You might say Micachu raised some eyebrows down in Austin during SxSW in March. People were either peeing their pants or on one another each time the Londoner and her Shapes kicked out helpings of their schizo-pop. Words and phrases like “fresh,” “yikes,” and “oh, good heavens,” were thrown around with equal abandon. BBQ sauce was spilled. Chaos ensued. All that’s bound to happen again this summer when Micachu returns for a set of US tour dates. The wave of epileptic fits begin in Chicago!

07.13.09 – Chicago, IL (Schubas Tavern)
07.14.09 – Toronto, ON (El Mocambo)
07.15.09 – Montreal (Ill Motore)
07.16.09 – Boston MA (Great Scott)
07.17.09 – Philadelphia, PA (World Cafe)
07.18.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Siren Festival)
07.21.09 – Los Angeles CA (Echo)
07.22.09 – San Francisco (Rickshaw Shop)
07.23.09 – Portland (Doug Fir)
07.24.09 – Seattle (Capitol Hill Block)

So remember when we spoke with the Black Lips after their show with GZA at this year’s SxSW? Well, we used this intro when we posted the MP3 and we’re re-using it now to show you the video for the version of “Drop I Hold” that GZA does not perform on. Get over it.

Black Lips & GZA – “The Drop I Hold”

There has been a load of hype swarming around Grizzly Bear’s new record, Veckatimest, since the beginning of the year, and the album hasn’t even come out yet (but it’s not like we haven’t heard it already). Grizzly Bear has announced the first single from the album will be “Two Weeks” and will be released on May 12 (May 18 in EU, June 1 in the UK).

Live performances of the song have been filtering around the internet for quite some time now (i.e. the Letterman performance, and the performance with Victoria of Beach House at SxSW), and we have to say, it’s a great track. The single will be released as a 12″ and will have two new remixes of the song.

Veckatimest will be released just a few days after the single on May 26 via Warp Records, and on May 24 the Brooklyn natives will be heading out on tour in support of the new album, which is the follow up to the band’s critically acclaimed last album, Yellow House.

It was the Tripwire day at the Levi’s®/FADER Fort, and I’m talking to Women as we’re all anticipating the spectacle that will be the first ever Tinted Windows performance, when in walks Devo (in full garb mind you). In one of, if not the, most surreal moments of my career, I witnessed all of Devo walking past me and into the dressing room as Taylor Hanson and James Iha walk out. Seriously, you can’t script this stuff.

Devo was actually there to do an interview with another media outlet, when the bells of “hey, this is our venue, maybe we should talk to them too” went off. It all happened so fast, we didn’t have time to mic them or even find a space where they all could sit. Not to mention they had a full video crew documenting their every move for an upcoming film about the reunion and subsequent album and tours. So we crammed roughly ten people, four cameras and two studio lights into the dressing room and threw a FADER mic in front of them as I tried to summarize the last 20 years of the band’s existence in a ten-minute interview. All in all, it was a pretty exciting moment, my only regret is that I didn’t ask them what it was like to do an interview without one “Whip It” question.

It’s no secret we’re fans of Women; aside from the On The Cover feature we ran last November, we surmised that that their self-titled debut was the 6th best record of 2008. So when I was asked what band I would most like to see play the Tripwire day at the Levi’s®/FADER Fort, the choice was simple.

Having played right before Tinted Windows, it created an odd paradigm — one that wasn’t lost on the sound guy apparently. But Women did stick around long enough to see Devo, Peter Bjorn and John and for us to talk to them via flipcam while they were loading out.

Imagine for a moment that you don’t live in the United States (for those of you outside of America, it should be a fairly easy task). Now picture your first trip visiting the States is a stop in the middle of Texas during a giant music festival. And Hatcham Social frontman Toby Kidd thought television exaggerated the American lifestyle.

Just as the band was starting to get used to french fries (chips) being served with every sandwich they order, Toby and keyboardist Jerome Watson took some time after their performance at the Levi’s®/FADER Fort to speak to me about their first trip across the pond and their recently TBD / Fierce Panda-released LP, You Dig The Tunnel I’ll Hide The Soil. Like my interview with The Strange Boys, their demeanor makes me like them more than their music ever could, but their pretty good at that whole band thing too.

Is it too much of a pun to say we’re getting bored of “So Bored”? To be fair to Nathan Williams — aka Wavves — he wrote it and it is one hell of a catchy tune, but we heard it a lot at SxSW, only to find out at subsequent non-Wavves shows that the Vivian Girls were also covering and playing it live. But then we heard our 8-bit heroes Anamanaguchi’s version of it, taking it out of the garage rock murk and giving it new life. Now we’re pumped on it again.

Before listening to the song below, we strongly suggest checking out our profile on Anamanaguchi for a few original tracks and you can watch Wavves playing “So Bored” live in Austin, TX here.

Anamanaguchi – “So Bored” (Wavves Cover)

Whew! What a week it was. Sure, we might not have seen as many bands as we did during CMJ, but cut us some slack, we were like 1500 miles away from our office. Besides, at CMJ we didn’t see bands the scope of Devo, Kanye West, Crystal Method, Echo and the Bunnymen… well, you get the idea. Keep in mind, this doesn’t include some of the bands we will have for you next week in video interviews, nor the many bands we saw when our cameras died or malfunctioned. Still, our tans don’t nearly reflect the amount of time we spent in the Texas sun soaking up the best of SxSW.

Angel Deradoorian
Bad Veins
Beach House
Bearsuit
The Beets
Bell
Best Friends Forever
Black Lips
Blk Jks
Blower
Busdriver
Camera Obscura
Casio Kids
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
Common
Crystal Antlers
Crystal Method
Crystal Stilts
Cut Off Your Hands
Dappled Cities
Datarock
Desolation Wilderness
Devo
Echo and the Bunnymen
Erykah Badu
Evangelicals
Ferraby Lionheart
Fishboy
Flosstradamus
Grizzly Bear
Golden Boots
Harlem Shakes
Health
Holy Ghost
The Intelligence
J. Mascis
Jane’s Addiction
Kanye West
Kid Static
Kuroma
Kurt Vile
Late of the Pier
Laura Marling
Little Boots
Local Natives
The Love Language
The Mae Shi
Matt And Kim
Marnie Stern
Mirah
Muggabears
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head
New Villagers
Nite Jewel
No Age (and again here)
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Pete And The Pirates
Peter Bjorn and John
Pocahaunted
Polka Dot Dot Dot
Pterodactyl
Ra Ra Riot
Ryan Anderson
The Soft Pack
Solange
The Splinters
Still Flyin’
Team Robespierre
Thomas Function
Tinted Windows
Tara Jane O’Neil
Themselves
Tricky
Vivian Girls
Wallpaper
The Warlocks
Wavves
Wild Moccasins
Women
Young Widows
Zola Jesus

With: J. Mascis, Angel Deradoorian, Bearsuit, Best Friends Forever, The Beets, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, Desolation Wilderness, Evangelicals, Golden Boots, Harlem Shakes, Kurt Vile, Local Natives, Muggabears, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, New Villagers, Ryan Anderson, The Intelligence, Themselves, Wallpaper, Wild Moccasins.

[Photo of Angel Deradoorian by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Bearsuit by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Best Friends Forever by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of the Beets by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Angel Casiotone For The Painfully Alone by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Desolation Wilderness by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of the Evangelicals by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Golden Boots by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Harlem Shakes by Kyle Rother]

[Photo of Kurt Vile by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Local Natives by Kyle Rother]

[Photo of Mugga Bears by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Natalie Portman's Shaved Head by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of the New Villagers by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Ryan Anderson by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of The Intelligence by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of the Themselves by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of the Wallpaper by Jenn Misko]

[Photo of Wild Moccasins by Jenn Misko]

[Piano to no one by Kyle Rother]

During a stellar performance at SxSW, Grizzly Bear showcased some of the new material from their upcoming album, Veckatimest, and if you haven’t already heard the album’s leak, get ready to give your ears a nice surprise. The grizzly men premiered the song “Two Weeks” with guest vocalist Victoria Legrand from Beach House at the showcase, and it was the first time the two forces joined up to perform the new song live.

Veckatimest is due out May 26 on Warp Records, and after the critically acclaimed success of their previous album Yellow House, the buzz around the new Grizzly Bear record has been swarming. Both Beach House and Grizzly Bear performed separate, phenomenal sets at SxSW, but seeing the two come together for such a memorable moment, has made the anticipation for the new record even more unbearable (no pun intended). 

Grizzly Bear will be heading out on the road in support a Veckatimest on May 24, making their way throughout the U.S., where they will be making stops at Bonnaroo and the Pitchfork Music Festival. 

Grizzly Bear with Victoria Legrand – “Two Weeks” (Live)

Grizzly Bear tour dates
05.24.09 – Portland, OR (Aladdin Theatre)
05.25.09 – George, Washington (Sasquatch Festival)
05.26.09 – Vancouver, BC (Commodore)
05.28.09 – New York, NY (Town Hall)
05.29.09 – New York, NY (Town Hall)
06.01.09 – Washington DC (930 Club)
06.02.09 – Philadelphia, PA (Trocadero)
06.03.09 – Boston, MA (Berkley Performance Center)
06.04.09 – Montreal, QB (Le National)
06.05.09 – Toronto, ON (Phoenix)
06.07.09 – Minneapolis, MN (Cedar Cultural Center)
06.08.09 – Milwaukee, WI (Pabst Theatre)
06.09.09 – Bloomington, IN (Buskrik- Chumley)
06.11.09 – Carrboro, NC (Cats Cradle)
06.12.09 – Manchester, TN (Bonnaroo)
06.13.09 – Atlanta, GA (Tabernacle)
06.15.09 – Dallas, TX (Grenada)
06.16.09 – Austin, TX (The Parish)
06.19.09 – Los Angeles, CA (Wiltern)
06.21.09 – San Francisco, CA (Fillmore)
07.19.09 – Chicago, IL (Pitchfork Music Festival)

We just caught Graham Coxon playing at the Levi’s®/FADER Fort — where we got to speak with the former-now-current-again Blur guitarist. Now we’re excited to announce he has released the new artwork for his upcoming album, The Spinning Top, which is due out in mid-May. 

Coxon just revealed the cover art, which is a drawing of a distorted, spinning woman (above), exclusively to NME. The cover was drawn by Coxon himself, but this isn’t the first time the singer/songwriter has designed an album cover. Coxon has made all of the artwork for his solo albums, as well designing the sleeve for Blur’s 1999 record, 13. 

The Spinning Top will be released on May 11, and was produced by Stephen Street, who is known for his prior work with Blur. Coxon and the rest of the guys from Blur will be reuniting later this spring for a stint of summer shows as well, including a headlining gig at the Glastonbury festival in late June.

[Kid Static]

[Mirah & Tara Jane O'Neil]

[Tara Jane O'Neil]

They list as their influences bands from an amalgam of genres and musical spectrums, but when you hear The Splinters play, it all makes sense. They are Sonic Youth meets The Shangri-Las, The Breeders meet The Evens. They are Ashley, Caroline, Lauren and Courtney. They are from Berkeley. And they’d like to rock for you.

They caught our attention at SxSW with their mix of garage rock, girl-band, riot grrrl, folk and alternative. Plus, their debut EP comes in a hand-decorated cover slip with original art by members of the band — no two are alike. It looks like at this point you can only nab copies at one of their gigs, but we’ve got a track from the EP for you to check out. Enjoy.

The Splinters – “Splintered Bridges”

Just a little preface for this one: It was shot on a flipcam and was on the last night of SxSW, so please try to disregard the unsteady hand. But I felt it necessary to not only try to record what was my favorite performance of the entire festival, but give an idea of the sheer insanity of the show.

No Age – “Brain Burner” (Live @ Mrs. Bea’s)