VHS or Beta Announce Live Dates, Unleash "Breaking Bones" MP3!‏

Press release from Girlie Action Media:

VHS or Beta

“… reflects their extensive experience as DJs and remixers, with bright synthesizer parts bouncing off of hyper-kinetic live and programmed beats."
- Rolling Stone

“ …chunky, nod-inducing house piano, the bounce of disco bass and clear, catchy synth melodies.”
- RCRD LBL

“… the perfect summer anthem; that is, if you spend a lot of time indoors at night going nuts in dance clubs.”
- Consequence of Sound

VHS or Beta’s upcoming album, Diamonds & Death, is a journey full of thrilling moments and unexpected turns. The album’s electronic foundation is a byproduct of the many nights VHS OR BETA DJs have manned the decks and remixes they have done in the last few years. The self-produced album travels spectacular heights to gut-wrenching plunges and is an emotional rollercoaster. The songs unfold and mutate in unpredictable ways that will transfix dance floors and bedrooms alike. Diamonds & Death will be released September 27 on Krian Music Group/Chromosome Records.

The anthemic “Breaking Bones” opens Diamonds & Death with a skittering beat, keyboards stabs and a transfixing vocal melody that submerges you into the album and explodes into a guitar-fueled chorus. Download the “Breaking Bones” MP3 on RollingStone.com or HERE.

Title track “Diamonds & Death” transforms from a minimal synth track into a dance floor behemoth. “I Found a Reason” is a pulsating summer anthem with a soaring refrain built on a foundation of rubbery bass, swooning synth and housey piano chords. The album’s quixotic nature juxtaposes dance floor stompers like “Watch Out” with experimental and throbbing psychedelic tracks like “Jellybean”. Diamonds & Death is an unpredictable journey full of breathtaking epic song-scapes.

The two main creative engines behind VHS OR BETA’s decade-long career, Craig Pfunder and Mark Palgy, relocated to Brooklyn from Louisville over the last two years. Lucky fans in NY will have several changes to see the band play live this summer – stay tuned for more tour dates coming this fall!

VHS or Beta Tour Dates
8/5: Brooklyn, NY @ Cameo
8/6: Southampton, NY @ Escape 2 New York Festival (Dance tent)
8/25: New York, NY @ The Studio at Webster Hall

Watch WYE OAK live performance, catch them on tour

Press release from Merge Records

Merge’s own Wye Oak made their late-night television debut earlier this week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!


Watch Wye Oak perform "Holy Holy" on Jimmy Fallon now!

The band’s latest album Civilian is available on CD, LP, and digital download now in the Merge store.

Wye Oak on tour:
# – w/ Yo La Tengo & The National
* – w/ Explosions in the Sky

Jul 23 Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre – Hopscotch Festival Party
Aug 03 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
Aug 05 Chicago, IL – Lollapalooza
Aug 05 Chicago, IL – Double Door (Lollapalooza after-party w/ Portugal. The Man)
Aug 07 Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon
Aug 09 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile (w/ Say Hi)
Aug 12 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre (w/ The Decemberists)
Aug 14 San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival
Sep 06 Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion #
Sep 07 Philadelphia, PA – Academy of Music #
Sep 08 Philadelphia, PA – Academy of Music #
Sep 09 Boston, MA – Bank of America Pavilion #
Sep 28 New Orleans, LA – Tipitina’s *
Sep 29 Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle *
Sep 30 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel *
Oct 06 Montreal, QC – Metropolis Theatre *
Oct 07 Toronto, ON – The Sound Academy *
Oct 08 Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre *
Oct 10 Minneapolis, MN – First Ave *
Oct 11 Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom *
Oct 12 Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater *
Oct 13 Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom *

Minmae ya te vas

Minmae
ya te vas


I know that Minmae’s new album ya te vas - which I believe is Spanish for “already you go” – is not bad, but thinking about how to describe it, nothing comes to mind. As I listen to it nothing is striking, some of it is subpar, and some of it is good, but it is mostly middle of the road indie rock.

The album - the trio’s sixth effort - is part Tortoise and part “unassuming vocal rock band.” Some songs rush around with spacey effects and distortion, others are more stagnant and ballad-like, but I don’t remember which songs, I don’t remember any lyrics or rhythms until the song is playing, and that’s not a good sign. That’s an unimpressive quality.

When the songs are playing, Minmae has the ability to play well and produce pleasing audio items. The album starts off rocking a bit Elvis Costello-like with a short 57 second piece, then it rolls into a basic little pop piece, decorated by a sorrow-filled slide guitar. All 11 tracks just fly on by, keeping a good feeling about them, grating a bit on the eardrums with screechy guitars and off-key singing at times, but generally decent stuff.
Eardrums may perk up a bit at the more southern rock/Uncle Tupelo sounding “My Conviction” with its dirty slide guitar. Lyrics like “It takes a real man to scratch /up and down a record like that / Those girls think that I’m wack, I’d do anything to get them both in the sack” on “The Lover’s Snatch” or “I put death on the guestlist, and he tried selling me knives / from a battle fought long ago / I swear he wore the same thing last time” on “Setting Sun Turns Blue” are also earcatching, but once it’s gone it’s gone.

This is an album that someone could easily get used to, and play repetitiously, when there is nothing else jumping to the top of the CD pile, but ya te vas isn’t gonna impress too many people.

The most interesting part of Minmae may be that their name – according to their Web site - came from the old cartoon Robotech, but it’s spelled wrong. That’s a bad sign guys.

AMP MAGAZINE streams new LIVE Leatherface 2xlp!!!

Press release from No Idea Records:

Amp Magazine is currently leaking http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifa fullhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif stream of the new LIVE 2xlp fromhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifSunderland, UK’s Leatherface. The 2xLP/CD live album entitled Viva La Arthouse is currently up for pre-order via No Idea Records here. You can listen to all 19 classics performed live here.

Viva La Arthouse is a celebration of Leatherface’s 2010 Stormy Petrel World Touhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifr that took place in Europe, Canada, America, Japan and Australia. This double live album was recorded and mixed at Melbourne’s famous music venue The Arthouse by Poison City Record’s Matt Bodiam. The recording was made in arrangement with bassist Graeme Philliskirk on the spur of the moment, with the other three members of the band unaware the gig was being recorded for posterity.

The Stormy Petrel is the band’s ninth full-length album and was released by various labels worldwide. The North American LP/CD version was released in March viahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif No Idea Records. Their version featured entirely different cover art and overall layout than the European, Japanese, and Australian versions.

You can currently steam the entire album on Punknews.org band’s profile page

BYO Records released the band’s last album, Dog Disco, in 2004.

Leatherface formed in August 1988, and their music has often been described as a bastardized cross between Hüsker Dü and Motörhead. Though never attaining much more than a cult following outside of their native country, the band has been cited as an influence by higher-profile bands such as Hot Water Music, Dillinger Four, and Tiltwheel.

Jack Rabid, music critic and publisher of the music magazine Big Takeover, once listed Leatherface's 1991 release Mush as one of the fifty greatest punk albums of all time.

Leatherface
Steve “Skruff” Owen – Drums
Graeme Philliskirk – Bass
Dickie Hammond – Guitar and Vocals
Frankie Stubbs – Guitar and Vocals

Viba La Arthouse
Recorded Live & Mixed by Matt Bodiam
at the Arthouse Hotel, September 19, 2010
Tracklisting:
1. Not a Day Goes By
2. God is Dead
3. Watching You Sleep
4. Never Say Goodbye
5. Diego Garcia
6. Little White God
7. Peasant in Paradise
8. Hoodlum
9. Sour Grapes
10. Nutcase
11. My Worlds End
12. I Want the Moon
13. Broken
14. Not Superstitious
15. Pale Moonlight
16. Dead Industrial Atmosphere
17. Springtime
18. Hops & Barley
19. Hurt

Crucial Links:
http://www.leatherface.biz/
http://www.noidearecords.com
http://www.byorecords.com/
http://www.ampmagazine.com
http://www.ampmagazine.com/15085/exclusive-stream-leatherface-live-in-melbourne-viva-la-arthouse/
http://www.noidearecords.com/bands/releases/leatherface_liveinmelbourne.php
http://www.punknews.org/bands/leatherface

Mountain Goats will appear on WUNC’s The State of Things tomorrow (Friday, July 8) at 12 noon ET and Tour soon - Stream their new album through Merge

Breaking News from Merge Records


John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats will appear on WUNC’s The State of Things tomorrow (Friday, July 8) at 12 noon ET. John will speak with host Frank Stasio and play a couple of solo acoustic songs for your listening enjoyment. Tune in to 91.5FM in the Triangle or listen online.

The Mountain Goats‘ latest album, All Eternals Deck, is available now on CD, LP, and digital download in the Merge store.

The Mountain Goats on tour:
July 13 Gainesville, FL 1982 Bar
July 27 Lewiston, NY Art Park
July 28 Belknap, NH Meadowbrook Pavilion
July 29 Shelburne, VT Ben & Jerry's Concerts on the Green
July 30 Montreal, QC Osheaga Festival
July 31 Baldwinsville, NY Paper Mill Island Amphitheater
Aug 02 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
Aug 03 Grand Rapids, MI Meijer Gardens
Aug 04 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room
Aug 05 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza

Sainthood Reps Live this week, Debut Album on Tooth and Nail Records in August - Listen to Sainthood Reps

Breaking News from Tooth and Nail Records


Sainthood Reps Announce Debut Full Length Album "Monoculture" Out August 9th on Tooth & Nail Records



If someone happens to listen to or see Sainthood Reps and makes the decision to pick up an instrument, the band would consider this a mission accomplished. After all, that's how they got their start - inspired by the Long Island hardcore, punk and indie bands they grew up seeing.

Such inspiration eventually led Francesco Montesanto to create and record four demos and show them to his longtime musical companion, guitarist Derrick Sherman. Knowing that he was unrefined, Montesanto hoped to entice Sherman into joining his musical endeavor because of his experience and similar musical interests, and thought he could turn his project into something worth pursuing more seriously.

"Eventually, I decided to start writing my own songs and showed them to Derrick, hoping to coax him into starting a real project with me," says Montesanto of the earliest stages of the band. "After he obliged and took a more prominent role, we decided to take the next step and round out our project."

And in the frigid winter of 2009, Montesanto and Sherman joined by Bradley Cordaro and Jani Zubkovs, picked up their collective instruments, plugged them in, and made noise together for the first time; thus Sainthood Reps was born.

Their goal was simple. They shared many favorite bands such as Mogwai, Fugazi, Explosions in the Sky, Sunny Day Real Estate, Modest Mouse, Jesus Lizard, and Built to Spill, and wanted to form a band that was influenced by those bands in every aspect, from live performance to studio recordings and everything in between.

After just a handful of practices, they packed up their van and delved into an unseasonably warm Midwestern winter to play their debut show as a band in Detroit, kicking off a tour with All The Day Holiday. The band quickly hit the road again just three days into 2010 with Caspian, refining their sound as well as their personal relationships with one another. Another tour followed in the summer of 2010 with the Felix Culpa, along with constant short tours with Long Island friends The Sleeping, and Philadelphia friends Balance and Composure.

"A buzz started to build around our energetic live show," says Sherman. "We focus on a wall of sound from our guitars and amps; producing jagged, uneasy, sometimes harsh distortion and fuzz sounds akin to the 90's bands that we love to listen to."

But as much as they are influenced by those early 90’s post-hardcore and contemporary post-rock, they are also influenced by other artistic avenues, and much of the lyrical content of is derived from historical perspective gathered via films and books rather than personal experience. "We usually like to take our personal experiences in our lives and sort of retell them through the scope of historical events and societal problems rather than autobiographically," Montesanto explains.

As 2010 drew to a close, the band partnered with Tooth & Nail Records to begin working on their debut full-length, produced by Long Islander Mike Sapone (Brand New, Crime in Stereo, The Xcerts) and slated for release on August 9th, 2011. Look for the band back on the road this summer.



"Monoculture" Track List
1. Monoculture
2. DINGUS
3. Telemarketeer
4. Animal Glue
5. Hunter
6. No/Survival
7. Hotfoothttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
8. Holiday Makers
9. reactor, reactor, reactor, REACTOR!
10. Widow

Listen to the title Track from the album HERE on the Tooth and Nail Web site.



Sainthood Reps Live
7/8 - Broadway Bar, Amityville, NY w/ North Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/img/bhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giflank.gif
7/9 - Heirloom, Danbury, CT w/ North Korea
7/10 - The Barbary, Philadelphia, PA w/ North Korea



For more information, visit:
www.facebook.com/sainthoodreps
twitter.com/sainthoodreps
www.toothandnail.com

RISE RECORDS SIGNS HOT WATER MUSIC; NEW ALBUM TO BE RELEASED SPRING 2012; NEW 2-SONG 7" OUT IN AUGUST IN SUPPORT OF EUROPEAN HEADLINING TOUR;

For Immediate Release from Earshot Media

RISE RECORDS SIGNS HOT WATER MUSIC
NEW ALBUM TO BE RELEASED SPRING 2012
NEW 2-SONG 7” OUT IN AUGUST IN SUPPORT OF EUROPEAN HEADLINING TOUR
BAND HEADLINING RIOTFEST AND THE FEST THIS FALL

Rise Records is extremely proud and honored to announce the signing of HOT WATER MUSIC. HWM will enter the studio this winter to record a new full-length which will be released worldwide on Rise with a targeted spring 2012 release date. In the meantime, the band will self release a new 2-song 7” record in August, in support of their European headlining tour with Make Do And Mend. HWM will also be headlining RIOTFEST in Philadelphia in September and THE FEST in late October in their hometown of Gainesville, FL. Having already reached legacy band status, HWM has released countless amazing albums and has toured the world relentlessly over the last 15 years.

For more info visit www.facebook.com/hwmFL and www.riserecords.com



HOT WATER MUSIC – European Tour Dates

AUGUST 5 HANNOVER, GERMANY @ CHEZ HEINZ
AUGUST 6 HORB AM NECKAR, GERMANY @ MINI ROCK FESTIVAL
AUGUST 7 FRANKFURT, GERMANY @ BATSCHKAPP
AUGUST 8 TILBURG, NETHERLANDS @ 013
AUGUST 9 SAARBRUCKEN, GERMANY @ GARAGE
AUGUST 10 LINDAU, GERMANY @ CLUB VAUDEVILLE
AUGUST 11 MUNICH, GERMANY @ THEATERFABRIK
AUGUST 12 BILDEIN, AUSTRIA @ PICTURE ON FESTIVAL
AUGUST 13 TOLMIN, SLOVENIA @ PUNK ROCK HOLIDAY
AUGUST 14 BESCIA, ITALY @ FESTA DI RADIO ONDA D’URTO
AUGUST 16 BUDAPEST, HUNGARY @ DRUER KERT (W/ THE BOUNCING SOULS)
AUGUST 17 STEYR, AUSTRIA @ RÖDA
AUGUST 18 WINTERHUR, SWITZERLAND @ MUSIKFESTWOCHEN
AUGUST 19 FLUGHAFEN BORKENBERGE/MARL @ AREA 4 FESTIVAL
AUGUST 20 SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY @ ALTER STATTBANHOFF
AUGUST 21 GROSSPOSNA, GERMANY @ HIGHFIELD FESTIVAL
AUGUST 23 PARIS, FRANCE @ LE NOUVEAU CASINO
AUGUST 24 AARSCHOT, BELGIUM @ DE KLINKER
AUGUST 25 PORTSMOUTH, UK @ HIGHLIGHT
AUGUST 26 LEEDS, UK @ LEEDS FESTIVAL
AUGUST 27 GLASGOW, UK @ ORAN MAR
AUGUST 28 READING, UK @ READING FESTIVAL