W♥M

Born to be Wild

Read More TMBG In honor of the amazing concert They Might Be Giants put on last night at First Avenue, I wanted to show off my photo of myself with John Flansburgh and John Linnell. …

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
theymightbegiants.com

You know we're big fans of They Might Be Giants (or short TMBG). The band recently announced their latest compilation album called Idlewild. Described as "not a best of" or a "rarities" album, the 17-track compilation will hit stores on May 27th via Idlewild Recordings.

Also, you still have time to enter TMBG's make a music video for "Am I Awake". Contest ends this Saturday, April 12. Download the song on Soundcloud so you can use it in your video. Good luck. They Might Be Giants described the contest:

They Might Be Giants is making a new compilation album called Idlewild and it includes the magnificent, but often overlooked track “Am I Awake?” To help raise awareness of this great song, there is a video contest open to all video people-–film people and general visually-minded people–-who are open to the challenge! We suspect this includes YOU! There will be 3 winners and a $1000 cash prize for each winner.

Also, if you're in Washington, DC, don't miss TMGB at these two shows. They promised both shows will be different, so get there early for a good seat:

04/26: Washington, DC @ USA Science & Engineering Festival, 1pm
04/26: Washington, DC @ USA Science & Engineering Festival, 4pm

Read More Lucius As far as Twitter names go, the one that Brooklyn five-piece buzz band Lucius uses is more than appropriate for the hundreds that braved the elements and their own personal safety …

LUCIUS
ilovelucius.com

Brooklyn's Lucius just recently released their debut LP Wildewoman internationally via Play It Again Sam (PIAS). The European release includes a bonus track, new recording of the fan favorite, "Genevieve."

Following the band's first headlining European tour, Lucius will return to the US to support Tegan and Sara and The Head and the Heart. W♥M are big fans of Lucius, having covered the band twice now.

Lucius tour dates:

04/09: Cologne, DE @ Genaude 9
04/10: Munich, DE @ Atomic Café
04/11: Berlin, DE @ Magnet
04/12: Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Club
04/13: Utretcht, NL @ Festival Tweetakt
04/16: London, UK @ Oslo
04/18: Manchester, UK @ Night & Day Café
04/19: Dublin, IE @ The Workmans Club
04/20: Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
05/06: Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note #

05/07: Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom #
05/08: Covington, KY @ The Madison Theater #
05/10: Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room #
05/12: Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works #
05/13: Chattanooga, TN @ Track 29 #
05/14: Charleston, SC @ Music Farm #

05/15: Atlanta, GA @ The Buckhead Theatre #
05/16: Jacksonville, FL @ Ponte Vedra #

05/19: Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore #
05/20: Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel #
05/21: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
05/22: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
05/25: Quincy, WA @ Sasquatch! Music Festival
05/28: Kalamazoo, MI @ The State Theatre ^
05/29: Cleveland, OH @ Masonic Auditorium ^
05/30: Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE ^
05/31: Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
06/02: Richmond, VA @ The National ^
06/03: Richmond, VA @ The National ^
06/04: Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live ^
06/07: Randall’s Island, NY @ Governors Ball
06/08: Hunter Mountain, NY @ Mountain Jam
06/19-6/22: Dover, DE @ Firefly Festival
07/04: Toronto, ON @TURF Festival
07/06: Ottawa, CA @ Ottawa Bluesfest
07/12: Greenfield, MA @ Green River Festival
07/20: Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival
07/26: Newport, RI @ Newport Folk Festival
08/01: Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/29-08/31: Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival

# = w/ Tegan and Sara
^ = w/ The Head and the Heart

Read More RNDM Power trio RNDM’s name and a similar image was plastered on drummer Richard Stuverud’s kick drum. Guitarist and lead singer Joseph Arthur, bassist Jeff Ament and Stuverud walked on stage dressed head to toe in blaze orange …

JOSEPH ARTHUR
josepharthur.com

Joseph Arthur first came onto the music scene when Peter Gabriel 'discovered' him and quickly signed him to his record label, Real World. Since then, Arthur released 10 albums and joined various bands, such as Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Arthur's latest album is a tribute to Lou Reed, simply titled Lou. The record is coming out on May 13th on Vanguard Records.

Check out the first track, a cover of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side":



Joseph Arthur Tour Dates:

04/19 - Ringwood, NJ – House Concert
04/30 - Philly, PA – Tin Angel
05/01 - Baltimore, MD – WTMD
05/06 - Chicago, IL – City Winery
05/08 - New York, NY – City Winery
05/10 - Tampa, FL – Heatfest
05/12 - Saratoga, NY – Café Lena
05/14 - Quebec City, QC – Theatre Petit Champlain
05/16 - Eastman, QC – Cabaret Eastman
05/17 - Lavaltrie, QC – La Chasse Galerie
05/22 - Madrid, Spain – Boite Live
05/23 - Santander, Spain – Escenario
05/24 - Sarautz, Spain – Cinema/Theatre Modelo
05/26 - Brussels, Belgium – Les Nuits du Botanique
05/27 - Paris, France – Trabendo

A Pretty RNDM Fiesta - RNDM at First Avenue 11/15/12

Tour Dates 11/18 Boulder, CO The Fox Theatre 11/21 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour 11/23 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall 11/25 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge 11/26 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret 11/27 Seattle, WA Showbox at the Market Read More RNDM RNDM (pronounced simply “random”) features songwriter/artist Joseph Arthur, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, and drummer Richard Stuverud, who has performed with the Fastbacks …

First Avenue’s stage Thursday night was set up in a curiously cartoon-like fashion: a giant colorful backdrop resembling what could be part of a Lichtenstein painting bore power trio RNDM’s name and a similar image was plastered on drummer Richard Stuverud’s kick drum. Guitarist and lead singer Joseph Arthur, bassist Jeff Ament and Stuverud walked on stage dressed head to toe in blaze orange; their faces hidden behind the band’s playful signature headwear, a ski mask complete with little black animal ears. Clearly, this is a band that is not afraid to be silly and have fun with their image. And, as the evening’s performance would strongly indicate, this is a band that is having the time of their lives.

A small gathering of fans huddled close to the stage wondering just what this fascinating musical amalgamation would sound like. The lovely strum of opener “What You Can’t Control” from the band’s debut album Acts(released last month) gently ushered the audience into set that featured several frenzied and fun moments. The phones and cameras came out in droves when Ament removed his mask after the first song. Ament is something of an stoic figure, especially to Pearl Jam fans, so being able to watch him let loose in a smaller, more intimate club was a real treat. Arthur waited two songs before taking off his mask and said very little, keeping the songs coming fast. The band hit their stride with jangly fan-favorite “Hollow Girl” (complete with extended jam!) and the wonderfully spirited “The Disappearing One” (that one had me singing and pointing along with the “Yeah yeah yeah” chorus!) When I couldn’t take the strain of constantly turning my head from Arthur to Ament (I was standing between the two mics) I took pleasure in watching a very animated and hilarious Stuverud toss his drumsticks into the air and make faces at the audience all while keeping impeccable rhythm.

Joseph Arthur from RNDM

“Williamsburg,” a groove-heavy ditty that had Arthur working his wah-wah pedal hard and encouraging the crowd to clap with the beat, was met with hoots and yells of approval. Arthur kept the good vibes going and gave a nod to the city by changing the line in “Walking Through New York” to “Walking Through Minneapolis.” The whiplash of crunchy tune “Look Out!” got the blood pumping and Arthur did not spare us from a good face melting, laying it thick during “Throw You To the Pack.” Really, the show had such a great dynamic; slower songs didn’t hinder the pace, mostly because all the songs are fantastic and definitely because Arthur is such a soulful singer and electric performer. Hell, the entire band was on fire; their chemistry was through the roof. The show’s climax was probably when Arthur climbed atop Stuverud’s kick drum as Ament and his sparkly bass shot melodic pulsations into the air.

An already enjoyable set was rounded out with special guest Craig Johnson (formerly of the Jayhawks) playing guitar and sharing vocals with the band for “Can’t Exist,” a song from Arthur’s 2004 solo album Our Shadows Will Remain (a song so good, it’ll make the hairs on your arm stand on end.) The encore saw Arthur perform the delicate “Cherries in the Snow” alone before Ament and Stuverud came back to the stage for an inspired version of The Psychedelic Furs’ “Into You Like a Train” and a brilliant mash-up of Nina Simone’s “Ain’t Got No/I Got Life” and The Clash’s “Magnificant 7.”

I briefly spoke to Stuverud after the show and he talked about how much fun he has playing music with Ament and Arthur. He said the first couple shows on this tour were a little shaky, as they were trying to find their footing as a live band. Tonight, however, he said with a smile, they found it. I couldn’t agree more.

RNDM at First Avenue, Minneapolis (11/15/12)

emily () ♥ rndmband.com

RNDM: Acts

Tour Dates 11/02 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg 11/03 Washington, D.C. The Black Cat 11/04 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer 11/07 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club 11/08 New York, NY The Bowery Ballroom 11/09 Montreal, QC Théâtre Corona 11/10 Ottawa, ON Algonquin Theater 11/11 Toronto, ON Lee's Place 11/13 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall 11/14 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom 11/15 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue 11/16 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck 11/18 Boulder, CO The Fox Theatre 11/21 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour 11/23 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall 11/25 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge 11/26 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret 11/27 Seattle, WA Showbox at the Market Read More Pearl Jam Like Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam decides to create their own music festival, in celebration of their twenty years together as a band…

The term “supergroup” in the world of music can be a very dangerous thing. What starts as an innocent collaboration between musicians can snowball into a bloated vanity project where there are too many egos in the kitchen. (I’m thinking recent groups like Velvet Revolver or, worse, Chickenfoot.) All one can hope for when encountering a band made up of players from other, often times more successful acts is that they use this new platform to explore and expand their sound, to utilize their new bandmates and create something different and unexpected. Or at least make music that doesn’t suck.

RNDM (pronounced simply “random”) features songwriter/artist Joseph Arthur, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, and drummer Richard Stuverud, who has performed with the Fastbacks and War Babies, and could be considered a supergroup simply because of the big names therein. But “supergroup” is just too flaky a word to be applied to these three creative, seasoned musicians. Their partnership began when the three men met at a gig over ten years ago; Ament and Stuverud were playing together in a band called Three Fish and Arthur opened for them. Arthur stayed in touch with Ament over the years and was even invited to play at Pearl Jam’s exclusive 20th anniversary concert in Alpine Valley, WI over Labor Day weekend last year.

The group’s debut “Acts” gets released on Monkeywrench Records October 30th. At first blush, the album has a fairly straightforward rock sound, absent of the loop pedals and spoken word that Arthur seems to favor on a lot of his solo recordings. Many of the tracks are upbeat and almost anthemic and actually reminds me quite a lot of those late-80s, early 90s Jeff Lynne-produced Tom Petty records. The insanely catchy “The Disappearing Ones” and some wilder tracks like “Look Out!” and “Throw You To the Pack” keep this record from getting too meandering. I really enjoyed the falsetto vocal harmonies and hand claps that snuck out from behind choruses like on the stand-out tracks “Hollow Girl” (my favorite) and “Williamsburg.” Arthur, himself, sounds relaxed; his strong, versatile voice fitting in comfortably with Ament’s clean, driving bass-lines and Stuverud’s solid, no-frills drumming.

The band starts their 18-date North American tour next month, even making a stop at the 7th Street Entry on November 15th! I (along with many others, probably) am really curious to see Jeff Ament perform original material outside his usual Pearl Jam stuff, something I’m sure he relishes seeing as how monolithic the 90s-era veterans have become. And I had the distinct pleasure of watching Joseph Arthur play a wonderful set (and paint onstage!) at the PJ20 event last year, so there is really no doubt that the RNDM show will be a unique and exciting one.

emily () ♥ rndmband.com