popwreckoning

Eclectic German rhythm / classical / techno outfit Brandt Brauer Frick will release their second album, Mr. Machine, on the 25th of October, and they are currently getting ready to come over to the States for a series of gigs as a three-piece. Before that though, I wanted to pose some questions to the classically trained one of the trio, Paul Frick, to find out more about their musical history and what went on behind the scenes in making Mr. Machine, among other things. Read on…

PW: Your band’s name is obviously your surnames put together, without commas or other punctuation. Put together, It’s a very rhythmic-sounding phrase. Was this intentional? (That is, did you want something intentionally related to the sound you make?) Did you have names prior to this or had you been thinking about other names for your new band? If yes, what were they?
Paul Frick (Brandt Brauer Frick): Well, I’m glad you like the sound of it! It’s a mere coincidence that our surnames kind of fit together. I think it was Daniel who said we should use our surnames, a bit like an old German avant garde Jazz band. We’ve put the names alphabetically and our band name is what came out… In the beginning I thought it sounded weird, but now it almost feels as if these names had always been together…

PW: Much has been made about the disparity between Daniel Brandt and Jan Brauer‘s jazz outfit and your classical / modern music university background. How did you manage to run into / find each other?
PF: Jan and Daniel were producing Jazz infused club music under the name Scott, and I had just released my first house music record, which I did while studying composition. We discovered each others music on Myspace and met in Berlin to exchange some records. Only then we became aware of each others broader influences. So it was actually club music that brought us together, with its inherent potential to absorb all types of different styles.

PW: And what brought you together? Were there musical loves that you had in common, or was it something entirely non-music related that led to the creation of Brandt Brauer Frick?
PF: Listening to each others music, it was not surprising when we found out we were all into jazzy house music like Theo Parrish or Matthew Herbert. Steve Reich and oldschool loop techno were also among the common musical loves.

Actually, the creation of our band was at first completely music related. But obviously we didn’t dislike each other either, haha…

PW: Are you now based in Berlin (or another German city) / all live in the same city? Tell me about your environment and how it contributes to the Brandt Brauer Frick sound (or if not).
PF: Yes! Jan and Daniel have finally moved to Berlin, which makes it all a lot easier. All of the music we have made until now, except the Mr. Machine album, has been imagined and recorded by us in Daniel’s garage in Wiesbaden (near Frankfurt), and the sound of that garage has become quite typical for us. And the vibe of it too, as it’s a perfect place to forget the outside world and just freak out. And the sound of Daniel’s old piano has become typical as well: it’s totally out of tune, so we used it mainly as a percussion instrument, knocking, scratching, kicking and so on… Mr. Machine is the first music we recorded in Berlin, not in our own new studio, which we still need to renovate next week, but in the Jazzanova / Exit Studios, which was great! But we had imagined and written the music in the garage.

We are actually very curious what impact our new studio in Berlin will have on our music. Once it’s renovated…

PW: To someone who has never heard your music before, what three words would you use to describe it?
PF: I would say it’s deep and emotional body music, mostly with sounds from materials like wood, metal, skin, hair…

PW: The Brandt Brauer Frick sound, to me, seems to be all about rhythm – embracing it and how different types of rhythm, usually disparate and very contrasting, can be blended together to form a cohesive sound. How did your band’s sound and vision evolve to where it is today?
PF: It’s probably too early for us to state how our music has evolved. We have made “Bop” on the second day we ever made music together, and now there’s still a version of it on Mr. Machine… I think our initial sound was a mix between intuition, chemistry, some knowledge and mainly trying to escape from boredom.

PW: But you must have started somewhere. Were you all driving your mothers crazy by banging on pots and pans as children?
PF: I used to drive our neighbours crazy, playing the piano at 7 AM before going to school. Something similar must have happened to Jan and Daniel, I guess…

PW: Who and/or what do you consider your biggest artistic inspiration(s)?
PF: Life as a whole.

PW: How is your new album, Mr. Machine, different from You Make Me Real? What was the most exciting aspect(s) of writing and recording the new album?
PF: Mainly Mr. Machine is played by 10 musicians, “You Make Me Real” only by the three of us. On You Make Me Real, we cut a lot of things in a rather mechanical way, whereas “Mr. Machine” is much less edited, it has a more human breath to it.

While playing with our ensemble and also while recording, we were amazed by how the other musicians added their own perspectives on what we had written. They often played things in a way we had not even thought of, added interesting sounds, etc.

It’s a fantastic experience to see your own ideas grow, being ping-pong-ed back at you by great musicians.
Another cool thing about recording the album was the fact that we didn’t have to care about microphones, postions etc., cause our sound engineer Rashad Becker was taking care of everything, with the help of Axel Reinemer from Jazzanova.

Until then, in our garage, we had always recorded in a rather fast and dirty way.

PW: I’ve read about this new 10-piece ensemble you will be bringing to America. How difficult has it been to adjust your live performance, expanding from the three of you to ten strong?
PF: It has been an insane work, writing all the scores, casting musicians, rehearsing, logistics, organisation, all these things…

But some things also became much easier, because sharing the stage with 7 other great musicians brought tons of good ideas and vibes rather automatically. And being on tour with up to 18 people, including musicians, sound crew, tour manager, light, babysitter, friends etc. is an amazing experience!

PW: Was Mr. Machine conceived with this big group of performers on tour in mind, or did that come afterward?
PF: Yes, it was conceived after playing the first 10-piece show and then it was recorded with all of them.

PW: How did you choose which instruments would be included? And what instruments will be included on this tour (if you’re allowed to let us in on this secret now)?
PF: We had brainstormed about it from time to time, during about 2 years. And after the first ensemble rehearsal last august, we stayed with the instrumentation we had chosen at that point, cause it showed to work really well: violin, cello, trombone, tuba, harp, 3 percussionists/drummers, Moog synthesizer, piano.

But on our U.S. tour in autumn it will be just the three of us. A U.S. Ensemble tour is planned for next year.

PW: Being German, do you feel that bringing your sound to an American audience presents a special challenge? Why or why not?
PF: No, it’s just the usual challenge of moving human beings!

PW: So I was introduced to your music by the promotional video for “Bop,” with a set that looks like what a band appearance on a American late night tv show like Jay Leno or David Letterman that’s called “Minimal Parade.” There are Japanese characters running across the bottom, yet there is a German announcer and a lovely Vanna White-type hostess (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanna_White). Pretty unusual! Please explain the concept.
PF: Daniel directed the “Bop” video (together with Julian Schleef) and he had the idea for it too. One aspect was to kind of simulate the Ensemble idea that we had in mind but still weren’t able to put into practice. About the rest, you better ask Daniel directly.

PW: You’re taking your tour to places far and wide across America. Are there any places in particular you are most looking forward to visiting and playing in?
PF: Everything!

Mr. Machine, the second album from Brandt Brauer Frick, will be released in the U.S. on October 25 on !K7 Records. BBF’s North American tour begins on October 24 in Minneapolis.

Tour Dates
Oct 24 – Cedar Cultural Center / Minneapolis
Oct 27 – Glasslands / Brooklyn
Oct 28 – Red Palace / Washington, DC
Oct 29-30 – Moogfest / Asheville, NC
Oct 30 – 529 / Atlanta
Oct 31 – Back Booth / Orlando
Nov 01 – Club Down Under @ FSU / Tallahassee
Nov 03 – Prophet Bar / Dallas
Nov 04-06 – Fun Fun Fun Fest / Austin
Nov 11 – Rickshaw Stop / San Francisco
Nov 12 – Luckman Fine Arts Complex / Los Angeles

Brandt Brauer Frick: website | myspace | Brandt Brauer Frick to Release New Album “Mr. Machine”, Announce American Fall Tour

In the wide world of female performers, you have two camps: one that values extravagant style over substance (e.g., Lady Gaga, Beyonce, recent upstart Kreayshawn) and the other valuing substance over their own understated style (the folk singers, generally). Of the latter category is 20-year old Alessi Laurent-Marke, who records under the name Alessi’s Ark. Laurent-Marke will be getting her first widespread North American debut as the Londoner supports Laura Marling on a 2-week tour of our continent.

She will also be promoting her first full-length release in America, Time Travel, scheduled for release on September 27 on Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union label. (The album was already released in the UK in April, and there are some songs on Spotify [some old, some new] to tide you over until the actual release of the album here.) I am quite pleased that Alessi’s Ark is finally getting attention on this side of the Atlantic, as I’ve been keeping tabs on Laurent-Marke since her first album, Notes from the Treehouse, was released in Britain in 2009.

Alessi’s Ark songs generally follow one rule: they’re all very short. On Time Travel, only the title track and “Stalemate” go over 3 minutes, with some of the other songs not even going past the 2-minute mark. This can be good or bad; in the good sense, Laurent-Marke’s thoughts are put into small, compact compartments, like something you want to scuttle away in a dark corner of your pocket and save for a rainy day. But in the bad sense, you’re left wondering where the song would have gone, had she decided to soldier on with her thoughts. The best example on the album is “Wire” (download it from Bella Union here, video below). It appears to be a cryptic love letter to an important woman in her life (her mother? a lover?) that is now dearly departed. Yet there is also clear the acknowledgment that she feels lost, forsaken, and misunderstood (“I’m tired of walking this wire / it keeps me awake for heaven sake / I was made for this girl / I feel lonely / my friends don’t seem to know me / like I thought they did / I thought they did, but they don’t”). The angst of growing up is of course a common theme across many genres of music, but I’d like someone to come up with a song as elegant as this.

The beauty does not end there. “Run,” barely clocking in at a minute and a half, is the musical equivalent of seeing the moon’s reflection in a still lake. In “On the Plains,” Laurent-Marke uses simple chord changes against her effortless vocals for a simple love song. Flutes add a level of whimsy to this track, and throughout the album, you will find also find brass instruments supporting the standard folk backdrop of thoughtful guitars and Laurent-Marke’s calm voice. It’s almost unbelievable that someone so young could have such great control over the sounds that come out of her mouth. Then again, remind yourself who she’s touring with: Laura Marling, merely 1 year her senior. In the tune “Stalemate,” she admits, “the only thing I’ve learnt is I like singing / all the lessons that the guitar is bringing.” Something America should learn – and quickly: all aboard Alessi’s Ark, and prepare to enjoy the ride.

Time Travel, the first American release for Alessi’s Ark, will be released on September 27 on Bella Union. Catch Laurent-Marke on tour, supporting Laura Marling, on the dates below.

Track Listing
01. Kind of Man
02. Wire
03. On The Plains
04. Must’ve Grown
05. Time Travel
06. The Fever
07. Blanket
08. Maybe I Know
09. Stalemate
10. The Robot
11. Run
12. The Bird Song

Tour Dates (supporting Laura Marling)
Sept 22 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago
Sept 23 – Great Hall / Toronto
Sept 24 – Corona / Montreal
Sept 25 – Brighton Music Hall / Boston
Sept 27 – Sixth & I Historic Synagogue / Washington, DC
Sept 28 – Webster Hall / New York City

Alessi’s Ark: website | myspace

The third album from English folk songbird Laura Marling is called A Creature I Don’t Know and the approach this time around seems to be a mature one (like Marling’s second, I Speak Because I Can) but more raw and back to basics, more similar to Marling’s 2008 debut and Mercury Prize-nominated album Alas I Cannot Swim. Take, for instance, the opening track “The Muse.” A fast folk guitar, honky tonk piano, and drum brushes were adopted for this song, and the overall vibe is very laid back. Too laid back I think: Marling’s voice is jazzy, and it’s not really the best to showcase Marling’s otherwise beautiful singing voice. Check out “Don’t Ask Me Why” and “All My Friends” for clear evidence of this and Marling’s mastery of songwriting. The only problem I see with this album is that it is uneven in song quality.

The lead single for A Creature I Don’t Know is “Sophia,” which begins with spare guitar chords and a dry vocal from Marling. With beautiful backing singers harmonizing perfectly with her, it’s so gentle, as if you were in a boat going down a gentle river. But this doesn’t last long: confusingly two-thirds into the song, you are jolted back into reality when the song turns Mumford and Sons-ized. It’s a knee-slapper, folks. The first couple times I heard this song this summer on British radio, I was really unhappy with it because Marling is such a talented woman, I felt like she sold out trying to make it more radio-friendly. The song has grown on me since I’ve seen the video for the song (watch it below) because it feels less contrived when you see her and her band playing it in a church. The video is a nice preview of her upcoming tour at home in the UK, as she will be playing churches across the country.

“Salinas” appears to be a nod to John Steinbeck (the Nobel Prize-winning author’s hometown) and possibly his most famous work The Grapes of Wrath. The song speaks of strong women and questions of morality and mortality. Heavy stuff. Then again, no one ever said folk music was for the weak-hearted. Also see “The Beast,” which may be a reference to Satan and viewing sex as a sin. The instrumentation is probably the hardest we’re going to get from Marling – unless she does a complete 180 and completely gives up folk for hard rock, which I highly doubt – and while there have been aggressive tracks like “Devil’s Spoke” from her in the past, this one is a definite ratcheting up on the rockiness.

Unfortunately, if you’re more of a rock than a folk fan like me, the album plods along instead of continuing in a jaunty fashion. Things can get a little…well…boring. Marling is 21 now, has 3 albums under her belt, and has had two high profile relationships with fellow musicians Charlie Fink (Noah and the Whale) and Marcus Mumford. The question now is, how will Marling change as the years go on?

A Creature I Don’t Know will be released in the U.S. on September 12 on Ribbon Records. Catch Marling on tour in North America this month, starting on September 17 in San Francisco. The opener for the tour is Alessi’s Ark, another amazing female English singer/songwriter.

Track Listing
01. The Muse
02. I Was Just a Card
03. Don’t Ask Me Why
04. Salinas
05. The Beast
06. Night After Night
07. My Friends
08. Rest in the Bed
09. Sophia
10. All My Rage

Tour Dates
Sept 17 – Bimbo’s 365 Club / San Francisco
Sept 18 – Masonic Temple / Los Angeles
Sept 20 – Troubadour / Los Angeles
Sept 22 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago
Sept 23 – Great Hall / Toronto
Sept 24 – Corona / Montreal
Sept 25 – Brighton Music Hall / Boston
Sept 27 – Sixth & I Historic Synagogue / Washington, DC
Sept 28 – Webster Hall / New York City

Laura Marling: website | myspace

For much of my adolescence, I wished I had been born years earlier so that I could have been the right age to experience – and appreciate – the 1980s, the way it had been meant to be experienced by a British new wave fan. I’ve had the opportunity to see several of my heroes of that era in concert already (including Duran Duran, Morrissey, OMD, and David Byrne [sans the rest of Talking Heads unfortunately]) but Erasure was still not checked off the list. Until this past Tuesday at the 9:30 Club, the first of 2 nights the electronic duo would be performing in the Nation’s Capital. To be fair, I was never an uberfan of the pair and really went to go hear the hits and get a preview of tracks from their new album Tomorrow’s World coming out in October on Mute Records, but that didn’t matter. There were plenty of obsessed and and terribly devoted Erasure fans at the front who had been queueing outside the venue for hours, appropriately attired in electric blue ponchos to battle the drenching rain remnants of Hurricane Lee tracking up the Eastern seaboard. I’ve never seen such soggy fans so happy.

I was so pleased when I heard Frankmusik (aka Vincent Frank to his mother) would be opening for the ’80s titans. South Londoner Frank released his debut album, Complete Me, in early 2009 and I still adore it to this day: it’s synth pop at its finest, and Frank is just the singer/songwriter to do this style. The selection of him as opener makes sense: he produced Erasure’s latest album Tomorrow’s World, and there’ s a definite respect and reverence going between the two acts. The unfortunate part: as he so cruelly pointed out at the start of his set, he said he realized that no one knew who he was and that he was going to do some old stuff, some new stuff, and some covers, no doubt to appeal to a crowd that were obviously only there for the headliner.

Personally, I would have preferred if he and his backing band (a singer/keyboardist and a drummer) had played more songs from his debut album (I wanted to hear my favorite song of his, “Confusion Girl,” but no dice), but I have to give the man his due. These fans, mostly 30 years old and up, took to him once he broke outs snippets of covers like Paul Simon‘s “You Can Call Me Al” and Stardust‘s “The Music Sounds Better With You.” He did finish with two newer songs, both with more of a r&b bent than I usually like, but I think they have a chance of doing really well here in America. The single “No ID” was just released this week and according to the Frankmusik Twitter, the track has already made it to #48 into the iTunes electronic chart, no thanks to the American mainstream radio market. “Do It in the AM,” a song Frank collaborated with Far East Movement, is the title of his forthcoming album due out on September 27, and it’s a hot tune. Check out the video for the song below.

Erasure fans from way back packed the 9:30. Was it because they were nostalgic for the music of their youth? Did they want to hear their heroes’ new music? Or maybe a little bit of both? I’ll never know for sure, but gosh, Erasure fans can be loud and unrelenting in their approval of their favorites. As mentioned in this review previously, I don’t know the band’s back catalogue as well as many of the other people in attendance that night, but it didn’t matter. Like most ’80s bands who have dutifully gone back on tour to wow their devoted and to proffer new tunes, Erasure does it with style and plenty of campy charm. This mostly has to do with frontman Andy Bell, and I apologize in advance now, but I can’t help but use his name and “flamboyant” in the same sentence. How else do you describe a man who arrives onstage with a Trojan helmet and a red sequined jacket? Once the jacket was removed, a diamond-encrusted belt and leather corset were revealed. (My good friend who went with me to this show said the first time she’d seen the band at Merriweather Post Pavilion in the late ’80s supporting Duran Duran, Bell was wearing buttless chaps, so this was a definite improvement in style.) This corset was later cut off, literally with a pair of scissors, by his bandmate Vince Clarke (programming/guitar) and replaced by Devo t-shirt shreds held together with safety pins. I mean, you can’t dream up this stuff!

But forget the “look” for a moment. Here is a band that has released 13 albums (Tomorrow’s World their 14th) and you can’t do that unless you’re incredibly talented and incredibly dedicated to the process of making music for the masses. The uberfans I mentioned earlier? They were contorting their bodies to the music, singing along to every word. Me? While I adored the live versions of their classics of “Chains of Love” and my personal favorite “A Little Respect” (a new version of this song’s video is above), I also really enjoyed songs like the flirty “Push Me Shove Me,” the attitude of “Love to Hate You,” and the majesty of “Oh L’amour.” New songs like “Fill Us With Fire” and “A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot” prove Bell and Clarke still have it, even after all these years. The two great backing singers in red and black were both visually and musically stunning additions to the performance. I’m a little confused by the gigantic gargoyles that were sitting onstage during the show, but I’m guessing it has something to do with Tomorrow’s World. That might be the album’s title, but on Tuesday night, the 9:30 Club was most definitely Erasure’s world. Fab show, guys.

Erasure Set List
Sonos Luminos (new song?)
Always
When I Start to (Break It All Down)
Blue Savannah
Fill Us With Fire
Drama!
Save Me Darling
Ship of Fools
Chorus
Breathe
Victim of Love
Alien (acoustic version)
Push Me Shove Me
Love to Hate You
I Lose Myself
A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot
Breath of Life
Chains of Love
Sometimes
A Little Respect
//
Oh L’amour
Stop!

Tour Dates
Sept 08 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. 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 01 Los Angeles, CA. Hollywood Palladium
Oct 02 San Diego, CA. House of Blues
Oct 04 Oakland, CA. Fox Theater
Oct 05 Portland, OR. Crystal Ballroom
Oct 06 Seattle, WA. Neptune

Erasure: website | myspace | Erasure eyeing October album release, touring North America this Fall
Frankmusik: website | myspace | @ 9:30 Club, 2010, on Perez Hilton Tour

The Script used to be my guiltiest pleasure: when you’re a female music blogger, you get a lot of sniggering from boys in bands when they hear you’re seeing any act that is manufactured, whether real or perceived. But I’ve seen the Dublin band twice now, and I can say without a doubt that they have the goods and they bring the goods live, so the argument that they’re manufactured holds no water. I’d also like to point out that singer/piano man Danny O’Donoghue has the kind of smile that could melt a million hearts, but I digress…

The importance of a good opening band cannot be stressed enough: when they’re good, they psych up the audience, setting the stage for the rest of a great evening; but if they’re bad, it can leave a bad taste in your mouth. (The latter was true when I saw Abe Vigoda open for Vampire Weekend in April 2010 at the same venue, DAR Constitution Hall.) As I predicted, opener Hot Chelle Rae was an immediate hit with the MTV teeny crowd right from the start. The high-pitched screams as the band took to the stage nearly rivalled the headliner’s entrance later.

There’s nothing objectionable about Hot Chelle Rae: the Nashville band look like they’re trying to be really “rock” (their bass player Ian Keaggy has tattoos up and down both of his arms) but they come out sounding like lite mainstream rock. Their music has a good, infectious beat and the band members appeal to what my companion for the night refers to as “the Disney crowd.” (Not far off: think about it. They’re signed to Jive, aka the first label home of Backstreet Boys and still Britney Spears‘ label.) While their set was short (only 7 songs), it looked like the predominantly female and underage crowd would have been up for much more.

Hot Chelle Rae Set List
Beautiful Things
I Like to Dance
Alright
The Distance
Bleed
Teenage Dream
Tonight, Tonight

It’s interesting attending a show filled with teenagers. None of them can drink of course, so the line for the bar is short or nonexistent, and because they can’t drink, they’re all trying to look cool by milling about near the merch table. But once they’re seated and the show starts, something magical happens. I won’t show my age by revealing when I saw my first show, but watching all those girls in their micromini summer dresses jostling each other to take photos of the bands and fighting each other for guitar picks was, shall we say, rather heartwarming to me. And if you have to choose a band for your first gig, I don’t think you can do much better than the Script in a nonthreatening, huge venue like Constitution Hall that can support a spectacular light show featuring flashing lights, interactive backdrops, and live zoom-in shots of the Script (primarily for the benefit of those unfortunate souls up in the nosebleed sections).

This Dublin band is both disarming and incredibly charming. They sneaked their way into everyone’s heart by being apologetic for their June gig cancellation due to illness. They told stories about whiskey and getting drunk and let’s face it, these kinds of stories go down better when told by Irishmen. They complained about the DC heat and said they wanted to move here so they could work on their tans. To say they had the audience eating out of their hand is an understatement. Still, it was the music that wowed the most.

“Nothing” is probably one of the saddest pop songs ever written; it’s the musical equivalent to drinking yourself to death after getting dumped. I had to pat myself on the back for not crying when this song came on. If guitarist Mark Sheehan is to be believed, it was written after a night of boozing when O’Donoghue’s heart got broken and he made an ill-advised cell phone call to his ex. The only weird part about the live performance of this song is that O’Donoghue had the biggest of grins on his face while he was singing it. I guess life as the frontman of one of the biggest bands in Europe (and now the world) isn’t too bad.

Of similar topic and with a decidedly more lighthearted bent, “If You Ever Come Back” was a definite highlight of the night, as everyone’s arms were raised and waving in time to O’Donoghue’s own. “Rusty Halo,” with its r&b groove and aggressively red lighting, segued effortlessly into the song that finally broke them here in the States, “Breakeven.” I wasn’t sure how the band could top that when they returned for the encore but a similar singalong broke out for the closer, “For the First Time.” My only complaint: the set list was far too short. Maybe they were trying to follow the DC curfew laws and make sure all those kiddikins could leave the place on time? All in all though, it was a superb night of much and atmosphere, ending on a high note.

The Script Set List
You Won’t Feel a Thing
Talk You Down
We Cry
The Man Who Can’t Be Moved
If You Ever Come Back
Before the Worst
The End Where I Begin
Science & Faith
Nothing
Dead Man Walking
Rusty Halo
Breakeven
//
This = Love
For the First Time

Tour Dates
Sept 04 – Stage AE / Pittsburgh
Sept 06 – LC Pavilion / Columbus
Sept 07 – Fillmore Detroit / Detroit
Sept 09 – Ryman Auditorium / Nashville, TN
Sept 10 – PNC Pavilion @ Riverbend Music Center / Cincinnati
Sept 11 – Murat Theatre / Indianapolis
Sept 13 – Palace Theatre / Louisville
Sept 14 – Pageant / St. Louis
Sept 16 – Hartman Arena / Park City, KS
Sept 17 – Table Athletic Center @ Carthage College / Kenosha, WI
Sept 18 – Ogden Theatre / Denver
Sept 20 – Crystal Ballroom / Portland
Sept 21 – Paramount Theatre / Seattle
Sept 23 – Fox Theatre / Oakland
Sept 24 – Palladium / Los Angeles, CA
Sept 25 – Marquee / Tempe
Sept 27 – Riverwind Casino / Oklahoma City
Sept 28 – Coins Ballroom / Tulsa
Sept 30 – Stubbs Waller Creek Ampitheatre / Austin, TX
Oct 01 – House of Blues / Houston
Oct 02 – Palladium / Dallas
Oct 04 – Mahalia Jackson Theatre / New Orleans
Oct 05 – Ruth Eckerd Hall / Clearwater, FL
Oct 07 – Fillmore Miami Beach / Miami
Oct 08 – Hard Rock Live / Orlando
Oct 09 – Tabernacle / Atlanta
Oct 11 – Fillmore Charlotte / Charlotte
Oct 13 – Roseland Ballroom / New York City
Oct 14 – Paramount Theatre / Huntington, NY
Oct 15 – MGM Grant Theatre at Foxwoods / Mashantucket, CT

The Script: website | myspace | The Script – “Breakeven” | Science & Faith review
Hot Chelle Rae: website | myspace

The Germans are coming, the Germans are coming! Brandt Brauer Frick, the German trio who has been bringing their unusual blend of classical elements and minimal techno to speakers across Europe, will be releasing their hotly anticipated second album, Mr. Machine, in the U.S. on October 25 on !K7 Records.

The band – Daniel Brandt, Jan Brauer, Paul Frick – have been working hard to reinvent their live performance by eschewing the programmed computers that defined their 2010 debut You Make Me Real and have expanded to a ten-piece live line-up for an upcoming American tour this fall. The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble tour of America begins on October 24 in Minneapolis and finishes in Los Angeles on November 12. To get an idea of what the BBF experience is going to be like, watch the performance video for their song “Bop” below.

Tour Dates
Oct 24 – Cedar Cultural Center / Minneapolis
Oct 27 – Glasslands / Brooklyn
Oct 28 – Red Palace / Washington, DC
Oct 29-30 – Moogfest / Asheville, NC
Oct 30 – 529 / Atlanta
Oct 31 – Back Booth / Orlando
Nov 01 – Club Down Under @ FSU / Tallahassee
Nov 03 – Prophet Bar / Dallas
Nov 04-06 – Fun Fun Fun Fest / Austin
Nov 11 – Rickshaw Stop / San Francisco
Nov 12 – Luckman Fine Arts Complex / Los Angeles

Brandt Brauer Frick: website | myspace

London garage rock band the Jim Jones Revue has announced plans for a 2-week tour of North America in the first half of September. Catch the band’s special blend of classic rock ‘n’ roll piano and punk rock at a venue near you. To give you an idea of what they sound like, watch the video for “Shoot First” below.

Tour Dates
Sept 01 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver
Sept 03 – Doug Fir Lounge / Portland
Sept 04 – Bumbershoot Festival / Seattle
Sept 07 – Independent / San Francisco
Sept 08 – Echo / Los Angeles
Sept 010 – Music Hall of Williamsburg / Brooklyn
Sept 11 – Brighton Music Hall / Allston, MA
Sept 12 – Casa del Popolo / Montreal
Sept 13 – Horseshoe Tavern / Toronto
Sept 14 – Schuba’s / Chicago
Sept 16 – Blockley Pourhouse / Philadelphia
Sept 17 – Black Cat / Washington, DC
Sept 18 – Maxwell’s / Hoboken

The Jim Jones Revue: website | myspace

Sharon Van Etten has a mastery for writing songs with direct honesty and feeling. Over the course of releasing two full-length albums  – Because I Was In Love (Language of Stone; 2009) and Epic (Ba Da Bing; 2010), Van Etten has affected a multitude of  minds over the past couple of years. Now she will continue her outstanding trajectory as an artist newly signed to Jagjaguwar. With a roster including Bon Iver, Okkervil River, Black Mountain, Dinosaur Jr, and more, it’s a fitting home for Ms. Van Etten. Jagjaguwar will be releasing her third full-length in early 2012.

Van Etten has been incredibly busy in the last year – from opening the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival to singing with The Antlers at Radio City Music Hall and on the new Beirut album. She’s recording with The National’s Aaron Dessner, who is producing her third full-length. Van Etten has done her own headlining tour and shared the stage with Junip in the U.S., The National overseas,  and played select shows with Iron & Wine as well as collaborating with Justin Vernon and Megafaun for the Songs of the South project. Having played Bonnaroo, Sasquatch, and MusicNow, she is also scheduled to perform at Bumbershoot, Musicfest NW and a special show at the Hollywood Bowl with The National and Neko Case later this year.

News of her first album on Jagjaguwar will be shared in the coming months.

Tour Dates:

Mon. Sep. 5 — Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot
Fri. Sep. 9 — Portland, OR @ Musicfest NW at Crystal Ballroom w/ Blitzen Trapper
Sun. Sep. 11 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Hollywood Bowl w/ The National, Neko Case
Fri. Sep. 23 — Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe – Weathervane Music Showcase for Phil. Film & Music Festival

For more information please check out www.sharonvanetten.com.

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