The Tripwire » Nat Roe

Grass Widow – Lulu’s Lips

Nat Roe — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:17:25 +0000

Every mention of Grass Widow in the music press is like, “did you know that the definition of Grass Widow is ……….?” Not here at Tripwire. No way. We feel we’re doing more than enough by sharing “Lulu’s Lips” off Grass Widow’s new 12″ on Captured Tracks. You want an English lesson in addition to musical epiphanies? Then give us $40,000 instead of handing it over to your fancy private college’s admissions office. And until we receive that check in the mail, you’re just going to have to look up info on Grass Widow’s upcoming New York City shows yourself. Consider yourself lucky.

Grass Widow, Lulu’s Lips

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Vic Chestnutt – Flirted With You All My Life

Nat Roe — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:44:26 +0000

Vic Chestnutt has a history of benefitting from charity. A 1996 Chestnutt covers compilation, whose proceeds benefitted The Sweet Relief fund, threw Chestnutt into the spotlight. Contributing a track to the Hempilation II compilation, which benefitted NORML, has led to countless free bowls for Chestnutt.

With his new single, “Flirted With You All My Life”, Chestnutt meditates on his own death. Based on past luck, a free ticket to heaven is currently en route to Chestnutt’s mailbox. The melancholic single comes from the upcoming record, All The Cut, which is scheduled for release September 22nd and features guest appearances from Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto and members of Godspeed! You Black Emperor.

Vic Chestnutt, Flirted With You All My Life

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Arrington Del Dionysio – Nama Bersembunyi

Nat Roe — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:16:59 +0000

Translating William Blake into Indonesian as song lyrics is almost as nutty as translating international musical styles into clattering punk rock. Malaikat Dan Singa, an World infused solo project from the man more famous as part of Old Time Relijun, proves that if music isn’t the universal language, it’s at least more universal than than Indonesian. Nama Bersembunyi either sounds like some third world eccentrics got their hands on the New York Noise compilation or like some New York eccentrics got a hold of some Sun City Girls disks. Malaikat Dan Singa is due out on K Records this November.

Arrington Del Dionysio, Nama Bersembunyi

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WFMU Fest Lineup Announced

Nat Roe — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:38:26 +0000

Whoa. Just put this one together: Cold Cave is definitely a pun for cold wave (slow on the uptake, I know. sorry guys). Another fact: Teenage Jesus and the Jerks is a slightly misleading bandname, since neither Lydia Lunch nor James Chance were conceived immaculately. Dissapointing, I know.

Perhaps the WFMU fest lineup will cheer you back up? The sheer improbability of so many legends sharing the stage should be enough for your average Californian to road trip over to the Music Hall Of Williamsburg, where the three day festival is being held. Full digs on the entire event are available on WFMU’s blog.

The full lineup includes:

Thursday Oct. 1, doors 8:00, showtime 9:00, $20
Faust, Cold Cave, Aluk Todolo

Friday, Oct. 2, doors 8:00, showtime 9:00, $15 ($12 advance)
Pissed Jeans, TV Ghost, VeeDee, Guinea Worms

Saturday, Oct. 3, doors 8:00, showtime 9:00, $20
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Sightings, Drunkdriver, Talk Normal

The Black Hollies – Run With Me Run

Nat Roe — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:16:49 +0000

Turns out the new 13th Floor Elevators box set won’t be sitting in my CD player as long as expected. The Black Hollies are pitch-perfectly channeling that era of psychedelic nuggets with their upcoming album, Softly Towards The Light, to be released October 6th by the Ernest Jenning Record Co. If’n you like the sound of “Run With Me Run”, you might just wanna check out their tour with Benjy Ferree. Dates are posted below. It’s like if, what if man, what if there is a time after the 60s but before the 70s. And that time is 2009. Whoa. Awww man, I just remembered I have a bunch of chips in the kitchen. Yeah man. Groovy. So good.

The Black Hollies, Run With Me Run

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UPCOMING TOUR DATES:

* = with Benjy Ferree

August 2009
29 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar Scooter Rally

September 2009
04 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s *
05 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge *
06 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s *
09 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern *
10 – Detroit, MI – Majestic Cafe *
11 – Chicago, IL – Reggie’s Rock Club *
12 – Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews *
13 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird *
15 – Athens, GA – Caledonia Lounge *
16 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn *
17 – Charlotte, NC – The Milestone *
18 – Norfolk, VA – The Boot *
19 – Arlington, VA – IOTA *

October 2009
02 – Reaction @ Sidebar, Baltimore MD
03 – 4th Street Art & Music Festival, Jersey City, NJ

More dates and CMJ schedule TBA…

Axemen’s David Theobald Drove A Car Into His Office Building

Nat Roe — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:19:45 +0000

David Theobald, of New Zealand’s Axemen, DROVE HIS GODDAMN MAZDA into the Christchurch Inland Revenue building, where Theobald had worked as a taxman for 25 years. Citing concealment of workplace bullying and incompetent management as his motives, Theobold made sure no people were in harm’s way and then smashed through the glass doors of the office’s foyer.

Theobald is out on bail but has received a very intimidating letter from his employer’s human resources department. It reads, “Information has come to my attention which indicates that you may have intentionally driven a car through Inland Revenue’s Christchurch building … I am concerned that your conduct may be inconsistent with the Code of Conduct.”

The Axemen have a new record out on Siltbreeze and are hereby nominated for the Tripwire badass of the decade award.

Little Wings – Sandy Babe

Nat Roe — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:23:59 +0000

Marriage records promotes this new Little Wings track as “Sunday morning summer music”, but Kyle Field’s vocals sound as crackly as the Autumn leaves that will be falling in a month or so. As Little Wings, Field is perhaps most known as part of Devendra Banhart’s Golden Apples Of The Sun compilation that established the name of freak folk a few years back.

The present single comes after a two year period of silence after 2007’s awesome Soft Pow’r LP, although Field has also recently designed a few skateboard decks. The interest in skateboarding gives further insight into the possibility that Field and his cracking voice are reverting to middle school maturity.

Little Wings – Sandy Babe

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A Love Song to a Tree: Theo Angell

Nat Roe — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:14:37 +0000

Story by Nat Roe
Photography by John Francis Peters

They say that after civilization finally collapses and cities become abandoned, plants will reclaim New York City beginning from Central Park and moving steadily outward in concentric circles until all the steel and concrete is completely hidden.

At the moment, you might say nature is a bit edged out. On a recent summer afternoon, I met Theo Angell at a little anomaly in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn called Flushing Farms. A few ears of corn, raspberry plants and flowers look like someone transplanted fifteen square feet of Eden into a maze of industrial sprawl. A graffiti covered shack next to the green patch will soon be a cafe. The occasional show space, run by Jeffrey Lohn, former member of no-wave legends Theoretical Girls, is just a few blocks from Angell’s own apartment.

At first glance, Theo Angell’s rustic folkisms appear just as at odds with his New York City surroundings as Flushing Farms. Angell’s new record Tenebrae breathes with a slow-paced psych folk hum that would seem completely oblivious to passing sixteen-wheelers and the mechanical whirs of factories. Angell’s patient guitar work, sympathetic croons and otherworldly atmospheric swirls sound as far from urban as is imaginable.

But New York City was in fact the town where Angell first began creating music. Originally born in Oregon, Angell was writing a still unpublished novel when he came to NYC about fifteen years ago and suddenly decided to pursue music. “There’s an energy when you’re playing music with people, a collaborative energy that you can’t get from writing. You have to spend a lot of hours alone when you’re a writer.”

Angell began his musical career with sonic experimentalism, using prepared guitars and electronics to produce spacy, psychedelic drones. Many of Angell’s influences came from the encyclopedic record collection of his friend Samara Lubelski, with whom Angell and Dan Brown formed the longstanding band Hall Of Fame.

Between Angell’s solo work, Hall of Fame and a two year stint with Jackie O Motherfucker, Angell has garnered a reputation for combining far out psychedelia with rootsy folk strains. In Jackie O, drawn out explorations eerily touch on the verge of folk, while Hall Of Fame condenses the two traditions into a freaked out, ramshackle folk pop. With his solo records, in particular the newly released Tenebrae, Angell is also quickly becoming celebrated for more accessible, yet equally mystic folk. Recorded in an Oregon farm house that Angell holed himself in for weeks, Tenebrae speaks fluently in both pop and avant garde and is a beautiful combination of the disparate influences.

In the early days of Hall of Fame, Angell regularly hosted shows in his apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a move which earned the band’s label of “apartment rock”. Their apartment building was mostly abandoned and the few others who lived in the building were too mentally ill to file noise complaints. Angell recently moved to loft pop central, in a still scabby Bushwick, Brooklyn neighborhood. Angell’s walls are covered in paintings, ornate quilts and assorted oddities gleaned from decades of choice thrift store finds. He feeds a stray cat who wanders around the apartment complex. He grows kale and mint in a small garden and grinds gourmet coffee brewed with a French press. He’s been known to give Tarot readings to acquaintances and has an acute sense of his pagan Germanic roots. Sturdy hardwood bookcases and furniture in the apartment were built by Angell himself, who makes extra money in construction.

Angell still hasn’t spent much time in this apartment, having just returned from a lengthy European tour. Paul Labrecque, of Sunburned Hand Of The Man fame, drove Angell around the continent for dates with Stellar Om Source, Michael Morley and Gavin Russom. Angell and his girlfriend brought nothing on tour but a guitar and a few changes of clothes. While on the road, Angell met some Germans of the Biesentales collective, who invited Angell to their commune, where they recorded their weird experiments in sound outdoors on a dock by a lake. Angell has a stack of bizarre CDRs from this collective and all kinds of European freaks in his apartment; the stack sits on top of a sizeable collection of old country and folk vinyl.

These European audiences have responded to Angell’s older, more experimental work as well as his current set for Tenebrae. Even years ago, Angell brought the folk edge to Hall Of Fame, whose other members had previously played in Salmon Skin, an art punk band which Angell compares to Sonic Youth.

Angell’s first exposure to popular music came surprisingly late in life, when he moved away from his parents to Portland, Oregon and sorted through a friend’s stack of old 78s. In this stack, Angell had finally discovered Leadbelly, Hawaiian roots player Sol Hoopii and some new weirdness as well; the 78s belonged to a member of psychedelic heroes The Holy Modal Rounders. Angell “missed out on punk” and found Jimi Hendrix decades late.

Before moving to Portland, Angell was in a cultural bubble. His father was a Southern Baptist minister of a church that also ran a school Angell attended. For years, Angell was only exposed to protestant hymns (which he still finds beautiful) and the occasional visiting barbershop quartet. Angell’s mother was exorcised of the demon Ashteroth when Angell was ten. “She was just saying crazy things and had no idea what they meant.” Exorcists believe that when a demon is cast out of one person, it has to travel to another body. When in the final stages of the exorcism, the exorcist asked whom the demon would next inhabit. “My mom blurted out, ‘Shirley’. Shirley was her cousin. And as soon as she said ‘Shirley’, a wall that blocked her vision came down.” Shirley died soon thereafter, although Angell isn’t sure whether the death was attributed to Ashteroth or not.

Although Angell doesn’t connect the dots explicitly, it’s easy to attribute Angell’s musical temperament to his strict religious upbringing and belated discovery of folk and country. Today, Angell looks back to the origins of Western music, to John Dowland and madrigal songs. “I wanted to write music that nobody has ever heard. I think the trick is to get real personal. And I think the more personal you get, you get more singular…. I also think a way to create new music is to look back. Far back. And then try to adopt that into something new.”

Angell’s first solo album, Auraplinth, is a truly unique amalgam of Eastern mysticism, mutated Americana, drawling monologues, experimental gestures and melodic sensibilities. On the album, Angell channels energy to scat in a nonsense language, sings love songs to trees, and leads his revolving door chorus, “The Tabernacle Hillside Singers”.

Just as suddenly as Angell became a musician, after years of writing far out experimentalism, Angell abruptly decided to write pop music. Auraplinth was the result. Angell observes that he hears melodies in his head while woodworking, a trade Angell has picked up in his spare time. As Angell describes, he’s able to achieve a meditative state while he’s working with his hands. When music comes into his imagination, what he calls “the best music”, he is later able to come to a guitar and flesh out an entire song. As of late, Angell has been working on a house in the Catskills region of New York state with Hamish Kilgour of The Clean. The two have collaborated together to produce really out there experimental music, but both share in common the ability to transfer avanty smarts to a pop setting.

Angell has also established a reputation as a filmmaker, most particularly as a projectionist. Angell has projected the text “don’t sell your land” onto farmer’s fields, projected a flying eye onto the trees of a forest surrounding a highway at night, and projected a “quilt” of dozens of pictures onto surfaces in Central Park. When he was in Jackie O Motherfucker, he added to the band’s live set by projecting films behind the band. Angell has edited numerous mainstream films and documentaries, and produced numerous unpublished Super 8 film works.

One of Angell’s more notorious projections was at an unauthorized show in 2002 in front of the Guggenheim museum with Gavin Russom, most known as Black Meteoric Star. Angell’s projected live video onto the Guggenheim while a crowd of a few dozen people somehow didn’t enrage security. “Security came out and asked us to turn it down at one point, but they were surprisingly cool about it,” Angell recalls.

After the show, Angell realized that he had left a friend’s amplifier behind at the museum. It was most likely that the amp was stolen from the New York sidewalk, but when Angell pulled up to the scene on his motorcycle, he found a swarm of cops in hazmat suits and fire trucks blocking off the street. The amp was sitting there in the middle of it all. The anti-terrorism squad thought it was a bomb. After much pleading, Angell was able to simply walk off with the amp. “I walked up to the amp and they were like ‘Hold it! What are you doing?!’ They had the ‘big man’ called in, I don’t know, the mayor or police chief or something.” Finally an officer accompanied Angell to the amp while another cop yelled, “don’t go with him! He’ll blow you up!”

The police had to let Theo walk away with the amp. Although his long hair and beard might make him look a little like a mad terrorist bomber, he hadn’t broken any laws.

Times New Viking – No Time No Hope

Nat Roe — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:27:03 +0000

Seemed like when the whole Columbus Lo-Fi thing hit, Psychedelic Horseshit was in the spotlight. After not too long Pink Reason was headlining shows over PHS and now Times New Viking has stolen the crown and got themselves signed to Matador. Meanwhile PHS is somewhere complaining about how Wavves is such a rockstar.

The upcoming Times New Viking album, Born Again Revisited is due out on September 22nd. It’s cool. You’ll like it. Play it in your car with your friends. They’ll like it too.

Times New Viking – No Time No Hope

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Mayyors – Clicks

Nat Roe — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:32:12 +0000

Mayyors plays the soundtrack to rooting up a dirt lot in a 4×4 truck with a hostage tied up in the trunk. Appropriately enough, all the covers for their new 12″, Deads, were actually run over by a car. Unfortunately the record sold out within a few hours of its release. Fans of In The Red and Fat Possum records owe themselves a trip to Ebay. Hopefully some label will handle the reissue soon. For now, just love the fact that “Clicks” has the most intense use of delay pedal ever.

Mayyors, Clicks

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IFC Will Host “Film and the Folk/Punk Connection”

Nat Roe — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:26:39 +0000

It’s a star studded evening, if by “star”, you mean punk rockers who never accepted any interviews with any major magazines and perform in musty basements a lot. New York City’s IFC Theater is kicking off a series of music movie nights curated by Jem Cohen, best known for his Fugazi documentary, Instrument:

Among the films shown as part of the evening are John Cohen’s 1963 music documentary That High Lonesome Sound; Jem Cohen’s Nice Evening, Transmission Down, a portrait of Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous; a short film of Patti Smith’s cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”; never-before-seen outtakes from Jem’s Fugazi film Instrument; and other surprises.

Will that other surprise be Ian MacKaye taking off his knit wool hat for the first time in 15 years?

Red Daughters – Prairie Fire

Nat Roe — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:40:59 +0000

“We just recently returned from a two week stay in Big Sur, Calfironia where we wandered the forest with a bunch of stoned out folk and worked on new material,” is the explanation for why I couldn’t find much info on Red Daughters’ Myspace about their new album.

Sounds like something my friends who are into jam bands would say, but Red Daughters are serving up some ballsy countrified rock-and-roll true to the Minnesota soil that bred Dylan. And, truth be told, I do prefer my bands wandering out in the woods rather than updating their Myspace. The debut album, Ugly Horses, is due out August 8th.

Red Daughters, Prairie Fire

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Sonic Youth Will Host Limited Run XM and Sirius Radio Shows

Nat Roe — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:41:27 +0000

For the ultimate indie band, Sonic Youth sure do have some capitalist sensibilities. From the Letterman performance to the Pitchfork TV broadcasts to the cover of the new Signal To Noise, Sonic Youth’s PR staff has been flexing some serious muscle surrounding the recent release of The Eternal. We’re waiting for limited edition Sonic Youth tea cosies at Ikea.

Now Sonic Youth is announcing a radio show that’ll be aired on XM and Sirius. From July 6th through the 10th, the band will be hosting a two hour nightly broadcast featuring hand picked tracks of artists that influenced Sonic Youth’s sound as well as backstories behind classic Sonic Youth tracks. In addition a “best of Sonic Youth” show will air on the 11th and 12th. Full details and links available here.

NPR Gives The Antlers The Video Treatment, Spinner Streams Hospice

Nat Roe — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:07:04 +0000

Neither of which are as prestigious as the newly bestowed Tripwire award for “least bland band that NPR has gotten behind since Wilco”. With that glittering praise in mind, we highly recommend checking out NPR’s just-posted live set from The Antlers at The Black Cat in D.C. If that 20 minute video doesn’t sate, you can also check out a stream of The Antler’s new album, Hospice that Spinner is hosting for this week. And if neither of those sate, you can catch one of the Antler’s tour dates, reposted after the jump.

The Antlers Tour Dates:
06-26 New York, NY – Soundfix Presents @ Rooftop Films
07-15 Indiapolis, IN @ My Old Kentucky Blog Presents at The Vollrath
07-16 Iowa, City, IW – The Mill
07-17 Madison, WI – Madfork @ The Terrace #
07-17 Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Festival
07-21 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick *
07-22 Toronto, CAN – Horseshoe Tavern *
07-23 Montreal, CAN – Petit Campus *
07-24 Providence, RI – Jerky’s *
07-25 Northampton, MA – Iron Horse *
08-21 New York, NY – Mercury Lounge (Physical Release Party)
09-12 Morrison, CO – Monolith Festival
09-13 Morrison, CO – Monolith Festival
# w/ Yeasayer, Ponytail, Dutchess @ the Duke, Cymbals Eat Guitars
* w/ Frightened Rabbit

Whartscape ‘09 Lineup Announced (Sorta…)

Nat Roe — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:37:47 +0000

Didn’t you hear? Not planning your summer festival is the new Twitter. Dan Deacon’s Wham City label has been organizing Whartscape for a few years now. The festival’s just a few weeks away and the lineup still hasn’t been finalized, but we do know via various MySpaces that it will include the fine musicians listed below. If this year’s festival turns out anything like past years, it’ll be a sprawl of the best blippy nonsense that Body More Murder Land has to offer. Keep an eye on the official Whartscape website for details, and say a prayer that Baltimore will stop killing Dan Deacon.

Dan Deacon w/ensemble
Ponytail
Future Islands
Double Dagger
Vincent Black Shadow
Adventure
Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez
Crazy Dreams Band
Santa Dads
Bird Names
DD/MM/YYYY
Child Bite
Air Waves
Boogie Boarder
EAR PWR
Teengirl Fantasy
Kokomo
Talk Normal

Even You Can Ineptly Hack A Fiery Furnace Music Video

Nat Roe — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:53:37 +0000

Have you seen these new TV shows where a guy just stands in front of the camera and plays YouTube videos? It’s totally bizarre that amateurish home videos, blogs and people’s stupid Tweets are starting to dominate traditional, high-quality media. But what’s most offensive about it all is that none of these TV hosts possess an ounce of Bob Saget’s panache.

Fiery Furnaces and WNYC are taking a shot at doing it right by getting all grassroots with a make your own music video contest. With an August 31st deadline and the guideline “no wholesale rip-offs”, all you self-proclaimed directors and unemployed desktop potatoes now have something better to do than play online backgammon.

Oh, and Fiery Furnaces’ new album, I’m Going Away, comes out tomorrow, July 21nd, on Thrill Jockey.

How Do You Pronouce The ø In Frøland?

Nat Roe — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:26:36 +0000

When Miles Davis went electric, some critics called him Jazz’s biggest sellout. When Harald Frøland, former lead guitarist of Norwegian improv gods Jaga Jazzist, announced a solo indie record as Black Feather, we just felt warm. “Silhouette” is coming up this fall on Other Electricities. Based on these promo tracks, the record, which took over two years to complete, sounds like a real triumph.

Theo Angell – Tenebrae

Nat Roe — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:56:54 +0000

It’s like hearing Devendra for the first time five years ago, except now I don’t have to have that inner monologue about whether contrived sounding vocals are annoying or not. ”Tenebrae” is the somber title track off Theo Angell’s new album on Amish Records. The record is out TODAY (!), June 9th. So if you’re not in disgusting, rainy New York City like we are, bike over to your local record store and give your money to a dirty hippy. Trust us, you won’t regret it.

Theo Angell, Tenebrae

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Axl Rose Abuses his Delusion, Fires and Rehires Manager Five Times

Nat Roe — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:29:25 +0000

No, Axl is not just conflicted. According to the New York Daily News, the manic-depressive rocker is going through mood swings and is on rocky terrain with his manager, Irving Azoff. Apparently, the rift stems from disagreement about how to revive sale numbers for Rose’s recent album, Chinese Democracy. What the Daily News has failed to acknowledge, however, is that the real victim here is Axl’s haircut.

ØYA 2009’s Insanely Huge Line-Up Released

Nat Roe — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:06:59 +0000

Although we were jealous of those who attended Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival a couple weeks back, we were also a bit skeptical. Why go to Europe to see a festival whose lineup is almost entirely American bands? Over the course of this summer every one of those bands will be a quick subway ride away. It’s like how our BBC and New York Times RSS feeds are almost identical. Where’s the regional pride?

Answer: at the ØYA 2009 festival. With a ton of American and English heavy hitters (Wilco, Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend, Beirut, etc.), and a fair share of domestic acts, the August festival’s line-up is so hot that nearby glaciers will likely sink into the ocean and cause massive flooding – or maybe not, we did skip most of our environmental science classes. Hey, where else will you get to see Beach House share the stage with bands called Slagsmålsklubben and Snöras? Full schedule of over 200 bands is below.

FINAL LINEUP:
Röyksopp / Arctic Monkeys (UK) / Band of Horses (US) / Beirut (US) / Datarock /
Glasvegas (UK) / Ulver / Kåre & The Cavemen / Grizzly Bear (US) / / Madness
(UK) / Mew (DK) / Vampire Weekend (US) / Rise Against (US) / Satyricon / Wilco (US)
/ Lily Allen (UK) / Bon Iver (US) / The Bronx (US) / Enslaved / Dirty Projectors
(US) / Farmers Market / Fever Ray (SE) / KORK spiller Philip Glass: ‘Heroes’ Symphony
/Asher Roth (US) / Seun Kuti + Fela’s Egypt 80 (NG) / Tommy Tokyo & Starving
For My Gravy / Wale (US) / Jenny Wilson (SE) / bob hund (SE) / Erol Alkan (UK)
/ Trond Andreassen / Atomic / Aura Noir / Baddies (UK) / Beach House (US) / Nils
Bech / The Big Pink (UK) / Amanda Blank (US) / Chairlift (US) / Cocktail Slippers
/ Crystal Antlers (US) / Crystal Castles (CA) / Fjorden Baby / Florence & The
Machine (UK) / Gang Gang Dance (US) / / Harrys Gym / Marit Larsen / Hello Saferide
(SE) / Huntsville / I Was A King / Johnossi (SE) / Kvelertak / Kylesa (US) / Jenny
Lewis (US) / The Little Hands of Asphalt / Magnetic Man (UK) feat Skream & Benga
/ Monotonix (IL) / Magnus Moriarty / Mungolian Jet Set / Municipal Waste (US) /
The New Wine / John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen / Noora Noor / Norma Sass / Karin
Park / Pony The Pirate / Jay Reatard (US) / Smoke Mohawk / Snöras / The Soft Pack
(US) / Tellusalie / Tønes / Ungdomskulen / The Very Best feat. Esau Mwamwaya &
Radioclit (MW/UK) / Årabrot /Thåström (SE)
ØyaNight: (club show during the four days)
Andrew Bird (US) / Junior Boys (CA) / Blitzen Trapper (US) / Karl Blau (US) / Ladyhawke
(NZ) / Zomby (UK) / Mowgli (UK) / DJ Android / Olle Abstract / Vetiver (US) / Sergeant
Petter / Joe Gideon & The Shark (UK) / Slagsmålsklubben (SE) / Moddi / The
Megaphonic Thrift / BoatClub (S) / The Lionheart Brothers / Gabriel Ananda (DE)
/ Daniel Mehlhart (DE) / Âme (DE) / Dixon (DE) / Shahroch Dini (DE) / First Aid
Kit (SE) / Suburban Kids with Biblical Names (SE) / Get Dancy! (DJ-set) / Wooden
Shjips (US) / The Ghost of a Thousand (UK) / Morning Benders (US) / Maribel / Death
By Unga Bunga / Master Piece of Cake / Cola Freaks (DK) / Kitchie Kitchie Ki-me-o
/ Revellions (IE) / Jessica Lea Mayfield (US) / Munn Til Munn Metoden / Dj Scotch
Egg (JP) / The Low Frequency in Stereo / The Oscillasion (UK) / Sigh & Explode
/ Mass Hysteri (S) / Grum (UK) / HeartBreak (AR/UK) / Radioclit dj set (UK) / Playboy-Marse
(S) / Hellsongs (SE) / DJdd

Lemonheads Singer Evan Dando Sues GM for Copyright Infringement

Nat Roe — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:10:38 +0000

Apparently Evan Dando is pissed that those spam ads explaining “how to get your hands on Obama’s bailout dollars” didn’t pan out. He’s claiming that this GM commercial too closely resembles The Lemonheads’ song “It’s a Shame About Ray” and is demanding a slice of GM’s subsidized pie in exchange.

Apologies, Dando, but I’m not hearing it so much – you’re suing GM for using a simple chord progression and about 4 notes that resemble your melody? How about Peter Bjorn and John jump on board too for GM’s use of whistling in the commercial? Easy bucks, dudes!

Circulatory System – Overjoyed

Nat Roe — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:17:55 +0000

Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel or of the many other insanely great Elephant 6 projects (Olivia Tremor Control, Hawk and a Handsaw, Icy Demons, etc.) all collectively shit their pants when Circulatory System announced a new record, Signal Morning, coming up September 8th on Cloud Recordings. The last record was like 7 years ago! This is just like The Wrestler, except Hart is back in the game because he’s sick rather than being sick because he’s back in the game. Is that offensive?

Circulatory System, Overjoyed

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Yo La Tengo Lets Loose Single From Upcoming Album

Nat Roe — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:50:10 +0000

I was in the elevator of WFMU with this guy a few years ago when I first started volunteering there and was like, “Hi, what’s your name? Ira Kaplan? Cool, are you a volunteer too?” And he was like, “Uhhhhhh, sort of.” And then he got out. Someone told me the other day that Ira’s band Yo La Tengo band is kinda famous. I dunno. He did have a cool haircut. I’m thinking about checking out this new record Yo La Tengo has coming up called Popular Songs, to be released September 8th on Matador. I do like this single they just released. But I might just spend my money on the upcoming Diddy album. He’s so fresh!

Ghostface Speaks on Upcoming R&B Album: “I don’t sell crack, yo”

Nat Roe — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:45:23 +0000

Not that it’s stopped some others (cough, Ross, cough), but Ghostface seems to think that it’s not right to rap about what he’s not actually doing. In an interview with Hip Hop Connection, Ghostface explains why he’s going the R&B route for his next album. “Soul music describes me, before hip-hop and everything. If you go back to the early 70’s and late 60’s, that music is the essence of me.” Fair enough, Toney, but please don’t overuse the vocorder. PLEASE, in the name of every trend that’s died in the past decade!

The Clean – In The Dreamlife You Need A Rubber Soul

Nat Roe — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:50:54 +0000

After 25 years of playing in dirty punk venues, shouldn’t The Clean have changed their name to “The Dingy” or “The Smudged” or something like that? They’ve certainly avoided becoming washed up (you like that pun?), and plan to release their first new full length in eight years, Mister Pop, September 8th on Merge. For the time being, we’ve got the single, “In the Dreamlife You Need A Rubber Soul”.

The Clean – In The Dreamlife You Need A Rubber Soul

MP3 Download

Be Your Own Pet’s Jemina Pearl Releasing Solo Record, Getting Iggy With It

Nat Roe — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:40:34 +0000

If you know the name Jemina Pearl, it’s either because you’re a fan of Be Your Own Pet or because you were stalking hotties on Myspace (don’t act like you weren’t). As the singer of Be Your Own Pet, which broke up last August, Pearl garnered many a Karen O comparison. But now, in a Beyonce-esque move, Pearl plans to release a new album under her own name.

Said album, which will be released this Fall by Ecstatic Peace Records, features the drummer of Be Your Own Pet, as well as (drum roll…) Iggy Pop, Thurston Moore and TV On the Radio’s Dave Sitek. Three tracks were just dropped on Pearl’s Myspace. We’re super psyched on the single “Heartbeats”, and Pearl seems psyched too, saying, “I’ll probably kill myself after I finish this record ’cause I don’t know how to top it, ’cause it’s gonna be so fucking good.” Oh yeah, and for all you internet stalkers out there, she’s got a blog now.