Twenty-thirteen marks the thirteenth anniversary of what we ’round these parts like to call The Last Great Classic Rock Album, one slab of plastic and ink labeled Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia.
In anticipation of the forthcoming reissue on cd, vinyl and limited edition vinyl boxset, The Dandy Warhols have a few somethings special up their sleeves, up to and including: performance of Thirteen Tales LIVE in its perfect entirety right in front of your face.
This May, The Presets and Dragonette come together for an extensive co-headline across North America. Although coming from opposite sides of the world (Australia and Canada respectively), both share recognition globally for their electric live shows – hailed by audiences and critics as infectious, dynamic and irrepressible.
The Presets tour this May in support of their recently released album Pacifica. Featuring ten prismatic, synth-laced songs, Pacifica ventures boldly into new, uncharted musical territories, traversing both light and shade in energy and emotion.
Fresh from US dates with Major Lazer, Dragonette will be showcasing material from their latest long player Bodyparts. From emotion-packed ballads to fist-pumping anthems, Bodyparts fuses heavy-hitting electro rhythms with pulsing beats, and sing-along choruses.
The Presets captured the world’s imagination with their blitzkrieg sophomore Apocalypso. Spawning five hit singles and Triple Platinum sales in Australia, Apocalypso set dizzying new heights for dance music in Australia. The single “My People” is the longest charting Australian single in ARIA chart history. Pacifica is following suit – acclaimed Album of The Year in a dozen Australian publications, and the single “Ghosts” recently awarded Single of the Year (Readers’ Choice) for at the 4th annual Australian Rolling Stone Awards.
Dragonette has also racked up an impressive list of accomplishments in the past year: a JUNO Award win for their hit single “Hello,” a live performance on Good Morning America, and a second JUNO nomination for Dance Recording of the Year for Bodyparts.
The bands will be joined in most markets by acclaimed LA duo, Classixx, performing tracks live from their upcoming debut Hanging Gardens, a svelte selection of impossibly sunny grooves, expertly crafted for road trips, pool parties and dance clubs (All shows except Salt Lake City, Phoenix and San Francisco).
Tour Dates:
05/04 9:30 CLUB WASHINGTON, DC (THE PRESETS ONLY)* 05/05 UNION TRANSFER PHILADELPHIA, PA* 05/07 PARADISE ROCK CLUB BOSTON, MA* 05/08 TERMINAL 5 NEW YORK, NY* 05/09 LE NATIONAL MONTREAL, QC* 05/10 THE DANFORTH MUSIC HALL TORONTO, ON* 05/12 THE VOGUE THEATRE INDIANAPOLIS, IN* 05/13 NEWPORT MUSIC HALL COLUMBUS, OH* 05/14 MAJESTIC THEATRE MADISON, WI* 05/15 FIRST AVENUE MINNEAPOLIS, MN* 05/17 THE GRANADA LAWRENCE, MO* 05/18 OGDEN THEATRE DENVER, CO* 05/19 THE DEPOT SALT LAKE CITY, UT 05/20 MARQUEE THEATRE TEMPE, AZ 05/21 AVALON LOS ANGELES, CA* 05/24FOX THEATER SAN FRANCISCO, CA 05/25 MY LIFE EVERY DAY SAN DIEGO, CA (THE PRESETS ONLY) 05/25 NEON DESERT MUSIC FESTIVAL EL PASO, TX (DRAGONETTE ONLY) 05/26 SASQUATCH FESTIVAL GEORGE, WA (THE PRESETS ONLY)
French electronic music titans Justice have announced a new live album, Access All Arenas, set for release on May 7th. The 14-track album is a recording of their show in the Nîmes arenas last July, offering a taste of the wild effervescence that makes this duo one of the most exciting electronic live bands of the decade.
In 2012 the Audio, Video, Disco tour sold-out in a matter of days, comprising 105 shows that spanned from Australia to New York, Europe and South America, and resulted in the strongest performances of their career. The duo’s immense live presence stems from their live reworkings of album tracks, as well as powerful stage and lighting design, as detailed in a live documentary that made it’s debut on Jay-Z’s Life + Times (see video below).
Rolling Stone called it “one of the ten hottest summer package tours of 2012” and Entertainment Weekly spotlighted it on their “2012 Summer Must List.” We’re talking, of course, about the Barenaked Ladies’ uber-successful “Last Summer On Earth,” a rollicking roadshow that tore through more than 30 arenas and amphitheaters during its near-sold-out run. Back by popular demand, this year’s lineup sees the multi-platinum-selling Ladies joined by Ben Folds Five and Guster for a hot-ticket-tour set to kick off June 17th at the Verizon Theatre in Dallas, TX. The “Last Summer On Earth 2013” will hit 30 arenas and amphitheaters across the country, with public sale beginning today at Ticketmaster.com and Livenation.com.
As an added bonus, those who purchase tickets for “The Last Summer On Earth” will receive a voucher for a download of the Barenaked Ladies’ much-anticipated new album to be released June 4th on Vanguard Records, featuring the single “Boomerang.”
It’ll be a busy summer for the Barenaked Ladies (guitarist/vocalist Ed Robertson, bassist/vocalist Jim Creeggan, keyboardist/vocalist Kevin Hearn and drummer/vocalist Tyler Stewart), who are celebrating their 25th anniversary with the release of a brand-new studio album (their twelfth, for those keeping count) and their first for new label Vanguard Records. The band is putting the finishing touches on the album, which was recorded in Toronto with producers Gavin Brown (The Tragically Hip, Metric), Howie Beck (Feist, Josh Rouse) and Mark Endert (Maroon 5, Train). Over the course of the past twenty-three years, Barenaked Ladies have amassed an international fanbase whose members number in the millions. Their plethora of career highlights includes eight Juno Awards and multiple Grammy nominations, more than 14 million albums sold worldwide and a series of hit singles, including No. 1 hit “One Week,” as well as “Pinch Me, “Brian Wilson,” “If I Had $1,000,000” and many more, along with the theme song for the hit CBS television series, “The Big Bang Theory.”
Ben Folds Five is touring in support of The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind, the group’s first album of new music in 13 years. The groundbreaking pop trio of pianist Ben Folds, bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee launched in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in‘94 and released debut album Whatever And Ever Amen in ‘97. A slice of pure pop perfection, the album introduced the ballad “Brick,” which broke the band commercially and sold more than two million copies worldwide. BF5 recorded its last album, ‘99’s The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner, which included the single “Army,” before disbanding in 2000. (The trio reunited for a one-off live performance of The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner on MySpace in 2008). In 2011, the original three members of Ben Folds Five came together to record three new studio tracks for The Best Imitation Of Myself: A Retrospective, a career-spanning anthology. The band’s magic rekindled in the new tracks, BF5 gave its first concert in more than a decade to a spellbound audience at New York’s Mountain Jam Festival on June 2, 2012. That inspired a short run of key US summer festival dates, including Bonnaroo, Milwaukee Summerfest, and Old St. Patrick’s Church Block Party in Chicago which set up a massive comeback tour with dates in the US, UK, Australia, and Japan.
Guster recently self-released Guster: Live Acoustic, a collection of live recordings from their 2012 acoustic tour. It’s been eight years since Guster released a proper live album – 2004’s Guster On Ice – and two years since their last studio album, Easy Wonderful. The sixteen tracks from Live Acoustic are a musical tribute to the varied faces and places that made last year’s travels one of the most remarkable in Guster’s impressive career. Known to open up for themselves in disguise as psychedelic rockers “Trippin’ Balls” and as Christian Southern Rock outfit “The Peace Soldiers,” Guster has also shared the stage with the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony in recent years. Singer Ryan Miller has branched out into scoring films – including 2012’s beloved Sundance standout Safety Not Guaranteed. Bandmate Adam Gardner has started his own non-profit called “Reverb,” which works with bands, artists, and venues to reduce the music industries environmental footprint.
Dates are as follows:
June 17 Dallas, TX Verizon Theatre
June 19 Denver, CO Red Rocks
June 20 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amp
June 22 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl
June 23 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
June 25 Saratoga, CA Mountain Winery ●
June 26 Saratoga, CA Mountain Winery ●
June 28 Boise, ID Botanical Gardens
June 29 Seattle, WA White River Amp
June 30 Missoula, MT Big Sky Brewing Company
July 3 Fargo, ND Newman Field ●●
July 5 Columbus, OH LC Pavilion
July 6 Cincinnati, OH (Venue TBA March 29)
July 8 Lansing, MI Commonground Festival
July 9 Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion ●
July 11 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
July 12 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 13 Nashville, TN The Woods at Fontanel
July 15 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
July 16 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion ●
July 18 Philadelphia, PA Mann Music Ctr
July 19 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
July 20 Holmdel, NJ PNC
July 21 Bangor, ME Waterfront Park
July 23 Lenox, MA Tanglewood
July 25 Charlotte, NC T W Cable Uptown Amp
July 26 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amp
July 27 Charleston, SC Family Circle Stadium
July 28 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheatre
July 30 Brooklyn, NY Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Prospect Park Bandshell
Back in November last year, I posted about The Last Bison with a free download of their track, “Switzerland.” (You can see the post here.) Well now, The Last Bison has officially arrived with the release of their full-length debut album, Inheritance via Republic Records. In support of the release, the band is currently on the road through mid-April, including stops at SXSW, Savannah Stopover Festival, the Tree Fort Music Festival and more. The band also took time to film a BEAUTIFUL cover of M83’s “Midnight City,” which you can watch below.
The Virginia indie folk septet roams in its own pastures, threading together strands of classical, indie, and rock into a vibrant sonic patchwork, which the members have cleverly dubbed “mountaintop chamber.” The first single “Switzerland” whisks listeners away from the rustic heart of the American south into a cold European eve under the winter stars. It also elegantly evinces the group’s robust instrumental fusion and warm, wistful melodies.
The best kind of art is always a family affair, and Ben Hardesty fronts The Last Bison being joined by his dad Dan and sister Annah. Their ranks also include lifelong friends Andrew and Jay Benfante, Teresa Totheroh, and Amos Housworth.
Already, the sounds of the rustically soulful collective have resonated powerfully with the press with their Inheritance EP drumming up widespread acclaim. NPRencapsulate their enigmatic style calling it “classical-influenced Southern folk-rock,” while the LA Weekly praised them for being “At once epic and intimate, great-outdoorsy and fireside cozy.” PopMatters fittingly declared, “Are The Last Bison a Band to Watch in 2013? Most definitely.”
The Last Bison invite everyone to join their family now and enjoy Inheritance.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
3/05 – Athens, GA – The Melting Point
3/06 – Decatur, GA – Eddie’s Attic
3/07 – Savannah, GA – Savannah Stopover Music Festival
3/10 – Denton, TX – 35 Denton Music Festival
3/11 – Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s Downstairs (free show)
3/12 – Austin, TX – Blackheart (Paste Magazine/Newport Folk Festival Showcase, 12am)
3/13 – Austin, TX – SXSW
3/15 – Austin, TX – The Wild Honey Pie Showcase @ Uncorked (900 E. 7th St, 3:45pm)
3/18 – Denver, CO – The Soiled Dove Underground
3/20 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
3/21 – Boise, ID – Tree Fort Music Festival
3/22 – Wenatchee, WA – Caffe Mela
3/23 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
3/24 – Vancouver, BC – Media Club
3/26 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
3/29 – San Francisco, CA – The Rickshaw Stop
3/30 – Los Angeles, CA – The Mint
4/02 – La Jolla, CA – The Loft (UCSD)
4/05 – Kansas City, MO – The Record Bar
4/06 – Ames, IA – The Maintenance Shop (Iowa State University)
4/08 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue & 7th Street Entry
4/09 – Milwaukee, WI – Club Garibaldi
4/10 – Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
4/12 – Bloomington, IN – The Bishop
4/13 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
4/14 – Louisville, KY – Uncle Slayton’s
PSY is revamping and re-upping his multi-platinum, history-making phenomenon “Gangnam Style” with the star-studded GANGNAM STYLE REMIX STYLEEP, available digitally today via School Boy/Republic Records. The collection features fiery new guest spots by hip-hop titans 2 Chainz and Tyga on one track and remixing from electronic dance music titans Diplo and Afrojack.
These remixes take “Gangnam Style” straight to the dance floor with propulsive production and uncontainable club energy courtesy of some of the biggest presences in the EDM scene. Meanwhile, 2 Chainz and Tyga add their own flavor to the massive hit, giving it another dimension altogether. Get ready to move to “Gangnam Style” all over again. This release will tide the world over until the next phase begins, which is only a little more than a month away.
“Gangnam Style”has solidified PSY as a superstar, and he’s taking everything to the next level once more. His reign will continue as strong as ever in 2013.
The music video for “Gangnam Style” is the first clip ever to reach 1 billion views on YouTube/VEVO. It also holds the Guinness World Record for “most-viewed” on the site, unseating Justin Bieber’s 2010-released “Baby”. It’s the “most-liked” video on the hub with over 5.8 million “Likes”. The video shows no signs of stopping still. Views range between 7 and 10 million daily for “Gangnam Style”, and countless clips fan-generated have popped up generating their own plethora of eyeballs.
PSY also has been honored recently in the U.S. and across the Atlantic. At the 2012, MTV Europe Music Awards, “Gangnam Style” received the top honor for “Best Video”, while at the American Music Awards, he took home their coveted trophy as this year’s “New Media Honoree”. Last Thanksgiving, PSY popped by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for a very special holiday rendition of the song. It followed up a string of successful high-profile TV appearances including the Today Show, Saturday Night Live, Ellen DeGeneres, ABC’s Nightline, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The View. Psy also closed out his stellar chart-topping year with a performance of the hit song on ABC’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve w/ Ryan Seacrest live from Times Square on Dec 31st.
PSY has also graced the cover of BillboardMagazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and has been featured prominently in Time Magazine, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, L.A. Times, GQ, People, Maxim, and more.
Australian indie pop duo The Cannanes will issue their first official release in over 11 years on March 19th, 2013. The “Small Batch” EP contains the fun, bouncy songs that the band’s fans know them for (and that famously earned them a mention in Kurt Cobain’s journals.) The Cannanes have been releasing modest, ramshackle records since being formed in Sydney, Australia by Fran Gibson and Stephen O’Neil almost 30 years ago.
UK producer Richie Phoe has his own take on the first single from “Small Batch” and his downtempo remix of “Bumper” is streaming and available for download now. BBC Radio 1’s Rob Da Bank has described Phoe as “Brighton’s Lee Scratch Perry” and fellow BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens calls his work “Bouncy dub at its very best.”
SPIN recently premiered the original EP version of “Bumper,” with columnist Marc Hogan writing, “Cardigan-owners, rejoice! Long-running Australian indie-pop combo The Cannanes have returned with ‘Bumper,’ the first taste of their first major release since 2002’s Trouble Seemed So Far Away. The ‘Small Batch’ EP, due March 19, is helmed by veteran members Fran Gibson and Stephen O’Neil; and while the production quality seems slightly more polished, the earnest melodicism remains.”
For the “Small Batch” EP, The Cannanes have once again collaborated with Explosion Robinson producer and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Hermann. The six-track release sees Gibson and O’Neil at their best, back on familiar territory musing on the nature of friendship, love, and outer space that has characterized their best work over the last 27 years.
Conquistador attacks again with another contagious, psych-pop hit “I’m Alive.” Expanding from his trippy persona, Conquistador enters a new realm of intoxicating glam electro. He recently released a video that won this year’s Machinima Interactive Film Fest and was an MTVU Freshman video nominee– check it out below.
“I’m Alive” was inspired in part by the Arab Spring. Conquistador has been involved with the Free Iran organization in Sweden and donated music to them at the height of the Green Movement, which demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Supporters of the green movement wore green as its symbol, and what started as a peaceful protest ended in the removal of a dictator. Another key inspiration for the song is the Zazous, a garishly-dressed subculture in WW II-era France who wore yellow stars that said zazou, which mocked the badges of degradation that the Jews wore in Jewish ghettos all over Nazi controlled Europe. These revolutionaries used style as a form of transgression and wore it like a weapon. “I’m Alive” has a message of survival, both of the joy of making it through a dark time in society and also the melancholy of remembering those who didn’t. While studying anthropology at NYU, Conquistador spent time in the Middle East. He took a musical cue from the region, which can be heard on the track.
“Edwardian Ziggy Stardust goes to Transylvania,” –Los Angeles Times
“An amalgam of Bowie, Queen, synth-pop, disco, psych…and the introspection of a sensitive oddball who’s been told many times he doesn’t fit in, but is actually more normal than most people.” – BLURT
“A glam rock peacock.” -Paper Magazine
Conquistador is an LA-based musician and artist whose music is collaboration between himself and Carlos Cháirez of Mexico’s iconic alternative band Kinky. The pair have also received two Latin Grammy nominations for co-writing Kinky songs. A champion of true freedom, his work champions individualism and is defiantly eccentric. His presence alone has a transformative effect on any space. His signature look consists of cat suits, a Ushanka Russian hat, and most notably, his award-winning moustache, which made him the first American, first Jew, and youngest competitor in history to win the title of “World Imperial Moustache Champion” at the World Beard and Mustache Championships, held in Brighton, England in 2007. Conquistador was also #3 in Fuse’s “10 greatest moments of SXSW 2012.”
Conquistador grabbed national attention this fall when he unwittingly became one of the highlights of MTV’s 2012 VMAs and caused a sensation on the red carpet. His music and performance art has lead to Madness and The Whigs inviting him onstage at festival performances. The image and music have always been inseparable for Conquistador. He grew up with Sparks as neighbors and was inspired to wear lycra catsuits by Todd Rundgren and Alice Cooper. The glitter movement inspired him to be exactly who he wants to be at all times and Conquistador is paying the inspiration forward. He has already won a pair of Latin GRAMMY nominations for his co-writing with Kinky.
Check out The Royal Concept taking on Daft Punk. With a brand new cover, the Swedish lads add their patented rock ‘n’ roll swing to the legendary French electro duo’s classic from Discovery, “Digital Love.”
Given the quartet’s penchant for danceable grooves and massive hooks, it’s an undeniable interpretation worth spinning again and again. It’s also the perfect tune to hold over fans until the release of the band’s forthcoming full-length debut for LAVA Records/Republic Records later this year.
In addition, after unveiling “World on Fire” online last month, the single is available on iTunes and other digital retailers. The group continues to stir up buzz stateside after cultivating a fervent and faithful following in Sweden. Their song “D-D-Dance” hit No.2 on Hype Machine, while “Gimme Twice” reached No.3.
Musically Amusing 