London collective Jungle has premiered the video for latest album cut “Time”.
The “Time” video arrives a week before the release of Jungle’s highly anticipated, eponymous debut album out July 15 (14th in the UK) on XL Recordings. Identified by Rolling Stone as a “New Artist You Need To Know”, Junglehas already been described by New York Times as “a beguiling and promising introduction“, by NME as ” the pop-art album of the summer” and Time Out exclaims “the group’s steamy, grooving, creeping neo-soul tracks are something pretty special.” Jungle is available to stream in full exclusively via ITUNES.
Meanwhile the collective will return to the states this fall with a seven-piece Jungle live experience that will perform on over 20 dates across North America, in the largest set of rooms the group has played to date. The group will also make stops at Lollapalooza, Treasure Island and Corona Capital Music Festivals. See full list of dates below.
Weezer will release their highly anticipated ninth album, Everything Will Be Alright In The End, on September 30th, 2014 on Republic Records. Produced by Ric Ocasek, who previously helmed production on the band’s first and third records (“The Blue Album” and “The Green Album”), Everything Will Be Alright In The End is the band’s first collection of new material in four years.
Since forming in 1992, Weezer has released a myriad of celebrated, chart-topping albums, selling over 13 million records worldwide. Following an intensely prolific couple years at the end of the aughts, the band chose to deliberately dial down the tempo in 2010, a move singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo says allowed him to write at a slower pace, giving the songs he wanted to use for an album the time to gradually grow into their final forms. He started almost every song on the piano, eventually transferring them to the guitar before taking them to the band. When it came time to record the material, Weezer reunited with the man who helped them make some of their most iconic album-length work, Cars frontman Ric Ocasek. The resulting album, Everything Will Be Alright In The End, is a stand-out gem in Weezer’s vast and varied catalogue, a reflection of a much-loved band at their very best. Organized thematically around three groups of songs, it is an album that utilizes that sound from the band’s earliest days to tell new stories in 2014, creating some of the finest, most heartfelt songs Weezer has ever recorded.
An exclusive, first look at Everything Will Be Alright In The End will appear in this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly.
Hooray! Jenny Lewis is back!!! Ohhhh, how I miss Rilo Kiley.
Celebrated California singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis has debuted her new single, “Just One Of The Guys,” taken from her forthcoming album The Voyager, which will be released by Warner Bros. Records on July 29th. The album is now available for pre-order today from all participating digital retailers. Those who pre-order will receive an instant download of “Just One Of The Guys.”
“Just One Of The Guys” was produced by Beck, who also contributes backing vocals. “It was one of the tunes I’d tried a few different ways before I finally recorded it with Beck at his home studio in Malibu,” Lewis says. “The whole experience was super laid-back – walking on the beach, talking about movies, the Rolling Stones, and French pop music. It was just very mellow and lovely.”
Beck is one of several artists Lewis chose to produce tracks on The Voyager, which also features production from Ryan Adams, alongside Mike Viola, as well as her longtime collaborator, Johnathan Rice. The Voyager is the former Rilo Kiley frontwoman’s third solo album and first in six years, following 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat (with The Watson Twins) and 2008’s Acid Tongue. It finds the always relatable songwriter at her sharp-witted best, singing about her recent experiences with honesty and incisiveness.
The Voyager is Lewis’s most deeply personal album to date, documenting her struggle to cope following the death of her estranged father in 2010 and the subsequent break-up of Rilo Kiley. The Voyager‘s rootsy, golden glow comes courtesy of Lewis and the artists she chose to produce various tracks, including Ryan Adams (who, alongside Mike Viola, produced all but three of the tracks), Beck, and Lewis’ longtime collaborator Johnathan Rice. The Voyager finds the always relatable songwriter at her sharp-witted best, singing about her recent experiences with honesty and incisiveness.
“Making The Voyager got me through one of the most difficult periods of my life,” she says. “After Rilo Kiley broke up and a few really intense personal things happened, I completely melted down. It nearly destroyed me. I had such severe insomnia that, at one point, I didn’t sleep for five straight nights. Many of the songs on The Voyager came out of the need to occupy my mind in the moments when I just couldn’t shut down.”
After several years of writing new material, Lewis took 2013 off to tour with The Postal Service. Sharing the spotlight was a freeing experience, providing the realization that she needed to give up control in order to move forward. While on the road, she reached out to Ryan Adams to record at his newly built studio, Pax Am, at Sunset Sound. Her first day back from tour, she went into the studio with Adams and his partner Mike Viola, and found the creative collaboration she was missing.
“Ryan and I didn’t know each other very well before this album — we had hardly even listened to one another’s music, to be honest. But I trusted the vision, and Ryan ended up being the person to get me over the fear of finishing something I’d been working on for so long. This record was the hardest one I ever made,” she says. “The Voyager tells that story: the longest night of my life and the journey to finally getting some rest.”
In other Jenny Lewis news, the sometimes actress also appears in the June 5th episode of IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang as a musical co-host filling in for Reggie Watts and singing a duet with Zach Galifianakis. She is on tour throughout the summer, including several dates with Ray LaMontagne, as well as appearances at Lollapalooza and the Outside Lands Festival. Lewis will also perform a hometown show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on August 9th. See below for all tour dates.
June 4 Portland, ME State Theatre w/ Kurt Vile
June 6 New York, NY Governor’s Ball (Randall’s Island)
June 7 Washington DC 9:30 Club SOLD OUT
July 6 Toronto, ON Urban Roots Festival
July 8 Ottawa, ON Ottawa Blues Fest
July 10 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 11 Orlando, FL Bob Carr Performing Arts Center w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 12 Miami, FL The Fillmore w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 15 Jacksonville, FL Florida Theatre w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 16 Charleston, SC North Charleston PAC w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 18 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 19 Birmingham, AL BJCC Concert Hall w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 20 Louisville, KY Forecastle Festival
July 22 Interlochen, MI Kresge Auditorium w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 23 Grand Rapids, MI Meijer Gardens w/ Ray LaMontagne
July 25 Newport, RI Newport Folk Festival
July 26 Camden, NJ XpoNential Music Festival w/Ryan Adams
July 27 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls
July 31 Indianapolis, IN Deluxe at Old National Centre
Aug 2 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza SOLD OUT
Aug 3 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Aug 9 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
Aug 10 San Francisco, CA Outside Lands Festival SOLD OUT
Bleachers will release debut album Strange Desire on July 15th, 2014 on RCA Records. The highly anticipated album was written and produced by Grammy Award winning musician Jack Antonoffwith co-producer John Hill (MIA, Jay Z, Empire of the Sun) as well as Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yaz, Erasure) and others. Here’s the Craigslist Ad that Antonoff put out a little over a day ago:
‘strange desire’ is something that came to me a few weeks ago when i was working on the last song i wrote for the bleachers album. the lyric is, “feeling like i never was young i followed a dream and a strange desire”. it was just something that came out in a scratch vocal take off the top of my head and i didn’t realize how important it was in that moment. that line speaks to my entire life over the past 14 years of writing and being on tour. i do feel like I’m constantly mourning a childhood i never had. mostly because i dealt with a lot of loss in the most formative years of my life. that ties into a lot of the lyrics on the album. specifically ‘i wanna get better’ – “while my friends where getting high and chasing girls down parkway lines i was losing my mind…”. i felt completely freaked out at a moment in life that was supposed to be carefree. i let go of a lot right then and started to follow what i now call a strange desire. its the 2 words that perfectly title what this bleachers album is as a documentation of my life as i can remember it at this point. or better put, as i see it from this point. its been a bizarre and wonderful decade (particularly the past 2 years). a lot of great things have happened but its also been strange. this album speaks to all of that. i never kept a diary over the past year of being away and thinking about my life as it has unfolded – instead i wrote this album.
so now its time to move on from the ‘making the album phase’ and start to make the plans to give it to you. that will be july 15th. now you know that. as much as its weird to admit, sharing this album is as important as making it for me. I’m able to move on with my life from hearing the stories of what people have been through as well as telling them myself. people hearing my stories makes me feel less alone, hearing others stories does the same….. strange desire etc.
jack
Bleachers first single “I Wanna Get Better” has already streamed over 1.5 million times, was deemed “the song of the summer in February” by the Huffington Post and quickly skyrocketed into the top 10 at Alt radio. Coming off the success of the breakthrough single, Bleachers recently premiered “Shadow” on Pigeons & Planes which is now available on all digital providers.
Since the Bleachers launch in February critics have been nothing but excited and eager to hear more. Rolling Stone exclaimed “We’ll be shocked if it’s not all over the radio by spring”, TIME raved “…it’s exciting to imagine what else Antonoff has up his sleeve” and Hilly Dilly proclaimed “…this is the kind of music that can’t get big enough.”
Bleachers will kick off their summer festival tour dates in early June at New York’s Governor’s Ball: June 8 – New York, NY @ Governor’s Ball June 19-22 – Dover, DE @ Firefly Music Festival June 25 – Pilton, UK @ Glastonbury Festival June 27 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest July 5-6 – UK @ Wireless Festival August 1 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival August 3 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza August 8 – San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands Music Festival September 5 – Boston, MA @ Boston Calling Music Festival September 6 – Boston, MA @ Boston City Hall Plaza September 7 – Boston, MA @ City Hall Plaza October 3 – Austin, TX @ ACL Music Festival October 10 – Austin, TX @ ACL Music Festival Hailing from New Jersey, 29 year old Jack Antonoff has been in the music scene for over a decade. In 2002, with Jack as the lead singer, the success of New Jersey born indie rock band Steel Train was well underway. Steel Train’s cult following lead them to make their national television debut on Late Night With Conan O’Brien and later appeared on Late Show With David Letterman. In 2008, Jack joined Nate Ruess and Andrew Dost to form the Grammy award winning fun. In addition to being a multi-talented musician, Jack is a critically acclaimed songwriter and producer. His achievements include fun. being honored with the Vanguard Award at the 2014 ASCAP Pop Music Awards and co-writing fun.’s Grammy award winning song “We Are Young” and Grammy nominated album Some Nights. He also received a Golden Globe nomination for his collaboration with Taylor Swift on her song “Sweeter Than Fiction.” Jack has also worked with Sara Bareilles, co-writing her Grammy nominated hit “Brave”, and Canadian Indie icons Tegan and Sara.
Sydney sweethearts,The Griswolds, just put the finishing touches on their highly anticipated debut album with Tony Hoffer (M83, Phoenix, Beck). Their first single will be “Beware The Dog.” “This is the first song Dan and I ever wrote together. It’s about losing someone we were really close with to heavy drug use. ‘Beware the Dog’ is about that journey – the good and the bad times,” said Christopher Whitehall.
Last year The Griswolds released their infectious four-song Heart of a Lion EP and upon the release of its first single, “Heart of a Lion,” it was immediately added into high rotation in Australia on triple j radio and was one of the station’s most played tracks of the year. The international airwaves were quick to take notice with the song attracting airplay in over 20 countries worldwide and it also reached #3 on the radio airplay charts in The Netherlands via tastemaker station 3FM and was an iTunes single of the week in the region.
Stateside, the release had critics and fans buzzing alike not only with the songs themselves but with their creative videos which all had noteworthy premieres – “Mississippi” was featured on MTV Buzzworthy and I posted about it HERE; the visualizer for the Magic Man remix of the song premiered on Neon Gold, and “The Courtship of Summer Preasley”premiered with Musically Amusing HERE.
The Griswolds just wrapped a tour in Australia with St. Lucia which had one of Australia’s leading music blogs, Tone Deaf boasting that they, “…put on an incredible support set that could have easily been redefined as a co-headline spot. The quintet oozed tropical flamboyance and Aussie ambience, and brought with them a euphoric lasso that hooked audiences from the get-go…‘Beware Of The Dog’, showcased the band’s impressive harmonies and raw heavy percussion, giving the song an infectious live presence that, in hindsight, rivaled many of the headliner’s moments.”
They also came off some great shows at SXSW to packed houses and rave reviews including making many best of lists such as, The Huffington Post naming them as “30 SXSW Acts About to Break,” The Atlantic “18 Bands to Check Out From South by Southwest 2014,”Buzzfeed “50 Acts You Need To Hear,” AU Review naming the band as “Best Australian Artist at SXSW: The Griswolds” and Reverb naming them in their “The best shows at SXSW 2014” list.
The Griswolds will be playing shows throughout the rest of the year including Bonnaroo and Firefly as well as select dates with Gemini Club. More dates will be announced soon.
The Griswolds are also currently running a Pledge Music pre-order campaign which gives fans access to exclusive updates and content from the band, plus options for unique merchandise and experiences bundled with an album pre-order. A portion of the proceeds go to benefit the ASPCA / RSCPA. Get more information here:http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/thegriswolds
The Griswolds are Christopher Whitehall (Vocals), Daniel Duque-Perez (Guitars), Lachlan West (Keyboard / Percussion) and Tim John (Bass).
TOUR DATES (MORE DATES WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON): 6/13/14 to 6/15/14 – Bonnaroo – Manchester, TN 6/17/14 –Great Scott – Allston, MA – w/Gemini Club 6/18/14 – Rough Trade – Brooklyn, NY – w/Gemini Club 6/19/14 to 6/22/14 – Firefly – Dover, DE 6/19/14 – Black Cat Backstage – Washington, DC – w/Gemini Club 6/20/14 – Boot and Saddle – Philadelphia, PA – w/Gemini Club 6/24/14 – Brillobox – Pittsburgh, PA – w/Gemini Club 6/25/14 – Grog Shop – Cleveland Heights, OH – w/Gemini Club 6/27/14 – DO 317 – Indianapolis, IN – w/Gemini Club
Strange Talkjust released their self-produced Wind-up Records debut album Cast Away on April 29, 2014. All songs on the album were mixed byTony Hoffer (M83, Phoenix) with the exception of “Climbing Walls,” “Eskimo Boy” and “Is It Real?” which were mixed by Eliot James (Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club). The album streamed in its entirety before it hit stores through Billboard’s website.
Strange Talk’s anthemic electro-tinged debut single “Young Hearts” was produced by Captain Cuts (Grouplove, Smallpools, The Mowgli’s) and mixed by Tony Hoffer. The music video for “Young Hearts,” directed by Mathematics (award winning director of Empire of The Sun’s “Walking on a Dream” video) premiered on VEVO.
Shazam the video to unlock a free download of The Chainsmokers remix of “Young Hearts.” The song immediately shot to #1 on Hype Machine and has garnered over 1,200,000 plays to date.
Strange Talk was also #1 Billboard Uncharted for “Climbing Walls.” They played multiple SXSW Shows to rave reviews – press coverage included “30 SXSW Acts About to Break” in Huffington Post, “50 Acts You Need To Hear” on Buzzfeed and “25 Songs From SXSW That Will Stick In Your Head” in Elite Millennial among others. The band has had some noteworthy syncs recently including “Morning Sun,” featured in and on the soundtrack of the Zac Efron film That Awkward Moment and in the April 1st episode ofGLEE.“Climbing Walls” was featured in American Eagle Project Live Your Life Campaign and Cheer, “Cast Away” was used in Need for Speed: Most Wanted and 90210 among others. They are currently on tour throughout the United States; their May 14th Los Angeles date with Broods is now sold out.
TOUR DATES:
Mon 05/12/14 – Los Angeles, CA – Bardot Wed 05/14/14 – Los Angeles, CA – Echo w/BROODS – SOLD OUT!!! Fri 05/16/14 – San Francisco, CA – Popscene w/ The Hundred Days, Cub Sport Sun 05/18/14 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios w/CHAD VALLEY Mon 05/19/14 – Seattle, WA – Barboza Thu 05/22/14 – Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern Fri 05/23/14 – Toronto, ON – The Drake Tue 05/27/14 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge Wed 05/28/14 – Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade
NPR has premiered the new PHANTOGRAM record Voices in its entirety as part of their exclusive FIRST LISTEN series.Due out February 18th via Republic Records, Voicescan be heard now!
Phantogram will be taking to the road this spring in support of the record, with a full US tour that begins April 4th in Pittsburgh, PA. (YAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!)
Phantogramhave also premiered the video for “Fall In Love”, the critically-acclaimed first single from Voices.
Listeners who pre-order the entire record will get an instant download of tracks “Bill Murray”, “Nothing But Trouble”, and “Fall In Love”.
In addition to the full US tour, Phantogramwill also be performing on the West Coast during the week of the record’s release, making the following stops:
02.20.14 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre – SOLD OUT
02.21.14 Sacramento, CA Ace of Spades
02.22.14 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium – SOLD OUT
02.23.14 Ventura, CA Ventura Theatre
After featured performances at the Maverick Music Festival in San Antonio Texas on March 21st and the Buku Music & Art Project in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 22ndPhantogram will embark on a full U.S. tour:
04.04 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
04.05 Columbus, OH LC Pavilion
04.06 Cincinnati, OH 20th Century Theatre
04.08 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
04.10 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
04.11 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theatre
04.12 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
04.13 Minneapolis, MI First Avenue
04.15 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
04.16 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
04.18 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
04.19 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
04.21 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
04.23 Dallas, TX South Side Music Hall
04.25 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
04.27 Atlanta, GA Counterpoint Festival
05.23-25 George, WA Sasquatch! Festival
06.20-22 Dover, DE Firefly Music Festival
Recorded in Los Angeles with co-producer John Hill (Santigold, MIA), Voices follows up the group’s celebrated self-titled EP, which spawned the track “Black Out Days”. Phantogram’s full-length debut Eyelid Movies [2010, Barsuk] and Nightlife EP [2011, Barsuk] established them as one of music’s most intriguing indie outfits. Soon, the likes of The Flaming Lips and Big Boi [Outkast] began seeking them out for studio collaborations. Republic Records also recognized their spirit and joined forces with them in 2013.
Architecture In Helsinki is one of Australia’s most infectious and beloved pop bands. Following their internationally acclaimed 2011 album Moment Bends, the band will release their highly anticipated new album NOW + 4EVA this April via the band’s own Casual Workout.
The bands highly polished and unique pop sound reaches an even brighter level on NOW + 4EVA; as the album’s first single “Dream A Little Crazy” vibrantly attests. “Dream A Little Crazy” is a song about letting go and enjoying it thoroughly. Featuring a big sing-along chorus, Architecture in Helsinki debuted the single live at Splendour in the Grass earlier in the year and it had the crowd singing along in harmony.
Today, AIH reveal the “Dream A Little Crazy” official video, which stars frontman Cameron Bird as a mad scientist of sorts working in a bio-tech lab called “The Biological Bakery.”
“Dream A Little Crazy” and NOW + 4EVA were mixed in Los Angeles and Montreal by Francois Tetaz and Damian Taylor. Long time collaborator Tetaz is most notably known for his efforts with Gotye’s full-length album Making Mirrors as the engineer/mixer, as well as working with Kimbra. Taylor has a successful past working with Bjork, Gotye, The Killers and Arcade Fire.
Tracklist for NOW + 4EVA:
01 In The Future
02 When You Walk In The Room
03 I Might Survive
04 Dream A Little Crazy
05 (Boom) 4EVA
06 U Tell Me
07 Echo
08 Born To Convince You
09 2 Time
10 April
11 Before Tomorrow
Earlier this week, Rolling Stone premiered the song “You,” proclaiming it “exists at the intersection between modern EDM and classic Eighties synth-pop.” Similarly, the album’s enthralling first single “Sleepwalking,'” which is featured on the television commercial for Grand Theft Auto V, recently debuted at #1 on the Alt Specialty Radio Chart and was also added to Sirius XM’s Alt Nation playlist. The song was nominated for Spike TV’s Video Game (VGX) Awardsfor “Best Song In A Game,” and is the most popular on the GTAV soundtrack , with over 30K sold.
Led by the genre-jumping singer/multi-instrumentalist Kamtin Mohager, the band will be performing at SXSW and Governor’s Ball, with additional tour dates coming soon.
Daydream Forever was produced by Isom Innis (Foster The People) with additional production and mixing from Tony Hoffer (M83, Phoenix). The new album is the anticipated follow-up to The Chain Gang of 1974’s widely acclaimed 2011 debut Wayward Fire, which Esquire declared “one of the summer’s most surprisingly fantastic new records,” earning similar praise from the likes of SPIN, MTV, FADER, NYLON, RCRD LBL and more. They have shared the stage with the likes of Foster the People, Big Audio Dynamite, Tapes N Tapes, and The Naked and Famous, as well as a lauded performance at 2011’s Lollapalooza, which Yahoo proclaimed “a fabulous onstage display.”
Musically Amusing 