Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 2085

Preoccupations Announce Tour w/ Explosions In The Sky, US Festival Dates

PREOCCUPATIONS ANNOUNCE DATES WITH EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKYBEGIN WORLD TOUR THIS MONTH INCLUDING US FESTIVALS SASQUATCH AND FYF NEW ALBUM COMING SOON...
  Photo Credit: Alessio BoniPreoccupations, the band formerly known as Viet Cong, today announced they will be joining Explosions In The Sky on several North American tour dates this summer. The band will be playing their first US show for 2016 this weekend at Sasquatch before heading over to Europe. All dates can be found below.
Preoccupations have been hard at work recording their new album which will be released this fall on Jagjaguwar / Flemish Eye. Expect to hear more news on that front very soon.

World Tour Dates
5.28.16 - Sasquatch Festival - George, WA6.13.16 - Baby's All Right - Brooklyn, NY6.17.16 - Best Kept Secret Festival - Hilvarenbeek, NL6.18.16 - Out Loud, Beursschouwburg - Brussels, BE6.22.16 - Shacklewell Arms - London, UK6.23.16 - Old Blue Last - London, UK6.28.16 - Olympic Cafe - Paris, FR6.30.16 - Urban Spree - Berlin, GER7.2.16 - Castlepalooza - Tullamore, IE7.9.16 - Ottawa Blues Festival - Ottawa, ONT8.21.16 - White Oak Music Hall - Houston, TX *8.22.16 - Bomb Factory - Dallas, TX *8.24.16 - Tricky Falls - El Paso, TX *8.28.16 - FYF Fest - Los Angeles, CA8.29.16 - Mountain Winery - Saratoga, CA *8.30.16 - Ace of Spades - Sacramento, CA *9.1.16 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR *9.2.16 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR *10.8.16 - Danforth Music Hall - Toronto, ON 
* w/ Explosions In The Skytwitter.com/pre_occupationsinstagram.com/pre_occupationsFacebook.com/preoccupationsband

Oh Pep! unveil music video for "Doctor Doctor" off forthcoming 'Stadium Cake' out June 24th

OH PEP! UNVEIL MUSIC VIDEO FOR "DOCTOR DOCTOR" OFF FORTHCOMING DEBUT - STADIUM CAKE   OUT JUNE 24 ON DUALTONE
ON TOUR W/ LORD HURON, NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS AND THE MOUNTAIN GOATS  

Last month, Australian duo, Oh Pep! announced their debut album, Stadium Cake,which will be released June 24th on Dualtone. To mark the occasion NPR's "All Songs Considered" unveiled one of the tracks off the forthcoming album, "Doctor Doctor." Now, the girls are pleased to unveil the music video for the track, directed by Chris Murphy. Stereogum said the "ultra-fun video for their single 'Doctor Doctor,' shows two friends just simply having a great time together. With an instantly captivating synthscape, the track builds to a cathartic chorus that sees vocalist Olivia Hally repeatedly yelling 'I know what I want, and it's not what I need!'" 
In addition to "Doctor Doctor," Oh Pep! have also shared the "Bushwick" from their forthcoming album. "This is pop at its most kinetic, propelled forward by a steady snare beat, the rhythmic scratch of strings, and the undeniable energy that exists between songwriters Olivia Hally and Pepita Emerichs," said Consequence of Sound.
Oh Pep! will be on tour throughout the world for the rest of 2016 including a full U.S. headlining tour and support dates with Lord Huron and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Festival highlights include The Great Escape in the UK, Primavera Sound in Barcelona and Vancouver Folk Festival. The band is also pleased to announce a string of fall dates with indie-folk legends, The Mountain Goats. 
Olivia Hally and Pepita Emmerichs formed Oh Pep! while at music secondary school in Melbourne, Australia. With three EPs under their belt since 2012, Oh Pep!'s Stadium Cake is a coming of age for the duo, who have been touring internationally since early 2015.  The band made a huge impact at October 2015's CMJ festival where KCRW chalked them up as one of their top artists that 'Won' CMJ, as did NPR's Bob Boilen, who proclaimed "The Melbourne band's music is infectious.Their harmonies are sweet, with lyrics that are thoughtful, deep, funny and poetic. 
The band have already recorded NPR's Tiny Desk giving U.S. music fans a chance to see Pepita Emmerichs' virtuosic playing on both mandolin and violin and Olivia Hally's gorgeous voice and heartbreaking delivery.    


 US TOUR DATES+ w/ Lord Huron and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats# w/ Lord Huron* w/ The Mountain Goats May 28 - Liverpool Sounds - City, Liverpool, UKMay 29 - The Hug and Pint - Glasgow, ScotlandJun  2-5 - Primavera - Barcelona, SpainJun 6 - Fillmore Theatre - Philadelphia, PA+  SOLD OUTJun 7 - Wolf Trap - Vienna, VA +   SOLD OUTJun 8 - Red Hat Amphitheater - Raleigh, NC +Jun 10 - House Of Blues - Myrtle Beach, SC #Jun 11 - Georgia Theatre - Athens, GA #Jun 24 - The Drake - Toronto, ON, Canada Jun 29 - Mercury Lounge - NYC, NY Jul 7 - Jammin' Java - Vienna, VA Jul 8 - World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, PA Jul 9 - Green River Festival - Northampton, MA  Jul 11 - Schubas - Chicago, IL Jul 12 - Cedar Cultural Centre - Minneapolis, MN Jul 15-17 - Vancouver Folk Festival - Vancouver, BC, CanadaJul 19 - The Sugar Club - Victoria, BCJul 21-23 - Calgary Folk Festival - Calgary, AB, CanadaJul 25 - Revolution Roof Deck - Portland, OR, U.S.A Jul 27 - Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco, CAJul 28 -  Bootleg Theatre - Los Angeles, CA Aug 1 -  Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO Aug 3 - The Demo - St. Louis, MO Aug 4 - High Watt - Nashville, TN Aug 5 - Evening Muse - Charlotte, NC Aug 6 - Cats Cradle - Carrboro, NC Sep 18  - Rams Head Live - Baltimore MD *Sep 19 - The National - Richmond, VA *Sep 20 - Jefferson Theatre - Charlottesville, VA*Sep 22 - Buskirk-Chumley Theatre - Bloomington, IN*Sep 23 - The Castle Theatre - Bloomington, IL*Sep 26 - The Englert Theatre - Iowa City, IA*Sep 27 - Pabst Theatre - Milwaukee, WI*Sep 28 - Majestic Theatre - Madison, WI*Sep 30 - The Waiting Room - Omaha, NE*Oct 1 - Madrid Theatre - Kansas City, MO*Oct 2 - The Blue Note - Columbia, MO*Oct 3 - Codfish Hollow Barnstormers - Maquoketa, IA*

UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN book review

UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN A personal history of LA PunkBy John Doe w/ Tom DeSavia

Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 26, 2016)
I have been looking forward to reading this book. The LA punk scene has been under-represented. Many people were not aware of it until 1981. Most of this multi-faceted book focuses on the golden age of the Masque and the early scene, roughly the years 1976-1981. Hollywoodhad a glam rock and groupie scene going on in the early part of the 1970s. That soon morphed into the new punk thing when everyone got a leather jacket. In NYC, they had the clubs Max’s Kansas Cityand CBGBs and a lot of movies and books and documentaries. Londonhad almost too much hype and coverage. Londonhas often been mistaken as the birthplace of punk rock. Los Angeles was always a third city with an equal force of creativity and importance, ahead of San Francisco, Chicago and DC.
Back at the start, LA had the clubs: the Masque, The Whiskey, and The Starwood were all the main locales for the early scene; plus new clubs were opening up all the time. This book pays attention to the Canterbury Hotel, a block away from the Masque, as LA’s dingy answer to the Chelsea Hotel. Most of the scene’s original 100, or “original 200,” it’s not clear who’s card carrying member or not, are people who are no longer with us. For those dozen people or so who are still with us, some have detailed accounts and others have vague memories that seem general. There was a lot of drug and alcohol abuse back then. I am sure some people have blacked out most of the time. I know that I have. 
There is an introduction by Billie Joe Armstrong. He’s not from LA and he came along ten years too late. I guess the editors of this book wanted to include a big name to attract the millenials? It turns out that most of people in this book are not from LA and came out west when they were young adults. A third of the book is written by John Doe, so it becomes X-centric. Some of the best LA bands of the time like The Weirdos, The Screamers, and The Alleycats, are there in the background.
The book starts out slow. The intro by Armstrong and the forward by Tom DeSavia are generic punk outlines. Instead I suggest that the reader only recall the first time they heard The Ramones or The Germs. Because these two sections are general reminiscences by music fans. In the first real chapter John Doe remembers playing The Whisky and recalls his first impression of the Masque. Exene Cervenka doesn’t add much with her vague history report. Where are the personal tales? John Doe returns in the next section with an impressionistic piece about living on Genesee Avenue, and banging Lorna Doom of The Germs.
The first part of the book drags. The best part of the book comes next: there are two long chapters by Jane Wiedlin and Pleasant Gehman. Jane Wiedlin talks about growing up in the valley and going to fashion school. She discovers the LA punk scene and moves into the Canterbury Hotel. She reminds us that the Go-Gos started out as a punk band. They were the only band to achieve success and tour internationally. While most of the others turned to heroin. Orange County punks didn’t kill the original scene, heroin did. And lack of any success outside of the scene.
Pleasant Gehman links the original scene with The Germs and The Gun Club: some of the best bands to come out of it. Her view of the LA scene is the most cinematic. Her story about how her friends went to meet the Sex Pistols on tour in the south to lose their virginity was pretty hilarious. The hardcore scene came in and Pleasant went rockabilly.
John Doe has a few more chapters that fill in the blanks. Chris Morris talks about his experiences with working at a movie theater and Slash Magazine. Tom DeSavia focuses on the photographers of punk, the best ones being Ed Colver and Jenny Lens. Robert Lopez talks about growing up in San Diego and being in a teenage punk band. The focus turns on how east LA punk and Latino punk bands became involved with the original movement.
Of course, Henry Rollins chimes in and was a little late to the LA scene. By this point of the book I notice how few original native Los Angeles people are represented here. Henry Rollins doesn’t really add much color to what has been said better before. But it is interesting that he mentions how he was followed by the police and the FBI. The question remains: was punk seen as a threat by the FBI at the time?
Chris D. speaks about his experiences with Slash Magazine. Mike Watt goes on for a few pages about growing up Pedro. John Doe speaks about what is punk and not punk. Charlotte Coffey writes about not being cool and not very punk, but being in the Go-Gos, which were the only band from the original scene to have any success and play stadiums.
There is a lot of anti-OC sentiment in these pages. Most of this is refuted by Jack Grisham of TSOL. TSOL is still one of the current bands still offering their brand of punk today. While many lament the end of punk around 1982, due to the OC invasion, in reality the OC punk scene had been boiling for years. Sandy West of The Runaways was from Huntington Beach. There were backyard house parties with The Crowd and The Outsiders. There was more of a punk uniformity and gang element post 1981 and that was unfortunate. But it’s a little sad when people in the original scene are still trying top be the king of the high school when they are 25.
Whether punk had died or not, one thing was for sure post-punk had started. There was goth, rockabilly, electronic music, ska, and new wave. Most of the old punks had put their cards in the rockabilly/Americana movement. Dave Alvin of the Blasters addresses much of this in his chapter. Kristine McKenna Mourns the death of the scene artfully in her section. John Doe then wraps in up nicely. It’s a compelling read and a fresh looking back on the complicated scene.
The band X had been in two documentaries. Still LA feels under-represented in punk rock retrospectives. There is always New York and London, and Los Angeles is a strong third city, although you might think it’s an equal to DC, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. Some of the LA bands don’t really seem as punk as we would like them to. They would play with The Knack, 20/20, and The Plimsouls at the Starwood, although no one talks about those bands being punk.
Punk music is at heart a folk movement. Anyone can start a band. The bands become more successful and move on to the bigger mainstream stage, like the Go-Gos, or they stop after one album and become a legend, like The Germs. Lack of success, and money, and experiences on the road, force bands to hang it up after a few years. Or you can change your tune, or start a new band.

Punk didn’t die in 1982. It just got predictable and old. Due to lack of support and recognition, many bands turned to drugs. Heroin in the early 1980s killed the scene. The OC kids didn’t ruin the scene. The scene became ugly and violent overall. Those younger kids of the 1980s didn’t relate to society and older bands that were too cool for school. And musicians heading towards 30 and playing for five or ten years didn’t want to be spit on by a 15 year old with nothing to lose. See you at the Go-Gos farewell concert tour. It will be fun.

Review by Alexander Laurence

Lift to Experience Performs Reunion Shows, 15th Anniversary Reissue On The Way

LIFT TO EXPERIENCE
THE TEXAS-JERUSALEM CROSSROADS

15TH ANNIVERSARY RELEASE OF THE SEMINAL DOUBLE CONCEPT ALBUM – AUTUMN 2016

LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT OF “GROUND SO SOFT”

LIVE DATES ANNOUNCED
JUNE 3, 4 & 5  - TEXAS
JUNE 10 – LONDON’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
Photo credit: Breanne TrammellJosh T. Pearson’s Lift To Experience has unveiled a taste of what to expect from the 15th anniversary release of their seminal double concept album,  The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads  – out in the autumn via Mute.

Listen to an excerpt of “Ground So Soft,” right HERE.

For what will become the definitive re-release of this work of breath-taking ambition and divine inspiration, Lift To Experience returned to the original Texas studio – The Echo Lab in Denton - where their one and only album release was recorded, and have remixed and re-mastered the album.

In the run up to their headline show at the Royal Festival Hall on Friday, June 10 as part of Guy Garvey’s Meltdown Festival, the legendary cult band comprising Josh T. Pearson, Andy “The Boy” Young, and Josh “The Bear” Browning have announced a series of warm up shows in Texas.

Lift To Experience will perform on June 3 in Tehuacana, June 4 in Austin and June 5 in Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Room.

Josh T. Pearson explains, “Back in the studio neck deep in the heart of Texas where Lift recorded The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads, remixing the album the way it should have be mixed originally. It's good to have our balls back after years spent being castrated.  Excited for those who never got to experience the band live to hear a more accurate representation of what we sounded like then.”

Lift To Experience formed in Denton, Texas, at the end of the last millennium. Their rise was fast and their reign was short; following the release of their long-form masterpiece, the band imploded at the peak of their career due to a series of cruel tragedies. In this short time, however, the band achieved high critical acclaim and were so beloved by John Peel, that he invited them to record three Peel sessions in just five months and were included in the Best 125 Peel Sessions of all time.

Listen to “Falling From Cloud 9” (Peel Session)  HERE .

After the group disbanded, the legend of their thunderous live shows and sole record has only grown. A cult recording that still possesses a mystical power in an era when such things seem to have fallen away. The purity of Pearson’s vision, and the passion with which the band executed it, still electrifies, still moves. It was, as Pearson says, “a lot of blood, sweat and tears”.

Talking about June’s Royal Festival Hall show, Josh T. Pearson admits, “We’re scared. We want it to be as good as it was. Five years ago I realized, there’s no better bands out there. There might be bands as good – I can think of maybe five of them I’d put up with us – but Lift To Experience was as good as it gets. The three of us didn’t want to be in any other band if it wasn’t as good as that. We’d rather burn that shit to the ground than have it not be pure. We haven’t been in the same room together for some years,” he says cautiously. “But we’d like it to be a celebration.”

LIFT TO EXPERIENCE
3 June – Tehuacana, Texas – Texas Hall - http://transmissionevents.com
4 June – Austin, Texas – Barracuda - http://transmissionevents.com
5 June – Denton, Texas – Rubber Gloves - http://transmissionevents.com
10 June – London, Royal Festival Hall www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/lift-to-experience-96856 LIFT TO EXPERIENCE:  FACEBOOK  |  INSTAGRAM  |  TWITTER

DFA's Factory Floor Share New Track "Dial Me In", Announce New LP '25 25' Out 8/19

FACTORY FLOOR
 
New Album 25 25 Out August 19th via DFA

LISTEN // SHARE: “ Dial Me In ” 
 
Factory Floor Live In NYC:
6/28: Brooklyn, NY @ Good Room
6/29: Brooklyn, NY @ House of Vans w/Neon Indian
 


Factory Floor return in 2016 with  25 25 , their second album for DFA and the follow up to their hugely acclaimed 2013 self-titled debut. With their music stripped to a mesmerising dance of percussion, fragmented voice and melody, 25 25 captures the next vital stage in the evolution of one of the UK's most restless and exploratory groups. Today the band share “ Dial Me In ”, the album's lead single that is available now on a limited 12".

Following the release of their debut album Factory Floor in 2013, the band - consisting ofNik Void and Gabriel Gurnsey - slimmed down to a duo. Having already boiled the scorched textures of their early singles down into their debut's hallucinatory club-not-club stomp, they both seized the opportunity to voyage further along the pathway, mixing the album with razor-sharp precision via David Wrench (FKA Twigs, Caribou).

Inspired by playing a growing number of late night club shows, the pair's music gradually evolved into the sound captured on their second album and in their current live incarnation: a stark, ultra-minimalist and eerily soulful dancefloor pulse, yet one that still bears Factory Floor's unmistakable hallmarks of hypnotic repetition and jagged, punkish intensity.

Speaking of “Dial Me In”, Void says: "Being openly progressive has always been the Factory Floor way, be it via improvisational live shows, early Blast First releases, DFA reworks, or open studio collaborations and residencies. ‘Dial Me In’ was the first track Gabe and I wrote together for this record. At this time we were both exploring new set ups - some unfamiliar gear like modular systems, as well as various machines combined with regular old stuff like my Roland sampler, live drums and effected live vocals.

Our shows between 2014-2015 were steadily moving towards late night club stompers, and gradually our tools were becoming more and more mobile within two Peli cases wheeled across the continent. We were forever testing out changing sets from one place to the next. This single is all about transition, adjustment and transparency - something we needed to get out there so that dots can be joined and the next page can be turned ready for 25 25."

25 25  is out August 19th via DFA and can be  pre-ordered here .
 


25 25 Tracklist:
1. Meet Me At The End
2. Relay
3. Slow Listen
4. 25/25
5. Dial Me In
6. Wave
7. Ya
8. Upper Left

Fiona Brice Shares Digital 21 + Stefan Olsdal Remix Of "Dallas" On CLASH

Fiona Brice Shares Digital 21 + Stefan Olsdal Remix Of “Dallas” On Clash Postcards From  Out June 3rd On Bella Union

With the release of her debut solo album  Postcards From  around the corner (due out June 3rd on Bella Union),Fiona Brice is pleased to share a remix of her track “Dallas” by Digital 21 + Stefan Olsdal on CLASH. The duo is a combination of Miguel López Mora (a Spanish electronic music pioneer) and Stefan Olsdal,guitarist/bassist of Placebo. The track "pits the classical tones alongside some squelching electronics" yet manages to retain the eerie "inner calm of the original".
Ever the prolific artist, her career already spans orchestral arrangements for artists such as John Grant, Anna Calvi, Midlake, Placebo, Vashti Bunyan and Jarvis Cocker, scores for concert performances by Roy Harper and Gemma Ray, and violin performances for the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Katherine Jenkins, Gorillaz and Robbie Williams. Now, there’s a new feat to add to this incredible list;  Postcards From , ten instrumental pieces as rich and cinematic as their ingredients are minimal; violin, cello, piano, and a restlessly inventive imagination.
From the piercing clarity of “Berlin” to the cascading “Glastonbury”, from the peaceful reverie of “Koh Yao Noi” to the haunting tension of “Antwerp”, Brice’s violin and compositional skill forge many moods. Her piano also leads the luminescent “Dallas” and the candlelit aura of ‘Denton’ while violin and piano combine with the swarthier overtones of cello for “Paris”, “Verona” and “Tokyo”.
“I was so busy sustaining a living from music, and with other people’s music, I forgot to prioritize my own work, and lost sight of its potential,” Brice explains. “Though I didn’t set out to make an album. The pieces were written over five years, but they started to hang together.”
With the exception of “Tokyo” (inspired by a National Geographic article after Brice had visited the city), the tracks were conceived in the places they’re named after. Though Brice refers to the tracks as “musical selfies” of her mood at the time, she concedes that some psycho-geographical influence has seeped in. For example, she hears, “warmth, space and light” in (the Thai island of) “Koh Yao Noi” while “St Petersburg” “sounds a little menacing, with a certain grandeur too. But if “Glastonbury” has an upbeat, swirling energy, it’s the landlines and pagan side that entrances Brice rather than the festival. She describes Postcards From as “one foot in the classical world and one in rock, but if anything, it’s more like film music. Either way, it represents me well.”    Postcards From  tracklisting:1. Berlin2. Paris3. Glastonbury4. Dallas5. Antwerp6. Verona7. St Petersburg8. Koh Yao Noi9. Tokyo10. Denton

Kristin Kontrol Announces Headline Tour in Support of Debut Album, X-Communicate

KRISTIN KONTROL ANNOUNCES HEADLINE TOUR IN SUPPORT OF DEBUT ALBUM, X-COMMUNICATE, SET FOR RELEASE ON MAY 27 ON SUB POP RECORDS
X-COMMUNICATE  - WHICH IS STREAMING NOW ON PITCHFORK - INTRODUCES NEW SOLO PROJECT FROM KRISTIN WELCHEZ, FKA DEE DEE OF THE DUM DUM GIRLS

KRISTIN JOINS GARBAGE ON TOUR THIS SUMMER
LOS ANGELES, CA - May 25, 2016 - Kristin Kontrol will kick off an East Coast tour on June 15 at BSP in Kingston, NY. After the short headline run, which will wrap up on June 22 at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn, NY, she'll be opening for Garbage. The band's summer tour kicks off on July 22 in Minneapolis and includes concerts at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (July 20) and SummerStage in NYC's Central Park (August 1). See below for itinerary. Tickets can be purchased HERE.Pitchfork is now streaming  X-Communicate , Kristin Kontrol's debut album, in its entirety HERE.Fans who pre-order the album, which is set for release on May 27 via Sub Pop Records, will instantly receive two tracks: "X-Communicate" and "Show Me."Pitchfork said, "Eighties synth-pop provides the foundation for 'X-Communicate,' the first single...But the results are far too opulent to scan as merely retro."
Kristin Kontrol is the new project from Kristin Welchez - fka Dee Dee, leader of internationally acclaimed rock outfit Dum Dum Girls. Dum Dum Girls was Kristin's guise for the best part of a decade. After posting her bedroom recordings online, she caught the ears of Sub Pop, assembled a group of badass, black-clad cadets and toured the world. Over the course of three albums, four EPs and numerous singles, Dum Dum Girls morphed from the girl group-gone-bad moves of debut album I Will Be (2010), to the comparatively plush noir-pop of 2014's Too True.
Now she's shed her skin, ditching Dee Dee - the name she had assumed for Dum Dum Girls - for her given name, Kristin. She recorded  X-Communicate  with producers Kurt Feldman (of Ice Choir) and Andrew Miller (who played guitar in the Dum Dum Girls' last incarnation).
"She's hitting reset, forcing us to rise to the occasion and see female creators as something more than our preconceptions," said MTV News. Stereogum observed, "Kristin Kontrol is radically different from anything we would've expected from Welchez as Dee Dee. It draws on various strains of pop from various eras, collapsing them together into slick, infectious synth-pop... X-Communicate and the evolution into Kristin Kontrol show Welchez becoming an absolute machine when it comes to hooks."
"Kristin Kontrol's first album is a comet-powerful, bright, and trailing glitter as it goes...a smashingly fun debut album that will leave you hungry for more," said Bust. "Yes, this is a dance-pop record, but think a modern spin on Kate Bush's The Hounds of Love, Siouxsie and the Banshees' Tinderbox," noted Under the Radar. Idolator said, "The title track takes Berlin's buoyant synth-pop and gives it a goth nail polish sheen, and it features some of the strongest vocals of her career." 
Kristin talks about her early influences and the "scary but totally liberating" transition from the
Dum Dum Girls to her new project in this Instagram blog feature. Other recent features on Kristin include Interview and Paste Magazine. You can check out her playlist of sadder-than-the-album-versions for The Guardian HERE and view Kristin performing "Pop Life" in the studio with Neon Indian and Friends in this video.Kristin Kontrol - North American Tour Dates Headline shows6/15 - Kingston, NY @ BSP Kingston6/16 - Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace6/17 - Boston, MA @ Middle East (Upstairs)6/18 - Pawtucket, RI @ The Met6/22 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right Supporting Garbage7/7 - Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theatre7/8 - Omaha, NE @ SumTur Amphitheatre7/10 - Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre7/12 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant7/13 - Tulsa, OK @ Brady Theater - Z104.5 The Edge 21st Birthday Bash7/15 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room7/16 - Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore7/19 - Knoxville, TN @ The Mill and Mine7/20 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium7/22 - Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle7/23 - Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte7/25 - Richmond, VA @ The National7/27 - Sayerville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom7/28 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues7/30 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore7/31 - Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live!8/1 - New York, NY @ SummerStage8/3 - Washington, DC @ The Lincoln Theater 

Gringo Star To Release The Sides And In Between On August 26 via Nevado Music

Gringo Star To Release The Sides And In Between On August 26 via Nevado Music Share “Rotten" video with Pure Volume  photo credit: Vincent Monsaint Watch: "Rotten" video via Pure Volume or YouTube Watch: "The Sides And In Between" Album Trailer via YouTube Nevado Music  is thrilled to welcome Atlanta, GA psych-rockers Gringo Star to their expanding label roster.Gringo Star will release The Sides And In Between on August 26. The album is available to pre-order now digitally via  iTunes . Pure Volume has premiered the video for the band’s new single “Rotten” which is available now on all streaming services. Gringo Star’s Nick Furglueles told Pure Volume, “‘Rotten' to me, is about not letting societal standards prevent you from doing or expressing how you want and not waiting till it's too late to do what you love.” He adds, “It's about an establishment designed to keep people in check, and dismantling that establishment.”Gringo Star are insouciant explorers, tossing the paddles overboard and drifting on the currents of their lackadaisical curiosity across a rippling sonic ocean, out to the far edges of rock & roll. Shots pulsing from a vintage Leslie speaker, their guitars, keys and vocals create the psychoactive ingredients of their echo-slathered, doo-wop-indebted indie gems; psychedelic garage bangers, gritty R&B shuffles and spaghetti western weirdness. Taking cues from Santo & Johnny, The Stooges, Ritchie Valens, Marc Bolan, Percy Faith, Sam Cooke, the men working on the chain gang—uh! ah!—they’re all here, their electric ghosts reaching across time, tapping Gringo Star on the shoulder like the crossroads devil to Robert Johnson, bestowing secrets, passing torches.If you know a little about brothers Nick and Peter Furgiueles’ roots, it all makes sense. “Our grandad started out in radio in the ’40s and ’50s in Columbus, GA.,” Nick explains. “He was a huge promoter of R&B back when it was still super segregated, and he was playing black music and putting on shows with Little Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers, a lot of Gospel shows. So we grew up hearing all these stories, listening to all this music. Our grandfather was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame posthumously. And my grandma—all her photo albums are like Jackie Wilson shirtless backstage, hanging out.” Not to mention how Nick and Peter used to raid their parents’ record collections, cutting their teeth on the likes of Buddy Holly, The Animals and The Kinks. “Our favorite music comes from the ’50s,” Peter says, “and that music influenced all the ’60s bands we like.”The band has toured relentlessly across the U.S. and Europe building a diehard underground following while sharing bills with everyone from Cat Power and Feist to The Black Angels and Weezer, and also touring with Wavves, Best Coast, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead and fellow Atlantans The Black Lips. THE SIDES AND IN BETWEEN TRACK LIST  Rotten
Magic
Get Closer
Still Alive
Going Home
Knee Deep
Heading South
Undone
It’s You
The Last TraceBONUS TRACK LP ONLY:A Smile / Walk Away

Braids Shares Video From New EP 'Companion' Via Dazed | On Tour Now

Braids Shares Video From New EP 'Companion' Via Dazed

North-American And UK Tour Starts Today  WATCH & SHARE: Braids - "Joni"
 Last week, the Montreal trio Braids released an appendix to their lauded 2015 LP 'Deep In The Iris,' a 19 minute EP  'Companion.'

Today, they share a video directed by Maria Ines Manchego for the track "Joni" via Dazed. The visual piece explores the end of a relationship, with a couple striving to reclaim their individuality while remaining close together.

On 'Companion' Braids use the 'Deep In The Iris' palette to paint decidedly different vistas – joy, disaffection, thunderous explosion to delicate introspection, the minimalistic power of "Companion" to the patient blossoming of "Sweet World". The EP offers a brief snapshot of a constantly-evolving group, perpetually exploring the edges of their unique voice.

Distinct in their own right, these four tracks are not to be dismissed as b-sides, outtakes, or the lesser of a group of songs. Though it uses 'Deep In The Iris' as a compositional guidepost, 'Companion' is a breathtaking journey all of its own.

Link to purchase 'Companion': http://arbutusrecords.com/?shopp_product=braids-companion

The band starts a North-American and UK tour today.TOUR DATES

05.25 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
05.26 - Echo - Los Angeles, CA
05.27 - Valley Bar - Phoenix, AZ
05.31 - Great Scott - Boston, MA
06.01 - Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA
06.02 - Comet Ping Pong - Washington, DC
06.03 - Rough Trade - Brooklyn, NY
06.04 - Ritual - Ottawa, ON
06.17 - The Hug & Pint - Glasgow, SCT
06.18 - Soup Kitchen - Manchester, ENG
06.19 - O2 Academy - Oxford, ENG
06.21 - Patterns - Brighton, ENG
06.22 - Start The Bus - Bristol, ENG
06.23 - Pickle Factory - London, ENG
06.26 - Glastonbury, ENG
06.27 - Arts Centre - Norwich, ENG
07.15 - Pemberton Festival - Pemberton, BC

 
07.22 - Wayhome Festival - Oro-Medonte, ON
07.23 - Calgary Folk Festival - Calgary, AL
07.27 - Casa Del Popolo - Montreal, ON
07.28 - Casa Del Popolo - Montreal, ON

COMPANION - TRACKLISTING
01. Companion
02. Joni
03. Trophies for Paradox
04. Sweet World

LINKS
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Soundcloud
Bandcamp
Instagram
YouTube

Replacements biographer Bob Mehr confirms tour dates with guests

Bestselling Replacements Biographer Bob Mehr Confirms Tourwith Special Guests and Live Musical Performances Trouble Boys Earns Raves  Epic story of Minneapolis alt-rockers continues to resonate with fans and critics,as Mehr confirms a series of rock 'n' reading eventswith stories and songs from the "replacement Replacements,"members of Superchunk and the Young Fresh Fellows, among others
photo credit - Greg HelgesonHailed as "masterful" (Pitchfork), "definitive" (Vulture) and "unflinching" (Salon), Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements by Bob Mehr has become one of the most buzzed about music books in recent memory.
Praised for its in-depth reporting and wildly entertaining narrative, Rolling Stone lauded Mehr for "vividly charting the [band's] bumpy arc...delivering mythic battle tales like a barroom historian." The New Yorker commended the book for successfully placing the Replacements in the pantheon of iconic rock bands noting, "it is hard to imagine that anyone will make a smarter or more thorough case... than Mehr has in Trouble Boys."
Detailing the tumultuous journey of the legendary Minneapolis group, Trouble Boys was written with the participation of the Replacements' key members, including singer-songwriter Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson, guitarist Slim Dunlap, and the family of late band founder Bob Stinson. It's based on nearly a decade of research by (Memphis) Commercial Appeal music critic Mehr, who conducted hundreds of interviews and was given full access to the band's archives at Twin/Tone and Warner Bros. Records.
The Chicago Tribune observed that Trouble Boys is "the type of book any band would kill for"; while USA Today declared it a "compelling tale full of some of the most colorful characters you'll ever encounter on page." Released in March and already in its fifth printing, the book hit the New York Times' "Celebrities" Best Sellers list, alongside memoirs by Tina Fey, Khloe Kardashian and William Shatner.  
Following several successful launch events - including packed houses in Minneapolis, Chicago, Nashville and Memphis - Mehr will be hitting the East and West coasts over the next couple months, for a series of author discussions, artist interviews and live music performances. The events will also mark the recent release of Rhino's recent Replacements vinyl box set The Sire Years.
In Boston and Long Beach, CA, Mehr will be interviewing latter-day Replacements members Dave Minehan and Josh Freese. In New York City, he will conduct a conversation with noted musician (Superchunk/Bob Mould Band) and comedian Jon Wurster. Portland will see Replacements tour mate Scott McCaughey of the Young Fresh Fellows discussing his time on the road with the band. In Hoboken, Mehr will speak with longtime Replacements A&R man Michael Hill.
The events in Hoboken and Philadelphia will also feature live music from a number of artists covering the band's songs, including Freedy Johnston, Replacements' session player Dave Schramm, and singer-songwriters Dave Hause and Jennifer O'Connor, etc.      
For more information go to replacementsbook.com. To request review copies or to schedule an interview with Bob Mehr, contact Lissa Warren at Da Capo Press: lissa.warren@perseusbooks.com.
 
photo credit - Kevin Scanlon
Trouble Boys   Tour Dates:  5/31: Boston - Café 939 - "In Conversation" with Replacements/Neighborhoods guitarist Dave Minehan 6/3: Philadelphia - Main Street Music - Author discussion and Q&ALive performances by Dave Hause (The Loved Ones), and Frank Brown (Travel Lanes) 6/4: Hoboken - Little City Books - "In Conversation" with Replacements A&R Man andNurse Jackie/Bored to Death music supervisor Michael Hill. Live performances by Freedy Johnston (with Dave Schramm), Glenn Morrow's Cry for Help, Jennifer O'Connor, the Dead Wicks, etc. 6/8: New York City - The Strand Bookstore - "In Conversation" with Jon Wurster ofSuperchunk/Bob Mould Band/Scharpling & Wurster 6/11: Long Beach - Fingerprints - "In Conversation" with Replacements drummer Josh Freese 6/12: Los Angeles - Book Soup - Author discussion and Q&A 7/16: Phoenix - Changing Hands Bookstore - Author discussion and Q&A 7/20: Seattle - KEXP Performance Space - Author discussion and Q&A; musical guests TBA 7/24: Portland - Powell's Books - "In Conversation" with Scott McCaughey ofThe Young Fresh Fellows/Minus 5/R.E.M.