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On the heels of the announcement that they will be releasing a new album, The Silver Gymnasium this fall, Okkervil River have dropped the lyric video for the barely optimistic It Was My Season. The video was filmed at a town hall in Plainfield, NH, a place of many cherished memories for vocalist Will Sheff, who’s originally from the Granite State. The scenic stage design in the clip is a painting by early 20th century artist Maxfield Parrish. There’s also a brief cameo by Plainfield’s librarian Nancy Norwalk, who controls the lighting while It Was My Season soundtracks the subtle changes that occur on stage.

For over a decade Okkervil River have churned out the sort of nostalgic folk-rock that makes you want to drink too much Miller High Life, then go out on the porch and call someone you shouldn’t. It Was My Season opens with some unexpectedly lively keys, but once Sheff jumps in with his determined moan, saying things like “If you wanna stop our ‘thing,’ you’ll stop my heart,” you know this is the same Okkervil River you’ve always known, loved, and cried to on the subway. Watch the video for “It Was My Season” and check out Okkervil River’s upcoming tour dates below.

Tour Dates For Okkervil River:
08/24 – Monterey, CA – First City Festival
09/07 – Boston, MA – Bosto...

Read and comment. From thedailyswarm.com.

It’s been nearly three years since Bodebrixen graced the pages of Best Fit and, within that time the Danish duo seemed to have toned down their explosive, technicolored sound somewhat.

Their feet still very much in the depths of Gothenburg’s mid-00′s music scene – The Embassy and The Tough Alliance being obvious touchstones – new single ‘The Wave’ is more restrained than previous work.

A welcome return from a thoroughly charming duo whose time in the spotlight may finally be upon them.

Franz Ferdinand at Coachella 2013 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

As mentioned, Franz Ferdinand are finally releasing their fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, on August 23 via Domino, and now they've announced a tour in support of that album too. The tour brings the band to NYC for a show on October 22 at Hammerstein Ballroom, their first headlining show here since 2009. Tickets for the Hammerstein show go on sale Friday (6/21) at 11 AM with Citi Cardmember and Live Nation presales starting Tuesday (6/18) at 10 AM.

All dates (including ACL) are listed, along with the trailer for the new album, a live in the studio video of "Bullet" and a video of Franz playing one of the new album's tracks at Primavera Sound 2012, below...

Continue reading "Franz Ferdinand announce tour (Hammerstein included)" at brooklynvegan

Over the weekend, Siouxsie Sioux performed her first concert in five years as part of the Yoko Ono-curated Meltdown Festival in London. As Slicing Up Eyeballs points out, the 21-song set included a full performance of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ 1980 album Kaleidoscope, other singles from the band, and material from her 2007 solo album, MantaRay. She also covered The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence”. Watch fan-shot footage from the performance below.

“Clockface”:

“Red Light”:

“Paradise Place”:

“Dear Prudence”:

Setlist:

Happy House
Tenant
Trophy
Hybrid
Clockface
Lunar Camel
Christine
Desert Kisses
Red Light
Paradise Place
Skin
Eve White/Eve Black
Encore:
Israel
Arabian Knights
Cities in Dust
Dear Prudence (The Beatles cover)
Loveless
Face to Face
Encore 2:
Careless Love
Here Comes That Day
Into a Swan

Photo via @prince_paradox

Subterranean homesick artists.

The ten-foot canvas, emblazoned with the title “Business School for the Dead,” was painted by Thom Yorke and longtime collaborator Stanley Donwood in 2005 as part of a fair trade protest.

“Hope someone in the financial industry buys this,” Yorke tweeted, “what a novelty to have a painting at auction ha!” The painting is being auctioned to benefit the Trade Justice Movement and is expected to cost between £3,500 and £4,000 ($5,500 to $6,300 US).

Yorke and Donwood (the alias of Dan Rickwood) met as art students at the University of Exeter, and Donwood has created all the album and promotional art for Radiohead and Thom Yorke’s solo projects since 1994. For more information, head to the website of auctioneer Bonhams.

Yale alumni San Fermin craft family drama with their video for “Sonsick.” The chamber-pop track sounds easy-breezy, but the lyrics are just as heavy as the visuals. You feel the emotional pull from singers Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, especially in the multi-layered hook. Check it out below.

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Take it from a guy who once had every single song on his album licensed for use in a film, TV show or commercial.

Veteran electronic producer Moby has relaunched MobyGratis.com, a database of free music available for use by film students, not-for-profit ventures and independent filmmakers.

The relaunched site adds even more music from Moby’s back catalogue, including his last two albums Wait For Me and Destroyed, his recent collaboration with Mark Lanegan and remixes from David Lynch, Apparat, Photek, Yeasayer and others.

The music is completely free as long it’s for a non-commercial venture. If the music is used commercially, any money made goes to The Humane Society, a charity chosen by Moby, who’s well-known for his veganism and stance on animal rights. At no point does the producer himself make any money from the venture, he’s at pains to add

Dave Chappelle will return to the road this summer as the headliner for Funny or Die’s inaugural Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival. It marks Chapelle’s first full-fledged tour in nearly a decade.

The laughs kick off on August 23rd at Austin, TX’s Austin360 Amphitheater and hit major markets across the states before wrapping up on September 22nd in Phoenix, AZ at Desert Sky Pavilion.

Joining Chappelle and co-headliners Flight of the Conchords will be Hannibal Buress, Demetri Martin, Chris D’Elia, Jim Jefferies, John Mulaney, and Kristen Schaal. Local support will vary from city to city and the festival itself will take place over two stages with hosting duties by Brody Stevens.

Tickets go on-sale this Friday at the Oddball Festival website.

Oddball Festival 2013 Tour Dates:
08/23 – Austin, TX @ Austin360 Amphitheater
08/24 – Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
08/25 – Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion
08/30 – Pittsburgh, PA @ First Niagara Pavilion
08/31 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
09/01 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
09/06 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
09/07 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
09/08 – Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center
09/13 – Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
09/15 – Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphit...

photos by Amanda Hatfield

The Postal Service @ Barclays Center, 6/14/2013

With a decade of perspective, the Postal Service didn't change the songs much. Along with Mr. Gibbard, Mr. Tamborello and Ms. Lewis, the touring Postal Service now also includes Laura Burhenn from the Mynabirds on keyboards and vocal harmonies. They played the group's repertory with the songs' old proportions, and probably their original electronic parts, largely intact. The set also included "This Is the Dream of Evan and Chan," the 2001 song from Dntel that featured Mr. Gibbard and led to the formation of the Postal Service; its staticky intro was replaced with something more melodic and arena-friendly. A backdrop of geometric lights could look like level meters in a recording studio or dance-club strobes. - [NY Times]

The Postal Service's Give Up 10th Anniversary tour finally hit NYC over the weekend for two shows at Barclays Center. At Friday's (6/14) sold-out show, they played the entirety of their only album, Give Up, in addition to a Dntel song and a cover of Beat Happening's "Our Secret." Pictures from the show (though unfortunately none of openers Mates of State) and the setlist are in this post. They played again on Saturday (6/15) with Ra Ra Riot opening.

More pictures and the setlist from Friday below...

Continue reading "The Postal Service played two nights at Barclays (night 1...

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The Teklife footworker returns to Kode9′s Hyperdub imprint.

Earlier this year, DJ Rashad released the superb Rollin’ EP on Hyperdub. On July 22, he will release I Don’t Give a Fuck. No word on whether it’s an EP or an LP; Rashad released his second album, Teklife Vol 1: Welcome to the Chi just about a year ago.

Other than the cover (below), there are no further details yet. However, we have heard the title track; watch Ashes57′s video for the track below.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been low-level fascinated with the idea that Mac Miller, the goonish Pittsburgh rapper, somehow embraced his inner stoner weirdo and found a way to get good. His recent collabs with Flying Lotus, Ab-Soul, Earl Sweatshirt, Jay Electronica, and Schoolboy Q have all been varying degrees of strong, and his new album Watching Movies With The Sound Off also has appearances from Action Bronson and Tyler, The Creator, which would further support the idea that maybe this guy is worth caring about now. This Yeezus Premature Evaluation isn’t going to write itself, so I haven’t had time to test out the theory yet, but you can! Because Watching Movies With The Sound Off is now streaming at Miller’s website. Hear it here.

Watching Movies With The Sound Off is out 6/18 on Rostrum.

Portico Quartet plot out their next live endeavor. 

Experimental fusion outfit Portico Quartet‘s last London show was a sell out, which might explain why we’re announcing this now even though it’s actually happening way down the line in November. The band’s devastatingly original blend of sounds will be complemented this time by silky-voiced vocalist Cornelia which promises to add another dimension still to this Village Underground show.

The band released their new album Live/Remix in March and you can hear a taster below.

Following the release of the singles “Home” and “Painful Like,” Canadian art-pop soothsayers Austra have released “Hurt Me Now,” a new track that mixes dark, cinematic goth tones with sparkling electronic sounds.

“Hurt Me Now,” is off Austra’s new album, Olympia, which will hit stores tomorrow. The track finds frontwoman Katie Stelmanis’ gorgeous harmonies and operatic vocals backed by haunting piano chords and a stark, haltering beat. It’s another chilling, goosebump-inducing jam. Austra is touring from now through November with two stops in New York. Listen to “Hurt Me Now” and check out the tour dates below.

Tour Dates for Austra:
06/17 – London, UK – Hoxton Bar Grill
06/19 – New York, NY – Other Music
06/20 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall Of Williamsburg
06/23 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
06/26 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
07/18 – Nijmegen, Netherlands – Valkhof Festival
07/19 – Ferropolis, DE – Melt Festival
07/21 – Suffolk, UK – Latitude Festival
07/25 – Madrid, ES – Nasti Club
07/26 – Barcelos, PT – Milhoes De Festa Festival
07/30 – Milan, Italy – Magnolia
07/31 – Padova, Italy – Radar Festival
08/01 – Feldkirch, AT – PoolBar Festiv...