New Video - Cold Cave - Love Comes Close

Love Comes Close is the first video taken from Cold Cave's debut album of the same name.
The Art Boonparn directed video is an aptly lo-fi, gritty and brooding piece of work.

Videos - Kurt Vile chats and performs acoustically for FaderTV

Someone please tour Kurt Vile to Australia soon!



Childish Prodigy is out now through Matador/ Remote Control.

New Video - Spiral Stairs - Stolen Pills

It's been a busy few weeks for Spiral Stairs. First, news broke of a Pavement reunion and Australian tour, his plans to migrate to Australian shores and his debut album The Real Feel came out just last week.Phew!

Now we have the first video from The Real Feel, Stolen Pills.

Fast paced and frantic, Stolen Pills gives some context behind the poor old OD'ed raccoon we see on the The Real Feel's album artwork.
Take a look!

Tour news: Pavement are back, and touring Australia!

The rumours are true, Pavement are indeed gracing our shores for an Australian tour.

Yes, Pavement are reforming.
Yes their very first shows announced since 1999 will be in Australia.
Yes one of those shows will be Saturday 6 March at Golden Plains festival in the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, Victoria.

One of the most popular, important and influential bands in the history of modern music, Pavement disbanded in 1999 after releasing several masterwork albums, leaving a legacy as bona fide icons of what is now a massive scene.
That legacy has expanded exponentially to reach gigantic cultural proportions, so the announcement of the reformation and shows has seen an explosion of modern joy from discerning music lovers all over the globe.

Dates below:

SYDNEY
Thursday 4 March
Enmore Theatre
Tickets available from: Ticketek or 132 849,
The Enmore Theatre Box Office, Enmore Online or (02) 9550 3666
Presented by triple j and Drum Media


VICTORIA
Saturday 6 March
Golden Plains


ADELAIDE
Sunday 7 March
Thebarton Theatre
Tickets available from: Venuetix or (08) 8225 8888
Presented by triple j and Rip It Up


PERTH
Monday 8 March
Metro City
Tickets available from: Tickets from Megatix or 1300 634 284
Presented by triple j and Drum Media Perth


BRISBANE
Wednesday 10 March
The Tivoli
Tickets available from: Ticketek or 132 849
or Rocking Horse Records ph: (07) 3229 5360
Presented by triple j and Time Off


MELBOURNE
Friday 12 March
The Palace
Tickets available from: Ticketek or 132 849
Greville Records, Polyester Records (City & Fitzroy stores), The Espy Hotel and The National Hotel (Geelong).
Presented by triple j and Inpress

To celebrate the upcoming reunion tour, Pitchfork has posted up a Pavement docco made in 2002 featuring live performances and interviews with the band. The full 90 minute doco is up for one week only. Don't miss out!

New video - Kurt Vile 'Freak Train'

Kurt Vile unveils his debut video for Childish Prodigy's epic stomper "Freak Train".

Childish Prodigy is out now through Matador/ Remote Control.

Introducing Cold Cave

The latest addition to the Matador family is Philly/New York quartet Cold Cave.
A band of fine pedigree, Cold Cave is comprised of Wesley Eisold (Give Up The Ghost, Some Girls) Caralee McElroy (ex Xiu Xiu) Dominick Fernow and Sarah Lipstate (ex-Parts and Labor, Noveller).

They have been hotly tipped as the "ones to watch" by Stereogum and Pitchfork and have had their material previously released on smaller labels, What's Your Rupture? and Fernow's Hospital Productions.

Take a listen to Life Magazine, it has equal parts fuzzy lo-fi charm to upbeat electro danceability.

Cold Cave - Life Magazine [mp3]

Their Matador debut Love Comes Close is due out this November.

Fucked Up win 2009 Polaris Music Prize

[Photo from polarismusicprize.ca]

Toronto hardcore punks Fucked Up have taken home the 2009 Polaris Music Prize.

Each year a group of Canadian music critics, bloggers and all round industry peeps get together and award the Canadian release they consider to have the most artistic merit.
They beat fellow Canadian luminaries Metric, Great Lakes Swimmers, and Malajube to recieve the $20,000 prize.
Past winners of the prize have included Final Fantasy and Caribou.

Damian Abraham aka Pink Eyes said they would put the $20,000 towards a charity project raising awareness about missing Canadian aboriginal women.

"There were over 500 missing aboriginal women in Canada and we're going to put out a benefit record to try to draw attention to it and raise some money for these people," Abraham said.

"It's a marginalized group, it's a racialized crime, it's ignored. So we're putting out a benefit Christmas record with some really funny guests and we're gonna pay for it."

Pretty incredible we think.

Fucked Up's album The Chemistry Of Common Life is out now.

New Kurt Vile album Childish Prodigy out Oct 2

A while ago we announced Matador's signing of über-talented Philly singer-songwriter Kurt Vile.

Vile’s second album Childish Prodigy will be out in Australia on October 2. Matador tell us "this absorbing, addictive and richly detailed album covers an immense amount of ground compared to its predecessor, from the pounding stomp of Hunchback and the hypnotic beat of Freak Train” to the unexpected, soaring trumpet in Amplifier."

Here is the first MP3 from Childish Prodigy, the lovely, haunting “Overnite Religion”:



Overnite Religion [mp3]

Childish Prodigy will be out in October 2 through Matador/ Remote Control

Yo La Tengo - New video and stream

Check out the dreamy video for When It's Dark.
Yet another track taken from the stunning new album by Yo La Tengo, Popular Songs.



Also well worth a look is a great interview Pitchfork have up with Dario Robleto, the conceptual sculptor responsible for the burnt tape that appears on the album's artwork.

Popular Songs is out now, so be sure to run out and grab a copy.

Those who STILL need further convincing can stream the album in full here.

Now who says we're not good to you?

Are you ready for The Real Feel from Spiral Stairs?

After a five-year absence, Pavement guitarist and Preston School Of Industry mainman SPIRAL STAIRS (Scott Kannberg) returns with The Real Feel, his bona fide solo debut.

It’s a heart-on-sleeve (but occasionally tongue-in-cheek) song cycle about his complicated personal life. This album is by far the most crafted and introspective of Spiral’s post-Pavement works.

The album was recorded in Australia with a diverse crew of talented people including members of The Posies, Gersey, Ian Moore and others. The Real Feel was mixed by The Posies’ Jon Auer,

Spiral maintains his trademark melodic whoops and Flying Nun guitar licks, but overlays a layer of melancholy and wisdom, as well as a touch of Peter Green blues. Alert listeners will also spot Richard Thompson, Captain Beefheart and The Died Pretty.

Maltese Terrier [mp3]

Please note no raccoons were harmed during the making of the album artwork. Not by us, anyway.

The Real Feel is out October 16 through Matador/ Remote Control.

Yo La Tengo - Avalon Or Someone Very Similar

The third video installement in the 5 week lead up to the release of Yo La Tengo's Popular Songs!



Follow the hyperlink to see previous videos
Here To Fall and Periodically Double Or Triple

Jay Reatard - Waiting For Something

In this short doco Jay Reatard talks about everything from dropping out of school and embarking on his very first recordings, right through to growing up in Memphis surrounded by all things Elvis.

Jay Reatard's latest album Watch Me Fall is out now through Matador/Remote Control.

Yo La Tengo - Periodically Double Or Triple

Last week when we blogged the video for Yo La Tengo's Here To Fall we told you all about the band's weekly video offering leading up to the release of their 16th (and pretty stunning) album Popular Songs.

It's another week and just as promised, we have another clip for you.

This week's installment is Periodically Double Or Triple, a very fruity and juicy clip directed by John McSwain.

I gotta say, there's nothing quite like close up chin-shots of people devouring melons and bananas...

Julian Plenti - Games For Days

Another offering from Mr Plenti.
'Games For Days' is probably the most straight foward, post-punk sounding track from his incredibly varied album. Maybe a bit Interpol-esque even?

Directed by Javier Aguilera the clip features handcuffs, a trashed hotel room and Metric frontwoman and all-round babe Emily Haines.

Take a look:

New Jay Reatard video It Ain't Gonna Save Me

Only one more week til Jay Reatard's new album Watch Me Fall is out! We blogged the first single It Ain't Gonna Save Me back in June, and now here's the clip.


The other day Jay twittered about breaking a rib but didn't mention how. Maybe it was one of these tough little kids?

Watch Me Fall is out Aug 14 through Matador/ Remote Control.

New Yo La Tengo video Here To Fall

We had a very excited response to our blog of the first sounds from Yo La Tengo's new album Popular Songs. We can now reveal the release date is Sep 4 and share with you both sounds and sights for a second track Here To Fall. This sprawling, ambitious album is Yo La Tengo’s 16th, and marks their 25th anniversary. It is also a new culmination for a career that has been swinging upwards again since 2006’s I Am Not Afraid Of You.

Popular Songs crosses a ton of different styles while marking a musical journey through pop history AND the band’s history. It ranges from the foreboding wah-wah of the opener, “Here To Fall,” to the gorgeous, Georgia-sung “Avalon Or Something Very Similar,” to the concise, Ramones-driven summer anthem “Nothing To Hide,” and then to the three, very long songs that close the album, ending with the 16-minute drone freakout jam, “And The Glitter Is Gone.”

And in lead up to the release of the album, the band are releasing five video clips. Here to Fall is the album's dramatic opening track and kicks off director John McSwain's visual accompaniment to the diverse and arresting sounds of YLT's exceptional new album.

Popular Songs is out Sep 4 through Matador/ Remote Control.

Yo La Tengo - Avalon Or Someone Very Similar

Here comes the third video installment from Yo La Tengo in the lead up to their new album Popular Songs

Avalon Or Someone Very Similar is a bright and summery clip complete with kites, parks and trance-inducing triangles.

Take a look.

Yo La Tengo's much anticiapted album Popular Songs is out September 4th through Matador/Remnote Control.

New Cave Singers album and mp3 Beach House

Matador have announced the second album from Seattle’s Cave Singers is due in August. "It is entitled ‘Welcome Joy’ and adds a world of color and nuance to the already great songs from their 2007 debut. The trio of Peter Quirk, Derek Fudesco and Marty Lund were joined on this record by Amber Webber (Black Mountain, Lightning Dust) and Ashley Webber (Lightning Dust). They recorded the album at The Hive in Vancouver with Colin Stewart.

Our first MP3 is the gorgeous, brooding, building Beach House":

Beach House [mp3]

Welcome Joy is out in August through Matador/ Remote Control.

Another new Jay Reatard mp3 Wounded

Yet another new track from the forthcoming Watch Me Fall album by Jay Reatard, due out in August!

Here is Wounded, which Matador say "wraps layers of Tall Dwarfs-ish acoustic guitar around a typically complex Jay song structure. In two and a half minutes it builds to an ironically celebratory refrain. We challenge you to get this one out of your head after listening to it a couple of times."

Wounded [mp3]

Watch Me Fall is out Aug 15 through Matador/ Remote Control.

New Times New Viking mp3, album on way

Times New Viking have a new album on its way. According to Matador, the Columbus based trio delivered their second album for the label on VHS tape and if this first mp3 taster is anything to go by, it's going to be packed with more lofi pop goodness.

No Time To Hope [mp3]

The release date for the new album, Born Again Revisited is yet to be announced.

New Yo La Tengo live footage

As we mentioned last week, Yo La Tengo have a new record coming out this September. It is called 'Popular Songs' and you can hear the first single Periodically Double Or Triple here.

You can watch the band perform another track "Nothing To Hide" from what will be the band's 12th album, on French TV here. It's YLT at their noisy best.



Popular Songs is due out September through Matador/ Remote Control. Can't wait!

New AC Newman live album out now

Surprise! AC Newman has dropped a live album on us and it's out today through iTunes only.

It is called "Live From Montreal" and was recorded 12th March 2009 at the Sainte-Catherine Apple Store.

Tracklisting is:
1. There Are Maybe Ten or Twelve
2. Miracle Drug
3. Like A Hitman, Like A Dancer
4. Prophets
5. Secretarial
6. The Heartbreak Rides
7. The Palace At 4 A.M.
8. All Of My Days And All Of My Days Off
9. Submarines of Stockholm

It's an iTunes exclusive so if you want to hear it, head overe there.

Jay Reatard live on The Daily Habit

Last week we told you about Jay Reatard's upcoming album Watch Me Fall, due out Aug 15.

Jay performed two tracks from the album recently on Fuel TV's The Daily Habit. First up was the single It Ain't Gonna Save Me (we blogged the mp3 last week too), plus another newie, My Shadow.





Watch Me Fall is due out August 15 through Matador/ Remote Control.

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 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Cat Power to tour with Juliette Lewis?!

According to Pitchfork.

Is the world really ready for this?

Julian Plenti's album details

Behold, here is the cover art and full tracklisting for the upcoming debut album by Julian Plenti (solo release from Paul Banks of Interpol).



Tracklisting for Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper:

01 Only If You Run
02 Fun That We Have
03 Skyscraper
04 Games for Days
05 Madrid Song
06 No Chance of Survival
07 Unwind
08 Girl on the Sporting News
09 On the Esplanade
10 Fly as You Might
11 H

It is due out July 31 through Matador/ Remote Control and includes guests such as Mike Stroud from Ratatat and Sam Fogarino from Interpol.

Check out the mp3 of Fun That We Have here.

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

New Julian Plenti mp3 Fun That We Have

Here's our first full taste of Julian Plenti, aka Paul Banks from Interpol's solo project.

As we mentioned last week, the album is due out August 1 through Matador/ Remote Control.

We like what we hear!

Fun That We Have [mp3]

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

Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper

Does this man look familiar?


Julian Plenti is Paul Banks, lead singer of Interpol. He will be releasing his debut solo album 'Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper' later this year.

Listen here.

Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper is out August 1 through Matador/ Remote Control.

More Sonic Youth live on Jools Holland

33 more sleeps til The Eternal is released, but hey whose counting?

There's plenty to keep us excited til then.

Here's more footage up at YouTube of Sonic Youth's performance on Jools Holland last week.

First up here is the single Sacred Trickster with Kim on the mic plus the Thurston fronted Antenna:


And if that's not enough, why don't you sign up for a direct hit from the band by following them on TWITTER?

Sonic Youth's The Eternal is out June 6 through Matador/ Remote Control.

Sonic Youth perform What We Know on Jools Holland

Another teaser from the forthcoming Sonic Youth album The Eternal, out in Australia through Matador/ Remote Control June 6.

Here is their performance on BBC's Jools Holland show earlier this week. It's the Lee Renaldo sung What We Know:

New Sonic Youth mp3 Sacred Trickster

Ever since we announced details of the new Sonic Youth album The Eternal, everyone's been asking for a listen.

Well, other than this dodgy YouTube video of a live performance of Calming The Snake, here's your first 'official' taste.

“Sacred Trickster” is a 2:10 out-of-the gate hardcore matinee track with Kim singing salutes to French painter Yves Klein and Western Massachusetts noise artist Noise Nomads. It sets the tone for ‘The Eternal’, which comprises twelve tunes that are a fireworks display of Sonic Youth touchstones. From the primal no wave attack of its earliest days, to the radical chording and song structures of its ’90s period, to the more focused and contemporary explorations of the last five years. This their 16th album, and their first for the Matador label, consolidates their move to a more lush, sensual sound as displayed on last album ‘Rather Ripped’ - but if anything punchier and cleaner, and now backstopped by the addition of Mark Ibold (Pavement, Dustdevils) on bass. - Matablog

Relish it!

Sacred Trickster [mp3]

Buy The Eternal on iTunes.

The band has also just been confirmed to play at the My Bloody Valentine-curated ATP Nightmare Before Christmas to be held at Butlins Holiday Resort in Minehead from December 4th - 6th, 2009.

sonicyouth.com

The Eternal is out June 6 through Matador/ Remote Control.

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

New video - AC Newman on Letterman

In case you missed it on the box last night, here it is on the tube - AC Newman was on the Late Show with David Letterman performing 'Like A Hitman, Like A Dancer'.



AC Newman 'Get Guilty' is out now on Matador/ Remote Control.

New Jay Reatard video - DOA

That's right kids -

DEAD ON ARRIVAL
IS NO FUN

Got that?

DOA is the latest clip from Jay Reatard's Matador Singles '08.

New Sonic Youth - Calming The Snake live video

Can't wait to hear the new Sonic Youth record 'The Eternal' due out in June?

Well this video of Calming The Snake shot by a fan in Chile should help wet the appetite:


via Stereogum.

The Eternal is out June.

Fucked Up - No Epiphany (No Age Remix)

Here's the No Age remix of Fucked Up's No Epiphany available on the No Epiphany 7".

No Epiphany (No Age Remix) mp3

No Epiphany is out now through Matador.

Condo Fucks - Straight Outta Connecticut

Many years ago, in a town called New London, in Connecticut, one band reigned supreme.

Condo Fucks.

Here is their story, the story of a scene, of dreams fulfilled and those unrealized.

Georgia Condo. Kid Condo. James McNew.

Fuckbook is out March 21.

Preview Sonic Youth's 'The Eternal'

Sonic Youth's 16th album, The Eternal, is due out early June. Recorded in November and December of last year, the first few snippets of the tracks can now be heard here:



[mp3]

Fucked Up feature on Pitchfork

Head over to Pitchfork to check out an interview with Canada's hardcore supremos Fucked Up and find out some interesting facts you may not have known about the band.

Pitchfork: Do you remember the first time you played New York?

Mike Haliechuk: It was in a womens' bookstore called Jane Doe Books, now closed. There were maybe 30 or 40 people there, and then we rushed to play an Adult Swim party at the Knitting Factory.

Jonah Falco: Three bands played: our tourmates, Punch You in the Face and Fourteen or Fight, and us. The whole thing was decorated with papier-mâché of Adult Swim and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" characters, and there was a big spread of food. This is why there was...

Damien Abraham: A huge food fight! In the top floor of the Knitting Factory was...

MH: The Rapture and Danger Mouse.

DA: But Danger Mouse played on our floor. It was pre-Grey Album, so Danger Mouse was obviously known, but it wasn't like...Danger Mouse! They threw us out of the venue, with a case that I just put in the car, having no idea what it was. We stopped and [realized] it was a turntable, a Tech 12 turntable. It might have been Danger Mouse's turntable, and it might not have been. But now it's mine.

Antony talks Berlin

Berlin: Live at St Ann's Warehouse is Lou Reed's soundtrack to the live performance of the classic album, recorded in late 2006.

Guests on the album include Sharon Jones, Rob Wassermann and Antony.

Below is a video of Antony discussing his experience of working on Berlin: Live at St Ann's Warehouse, which is out now.

Times New Viking cover Velvet Underground

The Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio recently put on a show of Velvet Underground covers, inviting local lo-fi heroes Times New Viking to take on the musical duties, plus Psychedelic Horseshit performing a couple of songs.

You can download the full set at Pat Radio.

Psychedelic Horseshit:
Sister Ray
Stephanie Says

Times New Viking:
Run Run Run
I'll Be You're Mirror
I'm Waiting for My Man
All Tomorrow's Parties
Sunday Morning
Venus in Furs
I Can't Stand It Anymore
Heroin
Pale Blue Eyes
Here She Comes Now
After Hours

Times New Viking's debut album for Matador, Rip It Off, is out now.

Jaguar Love get nailed

Nine Inch Nails have handpicked Jaguar Love to be their sole support act for their Melbourne and Sydney shows next week. Both bands will be playing at the Soundwave Festivals with Jaguar Love playing also playing sideshows in Melbourne and Sydney with Minus The Bear.

Originally forming in Seattle, Jaguar Love (Cody Votolato and Johnny Whitney of Blood Brothers and Jay Clark from Pretty Girls Make Graves) soon up and moved to Portland where the ferociously creative and once-noisy musicians added incredibly catchy melody to their songwriting. The result is their debut album Take Me To The Sea, a collection of 10 songs that are as surreal as they are anthemic. Oh, and they’re a little bit glam too.

TOUR DATES
Sat 21 Feb - Brisbane, Soundwave Festival
Sun 22 Feb - Sydney, Soundwave Festival
Mon 23 Feb – Sydney, Campbelltown City Hotel w/ Minus The Bear
Tue 24 Feb – Sydney, Hordern Pavilion w/ Nine Inch Nails
Wed 25 Feb – Melbourne, Festival Hall w/ Nine Inch Nails
Thu 26 Feb – Melbourne, Next! at Brown Alley w/ Minus The Bear
Fri 27 Feb – Melbourne, Soundwave Festival
Sat 28 Feb - Adelaide, Soundwave Festival
Mon 2 Mar - Perth, Soundwave Festival

Highways of Gold

Sonic Youth Return

Sonic Youth's 16th album, The Eternal, will be released on vinyl, compact disc, and digital album by Matador Records on June 6. Produced by John Agnello and the band, 'The Eternal' not only marks Sonic Youth's return to the independent label sphere (titles on their own SYR label excepted) after a long association with Geffen, but more importantly, ranks as one of their more inspired efforts in a 28 year career.

Recorded through November and December of last year at the band's Echo Canyon West studio in Hoboken, NJ, 'The Eternal' features many firsts for a Sonic Youth album, including a number of shared vocals between Kim, Thurston, and Lee, and the studio debut of former Pavement/Dustdevils bassist Mark Ibold, a member of Sonic Youth's touring band for the past few years.

The band's current extracurricular activities are particularly interesting. The Kunsthalle in Dusseldorf, Germany is now hosting the touring museum exhibition SONIC YOUTH ETC.: SENSATIONAL FIX, which focuses on the band's multidisciplinary work since the band's formation in 1981, including their collaborations with visual artists, filmmakers, designers and musicians. Kim Gordon launches a clothing line, Mirror/Dash, at Urban Outfitters on February 16, and is showing at The Armory Show in NYC March 5-8. Lee Ranaldo, with co-conspirator Leah Singer, just opened installations at the Konsthall in Stockholm and the CNEAI in Paris, and he has a piece in the travelling exhibition "Bad Moon Rising 3", currently at Boots Contemporary Art Space in St. Louis. A Beck/Sonic Youth split 7" is being released by Matador on April 18 for Record Store Day. And the band recently collaborated with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (along with former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and mixed-media sound composer Takehisa Kosugi) on a work celebrating, and being performed for, Cunningham's 90th birthday on April 16 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Upcoming SY shows include April gigs in Austria and Germany (including the closing of SENSATIONAL FIX in Dusseldorf) and May 16 at the No Fun Festival in Brooklyn. The will be touring throughout the summer in support of 'The Eternal'.

More information on these and the many, many other activities since the 2006 release of their last album, 'Rather Ripped', can be found here.

Of The Eternal, Matador's Gerard Cosloy says, "We've not had a record in our recent history that's been the subject of nearly as much speculation and anticipation. Suffice to say we're pretty amazed at the way the band delivered something this neoteric while still sounding like, well, themselves. Less of a reinvention and perhaps more to do with a particularly awesome dozen songs."

Matador will shortly announce a Buy Early Get Now opportunity for the album with some very interesting bonus material.

Sonic Youth are:
Steve Shelley
Lee Ranaldo
Kim Gordon
Thurston Moore
Mark Ibold

Track listing:
1. Sacred Trickster
2. Anti-Orgasm
3. Leaky Lifeboat(for Gregory Corso)
4. Antenna
5. What We Know
6. Calming The Snake
7. Poison Arrow
8. Malibu Gas Station
9. Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn
10. No Way
11. Walkin Blue
12. Massage The History

A.C. Newman takes on a-ha

Despite just releasing his second solo album, Get Guilty, The New Pornographers' A.C. Newman found time to record a version of a-ha's classic track Take On Me for an upcoming Starbucks covers compilation.

Times New Viking A>D>D part 2

Yesterday we posted part 1 of lo-fi thrash band Times New Vikings' A>D>D performance and now comes part 2, where they play the rest of the songs from their Stay Awake EP.

Hate Hate Hate


Sick & Tyred


The Apt

Times New Viking on Pitchfork's A>D>D

Call & Respond

Performed for Pitchfork's A>D>D.

Pagan Eyes


www.myspace.com/timesnewviking

Sonic Youth on Twitter

Be sure to keep up with all of Sonic Youth's adventures
Twitter style!

The voyeur in all of us can now get our fix with updates on what the band are up to and how album number 16 is coming along.



Sonic Youth are due to release their new album The Eternal in the middle of the year through new label Matador.

Jay Reatard free Sydney in-store today

Memphis boywonder Jay Reatard will be performing live (and FREE!) at Red Eye's King St store today at 4:30pm.

Touring for the national Laneway Festivals that kick off in Brisbane this Saturday, Jay Reatard will be playing some of the pop-punk gems off his latest release Matador Singles '08, funnily enough, a collection of singles he released through Matador last year.

You may even hear some new material as Jay is currently working on his album proper for Matador, due out later this year.

TOUR DATES
Thu 29 Jan – Sydney, Gaelic Theatre w/ No Age
Fri 30 Jan – Melbourne, Corner Hotel w/ No Age
Sat 31 Jan - Brisbane, Laneway Festival
Sun 1 Feb - Melbourne, Laneway Festival
Fri 6 Feb - Perth, Laneway Festival
Sat 7 Feb - Adelaide, Laneway Festival
Sun 8 Feb - Sydney, Laneway Festival

The 'Fork gets Fucked Up

Pitchfork.tv have launched a new show called A>D>D which stands for Analog technology > mixed Digitally > and distributed Digitally.

With the premier episode featuring Toronto punk rockers Fucked Up, the makers of the show work with the idea of capturing bands with "Lo-Fi meets Hi-Fi" qualities visually and musically using only analogue equipment, editing it digitally then uploading it onto their website for all to enjoy. The full set is below:

Son The Father


Black Albino Bones


Twice Born

Cat Power 'Dark End Of The Street'

Cat Power started last year with the release of Jukebox, her second album of cover songs and a tribute to the great vocalists who had influenced her over the years.

The sessions for Jukebox were so productive for Chan that many more gems were recorded than those that made the actual album; so much so, the deluxe version of the album alone contained a further five covers to the original twelve.

And so it was no surprise when late last year Chan released Dark End Of The Street, a six-track gatefold double 10” containing the remaining unreleased tracks from the Jukebox sessions. The perfect bookend to both Jukebox and another successful year for Cat Power, you can hear the title track over at NPR.

A.C. Newman performs 'Like A Hitman, Like A Dancer'

A.C. Newman, ringleader of The New Pornographers, will be releasing his second debut album Get Guilty this Saturday. Thanks to Pitchfork.tv you can watch Newman perform album track Like A Hitman, Like A Dancer:



www.acnewman.net

New track from Condo Fucks

Condo Fucks are Georgia Condo (drums), Kid Condo (guitar) and James McNew (bass). You might remember them from such bands as Yo La Tengo.

They have a new album coming out in March called Fuckbook. And here's the first single:

What'cha Gonna Do About It [mp3] (160kbps)

Fucked Up - Crooked Head

Taken from their latest album The Chemistry of Common Life comes Fucked Up's first ever official video:

Pavement 'Brighten The Corners' reissue

10 years after its initial release comes the Nicene Creedence edition of Pavement's classic album Brighten The Corners. The release comes on 2 discs and consists of a whopping 44 tracks. That's right. 44!

Disc 1 contains a remastered version of the original album, along with remastered unreleased tracks and B-sides.

Disc 2 features B-sides from Shady Lane along with live recordings, with many being unreleased tracks. Full tracklist here.

Shady Lane (directed by Spike Jonze)


Stereo (directed by Jon Kelsey)

New Newman track

As promised, we have a brand new track from A.C. Newman's upcoming album Get Guilty. Following on from the first mp3 There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve we bring you Submarines of Stockholm (edited version) [mp3]


Get Guilty is the follow up to Newman's 2004 solo debut The Slow Wonder which Pitchfork described as "soulful sing-alongs with grit, pop nuggets that hold up to hours of repeat play, and ultimately, the sound of a great songwriter hitting his stride."

Get Guilty is another showcase of Newman's fascinating blend of catchiness and impenetrability. The album is due out in January.

Watch The New Pornographers' Sydney show

Up on Moshcam now is the full 18 song set by The New Pornographers from their gig at The Annandale back in October. Playing tracks from their latest album Challengers, plus a few covers and old favourites, you can watch it all here.

My Rights Versus Yours


A.C. Newman's new solo album, Get Guilty, is out in January. Stay tuned for a new mp3 soon!

Dead Meadow sideshows announced

Psych rockers Dead Meadow have announced three sideshows alongside their performances at the inaugural Australian ATP Festival. Joining them for these indie extravaganzas will be UK electro duo Fuck Buttons and Japan's Afrirampo.

Combining a love of 70s rock and boogie with a strong 60s psychedelic and eastern influence has earned US band Dead Meadow a cult following the world over, more so with their latest album Old Growth and which is arguably their best and most accessible to date. On the album, chocolate thick overdubs of tamburas, Mellotrons and Hammonds flesh out barnyard stomp skeletons. Dead Meadow are renowned for their fierce live shows and will force you to go forward with them, to climb that mountain, leave your earthly problems behind and most importantly grow up.

Fri 9-Sat 10 Jan – Mt Buller, ATP Festival
Wed 14 Jan – Melbourne, Corner Hotel
Thu 15 Jan – Sydney, Oxford Arts Factory
Fri 16 Jan – Brisbane, Powerhouse Theatre

What Needs Must Be


myspace.com/deadmeadow

A.C. Newman's Guilty talk with Pitchfork

"Being well-liked is like a drug. After a while you just need to be well-liked to feel normal. So I'm just chasin' the dragon."

Already working on the follow up his upcoming album Get Guilty, A.C. Newman chatted to Pitchfork about Get Guilty, The New Pornographers and being included in Stabucks' Valentine's Day compilation.

Pitchfork: We haven't heard Get Guilty yet. Can you give us a hint as to what it sounds like?
Carl Newman: I've got the inside track, I suppose. It sounds like me.

The full interview here.

He has also unveiled the tracklisting for the album:

1. There Are Maybe Ten or Twelve
2. The Heartbreak Rides
3. Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer
4. Submarines of Stockholm
5. Prophets
6. Thunderbolts
7. The Palace at 4 AM
8. The Changeling (Get Guilty)
9. Elemental
10. Young Atlantis
11. The Collected Works
12. All of My Days and All of My Days Off

The first single from Get Guilty, out in January, is There Are Maybe Ten or Twelve [mp3]

Fucked Up Daytrotter session

Fucked Up are the latest band to record a Daytrotter session, playing three tracks from their new album The Chemistry of Common Life, as well as a track from their 2007 release Hidden World. The first song in the session is Magic World


You can download the session over at Daytrotter.

More videos from Fucked Up's marathon show

Recorded at their 12 hour show last month is a performance of Fucked Up covering the Black Flag track Nervous Breakdown.


Also joining Fucked Up on a couple of songs was Ezra from Vampire Weekend who unleashed his inner punk on Blitz and Descendents covers.

Someone's Gonna Die and Parents

Jay Reatard and No Age double bill

Jay Reatard will be teaming up with fellow Laneway Festivaler No Age to put on a couple of double headline shows in January. Tickets on sales this Friday. Dates after the vid.

Jay Reatard blew away audiences during his first Australian tour earlier this year, which pre-empted his debut releases for US indie label Matador. Over the year, Jay released 6 limited edition 7"s that were then put together on the recently released album Matador Singles '08.

The first single released in the series was critically acclaimed album was See/Saw. He has now made his first ever music video for the single:


The 29 Jan – Sydney, Gaelic Theatre w/ No Age
Fri 30 Jan – Melbourne, Corner Hotel w/ No Age
Sat 31 Jan - Brisbane, Laneway Festival
Sun 1 Feb - Melbourne, Laneway Festival
Fri 6 Feb - Perth, Laneway Festival
Sat 7 Feb - Adelaide, Laneway Festival
Sun 8 Feb - Sydney, Laneway Festival

myspace.com/jayreatard

A.C. Newman covers The Go-Betweens

Those of you who went to see The New Pornographers on their national tour last month probably would have heard A.C. Newman make reference to The Go-Betweens. Rather than just talking about them, Newman has gone one step better by performing one of their tracks at a recent solo show at the Bell House in Brooklyn.


A.C. Newman has a new solo album out in January next year entitled Get Guilty. You can download the first single from the album, There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve, here.

Shearwater Tiny Desk Concert for NPR

NPR in the States just can't get enough of Shearwater. They have streamed and archived a full live concert and had them in for a studio session. And earlier this week they had them perform a Tiny Desk Concert which you can enjoy here:



Shearwater's album Rook is out now through Matador/ Remote Control.

Dead Meadow and Dirty Three for ATP

Matador outfit Dead Meadow are bringing their love of 70s rock, 60s psych and eastern drones to Australia for the first time when they play the Nick Cave All Tomorrow’s Parties. Originally out of Washington DC but now based in LA, Dead Meadow unleash one hell of a sonic boom, as best evidenced on their new album Old Growth.

Also just announced for ATP are the Dirty Three, who will return to Australia for one exclusive show at Mt Buller, where they will perform their classic album Ocean Songs in its entirety.



Dead Meadow I'm Gone mp3 (from Old Growth)



Dirty Three Doris mp3 (from Cinder)

A.C. Newman – Porn Never Sleeps

The New Pornographers just blasted through Australia and New Zealand on the final leg of their Challengers tour. Band leader Carl Newman now rolls straight in to working on his second solo album Get Guilty. Helping Carl on the forthcoming album are drummer Jon Wurster (Mountain Goats), Nicole Atkins, and Mates Of State. “There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve”, the first taste of the album, can be heard on Matador Records' free, downloadable Intended Play sampler. Stereogum has already described the track as “some imagined indie-pop national anthem”.




A.C. Newman There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve mp3 (from Get Guilty, due out late January)

Jenny Lewis on Letterman (And Acid)

Jenny Lewis played Letterman on November 3 and Mr Elvis Costello turned up to duet on the track Carpetbaggers. Elvis guests on Miss Jenny’s new album Acid Tongue, as do M Ward, Chris Robinson (of The Black Crows) and Zooey Deschanel. Oh and given how late Letterman is shown on TV here in Australia we couldn’t have been the only ones to be amused when old Dave held the front cover of the album up to the camera… a giant sheet of acid.

Breeders Curate ATP

All Tomorrow's Parties just slipped out the news that their next UK festival will be curated by The Breeders. It’ll take place May 15-17 next year at Butlins Holiday Camp in Minehead, England. Over forty bands will perform including The Breeders, Throwing Muses, Bon Iver, Teenage Fanclub, and Holy Fuck. Tickets are already on sale.

Jaguar Love touring in Feb/Mar 09

Jaguar Love are guitarist Cody Votolato and singer Johnny Whitney from the Blood Brothers, along with Jay Clark from Pretty Girls Make Graves (guitarist then, now drummer, multi-instrumentalist and producer).

These ferociously creative and once-noisy musicians have now added incredibly catchy melody to their songwriting, as heard on their debut album Take Me To The Sea.

They're set to bring their heavy-duty glam moves and crunchy, addictive hooks to Australia for the first time in February/March touring with the Soundwave Festival.

Soundwave Festival 09 Dates
Sat 21 Feb - Brisbane, RNA Showgrounds
Sun 22 Feb - Sydney, venue TBC
Fri 27 Feb – Melbourne, Melbourne Showgrounds
Sat 28 Feb - Adelaide, Bonython Park
Mon 2 Mar - Perth, Steel Blue Oval

Highways of Gold


myspace.com/jaguarloveband

Matador download sampler

US label Matador have released a new Intended Play download sampler featuring a track from each of their current acts including Fucked Up, Jay Reatard, Lou Reed and A.C. Newman.

The sampler is a musical mixbag, from A.C. Newman’s jewel-like pop songscapes to the majestic neo-punk of Fucked Up to the crystalline depths and heights created by Shearwater to a track from Lou Reed’s painstaking, thoughtful, first-ever performance of his controversial classic album Berlin.

Download the 13 track .zip file: Matador Intended Play Fall 2008

1. A.C. Newman There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve [NEW AND UNRELEASED. mp3] (from Get Guilty, due out late January)
2. Belle and Sebastian The State I Am In (BBC Version)
3. Jennifer O’Connor Here With Me
4. Shearwater The Snow Leopard (Remastered) from Rook)
5. Lou Reed Caroline Says, Pt. II (Live) (from Berlin: Live At St. Ann’s Warehouse, due out November 4)
6. Mogwai The Sun Smells Too Loud
7. Fucked Up No Epiphany (from The Chemistry Of Common Life)
8. Jay Reatard An Ugly Death (from Matador Singles ‘08)
9. Jaguar Love Humans Evolve Into Skyscrapers (from Take Me To The Sea)
10. Pavement Cataracts (from Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed., out Dec 6)
11. Brightblack Morning Light Oppressions Each (from Motion To Rejoin)
12. Times New Viking Call & Respond (from Stay Awake, out Nov 15)
13. Condo Fucks What’cha Gonna Do About It?

New releases from Deerhunter, Lou Reed and Anni Rossi

Microcastle is a hazy and dream like gem from Bradford Cox and his band. The follow-up to Deerhunter’s critically lauded debut Cryptograms, Microcastle is in parts kraut, shoe-gazy, ambient and majestic. Featuring 12 tracks, the album also comes backed with 13 track bonus disc Weird Era Cont.

Nothing Ever Happened [mp3]

myspace.com/deerhunter


Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse is a recording of the recent live performance of Lou Reed's classic 1973 album in its entirety. With guests Antony (Antony & The Johnsons) and Sharon Jones, plus live versions of the Velvet Underground’s Sweet Jane and Candy Says.

Caroline Says, Pt. II. [mp3]


loureed.com


Afton is the debut 4AD release from 22 year old multi-instrumentalist Anni Rossi. From Minnesota via Los Angeles she is classically trained from a young age with the viola forming the centrepiece to her music. Currently working with Steve Albini (Pixies, Joanna Newsom, PJ Harvey) on her debut album due out next year, she can count artists like Electrelane and The Ting Tings among her admirers and has toured Europe and the US with both of them.

Wheelpusher [mp3]


myspace.com/annirossi

Fucked Up and Moby do the Blitzkrieg Bop

Continuing their whirlwind few months (which includes an NME cover and fucking up MTV's bathroom), Fucked Up recently put on a free marathon 12 hour show in New York featuring a heap of guests. Having previously worked with many collaborators including Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), that guy from AFI and Nelly Furtado, Fucked Up continued their eclectic ways with guest appearances including Ezra of Vampire Weekend (like you've never seen him), Tim of Les Savy Fav, Vivian Girls, J. Mascis and Chris of Mind Eraser (aww, spoon). Moby also joined the band to perform a cover of Blitzkrieg Bop:


To give you a sense of how epic this show was, here's the setlist. Epic indeed.
View pics from the event here, here and here.

Fucked Up's new album The Chemistry Of Common Life has just been released. If you missed them before, here are a couple of tracks from the album:

Twice Born [mp3]


No Epiphany [mp3]

New releases from Department of Eagles, Brightblack Morning Light and Tom Cooney

This weekend saw the release of yet another trio of albums from an eclectic mix of artists: there’s a Brisbane troubadour, a couple of hippies and a duo from Brooklyn.

Presque Vu (meaning “almost seen”) is the debut album from Tom Cooney, sonically pivoting on Tom’s guitar, lyrics and melodies. Many friends added the spokes to roll Presque Vu along including Whitley, and members from Subaudible Hum, Boat People and McKisko. Having previously performed with Fionn Regan and M. Ward, as well as playing at Splendour in the Grass and Homebake, Tom will be launching the new album along the East Coast over the next two weeks, starting in Sydney this Wednesday.

Wednesday 15th - Will & Toby’s, Sydney
Thursday 16th - The Troubadour, Brisbane
Wednesday 22nd - East Brunswick Club, Melbourne

Beneath the Wheel [mp3]



Their hair is long. Their music warm and hazy. They are Brightblack Morning Light. Haunting, beautiful and weird in equal doses, their new album Motion To Rejoin is the perfect Saturday night and Sunday morning album. Recorded entirely under solar power in a remote adobe cabin in the New Mexican mesa, the album recalls musicians as diverse as Bob Dylan, My Bloody Valentine, Neil Young and Otis Reading.

Oppressions Each [mp3]


Department of Eagles are Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear alongside his friend Fred Nicolaus, plus additional help from two other members of Grizzly Bear, Christopher Bear and Chris Taylor. In Ear Park is a delight; both colourful and expansive, built upon an intimate and personal framework of songs and is a definite highlight of 2008. Full of joyful moments, lush production and concise songwriting, In Ear Park is an album that stays with the listener and only encourages repeat visits.

No One Does It Like You [mp3]

Jay Reatard and Stereolab hit the streets

Jay Reatard and Stereolab have both been announced to play next year's Laneway Festivals.

It's been six long years since Stereolab last graced Australia's shores and four since their last album release, Margerine Eclipse. Stereolab recently released their 11th studio album in an illustrious career, Chemical Chords. According to Tim Gane the album is a collection of “purposefully short, dense, fast pop songs”. It is classic Stereolab; like all their best work it is the perfect melding of an implausibly cool past and a shamelessly exotic future.

Three Women [mp3]


myspace.com/stereolab

Last week saw the release of Jay Reatard's new album Matador Singles '08. The release compiles the 12 punk pop gems that Jay has released over the past few months on limited 7" through Matador. With Jay already working on his debut album proper for Matador, we can all look forward to hopefully hearing this new material live.

Always Wanting More [mp3]


myspace.com/jayreatard

Laneway Festival 2009 Dates

Sat 31 Jan - Brisbane
Sun 1 Feb - Melbourne
Fri 6 Feb - Perth
Sat 7 Feb - Adelaide
Sun 8 Feb - Sydney

Tickets on sale Monday 27th October. More info at myspace.com/lanewayfestival

Lou Reed - Caroline Says Pt. II video ft Antony

Lou Reed’s is set to release a new CD Berlin: Live at St Ann's Warehouse that is the soundtrack to the release of the Julian Schnabel film which was shown to sold out audiences at the recent Melbourne International Film Festival.

The album is a recording of the first ever live performance of the controversial 1973 masterwork which was staged over 4 days in a Brooklyn warehouse in December 2006, more than three decades after the original release. You can read more about the remarkable project here.

Below is the version of Caroline Says, Pt. II as taken from the DVD release. You can download the mp3 here.


Berlin: Live at St Ann's Warehouse is due out October 25th.

New Fucked Up album streaming on NME

Having gotten much NME love a couple of weeks ago, NME are now streaming Fucked Up's just released album, The Chemistry of Modern Life. You can listen to it in full here during this week.

Jenny Lewis, Jay Reatard and Fucked Up albums out now

Just released are three new albums that range from soulful guitar rock to hardcore (with pan flute!).

Acid Tongue is the sophomore solo album from Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis. Collaborators on the album include Elvis Costello for a duet on Carpetbaggers, Johnathan Rice, Jason Boesel, M Ward, Zooey Deschanel and Chris Robinson. All of the album was recorded in analogue in just 3 weeks, without the use of Pro-Tools. With the vocals tracked entirely live, Lewis's voice has never sounded so expressive and the narratives have never been so hard-hitting and acerbic.
"The album is boastful, vulnerable and witty, usually within the course of a single song." Prefix

Acid Tongue [mp3]


myspace.com/jennylewismusic


Matador Singles '08 is a collection of all six singles that Memphis boywonder Jay Reatard has been releasing on 7" through Matador over the past months. Not only does the release cater for those who aren’t so bothered about collecting and those who missed out on the 7”s the first time round (frenzy was so intense that it brought down the Matador server twice, once with 10,000+ attempts to buy a copy in a one minute period.), but it's also an outstanding album in its own right. Every song is a perfect snarling pop-punk gem evolving interestingly (and erratically) from punk to pop. As Pitchfork said on the subject, “In this short space of time, Reatard has cranked out more memorable songs than some acts do in their whole careers.”

Always Wanting More [mp3]


www.myspace.com/jayreatard


The new album from posthardcore wunderkinds Fucked Up is The Chemistry of Common Life. Far from being your ordinary hardcore band, Fucked Up merge elements of hardcore songwriting with up to 70 tracks of guitars, organs, winds and vocals. The songs are iconoclastic and startling, with Pink Eyes' growling vocals front and center. Though Fucked Up remain punks at heart - if quixotically diverse ones - they have created a great, weird, heavy record that stubbornly sticks in your brain and your heart. Check out front man Pink Eyes on the cover of NME.

Twice Born [mp3]


Looking For Gold - Fucked Up Blog

New New Pornographers clip

Canada's The New Pornographers will be returning to Australia for a national tour which starts next week. The band are headed by A.C. Newman who will be releasing a solo album next year (more info here). Rounding out the band are vocalist Neko Case and an outrageously talented cast of musicians.

The tour will be the first time in Australia that the band will be performing tracks from their latest album Challengers, out last year. Go here for tour dates.

Coinciding with the tour is the release of a brand new video for the track Mutiny, I Promise You off Challengers. The clip features US comedians Kurt Braunohler and Kristen Schaal (Flight of the Concords, The Daily Show) and has been described by the pair as "The long awaited continuation of your favorite "girl-who-can-talk-to-animals-and-has-to-kill-a-popular-senator" series! Special guest stars: The New Pornographers - in a first time ever music video/adventure-comedy internet short!"


myspace.com/thenewpornographers

Sonic Youth and Be Your Own Pet unite for Gossip Girl

It seems that Thurston Moore will be taking a little time out from working on the new Sonic Youth album to team up with Jemina Pearl, front woman of now defunct band Be Your Own Pet.

They'll be covering Ramones' track Sheena Was A Punk Rocker for cult teen trash show Gossip Girl. Thurston revealed the little tidbit to Rolling Stone following their New York appearance for ATP's Don't Look Back series (which they performed in Australia earlier this year).

"Kim [Gordon]'s gonna show up soon, and my friend Jemina who sings in Be Your Own Pet is coming up with her, and she's gonna come up with me tomorrow to Ma and we're gonna record "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" for Gossip Girl. So you know, the fun never stops."

Be Your Own Pet's sophomore album Get Awkward is out now.

Be Your Own Pet - Becky


myspace.com/beyourownpetmusic | myspace.com/sonicyouth

New album for A.C. Newman

Known as one of the voices behind The New Pornographers, A.C. Newman is set to release his new solo album Get Guilty in January 2009.

Get Guilty was recorded this year at Brooklyn’s Seaside Lounge with Phil Palazzo. Along with the dozen or so other players Carl roped into this affair, the album also features cameos from Jon Wurster (Superchunk), Mates Of State and Nicole Atkins.

We'll hopefully have an mp3 from the album available in a few weeks.

In the meantime, you can catch A.C. Newman performing around Australia in early October as he tours with The New Pornographers. Dates and ticket info can be found here.

Fucked Up on NME

With the latest edition of NME comes two firsts for the long lived mag. For starters, it's the first time the word "fuck" has appeared on the cover. So naughty. More used to having acts like Muse, Arctic Monkey and Foo Fighters appear on its covers, this is also the first time they've chosen a hardcore act to grace its glossy front page. And what a cover it is:

Fucked Up's new album The Chemistry Of Common Life is out October 4th.

A Fucked Up EPK

Fucked Up are Toronto post-hardcore band consisting of members Concentration Camp, Pink Eyes, Mustard Gas, Mr. Jo, Young Governor and 10,000 Marbles.

Their second album The Chemistry of Common Life is out October 4th. One listen to the album and it'll be clear to you that Fucked Up are far from your ordinary hardcore band. Don't believe us? Just check out their EPK below, which sees growling front man Pink Eyes being interviewed by Zach Feldberg. If you don't want to see what a "mangina" looks like, we suggest you look away at the 2:12 mark... it's a bit NSFW.



Check out the band's hilarious blog: lookingforgold.blogspot.com

No Epiphany [mp3]


Twice Born [mp3]



Earlier this year Fucked Up re-released the Year Of The Pig EP, the second in a series of songs based on the Chinese zodiac. The track is about the plight of sex workers in Canada with the initial release and companion concert generating $4,000 for a prostitution rights charity in Toronto.

Year Of The Pig (US 7″ edit) [mp3]

Jay Reatard to release Matador singles compilation

Every month for the last six months, Matador Records have been releasing a limited 7” by a new signing to the label, namely Memphis boywonder Jay Reatard.

The 7”s have generated more and more attention with each release, but each one has been put out in a progressively more limited run, starting with 3,500 worldwide for single #1 and ending with only 400 copies of single #6. Each release has differed from the last (be it on clear and coloured vinyl, a split 7” or a picture disc) and all have sold out instantly upon release.

The new release, Matador Singles '08, features all six singles plus bonus track I'm Watching You (Jay’s attempt to write a song in the style of Kiwi songsmiths The Tall Dwarfs, which uses the word “c*nt.” He succeeds.) Every song is a perfect snarling pop-punk gem, but the collection evolves interestingly (and erratically) from punk to pop. As Pitchfork said on the subject, “In this short space of time, Reatard has cranked out more memorable songs than some acts do in their whole careers.”

Matador Singles '08 is due out October 4th.


See/Saw [mp3]


Always Wanting More [mp3]


www.myspace.com/jayreatard

The New Pornographers announce new show and suports

Vancouver pop maestros The New Pornographers return to Australia next month for their first Australian tour in two years. With their Sydney Annandale show on Sunday 12 October now sold out, they have announced a second Sydney show on Monday 6 October at the Annandale, with special guests Even and An Horse.

The New Pornographers’ latest record Challengerswas released late last year, creating even more excitement and praise than their previous works:
“a staggering masterclass in indie-pop songwriting that will make your brain melt and send firecrackers around your heart” NME
“Challengers ultimately proves to be the group's finest hour.” Mojo

For a full list of supports in each city, see the tour dates listed below! Don’t miss The New Pornographers October Australian Tour. Tickets are on sale now.

MONDAY 6 OCTOBER – ANNANDALE, SYDNEY
With special guests Even & An Horse
Tickets from www.annandalehotel.com, the venue or tel 02 9550 1078

TUESDAY 7 OCTOBER – THE ZOO, BRISBANE
With special guests Even & Butcher Birds
Tickets Tickets from www.thezoo.com.au, tel 1300 762 545, Rockinghorse, Butterbeats, Moshpit Music, Sunflower, Music Mania, Cosmic Music, Central Station Music, Cooly Hotel, Bombay Rock, Gooble Warming , & Kill The Music

WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER – ROSEMOUNT HOTEL, PERTH
With special guests The Bank Holidays & Bird to Prey
Tickets from www.heatseeker.com.au, Star Surf Perth, Mills Records and Planet Video

FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER – THE GOV, ADELAIDE
With special guests Even & We Grow Up
Tickets from www.venuetix.com.au and The Gov tel 8340 0744

SATURDAY 11 OCTOBER - THE CORNER, MELBOURNE
With special guests Plug In City & The Stoics
Tickets from www.conerhotel.com , the venue box office or tel 94279198
**Tickets Selling Fast

SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER – ANNANDALE, SYDNEY
With special guests An Horse and Like...Alaska
** SOLD OUT

CHALLENGERS



www.myspace.com/thenewpornographers

Remote Control Go Sonic

After rampant speculation, Remote Control can confirm that we will be releasing in Australia a new studio album from Sonic Youth sometime in 2009 through Matador Records. Having fulfilled their contractual obligations to the Universal Music Group, Sonic Youth recently reached an agreement with Matador to release the band’s 16th album of new material.

While Sonic Youth’s status as one of the more innovative and influential bands of the past 30 years needs little explanation, the group’s most recent recordings for Geffen — 2006’s ‘Rather Ripped’ being their final for the label — rank amongst the current decade’s best.

Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley will commence recording the new Sonic Youth LP/CD this American autumn and we look forward to sharing further details in the very near future.

Check out sonicyouth.com for details of their many recent and upcoming pursuits, including the travelling museum exhibition Sonic Youth Etc.: Sensational Fix, which focusses on the multidisciplinary activities of the band since 1981, and the recently self-released CD Andre Side Af Sonic Youth.

New Brightblack Morning Light track

Oppressions Each is the latest track to be taken from Brightblack Morning Light's upcoming new album Motion To Rejoin, due out in Australia October 11th.

They're second album following on from their self-titled debut in 2006, Motion To Rejoin was recorded entirely under solar power in a remote adobe cabin in the New Mexican mesa and recalls musicians as diverse as Lee Perry, Bob Dylan, My Bloody Valentine, Neil Young and Otis Redding, with sounds ranging from folk to gospel to experimental electronics.

Oppressions Each [mp3]


Hologram Buffalo [mp3]


www.myspace.com/brightblackmorninglight

Lou Reed: New title, new mp3 and new video

Lou Reed's upcoming release now has the new title of Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse and is set for release in Australia on October 25th.

The album is a recording of the first ever live performance of the controversial 1973 masterwork which was staged over 4 days in a Brooklyn warehouse in December 2006, more than three decades after the original release. You can read more about the remarkable project here.

The first MP3 from the record is “Caroline Says, Pt. II.” The song is one of Lou Reed’s heavier subjects, and it receives an extraordinarily moving rendition here:


[mp3]

One of the encores of the concert was of Candy Says featuring Antony. Below is a clip of the performance taken from the Julian Scnabel film:



www.loureed.com