Joseph Arthur will be touring North America this Summer and Fall in support of his newalbumThe 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:
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
English band the Horrors will be releasing their third album, Skying, on August 9th in the U.S. (July 11th in the UK) on XL Recordings. Ahead of the album release, the band has released the first promo video from the album, for the song “Still Life.” Watch it below.
The Horrors will be touring North America in September, starting on September 7 in Vancouver and ending in Washington DC on September 30. More information on these dates can be found on the band’s official website.
Déjà vu couldn’t even describe how I felt last weekend when I went to see the Builders and the Butchersat the Tractor Tavern. The last time I saw a show there I seemed to have thought the Builders and the Butchers headlining, but I was wrong. Turned out that they were opening for Murder by Death. Stupid me. But this time I made sure that Builders and the Butchers were the headliners – and I was in luck – in more ways that one. Local folk math rockers Ravenna Woodsand another local band – Yuni in Taxco opened for Builders and the Butchers on this night for the Noise for the Needy festival.
The Noise for the Needy festival is Seattle’s premier benefit festival, with proceeds this year benefiting Real Change, a “reader-supported social enterprise” for Seattle’s low-income and homeless population. For more information, visit http://www.noisefortheneedy.org/.
But back to the music. Both Yuni in Taxco and Ravenna Woods were some of the few local bands I’d never seen live, and I’d been dying to see. Yuni in Taxco didn’t disappoint with their easy, beachy pop rock, and I’ll definitely try and catch them at either Bumbershoot or the Capitol Hill Block Party this summer. Their set was full of energy, however, it was apparent that they hadn’t been playing together as long as other local bands. With such an intimate venue, eye contact goes a long way. But I’ll be keeping my eye on the horizon for them to break through in 2012.
While you’re waiting, you can download their whole album for free from their bandcamp at http://yuni.bandcamp.com/. I just did.
After Yuni in Taxco left the stage, Ravenna Woods began to set up their equipment, and I must say that it was interesting setup. The drum kit consisted of a tom-tom, a bass drunk turned on its side with an egg carton below it to buff the sound, and a tambourine duct-taped to the top of a cymbal stand. And since one of the rubber foot covers was missing from the drum stand, a duct tape wallet sat beneath one of the legs to keep them all even.
Ravenna Woods MacGyver’d the crap out of that drum kit.
But I don’t see how it could have worked any other way, because they were amazing life. On their new record Valley of the Headless Men, the dark mathy rock is complex with a punk attitude, and it’s that much better live. With just the three members of the band, you see how much sound it created from Chris Cunningham’s precise acoustic guitar, Brantley Duke’s perfect harmonies, and Matt Badger’s frantic beating of his one-of-a-kind drum kit.
I’m so in love with this band’s live show, that there’s no other way to express how great it is than to show you. I captured a quick video with my new camera of the song “Tides” here, so you can see for yourself.
At this point, I would have been happy going home, but I was here to finally see Builders and the Butchers headline a show in Seattle. After seeing them three times before, once in Portland and twice in Seattle, I knew exactly what I would be getting. But like a great movie, even after watching it several times over, you often find new things to enjoy about it, and that’s what the Builders and the Butchers do.
The band broke into a plethora of new songs off their fantastic third album Dead Reckoning, and then several older ones for the quite crowded room. I wouldn’t say it was as crowded as the Murder By Death show back in February, but that show included a lot more alcohol from what I gathered, so personal space wasn’t really on anyone’s mind at that show. This was a little bit more subdued, but by no means subdued in a larger scheme of things.
Builders and the Butchers didn’t miss a beat, not even when banjo/mandolin/guitar player Harvey Tumbleson’s mandolin went out. He just kept playing, shoving the hollow of the mandolin up to the microphone so the audience could hear.
Ten years ago, if you would have told me that I would be rocking out to a band armed with a banjo, mandolin, acoustic guitar, a bass, and two drum kits, I would have scoffed at you and gone back to listening to Good Charlotte (yes I listened to Good Charlotte, I was 12, forgive me). But seeing the Builders and the Butchers live for the fourth time made me see how amazing the indie music scene is these days, especially up here in the good ol’ Pacific Northwest. I couldn’t be more thankful that I get to do this in such an innovative time for music, and in my eyes, the Builders and the Butchers is one of the bands leading the way.
I did take some video of Builders and the Butchers, but they were so loud that the sound got blown out and you can barely hear anything. Just take my word for it – they’re an amazing band.
Explosions In The Sky has unveiled the first official musicvideo of the band’s 12-year career. The animated clip for “Last Known Surroundings” from the band’s newalbumTake Care, Take Care, Take Care was recently premiered at Wired.com who called it “a Space-Tripping wonder… like a celestial love child of the original Tron, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Japanese Art.”
Months in the making, ”Last Known Surroundings” was directed by Ptarmak, a design studio based in Explosions’ native Austin who utilized illustrations by Sissy Emmons and animation from David Hobizal to create a visual interpretation of the epic instrumental track.
Explosions In The Sky has also just announced a new run of overseas dates. Following a current series that wraps with three August festivals as well as a Sept.-Oct. North American tour, the new dates begin November 4 in Madrid and conclude November 20 in Bristol UK.
Check out the brand newvideo from Ezra Furman & The Harpoons for their song “Bloodsucking Whore,” which debuted via Paste Magazine. The rather literal video was produced by Downtown Partners and directed by Will Meyers. Watch at the link below, as well as at the band’s Facebook page.
San-Francisco based indie-pop duo Pomplamoose have released a newsong and accompanying music video entitled “River Shiver.” The song is the band’s first original new song in over 5 months, following their recent video covers of the Angry Birds theme song and The Super Mario Bros. theme song, which you can watch at the band’s Youtube page.
In the video, Jack Conte uses drums and synthesized keyboards sounds alongside singer Nataly Dawn’s twee vocal melodies and to create another instantly catchy and insanely fun Pomplamoose classic, featuring their singular spliced-up video style. Check out the video below:
Noah And The Whalewill release a new single ’Life Is Life’ on August 8th. The third single to be taken from the band’s Top 10 third albumLast Night On Earth, ‘Life Is Life,’follows Tonight’s The Kind Of Night and L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N., which took up residence in the chart for an impressive 12 straight weeks earlier this year.
Check out the video below, and be sure to visit www.noahandthewhale.com for a complete list of UK tour dates.
The Get Up Kids have released their third video from newalbumThere Are Rules for song “Regent’s Court.” The video was compiled by director Pat Vamos and can be seen below.
The Get Up Kids have kicked off their summertour, co-headlining June shows and headlining July shows throughout the Midwest and Northeast. Dates in Australia, New Zealand and Japan in early August will be followed by two Los Angeles-area dates in mid-August, before the band departs for a European tour in the fall.
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Concert Calendar
Nov 23, 2011
HaHa Tonka @ Recordbar, Kansas City MO
Nov 25, 2011
Thee Oh Sees @ The Granada, Lawrence KS
