Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 2459

Bruce Benderson Interview

Bruce Benderson Interviewby Alexander Laurence                             
Bruce Benderson lives in New York City. He is a writer, a translator, and a journalist. He wrote the screenplay for the film by Monica Treut called My Father Is Coming.  His books include the collection of short stories, Pretending To Say No, and the new novel, User.  His work has been praised by Dennis Cooper and Camille Paglia. During the interview, Bruce promised not to hit on me because I was circumcised.
Alexander Laurence: When did you start writing User?
Bruce Benderson: The world I wrote about in User is the world I’ve been frequenting for the last ten years. My ambition was to write about the cosmology of Times Square: its street life, its drugs, its sex industry and the lives of transvestites. It took me four years to collect information and to get into the right psychological shape, and hone my ideas. I collected an entire suitcase of notes that I wrote on the run, on the spot, whenever I had an emotional response. It’s a very personal book for me.
AL: How do you see this novel departing from the tone of your short story collection Pretending to Say No?
BB: Many of the stories in Pretending to Say No were about Times Square, but it was pretty much a comedy of manners. What happens is often presented in an ironical or satirical way. When someone goes to Times Square for drugs or pleasure, he encounters the underclass. The new book delved more deeply into underclass life, and left the middle class characters out of things. The only extensive investigation of middle class life comes with the HIV positive person who’s a dropout, who’s hanging out in Times Square. Also the third person narrator is a middle class voice. That’s the only thing that ties it to a middle class reader.
AL: How dangerous for you was the writing of User?
BB: There was danger on two levels. I’m a middle class person encountering the world of the street. The more I stay outside of that world, the more I’m a voyeur. But the more I enter it, the more I participate. What I write about becomes more and more true. But the more you enter that world, the less likely it is that you’ll be writing, because that’s the world of drugs, sex, constant change and criminal activity. I had to strike a very dangerous balance between maintaining outsider voyeur status and being a participant, enough for the writing to be very libidinal, meaningful and exciting. I constantly played that dangerous game of riding the line. I flirted with every danger there is in Times Square, not for the purpose of writing the book, but for the purpose of pleasure, insight and because I was driven to it for dark psychological reasons. I had to write the book, so I didn’t allow myself to become completely swallowed up in that world. Otherwise, I would have been in rehab for the next three years. I was always riding the line between creativity and being utterly lost.
AL: How do you feel about what others have written about Times Square and New York City? I’m talking about writers like Hubert Selby, John Rechy, Jack Kerouac and others.
BB: I consider myself a retro-active writer, and in that sense I’m very conservative. The people you mentioned wrote about NYC in the way I want to write about it. They wrote about what might be called “degenerate” NYC. In those days, bohemia had a direct connection with ghetto life. Bohemians were connected to black jazz culture, heroin culture and criminal life--and in those days homosexuals were leading a criminal life in the shadows. You had to go to illegal places to have homosexual sex. So those writers had an intimate relationship with other criminal outsiders. I feel that the most interesting thing about drug, gay and other marginal cultures is that they are “rejected” cultures. This means that these people can have amazing insights into American culture at large. I write a lot about male hustlers, prostitution and homosexuality. Despite the gain of acceptance that we won through gay lib, I would like to re-marginalize the homosexual vision, and link it once again with the vision of the outsider. In a way, these writers from the past are my heroes and my models and I want to return to them. I’m a neo-beat writer, in a sense.
AL: What do you think about gays seeking mainstream acceptance?
BB: I feel that gays have made a terrible mistake in making mainstream acceptance their major agenda. Right now there’s a terrible conflict in my politics between assimilationist gays and liberationist gays. The old way of being gay was liberationist because the only way you could express being gay was to show you were rebelling against social norms. You weren’t part of family values and the Clintonian centrism. You were a subversive and a threat to the nuclear family. It is a big mistake for those who are outside the structure of procreation to hope to gain full mainstream acceptance. They may for a generation or two. But it will be a false security like the Jews felt in Germany when they obtained bourgeois status. What gays are hiding is always going to be something that is potentially subversive to the culture at large because it’s like saying “no to procreation!” There’s going to be a point where they’re seen as the enemy. If they are kissing up to it, they are merely asking for it.
AL: In your first book I see a French influence, in the stylization and the attention to form, but the new novel is more direct and reminiscent of Selby. What direction are you taking with your narrative?
BB: I was extremely influenced by the Nouveau Roman (the new novel in France during the ‘50’s)--people like Alain Robbe-Grillet and Nathalie Sarraute. All those French writers had a major influence on my style of narrative. So did the Latin American writers, especially Manuel Puig, who was also a friend and mentor. My newer writing is more naturalist and less experimental, closer to writers like Selby. But one thing that persists in all my writing is the tradition of the Poete Maudit--the bad boy poet, like Baudelaire in Les Fleurs du Mal. Or Genet’s romanticism of prison life where he saw religiosity and spirituality in evil. That links me to the French. Another thing that links me to the French is that they believe there is a culture of poverty, which is a very anti-p.c. thing to say right now. The French call it la misere, which is a word for poverty and for the cultural and psychological state of poverty. P.C. people say that you’re not allowed to say that poor people have a culture, because that means they’re just like us except they’re in an unfortunate situation. They don’t have their own culture. They only live as they do because they’re being oppressed. I maintain that there is a culture of poverty, which is a very French idea and right now a very politically incorrect idea. I say that the culture of poverty is the last dynamic culture in America that has not been co-opted by mainstream, TV, and mall culture. The working class used to be the dynamic culture that criticized American life. This culture was alive with a kind of socialist thought that doesn’t exist anymore. The working class has become Roseanne on TV. It’s no longer an important class of people, because we’re in an age of communications and it’s a service economy. If we want to look for an alternative vision, we have to go in a more radical downward direction--to the underclass. 
AL: Do you think that’s like Picasso going to Africa and using those masks, or Gauguin going to Tahiti? The search for the primitive, the pagan, getting to the source?
BB: In some ways it’s a search for that. Now it’s located in the secret culture of poverty of the housing projects which you see to some extent in rap music and gang culture. That’s the last alternative culture as I see it. I know people will call me a slummer for saying that, but I know that the underclass in American cities are like urban hunters and gatherers. The last natural people who look in the flora and fauna of our cities, see what they can use of it, discard it when they don’t need it. They create their own temporary cultural constructions out of the refuse. They’re the only people who are thinking in an original manner. I know that sounds very decadent. Unfortunately it’s true.
AL: What must artists do to be taking risks?
BB: Artists today are in a very strange position. Critically the art world comes out of a critical and marginal point of view. Artists are supposed to stand outside of the mainstream, see it objectively and clearly, and create a critique. That was true up until the post-war boom with the beats. They said “OK, middle class America is becoming real strong. We stand aside from middle class America. We go on the road. We see it as outsiders.” Norman Mailer wrote The White Negro, because they identified with black people, and they felt alienated in the same way. The hippies were the inheritors of the Beat culture but they were so strongly embroiled in consumerist culture and came from such a comfortable suburban background that they weren’t able to make such a radical gesture. Right now, we’re suffering from the legacy of that loss because we don’t have an alternative vision. As middle class people, we have enough education to be articulate and possibly to write good books. We have to look towards disenfranchised people in order to get our inspiration. We have to resist the temptation to be voyeurs and slummers. We’re the only people who can write, but we’re the least qualified people to have a voice; we have nothing to say.
AL: Either a writer takes that risk or they only pursue literary formalism....
BB: I’m very bored by these formalist people, and by people who play with language, and by formalist poets. I’m also bored by bourgeois minimalists who express the poverty and emptiness of middle class life. I see both a class and ethnic perimeter to minimalist prose. I think it’s waspy! It’s very Protestant.
AL: What qualities do you think writing should include?
BB: I definitely feel that libidinal indulgences that provide some risk to your health are extremely good for a writer’s consciousness. Writing is all about breaking down your defenses. Writing is a direct attack on the survivalist mentality. Writing is about dying, loss, fear, and any activity that challenges the notion that we can live forever is good for our writing.
AL: What do you think of the politically correct movement?
BB: It has become so co-opted by puritan impulses and by consumerist, middle class concerns, that it no longer serves the people it was designed for. It’s one major missionary-like, Wasp approach to libido.
AL: We agree that the underground scene in San Francisco is not creating a critique of America. They’re not subversive at all and who is threatened by pagan drummers? It’s all fashion and voyeurism, which has a high price tag. Poor people can’t afford body piercing. What do you think about identity politics?
BB: Identity politics is a bourgeois (middle class) concern. People who are concerned about what their sexuality is, and how that defines them, and what it means to means to be gay, and what it means to women, are indulging in a luxury activity. People who are hungry or people who have problems with housing or people who are down by law in the streets do not have the time and are not interested in trying to define who they are. When they are involved in homosexual activity, they stick it in a hole for money or for pleasure. They don’t sit back and try to figure out if they’re gay and if their mother accepts them. They’re not even interested in identity concepts. One of the main preoccupations of the so-called avant garde cultures of today is identity politics. That links it up to the whole politically correct movement. It’s a total bourgeois concern. It doesn’t lead to significant political change. We now find out with Gloria Steinem attaché case feminism “Wow, women can be asshole lawyers too. What an accomplishment!” The most this profound bohemian culture of San Francisco has created is its individualist and pleasure oriented mentality, but it’s still not a political critique of the rest of America. It’s a decadent playpen.

September 1994

Suzanne Vega @ El Rey

Suzanne Vega @ El Rey

Suzanne Vega is playing at the El Rey Theater tonight, Saturday May 24th 2014.

10 best festival sets since 2000

10 best festivals setsby Alexander Laurence
2001: July 17th – Guided By Voices @ Siren Music Festival / Coney Island. This was the first year of the festival and it was super hot and humid. I went there with my girlfriend at the time. We waited hours, watching bands like Peaches and Superchunk. Finally we got to Guided by Voices: they were great. They played all the hits. During the set my girlfriend passed out. That was the only time I rode the Cyclone. It was memorable.
2002: March 16th – Merzbow @ ATP (UCLA) Los Angeles. I think that I had a pass for the whole weekend, but I think that I only attended one day. It was a mix between soft rock bands and laptop bands. At some point Wilco and Big Star played, but I was obviously in the wrong place. I remember watching Deerhoof and Destroy All Monsters for the first time. But the most exciting was Merzbow. He had two laptops and he created this wave of loud sound for an hour, somewhere in between the Boredoms and Aphex Twin. It was truly otherworldly and amazing. I got lost and didn’t get home until 7amthe next day as I remember.


2003: August 23rd – Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Sunset Junction. One of the first years I attended. BJM played super early, around 3pm, in the mid-heat of the day. People were still arriving. The band had some guys in it who I didn’t recognize. Anton was very talkative and insulting. This was pre-Dig The Movie era, even though a few seconds of this gig appears in that movie. This would be the last really out of control shambolic BJM show for a long time. After this, Dig The Movie won best documentary at Sundance, and Anton Newcombe and company would start becoming the internationally known touring outfit they are today.
2004: August 27th – The Cure @ Curiosa Festival (Carson, CA). I had pretty much given up on the Cure at this point. I hadn’t seen them since the early 1980s, and didn’t much care for what they did after Pornography. They were playing with some newer bands like Interpol and The Rapture. They were much better than those bands. I had also seen them at Coachella but had fallen asleep as they played for hours. They were great that night back in 2004, but haven’t really wanted to see them since.
2005: July 29th – The White Stripes @ San Diego Street Scene. I was hanging out back stage with the other bands. I saw Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips hanging around. It was chill. And then, there was a parting of the red sea, and everyone had to make room for the band The White Stripes. I could barely even see them as they were guided towards the stage. It was a great show of the many times I saw them. They played a bunch of shows of Elephant, and Jack White played keyboards and bells. It was impressive.

2006: May 27th – The Flaming Lips @ Sasquatch! Festival. First time at this festival. This was The Flaming Lips at the peak of their Soft Bulletin/Yoshimi excess. There was 100 people onstage, and all this stuff flying around. They played “Bohemian Rhapsody” and it was a sing-along. I remember being in the photo pit with Ice Cream Man and thinking this was a great show. What made it even more spectacular was there was a hail storm around 6pm during Neko Case. They stopped the gig and everyone took cover. It was suspended for three hours before Ben Harper and Flaming Lips came back onstage really late.  2009: October 17th – MGMT @ Treasure Island SF. We made a last minute decision to drive up to San Francisco from LA. I was with this band Magic Wands. We got there hours after it had started. I was on the list and I had a photo pass, but the Magic Wands didn’t have tickets. I went in and took a bunch of pictures. Minutes later I got a call from Dexy from Magic Wands. They were in the VIP section. They gave me a wristband and we were all hanging out together. Magic Wands had hopped the fence and went right to the VIP section. It was hilarious. We went from having a disaster, to having a great time, and the MGMT show was the best ever. They played the whole first album in order.
 2011: August 6th – MGMT @ Huntington Beach Pier. This was a free show during the surfing competition. I have gone a few years in a row. This show was the most packed it ever was. I was hanging out with Foxygen, and members of Magic Wands and Miranda Lee Richards. Everyone showed up to this gig. The summer gigs in Huntington Beach have been very exciting over the years. Last year there was a riot. This MGMT + Surfer Blood was the best show of them all. In 2013, I got to hang out backstage with Modest Mouse. But MGMT was the cream.  2012: August 11th – Alabama Shakes @ Outside Lands. I had been hearing about this band for a while. This was the first time that I actually saw them. But I couldn’t get anywhere near the stage. Everyone had the same idea and a lot of people got there at the festival at 3pm when they came on. It was the most crowded I had ever seen the second stage. After about three songs I went to go catch some other act. I saw Alabama Shakes a few weeks later, but I remember this Outside Lands set as being very important.
 2014: April 11th – Foxygen @ Coachella. They played fairly early in the day. In the past, when some band played at 1pm, there was hardly anyone there. But in Foxygen’s case, it was very dense for that time of day. Some people came there just to see Foxygen. Sam France was the craziest frontman of any band I have ever seen there. They played a few new songs that I have never heard before. It was surreal.

Little Dragon perform on Kimmel + share remix + tour dates

LITTLE DRAGON PERFORM ON JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE

SHARE NOSAJ THING REMIX OF "KLAPP KLAPP" FT. FUTURE

ADD WEST COAST TOUR DATES

NABUMA RUBBERBAND OUT NOW VIA LOMA VISTA

  photo by: Marco van Rijt  After a successful first week of debuting #24 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, #2 on the Electronic iTunes charts, #3 on Alternative iTunes charts, and #1 on KEXP and KCRW, Little Dragon appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night. The band performed singles "Killing Me" and "Klapp Klapp" on the outdoor stage. Check out footage of the performance below. Last week the band share a "Klapp Klapp" remix by Nosaj Thing featuring Future, which is streaming online. The band has also added new dates to their touring schedule including stops in Oakland, Seattle, and Vancouver in August. Little Dragon will be holding their Nabuma Comics: The Story of Little Dragon - A Tumblr IRL event tonight in Los Angeles. The band will perform in front of a life-size comic strip created by the artist. Fans who attend the Tumblr IRL event will receive a limited edition print of the graphic novel and can shop for more comics at the ad hoc comic book store, curated by Little Dragon and Secret Headquarters. Also, full tour date schedule and more information about Little Dragon below.  WATCH: Little Dragon on Jimmy Kimmel Live - "Killing Me" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W1g8siOvFs   "Klapp Klapp" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmx-XAv1bbY  LISTEN: Little Dragon - "Klapp Klapp (Nosaj Thing remix)" ft. Future - https://soundcloud.com/littledragon/klapp-klapp-nosaj-thing-remixfeaturing-future      Little Dragon Nabuma Rubberband Out NowLoma Vista RecordingsBuy: http://smarturl.it/LDNR_iTunes  1. Mirror2. Klapp Klapp 3. Pretty Girls4. Underbart5. Cat Rider6. Paris7. Lurad8. Nabuma Rubberband9. Only One10. Killing Me11. Pink Cloud12. Let Go          TOUR DATES:   5/24/14 - Lightning in a Bottle Festival - Bradley, CA5/31/14 - We Love Green Festival - Paris, FR6/1/14 - Forbidden Fruit Festival - Dublin, IE6/7/14 - South Side Music Hall - Dallas, TX6/8/14 - Fitzgerald's - Houston, TX6/10/14 - Republic - New Orleans, LA6/11/14 - The Orpheum - Tampa, FL6/12/14 - Grand Central - Miami, FL6/14/14 - Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA6/15/14 - Bonnaroo - Manchester, TN6/17/14 - Music Farm - Charleston, SC6/18/14 - The Orange Peel - Asheville, NC6/20/14 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY6/21/14 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY6/27/14 - Down the Rabbit Hole Festival - Holland6/29/14 - Glastonbury, UK7/4/14 - Pitch Festival - Amsterdamn, NL7/5/14 - Les Eurockeenes Festival - France7/6/14 - World Wide Festival - France7/17/14 - Melt Festival - Germany7/18/14 - Dour Festival - Belgium7/20/14 - Somerset House - London, UK7/25/14 - Secret Garden Party - UK7/26/14 - Audio River - Poland8/1/14 - Vanguard Festival - Denmark8/7/14 - Flow Festival - Finland8/8/14 - Oya Festival - Norway8/9/14 - Way Out West - Sweden8/16/14 - Summersonic - Japan8/22/14 - Fox Theatre - Oakland, CA8/23/14 - FYF - Los Angeles, CA
8/27/14 - Vogue - Vancouver, BC
8/28/14 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA8/30/14 - Northcoast Festival - Chicago, IL11/17/14 - Corn Exchange - Brighton, UK
11/18/14 - The Institute - Birmingham, UK
11/19/14 - O2 Academy - Bristol, UK
11/21/14 - Met - Leeds, UK
11/22/14 - Albert Hall - Manchester, UK
11/23/14 - O2 ABC - Glasgow, UK
11/27/14 - O2 Academy Brixton - London, UK
11/29/14 - O2 Academy - Oxford, UK 

FYF FEST TICKETS ON SALE TODAY AT 12:00PM

FYF FEST TICKETS ON SALE TODAY AT 12:00PM Weekend Passes, VIP and Single Day tickets for FYF FEST go on sale today at 12:00pm today at the link below. All questions can be answered at our website - fyffest.com.

TICKET LINK: https://fyffest.frontgatetickets.com/

Remember you can save a few dollars by purchasing your GA Weekend Passes at one of these fine record stores: Origami Vinyl, VACATION VINYL, Permanent Records Los Angeles, Amoeba Music, Fingerprints Music, Glass House Record Store, and Headline Records.

The Vacant Lots Share Video, Announce Pre-Order for 'Departure'

THE VACANT LOTS SHARE VIDEO
FOR "BEFORE THE EVENING'S THRU"'Departure' Available July 1, 2014 on Sonic Cathedral  Watch and Share the Video for "Before The Evening's Thru" Here Via Interview
UK Tour With Brian Jonestown Massacre Kicks off June 28, 2014 in Brighton, UK   Pre-Order 'Departure' Here  "The Vermont duo stand out from the psych hordes by virtue of their punk spirit".  - NME       American duo The Vacant Lots release their debut album 'Departure' via Sonic Cathedral on June 30, 2014 (UK/EU) and July 1, 2014 (US). It will be available on limited-edition half-black, half-white vinyl, CD and as a digital download. 'Departure' was mixed and mastered by former Spacemen 3 legend Sonic Boom and follows previous single releases on Mexican Summer and The Reverberation Appreciation Society, plus an appearance on the 'Psych For Sore Eyes' EP, now recognized as a landmark release in the burgeoning new psychedelic movement.
In anticipation of the release The Vacant Lots are sharing their latest video for "Before The Evening's Thru" via Interview Magazine.  Catch them live on their upcoming UK tour supporting Brian Jonestown Massacre this summer. A full list of dates is below.
Watch and share "Before The Evening's Thru" here.
The key element of The Vacant Lots' minimalist, primitive rock'n'roll songs is their boundless energy, which tears up the psychedelic rock template with a genuine punk spirit. Combine that with the use of synths and drum machines, and it's not surprising to see why the band have won over Suicide's Alan Vega, with whom they are releasing a limited edition split single this month on Fuzz Club records.
Track List:01. Mad Mary Jones02. Never Satisfied03. Tomorrow04. Paint This City05. Before The Evening's Thru06. 6 AM07. Make The Connection08. Do Not Leave Me Now
Tour Dates:06/28 Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2^06/30 London, UK @ The Social07/01 London, UK @The Roundhouse^07/02 Norwich, UK @ Waterfront^07/03 Bristol, UK @ The Anson Rooms^07/04 Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms^07/05 Glasgow, UK @ ABC^
 ^w/ Brian Jonestown Massacre

Sylvan Esso album debuts at #38 on Billboard Top 200

SYLVAN ESSO'S SYLVAN ESSO DEBUTS AT  #38 ON BILLBOARD'S TOP 200   MS MR REMIX OF "COFFEE" PREMIERED VIA NEON GOLD 
CURRENTLY ON TOUR WITH TUNE-YARDS + NEW DATES ADDED BELOW    LISTEN: MS MR Remix of "Coffee" via Soundcloud or  Neon Gold  
WATCH: Official video for "Play It Right" via YouTube   WATCH: Sylvan Esso playing "Coffee" live at  WNYC Soundcheck
LISTEN: Interview on NPR's Weekend Edition      "[Sylvan Esso] could sound like deliberately primitive 1970s electro in one song and glitchy, abstract techno in another behind Amelia Meath's teasing voice" - The New York Times     
"2014's most intoxicating debut" -NPR     
"It's a pleasure and a relief to hear an album like this - a breezy, joyous piece of work, an album that sounds like spring" -Stereogum - Album Of The Week                 Partisan Records is excited to announce the success of Sylvan Esso's just-released self-titled album.  The much anticipated record, their first, debuted at #38 on Billboard's Top 200 Charts.  Having sold over 7,000 copies, Sylvan Esso bypassed the Top Heatseekers Chart altogether by having such a successful initial chart entry debut.  Sylvan Esso, currently supporting Tune-Yards in the EU and US, has just announced a new run of headlining shows abroad and at New York's Bowery Ballroom.  The full list of tour dates can be found below.

Sylvan Esso was not meant to be a band. Rather, Amelia Meath had written a song called "Play It Right" and sung it with her trio Mountain Man. She'd met Nick Sanborn, an electronic producer working under the name Made of Oak, in passing on a shared bill in a small club somewhere. She asked him to scramble it, to render her work his way. He did the obligatory remix, but he sensed that there was something more important here than a one-time handoff: Of all the songs Sanborn had ever recast, this was the first time he felt he'd added to the raw material without subtracting from it, as though, across the unseen wires of online file exchange, he'd found his new collaborator without even looking.
Sylvan Esso became a band. A year later, their self-titled debut-a collection of vivid addictions concerning suffering and love, darkness and deliverance-arrives as a necessary pop balm, an album stuffed with songs that don't suffer the longstanding complications of that term.
These 10 tunes were realized and recorded in Sanborn's Durham bedroom during the last year, an impressive feat considering the layers of activity and effects that populate them-the dizzyingly crisscrossed harmonies of "Play it Right," the gorgeously incongruous elements of "Wolf," the surreptitiously minimalist momentum of "HSKT." Sanborn's production is fully modern and wonderfully active. He enlists obliterating dubstep stutters and crisp electropop pulses, hazy electrostatic breezes and epinephrine dancefloor turnarounds.
But this isn't a workout in production skills or a demonstration of electronic erudition. Instead, his music syncs seamlessly with Meath's melodies, so that the respective words and beats become a string of ready-to-play singles. The irrepressible "Hey Mami" webs handclaps and harmonies around a flood of bass, a strangely perfect canvas for a tale of dudes hollering at neighborhood tail (and, finally, finding the chivalry not to do so).
"Coffee" sparkles and quakes, patiently rising from a muted spell of seasonal affective disorder to a sweet rupture of schoolyard glee. These pop cuts condescend neither to their audience nor their makers. They are sophisticated, but with none of the arrogance that can imply; they are addictive, but with none of the banality that can entail. There is sensuality and sexual depravity, homesickness and wanderlust, nostalgia and immediacy.  
Sylvan Esso represents the fulfillment of their fortuitous encounter by, once again, linking parts that too often come stripped of their counterparts. Here, motion comes with melody. Words come with ideas. And above all, pop comes back with candor.    Tour Dates:
5/26 Boise, ID - Knitting Factory Concert House #5/27 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge #5/28 Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre #5/30 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater #5/31 New Orleans, LA - The Republic #6/1 Houston, TX - Free Press Summer Festival6/3 Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom #6/4 San Diego, CA - The Irenic #6/5 Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre #  **SOLD OUT**6/6 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore # **SOLD OUT**6/7 Pasadena, CA - Make Music Pasadena Festival6/11 St Louis, MO - The Luminary Center for the Arts6/13 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club #  **SOLD OUT**6/14 Washington DC - 9:30 Club #6/15 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer #6/16 Boston, MA - Royale Boston #  **SOLD OUT**6/18 Montreal, QC - La Tulipe #6/19 Toronto, ON - NXNE Festival6/22 New York, NY - Webster Hall # **SOLD OUT**6/23 New York, NY - Webster Hall # **SOLD OUT**6/28 Milwaukee, WI - Burnhearts Street Festival9/12 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom9/17 Dresden, DE - Altes Wettburo9/18 Berlin, DE - Introducing Berlin @ Schwutz9/19 Hamburg, DE - Hamburg Introducing9/20 Essen, DE - King Kong Kicks @ Hotel Shanghai9/22 Cologne, DE - Studio 6729/23 Luxembourg - Rockhal9/25 Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso9/26 Antwerp, BE - Trix Bar9/27 Paris, FR - Badaboum9/28 Zurich, CH - Stall 69/30 Brighton, UK - Green Door Store10/1 Birmingham, UK - Hare and Hounds10/2 London, UK - Oslo10/3 Bristol, UK - Louisiana10/4 Cardiff, UK - Buffalo Bar10/6 Manchester, UK - Soup Kitchen10/7 Dublin, IE - Workman's Club10/8 Belfast, IE - Black Box10/9 Glasgow, UK - Nice 'n' Sleazy
# with Tune-Yards
http://sylvanesso.comhttps://www.facebook.com/SylvanEsso https://twitter.com/sylvanesso  http://www.partisanrecords.com/artists/sylvan-esso/ 

The Shoe Premieres Video for “Broken Hearted Love Song”

The Shoe Premieres Video for “Broken Hearted Love Song” on Elle 
 
Full-length I’m Okay out June 3
(Community Music)
 

(click here for video link)
 
Google Hangout & Other Intimate Sessions with The Shoe Happening in June
 
“Ethereal” – Elle Magazine
 
“Together the duo create heart-quiveringly intimate torch tunes.” –Noisey
 
“Malone and her bandmate Lem Jay Ignacio have worked on crafting pitch-perfect indie pop tracks, ones filled with intimacy, stripped-down melodies, and floaty vocals. The result is a sound that epitomizes springtime.” – NYLON Magazine
 
The Shoe’s Jena Malone initially wanted to do a cover of Townes Van Zandt, whom she adores. But she had difficulty connecting to the masculinity of his tracks. So “I just said, ‘Fuck, I wanna write my own country tune,” she tells Elle Magazine.
 
Just as Jena was inspired to write “Broken Hearted Love Song” by Van Zandt, directorBenjamin Kutsko was inspired by Jena’s love of photography and use of double exposure to create the peaceful video that premiered this week on Elle.
 
Look forward to more creative pursuits from The Shoe after their debut LP I’m Okaycomes out on Community Music, June 3rd. As Lem Jay explains, “We're going to keep on making music. We joke about recording a dance album, to counter this soft, intimate, poetic album. But I'm sure we'll just keep doing the same thing: staying up all night freestyling, doing shows in unexpected places, trying to find the balance between raw and crafted, and teasing each other and crying about each other's relationships, then turning those laughs and tears into songs.”

Live Dates 
JUNE 3 – LIVE GOOGLE HANGOUT @ 10AM PST
JUNE 3  – HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL TAKEOVER
JUNE 14 – LIVE @ GRAMMY MUSEUM/LA FILM FESTIVAL - LA, CA
JUNE 16 – LIVE @ NXNE; TRINITY SQUARE PARK & DON MILLS COLLEGIATE SCHOOL NXNE – TORONTO, ON
JULY 17 – LIVE @ HAMMER MUSEUM / KCRW & COMMUNITY MUSIC NIGHT - LA, CA

Fans can pre-order the CD/LP here or pre-order a download of the album on iTunes. 

MASTODON LAUNCHES VIDEO FT. SKINNER & BRANN DAILOR

MASTODON LAUNCHES VIDEO FEATURING SKINNER AND BRANN DAILOR DISCUSSING ICONIC COVER ARTWORK FOR ONCE MORE 'ROUND THE SUN  VIA JUZTAPOZ.COM STARTING TODAY
TEASER CLIP FOR "CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT" LAUNCHES THIS FRIDAY
NEW ALBUM OUT JUNE 24THMAY 22, 2014 - (Burbank, CA.) - Starting today, Mastodon will launch a video featuring American artist, Skinner , who's work graces the cover of the Mastodon's forthcoming album, Once More 'Round The Sun.  The short film showcases a conversation between Brann Dailor and Skinner taking about the genesis of the ideas that would eventually become the cover art. Skinner talks about his longtime appreciation of Mastodon's music that would later inspire his creation of these lurid and iconic images. The internationally respected Art & Culture Magazine JUXTAPOZ will host the premier of the video on their website today. Click here to view and share.
Once More 'Round The Sun,  Mastodon's sixth full-length studio album, their first since 2011's The Hunter, will be released by Reprise Records on June 24th.  It was recorded in Nashville with Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fights, Alice In Chains, Deftones, etc.).  The first track from the album "High Road," is available digitally now. Pre-order  Once More 'Round The Sun  here and instantly receive a digital download of "High Road,"
As previously announced, on June 24th, the stunning Deluxe 2LP Vinyl Edition of  Once More 'Round The Sun  will go on sale.This limited edition package will include two discs pressed onto 180g black vinyl housed in a quadruple gatefold vinyl jacket featuring artwork by the American artist Skinnerpreviously mentioned, plus a CD of the complete album. The package will include four exclusive lithographs derived from the album artwork. Click here to explore the amazing album artwork. If you pre-order the Deluxe Vinyl Edition, you'll be entitled to bonus digital content: An instant download of "High Road," plus another album track (to be determined) delivered digitally prior to street date, and a digital download of the entire album delivered on street date. This one-time-only package will be available exclusively through www.mastodonrocks.com.  Don't delay, as these will sell out quickly. Click hereto view the beautiful Deluxe 2LP Vinyl Edition.
The next track from Once More 'Round The Sun, will be the hard-charging "Chimes At Midnight.This Friday, May 23rd, you can view a teaser clip for the track  here .

One More 'Round The Sun  track-listing:1. Tread Lightly2. The Motherload3. High Road4. Once More 'Round The Sun5. Chimes At Midnight6. Asleep In The Deep7. Feast Your Eyes8. Aunt Lisa9. Ember City10. Halloween11. Diamond In The Witch House

Mastodon's upcoming tour dates are as follows:
Wed. May 28     Sonisphere Festival                    Helsinki, FinlandFri. May 30        Gärdet, Stockholm                     Stockholm, SwedenSat. May 31       Ursynalia Festival                       Warsaw, PolandSun. Jun 1         Sonisphere Festival                    Oslo, NorwayTues. Jun 3        Jailhouse Rock Festival              Horsens, DenmarkWed. Jun 4        Imtech Arena                             Hamburg, GermanyFri. Jun 6           Rock AM Ring                           Wershofen, GermanyMon. Jun 9         PinkPop                                   Olland, NetherlandsTues. Jun 10      FRI-SON                                   Fribourg, SwitzerlandWed. Jun 11      Z7 KONZERTFABRIK                 Pratteln, SwitzerlandFri. Jun 13         Bonnaroo Music Festival            Manchester, TNFri. Jun 20         Amnesia Rockfest                     Montebello, CanadaThurs. Jun 26     Hedon                                      Zwolle, NetherlandsFri. Jun 27         Melkweg                                   Amsterdam, NetherlandsSat. Jun 28       Graspop                                    Dessel, BelgiumSun. Jun 29       Park Live                                  Moscow, Russian FederationThurs. Jul 3       Main Square Festival                  Arras, FranceFri. Jul 4           Le Zenith                                   Paris, FranceSun. Jul 6         Knebworth Park                         London, United KingdomFri. Jul 18          Malakoff Rock Festival               Nordfjordeid, NorwaySat. Jul 19        Bukta Open Air Festival              Tromsø, NorwaySat. Sept 6        Hopscotch Festival                     Raleigh, NCFri. Sept 12        Riot Fest Chicago                      Chicago, IL       *Performance Date TBD*