Sea Wolf's forthcoming debut full-length, Leaves in the River, due Sept. 25 on Dangerbird Records, will be met with a fall tour alongside New York indie stalwarts Nada Surf. Yet anxious fans won't have to wait until then to hear Alex Brown Church's elegiac narratives and intricate orchestral pop. Church and co. have been offering up glimpses into the highly-anticipated record on their recent jaunt alongside Silversun Pickups and are scheduled to appear at a few more high-profile festival performances,...
The tall, gangly, and always amazing, Thurston Moore will be releasing his first solo album in over 12 years. Trees Outside the Academy, out September 18th via Ecstatic Peace!, finds Thurston breaking from 1995's noise rock escapades on Psychic Hearts with a more acoustic and lyric driven approach. Recorded by John Agnello at J. Mascis' Bisquiteen Studios, Thurston's vocals, acoustic guitar and bass, are supported by a slew of guests. Steve Shelley is featured on drums and Samara Lubelski on strings,...
As happens every so often, a band of like-minded musicians come together under the right circumstances (usually under the guide of serendipity), discovers that they happen to share musical tastes and enjoy each other’s company and, in the spirit of all for one and one for all, change their names in a show of solidarity. That scenario produced The Ramones in New York three decades ago and, last year in Cardiff, Wales, so too came together Los Campesinos! “We all...
Hipsters have been creaming over the LCD Soundsystem/Arcade Fire double bill for a while now, so here's a little more news to add fuel to the fire (I swear there was no pun intended there). The two bands will be teaming up to release a split 7" to coincide with their cross-country jaunt. LCD covers Joy Division's "No Love Lost," while Arcade Fire tries their hand at Serge Gainsbourg's "Poupee de Cire." The single will only be available on tour...
Next weekend marks the fourth year of the F**k Yeah! Fest in Los Angeles. Curated by Circle Jerks/Black Flag front man Keith Morris and twenty-two year old founder Sean Carlson, the festival features more than fifty bands spread across five all-ages venues for a mere $13 a day, a buck of which will go to support 826LA and FoLAR (Friends of the Los Angeles River). Adding to the madness will be a batch of comedians including Bob Odenkirk of Mr....
That’s right, Jimmy Eat World is still around, and apparently they are rocking just as hard as ever. They just finished up a rapturously received tour of intimate rooms on which old standards, rarely performed favorites, and a few new songs were aired. These new songs of which I speak were taken from the yet to be released Chase This Light, the band's third full length which will hit the stores on October 16. The new album is the follow...
Someone recently told me I should write memoirs on my experiences in the music industry because they “would sell.” To be honest, I don’t think they would. So that’s why I’m writing them here for free. So what can I promise you? Well, a lot less high rolling antics than Pamela des Barres and Vince Neil and a lot more “and then we hosed down behind the venue because we had to sleep on the van that night” sort of...
Elliott Smith fans who have cursed the fact that they never got to be friends with him take note: the troubador is the subject of an upcoming book from Smith's friend, photographer Autumn de Wilde. Titled Elliott Smith, the book features interviews with some of Elliott's closest friends and collaborators, including Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla, Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws, Quasi’s Sam Coomes, producers Jon Brion and Rob Schanpf, Heatmiser’s Neal Gust, some speaking on record...
As far as GC is concerned, Midlake is allowed to change their name to something more productive like Roscoe or Steve or even King Ferdinand of Spain if they want to. That's because The Trials of Van Occupanther is easily one of our favorite albums of the millennium, so anything they do is fine by us, as long as we get more music. While there's not yet any word of a follow up, we can console ourselves with the news...
Everyone's favorite actual brother sister duo (well, second favorite. Let's face it, the loss of the Carpenters hurt us all) is hitting the road, and hopefully not each other. Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger, along with their assorted compatriots that make up the Fiery Furnaces, will be hiting the road this fall in support of their forthcoming album. The record, Widow City, hits on October 9th courtesy the kids over at Thrill Jockey, and thus far, I haven't heard any of...