popwreckoning

Since their 1994 full-length debut, blink-182 has sold over 11 million albums and filled arenas and stadiums both in the U.S. and worldwide. All six of their albums have been certified either gold or double platinum, with 1999’s Enema of the State selling more than 4 million copies. In 2005, blink-182 announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus. They came back together four years later and began work on their new album.

blink-182 are back with the lead single from their new album, “Up All Night.” The trio’s first new song in eight years made its radio debut July 14th on Los Angeles’ KROQ-FM. “Up All Night” is available for streaming on the band’s website www.blink182.com.

In August, blink-182 will hit the road with My Chemical Romance as part of the 2011 Honda Civic Tour, which will reach 38 U.S. cities. Details about all tour dates can be found on www.hondacivictour.com.

This was the first time I’d ever been to the Crocodile Cafe (or “the Croc” as it’s affectionately known) in Belltown, and I’m glad it turned out to be an insanely fun time. But then again, when has Sondre Lerche ever not put on a good show? Surely I didn’t know, but that’s what I’d been told.

Before the show began, I stepped outside for a minute – as it was some of the best weather Seattle has seen since last August, and as I walked back in, I was met with some of the most unique sounds I’ve ever heard in a live setting. This was Kishi Bashi, a friend of Lerche’s from New York, and he was amazing.

Seeing that Kishi Bashi’s recorded stuff is largely made up of layering and synthesizers, the loop pedal was his main instrument on stage – accompanied by a violin (sometimes played as a ukulele), a drum machine, and his unique vocals. He sounds like a mix between an Asian James Mercer and Ezra Koenig. Very hip, and very awesome.

Sadly I didn’t get any video footage of his performance, but there are plenty of amateur videos up on YouTube of his amazing on-stage looping. Here’s one I found.

One of my favourite parts of his set was a quite interesting song – you can guess what it’s about – called “Just the Tip.” I’ll leave that to your imagination – but I strongly suggest you check him out at http://kishibashi.bandcamp.com/

After Kishi Bashi’s awe-inspiring set, Nightlands took the stage, which to be honest, it took me a bit to warm up to them. They weren’t bad, they just didn’t have a lot of stage presence to start out with. Once they got through a few songs, Nightlands loosened up a bit and played more to the crowd rather than in front of the crowd if that makes sense. I liked their music – it was catchy indie pop with a self-deprecating tinge. It’s definitely something I’d listen to on record, maybe just not go out and see live again.

However, it was a nice little moment when Sondre Lerche and his drummer came out on stage to jam with Nightlands during their last couple songs. He just sneaked out onto the stage – he’s so tiny.

For more on Nightlands, visit http://www.nightlands.us/

Finally, once the crowd was comfortably inebriated, Sondre Lerche took the stage with his many guitars.

Let me tell you – this guy is a surprise on stage. When you listen to Lerche’s music on record, you hear a crooner with a voice smoother than a good cheese sauce. And on stage, he’s jumping all over the place rocking out. It’s like two different worlds, yet it all makes sense together and makes for a great Friday night.

Playing through an extensive setlist, he started out with the hugely catchy “Private Caller.” He also included in the set – “Domino,” “Two Way Monologue,” “Living Dangerously,” and “Coliseum Town.” Forgetting how big his catalog is, I hadn’t realized that Lerche had been doing this for ten years when he said it – but that’s maybe because he looks like he’s about my age, 22.

Lerche’s charming on stage persona was only made better when he started taking requests. At one point, he sweetly said to the audience, “I know I’ve been playing through all these new songs, but I completely forgot to ask if anyone had any requests.” And instantly people shouted out song titles somewhat incoherently, but one did stand out from the rest.

“Sleep on Needles!”

So Lerche busted right into the catchy tune and the whole Croc turned into a little dance party.

During the last few songs of his set, Lerche brought out several members of Nightlands and Kishi Bashi as his backup band, and it seemed like one big family on stage, and that infectious feeling spread throughout the Croc. I didn’t want to leave, even though some might say his well-over-an-hour set was too long. My philosophy is: a set is only too long when an artist doesn’t blow you away.

Sondre Lerche’s set was definitely not too long.

Seattle’s premiere mid-summer music festival the Capitol Hill Block Party is happening in less than a week, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to be precise. If you live anywhere near Seattle and haven’t heard about it by now, you must have been living under a rock.

Last year’s festival had the likes of the Dead Weather and MGMT headlining the urban festival, set in the middle of Seattle’s South Capitol Hill neighborhood.

This year’s lineup includes: TV on the Radio, Explosions in the Sky, the Head and the Heart, and well you can see the whole lineup above – over 70 bands including some of Seattle’s finest local talents.

For the full festival schedule, go to http://capitolhillblockparty.com/schedule/

To purchase tickets, individual day tickets for $27.50 or 3-day passes for $82.50 are available here: http://capitolhillblockparty.strangertickets.com/Home

Earth Division demonstrates another side of Mogwai’s genius with its “ever-rotating, hypnotic soundtracks that drift dreamy into force, while absorbing into the paranormal.” The EP is a collaboration of guitar distortion and melancholy sounding piano, which is different from the band’s usual sound, but it still carries their trademark.

Earth Division EP tracklisting:

1. Get To France.
2. Hound Of Winter.
3. Drunk And Crazy.
4. Does This Always Happen?

Mogwai are headlining this month’s iTunes Festival, at the Roundhouse, London on July 23 and they will also be appearing at the End Of The Road Festival on September 3, which sold out. They will also be returning to the US for a few shows in the beginning of September. Click here for a full list of dates.

For more information on Mogwai visit: http://www.subpop.com/artists/mogwai

Portland band (by way of Alaska) Portugal. The Man are set to release their major label LP In The Mountain In The Cloud July 19th on Atlantic Records. Stream the entire album at KCRW here.

Tracklist:

1. So American
2. Floating (Time Isn’t Working My Side)
3. Got It All (This Can’t Be Living Now)
4. Senseless
5. Head Is a Flame (Cool With It)
6. You Carried Us (Share With Me The Sun)
7. Everything You See (Kids Count Hallelujahs)
8. All Your Light (Times Like These)
9. Once Was One
10. Share With Me The Sun
11. Sleep Forever

For more information (and to purchase the album this Tuesday) please visit: www.portugaltheman.com

Twenty-two year old Trevor Powers, whose musical venture is called Youth Lagoon, has had a long year. He’s simply living the life of a kid going to college, being in love, dealing with heartache, and day to day things and not yet dealing with the woes or touring and traveling.

“Youth Lagoon isn’t me.” says Powers. “It’s merely a part of me. I was in and out of different bands in high school and always tried to define myself by what music I played. I tried to find a sense of meaning by being in a band. But it wasn’t until this last year – when I realized I was more than just music – that I was able to create music that means something to me. And that is Youth Lagoon.”

Throughout the course of 2010, Powers began to write an album about things he had a hard time talking about. He claims that when he tries to talk about it to people, he doesn’t make sense. So he wrote an album about it titled The Year of Hibernation.

Although his music seems somewhat dreamy with the first listen, the lyrics show a different side to the matter. Powers claims his music is like letting people read his journal. “I don’t think I could ever write a completely happy album. It’s not that I’m not a happy person,” claims Powers, “but I just have too many things in my mind that haunt me.”

The Year of Hibernation by Youth Lagoon is out Sept. 27 on Fat Possum – more details soon.

You can stream the song “Montana” here: http://soundcloud.com/youth-lagoon/montana

To kick off their summer touring schedule, Los Angeles neo-soul group Fitz and the Tantrums are giving away a free MP3 download of “Don’t Gotta Work It Out (Live)” from the band’s official website.

Check out the dates below:

7/8, Minneapolis, MN @ Basilica Block Party
7/20, La Jolla, CA @ Birch Aquarium
7/22, Hollywood, CA @ The Music Box
7/27, Sydney, Australia @ The Basement
7/29, Melbourne, Australia @ Red Bennie’s
7/30, Woodford, Australia @ Splendor in the Grass
8/5, Kansas City, KS @ Kansas Speedway
8/6, Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
8/6, Chicago, IL @ Schubas
8/12, Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
8/13, Burlington, VT @ Waterfront Park
8/14, East Hampton, NY @ MTK Festival
8/18, Kiewit, Belgium @ Pukkelpop Festival
8/20, Stafford, UK @ V Festival
8/21, Chelmsford, UK @ V Festival
8/27, Annapolis, MD @ Silopanna Music Festival
9/4, Aspen, CO @ Snowmass Resort
9/5, Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival
9/9, Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
9/10, Columbia, MO @ Roots ‘N Blues ‘N BBQ Festival
9/16, Telluride, CO @ Telluride Blues & Brews
9/17, Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/28, New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Festival

For more information visit www.fitzandthetantrums.com.

’80s music icons Erasure have announced plans to release their next full-length studio album, Tomorrow’s World, on October 4 in the U.S.

Accompanying the album release news is the announcement of a substantial North American tour, the first on this continent for Vince Clarke and Andy Bell in more than 5 years. The duo responsible for Eighties classics like “A Little Respect” and “Chains of Love” will start their tour in Tampa on August 31 and conclude their jaunt on October 6 in Seattle.

For information on purchasing tickets, visit the band’s official website. Tickets are on sale now.

Tour dates-
Aug 31 Tampa, FL. The Ritz Ybor
Sept 2 Orlando, FL. House of Blues
Sept 3 Atlanta, GA. Center Stage
Sept 4 Asheville, NC. The Orange Peel
Sept 6 Washington, DC. 9.30 Club
Sept 7 Washington, DC. 9.30 Club
Sept 8 Philadelphia, PA. Theatre of Living Arts
Sept 10 Boston, MA. House of Blues
Sept 11 Toronto, ON. Sound Academy
Sept 13 New York, NY. Terminal 5
Sept 14 New York, NY. Terminal 5
Sept 16 Chicago, IL. Congress Theatre
Sept 17 Chicago, IL, Congress Theatre
Sept 18 Milwaukee, WI. Pabst Theater
Sept 20 Indianapolis, IN. The Vogue Theatre
Sept 21 St. Louis, MO. The Pageant
Sept 23 Austin, TX. ACL Live
Sept 24 Houston, TX. Verizon Wireless Theatre
Sept 25 Dallas, TX. House of Blues
Sept 27 Denver, CO. Ogden Theater
Sept 28 Salt Lake City, UT. Kingsbury Hall
Sept 30 Las Vegas, NV. The Palms Concert Theater
Oct 1 Los Angeles, CA. Hollywood Palladium
Oct 2 San Diego, CA. House of Blues
Oct 4 Oakland, CA. Fox Theater
Oct 5 Portland, OR. Crystal Ballroom
Oct 6 Seattle, WA. Neptune

Joseph Arthur will be touring North America this Summer and Fall in support of his new album The Graduation Ceremony. Performing solo with sound loops and painting live onstage, Arthur has been known to create “a dynamic swirl of noise that somehow appears magically around him” (NPR) and “emotional (but tuneful) exorcisms” (Entertainment Weekly). Tour stops include the Pearl Jam 20 Festival (Sept. 3 & 4), Austin City Limits (Sept. 18) and an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (July 20).

Check out Arthur’s new video for Love Never Asks You To Lie:

Tour dates are below:

July 8 – Quebec City, Quebec               Festival d’ete de Quebec
July 15 – Arlington, VA                         IOTA
July 16 – Annapolis, MD                       Ram’s Head (1pm all-ages matinee)
July 20 – Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
July 22 – Camden, NJ                           WXPN’s Xponential Festival
July 23 – Calgary, AB                           Calgary Folk Festival
July 29 – Montreal, QC                         Osheaga 2011
August 2 & 3 – Toronto, ON                  Dakota Tavern
August 5 – Pittsburgh, PA                    Club Café
August 6 – Akron, OH                          Musica
August 20 – Woodland Park, CO           Newhoma Music & Mountain Festival
September 3 & 4 – East Troy, WI          Pearl Jam 20 Festival
September 14 – Asheville, NC               The Grey Eagle
September 15 – Nashville, TN                Bluebird Café
September 17 – Dallas, TX                    Kessler Theater
September 18 – Austin, TX                    Austin City Limits
September 22 – Los Angeles, CA          Troubadour
September 23 – San Francisco, CA       Great American Music Hall

www.josepharthur.com

Beady Eye – essentially Oasis minus the elder Noel Gallagher – have announced a series of gig dates in North America starting in late November. The 2-week tour begins on November 25 in Vancouver and ends in New York City on December 9. The band signed earlier this year to Dangerbird Records, also the American home of the Dears, Delphic, and Minus the Bear. For more information about purchasing tickets, visit the Dangerbird Web site. Most tickets to this tour go on sale this Friday (July 15) at 10 AM.

Beady Eye’s debut album, Different Gear, Still Speeding, was released on February 28 in the UK and March 1 in America.

Tour dates

NOV 29 – Vancouver, BC at Commodore Ballroom

NOV 30 – Seattle, WA at Showbox Market

DEC 2 – San Francisco, CA at The Warfield

DEC 3 – Los Angeles, CA at Wiltern Theatre

DEC 5 – Minneapolis, MN at First Avenue

DEC 6 – Milwaukee, WI at The Rave Ballroom

DEC 8 – Washington, DC at 9:30 Club

DEC 9 – New York, NY at Terminal 5