MIA wins Best Female Hip Hop Artist at BET Awards

The BET (Black Entertainment) Awards were featured on news bulletins all across the world last night, with the star studded homage to Michael Jackson and the appearances from Janet and Joe Jackson.

But what you didn't hear is that M.I.A. won the Best Female Hip Hop Artist award on the night. Congrats Maya!

St Vincent rocks it on Letterman

Here is the inimitable St Vincent ROCKING IT OUT on Marrow on Letterman earlier this week, full brass section in tow.

Very impressive!



Can someone please bring St Vincent BAND out here? PLEASE?

Actor is out now through 4ad. Get it already.

New God Help The Girl mp3 Mary's Market

Here's a new God Help The Girl track:

Mary's Market [mp3]

You won't find it on the album. It was recorded a month ago, and promptly put up on the band's website just days after capturing it. It is the b-side to the Funny Little Frog 7" that you can only get by signing up for the subscription.

God Help The Girl is out now through Rough Trade/ Remote Control.

Pixies Do Doolittle live

Following the release of their Minotaur boxset and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their seminal album Doolittle, the band will be playing a string of European shows where they will "play all the songs that feature on the album and its related b-sides at the shows" [nme].

The lucky northern hemisphere buggers get to see them do it in October. Dates are on Pitchfork.

New DJ mix from Friendly Fires

Can't wait for Friendly Fires to get down here to play their sold out debut tour of Australia?

Neither can we!

In the meantime though, we can all warm up to the DJ set they recently dropped for BBC Radio 1's 'Essential Mix'

"Two hours of techno, deep house and post punk from the band who know their way round a DJ Booth as much as they do a festival stage."



Tracklisting:
Friendly Fires (DJ Set)

Alexandro Jodorowsky ‘F Machine’ (Soundtrack)
Tony Lionni ‘Found a Place’ (Ostgut Tontrager)
Luke Solomon ‘People, Places, Thoughts and Faces (Ajello ReMix)’ (Rekids)
David Labeij ‘Shakedown’ (Intacto Records)
Just Two Ordinary People ‘Lucky Times (Paul Frick ReMix)’ (spontanMusik)
2000 and One ‘Wan Poku Moro’ (100% Pure)
Pezzner ‘Shasta’ (Physical Graffiti Records)
Mark Broom and Brothers Vibe ‘Mind/Feeling (youANDme Hirsch Edit)’ (Platzhirsch Schallplatten)
Makam ‘New York Hustler’ (Sushitech Purple)
Arto Mwambe ‘Ombala Mbembo’ (Brontosaurus Records)
Michel Cleis ‘La Mezcla’ (Cadenza)
Visti & Meyland ‘Yes Ma'am (Kasper Bjorke Mix)’ (Eskimo)
DOP ‘The Genius of the Crowd’ (Supplement Facts)
STL ‘Something Is Raw’ (Something)
Alec Wizz ‘Drummin (H2O Mix)’ (4th Floor Records)
Liquid Liquid ‘Optimo (Optimo ReMix)’ (Domino)
Silver City ‘Pendulo (Pete Herbert Edit)’ (Deep Freeze Recordings)
Anton Pieete ‘Players’ (Intacto Records)
Harry Axt ‘Crazy’ (Rompecabeza)
Daniele Papini ‘Church of Nonsense’ (Alchemy)
Cajmere ‘Say U Will’ (Cajual Records)
Friendly Fires ‘Jump In The Pool (Wild Geese Mix)’ (XL Recordings)
Photonz ‘No Fear’ (Dissident)
Paul Woolford ‘Pandemonium’ (Intimacy Music)
Kerri Chandler ‘Six Pianos’ (Deeply Rooted House)
Whirlpool Productions ‘From Disco: To Disco’ (ZAC Records)

Friendly Fires self-titled record is out now through XL/ Remote Control.

Looking for mp3s?
Check out our free mp3 download page here!

New Beirut video Concubine

Check out the new video for Concubine from Beirut's March Of The Zapotec/ Holland EP.



March Of The Zapotec/ Holland EP is out now through 4ad/ Remote Control.

More news on White Stripes film

Some more news on that White Stripes film we mentioned a while ago.

The film follows the White Stripes on their 2007 tour of Canada, as they set out to play every territory and province in the country. Not only concert halls in every nook and cranny of the country but spontaneous performances on a fishing boat, youth shelter, city bus and their famed one note concert - many of course captured by fans and uploaded onto Youtube:









The film apparently will be called The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights and will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

More details over at Pitchfork here and here.

Fender to release Sonic Youth guitars tomorrow

From the Fender site:

"Thurston Moore + Lee Ranaldo. Jazzmaster guitars slung across seminal shoulders. In the hands of both men, the sound of Sonic Youth is the sound of that guitar used as part paintbrush and part cluster bomb. Introducing the new Thurston Moore Jazzmaster and the Lee Ranaldo Jazzmaster guitars from Fender, releasing July 1st.

Lee and Thurston have always heavily modified their Jazzmaster guitars- removing all extraneous controls- simplifying and stripping them back to their essence, leaving just a 3 way switch and a volume knob. In many ways these 2 instruments are similar, yet in almost every major way (pickups, bridges, frets, pickguard) they are totally different. "After playing and slaying Fender Jazzmasterz for the last 20+ years we are totally PSYCHED and HONORED to have our very own signature axes.



"When Fender came to us with an offer to make signature models of our Jazzmaster guitars we jumped at the chance. These are the guitars that have defined the sound of Sonic Youth for more than 20 years. Although we love all guitars, Jazzmasters are the ones we've modified and perfected for our uses over the years. With massive input from our great road crew we've come up with a Thurston Jazzmaster & Lee 'Jazzblaster' that fully reflect the current state of the guitars we play in 2009. In fact, we couldn't wait to get our hands on these axes - the prototypes of our Fender models have already been thrust into action during the recording of our latest album, 'The Eternal', and have already begun to acquire the scrapes and scarz of live performance. These guitars rock Sonic style!"
- Thurston Moore/Lee Ranaldo

The Thurston Moore Fender Jazzmaster and Lee Renaldo Fender Jazzblaster are out tomorrow.

Sonic Youth's The Eternal is out now through Matador/ Remote Control.

New St Vincent videos - live for Lake Fever Sessions

Here is Annie Clarke, aka St Vincent performing 3 tracks acoustically: Actor Out Of Work and The Strangers from her latest album Actor. Plus Oh My God from her debut album Marry Me.

Recorded in Nashville by the Lake Fever Sessions.

St. Vincent "Actor Out Of Work" from Lake Fever Sessions on Vimeo.

St. Vincent "The Strangers" from Lake Fever Sessions on Vimeo.

St. Vincent "Oh My God" from Lake Fever Sessions on Vimeo.

Actor is out now through 4ad/ Remote Control.

New Jenny Lewis video Black Sand

Here is the video for Jenny Lewis' Black Sand from last year's album Acid Tongue:

Black Sand


Acid Tongue is out now through Rough Trade/ Remote Control.

The Cool Kids to play Parklife

The Cool Kids are set to return to Australia for Parklife Festival in September:

Saturday, September 26: Botanic Gardens & Riverstage, Brisbane
Sunday, September 27: Wellington Square, Perth
Saturday, October 3: Birrarung Marr, Melbourne
Sunday, October 4: Kippax Lake, Moore Park, Sydney
Monday, October 5: Botanic Park, Adelaide

Tickets are on sale now. More details here.

Their album The Bake Saleis out now through XL/ Remote Control.

New Jay Reatard mp3 It Ain't Gonna Save Me from new forthcoming album

My does time fly! It seems like only yesterday when Jay Reatard graced our shores earlier this year for the St Jerome's Laneway Festival. Since then Jay has been working away on a new album titled Watch Me Fall and already new tracks are floating around the bloggosphere.

Matador will be releasing ‘Watch Me Fall’ in August. Excepting last year’s pair of singles comps for Matador and In The Red, this is Jay’s first album since 2006’s ‘Blood Visions’, and it’s a self-produced full-length that more than lives up to the sky-high standards previously set. Earlier this year, Jay described the making of ‘Watch Me Fall’ to labelmate Andrew Earles:

“This new album has been challenging. It’s the first time I’ve written and recorded an album specifically because a label wants to release it. I’ve never made a record for a record label. I’ve always finished my recordings and then a label is decided on. When I made ’Blood Visions’ I had no idea that it was going to see the light of day. And I’ve never made a record in which the label heard the songs, or anyone heard the songs, before the album was finished, so that’s kind of intense. That’s what singles are for; I always considered my singles as a glimpse between the albums. Labels always had the previous single as an example of where I was going at the time, or of what the next album might sound like. In this situation, people at the label are hearing the songs before the album has been finished, but I try not to let it distract me, I’m trying to go about this process in a way that’s the closest to how I would have done an album in the past. A lot of bands these days, they approach the making of an album like it’s collecting songs, they don’t think about how all of the songs are going to work together. They sequence their albums on iTunes, wondering what songs sound best next to each other rather than putting them together as they were written. That’s not an album.”

It Ain’t Gonna Save Me [mp3]
is the first MP3 from ‘Watch Me Fall’, and provides only the slightest hint of the album’s depth.

It Ain't Gonna Save Me was featured on Pitchfork's 'Best New Music' scoring an impressive 8 out of 10.

Have a read of the full review on Pitchfork's website.

Watch Me Fall is due out August through Matador/ Remote Control.

Lee Memorial in Parts and Pieces

Melbourne readers, stop by the Marquis of Lorne Sunday afternoons in July to catch Karl Smith of Lee Memorial (and ex-Sodastream) playing solo.

Joining him through the month will be the great Matt Bailey (Paradise Motel), fellow Lee Memorial buddies, Tom Lyngcoln (Nation Blue) and Laura MacFarlane (99) as well as new friends, Otouto (Hazel Brown).

The Lives Of Lee Memorial is out now through Dot Dash.

Ned Collette & Wirewalker in Sydney Fri July 17

NED COLLETTE & WIREWALKER
FRIDAY JULY 17
FACTORY THEATRE
w. Sui Zhen & Wifey

The last year has seen Melbourne's Ned Collette and his newly christened Wirewalker forging a devoted underground following around the globe. Since last playing in Sydney the band have toured Europe twice while Collette based himself in Glasgow to write album number three; played the exceedingly exclusive Camp A Low Hum festival in NZ; supported Augie March on various Australian shows, and played both the Summer and Castle Tones festivals on the Mistletone calendar. They have just returned from mixing the new album in New York, and now they play an increasingly rare Sydney performance at The Factory Theatre on July 17. New songs will be unveiled in what is ostensibly an album preview show, but fans can expect a smattering of the old as well - reworked into the the trio format, which veers from minute, sparse evocations of Collette's lyrics to wild free squalls of instrumental abandon. Very special guests on the night will be Sydney's own Sui Zhen and Wifey.



Tickets available now from www.factorytheatre.com.au or on (02) 9550 3666

New Micachu video Golden Phone

More Micachu!

She's just given us a new mixtape to download, Kwesachu.

And now here's a finger snapping video to go with her super catchy song Golden Phone from her album Jewellery.



Jewellery is out now though 4ad/ Remote Control.

New Anni Rossi clip The West Coast

Check out the new clip for The West Coast from Anni Rossi's album Rockwell.



Rockwell is out now through 4ad/ Remote Control.

New Yo La Tengo mp3 from forthcoming album Popular Songs

(cassette by Dario Robleto)

From the Matablog:

We have an old saying at Matador HQ, “the only thing predictable about Yo La Tengo albums is their high level of excellence and crazy amount of musical ground covered”. Trouble is, even if you believe we really have an old saying that unwieldly, it doesn’t really do justice in this instance. The new Yo La Tengo CD/2XLP/digital album ‘Popular Songs” (OLE 856-1,2) could be the bravest musical statement to date in a career full of ‘em. Recorded in Hoboken and Nashville in early 2009 with longtime associate Roger Mountenot, ‘Popular Songs’ finds the trio of Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan and James McNew at the height of their creative powers, fashioning an epic work that’s cooly confident as it is wildly adventurous.

Even for longtime followers of Yo La Tengo, the stylistic range encompassed on ‘Popular Songs’ is startling ; the band aren’t merely conversant with rock & pop subgenres stretching into the double digits, but their unselfconscious mastery of such is simply uncanny. Without absolving you of the sacred responsibility of listening to this album from start to finish (with no commercial interruptions!) , we can say with full confidence there are portions of ‘Popular Songs’ where a cursory needle drop reveals a band that doesn’t sound instantly like Yo La Tengo — or at least how you recognized them prior to now. In the words of Mike Wolf, “Yo La Tengo is not afraid. They walk confidently forward, into the unknown, hand in hand. And 12 (or 14) albums in, they may just be hitting their stride.”

Periodically Double Or Triple [mp3]
is the first MP3 from ‘Popular Songs’. Stay tuned for the release date.

Download the Dark Was The Night concert from NPR

Remember how we were all getting our knickers in a twist over missing out on this?



Well bless NPR, they have now made it possible for us to listen to the whole concert! Get it here.

There are also photos and an interview with Bryce Dessner from The National who of course, helped curate the album.



Dark Was The Night is out now through 4ad/ Remote Control.

Matador roster update: Kurt Vile

New Matador signing news from the Matablog:

We tend to start new signings entries to the Matablog with lines like “Matador Records is pleased to announce….”, but could we possibly be more redundant? Of COURSE we’re pleased to announce blah fucking blah, are we gonna say ”Matador Records reluctantly admits….” or “we’re obliged to tell you…”?

So with that in mind, we’re REALLY pleased to announce — perhaps more than ever before in label history — an addition to the label roster we currently consider to be one of the more important figures in American music circa 2009. Philadelphia guitarist/ vocalist Kurt Vile first came to our attention (and possibly yours as well) with the release of the 2008 CD ‘Constant Hitmaker’ on the Gulcher imprint ( a label whose paw prints extend to dusty genius recordings by the Gizmos and MX80-Sound and contemporary stuff from Home Blitz and Magik Markers). What the homemade ‘Hitmaker’ (recently reissued on vinyl by Woodsist) lacked in fidelity it more than made for in scope —– to dub the album “psych pop” barely scratches the surface of a work that’s as impossibly catchy as it is wildly experimental.

Kurt Vile on myspace

New sounds from The National

In case you haven't heard, The National have been road testing new material.

Here are two new tracks that were captured in Montreal and Boston last month, in all their audio and visual glory:

Blood Buzz Ohio (Live In Montreal) [mp3]

The Runaway (Live In Boston) [mp3]

[via][via]

A week of God Help The Girl on The Guardian

Stuart Murdoch of God Help The Girl, and Belle & Sebastien of course, took over the UK's Guardian newspaper last week with a week of blog entries and video diaries, giving insight to the project and how it all came together.

Part 1
There's no glamour in being in a pop band
"After churning out records for 13 years with Belle and Sebastian, I decided that I wanted to create a fabulous girl-group sound with my current project God Help the Girl" read more

Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch takes us behind the scenes of his God Help the Girl project


Part 2
How I found the ultimate girl group
"All along, the perfect girl group was singing right in front of me waving a polka-dot hanky in my face" read more

Belle and Sebastian's frontman introduces us to the girls who sing in his new musical project


Part 3:
The Belle and Sebastian frontman puts on his dressing gown and talks about the songwriting process behind his God Help the Girl project


Part 4
The joys of marketing a concept album
"I wasn't much looking forward to the process of promoting the God Help the Girl album. But turning my concept band into something more 'real' – if only briefly – was actually pretty fun." read more

Alas, it's the final video diary from Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch


God Help The Girl is out now through Rough Trade/ Remote Control.

You can subscribe to the story at godhelpthegirl.com

Micachu Mixtape #2

Micachu has released a second mix tape as a follow up to last year’s word-of-mouth, must have, Filthy Friends.

Aptly titled Kwesachu the new mixtape is collaborative project from Mica and her friend Kwes, a young producer from London. Kwesachu, features contributions from Mica’s friends: The XX, The Invisible, Man Like Me, Gold Panda and many more.

Click the cassette below to download it:



Micachu's album Jewellery is out now through Rough Trade/ Remote Control.

VulgarGrad hit NSW and QLD!

King Of Crooks is out now through Unstable Ape.

Friendly Fires Australian tour - all shows sold out!

We are very excited to announce that all of the Friendly Fires shows have now SOLD OUT. It's going to be one helluva debut tour for the UK trio, uh huh.

Supports for the tour have also been announced:

FRIENDLY FIRES
Sat 25 Jul/ Sun 26 Jul - Byron Bay, Splendour In The Grass - SOLD OUT!
Fri 24 Jul - Perth, Amplifier w/ French Rockets - SOLD OUT!
Tue 28 Jul - Sydney, Manning Bar w/ Miami Horror & Yacht Club DJs - SOLD OUT!
Wed 29 Jul - Melbourne, Prince Bandroom w/ Miami Horror & Yacht Club DJs - SOLD OUT!

New Basement Jaxx video Raindrops + remix it yourself!

Basement Jaxx are known for their memorable clips and their latest kaleidoscopic effort for Raindrops is no exception:

The album is still a little while away, not due to drop until September. But in the meantime Felix and Simon have also given us a bunch of commissioned remixes of the single, that you can play with here:

FULL SCREENhosted by playlive.fm

Raindrops is out now through XL/ Remote Control. Buy it now on iTunes.

The new Basement Jaxx album Scars is due out September.

New Space Invadas mp3 and video - Original

In 1960's when aliens visited earth, they took many things back into space to analyse. One of the things they took was numerous examples of soul music. Feeling a great affiliation with the music they proceeded to write thier own songs. Not having the vintage equiptment to record them properly, they sent them to Space Invadas to record. The music they make is known as Soul-Fi.

Here's the first single Original from the debut Soul-Fi album from new project Space Invadas - a group formed by Steve Spacek (as vocalist) and Katalyst (as producer). Their first collab made it into Giles Peterson's top 20 tracks for 2008 and went on to be licensed to many compilations around the Galaxy.

Original is the 1st single from the forthcoming album of soul music for 2009, Soul-Fi. It features emcee's Buff 1 from Detroit and RuCL from Melbourne.

It is inspired by the idea of striving to be original in what you create. Too many times in this day and age things are recycled and not added to. Originality comes from the evolution of ideas.

The tracks hypnotic rhythm and melody give it a contemporary feel but the synthesizers and cracking back beat are firmly rooted in a time past. The track has a catchy hook that outlines what it’s all about. "Original.... don't you get".

Steve sets the tone with his verse, vibing off the groove and the idea of staying original; Buff1 and RuCL follow both delivering concise and dynamic raps about staying true to themselves and keeping their art fresh and true to their beliefs. You can expect to see this one light up the dancefloor as this beat is up tempo and contagious.



Original [buy mp3 from itunes]

Soul-Fi will be out later this year through Invada.

Camera Obscura - "Honey In The Sun"

New Wolf & Cub video T-Rex cover

Wolf & Cub appeared on JTV/ Triple J's Like A Version earlier this week.

If you missed it you can catch it here. Click on the image to play:


The band continue their tour around the country so be sure to catch them live in your neck of the woods:

WOLF & CUB
Science and Sorcery album tour, supported at all shows by The Scare

Wed 24 Jun - Warnambool, The Loft
Thurs 25 June -Geelong, Barwon Club
Fri 26 Jun - Melbourne, Corner Hotel,
Sat 27 June - Ballarat, Karova Lounge,
Weds 1 Jul - Woolgoolga NSW, Seaview Tavern
Thurs 2 Jul -Currumbin OLD, Sound Lounge
Fri 3 July - Brisbane, The Zoo
Sat 4 Jul -Noosa, Woombye Hotel
Sun 5 Jul - Byron Bay, Great Northern Hotel
Thurs 9 Jul - Margaret River WA, Settlers Tavern
Fri 10 Jul - Bunbury, Prince of Wales
Sat 11 Jul - Perth, Rosemount Hotel
Sun 12 Jul - Fremantle, Mojo's

Science & Sorcery is out now through Dot Dash.

FUTURE OF THE LEFT TRAVELS WITH MYSELF AND ANOTHER

"Future Of The Left have again made sounding mad - angry and crazy - totally genius." The Vine

"Travels With Myself And Another will leave you bleeding in the gutter and pleading for more." Inpress

Blunt 9/10
Spin ****

If you haven't already had a chance to listen to Future Of The Left's new one Travels With Myself And Another, we say you best crawl out from that rock you've been living under and check it out.

The album has been receiving glowing reviews left right and centre and has already been chosen as Album Of The Week by the lovely folk at RTR FM, SYN FM and PBS.

Just as gnarly, biting and badass as their last effort Curses, Travels With Myself And Another is a devilish masterpiece that has been captivating fans and newcomers alike.

Travels With Myself And Another is out now through 4ad/ Remote Control.

New Peaches video Lose You

And here's the puzzling new video for Peaches' track 'Lose You' -



Mm, dancing men in white leotards.

I Feel Cream is out now through XL/ Remote Control.

New Sonic Youth video Sacred Trickster

Here's the new official video for Sacred Trickster from Sonic Youth's new album The Eternal.



The Eternal is out now through Matador/ Remote Control.

New Black Cab mp3 Black Angel

“I’m leavin’ the sun – and I’m coming to rescue you’

After an extended break Black Cab release a new double single from their forthcoming third album, Call Signs. The single features ‘Rescue’ and ‘Black Angel’, a tribute to ‘70’s tragic singer song-writing genius Judee Sill, one of Geffen Records earliest signings whose life ended in the late ‘70’s in drug hazed obscurity. The bands’ third album Call Signs is due out August 1st on Sydney’s Laughing Outlaw label, distributed through Inertia.

Black Angel [mp3]

The double single will be released in late June and the band will be launching the single at Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on Friday July 17th. The band will be touring Sydney and Brisbane in September.

www.interstate40music.com

www.myspace.com/black_cab

St Helens live at RRR performance space Wednesday & in Sydney Friday

St Helens perform in both Melbourne and Sydney this week.

The band are performing a live broadcast in the RRR performance space (at their studios in cnr Nicholson St and Blyth St, Brunswick East) this Wednesday 24th June, 6.30pm.

We have some double passes to give away to this exclusive performance so if you'd like to come email us at rsvp@remotecontrolrecords.com.au by 5pm tomorrow Tuesday 23rd June and we'll confirm if you got one!

And if you're in Sydney make sure to pop along to their Sydney launch this Friday:



St Helens 'Heavy Profession' is out now through Dot Dash.

Deerhunter back in Australia and Atlas Sound gig in Sydney TONIGHT!

Deerhunter returned to Australia yesterday and played a stunning 2nd show in Melbourne.

One very special gig you might not have heard about is Bradford Cox from Deerhunter (USA) doing an exclusive solo show under his Atlas Sound guise to raise some much needed cash for FBi community radio. There are only 100 tickets available on the door and it's likely to sell out quick. Bradford is the only one playing so make sure you get there early if you don't want to miss out!

WHO: Atlas Sound (Bradford Cox of Deerhunter).
DATE: Friday, June 19
TIME: 6:00pm
VENUE: Black & Blue Gallery (302 / 267-271 Cleveland Street, Redfern)
COST: $15, all proceeds go to FBi

Deerhunter play The Annandale in Sydney on Sat 20th June.

Microcastle and Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP are out now through 4ad.

VULGARGRAD - KING OF CROOKS ALBUM LAUNCH TOUR

VulgarGrad, that mysterious band of Russian criminals, are on tour in July- launching their long-awaited new CD King of Crooks.
Fronted by Polish-born gravelly-voiced strongman and rough diamond of stage and screen, Jacek Koman, VulgarGrad are the only band in the country that play music by, for, and about Russian thieves: raucous drinking songs, melancholy waltzes, manic oompah and hot swing from the Cold War.
Be prepared for a night of gun-slinging, vodka-swilling, foul-mouthed disorder, and watch out for the biggest, most triangular instrument around, the contrabass balalaika. Wear a stripy top, learn to swear in Russian, and you will dance or the trumpeter will shoot you.

VulgarGrad have performed at leading venues and festivals around Australia, including The Famous Spiegeltent, The Toff in Town, the Melbourne International Arts Festival, St. Kilda Festival, The Adelaide Fringe Festival, The Woodford Folk Festival, the Brisbane Cabaret Festival, The Northbridge Festival (WA), The Sydney Opera House Studio, The Sydney Festival, and the Great Escape Festival (NSW).

VulgarGrad were featured in the soundtrack for the Channel 9 drama series, Underbelly in 2008. They were also featured guest on ABC TV’s Spicks and Specks in August 2008.


TOUR DATES :
18-20 June - Adelaide Cabaret Festival : Space Theatre, Festival Centre, Adelaide
Wed, 8 July : The Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Thu, 9 July: The Clarendon, Katoomba
Fri, 10 July : The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle (special guests: Mojo Juju and the Snake Oil Merchants)
Sat, 11 July : The Gaelic Club, Sydney (special guests: Mojo Juju and the Snake Oil Merchants)
Fri, 17 July : Bangalow Bowling Club, Bangalow (Byron area) (with Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen)
Sat, 18 July : The Tivoli, Brisbane (with Monsieur Camembert and Frock)

Vulgargrad's album King Of Crooks is out now through UAR/Remote Control.

SONIC YOUTH ON LETTERMAN

Check out last week's Sonic Youth performance on David Letterman.
Playing the first single Sacred Trickster from their latest album The Eternal, the 'Youth well and truly prove that after all these years they can still rock out like it's nobody's business.



The Eternal is out now through Matador/Remote Control.

SCIENCE AND SORCERY TOUR KICKS OFF

Wolf & Cub's 20 date national tour kicked off last Thursday in Tassie and will see the boys play all over the continent until mid July.

Get your tickets here if you haven't already.


The band also dropped into Triple J Studios to record a rare acoustic set including a cover of T-Rex's Mambo Sun. Check it out here.

Wolf & Cub's latest album Science And Sorcery is out now through Dot Dash.

THE BIG PINK PITCHFORK INTERVIEW

London duo The Big Pink have been busily working away at their debut album at Electric Lady Studio in New York.
In between sessions, Pitchfork caught up with one half of the band (Robbie Furze) to talk about The Big Pink's beginnings, Gang Gang Dance and Y2K paranoia amongst other things...

Read the full article here.

The Big Pink's next single Stop The World will be available from June 27th, whilst their yet-to-be-named debut album will be released later this year through 4AD/Remote Control.

WOLF & CUB AFTERPARTY AND FBI FUNDRAISER AT PURPLE SNEAKERS

Put it in your diaries:

REMOTE CONTROL/PURPLE SNEAKERS MONTHLY PRESENTS

WOLF & CUB OFFICIAL AFTERPARTY & FBI FUNDRAISER
FRIDAY 19TH JUNE 2009




live performances by
PAPA vs PRETTY
DEEP SEA ARCADE

DJ sets from
WOLF & CUB
FBI DJs
PURPLE SNEAKERS DJs

*Purple Sneakers and Remote Control will be donation $2 from every payer that comes through the door to help keep FBI 94.5 alive

FRIDAY 19TH JUNE 2009 7PM – LAAATEEEEE $11 @ THE ABERCROMBIE HOTEL
Crn broadway and abercrombie st


It’s that time of the month again when Purple Sneakers and Remote Control jump into bed for another Party Extravaganza! This time we are teaming up to help FBI raise some much needed funds.

I am sure you have all heard about the problems FBI 94.5 are facing at the moment. FBI is Australia’s largest community broadcaster and because of this they have the highest running costs of any community broadcaster. They need $1,000,000 to continue working and thankfully tonnes of people have gotten behind them to raise the much needed funds.

All of us here at Purple Sneakers and Remote Control understand the importance of keeping the station running so we have decided to run a fundraising event of our own. So on Friday 19th June we are putting on a huge event starting with live performances by PAPA vs PRETTY and DEEP SEA ARCADE. Then later in the evening we have DJ sets form WOLF & CUB, FBI DJs and the PURPLE SNEAKERS DJs

We are stoked to be launching the hot new album from Wolf & Cub – ‘Science & Sorcery’ - the night will also host Wolf & Cub’s official after party. Check the website – www.boundarysounds.com to be in the running to win a signed copy of the new album!

Don’t Forget Purple Sneakers Happy hour is from 7pm – 9pm every Friday! $10 Jugs of Coopers Lager and $3 glasses of Champagne.

Before hitting the afterparty check out Wolf & Cub performing live at the Oxford Arts Factory Friday 19th June

SONIC YOUTH WEEK ON PITCHFORK

The folks over at the 'fork have decided to celebrate the release of Sonic Youth's new album The Eternal by dedicating a whole week to them!

Over five days, Pitchfork TV will be featuring interviews with the band, video selections currated by SY and a knockout performance as part of Pitchfork's A>D>D project.

Sacred Trickster

Monday June 8 - A>D>D session, part one
Tuesday June 9 - A>D>D session, part two
Wednesday June 10 - Sonic Youth: The Pitchfork Interview, Part One
Thursday June 11 - Sonic Youth: The Pitchfork Interview, Part Two
Friday June 12 - Sonic Youth curated the videos on Pitchfork TV. Some incredible selections.

Be sure to jump on to the Pitchfork website to check it out.

The Eternal is out now through Matador/Remote Control.

FRIENDLY FIRES SELL OUT MELBOURNE

That's right kids, the Friendly Fires sideshow at the Prince Bandroom Melbourne has completely sold out!
Tickets are still available for the Perth show at Amplifier and the Sydney show at Manning Bar, but you better move fast!

Dates below:

Perth
Friday 24 July
Amplifier
Tickets from Mills, Planet, Amplifier , Star Perth, Heatseeker and Moshtix
Presented by triple j & Drum Media.

Sydney
Tuesday 28 July
Manning Bar
Tickets from Moshtix , 1300 Get Tix (438 849), Manning Bar , on your mobile via Moshtix Mobi and all Moshtix outlets.
Presented by triple j & Drum Media.

Melbourne
*SOLD OUT*
Wednesday 29 July
Prince Bandroom
Presented by triple j & Inpress.

Splendour In The Grass
*SOLD OUT*
Belongil Fields, Byron Bay
25 & 26 July
For more info click here

Friendly Fires self titled debut album is out now through XL/Remote Control.

God Help The Girl - Funny Little Frog

The next single from Stuart Murdoch's project God Help The Girl is Funny Little Frog, originally recorded by Belle And Sebastian.

Now before you think you've heard it all before, this version sung by Brittany Stallings is fuller and more lush than the original (this may have something to to do with it being beautifully backed up by a 45 piece orchestra).

As well documenting the recording process, the video shows us the recruting process Stuart underwent to make his musical narrative come to life.

Check it out



God Help The Girl is out June 20th through Rough Trade/Remote Control.

New Love Of Diagrams mp3 - Forever

(Photo by Lauren Bamford)

After much anticipation, LOVE OF DIAGRAMS finally unleash the first taste of their new album NOWHERE FOREVER, in the form of a limited edition 7” vinyl single.

The A-side of the single is Forever, a guitar-heaven explosion that hints at the pleasures to come on the new album.

Recorded in November ‘08 at Bear Creek Studios in Seattle with producer Ryan Hadlock (Gossip, Blonde Redhead, Steve Malkmus among many more), NOWHERE FOREVER, is the guitar-drenched dream-pop record LOVE OF DIAGRAMS have always wanted to make.

The 7” perfectly captures Love Of Diagrams’ transition from the pared-back minimalism and live-as-possible aesthetic of their 2007 album MOSAIC, (captured on the B-side of the vinyl by the exclusive older live favourite ‘With your Instinct’) to their new experimentation with warmer textures and layered sounds on the new album

Forever is a perfect little slice of the sonic textures, pop hooks, and guitar heavy sounds that LOVE OF DIAGRAMS have dreamed up on the new album.

The 7” is out July 1st on the band’s own Free Field Records.

The album NOWHERE FOREVER is released later in the winter on Unstable Ape/Remote Control.

7” Launches:

Melbourne: Sat July 4th at The Tote w. The Twerps and Chris Smith
Sydney: Fri July 10th at Spectrum w. Songs

Forever [mp3]<

Looking for mp3s?
Check out our free mp3 download page here!

SNOWMAN CALLING

Our favourite expats Snowman have been keeping very busy over in the UK playing shows with LA's HEALTH, supporting the Drones and winning fans far and wide including The Bad Seeds/Grinderman's Jim Scalvunous.
Joe McKee recently dropped us a line to let us know what's going on in the world of Snowman.

Hello all,

It's been a while between words, we know, and for this we are sorry.

We have been rather occupied of late...furiously writing for the next Snowman record. It is sounding like 'somewhere else' again. We have a title that seems to be sticking...we may reveal that in the near future....It seems to be guiding the sound of the songs.

We have played a few shows of late...most recently with our dear compadres The Drones...it was a pleasure to play with some friends again, rather than a bunch of strangers. Good ol' Jim Scalvunous of the Bad Seeds was there to witness our cacophony.

We played a show with LA noisemakers HEALTH about a month back...we thought we may have killed an audience member at one point...he just wouldn't wake up...but then he did. I don't think anybody has fallen asleep to our music before that guy.

We also played a night entitled POST-APOCALYPSE. We played a non-electrical reinterpretation of our songs...this meant lots of chanting and percussion....I recorded it on a cassette tape somewhere...maybe I will rummage around and transfer it to something more audible.

So, what does the future hold then? A UK jaunt with the Drones, our very own tour of France in June and then Ross and Olgas wedding in Iceland in July. Yum-Yum.

Much love to you all x

As aforementioned Snowman will continue supporting the Drones across the UK.

Here are the dates :

10 Jun - Hare and Hounds, Birmingham
11 Jun - Bodega Social Club, Nottingham
12 Jun - Manchester, The Roadhouse
13 Jun - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
14 Jun - Captains Rest, Glasgow

The Horse, The Rat and The Swan is out now through Dot Dash Recordings.

JACK PENATE - BE THE ONE

After the lovely, summery afrobeat tune that was Tonight’s Today, we get one step closer to Jack Penate’s new album Everything Is New with his latest single Be The One.

This song is hella-catchy; just try not to sing along.

A hearty concoction of pop, soul and a bit of disco, Be The One is testament to the fact that Jack has well and truly grown up on this new record. No cutesy wide-eyed indie pop here.
Everything Is New is due out June 27th through XL/Remote Control.

Be The One [mp3]