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Here’s the playlist from today’s My Old Kentucky Blog Radio on SIRIUS XMU, Channel 35! Tune in to channel 35 on either SIRIUS or XM at Noon ET or 12am ET/9pm PST each and every Tuesday!

Night Moves – Country Queen
National Park System – Eggsong
Har Mar Superstar – Lady You Shot Me
Postiljonen – Supreme
Jack White – Love Is Blindness
Wampire – Trains
The National – Don’t Swallow The Cap
AELIUS – Echoes
Dead Times – Centuries
Pure Bathing Culture – Pendulum
Freeze-Tag – Hours (Ours)
Empire Of The Sun – Alive
Phoenix – Trying To Be Cool (RAC remix)
ASTR – Operate
Airbird and Napolian – In The Zone
Tim Woulfe – Joyce
No Joy – Slug Night
Chad & The Meatbodies – Mountain
The Love Language – Calm Down
Belle Mare – The Boat Of The Fragile Mind
Grouper – Living Room
Pascal Pinon – Bloom
Young Wonder – Electrified
Kisses – Hardest Part
Lockets – Surrender
Prides – Out Of The Blue
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak remix)

Return of the Loop Digga.

Madlib‘s sprawling collection of Beat Konducta records still stand as a high point in the producer’s career, and none hit harder than 2010′s Beat Konducta in Africa. Now he’s set to follow that up with a brand new 7″ entitled Rock Kondukta 45, which hints at the kind of sounds we’re due to hear from the forthcoming Rock Konducta LP. From the track previewed below it sounds like Madlib is going deep, draping a typically dusty rhythm with the kind of rock riffs that exist cut into 12″s and LPs most of us never knew existed.

The producer has also announced a very rare show on June 7 at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco, in which he will be exploring the sound of Zambian rock music or Zamrock for short. He’s not coming alone either, the last surviving member of cult Zambian rock act WITCH Emmanuel

There’s a couple of well-known versions of “Psycho Killer” already out there: the studio version which appeared on The Talking Heads’ debut album Talking Heads ’77, and the live version from the 1984 live concert film Stop Making Sense, where Byrne brings out a boombox, announces to the crowd, “I have a tape I want to play,” and goes into an acoustic version of the song. Now, there’s one more to add to the list.

According to the AV Club (via Dazed Digital), this version of “Psycho Killer” was recorded with singer/songwriter and, as evidenced on the track, noted cellist Arthur Russell. This particular version of the song will be included in a selection of previously unreleased Arthur Russell material, premiering at an exhibition in Detroit this Saturday. If you’re around Motor City area, you can find more info on the event here.

If you can’t make it, enjoy the somber cello underneath the new-wave classic, plus an alternate, more orchestrated version of Russell’s song “Oh Fernando Why”, also being presented at the Detroit exhibition.

Deafheaven at Public Assembly in 2012 (more by Greg Cristman)

As mentioned, San Francisco black metallers Deafheaven are releasing their new album, Sunbather, on June 11 via Deathwish. You've already heard the first single, "Dream House," and now they've let loose the title track, which like the last single, leans just heavily on shoegaze and post-rock as it does on metal. Check it out below (via FADER).

Deafheaven's tour with Marriages hits NYC for an Invisible Oranges-presented show on July 2 at Saint Vitus with NOTHING. Tickets for that show are still available.

Song stream below...

Continue reading "listen to the title track from Deafheaven's new 'Sunbather' LP" at brooklynvegan

From a distance, the title track from Deafheaven’s sophomore LP, Sunbather, sounds like a particularly harrowing and intense act of God — a tornado leveling a concert hall, maybe, or an avalanche burying a valley. But in the lovingly crafted details, the song is all about dynamics: George Clarke’s raw shriek is pure urgency and desperation; percussionist Daniel Tracy’s rhythms vary from hailstorm to sunshower as the movements progress and demand; and Kerry McCoy’s guitars ring out from a din of reverb and noise, bringing melody and muscle, guiding the song through clouds to Olympian heights, and then dipping gracefully, suddenly, into shadows. The final quarter of the 10-minute-plus “Sunbather” is a study in contrast and momentum: A dizzying post-black metal barrage relents, and suddenly the guitars and bass are gentle ripples in an otherwise placid dream-pop pool; then, everything ascends at once, and all the elements combine to reach higher peaks still — climax upon climax, until it is hushed.

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Scuzzy Portland trio the Thermals make working out look deceptively fun in a new video for their single, The Sunset, off their most recent release, Desperate Ground. An ode to some of the most famous boxing movies (Rocky and Raging Bull), the clip follows bassist Kathy Foster as she preps for a big fight by chasing a chicken, doing an insane amount of sit-ups, and of course, some funky dancing.

Just when you think Foster is down for the count, she rises, phoenix-style, and defeats her opponent while Hutch Harris chants on about how he refuses to let the sunset pass him by again. The band is currently on tour in North America. You can check out the tour dates, and the marvelous video for The Sunset, below. Just try not to sweat on your keyboard.

The Thermals Tour Dates:
05/21

Does your pops watch Rocky every time it’s on TNT? Then point him towards The Thermals’ latest video for “The Sunset”. The Desperate Ground track soundtracks a sports montage that pulls from the Sylvester Stallone franchise in all its glory. Bassist Kathy Foster trains hard across Portland, much to the support of her coach, aka drummer Westin Glass. She chases chickens, commits to push ups, and knocks ‘em out of the box. Where’s Hutch? Well, let’s just say that Michael Buffer has his work cut out for him. Get in the ring below.

Desperate Ground is currently available now via Saddle Creek.

by Fred Pessaro

Phil Anselmo with Down at Best Buy Theater (more by Greg Cristman)

With all of the many many projects that Phil Anselmo has been involved in over the years (Down, Pantera, Superjoint Ritual, Arson Anthem, etc), its not entirely shocking to hear that the vocalist/guitarist/songwriter has taken on another . His latest, called Philip Anselmo & The Illegals, is being billed as his first "solo" venture, despite writing all of the music on the first Viking Crown EP. The band is preparing to release their new record, Walk Through Exits Only, via his own Housecore Records, for a July 16 blast off. Stream a new track below.

As discussed at InvisibleOranges, the release of new material also comes packaged with live dates dubbed "Technicians of Distortion" tour, where the band will be joined by perennial tourmates/Housecore bros Warbeast and most interstingly, the great industrial/metal oddity Author & Punisher! Look for the tour to hit NYC on August 16 at Best Buy Theater. Tickets go on sale Friday (5/24) at noon.

As discussed at InvisibleOranges, Author & Punisher are readying the new LP, Women & Children, released on June 11. Stream that title track below.

And, as mentioned, Anselmo & Co will also play Austin, TX with Goblin soon too.

The Vancouver duo Lightning Dust is a side project of the great Black Mountain, and their new single “Diamond” is the romantic soft-focus new-wave jam that nobody ever expected them to write. With the song’s video, director Helen Reed tells a nice story about using art to overcome mundanity. It shows us three women who bust into a seemingly spur-of-the-moment synchronized swimming routine in a dingy public pool. Watch it below.

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K Records magnate Calvin Johnson (of Beat Happening, Dub Narcotic Sound System et al) has a few East Coast/Midwest dates this week, including a show on Wednesday (5/22) at Ran Tea House with labelmate Ian Svenonius' Chain & the Gang, and Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa, and the NYC live debut of Erin Earthling. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa also play another NYC show on Friday (5/24) at Secret Project Robot with Aye Aye Rabbit (featuring Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Many Mansions, and The Drunken Foreigner Band.

In other K Recs news, as mentioned, Heather Rose Dominic's 1998 documentary The Shield Around the K will screen next Friday (5/31) at Videology in Williamsburg as part of 2013 NYC Popfest. Screening is at 5 PM and free.

All Calvin Johnson tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Calvin Johnson touring, playing NYC with Chain & the Gang and more (dates)" at brooklynvegan