W♥M

Karen is sharing

Read More Yeah Yeah Yeahs As for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, please refer to the setlist to see all the songs played. I'll try to fill in the rest. Karen O, has, as always, a bit of a stage presence. She underwent a few jackets and costumes changes throughout their set. ...

KAREN O
karenomusic.com

Yeah, yeah we love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs... but since their 2013 Mosquito (when we caught the band live), we haven't seen or heard much from the YYYs camp. In the meantime, last year we heard that singer Karen O released a debut solo record called Crush Songs, which came out September 9th via Cult Records (the label by Julian Casablancas of The Strokes).

If you're crushing on Karen O, she's got the perfect Valentine's Day gift to you a special "Rapt" 7" out on Cult Records. Well, if you tried to order the 7", it's currently sold out. All's not lost, if you have a Spotify account, you can listen to her Live From Crush Palace album for free.

Additional details about Live From Crush Palace and "Rapt" 7":

Live From Crush Palace was recorded at O’s three sold-out nights at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s Masonic Lodge in Los Angeles. The release marks the first time fans will be able to hear the songs live outside of O’s string of dates in intimate, handpicked venues in New York, London and Berlin, as well as Los Angeles. Joined by guitarists Moses Sumney and Holly Miranda at the dates, O also played host to special guests including Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmate Nick Zinner, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Liars’ Julian Gross and more. Crush Songs is available on CD, LP, download and cassette here. CD and LP versions feature O’s personal artwork and handwritten lyrics for each track.

Rapt 7" (Valentine's Day vinyl)

Additionally, O’s limited Valentine’s Day vinyl 7” edition of “Rapt” is out today (February 10th) via Cult Records. The release will be issued on etched pink vinyl featuring O’s personal drawings and artwork as well as an embossed, die-cut heart with customizable card insert for fans to dedicate the record to their sweetheart. TRZTN’s remix of “Rapt,” featured on the release’s B-side, is premiering today on Nylon, listen here and buy the 7” via local independent records stores here. A short film for Crush Songs track “Day Go By” recently premiered on Vogue.com. Watch the clip, which Vogue says “will make you swoon” here and watch a preview clip of the vinyl here.

Furthermore, “The Moon Song,” O’s contribution to the soundtrack for Spike Jonze’s critically acclaimed film Her, was recently nominated for a Grammy for “Best Song for Visual Media.” The Grammy nod follows an Academy Award nomination for “Best Original Song” and a performance of “The Moon Song” at the 2014 Oscars with Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig.

Read More Those Darlins Those Darlins are back at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, touring in support of their third studio album Blur the Line (out now on Oh Wow Dang). ...

KAREN MEAT AND THE PLAYERS
facebook.com/karenmeat

Meet Karen Meat and the Players: Arin Eaton and her players, Brad Turk, Phil Young, Joryn Brown. With the help of Eaton's computer and plenty of roast beef sandwiches, the band will be releasing Karen Meat & the Computer EP on March 3rd via Red Nude Tapes (it looks like it'll be released as a cassette tape and digital).

They're influenced by such bands as Loretta Lynn and Those Darlins, as noted by Eaton, “Those Darlins are my favorite band, and they met at SGRRC (Southern Girls Rock and Roll Camp in 2012). I started reading about it and truly believed in Kelley Anderson’s vision of what the camp was about, so I volunteered and had the best time of my life. That was also the deciding factor of me moving down there for awhile. I wanted to be part of something that meant something to me personally and I’ve volunteered every year since.”

Tour dates:

Feb 27 Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, IA
Mar 26 Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, IA
May 23 Rozztox Rock Island, IL

Read More Suicide Commandos I'm probably the first to admit that I don't really follow the Minneapolis music scene that much, even though I've seen so many local artists in my time… This year's lineup: The Suicide Commandos ...

KAREN HAGLOF
karenhaglof.com

Former guitarist for Rhys Chatham and Band of Susans, Karen Haglof debut her solo album Western Holiday last year. The interesting thing about Haglof is that she used to live in Minneapolis, and used to hang out with Steve Almaas (formerly of Suicide Commandos). Almaas also appeared on the Western Holiday record.

Western Holiday is described as, "Western Holiday revolves around Haglof's hard-hitting yet spry, stripped-down blues-inflected playing and writing. As the first fully-realized showcase for her master­ful fret work, spirited singing, and impossibly catchy riffing, Western Holiday represents not only Karen's return to making music but her emergence - after years of collaboration - as a complete creative artist in her own right."

I get the feeling that since Karen Haglof is a fulltime hematologist/oncologist affiliated with New York University Hospital, that she probably won't be touring in support of the album any time soon.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Maximum Hedrum at First Avenue, Minneapolis (06/24/13)

Setlist Tour Dates 06/28/13 Kansas City, KS Kansas Speedway 06/29/13 Tinley Park, IL - First Midwest* 07/01/13 Toronto, Canada - Echo Beach* 07/14/13 Kinross, UK Balado 07/17/13 Amsterdam, Netherlands Paradiso 07/18/13 Dour, Belgium Festival Grounds 07/20/13 Suffolk, UK Henham Park 07/21/13 Dublin, Ireland Marlay Park * with Maximum Hedrum Read More Yeah Yeah Yeahs Have a ticket to see the sold-out Yeah Yeah Yeahs show this Monday at First Avenue in Minneapolis? I suggest showing up early to get a good spot, and while you're there early, you'll be treated to Maximum Hedrum (a nod to Max Headroom?) …

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Maximum Hedrum just stopped by First Avenue in Minneapolis last night, June 24th.

MAXIMUM HEDRUM

"I can tell they're going to be good," was what I overheard when Maximum Hedrum took the stage in their checkered suits; they certainly left a good first impression.

Based on hearing the electro-funk group's songs "PHD (in Sexuality)" back-to-back with "RoboSexual", then "Sunkissed Butterfly", and their last song, "Hugzzz for Everybody", they seem to be all about love. Including a brief song called "Praise Seitan" to animal lovers (Seitan is a vegetarian meat replacement). Of course, looking at the way they sing and dance, they seem to be fun-loving guys having a good time.

Maximum Hedrum were personally asked to do a number of dates with Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They're also playing Milwaukee's Summerfest and Mammoth Live in Kansas.

As for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, please refer to the setlist to see all the songs played. I'll try to fill in the rest. Karen O, has, as always, a bit of a stage presence. She underwent a few jackets and costumes changes throughout their set.

YYY fans are a dedicated bunch who showed up two hours before the doors open. They would rush to the front and sing along to all their songs, including new songs (like "Under The Earth", "Slave", "Despair", and "Sacrilege") from Mosquito, which came out April 16th on Interscope Records.

Encore was interesting, Har Mar Superstar came on stage to sing "Happy Birthday" to YYY's additional live guitarist David Pajo.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are currently on tour in support of Mosquito, doing some random, mostly festival, tour dates this summer.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs (with Har Mar Superstar) at First Avenue, Minneapolis (06/24/13)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ yeahyeahyeahs.com ♥ maximumhedrum.com

XXX, YYY, ZZZ

Read More Asia From my understanding, the new Asia band released six albums and in 2006 the band branched into TWO bands: Asia and Asia Featuring John Payne. …

ASIA
originalasia.com

Who could forget that amazing cover artwork for all ASIA albums? Their latest album XXX still features artwork by Roger Dean, as will probably their upcoming Valkyrie studio album.

Originally a "supergroup", the line-up obviously changed over the 30+ years as a band, currently you can catch the band with their mostly original line-up: John Wetton, Geoff Downes, Carl Palmer, and Sam Coulson (the youngster who is replacing original guistarist Steve Howe).

Tour:

08/16/13 Nottingham Clumber Park Festival
08/29/13 Worpswede Musichall
08/30/13 Bochum Zeche
08/31/13 Kitzingen Zeltfestival
09/01/13 Stuttgart Longhorn
09/03/13 Darmstadt Centralstation
09/05/13 Pratteln Z7 Switzerland
09/09/13 Copenhagen Amager Bio
09/10/13 Gothenburg Tradgarn
09/12/13 Oslo Rockefeller Norway

Read More Yeah Yeah Yeahs Can you believe it? As soon as Yeah Yeah Yeahs announced their live show at First Avenue in Minneapolis, it completely sells out within minutes. Hopefully, if it all works out, we're covering the show this late . …

MAXIMUM HEDRUM
maximumhedrum.com

Have a ticket to see the sold-out Yeah Yeah Yeahs show this Monday at First Avenue in Minneapolis? I suggest showing up early to get a good spot, and while you're there early, you'll be treated to Maximum Hedrum (a nod to Max Headroom?)

This electronic/funk band features Sam Spiegel, Derrick Green (from Brazil's metal band Sepultura) and German producer Harold Faltermeyer.

Check out their song R&B influenced "Robosexual" (featuring funkmaster George Clinton on additional vocals and guest percussion from YYY's Nick Zinner):



Maximum Hedrum Live Dates

6/24 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
6/26 Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
6/28 Kansas City, KS - Mammoth Live
06/29 87.7 KWQX PIQNIQ
07/01 Toronto - Echo Beach*
9/22 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Rock In Rio

* w/ Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Read More Quintron & Miss Pussycat I've never seen Quintron and Miss Pussycat before, but I was told to expect two things: puppetries and dancing. And you know what? All true. …

QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT
quintronandmisspussycat.com

I saw Quintron & Miss Pussycat in 2010, and it was one of the most entertaining live shows I've ever attended, mostly thanks to the puppet show. Speaking of which, Miss Pussycat will be making 100 new puppets this summer at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center.

If you didn't know, Quintron (real name Robert Rolston) is an organist who plays a custom Hammond organ/Fender Rhodes synthesizer combo (which looks like the front of a car). Sometime when he goes on tour, he brings his wife Miss Pussycat, who sings backup, plays maracas, and create the puppet shows.

Anyway, Quintron & Miss Pussycat will be heading out on tour with Amsterdam's zZz to support. I looked up the band, apparently zZz is a duo (Björn Ottenheim and Daan Schinkel) and they make "dark, danceable rock".

Dates with * indicates with zZz, # with Cave, and % with The Good Show Live and Friends Of Friends Present.

09-26 Memphis, TN - GONERFEST 10 09-27 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light 09-28 Richmond, VA - Strange Matter 09-29 Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong * 10-01 Cleveland, OH - Happy Dog * 10-02 Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups * 10-04 Detroit, MI - Lager House * 10-05 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle * 10-06 Iowa City, IA - The Mill * 10-08 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry * 10-11 Seattle, WA - The Tractor * 10-12 Portland, OR - Dante's * 10-13 Eureka, CA - The Shanty *

10-15 San Francisco, CA – Roxie Theater 10-16 San Francisco, CA - Elbo Room *# 10-17 Santa Cruz, CA - The Crepe Place * 10-18 Los Angeles, CA - The Satellite *# 10-19 San Diego, CA - Casbah * 10-20 Los Angeles, CA - TBD 10-24 Lubbock, TX – O-bar * 10-25 Austin, TX - Red 7 (Inside) * 10-26 Fort Worth, TX - Lola's Saloon *% 10-27 Houston TX – TBD * 10-29 Lafayette, LA – Blue Moon Saloon * 10-30 Baton Rouge, LA – Mud & Water * 10-31 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jack's * 11-01 Mobile, AL – Alabama Music Box *

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

First Avenue: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Matisyahu, and Blondfire

Read More Yeah Yeah Yeahs So, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are pretty well-established now, with their third studio album, It's Blitz!. If you've liked the old yyy with their experimental noises and guitars, you may not like their new album - even though I think it's the best and most easily.…

Here are some upcoming shows happening at First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. This iconic venue can be seen in Prince's movie "Purple Rain".

YEAH YEAH YEAHS
yeahyeahyeahs.com

Can you believe it? As soon as Yeah Yeah Yeahs announced their live show at First Avenue in Minneapolis, it completely sells out within minutes. Hopefully, if it all works out, we're covering the show this late June.

I suppose it's not so surprising, considering that their latest album, Mosquito (Interscope Records, April 16th), debut in the top 10 in Billboard 200 Chart.

Expect Karen O. and company to perform songs from Mosquito on their upcoming tour.

05/17/13 Brooklyn, NY Prospect Park Bandshell
05/19/13 Gulf Shores, AL Gulf Shores Public Beach
06/22/13 Dover, DE Dover International Speedway
06/24/13 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
06/28/13 Kansas City, KS Kansas Speedway
07/14/13 Kinross, United Kingdom Balado
07/17/13 Amsterdam, Netherlands Paradiso
07/18/13 Dour, Belgium Festival Grounds
07/20/13 Suffolk, United Kingdom Henham Park
07/21/13 Dublin, Ireland Marlay Park

Read More Matisyahu Matisyahu's third studio album, Light, comes out today. The album was two years in the making and was originally scheduled for an early 2008 release, but through various circumstances, like Matisyahu's unrelenting touring schedule and family obligations…

MATISYAHU
matisyahuworld.com

We've written about Matisyahu a few times, it looks like he will be back in Minneapolis at First Avenue this August 27th with a reggae/rock band called Rebelution.

I'm thinking he will be playing songs off his last album, Spark Seeker (Thirty Tigers/RED), which was released in 2012. Earlier this year (January), he released a companion EP which is about half that album done in acoustic settings, called Spark Seeker: Acoustic Sessions.

Tour dates listed below. Please note that Matisyahu does not perform on Shabbat. All Friday performances will end before Shabbat, and all Saturday performances will start after Shabbat.

August 8 Phoenix, AZ Mesa Amphitheatre*
August 9 Costa Mesa, CA Pacific Amphitheatre*
August 10 San Diego, CA Open Air Theatre*
August 11 Sacramento, CA Ace of Spades
August 12 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
August 13 Missoula, MT Big Sky Brewery*
August 14 Seattle, WA Marymoor Amphitheatre*
August 16 Eugene, WA Cuthbert Amphitheatre*
August 17 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre*
August 18 Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl*
August 20 Jacksonville, OR Britt Pavilion*
August 21 Stateline, NV Montbleu Outdoor Arena*
August 22 Las Vegas, NV The Pool at Cosmopolitan*
August 23 Salt Lake City, UT The Great Saltair*
August 24 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
August 25 Kansas City, MO Crossroads KC
August 26 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s
August 27 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
August 28 Madison, WI The Majestic
August 29 Bloomington, IL Castle Theatre
August 31 Ft. Wayne, IN Piere’s
September 1 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
September 7 Philadelphia, PA Penn’s Landing*
September 8 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Poney Summerstage*
September 9 Clifton Park, NY Upstate Concert Hall
September 10 New York, NY Central Park Summerstage*
September 11 Baltimore, MD Pier Six Concert Pavilion*
September 12 Charlotte, NC The Fillmore*
September 14 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle*

Read More Blondfire Blondfire is a brother/sister duo (Bruce and Erica Driscoll), they've been around for a while. They recently announced that they've signed with Warner Bros …

BLONDFIRE
blondfire.com

We wrote about Blondfire a few times. They recently just released their music video for "Waves" (single hits radio last week on May 7th), and they are currently on tour to promote their Where The Kids Are EP (Warner Bros. Records, 2012). The brother/sister duo are stopping by Minneapolis on 05/20, but if you recall their last live appearance, brother Bruce doesn't like going out on tour!

Full tour dates below:

05/13 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
05/14 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts
05/15 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
05/17 - Indianapolis, IN - Deluxe
05/18 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
05/19 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall
05/20 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
05/29 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
05/30 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore
05/31 - Seattle, WA - Neptune
06/03 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
06/04 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
06/05 - Lawrence, KS - Granada
06/07 - St. Louis, MO - Pageant
06/09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls
06/11 - Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head
06/12 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

SXSW 2013: ZZ Ward, Flume, Ash, Current Swell

Read more SXSW coverage at sxsw.weheartmusic.com.

Hundreds and thousands of bands are heading to SXSW this year to play little thirty-minute sets on March 14 through March 17.

If you are a band heading to SXSW, send me your biography and stuff (see guidelines for more details), and I'll add you to an upcoming SXSW article. Please put "SXSW" in your subject header.

Here are just some bands scheduled to play at SXSW 2013:

ZZ WARD
zzward.com

Zsuzsanna Ward, aka ZZ Ward, has sold out all her shows on this current tour as she heads down to SXSW. ZZ is stopping by Minneapolis' Varsity Theater this Friday, February 22nd. We are covering a few shows this Friday (Emily is doing Eels and I'm covering Painted Palms), but I'll swing by to catch ZZ.

ZZ Ward is currently on tour in support of her debut album, Til the Casket Drops (released last October via Hollywood Records).

NOTE: Six-piece rock group Delta Rae is co-headlining with ZZ Ward on most dates, but not the Minneapolis show.

Tour dates below:

02/21/13 Kansas City, MO The Riot Room 02/22/13 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater 02/24/13 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall 02/25/13 Columbus, OH A & R Music Bar 02/27/13 Cleveland, OH Beachland 02/28/13 Toronto, ON Virgin Mobile Mod Club 03/02/13 Cambridge, MA Middle East 03/04/13 Baltimore, MD The 8X10

03/05/13 New York, NY Irving Plaza 03/06/13 Philadelphia, PA Theatre Of The Living 03/08/13 Norfolk, VA NorVa 03/09/13 Charlotte, NC Visulite Theatre 03/10/13 Nashville, TN 3rd & Lindsley 03/11/13 New Orleans, LA Parish 05/24/13 Quincy, WA Gorge Amphitheatre 05/31/13 Ozark, AR Mulberry Mountain

ASH
ash-official.com

Sure, I mentioned Ash last week, but today, they released the official SXSW shows and "mini" tour dates - which looks like they are catering to the mid-west (Chicago, Minneapolis).

If I have some spare cash, I will likely pick up their A-Z tri-color vinyl (I already own all the MP3s, but I still like to physically touch my music) when they come to Minneapolis. Yes, we are fans.

Confirmed tour dates:

03/12 Dallas TX / Cambridge Room
03/13 SXSW - Buffalo Billiards
03/15 SXSW -- BD Riley's / Full Irish Breakfast
03/17 Chicago IL / Lincoln Hall
03/18 Minneapolis MN / Varsity Theater
03/20 Detroit, MI / Magic Stick Lounge
03/21 Newport, KY / Southgate House
03/22 Indianapolis, IN / Radio Radio
03/23 Pittsburgh, PA / Altar Bar

FLUME
facebook.com/flumemusic

One of the hottest remixer/producer, as indicated by four of his remixes were in the Triple J Hottest 100 last year (with two of them in the top 20), is Australia's Flume. His "first ever" US tour is taking place this March and April… centering around SXSW, of course. And yes, Flume and one hundred other Australian bands are playing at the legendary Aussie BBQ.

Flume's self-titled album is available now via Mom & Pops Music.

Flume at SXSW:

Mar. 13 @ Red 7 - Windish Agency Official Showcase
Mar. 14 @ Hype Hotel - I Guess I'm Floating Party
Mar. 14 @ Latitude 30 - Transgressive SXSW
Mar. 16 @ Maggie Mae's - Aussie BBQ

Mar 20 - Miami, FL @ HARD Miami Mar. 21 - Miami, FL @ Bardot Miami Mar. 22 - Chicago, IL @ The Mid Mar. 23 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Rotunda Mar 26 - Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex Mar. 28 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop Mar. 29 - Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl

Mar. 30 - Seattle, WA @ Lo Fi Mar. 31 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios Apr. 2 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg Apr. 3 - Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall Apr. 4 - Cambridge, MA @ Middlesex Lounge Apr. 5 - Toronto, ON @ The Hoxton Apr. 6 - Montreal, QC @ Le Belmont

CURRENT SWELL
currentswell.com

Victoria's Current Swell returns to the US next week (February 27th) as part of their long road to SXSW (note: date is not finalized). They are touring for their recent album, Long Time Ago, released on Nettwerk Records last October.

Tour Dates:

02/27/13 Wilmington, NC @ The Soapbox
02/28/13 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
03/01/13 Folly Beach, SC @ Loggerhead’s Beach Grill
03/02/13 Sarasota, FL @ Jake's Tavern
03/03/13 Naples, FL @ South Street
03/04/13 Vero Beach, FL @ Filthy McNasty's
03/05/13 St. Petersburg, FL @ The Local 662
03/06/13 St. Augustine, FL @ The Standard
03/08/13 Colorado Springs, CO @ Black Sheep
03/09/13 Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theatre
03/10/13 Ft. Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
03/31/13 Tyagarah, Australia Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
04/01/13 Tyagarah, Australia Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm

TOY toy-band.com London's five-piece band called Toy recently announced some side dates, in addition to their SXSW appearance. Their self-titled album was released on Heavenly Recordings / Cooperative Music in 2012. March 14 SXSW@Cedar Street Courtyard March 15th-16th - SXSW (shows TBA) March 19th - Mercury Lounge – New York, NY March 20th - Knitting Factory – Brooklyn, NY

YEAH YEAH YEAHS yeahyeahyeahs.com Last week, Yeah Yeah Yeahs announced that they will play NPR Music’s SXSW Showcase at Stubbs on March 13th, 2013. The official showcase will also be broadcast worldwide on NPR.org/music. Also on the bill is Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, who will open the evening with a special set. YYY's latest album, Mosquito, will be out April 16th on Interscope Records. Expect the band to preview some tracks live at SXSW.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

A Handy Guide

I'll admit that these themed-posts takes forever to write and research, so I hope you appreciate this latest handy guide to handsy albums. There are a ton of other albums with hands on the cover, but I'm only including the ones that we've previously mentioned on W♥M.

Chairlift - Bruises Chairlift CHAIRLIFT chairliftmusic.com ♥ myspace.com Wow, such a great pop song, that "Bruises" song. It's a perfect blend of catchy bass and Rilo Kiley-esque vocals from Caroline Polachek and trying to impress someone with handstand but only regretting getting nothing but black and blue bruises for your trouble. And just when you thought "yes, what a great song", the song turns into a duet! Then ends on a non-sense "doo doo doo", just for good measure. What I like about them, based on their album, Does You Inspire You, is that their lyrics aren't all about love and relationships: "Garbage" is about all the junk we produce ("we're making shit for you to throw away!") and "Planet Health" seems to be a community of health nut and something about putting out fires by stop, drop, and rolling. I won't read too much into their lyrics, because they seem cryptic enough. What I think the band is having trouble with is what musical direction they want to take. They're either really catchy pop song ("Bruises", "Garbage") or no-so-pop music ("Ceiling Wax", "Make Your Mind Up", "Le Flying Saucer Hat" - although the beeps are awesome on this song). I know this sound harsh, but I feel that most people who hear "Bruises" and expecting the band to sound like this for the other 12 tracks might be in for a disappointment. As evidence, I submit one Kate II, who recently saw Chairlift on tour with PB&J. I get the impression that was how the audience react to their show: kind of zombie like, until that "one song" came on. Still, that song is so good and you'll play the pants off that song and ignore what I've said about the rest of the album. The band's currently taking their hit song on the road: 06/09/09 The Village- w/ MGMT Little Rock, Arkansas 06/11/09 Bonnaroo Manchester, TN 06/18/09 Echo Los Angeles, CA 06/21/09 Detroit Bar Costa Mesa, CA 06/22/09 Casbah San Diego, CA 07/18/09 Lovebox London 07/19/09 Latitude Festival Southwold 07/26/09 Secret Garden Party Cambridgeshire 08/01/09 All Points West Liberty State Park, NJ 08/08/09 Lollapalooza Chicago 08/13/09 Oya Festival Oslo 08/14/09 Way Out West Goteborg 08/16/09 Summer Sundae Leicester Does You Inspire You is available now as a re-issue on Columbia/Kanine Records. Apple used "Bruises" for their iPod commercial, so you can get it via iTunes. Get "Evident Utensil" free from killeropeners.net		Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll Yeah Yeah Yeahs YEAH YEAH YEAHS yeahyeahyeahs.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter Let me be clear: we are not a YYY website, I get questions about the banner all the time, showing one model/singer Marijne van der Vlugt. So, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are pretty well-established now, with their third studio album, It's Blitz!. If you've liked the old yyy with their experimental noises and guitars, you may not like their new album - even though I think it's the best and most easily accessible music from them.  If you think that's a joke, well the yolk's on you. Because I'm serious, this is their best work... I would recommend It's Blitz!, not the over-hyped Show Your Bones album, to fans that are just getting into the yyys. The band seems to mostly a collaboration between singer/fashion-trendsetter Karen O and guitarist Nick Zinner. They seem to share most of the spotlight, and you almost feel bad for whatthedrummer's dude (Brian Chase). But I don't think he minds it much, based on his incredibly detailed blog. For the most part, the I really liked the electro-dance songs: "Zero", "Heads Will Roll", and "Dull Life" sounds anything but dull. There's also a few tuned down tracks, "Hysteric" and "Little Shadow", which are great as you can really take the time and hear Karen O singing. If you get the deluxe edition of the album, which I'll recommend, it comes with four bonus acoustic tracks. Maybe you can pick it up at one of their shows: 06/08/09 Marquee Theatre Phoenix, Arizona 06/10/09 Club 101 El Paso, Texas 06/12/09 Bonnaroo Manchester, Tennessee 06/24/09 T-Mobile In Music Festival Zagreb 06/26/09 St. Gallen Festival St. Gallen 06/27/09 Le Rock Dans Tous Ses Etats Evreux 06/28/09 Glastonbury Festival Worthy Farm 06/30/09 Openair Arena Vienna 07/01/09 Roxy Prague 07/03/09 Eurockeenes Belfort 07/04/09 Werchter Festival Werchter 07/05/09 Roskilde Roskilde 07/07/09 Docks Hamburg 07/10/09 T In The Park Kinross, Scotland 07/11/09 Oxegen Festival Punchestown, Dublin 07/18/09 Quebec City Summer Festival Quebec City, Quebec 07/19/09 Ottawa Bluesfest Ottawa, Ontario 07/31/09 All Points West Jersey City, New Jersey 08/28/09 Rock en Seine Paris 08/29/09 Leeds Festival Leeds 08/30/09 Reading Festival Reading Otherwise, just look for their album at most record store, it is on the Interscope Record label.
Two The Antlers THE ANTLERS antlersmusic.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter I've mentioned before that I think a band is important/notable when they have a Wikipedia page... as usually I rely on the user-submitted website for a lot of research. Unfortunately, The Antler's Wiki page tells you nothing about this mysterious band... only to mention that their latest release, Hospice, was "critically acclaimed". Upon digging, NPR calls Hospice Best Record of 2009 So Far. The band seems to center around Peter Silberman, who's been having a lot of success. He recently signed with Frechkiss Records. Apparently the album, Hospice, was inpired by the idea of caring for a terminal patient, who's mentally abusive. It's a difficult situation because they're the one that's dying... This will all be suddenly clear when you hear "Epilogue", which tells the story in song. So, I'll have to say that listening to the album was a struggle for me. It is very atmospheric and you really need to listen with headphones to try and catch everything. The vocals are often drowned in a sea of noise and it feels like shoegazy/spacey for me. It's also too dense for me, and it seems like the sort of music that Pitchfork would love (and they do). I would suggest checking out "Sylvia" as a sample song, but it's a bit too harsh and loud. Instead, I'll direct you to check out "Two". There's a lot of interesting sound on this song, and the vocals sounds like it's being sung far, far away from the microphone. Oh yeah, tour dates: 06/09/09 PLUSH* Tucson, AZ 06/10/09 BAR PINK San Diego, CA 06/11/09 EL REY* LOS ANGELES, CA 06/12/09 VELVET JONES* Santa Barbara, CA 06/13/09 BIMBOS* San Francisco, CA 06/14/09 DRUNKEN UNICORN+ (Peter Solo) Atlanta, GA 06/16/09 LOCAL 506+ Chapel Hill, NC 06/17/09 OUTBACK LODGE+ Charlottesville, VA 06/18/09 IOTA+ Arlington, VA 06/19/09 M ROOM+ Philadelphia, PA 06/21/09 MAGIC STICK# Detroit, MI 06/26/09 SOUNDFIX presents @ ROOFTOP FILMS New York 07/18/09 PITCHFORK FESTIVAL Chicago, IL 07/21/09 MAGIC STICK# Detroit, Michigan 07/22/09 HORSESHOE TAVERN# Toronto 07/23/09 PETIT CAMPUS# Montreal 07/24/09 JERKY’S# Providence, RI 07/25/09 IRON HORSE# Northampton, MA 08/21/09 MERCURY LOUNGE (record release!) New York 09/12/09 MONOLITH FESTIVAL Morrison, CO 09/13/09 MONOLITH FESTIVAL Morrison, CO * w/ Au Revoir Simone, + w/ Cotton Jones, # w/ Frightened Rabbit It should be interesting to see where post-Hospice takes The Antlers, as Silberman stated that anything new will not be solely written by him, but the whole trio (drummer Michael Lerner and multi-instrumentalist Darby Cicci) will contribute in the writing process. In the meantime, you can pick up Hospice on amazon.		Hoots and Hellmouth - You and All of Us Hoots and Hellmouth HOOTS AND HELLMOUTH hootsandhellmouth.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter So, the first thing I think about when I hear Hoots and Hellmouth's sophomore album, The Holy Open Secret, is that they are good old country folks. You can't help but smile when you hear their music, that's for sure. It would seem that the band name comes from their two primary songwriters: Sean Hoots and Andrew "Hellmouth" Gray (the nickname comes from an ex-girlfriend). The band came together as part of the West Chester University music scene in Philadelphia in 2005. Obviously, as I previously mentioned, I was drawn to the happier songs (banjo-picking "You and All of Us", "Watch Your Mouth"), while the softer, more introspective songs ("Ne'er Do Well", "Family Band") fits well enough in the album, but I don't know how well-receive they will be performed live. To me, they seem like a high-energy live band. It's also worth noting when I saw "What Good Are Plowshares If We use Them Like Swords", this is the first time I've ever heard the word plowshare used in a song. It made me smile as I think of Magic the Gathering. Yes, they're on tour: 06/07/09 Wakarusa Festival Ozark, AR 06/09/09 The Redstone Room Davenport, IA 06/10/09 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN 06/11/09 Shank Hall Milwaukee, WI 06/13/09 Intersection+ Grand Rapids, MI 06/14/09 Ribfest Chicago - North Stage Chicago, IL 06/18/09 joe’s pub New York, NY 06/19/09 Gullifty’s Camp Hill, PA 06/20/09 Southern Shore Music Festival Millville, NJ 07/03/09 Jewish Mother* Virginia Beach, VA 07/04/09 Jewish Mother* Virginia Beach, VA 07/09/09 Club Passim Cambridge, MA 07/10/09 Empire Dine & Dance Portland, ME 07/11/09 StageOne Fairfield, CT 07/16/09 The Basement Nashville, TN 07/17/09 JJ’s Bohemia#  Chattanooga, TN 07/18/09 The Beacon Pub Swannanoa, NC 07/19/09 Unplugged in the Park @ Park Tavern Atlanta, GA 07/21/09 The Melting Point Athens, GA 07/22/09 The Evening Muse Charlotte, NC 07/23/09 The Camel Richmond, VA 08/05/09 Musikfest - Liederplatz Stage Bethlehem, PA 08/07/09 Infinity Hall Norfolk, CT 08/14/09 Summerfest  Society Owen Sound, ON 09/11/09 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI +  w/ Rev Horton Heat! * with The Hackensaw Boys # w/ Madeline and The Ginger Envelope The Holy Open Secret is out now on MAD Dragon Records (Ryko/WEA). You can pick up both of their albums on Amazon. Their self-titled debut album is being sold used for as little as $1.37 (what a bargain!)

James Kochalka Superstar - Monkey Vs Robot (Vs Kiss Remix)	Neon Neon-Raquel (Radio)	Unwritten Law-Shoulda Known Better	XTC - Dear God	Wendy & Lisa - You And I
The Chemical Brothers (featuring Fatlip) - The Salmon Dance	Mystery Jets - Young Love (Featuring Laura Marling)	Information Society - Where Would I Be Without IBM	Dar Williams-It's Alright	Sonic Youth - Sunday

 06/08/2009 01:25:28 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥podcast.weheartmusic.com♥news.weheartmusic.com

Indie Indie, Yeah Yeah

My theory about band names with repeating words is that they're easy to remember and easier to say. So below are some bands with repeating words.

Gang Gang Dance - House Jam Gang Gang Dance GANG GANG DANCE ganggangdance.com ♥ myspace.com Gang Gang Dance caused quite a stir on last year's CMJ. I know for a fact that they left a great impression on all the people that went to see them. Their music is best described as "experimental", if not world primitive or tribal rhythm (see Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Apache Beat). Saint Dymphna is their fourth album, having already established themselves in the New York scene. If you listen carefully to the album, each song flows into the next with background noises and such. Among the songs that stood out, I did enjoyed the rap-ish song "Princes", which is sung by Tinchy Stryder. He's from London, so you can hear the distinctive accent in his lyrics. Although this could easily be their stand-out-track, I felt it wouldn't represent the band's sound as it sounds pretty different from the rest of the album. While as much as I enjoy the occasional, as Lara puts it, "Weird Crazy Things That Sound Like Woodlawn Creatures and Kitchen Utensils", Saint Dymphna does an OK job on balancing this sound with more pop-friendly tunes like "House Jam". "House Jam", along with "First Communion" and "Princes", really made the album worth checking out, even if you don't like that sort of thing. So find out why Fact Magazine thinks "one of the best albums we've heard all year." You can pick up anywhere, including amazon and itunes. They will be heading out to do a massive world tour: 02/13/09 Paradiso Amsterdam 02/14/09 AB Club Brussels 02/15/09 Uebel + Gefahrlich Hamburg 02/16/09 Schauspielhaus Leipzig 02/17/09 Volksbuhne Berlin 02/18/09 Karlstorbahnof Heidelberg 02/19/09 Generiq Festival Dijon 02/20/09 Point Ephemere Paris 02/21/09 Route du Rock Festival St. Malo 02/22/09 Grand Mix Tourcoing 02/25/09 Roadhouse Manchester 02/26/09 Dingwalls London 02/27/09 Fleece Bristol 02/28/09 Audio Brighton 05/30/09 Primavera Sound Festival Barcelona		Tapes N Tapes-Le Ruse Tapes N Tapes TAPES 'N TAPES tapesntapes.com ♥ myspace.com I'm not qualify to write this review, but since I couldn't actually convince my local writers here to do an article on their second album, Walk It Off, because they actually paid real-life money for it... I don't know what all the fuss is about this band. I think sometime in 2007, I started hearing this band a lot from friends and not-so-friends. So definitely, there's some huge buzz and they're known in other parts of the world - not just in Minneapolis. Andrew reckons that the band got so massive that they basically left Darren (from Kid Dakota) on his own for his just-released The Hopefuls' album (someone, not me, is supposed to review this one). Anyway, my expectation for Tapes 'N Tapes' Walk it Off is that it's supposed to be fun and bouncy and dancey. It's not. The album failed on all three accounts. Maybe I'm just not listening to it right? The most exciting song on the album is possibly "Le Ruse", all the other songs, including their single, "Hang Them All", did not did not impress me. Hey, but if you're looking for a cool indie band, you should check out Tapes 'N Tapes, everyone else seems to love them. Hopefully Lara & Kate will have some favorable things to say about them on February 6th, when they are stopping back home with what the LA Times are calling "2009 Artist to Watch", Wild Light. The tour dates: 01/15/09 The Waiting Room Omaha, Nebraska 01/17/09 Fox Theater Boulder, Colorado 01/19/09 Neurolux Boise, Idaho 01/20/09 Neumo’s Seattle, Washington 01/21/09 Doug Fir Portland, Oregon 01/23/09 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California 01/24/09 El Rey Theater Los Angeles, California 01/25/09 The Casbah San Diego, California 01/27/09 Sante Fe Brewing Company Sante Fe, New Mexico 01/29/09 Parish Austin, Texas 01/30/09 Club Dada Dallas, Texas 01/31/09 Opolis Norman, Oklahoma 02/02/09 Jackpot Music Hall Lawrence, Kansas 02/03/09 Mojo’s Columbia, Missouri 02/04/09 Maintenance Shop @ Iowa State Ames, Iowa 02/05/09 Nutty’s Sioux Falls, South Dakota 02/06/09 First Ave Minneapolis, Minnesota 02/20/09 Legends @ Notre Dame South Bend, Indiana 02/21/09 The Basement Columbus, Ohio 02/22/09 Brillobox Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 02/24/09 Paradise Boston, Massachusetts 02/25/09 Bowery Ballroom New York, New York 02/26/09 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, New York 02/27/09 Rock & Roll Hotel Washington DC, Washington DC 02/28/09 Johnny Brendas Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 03/02/09 Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, North Carolina 03/03/09 The Earl Atlanta, Georgia 03/04/09 Bottletree Birmingham, Alabama 03/05/09 Mercy Lounge Nashville, Tennessee 03/06/09 Phoenix Hill Tavern Louisville, Kentucky 03/07/09 Metro Chicago, Illinois
Pas Chic Chic!-En Chaine et en Vogue Pas Chic Chic! PAS CHIC CHIC! paschicchic.com ♥ myspace.com Pas Chic Chic! (which means "not smart"?) are a band based out of Montreal, Canada. Their debut album, Au Contraire was released last year on Semprini Records... and it's entirely in French. The songs are mostly sung by Eric (?), with the exception of a few songs by Marie-Douce ("Se Mirer Mare", "Mlle Mille" and "Brise Méprise") which comes off as very 60s girl pop. Eric's songs sounds like it's trying to be sexy, and maybe it is to girls swooning over his sex Canadian French accents. There's a few brilliant pop songs on the album that I really enjoy, including "Mlle Mille" and "Tesclichés Déclenchés". My favorite is "En Chaine et en Vogue", which is a good example of their sound because the boy-girl vocals works very well here. Apparently the band caught the attention of Julian Cope (who apparently when not being a musician is also a music critic): I've also been hugely impressed by AU CONTRAIRE, the debut album by Montreal's Pas Chic Chic, whose urgent, disorientating and eloquent experimental psychedelic pop inhabits a bizarre hinterland somewhere between Alan Gill's beautiful early Dalek I Love You COMPASS KUMPAS sound, The Teardrop Explodes circa ‘When I Dream’ and ‘Thief of Baghdad’, and Dave Balfe and Bill Drummond’s Lori & the Chameleons project as played by Stereolab. Whirling ice-rink string synths, uppity toy soldier snare drummers and clamorous tragic male’n’female French language vocals conspire to create a sound of huge tragedy and loss... Look for the band coming up on "Canadian Music Week" on March 12th in Toronto. You can find Au Contraire digitally (itunes or emusic) or CD via amazon.		I Hope My New House Feels Welcoming For You Pee-Pee PEE-PEE myspace.com Possibly one of the worst name for a band, and equally "catchy" album name, is Pee-Pee's Castile Jackine is Vooded at Broonus Mousin: Volume 1. If you can get past the name(s), this is a pretty interesting and developed band, from the strange non-sense improv of "Freakout Jam" to rock funk of "I Love U 2 Much" to the melodic folk "I Hope My New House Feels Welcoming For You". There's a lot of layers in their music, with a lot of instruments that you would find in bluegrass or Americana band: a saw here, an accordion there. I'm not sure if I hear the banjo, but I wouldn't be surprise if they incorporate that in their music. What sets them apart from traditional Americana bands is that they seem to really enjoy using technology to make them sound warp. For example, check out the sound from the acoustic guitar on "Love needs a Quivering, Restless, Aching, Fire to Lay its Head On" and vocals on "Madness Song (remix)". The different shifts in style and tone of their songs makes the album all over the map. I'll only recommend the album if you enjoy different genre of music, but fans of Animal Collective and Of Montreal to 60s psychedelic rock should like this band. Be on the look out for Volume Two of Castile Jackine..., as the album is actually already "in the can" as they say. Apparently in recording of their album, they had enough material to be split on two albums. You can get Castile Jackine..., released last November on the Helmet Room Label, at most online stores (emusic), physical CDs can be found on cdbaby. PS, bonus points for utilizing "Hey Jude" on "O, Little Boy".

Did you all like that? Check out some other bands that we've previously covered:

Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! - Crime Wave	Tiger! Tiger! - Black Daggers	Tiger, Tiger - I Suppose	Dark Dark Dark - Ashes	Duran Duran - The Reflex
Yo-Yo Mundi -There is a Light that Never Goes Out	Patron & Patron - Either Or	Xiu Xiu - Fast Car	Die! Die! Die! - Sideways, Here We Come	The Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy
Caw! Caw!-Organisms	Ra Ra Riot - Dying Is Fine	Me Me Me - Hanging Around	Sing-Sing - Feels Like Summer	Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps

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Ada - Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover)

First off, props to Vu for uploading the tracks!

 

Ada - Maps

Ada is a singer and producer from Germany. On her 2004 album Blondie, she did a great cover of the song Maps, by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It's slow and long, with dreamy

 

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps

synths and sweet voice - it's kind of like an electronic lullaby at first. But it's fast and interesting enough to not make anyone drowsy, (although it is a wonderful song to fall asleep to) and if you like your covers to be different imaginings of the song, you should find this one worth a listen. Where Karen O begs and wails while Chase and Zinner alternately throw down delicate lines and bolts of torment you instead have removed coolness.There's not a touch of resignation or sadness in Ada's voice, and her synthy analogue of Chase's guitar hook is more fey fun than a break in the storm. It is a little wierd given the lyrics of the song, but it works if you've listened to enough Human League records.