast-to-coast trek performing the landmark 1979 album in full.
Tickets On Sale Friday, October 3 at 10am Local Time
For more information, please visit residents.com
After 45 years of myth, mystery, and anticipation, The Residents will take their landmark 1979 album
Eskimo
on the road for the very first time. Launching January 9th in Vancouver, BC, the “Eskimo Live! Tour” will bring the iconic avant-garde collective to 15 cities across North America, culminating January 31st in Washington, DC. Each show will feature a full-length live performance of Eskimo – a theatrical, immersive experience reimagined from the original master recordings. Tickets go on sale Friday, October 3rd at 10am local time.The “Eskimo Live! Tour” is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness one of the most enigmatic and influential art collectives in music history breathe new life into one of their most groundbreaking works. Each night will unfold as a surrealist ritual, featuring narration, characters, and staging designed to expand the mythology that has surrounded Eskimo for nearly half a century.
Originally released at the height of punk’s rise, Eskimo marked a radical departure – not just for The Residents, but for the landscape of experimental music. Eschewing lyrics and genre conventions in favor of fictional anthropology, the album constructs a surreal sonic universe inspired by imaginary Inuit rituals, frozen landscapes, and absurd cultural myths. Eskimo critiques Western imperialism and cultural exploitation not through traditional protest songs, but through hypnotic drones, bone-chilling chants, and grinding sound collages. It is part satire, part sound sculpture, and wholly unlike anything before or since.
Photo credit: The Cryptic CorporationLong regarded as one of the band’s most daring conceptual works, Eskimo has remained unperformed for more than four decades – until now.Critics immediately recognized the album’s impact. “What I am sure of is that it’s without doubt one of the most important albums ever made,” wrote Andy Gill in NME. And yet, despite its acclaim and influence, Eskimo became one of those rare albums mythologized not only for its sound, but for its inaccessibility on stage.
With the ESKIMO Live! Tour, that myth becomes a reality.
Photo credit: The Cryptic CorporationThe tour follows a period of renewed creative energy for The Residents. In February 2025, the group released Doctor Dark, a genre-defying modern opera inspired by real-world tragedy and national hysteria. Featuring orchestration by conductor Edwin Outwater and blending heavy metal, classical composition, and avant-garde horror, the album was hailed as one of the band’s most ambitious efforts in decades. But Eskimo remains a cornerstone – a Rosetta Stone to understanding The Residents’ irreverent, immersive, and impossible-to-pin-down aesthetic.For over five decades, The Residents have defied definition. They claim no members. They don’t give interviews. Their anonymity is a radical artistic stance – one that rejects ego and identity in favor of concept, collaboration, and controlled chaos. Their work has been archived at MoMA, studied by musicologists, and cited as formative by everyone from Devo and Animal Collective to Blue Man Group. But The Residents have never stood still. Their art evolves. Their mystery endures. And now, they’re finally hitting the road to bring Eskimo to life.
Photo credit: The Cryptic Corporation
THE RESIDENTS – ESKIMO LIVE! TOUR 2026
Friday, January 9 – Commodore – Vancouver, BC
Saturday, January 10 – Neptune – Seattle, WA
Monday, January 12 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR
Wednesday, January 14 – Palace of Fine Arts – San Francisco, CA
Thursday, January 15 – Belly Up – San Diego, CA
Saturday, January 17 – The Montalban – Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, January 18 – The Marquee – Tempe, AZ
Tuesday, January 20 – Oriental Theatre – Denver, CO
Thursday, January 22 – Park West – Chicago, IL
Saturday, January 24 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON
Sunday, January 25 – Le National – Montreal, QC
Tuesday, January 27 – Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA
Wednesday, January 28 – Sony Hall – New York, NY
Thursday, January 29 – Colonial Theatre – Phoenixville, PA
Saturday, January 31 – Lincoln Theatre – Washington, DC
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Clock DVA Share "Brigade" Remastered || Reissue Of Debut Album 'White Souls in Black Suits' Out 11/7 On The Grey Area Of Mute
CLOCK DVA
LISTEN TO “BRIGADE” REMASTERED
FROM THE LONG-AWAITED REMASTERED
REISSUE OF THEIR DEBUT
WHITE SOULS IN BLACK SUITS
OUT 11/7 ON THE GREY AREA OF MUTE
US TOUR CONTINUES
CLOCK DVA have shared a new track from the long-awaited remastered reissue of their debut album, White Souls in Black Suits, available for the first time in 35 years.
Listen to “Brigade” HERE.
Featuring Simon M. Elliot-Kemp who joined the fledgling Clock DVA in 1978, leaving the following year, “Brigade” is one of four bonus tracks on the newly remastered edition of the album. Originally released in 1980 as a limited cassette on Industrial Records, White Souls in Black Suits is out on November 7, 2025 on grey vinyl and CD via The Grey Area of Mute.
The track arrives on the day of their New York show at Le Poisson Rouge, part of a North American tour which continues through to the end of this week. A UK tour has been announced for November, kicking off at London’s Signature Brew on November 28th. Tickets are on sale now. Full details are listed below.
“We set out to form a new sound combination,” says Clock DVA’s Adi Newton. “To combine acoustics and electronics, merging the German electronic wave with the edge of The Stooges, the avant-garde of the French GRM Musique Concrète, and the pioneering audio-visual creativity of The Velvet Underground. To create a harder form of electronic music with real energy.”
The band, who formed in Sheffield in 1978, quickly proved to do just that. Also inspired by science fiction, Russian constructivism and beat literature, Clock DVA soon created a unique sonic alchemy that for the best part of the last half century has proven to be an endlessly influential reference point across everything from post-punk to EBM via industrial and techno.
This singular audio-visual assault quickly saw people take notice. Fellow Sheffield pioneers Cabaret Voltaire soon became friends and collaborators, as did Throbbing Gristle who released the debut on their imprint, Industrial Records.
The album features a lineup including Newton (voice, synth, clarinet, bowed electric guitar, and tape treatment), founding member Steven James Turner (bass treatment), David J. Hammond (guitar treatment), Charlie Collins (saxophone, flute & percussion), Roger Quail (percussion) and Simon M. Elliott-Kemp (synth). It was recorded at Cabaret Voltaire’s Western Works studio.
“Anti-Chance,” taken from White Souls in Black Suits, was a direct collaboration with Cabaret Voltaire and saw two of Sheffield’s most innovative outfits join forces. “On ‘Anti-Chance’ we used random tapes from both DVA and Cabaret Voltaire,” explains Newton. “It was a direct William Burroughs / Brion Gysin [inspired] audio cut up piece.” Chance is fundamental to change.
Such experimentation can be heard all over their debut album which was, astonishingly, recorded in just a single day. “There is a cultivated myth that it was culled from 16 hours of improvisation but I'd venture the true figure is closer to 8 hours,” says drummer Roger Quail. It’s a record that is dark, eerie and brooding with a tense atmosphere as screeching guitars nestle up alongside toots of sax and electronic sci-fi-like soundscape explorations. It was a sound befitting of a group of people who were hell-bent on exploring new terrain. “Adi used to talk about being kinetic a lot around this time,” recalls Quail. “Keep moving, don't stand still – and I think this restlessness informs much of the music around this time.” And, for Quail, he’s been knocked sideways revisiting the work ahead of its re-release. “I hadn't heard White Souls… since the early 90s,” he says. “I'm blown away by the sound of this new master. There's a bit where we actually appear to invent Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden - to my ears anyway.”
The group built up a fierce reputation as one of Sheffield’s most ferocious live outfits who could melt minds and charge the atmosphere of a room like few others. “We did have a reputation as being wild and unpredictable,” explains Newton. “But that was good because it gave us an edge.” The stage was also a means for the group to explore with their burgeoning visual presence, which has since become a staple part of their identity and is something they are considered as pioneering for as their sonics. “For me it was always a staging, like theatre,” Newton explains. “We have developed visuals throughout the DVA history, from using 8mm film and 35mm film slides in the early days and via the earliest digital computer graphics back in 1987 with the Amiga B2000 to the present day with visual artists we have worked with, along with our own creations.”
White Souls in Black Suits is out on The Grey Area of Mute on November 7, 2025
Pre-order the album HERE.
TOUR DATES:
10/1/2025 - Le Poisson Rouge - New York, NY10/2/2025 - Sonia - Boston, MA
10/3/2025 - Water Street Music Hall - Rochester, NY
10/4/2025 - Mercury Music Lounge - Cleveland, OH
10/5/2025 - The Magic Bag - Ferndale, MI
11/28/2025 - London, UK - Signature Brew Blackhouse Road
11/29/2025 - Manchester, UK - Ambers
11/30/2025 - Sheffield, UK - Yellow Arch
Track listing:
1. Consent
2. Discontentment
3. Discontentment 2
4. Still/Silent
5. Non
6. Relentless
7. Contradict
8. Film Soundtrack (Keyboards Assemble Themselves At Dawn)
9. Anti-Chance (feat. Cabaret Voltaire)
10. Brigade
11. Cage
12. No. 2
13. You’re Without Sound
CONNECT WITH CLOCK DVA:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM
CONNECT WITH MUTE:
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | BLUESKY | INSTAGRAM | TIK TOK | WEB
BLITZ VEGA Kav Sandhu And The Late Andy Rourke’s Band Release “Superbrain” Music Video
(feat. Kav Sandhu and the Late Andy Rourke)
Debut “Superbrain” Music Video
Previews forthcoming EP
Blitz Vega - "Superbrain"Video: https://youtu.be/459_7M_umMM?si=cf9K2VZocdasb3fM
DSP: https://vyd.co/Superbrain
Single Artwork (hi-res)
OCTOBER 1, 2025 (New York, NY) — Blitz Vega - the band founded by Kav Sandhu (formerly of Happy Mondays) and the late Andy Rourke (The Smiths) - return with a striking new visual for their recent single “Superbrain." First released earlier this summer, the single “Superbrain” was originally written in 2020 but only completed in recent months, emerging as a keystone of Blitz Vega’s duality: swaggering rock ’n’ roll grooves colliding with futuristic electronica and punkish attitude.
The lyrics for “Superbrain” - grappling with the uneasy relationship between human creativity and rapidly evolving technology - feel more urgent now than when first penned. Now, the music video brings those themes vividly to life. “It represents the song visually by showing the struggle humans have with technology - how much of our real selves still exist, how much we lose, and what’s left in the end,” Kav explains. “I think we’re currently on that journey. I guess we’ll see how it all pans out.”
BLITZ VEGA (2025) taken in front of the Andy Rourke mural in Manchester, England
photo credit: Takeaphotonatt
Conceived and directed by Blitz Vega’s longtime art director Paul Mulvey, the video takes the song’s consequential subject matter and filters it through a stylized, slightly playful lens. “Paul’s like a non-musical member of the band,” says Kav. “He came up with the concept, and I loved how it captured everything about the song in a simple way. It’s kinda funny, too. That’s always been the Blitz Vega way - we never want to make things too heavy, even when the songs are dealing with pretty serious ideas.” The video also reflects how “Superbrain” itself has evolved since its initial demo: “The strange thing is the song has become more relevant with time,” Kav notes. “It evolved sonically more than anything, with the style of playing becoming more intense.”
“Superbrain” now sets the stage for Blitz Vega’s forthcoming EP (more details to come), arriving two years after the release of their debut album Northern Gentleman - the posthumous project hailed as “a striking, emotional collection of songs, embedded in energy and life” (Clash) and “a life-affirming, rollicking, thrilling, kinetic, sometimes unbearably poignant tribute” (Louder Than War).
The “Superbrain” music video is out now.
Andy Rourke and Kav Sandhuphoto credit: Lexi Bonin
