[tour dates] Wolf Parade - Canadanian Tour

Wolf Parading

Wolf Parade, along with opener We Are Wolves (see a theme?), are hitting the road for a quick Canadian tour this April. Concentrating on the eastern side of America's hat, the band will be playing new songs in support of their much anticipated 3rd LP. Hopefully this means a new record could be in hand as early as this quarter??? Dates are posted below... No love to BC?

Wolf Parade tour dates:
Apr 01 // Quebec City, QC // Imperial de Quebec 19+ show
Apr 03 // Halifax, NS // Paragon Theatre
Apr 04 // Fredericton, NB // The Market
Apr 06 // Kingston, ON // The Ale House 19+ show
Apr 07 // Toronto, ON // Phoenix Concert Theatre 19+ show

[review] White Denim @ Neumos (1-24-2010)

Third Time's the Charm

Last night Seattle was treated to White Denim's third appearance. Unfortunately for the band, they happened to pick a rainy Sunday night for their latest exposion. Having attended their past two shows, I was expecting the usual tepid crowd one draws on such an evening, however, much to my surprise, numerous disciples of rock & roll made their pilgrimage to Neumos for a spiritual experience. And disappointed they were not... but we'll get to that later.

Last night's story begins with Brazos - an Austin, TX trio whose sweet-sounding set was truly charming. Starting off with a solo performance of "We Understand Each Other", lead singer Martin Crane's soft, southern croon was instantly captivating. Once the rest of the band joined in, the tempo picked up with a tribal drum-driven rendition of "The Observer". The rest of the set included Phosphorescent Blues' heavy-hitters. If you don't own their debut album, yet, I highly recommend you test drive this bad boy. I'm not really sure how to classify their genre, but listening to their debut LP evokes feelings of some long-lost, breezy summer afternoon - simply timeless. Brazos closed their set with an oldie - Feeding Frenzy's "Interlocking" - which was a fitting end to a wonderful opener. Set list below:

Brazos set list:
We Understand Each Other
The Observer
Tell
Day Glo
Downtown Boys
Kid
Interlocking

Up next came the main event: White Denim. Like I alluded to earlier, the crowd size nearly doubled before WD took the stage. If fans intended to hear the band's catalog performed exactly like it sounds on record, then they were in for a surprise. It's because White Denim understands that a concert isn't just about the music, but more importantly, it's about the performance. What you experience at their live shows is raw energy on stage, like controlled chaos. The band plays huge blocks of nonstop hits, masterfully tearing down the end of each song while seamlessly building a new jam from the destruction.

Kicking off the night with one of my personal favorites "Heart From Us All", WD proceeded to play three 30-minute jam sessions before calling it a night. I'm not sure if the band has invested in new equipment, but it was the best these guys have sounded live, in my opinion. Amongst the fury of Josh Blocks machine-gun drumming, the turbo-grooves of bassist Steve Terebecki, and the soul-powered screams of James Petralli, the crowd heard classics like "Darksided Computer Mouth", "Let's Talk About It", "Ieieie", "Shake Shake Shake", "Paint Silver Gold", and "Goldie Locks". To my surprise, it was the songs from the band's newest LP Fits that garnered the biggest reaction from the crowd. That's a huge difference than the last two times I've seen these guys. Newer jams included "All Consolation", "Syncn", "Mirrored And Reverse", "El Hard Attack", and "I Start To Run". As the night came to a close, the band thanked us all for coming out and promptly left the stage. However, after many chants and pleads for more songs, the band came back for an encore set (which they looked very surprised to have earned the privilege). The night concluded with "I'd Have It Just The Way We Were", followed by the loop-heavy "Don't Look At It That Way". But what finished the night off was simply amazing. Direct from the archives of White Denim pre-history, the band shut Neumos down with a killer performance of Parque Touch's "You". Hell of a show - hell of a night. Man these guys have talent.

Here's a video of WD's psychedelic interlude into "Shake Shake Shake", courtesy of Humberto Martinez at the Seattle PI.

[reminder] White Denim @ Neumos (1-24-2010)

They're back!

White Denim are finishing up the tail-end of their US tour, hitting Portland tonight, Vancouver tomorrow night, and Seattle this Sunday. Get your week started right by heading over to Neumos and catching their blazingly energetic live act (video evidence above). Stage support includes the lovely Brazos, whose debut album Phosphorescent Blues has been on constant rotation since its late '09 release (hear snippets below). Tickets are $10 and available through Ticketwest, or at Rudy's Barbershop. Don't miss these amazing performances.

White Denim w/ Brazos tour dates:
Jan 22 // Doug Fir // Portland, OR
Jan 23 // Media Club // Vancouver, BC
Jan 24 // Neumos // Seattle, WA
Jan 26 // Urban Lounge // Salt Lake, UT
Jan 27 // Larimer Lounge // Denver, CO

[event] Belgianfest 2010 - Seattle (1-23-2010)

Not another Seattle Beer Fest

Just a reminder: this Saturday, the historic Engine Room of Georgetown Studios (original Rainier Brewery building, now home to Tully's HQ and Georgetown Brewery) will be hosting the Seattle Belgian Beer Festival. It will features over 50 Belgian-style beers brewed by Washington brewers. There and two sessions, each requiring a $30 entrance fee ($35 at door). Admission includes a tasting glass and ten 4oz tastes. Tickets are available online and at ticket outlets. Advance ticket sales end at 5am on Saturday, January 23rd, or as soon as the event is sold out.

Event Info:
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Session 1: 12-4pm
Session 2: 6-10pm
(warning: Taps will close 30 min before closing of each session)

[news] Handsome Furs - CNN Special "Indie Asia"

CNN earns some cool points

CNN and the Handsome Furs have put together a mini-documentary that will be featured over the next few weeks. The band has been touring almost non-stop all over the world in support of their second LP Face Control (which made number 1 on Three Colours' Year End List for '09). CNN's blurb states:

Dan and Alexei are married and in a band called Handsome Furs. They love to travel, sharing their adventures with fans worldwide. They went on tour through Asia and recorded their journey for CNN.

Check it out here - it's good stuff. More episodes will follow.

[news] Gorillaz - Plastic Beach Release Date

Gorillaz set to release Plastic Beach on March 9

Apart from headlining Coachella this year (April 19), the Gorillaz have also announced that their much anticipated third album Plastic Beach will hit shelves this March. The album's first single, "Stylo" (which reminds me of the Bee Gees) will officially drop on January 26, but you can hear it now over at Plastic Beach HQ. The track listing looks pretty amazing when you take into account all the collaborations and featured artists who took part in the making of this album (don't forget Alan Moore). Of note, Mos Def, Snoop Dog, Lou Reed, Mick Jones & Paul Simonon (The Clash), De La Soul, the list goes on.

Plastic Beach track listing:

1. Orchestral Intro (ft. Sinfonia ViVA)
2. Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach (ft. Snoop Dogg and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
3. White Flag (ft. Kano, Bashy, and the National Orchestra for Arabic Music)
4. Rhinestone Eyes
5. Stylo (ft. Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
6. Superfast Jellyfish (ft. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)
7. Empire Ants (ft. Little Dragon)
8. Glitter Freeze (ft. Mark E Smith)
9. Some Kind Of Nature (ft. Lou Reed)
10. On Melancholy Hill
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes (ft. Mos Def and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13. Plastic Beach (ft. Mick Jones and Paul Simonon)
14. To Binge (ft. Little Dragon)
15. Cloud of Unknowing (ft. Bobby Womack and Sinfonia ViVA)
16. Pirate Jet

[video] Spoon - "Written In Reverse" on Conan

Spoon last night on Conan

Most likely one of the last musical acts to play Conan's The Tonight Show on NBC, Spoon played a killer live version of "Written In Reverse" which aired on the same day as the band's seventh studio album Transference was released. Pick up a copy today.

[tour dates] Wolf Parade (new album?); Spoon (in Australia)

Wolf Parade & Spoon Announce new tour dates

Via the WP Fansite, it appears that Canada's hardest working band will be playing a handful of gigs - one in North America and a few in Europe (so far). This news hints/supports rumors that Wolf Parade has been working on a new record. Perhaps we'll get to hear a few new songs road-tested in the coming months. In a perfect world, maybe we'd finally get to see a studio cut of "Things I Don't Know" (that would be too perfect)... Dates are posted below:

Wolf Parade tour dates:
Apr 01 // Imperial de Quebec // Quebec City, QC - tix
May 06 // Donaufestival // Krems an der Donau, Austria - tix
May 13 // Spazio 211 // Torino, Italy - tix
May 16 // Le BotaniquBrussels, Belgium - tix
May 17 // Concorde2 // Brighton, UK - tix
May 18 // HMV Forum // London, UK - tix
May 19 // Oran Mor // Glasgow, UK - tix
May 20 // Vicar Street // Dublin, Ireland - tix
May 21 // Manchester Club Academy // Manchester, UK - tix
May 22 // Tivoli De Helling // Utrecht, Netherlands - tix

In other news, Spoon (whose album Transference dropped today!) has confirmed that after their North American tour they'll be going to the land down under. The band will tour Australia in May, but no dates have been posted yet. Expect more news to appear in mid-February.

Spoon - EU Dates w/ White Rabbits:
Feb 14 // King Tuts // Glasgow, Scotland - tix
Feb 15 // Academy 3 // Manchester, UK - tix
Feb 16 // Electric Ballroom // London, UK - tix
Feb 18 // Paradiso // Amsterdam, the Netherlands - tix
Feb 19 // Luxor // Cologne, Germany - tix
Feb 20 // Frannz Club // Berlin, Germany - tix

Spoon - US Dates w/ Deerhunter:
Mar 17 // Stubb's // Austin, TX
Mar 18 // Republic // New Orleans, LA * tix
Mar 19 // Workplay Soundstage // Birmingham, AL * tix
Mar 20 // Tabernacle // Atlanta, GA * tix
Mar 22 // 9:30 Club // Washington DC * tix
Mar 23 // 9:30 Club // Washington DC * tix
Mar 24 // The National // Richmond, VA * tix
Mar 26 // Radio City Music Hall // New York, NY * tix
Mar 27 // House of Blues // Boston, MA * tix
Mar 29 // Sound Academy // Toronto, ON * tix
Mar 30 // Royal Oak Music Theatre // Royal Oak, MI * tix
Apr 01 // Aragon Theatre // Chicago, IL & tix
Apr 02 // First Avenue // Minneapolis, MN & tix
Apr 03 // First Avenue // Minneapolis, MN & tix
Apr 05 // Ogden Theatre // Denver, CO & tix
Apr 06 // Ogden Theatre // Denver, CO & tix
Apr 07 // In The Venue // Salt Lake City, UT & tix
Apr 09 // Moore Theatre // Seattle, WA & tix
Apr 10 // Moore Theatre // Seattle, WA & tix
Apr 11 // Orpheum Theatre // Vancouver, BC & tix
Apr 13 // Fox Oakland Theatre // Oakland, CA & tix

* with Deerhunter, The Strange Boys
& with Deerhunter, Micachu & the Shapes

In an attempt to relate these two stories, here's a cover of Wolf Parade's "Modern World", performed by Spoon's Britt Daniel at San Fran's Belly Up Tavern. Enjoy:

MP3: Britt Daniel - "Modern World" (Wolf Parade cover)

[news] Bearded Britt Daniel

Music news must be slow

In response to the New York Times article in which Eric Harvey of Spoon was quoted say the following:

“When I joined the band, Britt would discourage anybody in the band from having a beard. He thought beards were not cool. Five years later everyone in a band has a beard. So, we can say Spoon is not beard rock.”

Someone with a lot of time on their hands and a good sense of humor has created a website that features photoshopped beard-shots of Britt Daniel. My personal favorites are "sea captain" and "the demling" (pictured above).

Check out more at Bearded Britt Daniel.

[video] Star Trek Acid Juice

"We have all ingested the LCD... it was in the apple juice."

I usually don't post crap like this, but for some reason this struck the right chord with me. Enjoy more of same over here.

[news] Jay Reatard dies at 29

RIP Jay Reatard

According to Matador and Commercial Appeal, Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., aka Jay Reatard, passed away in his sleep last night. Found at 3:30am today, Reatard was only 29. He was apparently complaining of flu-like symptoms, and even tweeted about it last Saturday:

If I don't get well soon I'm gonna eat myself into pig champion/tad teritory

So sad for musicians to die so young. No word yet on cause of death.

[new music] Plants and Animals - La La Land

New Plants and Animals Album!

Announced today over at the P&A site, the band's next album La La Land will be released on April 20. The cover art is pictured above.

The first single, "Tom Cruz" is sooooo good (listen to it here). The creation of the song, apprently the product of some late-night rum and cokes, was nicely explained by the Woodman,

"It was December, pre-Christmas, so we fuelled the session with rum and cokes. They made us feel like Tom Cruise. It gave us killer smiles and made our enemies wither.”

According to Secret City (one of the best record labels on the planet), La La Land is bigger, smoother, tougher and tighter than the last one. The La La Land album page has a whole lot more to say, be sure to check it out. My favorite quote comes from Warren C. Spicer on the dual-cities recording sessions:

“The Paris stuff is like a nice Bordeaux and the Montreal stuff is more like a baked potato. Sessions in Paris ended by 10pm, sessions in Montreal by 6am.”

Plants and Animals will kick off a North American tour with a show in Montreal on April 22 at La Tulipe. More dates are sure to follow.

[news] Stream Spoon's Transference

Transference - hear it now!

We're almost a week away from the release of Spoon's seventh studio album Transference. To tide everyone over 'til Tuesday, Merge has kindly allowed NPR to stream the entire LP (here). Also, if you weren't some of the lucky few cities who got to see Spoon live in the last month, no worries: the band has just announced a whole slew of US dates to follow their quick EU tour. Dates are posted below:

Spoon - EU Dates w/ White Rabbits:
Feb 14 // King Tuts // Glasgow, Scotland tix
Feb 15 // Academy 3 // Manchester, UK tix
Feb 16 // Electric Ballroom // London, UK tix
Feb 18 // Paradiso // Amsterdam, the Netherlands tix
Feb 19 // Luxor // Cologne, Germany tix
Feb 20 // Frannz Club // Berlin, Germany tix

Spoon - US Dates w/ Deerhunter:
Mar 17 // Stubb's // Austin, TX
Mar 18 // Republic // New Orleans, LA * tix
Mar 19 // Workplay Soundstage // Birmingham, AL * tix
Mar 20 // Tabernacle // Atlanta, GA * tix
Mar 22 // 9:30 Club // Washington DC * tix
Mar 23 // 9:30 Club // Washington DC * tix
Mar 24 // The National // Richmond, VA * tix
Mar 26 // Radio City Music Hall // New York, NY * tix
Mar 27 // House of Blues // Boston, MA * tix
Mar 29 // Sound Academy // Toronto, ON * tix
Mar 30 // Royal Oak Music Theatre // Royal Oak, MI * tix
Apr 01 // Aragon Theatre // Chicago, IL & tix
Apr 02 // First Avenue // Minneapolis, MN & tix
Apr 03 // First Avenue // Minneapolis, MN & tix
Apr 05 // Ogden Theatre // Denver, CO & tix
Apr 06 // Ogden Theatre // Denver, CO & tix
Apr 07 // In The Venue // Salt Lake City, UT & tix
Apr 09 // Moore Theatre // Seattle, WA & tix
Apr 10 // Moore Theatre // Seattle, WA & tix
Apr 11 // Orpheum Theatre // Vancouver, BC & tix
Apr 13 // Fox Oakland Theatre // Oakland, CA & tix

* with Deerhunter, The Strange Boys
& with Deerhunter, Micachu & the Shapes

Spoontheband.com has hinted that a few "secret shows" will be announced later to those "most fortuitously-located (in strictly a geographic sense)." As of now, these are the only dates the site will divulge:

- Jan 19 // Spoon will be the Musical Guest on the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
- Jan 23 // Britt Daniel will be playing a few songs solo at Sound Fix in Brooklyn, NY
- Jan 25 // Spoon will play at Waterloo Records in Austin, TX

Pre-order :: Spoon - Transference (released 1-19-2010)

[video] RJD2 - "Let There Be Horns"

First Look at RJD2's The Colossus

I'm not one to criticize those who take creative chances with their career paths. After putting out some of the coolest hooks of the last decade, sonic-beatsmith Ramble John Krohn (aka RJD2) took a major departure from his earlier work with the release of The Third Hand. Criticized by many for singing in his own songs and creating his own samples, RJD2 appears to have revisited his old ways with this new deadringer, "Let There Be Horns." The minotaur-themed video features the first track off RJ's upcoming album The Colossus, set to drop January 19. If the rest of the album is this slick, I think we're all in for a real treat.

Pre-order :: RJD2 - The Colossus

And for a sample of the rest of the album, featured below is some album snippets. Sounds goood!

[news] White Denim - Fits Only $5.00

What a deal!

For a limited time, Amazon is selling digital copies of White Denim's Fits for only 5 dollars. Hurry, a deal this good isn't going to last long. Update: deal ends January 10.

Buy a copy to prime yourself for the band's western leg of their US tour, starting later this month.

White Denim tour dates:
1/16 - Club Congress - Tucson, AZ
1/17 - Casbah - San Diego, CA
1/19 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
1/20 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
1/22 - Doug Fir - Portland, OR
1/23 - Media Club - Vancouver, BC
1/24 - Neumos - Seattle, WA
1/26 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake, UT
1/27 - Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO

Buy :: White Denim - Fits (digital copy for $5)