Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Fever Ray tour teaser

As The Knife Karin Drejer Andersson rarely toured, her and her brother limiting their circuits to short runs of dates in cities close to Sweden. With her new solo project Fever Ray however, Karin has decided she'd like to tour more extensively and is about to embark on a run of Scandanavian dates April through August.

Her label Rabid Records has released a tour video for the shows which draws on the unhinged yet delicate aesthetic of the album - a collection of songs as much macarbe, manic and conspiratorial as they are romantic, playful and gentle.


Fever Ray Tour 2009 from Fever Ray on Vimeo.

10 Apr Motel Mozaique, Rotterdam
11 Apr The Royal Festival Hall, London
20 Jun Sonar By Night, Barcelona
03 Jul Roskilde Festival, Roskilde
04 Jul Arvika Festival, Arvika
12 Aug Öyafestivalen, Oslo, Oslo
14 Aug Way Out West, Göteborg
16 Aug Flow, Helsinki

Read more details and purchase tickets from her website, feverray.com/shows

Friday, March 27, 2009

also

If you live in New York, I couldn't be more jealous! Stereogum has some news for you this morning:

Björk and Dirty Projectors are joining forces for a one-time benefit show Friday, May 8th, at 8PM at Housing Works Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby Street) in Manhattan. Tickets go on sale 4/1. The night's part of Housing Works' "Live From Home" series, and all proceeds go to Housing Works. Stereogum is a proud sponsor.

Society

If you love Passion Pit, I think you'll enjoy this. The lead singer has a shouty twang quite similar to PP's Michael Angelakos and the echoing, swirling electronic melody punched out an old synth has the same post-punk feel of PP's Chunk Of Change E.P.

'Future Days (getting high)' Society Mp3 [z share]

It's not extraordinary but it really suits an uninspiring drizzly Friday mid-morning when you're looking towards an exciting Friday night.

The London duo released their debut E.P digitally and on vinyl (limited pressing) through Asphalt Duchess yesterday. If you like what you hear, please support them and grab a copy via the Asphalt Duchess online store.

If you're in Sydney and have no plans tonight, Midnight Juggernauts' Siberia Records are hosting a party. I don't know where else you'll see M83 for $5, so print a copy of this flier and come down to dance.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

tUnE-yArDs

Released March 10, Bird Brains is tUnE-yArDs latest solo album - a collection of idiosyncratic pop made only using a Sony recorder tracked into Audacity. Doesn't get much more lo-fi that that!

She's performing her new solo show at SXSW today and tomorrow and you gotta go for me if you're in Texas!

Thursday 11pm:

FXNC
: Free By No Cover
Flipnotics Coffeespace
1601 Barton Springs Rd.
Austin, TX 78704
512.480.TOGO

Friday 2pm:
Forcefield/Asthmatic Kitty Showcase
Okay Mountain
1312 E. Cesar Chavez

Bird Brains was available from her website tuneyards.com on a pay-what-you-like basis, but after being picked up for distribution by Marriage Records (where she sits comfortably amongst Lucky Dragons, Panther and White Rainbow) is now on sale for $10 via their online store.

'Sunlight' tUnE-yArDs Mp3 [z share]

Monday, March 16, 2009

follow the golden fox through the golden door

A healthy Monday morning breakfast: Videos

Solid Gold The Golden Filter


... I hate that now, every time I see a tribal headpiece I think of MGMT

The Muzik Ebony Bones



Ebony Bones is releasing her debut album in the upcoming months and in February The Golden Filter released their Solid Gold 7" through the label arm of Dummy Magazine

I also watched this oldie this morning, just because I love Andreas Nilsson videos so much.

Heartbeats The Knife

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Bosque Brown

When I think of Texas I think Kings of Leon rock and roll, not the lush, expansive country leanings of Bosque Brown. This week Gorilla Vs Bear posted a video of their single Phone Call and having never heard them before I clicked through Myspace and band and label websites to Insound where I ordered a copy of their LP Baby.

The band's front-woman Mara Lee Miller was raised a Baptist and she has a hymnal tone reminiscent of church Sundays, so hauntingly beautiful and honest.

See them at sxsw at the Asthmatic Kitty/Forcefield PR party on the 20th. Wish I could go.

Monday, March 9, 2009

wildildlife


In January Wildildlife re-released their hand-made CD-R Peas Feast on pressed on yellow wax vinyl through Crucial Blast (USA), in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. If you but the vinyl you also get a digital downloads of all the tracks from Peas Feast as well as a digital-only EP. of unreleased material called Drongolet Demos.

I don't often love these sort of noise bands, but Wildildlife contast their heavier metal moments with psychedelic veberb and echoing freak-out vocals (which I always love) and while it's confusing at first, the more I hear the more I like.

They sound stoned (which is fitting considering their San Fransisco roots) and it's not easy listening, but it's a great trip into the oft uncharted territories of druggy shoegaze metal music.

Did they just invent a genre?!

Listen to their stuff at their Myspace, marvel at the penis chandellier background, and buy their records here at insound.

Friday, March 6, 2009

high places & grouper in sydney

I've finally remembered to check Soft Circle's myspace page and apparently he is working on a new album. This would be great news, had he not been suggesting a new album was in the works for the past year. It may very well be, but I was hoping for something new a little sooner than 2010.

Today was my parents 30th anniversary. They had their first date 30 years ago and married 20 years ago today. I was a flower girl. Today I also saw one of my favourite musical entities perform live for the first time - High Places. I interviewed them for Pages magazine a year or so ago and it was so wonderful to see them play. I had been really excited about the show all week and they didn't dissapoint at all. It was a short sharp explosion of densely layered synthesizer samples, live drum machine, bells, whistles, Mary's tender vocals and early 80s heavy hip-hop beats. Rob was wonderfully energetic, smacking the drum pads with such a wild enthusiasm you'd easily assume he was playing to a crowd much larger than the 30 or so people in the room. The show was really wonderful, and great to dance around to such positive, organic, fun music.

So all in all. What a day!

Tomorrow night, Grouper is performing at Sydney's Serial Space.

Grouper is Portland artist Liz Harris and last year's Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill was a favourite of mine. Described (perfectly) as "the future soundtracks to love, despair and ultimately, hope" her whispered trance-like dream-pop is a little melencholic at times and nothing like the explosive calipso hip hop of High Places - the sort of music she writes would sound perfect as the soundtrack to a Gus Van Sant film.

What I love so much about her is that as she sings you can hear real emotion, the acoustic melodies and harmonised vocal lines creating hauntingly beautiful compositions that resonate with you hours after the CD has run its course.

She is still unsigned, but come May is touring with Animal Collective. So see her now (for $12 at Serial Space tomorrow, obvs) before you have to qeue for days to see her at 500+ capacity venues (Bon Iver, anyone?!)

Grouper with Pimmon and Seaworthy
Serial Space, 33 Wellington Street Chippendale
8pm, $12

Buy Dragging a Dead Dear Up A Hill on Insound

(This is such a creepy album cover... not a great idea to be looking at this before bed...)

Sleep tight x