Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 2480
April 16, 2014
Outside Lands Announces Single-Day Lineup and Tickets On Sale
OUTSIDE LANDS ANNOUNCES 2014 SINGLE-DAY LINEUP
TICKETS GO ON SALE THURSDAY APRIL 17 AT 10AM PDTVIA WWW.SFOUTSIDELANDS.COM
April 16, 2014 -- San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands has announced the 2014 single-day lineup. Single-day tickets will go on sale this Thursday at 10am PDT via sfoutsidelands.com. This announcement comes on the heels of the festival's three-day general admission tickets selling out in a record 24 hours. After three consecutive sold-out years, the world's only gourmet music festival thatRolling Stone called "remarkable," and "one of America's best," will once again take place in San Francisco's historic Golden Gate Park August 8 - 10, 2014.
Now in its seventh year, Outside Lands has officially emerged to become one of the most revered and prominent festivals in the country. Consistently outstanding live music combined with the exceptional majesty of its Golden Gate Park surroundings and the finest food and drink found at any festival has elevated Outside Lands' stature and cemented its reputation as a highly acclaimed global destination for entertainment lovers everywhere.
The single-day Outside Lands 2014 lineup is below:
FRIDAY
Kanye WestArctic MonkeysDisclosureTegan & SaraTedeschi Trucks BandChromeoKacey MusgravesGrouploveNicki Bluhm and The GramblersPhosphorescentRun the Jewels (El-P & Killer Mike)Holy Ghost!WarpaintTyphoonGreensky BluegrassBleachersThe Soul RebelsBear HandsMikal CroninNahko and Medicine for the PeopleAerNight Terrors of 1927RayLand Baxter
SATURDAY
Tom Petty & The HeartbreakersMacklemore & Ryan LewisDeath Cab For CutieAtmosphereDuck SauceHaimCapital CitiesLocal NativesJohn Butler TrioTychoThe KooksSBTRKTDeer TickDum Dum GirlsChristopher OwensBig FreediaJagwar MaWoodsValerie JuneFinish TicketThe DistrictsTrails and WaysNocona
SUNDAY
The KillersTiëstoThe Flaming LipsRay LaMontagneSpoonCut CopyBen HowardLykke LiChvrchesPaolo NutiniBoys NoizeJenny LewisFlumeLuciusGold PandaVance JoyGardens & VillaWatskyGiversImelda MayThe Brothers ComatoseCourtney BarnettJonathan WilsonTumbleweed Wanderers
###
Little Dragon @ Pappy & Harriets
Little Dragon play out at Pappy & Harriets tonight, Wednesday, April 16th 2014.
Photo Angel Ceballos
Tennis': Vogue Video Premiere, Support Sold Out HAIM Tour
VOGUE PREMIERES VIDEO FOR TENNIS’ “CURED OF YOUTH” TENNIS CHOSEN AS SUPPORT FOR SOLD OUT HAIM TOUR IN MAY 
“Tennis have broadened their horizons just the right amount,
adding rock’n’roll muscle and a more purely pop clarity.”—Pitchfork
“Their dreamy, nostalgic pop laps and recedes like waves hitting the shore.”—The New York Times
“The group turns up the volume and starts downright rocking.”—TIME
“Alaina Moore’s voice shines: there’s sweetness, toughness, spite.”—Pop Matters Vogue is premiering the video for “Cured of Youth,” a track from Tennis’ Small Sound EP. Vogue praises the video, which was directed by Scott Laidlaw, for being “a vision of eighties sci-fi replete with a DeLorean and Technicolor renderings of the cosmos.” Watch the video via Vogue HERE and on YouTube HERE. The band is set to embark on a nationwide tour with HAIM in May and headlining both a date in Chicago, and a sold out date in Brooklyn; please see complete dates below. The band recently wrapped up recording sessions with Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), Jim Eno (Spoon) and Richard Swift (The Shins) for their new album, the band’s first full-length release following 2013’s EP Small Sound. “It’s been a really long, arduous quest,” the band told Relix, “as we’ve grown, we are trying to challenge ourselves and transform musically.” Tennis was born aboard Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley’s nearly seven-month sailing trip. Upon returning home, the duo began writing music together as a way to document the history of their shared experience. The result wasCape Dory, an intimate and concise recollection of life on a 30-foot sloop. Moore and Riley followed Cape Dorywith Young and Old, which The New York Times called “striking indie-pop” and The New Yorker described as “winsome as it is ebullient.” The album debuted #1 on Billboard’s Heatseeker Chart, #1 on CMJ Top 200, where it remained for three weeks in a row and debuted on Soundscan’s “New Artist Chart” at #1, remaining there for nine consecutive weeks. The band performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Conan” and “Last Call with Carson Daly.” TENNIS TOUR DATES*with HAIM May 10 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of WilliamsburgMay 11 New York, NY Terminal 5*May 13 Boston, MA House of Blues*May 14 Philadelphia, PA Tower Theatre*May 15 Toronto, ON Kool Haus*May 17 Chicago, IL Riviera Theater*May 18 Chicago, IL Lincoln HallMay 19 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue*May 21 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre*May 22 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot*May 24 Vancouver, BC Malkin Bowl*
“Tennis have broadened their horizons just the right amount,adding rock’n’roll muscle and a more purely pop clarity.”—Pitchfork
“Their dreamy, nostalgic pop laps and recedes like waves hitting the shore.”—The New York Times
“The group turns up the volume and starts downright rocking.”—TIME
“Alaina Moore’s voice shines: there’s sweetness, toughness, spite.”—Pop Matters Vogue is premiering the video for “Cured of Youth,” a track from Tennis’ Small Sound EP. Vogue praises the video, which was directed by Scott Laidlaw, for being “a vision of eighties sci-fi replete with a DeLorean and Technicolor renderings of the cosmos.” Watch the video via Vogue HERE and on YouTube HERE. The band is set to embark on a nationwide tour with HAIM in May and headlining both a date in Chicago, and a sold out date in Brooklyn; please see complete dates below. The band recently wrapped up recording sessions with Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), Jim Eno (Spoon) and Richard Swift (The Shins) for their new album, the band’s first full-length release following 2013’s EP Small Sound. “It’s been a really long, arduous quest,” the band told Relix, “as we’ve grown, we are trying to challenge ourselves and transform musically.” Tennis was born aboard Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley’s nearly seven-month sailing trip. Upon returning home, the duo began writing music together as a way to document the history of their shared experience. The result wasCape Dory, an intimate and concise recollection of life on a 30-foot sloop. Moore and Riley followed Cape Dorywith Young and Old, which The New York Times called “striking indie-pop” and The New Yorker described as “winsome as it is ebullient.” The album debuted #1 on Billboard’s Heatseeker Chart, #1 on CMJ Top 200, where it remained for three weeks in a row and debuted on Soundscan’s “New Artist Chart” at #1, remaining there for nine consecutive weeks. The band performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Conan” and “Last Call with Carson Daly.” TENNIS TOUR DATES*with HAIM May 10 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of WilliamsburgMay 11 New York, NY Terminal 5*May 13 Boston, MA House of Blues*May 14 Philadelphia, PA Tower Theatre*May 15 Toronto, ON Kool Haus*May 17 Chicago, IL Riviera Theater*May 18 Chicago, IL Lincoln HallMay 19 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue*May 21 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre*May 22 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot*May 24 Vancouver, BC Malkin Bowl*
Olga Bell Unveils New Track, Announces Release Show
OLGA BELL UNVEILS NEW TRACK "STAVROPOL KRAI"OFF KRAI, DUE APRIL 29 VIA NEW AMSTERDAM
KRAI'S NYC RELEASE SHOW SET FOR APRIL 28 AT LE POISSON ROUGE
STREAM // EMBED "STAVROPOL KRAI"
Russian-born, New York-based composer Olga Bell is unveiling a new track entitled " Stavropol Krai " off her forthcoming full length, Krai , due April 29th via New Amsterdam Records (North America) and One Little Indian (UK/EU/Russia/Asia). The track follows the release of " Perm Krai ," which Pitchfork premiered, noting that one could listen to the track "like you would peck at a fancy tasting plate, snacking on bright blobs and crunchy bits on a backing of white space," while Chicago Reader praised "Perm Krai," noting "the music alternates between dense and frenetic, airy and meditative, but the arrangements are never less than rigorous." All formats of Krai are available for pre-order directly from New Amsterdam here, including a limited-edition red vinyl 12" LP packaged in double foil-stamped sleeves -- a collaboration with London-based One Little Indian Records. On Monday, April 28 at Manhattan's Le Poisson Rouge, Olga Bell will perform the NYC premiere ofKrai, her 12-person electro-acoustic song cycle about nine frontier territories in Russia. Aaron Arntz (Grizzly Bear), Chris Bear (Grizzly Bear) and Ben Campbell (Build) will open the evening with a trio set. Listen to "Stavropol Krai" here; read about it below: Between Ukraine and Kazakhstan lies some of Russia's most agriculturally productive land, with Stavropol Krai at its center. In the opening of this piece, the cycle's fourth movement, Olga Bell sings about "wide earth" over calm, sunny notes from Grey McMurray's guitar. This is Krai at its most pastoral, verging on Oklahoma!-like optimism. What follows is very different: a dark, traditional sacred fable about three angels encountering a lost soul that 'walked past' heaven, but didn't come in. "Our heaven is so beautiful," one angel intones, with child-like purity and frankness, "but no-one is there." Just after the two-minute mark of "Stavropol Krai," Bell introduces a crisp trap hat that's somehow perfectly at home in the low simmer of shakers, claves, bass grace-notes and a lithe, bird-like synth. A minute later the band vanishes and a lonely rhodes is left repeating the same two-beat phrase like a broken record, or someone in shock. The angels begin to accuse the soul of vanity and greed, their voices rising in an angry mob: "you broke the law... and lost your soul". They repeat this judgement over the last two minutes of the song, singing slowly and deliberately, while the soul desperately recounts the utopian promise of the movement's opening lines.
More about the album:
Inspired by the lesser-known corners of Bell's homeland and written entirely in her native Russian, Krai is Bell's second LP and first large-scale composition. Krai (край) is the Russian word for edge, limit, frontier or hinterland. Present-day Russia is divided into a myriad of 'federal subjects', including nine krais. In this capacity the term is a political designation, like 'territory', but for the earliest Russians these places represented both the promise and terror of the vast unknown.
While much has been written about Russia's major cities, Olga Bell's Krai is concerned with the rest of the map: the wilderness, the towns, the inhabitants and their stories. From the Cossack melodies of Krasnodar Krai in the West to the Chukchi drumming of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, Krai is a journey across the Eurasian landmass in forty minutes. Born in Moscow and raised in Alaska, Olga Bell is an American composer, producer and performer based in Brooklyn. A prodigious classical pianist as a child and teenager, Bell graduated from the New England Conservatory at age 21 before moving to New York City to pursue electronic composition and songwriting. The past nine years have seen Bell's steady rise from the city's open mics to performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
Bell makes original music, remixes and videos under her own name. As half of Nothankyou, Bell makes electronic music with British musician Tom Vek. In 2012 Bell joined Dirty Projectors for the band's Swing Lo Magellan cycle and remains a keyboardist and singer with the band today.
Край / Krai track list: 1. Краснодарский Край / Krasnodar Krai2. Алтайский Край / Altai Krai3. Пермский Край / Perm Krai4. Ставропольский Край / Stavropol Krai5. Красноярский Край / Krasnoyarsk Krai6. Приморский Край / Primorsky Krai7. Забайкальский Край / Zabaikalsky Krai8. Хабаровский Край / Khabarovsk Krai9. Камчатский Край / Kamchatka Krai
KRAI'S NYC RELEASE SHOW SET FOR APRIL 28 AT LE POISSON ROUGE
STREAM // EMBED "STAVROPOL KRAI"
Russian-born, New York-based composer Olga Bell is unveiling a new track entitled " Stavropol Krai " off her forthcoming full length, Krai , due April 29th via New Amsterdam Records (North America) and One Little Indian (UK/EU/Russia/Asia). The track follows the release of " Perm Krai ," which Pitchfork premiered, noting that one could listen to the track "like you would peck at a fancy tasting plate, snacking on bright blobs and crunchy bits on a backing of white space," while Chicago Reader praised "Perm Krai," noting "the music alternates between dense and frenetic, airy and meditative, but the arrangements are never less than rigorous." All formats of Krai are available for pre-order directly from New Amsterdam here, including a limited-edition red vinyl 12" LP packaged in double foil-stamped sleeves -- a collaboration with London-based One Little Indian Records. On Monday, April 28 at Manhattan's Le Poisson Rouge, Olga Bell will perform the NYC premiere ofKrai, her 12-person electro-acoustic song cycle about nine frontier territories in Russia. Aaron Arntz (Grizzly Bear), Chris Bear (Grizzly Bear) and Ben Campbell (Build) will open the evening with a trio set. Listen to "Stavropol Krai" here; read about it below: Between Ukraine and Kazakhstan lies some of Russia's most agriculturally productive land, with Stavropol Krai at its center. In the opening of this piece, the cycle's fourth movement, Olga Bell sings about "wide earth" over calm, sunny notes from Grey McMurray's guitar. This is Krai at its most pastoral, verging on Oklahoma!-like optimism. What follows is very different: a dark, traditional sacred fable about three angels encountering a lost soul that 'walked past' heaven, but didn't come in. "Our heaven is so beautiful," one angel intones, with child-like purity and frankness, "but no-one is there." Just after the two-minute mark of "Stavropol Krai," Bell introduces a crisp trap hat that's somehow perfectly at home in the low simmer of shakers, claves, bass grace-notes and a lithe, bird-like synth. A minute later the band vanishes and a lonely rhodes is left repeating the same two-beat phrase like a broken record, or someone in shock. The angels begin to accuse the soul of vanity and greed, their voices rising in an angry mob: "you broke the law... and lost your soul". They repeat this judgement over the last two minutes of the song, singing slowly and deliberately, while the soul desperately recounts the utopian promise of the movement's opening lines.
More about the album:
Inspired by the lesser-known corners of Bell's homeland and written entirely in her native Russian, Krai is Bell's second LP and first large-scale composition. Krai (край) is the Russian word for edge, limit, frontier or hinterland. Present-day Russia is divided into a myriad of 'federal subjects', including nine krais. In this capacity the term is a political designation, like 'territory', but for the earliest Russians these places represented both the promise and terror of the vast unknown.
While much has been written about Russia's major cities, Olga Bell's Krai is concerned with the rest of the map: the wilderness, the towns, the inhabitants and their stories. From the Cossack melodies of Krasnodar Krai in the West to the Chukchi drumming of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, Krai is a journey across the Eurasian landmass in forty minutes. Born in Moscow and raised in Alaska, Olga Bell is an American composer, producer and performer based in Brooklyn. A prodigious classical pianist as a child and teenager, Bell graduated from the New England Conservatory at age 21 before moving to New York City to pursue electronic composition and songwriting. The past nine years have seen Bell's steady rise from the city's open mics to performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
Bell makes original music, remixes and videos under her own name. As half of Nothankyou, Bell makes electronic music with British musician Tom Vek. In 2012 Bell joined Dirty Projectors for the band's Swing Lo Magellan cycle and remains a keyboardist and singer with the band today.
Край / Krai track list: 1. Краснодарский Край / Krasnodar Krai2. Алтайский Край / Altai Krai3. Пермский Край / Perm Krai4. Ставропольский Край / Stavropol Krai5. Красноярский Край / Krasnoyarsk Krai6. Приморский Край / Primorsky Krai7. Забайкальский Край / Zabaikalsky Krai8. Хабаровский Край / Khabarovsk Krai9. Камчатский Край / Kamchatka Krai
NATALIE MERCHANT CONFIRMS SUMMER TOUR
NATALIE MERCHANT CONFIRMS SUMMER TOUR
NONESUCH RECORDS TO RELEASE NEW SELF-TITLED ALBUM MAY 6, FIRST COLLECTION OF ENTIRELY ORIGINAL SONGS IN 13 YEARS
NPR MUSIC’S NEW “ALL SONGS TV” PREMIERES VIDEO FOR“GIVING UP EVERYTHING”
Photograph by Dan Winters “Merchant is one of the most successful and enduring alternative artists to emergefrom the Eighties – intact and uncompromised.”—Vogue
“At the root of her success are two qualities: an unwillingness to compromise, and total sincerity. In a world of glib, heavily produced pop stars, Merchant stands out.”—Guardian
Nonesuch Records is set to release Natalie Merchant’s new self-titled album on May 6, 2014. In support, the multi-platinum singer will embark on a 16-date summer tour across the U.S. Tickets are available at nataliemerchant.com, please see below for tour dates.This recording marks Merchant’s sixth solo collection and her first of entirely original songs in 13 years. The brand new Dan Winters-directed video for the track “Giving Up Everything” premiered on NPR Music and can be seen on YouTube.Natalie Merchant is available for pre-order at nonesuch.com, nataliemerchant.com, and iTunes; an instant download of the track “Ladybird” is included. Please see complete track listing below.
This self-produced album is the work of a mature artist with a clear and distinctive voice. Long appreciated for the depth and substance of her writing, Merchant has never shied away from weighty themes or subjects for her lyrics. She describes the new release as informed “by experience and keen observation,” dealing with issues of “love gained and lost, regret, denial, surrender, greed, destructiveness, defeat, and occasional triumph.”
Combining three decades of experience in song writing and album making, Merchant's production style is nuanced and pure. Her voice is framed by a balanced blend of electric and acoustic sound throughout with musicianship of exceptional quality. String, brass, and woodwind arrangements mingle with Hammond organ and electric guitar improvisations. Players include John Medeski, Shawn Pelton, Clark Gayton, Uri Sharlin, Jesse Murphy, Erik Della Penna, Gabriel Gordon, and guest vocalists Simi Stone, Elizabeth Mitchell and gospel singer Corliss Stafford.
Merchant’s career began when, as a college student, she joined the seminal alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs. Serving as lead vocalist, lyricist, and sometime pianist, Merchant released five critically acclaimed studio albums with the band, including the platinum-selling In My Tribe (1987), Blind Man’s Zoo (1989), Our Time in Eden (1992), and MTV Unplugged(1993). Merchant left the group in 1993, after 12 years, to record her first solo album. Tigerlily (1995) was certified five-times platinum, and was followed by the platinum Ophelia (1998), Natalie Merchant Live (1999), and Motherland (2001).
In 2002 Merchant departed Elektra Records, and a contractual relationship she had been bound to since singing at the age of 19, in 1984. She took an extended hiatus from pop music and major labels, independently releasing a collection of folk music, The House Carpenter's Daughter (Myth America, 2003), which also coincided with the birth of her first child. For the next seven years she lived quietly in New York's Hudson Valley devoting herself to family and community, whilst taking opportunities to collaborate with other musicians and strengthen her commitment to activism and philanthropy. In 2005 she was appointed to serve a four-year term on the board of New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). In addition she worked with a diverse array of artists and organisations, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Gavin Bryars and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Cowboy Junkies, David Byrne, Amnesty International, The Perkins School for the Blind, the University of Massachusetts’ Give US Your Poor, and the Boston Pops Orchestra.
In 2010, Merchant returned with a thematic double album entitled Leave Your Sleep, her debut for Nonesuch Records. A meditation on childhood and mothering, the anthology comprised 19th and 20th century American and British classic children's poetry by the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson, Christina Rossetti, Robert Graves, Edward Lear, and E.E. Cummings that Merchant had set to music. She collaborated with 130 musicians in a wide variety of musical styles, handpicking musicians who represent the best in their fields, including the Wynton Marsalis Quartet, Medeski Martin & Wood, The Fairfield Four, The Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, the Ditty Bops, the New York Philharmonic, The Klezmatics, Lúnasa, and Hazmat Modine. Merchant’s fascination with the poets led her to research their lives and write an 80-page companion book. The result was praised by critics on both sides of the Atlantic, with The Wall Street Journalcalling it “an ideal fit between poetic and musical forms,” and the Independent, “a hugely ambitious and beautifully realized double album.”
Since the album’s release, in 2011 Merchant was honored for the project as a New York Public Library Lion in 2011, along with authors Jonathan Franzen, Ian McEwan, and playwright Tony Kushner. That same year, NYC public school children studied a three-month unit on poetry and music with a curriculum drawn from the album. In 2012, Merchant teamed up with award-winning children's book illustrator Barbara McClintock for a new picture book based on Leave Your Sleep published by Farrar Straus Giroux. Inspired by her 2010 TED Talk about the project, Merchant has also developed a live children's orchestral concert that integrates projections of McClintock's illustrations and has presented this educational program to thousands of children in several US cities, including Carnegie Hall this spring.
For the past five years Merchant has maintained a schedule of guest soloist concerts with major symphonies throughout the US, with an orchestral repertoire drawn from her catalogue of songs and new compositions. She remains dedicated to a wide array of social justice and environmental causes. Recently, her attention has been focused on the threats to public health and the environment posed by the natural gas extraction technique of hydraulic fracturing. In 2013 she spearheaded the making of a protest concert film, Dear Governor Cuomo, with New Yorkers Against Fracking, actors Mark Ruffalo and Melissa Leo, and film makers Jon Bowermaster and Alex Gibney. This month, SHELTER: A Concert Film to Benefit Victims of Domestic Violence , directed and produced by Merchant, will have its first public screening in connection with Eve Ensler's annual One Billion Rising campaign. Merchant is exploring a new approach to protest through filming multi-media events that inform the public, heighten the profile of community organizers, and encourage action. "It's not enough for me anymore to just show up and sing a song at a benefit and feel I've done my bit. I want to offer my skills to create more comprehensive campaigns on behalf of over-strapped and under-staffed non-profits."
TOUR DATESJuly 3 Ulster Performing Arts Center Kingston, NY
July 5 The Mahaiwe Theatre Great Barrington, MA
July 6 Ridgefield Playhouse Ridgefield, CT
July 8 State Theater New Brunswick, NJ
July 9 American Music Theatre Lancaster, PA
July 11 Keswick Theatre Glenside, PA
July 12 Lincoln Theatre Washington, DC
July 13 Lincoln Theatre Washington, DC
July 15 Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Burlington, VT
July 16 Shubert Theatre Boston, MA
July 18 State Theatre Portland, ME
July 19 Tarrytown Music Hall Tarrytown, NY
July 20 Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Ctr Westhampton Beach, NY
July 22 Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead Munhall, PA
July 24 Chicago Theatre Chicago, IL
July 25 The Pabst Theater Milwaukee, WI
NONESUCH RECORDS TO RELEASE NEW SELF-TITLED ALBUM MAY 6, FIRST COLLECTION OF ENTIRELY ORIGINAL SONGS IN 13 YEARS
NPR MUSIC’S NEW “ALL SONGS TV” PREMIERES VIDEO FOR“GIVING UP EVERYTHING”
Photograph by Dan Winters “Merchant is one of the most successful and enduring alternative artists to emergefrom the Eighties – intact and uncompromised.”—Vogue
“At the root of her success are two qualities: an unwillingness to compromise, and total sincerity. In a world of glib, heavily produced pop stars, Merchant stands out.”—Guardian
Nonesuch Records is set to release Natalie Merchant’s new self-titled album on May 6, 2014. In support, the multi-platinum singer will embark on a 16-date summer tour across the U.S. Tickets are available at nataliemerchant.com, please see below for tour dates.This recording marks Merchant’s sixth solo collection and her first of entirely original songs in 13 years. The brand new Dan Winters-directed video for the track “Giving Up Everything” premiered on NPR Music and can be seen on YouTube.Natalie Merchant is available for pre-order at nonesuch.com, nataliemerchant.com, and iTunes; an instant download of the track “Ladybird” is included. Please see complete track listing below.
This self-produced album is the work of a mature artist with a clear and distinctive voice. Long appreciated for the depth and substance of her writing, Merchant has never shied away from weighty themes or subjects for her lyrics. She describes the new release as informed “by experience and keen observation,” dealing with issues of “love gained and lost, regret, denial, surrender, greed, destructiveness, defeat, and occasional triumph.”
Combining three decades of experience in song writing and album making, Merchant's production style is nuanced and pure. Her voice is framed by a balanced blend of electric and acoustic sound throughout with musicianship of exceptional quality. String, brass, and woodwind arrangements mingle with Hammond organ and electric guitar improvisations. Players include John Medeski, Shawn Pelton, Clark Gayton, Uri Sharlin, Jesse Murphy, Erik Della Penna, Gabriel Gordon, and guest vocalists Simi Stone, Elizabeth Mitchell and gospel singer Corliss Stafford.
Merchant’s career began when, as a college student, she joined the seminal alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs. Serving as lead vocalist, lyricist, and sometime pianist, Merchant released five critically acclaimed studio albums with the band, including the platinum-selling In My Tribe (1987), Blind Man’s Zoo (1989), Our Time in Eden (1992), and MTV Unplugged(1993). Merchant left the group in 1993, after 12 years, to record her first solo album. Tigerlily (1995) was certified five-times platinum, and was followed by the platinum Ophelia (1998), Natalie Merchant Live (1999), and Motherland (2001).
In 2002 Merchant departed Elektra Records, and a contractual relationship she had been bound to since singing at the age of 19, in 1984. She took an extended hiatus from pop music and major labels, independently releasing a collection of folk music, The House Carpenter's Daughter (Myth America, 2003), which also coincided with the birth of her first child. For the next seven years she lived quietly in New York's Hudson Valley devoting herself to family and community, whilst taking opportunities to collaborate with other musicians and strengthen her commitment to activism and philanthropy. In 2005 she was appointed to serve a four-year term on the board of New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). In addition she worked with a diverse array of artists and organisations, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Gavin Bryars and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Cowboy Junkies, David Byrne, Amnesty International, The Perkins School for the Blind, the University of Massachusetts’ Give US Your Poor, and the Boston Pops Orchestra.
In 2010, Merchant returned with a thematic double album entitled Leave Your Sleep, her debut for Nonesuch Records. A meditation on childhood and mothering, the anthology comprised 19th and 20th century American and British classic children's poetry by the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson, Christina Rossetti, Robert Graves, Edward Lear, and E.E. Cummings that Merchant had set to music. She collaborated with 130 musicians in a wide variety of musical styles, handpicking musicians who represent the best in their fields, including the Wynton Marsalis Quartet, Medeski Martin & Wood, The Fairfield Four, The Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, the Ditty Bops, the New York Philharmonic, The Klezmatics, Lúnasa, and Hazmat Modine. Merchant’s fascination with the poets led her to research their lives and write an 80-page companion book. The result was praised by critics on both sides of the Atlantic, with The Wall Street Journalcalling it “an ideal fit between poetic and musical forms,” and the Independent, “a hugely ambitious and beautifully realized double album.”
Since the album’s release, in 2011 Merchant was honored for the project as a New York Public Library Lion in 2011, along with authors Jonathan Franzen, Ian McEwan, and playwright Tony Kushner. That same year, NYC public school children studied a three-month unit on poetry and music with a curriculum drawn from the album. In 2012, Merchant teamed up with award-winning children's book illustrator Barbara McClintock for a new picture book based on Leave Your Sleep published by Farrar Straus Giroux. Inspired by her 2010 TED Talk about the project, Merchant has also developed a live children's orchestral concert that integrates projections of McClintock's illustrations and has presented this educational program to thousands of children in several US cities, including Carnegie Hall this spring.
For the past five years Merchant has maintained a schedule of guest soloist concerts with major symphonies throughout the US, with an orchestral repertoire drawn from her catalogue of songs and new compositions. She remains dedicated to a wide array of social justice and environmental causes. Recently, her attention has been focused on the threats to public health and the environment posed by the natural gas extraction technique of hydraulic fracturing. In 2013 she spearheaded the making of a protest concert film, Dear Governor Cuomo, with New Yorkers Against Fracking, actors Mark Ruffalo and Melissa Leo, and film makers Jon Bowermaster and Alex Gibney. This month, SHELTER: A Concert Film to Benefit Victims of Domestic Violence , directed and produced by Merchant, will have its first public screening in connection with Eve Ensler's annual One Billion Rising campaign. Merchant is exploring a new approach to protest through filming multi-media events that inform the public, heighten the profile of community organizers, and encourage action. "It's not enough for me anymore to just show up and sing a song at a benefit and feel I've done my bit. I want to offer my skills to create more comprehensive campaigns on behalf of over-strapped and under-staffed non-profits."
TOUR DATESJuly 3 Ulster Performing Arts Center Kingston, NY
July 5 The Mahaiwe Theatre Great Barrington, MA
July 6 Ridgefield Playhouse Ridgefield, CT
July 8 State Theater New Brunswick, NJ
July 9 American Music Theatre Lancaster, PA
July 11 Keswick Theatre Glenside, PA
July 12 Lincoln Theatre Washington, DC
July 13 Lincoln Theatre Washington, DC
July 15 Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Burlington, VT
July 16 Shubert Theatre Boston, MA
July 18 State Theatre Portland, ME
July 19 Tarrytown Music Hall Tarrytown, NY
July 20 Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Ctr Westhampton Beach, NY
July 22 Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead Munhall, PA
July 24 Chicago Theatre Chicago, IL
July 25 The Pabst Theater Milwaukee, WI
RECORD STORE DAY IS THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 19TH!
RECORD STORE DAY IS THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 19th!
WARNER BROS. RECORDS AND AFFILIATED LABELS ANNOUNCEEXCLUSIVE T_SHIRTS AND VINYL PACKAGES FROM GREEN DAY, THE FLAMING LIPS, FOALS, JAY Z AND LINKIN PARK, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, MASTODON, NEIL YOUNG, REGINA SPEKTOR AND THE WILD FEATHERS
SPECIAL EVENTS, CONCERTS AND HAPPENINGS ARE PLANNED FOR RSD 2014
April 16, 2014 - (Burbank, CA.) - Warner Bros. Records, an official sponsor of Record Store Daywould like to remind you that everybody's favorite Holiday is this Saturday, April 19th.
As you know, Record Store Day is a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 1,000 independently owned record stores in the U.S. and hundreds of similar stores internationally.
As a reminder, we feel that's it's our civic duty to remind you of what Warner Bros. Records has literally in-store for you. In addition to our usual menu of "Must Own" vinyl curios, prized artifacts and aural rarities, we are thrilled to expand our product line to include new, limited T-shirt designs to celebrate RSD in style. Descriptions of available items, if you please:
Green Day: Demolicious - Colored double vinyl, CD, Cassette
This special edition release features 18 unreleased demo recordings from the Green Day ¡Uno!,Green Day ¡Dos! and Green Day ¡Tré! sessions at Jingletown Studios in Oakland. Demoliciousincludes one previously unreleased song "State of Shock" and an acoustic version of "Stay the Night." Now for the 1st time, own this special edition compilation on red or clear vinyl, CD, or cassette.
The Flaming Lips: 7 SKIES H3 - Single-pocket jacket, regular-weight clear vinyl 12" - Limited to 7.500 copies
On vinyl for the first time ever. A 50 minute distillation across 10 tracks of the remarkable 24-hour song recorded at Tarbox Road Studios in 2011. Includes digital download card.
The Flaming Lips: Gates Of Steel - Single-pocket jacket, regular-weight silver vinyl 7" - Limited to 7,500 copies
Part of the WMG's Side By Side series. Includes Devo's "Gates of Steel" from the original
DEV-O Live EP and a previously unreleased cover by The Flaming Lips all on gorgeous silver vinyl! R.I.P. Bob 2. This is for you, wherever you are.
The Flaming Lips: Reprint of Vintage T-shirt Design by Wayne Coyne - Record Store Day Exclusive. Click here to view.
Foals: Live at the Royal Albert Hall- Single-pocket jacket, regular-weight vinyl 12" - Limited to 3,000 copies
8 tracks recorded from Foals' sold out performance at The Royal Albert Hall in London, UK. Side A includes "Blue Blood," "Providence," "Spanish Sahara," and "Red Socks Pugie." Side B includes "Milk & Black Spiders," "Late Night," "Inhaler," "Two Steps, Twice."
Additionally, this package includes digital download card with 2 exclusive bonus tracks: "My Number" (DZM Remix) and "Late Night" (Chad Valley Remix).
Jay Z / Linkin Park: Collision Course - Colored Transparent Blue vinyl
Originally released on November 30th, 2004, this is a reissue of the extremely powerful collaborative studio recordings between Linkin Park and hip-hop legend Jay-Z. This special edition blue vinyl pressing includes a DVD of a once in a lifetime concert featuring both of these music giants.
LCD Soundsystem: The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem "Live at Madison Square Garden" - 5 LP Set with download card - Limited to 3,000 units
The Long Goodbye is the complete, unabridged recording of LCD Soundsystem's near-four-hour April 2, 2011 farewell show at New York's Madison Square Garden. Produced and mixed by LCD founder and frontman, James Murphy. The Long Goodbye is the ultimate audio document of LCD Soundsystem's now legendary final show. The album's exclusive mix brings new life to every note of music played during the epic MSG show- including of course the performances featured in the acclaimed film, Shut Up and Play The Hits , which chronicled the concert by painting an intimate portrait of Murphy navigating its lead-up and aftermath. This special box set will be released exclusively on Record Store Day 2014 over a month before it is available anywhere else.
Mastodon: Live At Brixton - 2 -LP, 180 gram vinyl w/ DVD Limited to 2,000 units
On February 11th, 2012, Mastodon took the stage at London's O2 Academy in Brixton, capping off the Atlanta-based band's world tour in support of their critically acclaimed album The Hunter . This sold-out performance was Mastodon's first show at the legendary Brixton venue. It won't be their last, as the London audience positively erupted from the opening chords until the final, frenzied encore. This special 180-gram vinyl pressing is the only physical version of this special show and includes a DVD of the entire performance.
My Chemical Romance: My Chemical Romance New Jersey T-shirt 2001 - 2013 - Record Store Day Exclusive. Click here to view.
Neil Young: Official Release Series Discs 5-8 Vinyl Box Set; 4-LP, 180-gram black vinyl in reproduction jackets housed in telescoping box.Limited to 3,500 units
This limited edition box set includes the classic albums: Time Fades Away , On The Beach , Tonight's The Night and Zuma , each remastered from the original analog studio recordings at Bernie Grundman Mastering. The artwork is a historically accurate reproduction by Young's long-time art director, Gary Burden. These classics are being reissued on 180-gram audiophile vinyl for the first time and pressed at the world's premiere pressing plant, Pallas MFG Germany.
Neil Young: Four Different Classic Album Cover T-shirts
To coincide with this highly anticipated set of vinyl reissues, we have printed a special run of T-shirts designs featuring the cover art from Time Fades Away, On The Beach, Tonight's The Night, and Zuma.
Regina Spektor: You've Got Time - Colored Orange 7inch Vinyl - Limited to 3,000 units
"You've Got Time" is the theme song for the Netflix original series, Orange Is The New Black. Produced by Rob Cavallo, "You've Got Time" was nominated for a 2014 Grammy Award. Side B of this limited edition 7inch includes "Call Them Brothers," featuring Only Son. This record will be pressed on orange vinyl and is limited to 3,000 copies.
Tegan And Sara: New T-shirt design - "They Love They Say" - Record Store Day Exclusive.
Click here to view.
The Wild Feathers: - "Got It Wrong" (Clearmountain Mix) / "Marie" 7 inch single Limited to 2,000 units
This special vinyl pressing features 2 singles by The Wild Feathers. Side A features current radio single "Got It Wrong" off of the band's self-titled debut album. Side B features a previously unreleased song called, "Marie." Both songs were produced and recorded by Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Cage the Elephant, Amos Lee) at his studio in Nashville, TN.
The Wild Feathers: New T-shirt design. Click here to view.
Eric Clapton: - New T-Shirt Design - EC Red Square August 3, 2006 - Record Store Day Exclusive.
On August 2, 2006, Clapton was scheduled to perform for a massive audience in Moscow's Red Square. At the last moment, the show was cancelled. Click here to view.
Vinyl Is Forever T-Shirt: New T-Shirt Design - Vinyl Is Forever - Record Store Day Exclusive.
Click here to view.
Vinyl Love T-Shirt: New T-Shirt Design - Vinyl Love - Record Store Day Exclusive.
Click here to view.
Once you've sated yourselves into vinyl bliss, we have a few very cool events planned from some of our favorite artist in some of our favorite shops (or venues) around the country on April 19th, and you're all invited:
NONONO - Acoustic Performance & Signing
1pm - Karma Records
21 N Post RD, Indianapolis, IN. 46254
Gemini Syndrome - Acoustic Performance & Signing
2pm - Ralph's Records
3322 82nd Street, Lubbock, Texas 79423
SKATERS - Electric Performance & Signing
5pm - Plan 9 Music
3017 W Cary St, Richmond, VA 23221
DALE EARNHARDT JR JR - Headline show
8pm - Royal Oak Music Theater
318 W 4th St , Royal Oak, MI 48067
About Record Store Day:
Record Store Day is managed by the Department of Record Stores and organized in partnership with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), celebrating the culture of independent record stores by playing host to in-store events/performances, signings and special product releases on a global scale.
For more about Record Store Day, please visit www.recordstoreday.com.
WARNER BROS. RECORDS AND AFFILIATED LABELS ANNOUNCEEXCLUSIVE T_SHIRTS AND VINYL PACKAGES FROM GREEN DAY, THE FLAMING LIPS, FOALS, JAY Z AND LINKIN PARK, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, MASTODON, NEIL YOUNG, REGINA SPEKTOR AND THE WILD FEATHERS
SPECIAL EVENTS, CONCERTS AND HAPPENINGS ARE PLANNED FOR RSD 2014
April 16, 2014 - (Burbank, CA.) - Warner Bros. Records, an official sponsor of Record Store Daywould like to remind you that everybody's favorite Holiday is this Saturday, April 19th.
As you know, Record Store Day is a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 1,000 independently owned record stores in the U.S. and hundreds of similar stores internationally.
As a reminder, we feel that's it's our civic duty to remind you of what Warner Bros. Records has literally in-store for you. In addition to our usual menu of "Must Own" vinyl curios, prized artifacts and aural rarities, we are thrilled to expand our product line to include new, limited T-shirt designs to celebrate RSD in style. Descriptions of available items, if you please:
Green Day: Demolicious - Colored double vinyl, CD, Cassette
This special edition release features 18 unreleased demo recordings from the Green Day ¡Uno!,Green Day ¡Dos! and Green Day ¡Tré! sessions at Jingletown Studios in Oakland. Demoliciousincludes one previously unreleased song "State of Shock" and an acoustic version of "Stay the Night." Now for the 1st time, own this special edition compilation on red or clear vinyl, CD, or cassette.
The Flaming Lips: 7 SKIES H3 - Single-pocket jacket, regular-weight clear vinyl 12" - Limited to 7.500 copies
On vinyl for the first time ever. A 50 minute distillation across 10 tracks of the remarkable 24-hour song recorded at Tarbox Road Studios in 2011. Includes digital download card.
The Flaming Lips: Gates Of Steel - Single-pocket jacket, regular-weight silver vinyl 7" - Limited to 7,500 copies
Part of the WMG's Side By Side series. Includes Devo's "Gates of Steel" from the original
DEV-O Live EP and a previously unreleased cover by The Flaming Lips all on gorgeous silver vinyl! R.I.P. Bob 2. This is for you, wherever you are.
The Flaming Lips: Reprint of Vintage T-shirt Design by Wayne Coyne - Record Store Day Exclusive. Click here to view.
Foals: Live at the Royal Albert Hall- Single-pocket jacket, regular-weight vinyl 12" - Limited to 3,000 copies
8 tracks recorded from Foals' sold out performance at The Royal Albert Hall in London, UK. Side A includes "Blue Blood," "Providence," "Spanish Sahara," and "Red Socks Pugie." Side B includes "Milk & Black Spiders," "Late Night," "Inhaler," "Two Steps, Twice."
Additionally, this package includes digital download card with 2 exclusive bonus tracks: "My Number" (DZM Remix) and "Late Night" (Chad Valley Remix).
Jay Z / Linkin Park: Collision Course - Colored Transparent Blue vinyl
Originally released on November 30th, 2004, this is a reissue of the extremely powerful collaborative studio recordings between Linkin Park and hip-hop legend Jay-Z. This special edition blue vinyl pressing includes a DVD of a once in a lifetime concert featuring both of these music giants.
LCD Soundsystem: The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem "Live at Madison Square Garden" - 5 LP Set with download card - Limited to 3,000 units
The Long Goodbye is the complete, unabridged recording of LCD Soundsystem's near-four-hour April 2, 2011 farewell show at New York's Madison Square Garden. Produced and mixed by LCD founder and frontman, James Murphy. The Long Goodbye is the ultimate audio document of LCD Soundsystem's now legendary final show. The album's exclusive mix brings new life to every note of music played during the epic MSG show- including of course the performances featured in the acclaimed film, Shut Up and Play The Hits , which chronicled the concert by painting an intimate portrait of Murphy navigating its lead-up and aftermath. This special box set will be released exclusively on Record Store Day 2014 over a month before it is available anywhere else.
Mastodon: Live At Brixton - 2 -LP, 180 gram vinyl w/ DVD Limited to 2,000 units
On February 11th, 2012, Mastodon took the stage at London's O2 Academy in Brixton, capping off the Atlanta-based band's world tour in support of their critically acclaimed album The Hunter . This sold-out performance was Mastodon's first show at the legendary Brixton venue. It won't be their last, as the London audience positively erupted from the opening chords until the final, frenzied encore. This special 180-gram vinyl pressing is the only physical version of this special show and includes a DVD of the entire performance.
My Chemical Romance: My Chemical Romance New Jersey T-shirt 2001 - 2013 - Record Store Day Exclusive. Click here to view.
Neil Young: Official Release Series Discs 5-8 Vinyl Box Set; 4-LP, 180-gram black vinyl in reproduction jackets housed in telescoping box.Limited to 3,500 units
This limited edition box set includes the classic albums: Time Fades Away , On The Beach , Tonight's The Night and Zuma , each remastered from the original analog studio recordings at Bernie Grundman Mastering. The artwork is a historically accurate reproduction by Young's long-time art director, Gary Burden. These classics are being reissued on 180-gram audiophile vinyl for the first time and pressed at the world's premiere pressing plant, Pallas MFG Germany.
Neil Young: Four Different Classic Album Cover T-shirts
To coincide with this highly anticipated set of vinyl reissues, we have printed a special run of T-shirts designs featuring the cover art from Time Fades Away, On The Beach, Tonight's The Night, and Zuma.
Regina Spektor: You've Got Time - Colored Orange 7inch Vinyl - Limited to 3,000 units
"You've Got Time" is the theme song for the Netflix original series, Orange Is The New Black. Produced by Rob Cavallo, "You've Got Time" was nominated for a 2014 Grammy Award. Side B of this limited edition 7inch includes "Call Them Brothers," featuring Only Son. This record will be pressed on orange vinyl and is limited to 3,000 copies.
Tegan And Sara: New T-shirt design - "They Love They Say" - Record Store Day Exclusive.
Click here to view.
The Wild Feathers: - "Got It Wrong" (Clearmountain Mix) / "Marie" 7 inch single Limited to 2,000 units
This special vinyl pressing features 2 singles by The Wild Feathers. Side A features current radio single "Got It Wrong" off of the band's self-titled debut album. Side B features a previously unreleased song called, "Marie." Both songs were produced and recorded by Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Cage the Elephant, Amos Lee) at his studio in Nashville, TN.
The Wild Feathers: New T-shirt design. Click here to view.
Eric Clapton: - New T-Shirt Design - EC Red Square August 3, 2006 - Record Store Day Exclusive.
On August 2, 2006, Clapton was scheduled to perform for a massive audience in Moscow's Red Square. At the last moment, the show was cancelled. Click here to view.
Vinyl Is Forever T-Shirt: New T-Shirt Design - Vinyl Is Forever - Record Store Day Exclusive.
Click here to view.
Vinyl Love T-Shirt: New T-Shirt Design - Vinyl Love - Record Store Day Exclusive.
Click here to view.
Once you've sated yourselves into vinyl bliss, we have a few very cool events planned from some of our favorite artist in some of our favorite shops (or venues) around the country on April 19th, and you're all invited:
NONONO - Acoustic Performance & Signing
1pm - Karma Records
21 N Post RD, Indianapolis, IN. 46254
Gemini Syndrome - Acoustic Performance & Signing
2pm - Ralph's Records
3322 82nd Street, Lubbock, Texas 79423
SKATERS - Electric Performance & Signing
5pm - Plan 9 Music
3017 W Cary St, Richmond, VA 23221
DALE EARNHARDT JR JR - Headline show
8pm - Royal Oak Music Theater
318 W 4th St , Royal Oak, MI 48067
About Record Store Day:
Record Store Day is managed by the Department of Record Stores and organized in partnership with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), celebrating the culture of independent record stores by playing host to in-store events/performances, signings and special product releases on a global scale.
For more about Record Store Day, please visit www.recordstoreday.com.
Medicine Releasing Part Time Punks Live LP For RSD
Medicine Releasing Part Time Punks Live LP for RSD
Play LA's The Church on York on 4/26
Performing at Austin Psych Fest
Medicine had quite the 2013. The Los Angeles trio of Brad Laner, Beth Thompson and Jim Goodall, reunited after eighteen years of dormancy and released To the Happy Few, their first studio album in as long. After the album's successful release, the band played two shows, one at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg, the other in their hometown at The Echo. Rounding out the year was Laner's very special performance with M83 (Laner has contribution credits on the critically Hurry Up, We're Dreaming) at their Hollywood Bowl Show in September.
This Saturday for Record Store Day, Medicine start their 2014 off right with the release of their Part Time Punks Live LP on tri-color vinyl. The LP features eight tracks recorded for a Radio Session at PTP following their LA show last year. Make sure to keep an eye out for this one while shopping this weekend!
Next weekend, April 26th, the band will take to the stage again, playing The Church on York, one of LA's newest venues. Also recently announced, Medicine will perform at Austin Psych Fest, happening the first weekend of May.
Stay tuned for updates on their APF performance time and more news! "deadly inventive, and armed with the chops and chutzpah required to deliver on their wild ideas"
- SPIN
"The songs are drop-dead gorgeous, the waves of noise and sound are all-encompassing but arranged perfectly, and there is enough joyous craft and blown-out intensity in the sound to keep it from being just an empty nostalgia trip."
- All Music
"the album has a wonderful density that reveals a new secret with every listen, melodies buried in caverns of reverb and tricky guitar bits that hide in reversed delay."
- Consequence of Sound
"To the Happy Few will very likely turn out to be one of the best sounding guitar-based albums of the year."
- PitchforkEighteen years after they called it quits as a working band, 2013 finds the original members of Medicine reunited and proudly offering a newly recorded LP on Captured Tracks. To The Happy Few is the sound of a highly inspired group reclaiming its creative legacy, thoroughly immersed in the practice of mixing harsh noise with obsessive melodic detail and heavily groovy rocking. Returning is the core trio of lead singer/ chanteuse Beth Thompson, guitarist / vocalist Brad Laner, and drummer Jim Goodall, the same team which created the still vital, influential and controversial LPs "Shot Forth Self Living" (1992) , "The Buried Life" (1993) and "Her Highness" (1995) as well as a stand-out appearance in the 1994 film "The Crow".
As it happens, it's really all the fault of Captured Tracks. In 2012 C/T pulled off the seemingly impossible and secured the rights to reissue the aforementioned two original Medicine LPs in loving and expanded fashion. This was a rather emotional moment for the original band members. So much so that upon meeting up at Brad's home studio in May 2012 for the first time since 1995 in order to divide up the vinyl goodies and ultra-limited box sets, the trio laid down the basic track for what became the final song on the new LP. Emboldened by the natural ease with which they slipped back into Medicine mode, the trio spent the remainder of the year leisurely recording the new LP and enjoying each other's company far removed from the stress and turmoil of their original early 90's run. The resulting LP is not your parent's Shoegaze record. The sonic palette and the hands, feet and mouths that utilize it may be the same, but the end result more subtly reflects the amassed life experiences and refined aesthetics of three mature artists only just now approaching the peak of their powers.
The members of Medicine stayed quite busy with music in the interim between 1995 and 2012: Jim Goodall recorded and toured with his legendary evil country western band Jon Wayne which had its first LP reissued by Jack White's Third Man label. He also toured as a member of UK noise gods Whitehouse and recorded with Current 93. Beth Thompson made a collaborative album as The Shway and performed with The Furry Things. Brad Laner has released a bunch of solo and collaborative LPs under various names and recorded with the likes of Brian Eno, M83, Caribou and Blinker The Star.
Play LA's The Church on York on 4/26
Performing at Austin Psych Fest
Medicine had quite the 2013. The Los Angeles trio of Brad Laner, Beth Thompson and Jim Goodall, reunited after eighteen years of dormancy and released To the Happy Few, their first studio album in as long. After the album's successful release, the band played two shows, one at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg, the other in their hometown at The Echo. Rounding out the year was Laner's very special performance with M83 (Laner has contribution credits on the critically Hurry Up, We're Dreaming) at their Hollywood Bowl Show in September. This Saturday for Record Store Day, Medicine start their 2014 off right with the release of their Part Time Punks Live LP on tri-color vinyl. The LP features eight tracks recorded for a Radio Session at PTP following their LA show last year. Make sure to keep an eye out for this one while shopping this weekend!
Next weekend, April 26th, the band will take to the stage again, playing The Church on York, one of LA's newest venues. Also recently announced, Medicine will perform at Austin Psych Fest, happening the first weekend of May.
Stay tuned for updates on their APF performance time and more news! "deadly inventive, and armed with the chops and chutzpah required to deliver on their wild ideas"
- SPIN
"The songs are drop-dead gorgeous, the waves of noise and sound are all-encompassing but arranged perfectly, and there is enough joyous craft and blown-out intensity in the sound to keep it from being just an empty nostalgia trip."
- All Music
"the album has a wonderful density that reveals a new secret with every listen, melodies buried in caverns of reverb and tricky guitar bits that hide in reversed delay."
- Consequence of Sound
"To the Happy Few will very likely turn out to be one of the best sounding guitar-based albums of the year."
- PitchforkEighteen years after they called it quits as a working band, 2013 finds the original members of Medicine reunited and proudly offering a newly recorded LP on Captured Tracks. To The Happy Few is the sound of a highly inspired group reclaiming its creative legacy, thoroughly immersed in the practice of mixing harsh noise with obsessive melodic detail and heavily groovy rocking. Returning is the core trio of lead singer/ chanteuse Beth Thompson, guitarist / vocalist Brad Laner, and drummer Jim Goodall, the same team which created the still vital, influential and controversial LPs "Shot Forth Self Living" (1992) , "The Buried Life" (1993) and "Her Highness" (1995) as well as a stand-out appearance in the 1994 film "The Crow".
As it happens, it's really all the fault of Captured Tracks. In 2012 C/T pulled off the seemingly impossible and secured the rights to reissue the aforementioned two original Medicine LPs in loving and expanded fashion. This was a rather emotional moment for the original band members. So much so that upon meeting up at Brad's home studio in May 2012 for the first time since 1995 in order to divide up the vinyl goodies and ultra-limited box sets, the trio laid down the basic track for what became the final song on the new LP. Emboldened by the natural ease with which they slipped back into Medicine mode, the trio spent the remainder of the year leisurely recording the new LP and enjoying each other's company far removed from the stress and turmoil of their original early 90's run. The resulting LP is not your parent's Shoegaze record. The sonic palette and the hands, feet and mouths that utilize it may be the same, but the end result more subtly reflects the amassed life experiences and refined aesthetics of three mature artists only just now approaching the peak of their powers.
The members of Medicine stayed quite busy with music in the interim between 1995 and 2012: Jim Goodall recorded and toured with his legendary evil country western band Jon Wayne which had its first LP reissued by Jack White's Third Man label. He also toured as a member of UK noise gods Whitehouse and recorded with Current 93. Beth Thompson made a collaborative album as The Shway and performed with The Furry Things. Brad Laner has released a bunch of solo and collaborative LPs under various names and recorded with the likes of Brian Eno, M83, Caribou and Blinker The Star.
Sky Ferreira premieres “I Blame Myself” video
VIDEO FOR SKY FERREIRA’S NEW SINGLE, “I BLAME MYSELF,” PREMIERES TODAY ON SSENSE.COM
“I BLAME MYSELF,” FROM HER CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ALBUM NIGHT TIME, MY TIME, GOES TO RADIO THIS JULY
FERREIRA, FRESH OFF MILEY CYRUS’ BANGERZ TOUR, TO PERFORM AT MADISON’S REVELRY MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL AND FIREFLY MUSIC FESTIVAL IN DELAWARE
[image error]Credit: Nikko LaMere
April 16, 2014 — New York, NY — Sky Ferreira’s video for her new single, “I Blame Myself,”premieres today on SSENSE. The track, which goes to radio this July, is from her full-length debut, Night Time, My Time (Capitol Records), which was named one of the best albums of 2013 byRolling Stone, The New Yorker, NPR Music, Pitchfork, Idolator and The Guardian, among others. The clip was lensed earlier this month in Los Angeles by Grant Singer, who has directed Ferreira’s last six videos as well as clips for Melody’s Echo Chamber, The Soft Moon and DIIV.
“I had so much fun shooting this video in Compton because I got to work with director Grant Singer again,” said Sky Ferreira. “All the clothes in the video are from SSENSE and it was hard to pick what to wear since they have so many of my favorite designers.” All items worn by Ferreira featured in the video are available for purchase on SSENSE.COM. Ferreira, who just wrapped up a North America arena run as opener on Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz Tour, will be perform at the Revelry Music and Arts Festival in Madison, WI (May 3) and the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, DE (June 20).
With the late-2013 release of Night Time, My Time, the 21-year-old Ferreira delivered a debut that’s entirely uncompromising in complexity and vision. Stereogum praised Ferreira’s preternatural grace in merging gritty guitar-drenched rock with the shiny melody of electro-pop. “As raw, untamed, and arresting as the artist herself,” raved Entertainment Weekly, while The New York Times announced that Night Time, My Time places Ferreira “squarely at the center of contemporary female pop.” The album was produced by Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, Charli XCX, No Doubt) with Ferreira serving as executive producer, and Justin Raisen (Charli XCX) as co-producer.
Pitchfork devoted an entire column to “I Blame Myself,” noting, “many of the verses describe struggles that resonate with a lot of young woman in particular. ‘I’m just a face without a choice/ Trust you’d never like to guess what I think above the shoulders,’ she snaps…All this, mind you, is atop one of the album’s most bubbly melodies and driving beats…It would be easy to mistake it as an admission of weakness, but it's really a declaration of force—a song about the power of vulnerability.”
You can view Ferreira performing “I Blame Myself” on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”HERE, a behind the scenes of the video shoot HERE and styling of the shoot HERE.
For more about Sky Ferreira, please visit:
http://www.facebook.com/skyferreirahttp://twitter.com/skyferreirahttp://skyferreira.tumblr.com/http://instagram.com/skyferreirahttp://skyferreira.tumblr.com/http://soundcloud.com/skyferreira
“I BLAME MYSELF,” FROM HER CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ALBUM NIGHT TIME, MY TIME, GOES TO RADIO THIS JULY
FERREIRA, FRESH OFF MILEY CYRUS’ BANGERZ TOUR, TO PERFORM AT MADISON’S REVELRY MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL AND FIREFLY MUSIC FESTIVAL IN DELAWARE
[image error]Credit: Nikko LaMere
April 16, 2014 — New York, NY — Sky Ferreira’s video for her new single, “I Blame Myself,”premieres today on SSENSE. The track, which goes to radio this July, is from her full-length debut, Night Time, My Time (Capitol Records), which was named one of the best albums of 2013 byRolling Stone, The New Yorker, NPR Music, Pitchfork, Idolator and The Guardian, among others. The clip was lensed earlier this month in Los Angeles by Grant Singer, who has directed Ferreira’s last six videos as well as clips for Melody’s Echo Chamber, The Soft Moon and DIIV.
“I had so much fun shooting this video in Compton because I got to work with director Grant Singer again,” said Sky Ferreira. “All the clothes in the video are from SSENSE and it was hard to pick what to wear since they have so many of my favorite designers.” All items worn by Ferreira featured in the video are available for purchase on SSENSE.COM. Ferreira, who just wrapped up a North America arena run as opener on Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz Tour, will be perform at the Revelry Music and Arts Festival in Madison, WI (May 3) and the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, DE (June 20).
With the late-2013 release of Night Time, My Time, the 21-year-old Ferreira delivered a debut that’s entirely uncompromising in complexity and vision. Stereogum praised Ferreira’s preternatural grace in merging gritty guitar-drenched rock with the shiny melody of electro-pop. “As raw, untamed, and arresting as the artist herself,” raved Entertainment Weekly, while The New York Times announced that Night Time, My Time places Ferreira “squarely at the center of contemporary female pop.” The album was produced by Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, Charli XCX, No Doubt) with Ferreira serving as executive producer, and Justin Raisen (Charli XCX) as co-producer.
Pitchfork devoted an entire column to “I Blame Myself,” noting, “many of the verses describe struggles that resonate with a lot of young woman in particular. ‘I’m just a face without a choice/ Trust you’d never like to guess what I think above the shoulders,’ she snaps…All this, mind you, is atop one of the album’s most bubbly melodies and driving beats…It would be easy to mistake it as an admission of weakness, but it's really a declaration of force—a song about the power of vulnerability.”
You can view Ferreira performing “I Blame Myself” on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”HERE, a behind the scenes of the video shoot HERE and styling of the shoot HERE.
For more about Sky Ferreira, please visit:
http://www.facebook.com/skyferreirahttp://twitter.com/skyferreirahttp://skyferreira.tumblr.com/http://instagram.com/skyferreirahttp://skyferreira.tumblr.com/http://soundcloud.com/skyferreira
MGMT @ The Orpheum
MGMT is playing the ORPHEUM tonight, Wednesday, April 16th 2014.
MGMT photos by Alexander Laurence
In The Valley Below; New EP on Capitol/Caroline May
IN THE VALLEY BELOW ANNOUNCE NEW MAN GIRL EPSPIN PREMIERES KELE OKEREKE REMIX OF "PEACHES"
MAN GIRL EP OUT MAY 6 VIA Capitol/Caroline/Caroline RECORDSUS TOUR DATES, INCLUDING SXSW AND L.A. RESIDENCY PERFORMANCES ANNOUNCED
LISTEN: KELE OKEREKE REMIX OF "PEACHES"
In The Valley Below announce the upcoming release of their Man Girl EP via Capitol/Caroline on May 6. To mark the occasion, the band has released the Kele Okereke remix of "Peaches" with SPIN along with announcing a run of US tour dates that includes multiple performances at this year's SXSW. In addition the band will be celebrating the release os Man Girl EP with a month long residency, in their hometown of Los Angeles, at The Echo every Monday night in May.
The duo's debut Capitol/Caroline EP could well be the soundtrack to a David Lynch movie, equal parts atmospheric and gauzy, with sharp hooks and sing-along choruses, inspired by faithful archetypes and dealing with powerful subjects like sex, crime, and religion, as on the first single, "Peaches," a celebration of mutual attraction and sensuality that band member Jeffrey Jacob jokes could just be about fruit. The attraction between the two is palpable, but hard to define. For In The Valley Below, one plus on equals three, with Angela Gail's Americana folk-country and classic rock vibe melding with Jeffrey's penchant for Anglo art-pop and heavy, Memphis-infused riffs into something completely different.
LISTEN/SHARE: "Peaches" Kele Okereke Remix via SoundCloud.WATCH/SHARE: "Peaches" via YouTube.
THE ECHO RESIDENCY IN LOS ANGELES
05.05 Los Angeles, CA | The Echo05.12 Los Angeles, CA | The Echo
05.19 Los Angeles, CA | The Echo
05.26 Los Angeles, CA | The Echo
MAN GIRL EP OUT MAY 6 VIA Capitol/Caroline/Caroline RECORDSUS TOUR DATES, INCLUDING SXSW AND L.A. RESIDENCY PERFORMANCES ANNOUNCED
LISTEN: KELE OKEREKE REMIX OF "PEACHES"
In The Valley Below announce the upcoming release of their Man Girl EP via Capitol/Caroline on May 6. To mark the occasion, the band has released the Kele Okereke remix of "Peaches" with SPIN along with announcing a run of US tour dates that includes multiple performances at this year's SXSW. In addition the band will be celebrating the release os Man Girl EP with a month long residency, in their hometown of Los Angeles, at The Echo every Monday night in May.
The duo's debut Capitol/Caroline EP could well be the soundtrack to a David Lynch movie, equal parts atmospheric and gauzy, with sharp hooks and sing-along choruses, inspired by faithful archetypes and dealing with powerful subjects like sex, crime, and religion, as on the first single, "Peaches," a celebration of mutual attraction and sensuality that band member Jeffrey Jacob jokes could just be about fruit. The attraction between the two is palpable, but hard to define. For In The Valley Below, one plus on equals three, with Angela Gail's Americana folk-country and classic rock vibe melding with Jeffrey's penchant for Anglo art-pop and heavy, Memphis-infused riffs into something completely different.
LISTEN/SHARE: "Peaches" Kele Okereke Remix via SoundCloud.WATCH/SHARE: "Peaches" via YouTube.
THE ECHO RESIDENCY IN LOS ANGELES
05.05 Los Angeles, CA | The Echo05.12 Los Angeles, CA | The Echo
05.19 Los Angeles, CA | The Echo
05.26 Los Angeles, CA | The Echo
