…The Last Bison make theatrical folk music that refuses to stand still and isn’t afraid to get loud.” – Wondering Sound
To capture the new sounds on The Last Bison’s upcoming album titled VA (out 9/30), the band spent many days and nights in an old A-frame cabin, on the outskirts of the Great Dismal Swamp near the band’s home in Chesapeake, VA. Out of this rustic cabin emerged a collection of music with booming organic drums and energy beyond anything from their previous work. The 11 songs on VA reveal a rejuvenated band relishing in their newfound freedom and returning to their independent roots.
Ben Hardesty, who is the primary songwriter and vocalist, also recorded the drum tracks on the new album. Andrew Benfante, who has played a 1930s reed organ on previous works, adds piano to the layers, and Amos Housworth has expanded from cello to offering all the bass tracks on the project. Dan Hardesty alternates from banjo to mandolin to guitar, while he and Annah Housworth, who plays bells, provide the lush backing vocals. Teresa Totheroh’s violin is the thread that sows the myriad parts together.
Invade & Disco, We Are Castor’s second album release with SectionZ Records, dropped July 21st, and is a unique blend of retro disco style, and a variety of live instruments, with modern glitch-hop. Shattering the boundaries between many genres, We Are Castor is carving out its own place at the crossroads between EDM and more traditional styles of live music.
Influenced by blues, swing, psychedelic-rock, electronica, hip hop and folk, We Are Castor patrols the unseen border between music genres. Led by Adrian Thesen out of Trondheim, Norway, We Are Castor is an electronic music band whose members have individual and eclectic tastes and styles; different tastes and knowledge packaged into one collective story that have resulted in pure musical innovation that your ears will remember long after the first listen.
We Are Castor started out as a solo-project in 2012, named iamCastor. This is when Adrian first started to include guitars, harmonicas and more acoustic instruments. Later that year Adrian connected with Andreas Steen, and the music exploded.
Andreas brought a live sound to Adrian’s production by adding guitar, mandolin, organ and vocals. This inspired Adrian to dream up better material to satisfy Andreas’ fascination with the sound of everything! If there is music in the background, and a car drives by the window, and they share the same note, Andreas will be the first one to point that out.
They met the voice that would round out the band at a breakfast party, where they met the incredibly talented and beautiful Valeria Neira Lillebjerka for the first time. After a mutual friend teased the duo made a beat, wrote some lyrics, opened some bottles of whiskey and wine and she sang “Bon Voyage” in their super-small bedroom. After the recording Adrian and Andreas could not bring themselves to sleep and invited Valeria to the band.
Rounding off the voices of We Are Castor are longtime Jack White and Rolling Stones fan, Kristoffer Støylen Refvik, drummer Håvard Loeng, Magnus Leite on bass, Ada Mathea Hoel on contra-bass.
1. Intro
2. Invade & Disco
3. Ulrik’s Bicycle
4. Projects
5. Night
6. West
7. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
8. Monster
9. Aron
10. Drums Feat. Ragga Twins
11. Bataille
12. Through The Fire
13. Bots
14. 7098
15. Laurens & John
16. Grave
Weezer has revealed the first single from their forthcoming, highly anticipated ninth album, Everything Will Be Alright In The End. The song, entitled “Back To The Shack,” is an ebullient, slice of alterna-rock awesomeness.
“Back To The Shack” can be heard for the first time worldwide on radio stations throughout the country beginning on July 21, with the song available to hear via Weezer’s YouTube channel. Following that, “Back To The Shack” will be available for purchase on iTunes as of Tuesday, July 22nd. And tonight, the band will drop by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to play the song for the first time on television.
Weezer tour dates: 7/24/14 London, ON @ Rock The Park 2014 7/25/14 Belleville, ON @ Empire Rockfest 7/26/14 Rimouski, QC @ Les Grandes Fetes du St-Laurent 8/1/14 Las Vegas, NV @ The Cosmopolitan 8/2/14 Del Mar, CA @ Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Summer Concert Series 8/9/14 Bethlehem, PA @ Musikfest PNC Plaza 8/13/14 Southaven, MS @ Snowden Grove Amphitheater 8/14/14 Lake Charles, LA @ L’Auberge Casino Resort 8/31/14 Los Angeles, CA @ Made In America 9/6/14 Charlotte, NC @ 106.5 The End presents Weenie Roast ‘14 9/12/14 Paso Robles, CA @ Vino Robles Amphitheatre 9/13/14 Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival 9/14/14 Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest 9/19/14 Denver, CO @ Riot Fest
Tame Impala has released Live Versions, an album of songs selected from a 2013 Chicago Tame Impala concert on Interscope Records. Chief songwriter Kevin Parker chose the 9 tracks for the record based on how different the live versions are from the album versions. Parker’s goal was to give fans something they won’t already have; something they’ve only previously experienced at a Tame Impala show. Songs from this show were recorded by and broadcast on WXRT. Live Versions was originally released on vinyl only as a limited release in celebration of 2014’s Record Store Day and was the highest selling Record Store Day 2014 release. The album will be made widely available via Amazon MP3, iTunes, and Google Play.
Listen to “Mind Mischief” off of Live Versionshere
Winning widespread critical acclaim from music publications, and also winning the hearts of music lovers the world over, Tame Impala’s most recent album Lonerism was released in late 2012 and has gone on to sell in excess of 172,000 copies in the United States, and was nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards. The band’s sophomore album, features the hits “Elephant” and “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards.” The album reached the #1 spot on the CMJ chart and received wide commercial airplay as well.
LIVE VERSIONS TRACK LISTING
01. Endors Toi (Live Version)
02. Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind (Live Version)
03. Sestri Levante (Live Version)
04. Mind Mischief (Live Version)
05. Desire Be Desire Go (Live Version)
06. Half Full Glass Of Wine (Live Version)
07. Be Above It (Live Version)
08. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards (Live Version)
Canada’s acclaimed pop multi-instrumentalist and Juno Award winner Lights is back with her third studio album, Little Machines out on September 23rd via Warner Brothers Records. Little Machines features the first single, “Up We Go.”
Little Machines was produced and engineered by Drew Pearson, with key songs/singles mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent (Madonna, U2, Beyonce), and was recorded in both Los Angeles, CA and Vancouver, BC. The anthemic first single, “Up We Go,” is available today to purchase digitally or as an instant grat when you pre-order the full album.
“I think we captured a timeless electronic sound and I’m really proud of it,” said Lights. “This record felt like a triumph after a hard dry spell. I turned to poetry, art and female songwriting legends and found myself writing about nostalgia and naivety and just enjoying music again. It feels like a complete journey, from front to back.”
Lights’ previous two heralded studio albums, The Listening (2009) and Siberia (2011) are both Certified Gold and feature the pop hits, “Drive My Soul”, “Ice”, “February Air” and “Banner”. The avid gamer and tattoo aficionado has commandeered the Warped Tour circuit over the years, been invited onstage with Kaskade and Deadmau5, and amassed fans in John Mayer, Rancid, Miley Cyrus, Bob Ezrin, and more. In 2009, she took home the Juno Award for ‘Best New Artist’ and reigns as a social media queen with over 1.2 million Facebook likes, 534,000 Twitter followers, 50 million YouTube channel views and 300,000 Instagram fans.
In celebration of Little Machines, Lights will start her national tour the week following release, kicking things off in Boston, MA on October 25th. Fans can purchase tickets this Friday, July 25 or one of three exclusive fan experience packages via iamlights.com now!
Lights Fall 2014 US Tour Dates:
10/24 Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall
10/25 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
10/29 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
10/31 Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony
11/01 Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live!
11/02 Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of the Living Arts
11/04 Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
11/05 Chicago, IL – House of Blues
11/07 Denver, CO – The Summit Music Hall
11/08 Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
11/11 Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre
11/13 San Francisco, CA – Grand Ballroom at Regency Center
Danish pop powerhouse The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, consisting of Lars Iversen & Mette Lindberg, have recently announced the release of their highly anticipated third studio album, Bring Us Together – set to drop September 16th via Hot Bus/Rough Trade! Having won audiences across the world over with their unique brand of deliciously fun & edgy pop, the Copenhagen duo will deliver eager fans & new listeners alike ten tracks of pure audio bliss.
Bring Us Together first single “My Club”is an instantly catchy pop masterpiece with a psychedelic vibe punctuated by pulsing club beats. Biting lyrics like “tonight, I’ll be the bullet in your gun” are laid atop smooth, melodic horn samples & killer percussion. For a taste of what to expect from the upcoming record, you can give “My Club”a listen below!
Heavily inspired by the two years of non-stop promotional & touring madness (and subsequent sense of isolation) following their previous album, Bring Us Together finds the duo’s desire to explore new musical avenues greater than ever before. As Iversen elaborates, “We wanted to create a heavier and slightly darker atmosphere for this album. The sound is more processed, and less “manual” than before- with more weighting on repetitive beats, bass grooves, chopped-up loops, and a more laidback vocal style.” The result is a sound collage & pop symphony created from equal parts of chopped-up danceable beats, spaced-out synths & bright neon green pop hooks.
Immersed within the Copenhagen music scene, producer & multi-instrumentalist Iversen met Lindberg in 2007. The two would go on to record a debut EP (Around The Bend) & two studio albums, 2009’s Fruit & 2012’s follow-up Out of Frequency. They’ve quickly become one of Denmark’s most prominent musical success stories, selling out venues around the globe & acquiring fans worldwide in the process.
Bring Us Together tracklist:
1. Bring Us Together
2. Navigator
3. My Club
4. Get Connected
5. Choke It
6. Hurricane
7. Rock The Ride
8. I Am The Mountain
9. Zombies
10. X
Celebrated California singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis has premiered the video for her new single, “Just One of the Guys,” appropriately for the guys on GQ.com this morning. The smart, tongue-in-cheek video stars Lewis’ actress friends Anne Hathaway, Brie Larson, Kristen Stewart, and Tennessee Thomasas her band, and marks Lewis’ directorial debut.
“Just One of the Guys” is the first single from Lewis’ upcoming album The Voyager, which will be released by Warner Bros. Records on July 29th. The album is currently available for pre-order from all participating digital retailers. Those who pre-order will receive instant downloads of “Just One of the Guys” and “The Voyager.”
(Download the track free via the band’s Facebook and Soundcloud pages.)
Night Drive transforms Radiohead’s “Where I End and You Begin” into a pulsing, hypnotic, electro-pop track. The band embraces Radiohead’s moody and brooding vibe while bringing Night Drive’s style of dark, disco-pop fans have dubbed as “Future Wave.”
The cover came about completely by chance. While in the studio working on a new track, Night Drive realized the main groove happen to meld perfectly with a Radiohead track. Fascinated by this marriage, they couldn’t resist the opportunity.
Keep your eyes open. The band releases this cover to announce their new album, scheduled for an early 2015 release. First single, “Young Rivals” to be released this September with an official remix by ASTR and official music video by their ongoing visual collaborators, Lobo Sucio Creative.
Globally revered and highly influential dance-punk duo Death From Above 1979 have revealed a plethora of details about their eagerly anticipated new album, including the title, cover art, and track-listing. The Physical World will be released by Last Gang Records / Warner Bros. Records today.
Produced by D. Sardy (Red Hot Chili Peppers, LCD Soundsystem, Wolfmother, Oasis), The Physical World comes a full ten years after the release of the band’s universally acclaimed debut album,You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine, which made Jesse F. Keeler(bass, synths, backing vocals) and Sebastien Grainger(vocals and drums), an underground /over ground sensation. DFA 1979 broke up in 2006 while the first album and subsequent remix album continued to sell inexplicably. They decided to reunite in 2011 and began to perform live picking up where they left off without missing a beat. Their rabid cult has only continued to amass just as inexplicably. Jesse and Sebastien sat down with the NMEto talk about the new album release and reuniting. Earlier this spring, DFA 1979 released various clues, tidbits and sonic allusions surrounding a possible new album on deathfromabove1979.com. This will also be your exclusive portal into the wormhole world into all things DFA 1979 now and in the future.
In addition, Death From Above 1979 have announced they will hit the road this fall for an extensive European and U.S. headlining tour, which goes on sale this Friday, July 11th. Please see below for all tour dates.
Musically Amusing 