Monday, February 27, 2012

Bon Iver Releases New Music Video for "Towers" - see video and download Bon Iver MP3s now


Jagjaguwar Press Release:

Nabil Elderkin, the filmmaker responsible for Bon Iver's epic "Holocene" video, directed the third video for Bon Iver, Bon Iver. Today "Towers" premiered at Vimeo:

When Justin sent me a breakdown of what certain parts/lines of the song meant to him I did my best to decode it and curate into something simple, and hopefully the viewer can take from it their own feeling of what the towers represent. It was shot up in Washington state, mostly on Indian-preserved land, and our actor's name was Mystic. He seemed to be very tuned into the land, and when he said he was also willing to fall into the freezing cold ocean up there (seems a bit sharky too), I knew he was my guy.


Click Here to Watch Towers at Vimeo


A "Towers" 12" and digital single will be out on March 6th with John Prine cover "Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)" as the b-side. The cover was originally recorded for the John Prine tribute album Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows. The 12" is now up for pre-order at SC Distribution.

Bon Iver is currently down under, but they'll be back in North America this spring with dates around their Coachella performances as well as a concert at the famed Red Rocks Ampitheatre with Feist. Tour dates, including the first-ever date in Calgary, are below!


Tour Dates:
03/03/12 Perth, AU - Perth International Arts Festival @ Red Hill Auditorium
03/06/12 Adelaide, AU - Thebarton Theatre
03/08/12 Melbourne, AU - Sidney Myer Music Bowl
03/10/12 Victoria, AU - Golden Plains Sixxx @ Meredith Supernatural Ampitheatre
03/11/12 Sydney, AU - Sydney Opera House
03/12/12 Sydney, AU - Sydney Opera House
03/13/12 Sydney, Au - Sydney Opera House
03/15/12 Brisbane, AU - Tivoli Theatre - SOLD OUT
03/16/12 Brisbane, AU - Tivoli Theatre - SOLD OUT
03/17/12 Brisbane, AU - Tivoli Theatre - SOLD OUT
04/12/12 Las Vegas, NV - The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas w/All Tiny Creatures
04/14/12 Indio, CA - Coachella Festival
04/17/12 Davis, CA - Freedom Hall at UC Davis w/All Tiny Creatures SOLD OUT
04/19/12 San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium w/All Tiny Creatures
04/21/12 Indio, CA - Coachella Festival
04/22/12 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl SOLD OUT
04/23/12 Tucson, AZ - TCC Arena w/Feist
04/27/12 New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
05/21/12 Edmonton, AB - Northern Alberta Jubilee
05/22/12 Calgary, AB - MacEwan Hall
05/25/12 Burnaby, BC - Deer Lake Park
05/27/12 George, WA - Sasquatch Music Festival
05/29/12 Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden Ampitheater
05/31/12 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Ampitheatre w/Feist
06/07-10/12 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Music Festival
07/07/12 Roskilde, DK - Roskilde Festival
08/08/12 Helsinki, FI - Flow Festival
08/10/12 Goteborg, SE - Way Out West Festival
08/11/12 Oslo, NO - Oya Festival

Video for "Towers"
Video for "Holocene"
Video for "Calgary"
MP3 for "Holocene"
MP3 for "Calgary"


Bon Iver, Bon Iver

Grammy Winner - Best Alternative Album
Grammy Winner - Best New Artist
Best Album of 2011 - Q Magazine
Best Album of 2011 - Pitchfork Media
Best Album of 2011 - Exclaim!
Best Album of 2011 - Paste Magazine
Album of the Year - Stereogum Gummy Awards

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Music Review: Drag The River - Bad at Breaking Up


Drag The River
Bad at Breaking Up
Suburban Home Records

Put your feet up, crack open a cold one and let your heart break beautifully. That is the message from Drag The River.
Formed in the later '90s, with members from punk bands like All, Armchair Martian, Hot Rod Circuit and Pinhead Circus, who wanted to go country, Drag The River is an alt-country band in the vein of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt and Lucero.
Singers Jon Snodgrass, of Armchair Martian, and Chad Price, who fronted All for a while, are the main cogs in Drag The River. They each have solo albums out nowadays too. They craft songs about whiskey and girls, and the band produces a sound that makes you think of a depressed country hoe-down.

Bad at Breaking Up – released on Suburban Home Records – is 20 of those toe-tapping, chest-crushing tunes, compiled from various 7 inches and splits and b-sides. And, it is a bit scattered but quite a solid and beautiful release. Held together with soft melodies and gorgeous stories, with lovely lyrics, the songs on Bad at Breaking Up have a common theme. But, it’s the same theme as any Drag The River release: love and friendship gone crooked in the modern world.
Standout tracks on Bad at Breaking Up include the “Jeff Black Song,” “Re-Rangement,” “Caleb’s Grave,” “A Way With Women,” “Dirty Lips,” and “J.J.’s Driving.” Slide guitars dance in and out, drums rev up, then beat quietly, and the bass lines grip you and won’t let you float away as you nod your head to these sad, universal stories.

Aside from “Trainwreck,” which is about a boozing preacher who preaches, “Dirty Lips” is the most raucous offering on this release. Rambling, dancing and knee slapping, it is a fun little ditty that brings a smile to your used lips. A lot of the CD, however, is about frowning with melancholy and being “Beautiful & Damned.” Lyrics like, "He’s got a way with women and he just got away with mine/I know you’ve been down here, I don’t know who ain't been, heard about your suicide that’s been a waste of time, can't you just get over it/We’ll watch the stars come up, dance until sunrise..." carry the twisted carnival of used and abused characters through the CD.

I wish I could have gotten one of the 1000 custom Drag The River guitar picks that came out with this release in 2009, but I don’t have to wish I could have seen the band. They are playing a string of shows in California right now. Check dragtheriver.com for more information.

Article first published as Music Review: Drag The River - Bad at Breaking Up on Blogcritics.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Download Damien Jurado's "Museum of Flight" - Maraqopa Pre-Order With Bonuses Now Available‏

Press Release from Secretly Canadian Records:

The mp3 for the great "Museum of Flight" - the second single from Damien Jurado's upcoming record, Maraqopa. "The track turns desperation into something quite beautiful with patient strumming, elegant piano stabs, strong melody and a wash of expert guitar lead."

Click here to download and embed "Museum of Flight

Damien will tour Europe and the US late this winter and spring. First, he's performing with a full band on the West Coast with openers Peter Wolf Crier. Then he'll perform as a solo act on the East Coast with Opener JBM. All dates are listed below.

Today Marqopa is available for purchase at SC Distribution. We have three bundles described in detail below, and all come with an instant download with your order.

Several great songs from the Maraqopa sessions did not fit on to the album, so Secretly Canadian is releasing six of them via special 7"s that will come with pre-orders of the record. 7"s will be randomly inserted into the regular edition bundles, but the deluxe edition will include all three 7"s. What songs you receive will be a surprise, unless you decide to buy them all!

Blue 7" "Wyoming Songbirds" / "Ghost of David (The Return)"
Red 7" "Clouds Beyond" / "Let Us All In"
Yellow 7" "Diamond Sea" / "Pentagrams"

Click here to pre-order Maraqopa and receive it via instant mp3 download

Praise for
"Nothing is the News"
from Maraqopa (out 2/21/12)

"Maraqopa is a record packed full of dreamy tracks, so all you have to do is sit back and let your imagination take control."
BUST

"It's a testament to Jurado's easy, mournful singing voice and his solidity as a songwriter that he can make such stylistic jumps sound immediately like his own."
Seattle Weekly

"A good next chapter for Jurado — a sturdy construction filled with hazey blues."
Consequence of Sound
TOUR DATES:
01/26/12 Middleburg, NL: Avonduren
01/28/12 Cologne, DE: King Georg
02/17/12 Seattle, WA: The Neptune w/Gold Leaves and Bryan John Appleby *Release Show*
02/29/12 Groningen, NL: Oosterpoort
03/01/12 Hamburg, DE: Astra Stub
03/02/12 Lund, SE: Mejeriet
03/03/12 Stockholm, SE: Sodra
03/04/12 Goteborg, SE: Nefertiti
03/06/12 Copenhagen, DK: Loppen
03/07/12 Berlin, DE: Comet Club
03/08/12 Leipzig, DE: UT Connewitz
03/09/12 Schorndorf, DE: Manufaktur
03/11/12 Den Bosch, NL: fabrlQ Festival
03/12/12 London, UK: Cargo
03/13/12 Rouen, FR: Le 106 Club
03/15/12 Bordeaux, FR: Le Saint X
03/16/12 San Sebastian, ES: Teatro Victoria Eugenia
03/17/12 Santander, ES: Black Bird
03/18/12 Orense, ES: Theater
03/18/12 Madrid, ES: Teatro Lara
03/20/12 Cadiz, ES: Edificio Constitución 1812 de Cádiz
03/21/12 Granada, ES: Planta Baja
03/22/12 Murcia, ES: Microsonidos
03/23/12 Badalona, ES: Blues & Ritme
03/25/12 Fribourg, CH: Fri-Son
03/26/12 Zurich, CH: El Lokal
03/27/12 Freiburg, DE: White Rabbit
03/28/12 Antwerp, BE: Trix
03/29/12 Amsterdam, NL: Paradiso

04/13/12 San Francisco, CA: Bottom of the Hill w/ Peter Wolf Crier
04/14/12 Los Angeles, CA: Bootleg Theater w/ Peter Wolf Crier
04/15/12 San Diego, CA: Soda Bar w/ Peter Wolf Crier
04/17/12 Denver, CO: Hi-Dive w/ Peter Wolf Crier
04/18/12 Salt Lake City, UT: Velour w/ Peter Wolf Crier
04/19/12 Boise, ID: Neurolux w/ Peter Wolf Crier
04/21/12 Vancouver, BC: Biltmore Cabaret w/ Peter Wolf Crier
04/22/12 Portland, OR: Holocene w/ Peter Wolf Crier
05/16/12 Chicago, IL: Schubas w/ JBM
05/17/12 Pittsburgh, PA: Warhol Museum w/ JBM
05/18/12 Boston, MA: RADIO w/ JBM
05/19/12 New York, NY: Mercury Lounge w/ JBM
05/20/12 Philadelphia, PA: Johnny Brenda's w/ JBM
05/21/12 Washington DC: Black Cat w/ JBM
05/22/12 Raleigh, NC: Baracade w/ JBM
05/23/12 Atlanta, GA: The Earl w/ JBM
05/25/12 Nashville, TN: The Basement w/ JBM
05/26/12 Bloomington, IN: Russian Recordings w/ JBM


Video for "Nothing is the News"

MP3 for "Museum of Flight"
MP3 for "Nothing is the News"

Damien Jurado at Secretly Canadian
Damien Jurado Official Site

Thursday, February 16, 2012

14th Annual Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival



Earshot Media press release:


14th Annual Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival
Memorial Day Weekend • May 25 - 28, 2012
Downtown Las Vegas

MORE BANDS JUST ANNOUNCED!!!

Rancid, Nofx, Pennywise,
Sham 69, Hepcat, The Adicts,
Hot Water Music, The Briefs, Youth Of Today
Street Dogs, Dead Ending, Real McKenzies, Old Man Markley,
The Beltones , Far From Finished, Toys That Kill,
American Heist, Holding On To Sound,
The Bots, The Dips, American Werewolves,
PLUS MORE GREAT BANDS TO BE ANNOUNCED


Daily Lineup To Be Announced on Feb. 24, 2012


The Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival was started back in 1999 as a way to bring the independent music community together for an annual party. It has since grown into a 3 day festival in downtown Las Vegas that brings out fans and bands alike from all over the world. Make no mistake, this is a PUNK ROCK PARTY that features some of the best bands of the past 35+ years, from the old school pioneers and classics to mainstays and up and comers. Founders Shawn and Mark Stern of BYO Records and seminal SoCal band Youth Brigade have been heavily involved in the PUNK ROCK community since the late ‘70’s and spend countless hours scouring their record collections, memories and abilities to reach out to old friends and new to put together an amazing line-up every year.
Joining previously announced acts Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise, The Adicts and The Briefs (original lineup) are: Sham 69 (Pursey / Parsons / Tregunna '77 lineup), Hepcat, Hot Water Music, Youth Of Today (NYC 80's Hardcore Monsters), Street Dogs, Dead Ending (featuring Joe Principe of Rise Against, Derek Grant of Alkaline Trio, Vic Bondi of Articles Of Faith, and Jeff Dean of Noise By Numbers), Street Dogs, Real McKenzies, Old Man Markley, The Beltones, Far From Finished, Toys That Kill, American Heist, Holding On To Sound, The Bots The Dips, American Werewolves AND MORE TBA!!!!
All festival shows are ALL AGES.

To purchase tickets, register for Punk Rock Bowling and for more information, visit: www.punkrockbowling.com

Friday, February 10, 2012

Archers of Loaf videos unearthed from the vaults in anticipation of Vee Vee reissue


Merge Records press release:

Our crack digital team has located VHS tapes of old Archers of Loaf videos and have digitized them for our viewing pleasure!

"Underachievers March and Fight Song" and "Harnessed in Slums" videos of two songs from Vee Vee which will be reissued on February 21. Re-mastered by Bob Weston and featuring new liner notes by Magnet Magazine editor Eric Miller, Vee Vee will be available on dbl-CD, limited edition green vinyl & digital download. The reissue includes sixteen bonus tracks and new cover art re-imagined by graphic artist Jay Ryan.

Reissues of All the Nation’s Airports and White Trash Heroes will follow later in 2012.

Visit the Merge YouTube page to find several vintage Archers of Loaf videos as well as newly digitized videos from Pipe, Big Dipper, Polvo, Portastatic, the Mad Scene and more!

Archers of Loaf on tour:
Feb 25 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall – Noise Pop w/ Hospitality
Feb 26 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour w/ Hospitality
Apr 26 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Apr 27 Cambridge, MA Middle East
Apr 28 Cambridge, MA Middle East
Apr 29 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 10 Asheville, NC Grey Eagle
May 11 Saxapahaw, NC Haw River Ballroom
May 12 Raleigh, NC King’s Royal Barcade
May 30-June 3 Barcelona, Spain Primavera Sound