Thanks to all who listened to my show on WSND last night. My nephew, Cody (AKA C-Hav) was my guest, and he picked out some of the songs. Here’s our set list:
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA SHARE VIDEO
FOR NEW SINGLE “HUNNYBEE”
Today, Unknown Mortal Orchestra share a new video for album track and single “Hunnybee.” From the day their new album Sex & Food was released, it was clear “Hunnybee” was really hitting a chord with fans in a special way. A live show favorite, the song draws lyrical inspiration from UMO mastermind Ruban Nielson‘s daughter, whose middle name gave the song its title. A beautifully understated song, it still moves with propulsion that gives fans reason to dance. The video remains stylistically in tune with previous videos for Sex & Food‘s previous singles “Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays” and “American Guilt.” Watch it below.
UMO TOUR DATES: June 10 – Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands @ Best Kept Secret Festival July 6 – Richmond, VA @ The National w/ Shamir July 7 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel w/ Shamir July 8 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse w/ Shamir July 9 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre w/ Shamir July 11 – New Orleans, LA @ Republic w/ Shamir July 12 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall w/ Shamir July 13 – Austin, TX @ Stubbs BBQ w/ Shamir July 14 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater w/ Shamir July 16 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre w/ Shamir July 17 – Ogden, UT @ Ogden Amphitheatre w/ Sylvan Esso, Shamir July 18 – Las Vegas, NV @ Vinyl at Hard Rock w/ Shamir July 19 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom w/ Shamir July 21 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory July 23 – Missoula, MT @ The Top Hat July 24 – Billings, MT @ The Pub Station July 26 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre July 27 – Chicago, IL @ House of Vans August 9 – Budapest, Hungary @ Sziget Festival August 10 – Basel, Switzerland @ Open Air Basel August 11 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Haven August 16 – Hasselt, Belgium @ Pukkelpop Festival September 5 – Christchurch, New Zealand @ The Foundry Bar September 6 – Dunedin, New Zealand @ Glenroy Auditorium September 7 – Wellington, New Zealand @ Hunter Lounge September 8 – Auckland, New Zealand @ Auckland Town Hall September 12 – Melbourne, Australia @ Forum Theatre September 14 – Adelaide, Australia @ Fat Controller September 15 – South Brisbane, Australia @ Brisbane Festival September 16 – Newtown, Australia @ Enmore Theatre September 18 – Perth, Australia @ Badlands September 23 – Tokyo, Japan @ WWWX October 4 – Guadalajara, Mexico @ C3 Stage October 6 – Lomas Atlas, Mexico @ Festival Hipnosis @ Deportivo Lomas Atlas November 19 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute November 21 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall November 22 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 November 23 – Sheffield, UK @ The Leadmill November 25 – Dublin, Ireland @ The Academy November 26 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 ABC
The Beths Share New Single “Happy Unhappy” Watch The Video HereU.S. Tour Begins Next Week
Future Me Hates Me Out August 10th On Carpark Records
[Photo by Mason Fairey]
“a young band that knows exactly who they are flexing some impressive versatility” – Stereogum
The Beths are sharing the second single, “Happy Unhappy,” from Future Me Hates Me, their debut album coming out August 10th onCarpark Records. The accompanying video directed by Callum Devlin debuts today via Noisey. Front and center is lead singer and primary songwriter Elizabeth Stokes. Stokes commands a vocal range that spans from the brash confidence of Joan Jett to the disarming vulnerability of Jenny Lewis.The Beths occupy a warm, energetic sonic space between joyful hooks, sun-soaked harmonies, and acerbic lyrics. Future Me Hates Me delivers an astonishment of roadtrip-ready pleasures, each song hitting your ears with an exhilarating endorphin rush like the first time you heard Slanted and Enchanted or “Cannonball.”
All four members of The Beths studied jazz at university, resulting in a toolkit of deft instrumental chops and tricked-out arrangements that operate on a level rarely found in guitar-pop. The Beths’ guitarist and studio guru Jonathan Pearce (whose other acts as producer include recent Captured Tracks’ signing Wax Chattels) brings it all home with an approach that’s equal parts seasoned perfectionist and D.I.Y.
The Beths recently toured Europe and will begin a U.S. run next week at Alphaville in Brooklyn, NY. These early shows in support of Future Me Hates Me mark their first time ever playing outside of New Zealand and Australia. A full list of dates is below.
The Beths Tour Dates: June 11th – Brooklyn, NY – Alphaville * June 13th – Philadelphia, PA – Ortlieb’s June 14th – Washington, DC – Loves Me Not June 16th – Chicago, IL – Charm School June 20th – San Francisco, CA – The Battery June 22nd – Los Angeles, CA – Make Out Music
Let’s face it, not all punk rock ages well. This isn’t the case with the Damned, however (and most classic punk bands, actually.). Their newest album, Evil Spirits, is a fine return for them with tracks written by multiple members of the band.
Starting with the slightly creepy “Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow,” lead singer David Vanian (whose voice only seems to have improved with age) pleads with “this dystopian generation” to fix things for future generations before it’s too late for them. Guitarist Captain Sensible‘s riffs blend into the sound of passing fighter jets by the end of it. “Devil in Disguise” has a bass heavy groove and barely disguised lyrics (again, masterfully sung by Vanian) about current political leaders (i.e., “Don’t understate the state we’re in. Don’t misconstrue my sideways grin, ‘cos you’re the one that let me in.” / “As you build your walls and empires fall, it seems the truth doesn’t matter anymore.”). “We’re So Nice,” written by the Captain, is a punk anthem with a slick beat by Pinch and lyrics about being careful not to fall into complacency.
In case you were doubting the Damned have opinions on the current political landscape, look no further than “Look Left.” It’s almost a gothic ballad as Vanian sings, “Subterfuge and fantasy played only to ignite. While everybody’s looking left, what the hell is happening right?” Keyboardist Monty Oxymoron‘s work on the track is subtle but crucial. “Evil Spirits” is the kind of song Kaiser Chiefs want to write on that crushing rock album in the back of their heads. Capt. Sensible shreds on it and his lyrics convey a bit of “Meet the old boss, same as the new boss” aesthetic. Oxymoron also gets to go wonderfully bonkers by the end of it.
It’s easy to forget that the Damned started as a goth-punk band, but “Shadow Evocation” will remind you of their roots. Vanian sings about ghosts, lurking in the night, and the devil chasing him towards death. Capt. Sensible dives into the realm of conspiracy theory with “Sonar Deceit” as Vanian sings Sensible’s lyrics about sea fish swimming into fresh water rivers, whales dying on shores, dolphins going mad, and submarines doing nefarious things. “Procrastination” encourages all of us to achieve our dreams while we still have time (“I’d like to see the pyramids at this time of the year, but never quite get round to it and end up staying here.”).
“The Daily Liar” is a plea for truth in news and for someone, anyone to cut through the “smoke and mirrors” of the 24-hour news cycle. “I’m drowning in a raging sea of words,” Vanian sings. Aren’t we all? The closer, “I Don’t Care,” is a great companion to “The Daily Liar,” as Vanian admits all the white noise of mass media and political mudslinging has left him apathetic about all of it. It starts with sad piano by Oxymoron and almost fades out before the whole band rushes in to shake you awake.
It’s a good return from these legends, who are still fiery live as well. It’s a wake-up call, and a welcome one.
Keep your mind open.
[I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for you to subscribe.]
“An evolutionary step forward for their sound.” – Metal Hammer
“A woozy wall of Afrobeat inspired fuzzbox riff worship and pounding circular rhythmic power, Here Lies Man connect the stoner rock underground straight to downtown Lagos.” – The Quietus
“This is a band ahead of their time.” — The Obelisk
Los Angeles quintet Here Lies Man share a new single from their forthcoming highly anticipated sophomore album today via The Obelisk. Hear and share “Taking The Blame” HERE and at Bandcamp and YouTube. The album, You Will Know Nothing will be released June 15th via RidingEasy Records.
Earlier in the month, the band released “That Much Closer To Nothing” via YouTube. Back in March, the band dropped the first song, “Fighting” via YouTube.
Here Lies Man play the prestigious Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, Spain tomorrow before hitting the road with Earthless in June. Later in Fall, the band hits the massive Desert Daze festival in Southern California. Please see current dates below.
Here Lies Man took the music world by storm in 2017 with their self-titled debut positing the intriguing hypothesis: What if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat?
Rough Trade named Here Lies Man in their prestigious Top 10 Albums of 2017. BBC 6 & Classic Rock Magazine deemed it among the year’s best, as well as countless other press outlets singing its praises.
This June, the L.A. band comprised of Antibalas members quickly follow their auspicious debut with the even more thoroughly realized album You Will Know Nothing. Its 11 tracks expand upon the band’s exploration of heavy riff-based rock and psych within the ancient rhythmic formula of the clave.
“We’re very conscious of how the rhythms service the riffs,” explains founder and vocalist/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Marcos Garcia (who also plays guitar in Antibalas) of the band’s sound. “TonyIommi‘s (Black Sabbath) innovation was to make the riff the organizing principle of a song. We are taking that same approach but employing a different organizing principle: For Iommi it was the blues, for us it comes directly from Africa.”
Sonically, on You Will Know Nothing the dynamic range is thicker, crisper and more powerful. It glistens as much as it blasts. The songs are even catchier, more anthemic, and the production reflects that of a band truly come into its own. Lyrically, it’s an equally more conceptualized effort that reflects upon states of being and consciousness – a driving force that carries throughout the words and moods of all of the band’s releases, interconnected to their trancelike music. Here Lies Man have honed their sound and their focus, and soon, you will truly know Nothing.
“We wanted to go deeper with the sonic experience,” says Garcia. “Even though it sounds more hi-fi than the first record, it was important that it didn’t sound too polished.”
While You Will Know Nothing certainly maintains its gritty grooves, there’s an interesting conceptual mathematics to the entire proceedings. “There are interludes between each song that are 2/3 to 3/4 of the tempo of the previous song,” Garcia says. “The reason it breaks down to 2 over 3 or 3 over 4 is that everything in the music rhythmically corresponds to a set of mathematical algorithms known as the clave. The clave is an ancient organizing rhythmic principle developed in Africa.”
“We dove deep into the texture of the music, beyond the groove and the riff,” says HLM cofounder and drummer Geoff Mann (former Antibalas drummer and son of jazz musician Herbie Mann.) “Although something might sound like one instrument, there are subtle layers shifting through. It’s definitely a headphone album.”
Garcia and Mann recorded the album much like they did the debut, at their own L.A. studio on a Tascam 388 8-track tape machine. Congas were later recorded by percussionists Richard Panta and Reinaldo DeJesus. Then, Garcia went to NY to record interludes with former Antibalas keyboardist Victor Axelrod. Mixing took the most time in order to find the proper sonic space for each layer of musical detail, with first album engineer Jeremy Page mixing the drums and the band tackling the remainder while also juggling a hectic touring schedule.
Here Lies Man has already spent much of early 2018 on tour, with dates supporting Antibalas and Fu Manchu as well as a headlining trek through the EU & UK. Many summer festival dates and headline tours await later in the year as Here Lies Man continues its infectious charge onward.
You Will Know Nothing will be available on LP, CD and download on June 15th, 2018 via RidingEasy Records.
HERE LIES MAN LIVE 2018:
05/31 Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound Festival
06/02 Dudingen, CH @ Bad Bonn Kilbi
06/05 Asheville, NC @ Mothlight *
06/06 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade *
06/07 Spartansburg, SC @ Ground Zero *
06/08 Orlando, FL @ Wills Pub *
06/09 Tallahassee, FL @ The Wilbury *
06/10 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon *
06/12 Houston, TX @ White Oak Upstairs *
06/13 Austin, TX @ Barracuda *
06/14 Ft Worth, TX @ Ridgela Room *
06/15 Memphis, TN @ Growlers *
06/26 Seattle, WA @ Nectar Lounge
06/27 Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown
06/28 Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
06/29 Portland, OR @ Star Theater
06/30 Grant’s Pass, OR @ The Haul
07/01 Chico, CA @ Naked Lounge
07/02 San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
07/05 Los Angeles, CA @ Resident DTLA
08/24 Hudson Valley, NY @ Huichica Festival
08/31 Los Angeles, CA @ Levitt Pavillion (MacArthur Park)
10/12-14 Lake Perris, CA @ Desert Daze 2018
* w/ Earthless
Artist: Here Lies Man
Album: You Will Know Nothing
Label: RidingEasy Records
Release Date: June 15th, 2018
01. Animal Noises
02. Summon Fire
03. Blindness
04. That Much Closer
05. Hell (Wooly Tail)
06. Voices At The Window
As usual, Chicago’s annual Riot Fest is the festival Lollapalooza used to be and now dreams of being. Also as usual, the Riot Fest lineup is impressive. This first wave announcement packs some wallops. Beck, Interpol, Cypress Hill, Bad Religion, Clutch, Digable Planets, Gary Numan, Killing Joke, Wolfmother, and Bully are all worth your time. Tickets are on sale, and layaway options are available, so don’t wait until the second wave announcement if you want to get in on this.
Endless Scroll Out July 6th On What’s Your Rupture?
BODEGA have unveiled another new single, “Gyrate,” from their forthcoming debut album, Endless Scroll, coming out July 6th on What’s Your Rupture?.Nikki Belfiglio from the band said of the song, “When I was a little girl I used to masturbate in public (once at a JC Penny perfume counter). My parents, not wishing to shame me told me I shouldn’t ‘gyrate’ in front of other people. My song uses the language of Top 40 pop to celebrate self-sustainability and female pleasure.” Note the lyrics, “In the middle of a party. In the middle of the floor. You can get it all out right now. Wiggle your ass around. Feel the vibes coming up through your toes. Let it all go. You must have to gyrate it,” sings Nikki who also directed the accompanying video.
Limited physical copies of Endless Scroll will be available at BODEGA’s Sunnyvale show in Brooklyn this Friday, June 1st, and throughout their June U.S. dates while supplies last. Following another European run in July, BODEGA will tour North America throughout July and August. This summer marks the first time BODEGA will play many of these cities. A full list of dates is below.
BODEGA Tour Dates (new dates in bold): Fri. June 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Sunnyvale Sat. June 16 – Toronto, ON @ The Rivoli
Sun. June 17 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern Mon. June 18 – Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar Tue. June 19 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle Thu. June 21 – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt Fri. June 22 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop Sat. June 23 – Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Sun. June 24 – Iowa City, IA @ The Mill Mon. June 25 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club TUe. June 26 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Cactus Club
Wed. June 27 – Columbus, OH @ Used Kids Records Thu. June 28 – Athens, OH @ The Union Fri. June 29 – Washington, DC @ DC9 Sat. June 30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Everybody Hits Tue. July 10 – Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen (tickets) Wed. July 11 – Birmingham, UK @ The Sunflower Lounge (tickets) Fri. July 13 – Beccles, UK @ Latitude Festival (tickets) Mon. July 16 – Nijmegen, NL @ Valkhof Festival (tickets) Thu. July 19 – Port Grimaud, FR @ Plage de Rock w/ Parquet Courts Sat. July 21 – Benicassim, ES @ Benicassim Festival (tickets)
Sun. July 29 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter Mon. July 30 – Durham, NC @ Pinhook Tue. July 31 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl Wed. Aug. 1 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa Fri. Aug. 3 – Fort Worth, TX @ MASS Sat. Aug. 4 – Austin, TX @ Austin Tue. Aug. 7 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar Wed. Aug. 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge Fri. Aug. 10 – San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern Sun. Aug. 12 – Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar Mon. Aug. 13 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza Tue. Aug. 14 – Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
Love Hustler’sAdam Rudolph and Matt Cashdollar announced the official release of their single “Sinderella” with San Francisco’s Jumpsuit Records.
“We feel very fortunate to be a part of the Jumpsuit Records family. The label has proven to be driven by such a positive nature, we jumped at the opportunity to add to the vibe.” said Adam Rudolph, one half of the electronic band Love Hustler.
FIRST INDEPENDENT LABEL RELEASE
After two self-releases, Love Hustler set out to procure distribution in markets previously untapped. Love Hustler, an emerging electronic music duo, recently entered into a contract with Jumpsuit Records for the release of their new single “Sinderella”, available for purchase/download Tuesday, June 5th on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and more. The debut release of with Jumpsuit Records will ultimately introduce the band to the growing audience commanded by label founder David Sugalski (AKA The Polish Ambassador) as well as the diverse audiences of all Jumpsuit Records artists.
“We plan to grow with the label,” said Matt Cashdollar, of Love Hustler. “Jumpsuit is making waves in the industry on many levels.”
“SINDERELLA” AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD 6/5/2018
Formed in 2009, Love Hustler’s Adam Rudolph and Matt Cashdollar have created a live dance music experience merging analog and digital instruments in a live format. From synth pop styles to downtempo funk, the LH brand of electronic music is one to keep your eyes and ears on.
Keep your mind open.
[Hustle on over to the subscription box and drop me your e-mail address.]
Levitation Francehas added a few more artists to their 2018 lineup. The Soft Moon, Flavien Berger, J.C. Satan, Rendez-vous, Sextile, the Blank Tapes, and Prettiest Eyes are all now on the bill. Tickets are still available for the festival and it should be lovely in Angers in mid-September. I’m happy to see the Soft Moon on the bill, as they always put on a good show, and Flavien Berger is a rather good DJ / electro artist indeed.
Keep your mind open.
[Levitate over to the subscription box and drop your e-mail address before you go.]
“A sound that blends free jazz and hip-hop, seeing no distance between them… Latin fuses with African fuses with European and on and on until there is no distinction. This uncompromising group of players delivers an unforgettable listening experience that listeners will doubtless be parsing for some time to come.” — PopMatters
Austin, TX iconoclasts The Young Mothers share the first track from their forthcoming sophomore album today via PopMatters. Hear and share “Attica Black” HERE. (Direct Soundcloud.)
The band just wrapped up a handful of Texas dates and will head over to Europe for a summer tour. See current dates below.
Self Sabotage Records proudly presents Morose, the anticipated follow up by The Young Mothers, a juggernaut of a collective formed in 2012 and featuring a super group of heavy-hitters who have helped steer the direction of creative music in New York, Chicago, Texas, and Scandinavia.
Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (The Thing; Free Fall; Atomic) moved to Austin, Texas in 2009. He’d experimented with stateside living for a few years in Chicago before that, but the city of barbecue, food trucks, and outlaw country music has become his home base. Texas has a deep creative music history, but most Texas improvisers found their notoriety elsewhere, seeking to escape segregation and poverty for a chance to ‘starve a little better’ on the coasts. However, the Texas of 2018 is not the Texas of 1958 and the groundwork for this potent convergence was laid around a decade ago in Houston when Ingebrigt met and linked up with trumpeter/rapper Jawwaad Taylor (Shape Of Broad Minds, MF Doom), and what became a transliteration of his Chicago Sextet into a scrappy Lone Star variant called The Young Mothers has formed a group identity all its own and now has a second album under the belt (their first, A Mothers’ Work Is Never Done was self-released in 2014). Instrumentally The Young Mothers has some similarity with its Windy City relative – in addition to sharing drummer Frank Rosaly and Flaten, the vibraphone chair is held down by percussionist & diabolical vocalist Stefan González (Yells At Eels, Akkolyte), and Jason Jackson (Alvin Fielder, Pauline Oliveros, William Parker) on tenor and barry is their saxophone firebrand. Furthermore, the group features guitarist Jonathan Horne (Plutonium Farmers, ex-White Denim) and prolific wordsmith and improviser JAWWAAD on trumpet, electronics, and rhymes, and it is here that structural similarities between the Young Mothers and Flaten’s other folksy-modal projects end.
The Young Mothers was named after a Houston community project for teen mothers (Project Row Houses) that Flaten’s then-partner had been a part of, and while it may strike one as an odd moniker for a group that melds free improvisation, Tejano-inspired horn lines, the long unfurling electricity of surf rock, tough word-science and crust metal vocals, but relocating to a then-unfamiliar locale and birthing/raising a melange of sonic approaches into a working ensemble is not insignificant, if not quite actual motherhood. (On a side note; another strong connection to the Project Row Houses is the Houstonian artist and legendary sculptor Jesse Lott who made the beautiful album art!) Anyways, while they may have exhibited a homespun ricketiness in the beginning, through touring nationwide and after several festival performances and tours in Europe they’ve honed their sound into something truly their own, and one that’s not insignificantly comparable to historical melds in Scandinavian-American-World Music – the work of Don Cherry, Maffy Falay’s Sevda, and more recent efforts from Two Bands and a Legend and The Cherry Thing successfully merge varied strains of contemporary music with creative improvisation. Flaten’s round, deep tone and precise attack certainly act as an anchor, a fulcrum for sculpted vibraphone resonance, the dry breaks and shimmering floes of Rosaly’s kit, all of which stoke Horne’s flinty guitar and the throaty exhortations of brass and verbal declaration. Check “Black Tar Caviar” for some of the most unruly combinations of threads on this disc; from dual cymbal and tuned gong tempi supporting Jackson’s Gato Barbieri-like burrs, the palette of accents gradually increases until feedback-laden scorch signals a second movement, raps and death howls in tandem against a Cherry-like folk theme and sludgy electric bass grooves/strangled flourishes. It’s a fine microcosm of ten of what The Young Mothers are up to.
And as Håker Flaten tells us; “a lot has changed since I initiated this band in 2012, it has grown into its own thing with a truly collective spirit. I created a monster and its time to let go” – luckily for all of us, this band has stretched its legs further than the Houston/Austin/Dallas triangle and we at Self Sabotage Records are ready to help them to hopefully reach out much further with an album we believe is remarkable! We hope you feel the same.
Morose will be available on LP, CD and download on June 22, 2018 out via Self Sabotage Records (Pre-order at Big Cartel-Self Sabotage).
Thanks to all who listened to my show on WSND last night. My nephew, Cody (AKA C-Hav) was my guest, and he picked out some of the songs. Here’s our set list:
