New: Fake Blood – Cells

Click image to go stream the new album now!

In true maverick style, UK’s Theo Keating, has forged his own path as Fake Blood – a hard-hitting, multi genre artist with a cult following like no other. Today, he announces his eagerly anticipated new album Cells, which will be released November 13th via [PIAS] America. In conjunction with this announcement, Keating is streaming the full album on his website.

Cells is an 11-track distillation of Keating’s surreal vision, an electronic masterpiece skewered by his love of the macabre, the uncanny and the sinister. He has trapped his signature breed of savage, Godzilla-strength basslines and laser-blazing four-to-the-floor inside his very own suspense thriller. On “London,” his jacking rhythm is haunted by taught strings and menacing analogue synthesizers, while “End of Days” is an apocalyptic and cinematic techno opus in which time is running out for whomever is trapped inside the rhythm.

“The album definitely has left-of-center moments because I wanted to show some other facets to what I do and enjoy making,” he says. “Not every track on Cells is overtly made for the dance floor. Some of the sounds will definitely be a bit unorthodox, but, then again, the way I make music is strange to most people: it’s a little bit ‘wrong’ because I never learnt the ‘right’ way to produce.” It’s not all weird-and-wonkiness, though: Cells has its uplifting moments too, especially on All in the Blink, a twist on the humble funkified electro-disco nugget featuring Keating’s fellow Black Ghost, Simon Lord, on vocals.

Since he released his crushingly infectious single “Mars” in 2008, Keating has released another chart-nudging single, “I Think I Like It” remixed by everyone from Hot Chip and Gossip to Calvin Harris and Sway. Perhaps what makes Keating an even more captivating producer, though, is that he has cracked the key to what musicians crave most of all: longevity. “You just need a hunger for new music, a curiosity that needs constant feeding and, crucially, be open to change,” he muses. “The enemy is nostalgia. If you can always find stuff that excites or interests you, and let that inspire you to try new ideas, then you can enjoy yourself. That, really, is at the heart of it all.”

 

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Video: Heartsrevolution – “Not That Hard to Explain”

Heartsrevolution just dropped this video from their just-around-the-corner mixtape (teasing their new album in 2013).

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New Music from Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara’s new album, Heartthrob, has a release date for their seventh album of January 29, 2013, with the exception of UK/Europe which is February 18th. Sisters Tegan and Sara Quin have some additional exiting news. Before their impending US Tour with The Killers, with whom their currently on the road in the UK, Tegan and Sara announced today that they’ll be playing a special special gig at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom on Monday, November 19th. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at Noon EST.

The girls are set to perform their addicting new single, “Closer,” on The Late Show with David Letterman November 20th. “Closer” has come out of the gates blazing. Tegan and Sara recently offered fans another taste of what they can expect on Heartthrob when they posted a stream of another new song, “I’m Not Your Hero”.

Confirmed T&S Tour Dates:

UK Dates w/The Killers:

  • Nov 8 – Motorpoint Arena – Sheffield, South Yorkshire
  • Nov 9 – Echo Arena – Liverpool, Merseyside
  • Nov 13 – Manchester Arena – Manchester
  • Nov 14 – Manchester Arena – Manchester
  • Nov 16 – O2 Arena  – London
  • Nov 17 – O2 Arena – London

US Headlining Show:

  • Nov 19 – Bowery Ballroom – NYC
  • Nov 20 – Late Show w/David Letterman – NYC

w/The Killers:

  • Nov 29 – 1st Bank Center – Broomfield, CO
  • Nov 30 – UCCU Center – Orem, UT
  • Dec 1 – Knitting Factory – Reno, NV
  • Dec 3 – Pacific Coliseum – Vancouver, BC
  • Dec 4 – Kitting Factory – Spokane, WA
  • Dec 5 – Theatre of the Clouds @ Rose Garden – Portland, OR
  • Dec 7 – 91x WREX The Halls – San Diego, CA  *
  • Dec 8 – Live 105’s Not So Silent Night – San Francisco, CA *
  • Dec 10 – KJEE Winter Round Up – Santa Barbara, CA *
  • Dec 13 – Susquehanna Bank Center – Camden, NJ
  • Dec 14 – Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
  • Dec 15 – Air Canada Centre – Toronto, ON
  • Dec 16 – Metropolis – Montreal, QB
  • Dec 17 – Agganis Arena – Boston, MA
  • Dec 18 – Patriot Center – Fairfax, VA
  • Dec 20 – EMU Convocation Center – Ypsilanti, MI
  • Dec 21 – UIC Pavilion – Chicago, IL

*without The Killers

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BRAND NEW: Foals – “Inhaler”

I am super excited to share this brand new track and video with you. It’s a new Foals song called “Inhaler” and the band will be releasing their third album Holy Fire on February 12, 2013.

Produced by Flood & Moulder (PJ Harvey, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins) at Assault & Battery studios in London, Holy Fire is the Oxford five-piece’s most direct and fully-realized album yet. Of the electric “Inhaler,” front man Yannis Philippakis says “It’s heavy, that song; it was liberating,” adding that it is the sound of the band shedding their inhibitions.

Foals released their debut album Antidotes in 2008, followed by 2010’s breakthrough Total Life Forever.  Both are certified gold. Total Life Forever was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize, an Ivor Novello award for Best Song and they received five nods at the 2011 NME awards, winning Best Single for “Spanish Sahara.” TLF was also voted The Fly magazine’s album of the year in 2010.

The band will hit the road on a small club tour in the UK next month, look for them stateside in the spring. For more info visit http://www.foals.co.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/Foalsforever

 

 

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Listen: Them Swoops – “Work Around It”

Click image to go have a listen to “Work Around It”

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West End Motel – Only Time Can Tell

Click image to go listen to songs from West End Motel’s album Only Time Can Tell

Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds is receiving praise for his side project West End Motel’s newest release Only Time Can Tell, out now on Warner Bros/ADA. The album is streaming in its entirety at AOL Spinner in addition to PASTE Magazine, who applauds its “acoustic-driven, country-twinged tracks.” Similarly, MTV declares it “hypnotizing,” praising the “brittle guitars and hushed, husky vocals,” while Alternative Press states, “rockabilly and surf rock with strong flavors of Stax and Motown soul prevail, yet a smorgasbord of disparate influences also insinuate their way into this mix, ensuring no two songs are alike.”

The 8-song set is now available to purchase on iTunes. Rolling Stone is streaming the album’s first single “Burn It Down,” praising its “brightly shout-out-loud vocals, warm and soulful textures, swooning funk melodies and a breezy beat that’s downright feel-good music.”

West End Motel will kick off a 3-week tour on November 28 in Washington, D.C. – making stops in New York, Boston, Chicago, and more – wrapping up December 15 in Hinds’ hometown of Atlanta. See below for more details.

Only Time Can Tell is the highly-anticipated follow-up to Hinds’ acclaimed 2011 debut Don’t Shiver, You’re A Winner which SPIN proclaimed “a welcome departure from Mastodon’s thrashy, progged-out  fare…sounds like Tom Waits and Tim Burton co-hosting the creepiest  vaudeville show ever,” and Pitchfork praised for its “playfulness and off-the-cuff amiability.”

West End Motel began in 1993 under a bridge in Atlanta, where Hinds first met longtime friend Tom Cheshire. Describing themselves as a “conglomerate of losers, poets and hobo-sexuals,” the pair write acoustic-guitar driven songs enriched with horns and keys, with the end result sounding like Nick Cave fronting Gogol Bordello. The project pre-dates Mastodon and offers an important glimpse into Hinds’ musical influences.

“I grew up listening to Chet Atkins play guitar, and I grew up listening to Brian Setzer play guitar,” explains Hinds. “Jimmy Bryant, Speedy West, all these country-chicken-pickin’-flying-’round-the-guitar-neck guitar players. I got really inspired by it. I’m from way down in the country. It was pretty common to have the interests I had when I was that age. MTV had some hair metal on there, but I was more interested in this rockabilly vibe. Stray Cats were really big at the time, in the ’80s. It was epic.”

Only Time Can Tell Track Listing:

  1. Burn It Down
  2. El Myr
  3. Witch Is Dead
  4. If I Only Had Tomorrow (Second Chances)
  5. Bite
  6. Forgiveness
  7. Only Time Can Tell
  8. Valentine

WEST END MOTEL TOUR DATES

  • Nov 28 – Vienna, VA @ Jammin’ Java
  • Nov 29 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
  • Nov 30 – West Chester, PA @ The Note
  • Dec 01 – Winooski, VT @ The Monkey House
  • Dec 02 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
  • Dec 04 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
  • Dec 05 – Cleveland, OH @ The Grog Shop
  • Dec 06 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
  • Dec 07 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
  • Dec 08 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
  • Dec 09 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
  • Dec 11 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
  • Dec 13 – Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
  • Dec 14 – Birmingham, AL @ The Nick
  • Dec 15 – Atlanta, GA @ 529

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New Video: Walk Off The Earth – “Red Hands”

Walk Off The Earth have released a new video for their original song “Red Hands.” The group are already known for their innovative, unique homemade videos, and this one is no different. NPR’s Bob Boilen calls the video “high-concept but homemade, a little like the work of director Michel Gondry or the videos made by OK Go.  It’s a bit of a visual puzzle.”

The video, directed by Ellis Bahl, was shot in a single take in a warehouse in LA, and required the band to perform the song out of order and at different speeds to achieve the effect of jumping through time. Bahl explains, “We shot it on a steady-cam and walked backwards down the whole hallway with the band walking forwards performing the out of order song towards the camera. We only had enough supplies/daylight for ten takes and finally got it on the last one. It was really scary, but the payoff was immense.”

“Red Hands” is one of four tracks on WOTE’s just-released R.E.V.O. EP. “When we originally wrote the song, we were thinking about taking responsibility for your actions and standing up on your own when things go wrong… rather than blaming other people around you. Sometimes you just have to accept the circumstances that are thrown your way without pointing the finger,” says Gianni Luminati. Rolling Stone says of the song “‘Red Hands’ explodes with xylophone, walls of drums and anthemic chants,” and the NY Daily News has also praised the EP’s “rustic folk-pop originals with pluck.”

Walk Off The Earth have been bringing their energetic live show around the world all year, including a well received set at this summer’s Lollapalooza and sold out headlining shows in cities from NYC and LA to Toronto, Tokyo, Singapore, London, and Paris. They’re wrapping up the East Coast leg of their US headlining tour, and will pick up with a West Coast leg later this month. In addition to traditional ticket sales, fans can also purchase a special bundle including the R.E.V.O. EP and a ticket to the show of their choice here: http://smarturl.it/wotetix. A full list of tour dates is below.

Walk Off The Earth features multi-instrumentalists Gianni Luminati, Marshall, and Sarah Blackwood on vocals, Taylor on keyboards, and Joel Cassady on drums. WOTE have an incredibly loyal fanbase, with over 780k subscribers to their YouTube channel and over 592k fans on Facebook. The band gained notoriety for their creative multi-million-viewed YouTube videos ranging from a cover of the Weeds theme “Little Boxes” to Adele’s “Someone Like You” to their wildly popular cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” with all five band members playing one guitar, which has been viewed over 138 million times and landed the group a performance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Walk Off The Earth headlining tour

  • 11-06     Nashville, TN                      Cannery Ballroom
  • 11-07     Birmingham, AL                 Workplay Theater
  • 11-08     Atlanta, GA                          Center Stage
  • 11-09     Orlando, FL                         The Social
  • 11-10     Ft. Lauderdale, FL              Culture Room
  • 11-26     Seattle, WA                          Showbox
  • 11-28     Portland, OR                       Wonder Ballroom
  • 11-29     San Francisco, CA              Regency Ballroom
  • 11-30     Los Angeles, CA                 Troubadour
  • 12-01     Santa Ana, CA                    Yost Theater

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Blondfire to Debut Full Length Early 2013

Los Angeles-based duo BLONDFIRE is releasing their digital EP Where The Kids Are on November 6, 2012. Brazilian-American siblings Bruce and Erica Driscoll have been writing, producing, playing and performing together since they were kids, creating bouncy electro-pop-n-roll that combines worldly sophistication with American accessibility. Where The Kids Are features four songs off the band’s upcoming Warner Bros Records full-length debut Young Heart, due out early 2013. The title track is currently climbing the charts at Alternative Radio.

Fronted by Erica’s soft, breathy vocals and rounded out by a catchy, danceable beat, Blondfire’s songs have received airplay on Sirius Alt-Nation, KCRW, KCSN, WROX (Norfolk), KNDD (Seattle) as well as KROQ and 98.7’s “Locals Only” shows. Rolling Stone called them “dreamy, propulsive electro-pop” and Time Out New York praised their “supremely catchy, bewitching dream-pop.” Recent performances at CMJ and KCRW’s It’s a School Night have drawn crowds; look for them in your town soon.

Where The Kids Are Tracklisting:

  1. Where The Kids Are
  2. Hide & Seek
  3. Waves
  4. Walking with Giants

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Dillon Francis – “Bootleg Fireworks (Burning Up)”

Dillon Francis drops his new track “Bootleg Fireworks (Burning Up)” bringing the heat for the chilly months ahead. Dillon is taking his antics on the road throughout November, check out tour dates/cities below.

  • 4th Nov 2012    Pearl Street                  Northampton, MA
  • 5th Nov 2012    Paradise Rock Club    Boston, MA
  • 6th Nov 2012    Pearl                              Rochester, NY
  • 8th Nov 2012    Albany Armory           Albany, NY
  • 9th Nov 2012    Webster Hall               New York, NY
  • 10th Nov 2012  Union Transfer           Philadelphia, PA
  • 11th Nov 2012  Fur Nightclub               Washington DC,
  • 12th Nov 2012  Orange Peel                  Asheville, NC
  • 13th Nov 2012  Masquerade                  Atlanta, GA
  • 15th Nov 2012  Beacham Theater         Orlando, FL
  • 16th Nov 2012  Amphitheater               Tampa, FL
  • 17th Nov 2012  Grand Central              Miami, FL
  • 20th Nov 2012  Trees                             Dallas, TX
  • 21st Nov 2012  Stereo Live                    Houston, TX

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New Music: The Living Sisters – “Can You Get To That?”

L.A.-based indie supergroup The Living Sisters —Inara George (The Bird and the Bee), Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond), Eleni Mandell and newest ‘sister’ Alex Lilly — have followed up their critically adored 2010 album Love to Live with the standards collection Run for Cover. The six song EP, with its intricate retro harmonies and righteously old-school instrumentation from the likes of drummer Don Heffington (Lone Justice, The Jayhawks) and pedal steel master Greg Leisz, provides listeners with some perspective as to the various sources of The Living Sisters’ zesty musical recipe, which “weave[s] together ’40s pop vocalizing, ’50s doo-wop, jazz, folk and country elements in a seamless mélange,” according to the L.A. Times’ Randy Lewis.

The six selections on Run for Cover range from a sublime a cappella take on Dolly Parton’s folk classic “Jolene” to a wildly imaginative reinterpretation of Funkadelic’s “Can You Get To That?” The harmony-laden EP, which also contains covers of songs associated with Jo Stafford “Make Love to Me” and Doris Day “Que Sera, Sera,” features two songs made famous by Patsy Cline “A Poor Man’s Roses (Or a Rich Man’s Gold)” and “Sweet Dreams.” In 2011, The Living Sisters hosted ‘A Tribute to Patsy Cline’ at Los Angeles’ Disney Hall as part of the L.A. Philharmonic Songbook Series.

Run for Cover is the latest in a string of accomplishments for these all-stars, who have been collaborating off and on since 2006 while conducting their respective individual careers. Mandell’s sultry voice and inventive songs have made her a modern-day L.A. treasure, and she has once again captivated the critics with her latest LP, 2012’s I Can See the Future. Stark’s mix of pop and chamber music in Lavender Diamond has been described as “effortless [and] timeless-sounding.” As The Bird and The Bee, George and her partner Greg Kurstin have built a cult following with their heady fusion of jazz, pop and tropicalia. And singer/multi-instrumentalist Alex Lilly’s band Touché has been cited as “scintillating pop music that tickles and rolls all over the flesh with a blend of beats and guitar and keys that feels fresh and new.”

Run for Cover will be available on January 8th, 2013.

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