W♥M (Archive)

Minneapolis Music Guide: March 3 - March 8, 2014

Every Monday Night Poster Read More Minneapolis Music Guide Here is a guide of some Minneapolis (and St Paul!) shows NEXT week: February 24-March 2. FEBRUARY 24: TURF CLUB The Belle Game …

Here is a guide of some Minneapolis (and St Paul!) shows next week: March 3-March 8.

MARCH 3: ACADIA CAFE
Aaron Kamm & The One Drops

The only show I have listed for Monday, March 3rd is Aaron Kamm & the One Drops from St. Louis. This is part of the "Only Every Monday" event, sponsored by K.F.A.I. 90.3 Minneapolis & 106.7 St. Paul.

Lineup for next Monday's show:

8pm Simon Calder
845pm Space Cats
930pm Sneaky Pete Bauer
1015pm Aaron Kamm & The One Drops
1130pm Geoffrey Fischbein

Aaron Kamm & The One Drops are currently on tour:

Mar 2 at Venue 51 in Omaha, NE
Mar 3 at Acadia in Minneapolis, MN
Mar 5 at The Original in Minot, ND*
Mar 6 at El Roco in Grand Forks, ND*
Mar 7 at Captain Freddys in Mandan, ND*
Mar 9 at Iowa City Yacht Club in Iowa City, IA

* w/ Jon Wayne and the Pain

Kodaline 2014 Tour Poster Read More Kodaline Dublin's Kodaline recently announced a North American tour dates for February 2014, taking them from Toronto, Canada, to Chicago, Illinois. Kodaline's album In A Perfect World …

MARCH 4: FIRST AVENUE
Kodaline w/ LP

It's sold-out Tuesday apparently...

I'm already committed to covering Cibo Matto at the now-sold-out show at the Turf Club. As you know, I saw the band in 1999 and am looking forward to seeing how the band has grown over the years.

Also sold out is Bob Mould's show at The Theatre At The Woman's Club... so that leaves Kodaline at First Avenue. I believe their original venue (7th Street Entry) also sold out, so the venue had to upgrade Kodaline to the much larger capacity main room at First Avenue. That's like 1,500 capacity vs 7th Street's tiny 250. The confusing-band name LP is set to open the show.

Kodaline tour dates:

02/28/14 Hollywood Forever Cemetery
03/02/14 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
03/03/14 Kansas City, MO The Record Bar
03/04/14 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
03/06/14 Columbus, OH A & R Music Bar
03/07/14 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
03/14/14 Killarney, Ireland INEC
03/15/14 Belfast Ulster Hall
03/16/14 Dublin, Ireland The O2 Dublin
03/18/14 Glasgow Barrowland
03/19/14 Manchester Manchester Academy
03/20/14 Birmingham O2 Academy Birmingham
03/21/14 London O2 Academy Brixton
03/30/14 Auckland, New Zealand Powerstation
04/01/14 Brisbane, Australia The Hi-Fi
04/02/14 Sydney, Australia The Metro Theatre
04/05/14 Melbourne, Australia The Prince
04/08/14 Adelaide, Australia The Gov
04/10/14 Perth, Australia Astor Theatre
05/04/14 Live At Leeds

Read More The Pack A.D. What’s all that noise coming from Canada? It’s something loud and heavy and much more fun than Bieber-bashing. It’s the Pack A.D.! …

MARCH 5: TURF CLUB
The Pack A.D. w/ Fury Things

We are covering Canada's The Pack A.D. at the Turf Club next Wednesday. Local band Fury Things are set to open the show.

Expect the duo to play tracks from their new album Do Not Engage, out now on Nettwerk Records.

Tour dates:

03/01/14 Calgary, AB Republik Nightclub
03/02/14 Saskatoon, SK Amigos Cantina
03/04/14 Winnipeg, MB Park Theatre Cafe
03/05/14 Saint Paul, MN Turf Club
03/06/14 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
03/07/14 Pontiac, MI Pike Room
03/08/14 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
03/17/14 London, ON APK Live
03/19/14 Waterloo, ON Starlight Social Club
03/20/14 Hamilton, ON The Casbah
03/21/14 St Catharines, ON Detour Music Hall
03/22/14 Kingston, ON The Grad Club
03/25/14 Ottawa, ON Zaphod Beeblebrox
03/26/14 Montreal, QC Casa De Popolo
03/27/14 Quebec City, QC Le Cercle
03/28/14 Fredericton, NB The Capital Complex
03/29/14 Halifax, NS The Seahorse Tavern
03/30/14 Moncton, NB Tide + Boar Gastropub
04/01/14 Allston, MA Great Scott
04/02/14 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
04/04/14 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
04/05/14 Washington, DC DC9
04/06/14 Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop
04/08/14 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway Nightclub
04/09/14 Omaha, NE Slowdown
04/11/14 Denver, CO Hi-Dive

Andrew Belle/Diane Birch Tour Poster Read More Diane Birch Fresh from a mini-residency in NYC (including a live appearance on VH-1), the tour also brings opener Diane Birch whose own new album, Speak a Little Louder …

MARCH 6: TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB
Andrew Belle and Diane Birch

We wanted to cover Diane Birch last year (I've previously seen her at SXSW and loved her), but she canceled her appearance at the last minute to take a better opportunity with the Tonight Show! Good for her, I would have done the same things if I were in her shoes.

So, Birch is returning to Minneapolis next week, under the Andrew Belle/Diane Birch tour... and of course, like so many bands touring right now, it's to coincide with SXSW 2014 in Austin, Texas. Please check with each band's website for finalized SXSW schedule as they often change.

Birch is touring in support of her new album Speak a Little Louder, while Andrew Belle is touring for Black Bear.

Tour dates:

03/05/14 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
03/06/14 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock Social Club
03/07/14 Iowa City, IA Blue Moose Tap House
03/08/14 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck
03/09/14 Oklahoma City, OK Bricktown Ballroom
03/11/14 Dallas, TX House Of Blues
03/13/14 SXSW Austin, TX
03/17/14 New Orleans, LA Parish At House Of Blues
03/18/14 Birmingham, AL WorkPlay Theatre
03/19/14 Atlanta, GA Vinyl At Center Stage
03/20/14 Nashville, TN The Mercy Lounge

Appearing with Andrew Belle

 

Cayucas Poster Read More Cayucas "East Coast Girl" is the new song and video from Cayucas, previously known as Oregon Bike Trails. The video premiered today (05/30) on NYLON. "East Coast Girl" video directed by Steven Andrew Garcia …

MARCH 7: 7TH STREET ENTRY
Cayucas w/ Bonzie

Cayucas is once again touring, and yes, SXSW time of the year. They will likely showcase some of their songs from their debut LP Bigfoot, released on Secretly Canadian. I haven't receive any communication with them for a while now (since 09/2013, so maybe Secretly Canadian secretly hates me). They're currently on tour with Young the Giant, but will be headlining their own tour starting March 1st.

Bonzie, aka 18-year-old Chicagoan Nina Ferraro, is set to open up the 7th Street Entry show.

Tour dates:

02/28/14 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom
03/01/14 Burlington, VT Signal Kitchen
03/02/14 Toronto, ON The Garrison
03/04/14 Columbus, OH A & R Music Bar
03/05/14 Indianapolis, IN Radio Radio
03/06/14 Milwaukee, WI Rave Bar
03/07/14 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
03/10/14 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
03/11/14 Vancouver, BC Media Club
03/12/14 Seattle, WA Barboza
03/14/14 Sacramento, CA Harlow's Night Club
03/15/14 Santa Cruz, CA The Atrium
04/04/14 Mammoth Lakes, CA Underground

Arcade Fire Reflektor Tour Poster Read More Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is under fire lately. The Canadian band demanded that all attendees at their arena concert tour this year must wear suits and formalwear (the fine print when you purchase their tickets lists …

MARCH 8: TARGET CENTER
Arcade Fire w/ Kid Koala, Dan Deacon

I'm still not clear on the dress up situation. The band required their fans to dress up in formalwear or costumes to attend their shows.

Opening up is Kid Koala (Deltron 3030) and Dan Deacon.

03/06/14 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
03/08/14 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
03/10/14 Auburn Hills, MI Palace Of Auburn Hills
03/12/14 Pittsburgh, PA Consol Energy Center
03/13/14 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
03/14/14 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
03/16/14 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
03/17/14 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
03/18/14 Bridgeport, CT Webster Bank Arena
03/28/14 Vive Latino
03/29/14 Lollapalooza Chile
03/30/14 Lollapalooza Chile
04/01/14 Lollapalooza" (Argentina)
04/06/14 Lollapalooza Brazil
04/09/14 The Woodlands, TX
04/10/14 Austin, TX Austin360 Amphitheater
04/13/14 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
04/20/14 Indio, CA Empire Polo Club
04/23/14 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
04/26/14 Kansas City, MO Starlight Theatre
04/27/14 St. Louis, MO Chaifetz Arena
04/29/14 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
05/01/14 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
05/02/14 Atlanta, GA Aaron's Amphitheatre At Lakewood
05/04/14 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

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

Sleeper Hits

Morning Phase Capitol (Universal) Read More Beck So you like Beck and was thinking about picking up Odelay (1996). Well don't! Wait until January 29, 2008, because there's a Deluxe 2-disc version coming out. More details on our press page …

BECK
beck.com

We all know Beck, the dude needs no introduction. I first saw him on MTV's 120 Minutes and he looked like some kid with his guitar back then.... When MTV started playing "Loser", we knew that song would be a massive hit for him.

Anyway, I have actually seen Beck live at Coachella in 1999. Unfortunately, by the nature of these large music festival, he looked like a tiny figure on stage and it was just not a good experience for me. I would love to see him in a more intimate venue, but alas those days are long gone.

Beck's new album Morning Phase came out this week (Tuesday, February 25th), and already critics like NPR is calling it basically Sea Change part two.

You can currently hear the "Waking Light" on npr.org.

Beck is returning to Coachella this year.

04/13/14 Coachella
04/20/14 Coachella
04/26/14 KDGE 102.1 EdgeFest
07/18/14 Pitchfork Music Festival
09/04/14 Bestival

in today already walks tomorrow Monotreme Records Read More Karnivool When asked where the name "Karnivool" came from, guitarist Drew said: That's one question I can never answer very well, as the name Karnivool was around …

SLEEPMAKESWAVES
sleepmakeswaves.com

sleepmakeswaves (all lowercase) will be heading out on tour in Europe this April and May.

Maybe I'm just a very judgmental person, but whenever I see weird punctuations / capitalizations / poorly misspelled words, I just think the band is very young. Of course, this is coming from someone who uses ♥ as a verb....

Anyway, this Australian quartet debut in 2008 and by 2011 was nominated an ARIA Award for their debut album And So We Destroyed Everything.

sleepmakeswaves new album in today already walks tomorrow will be out this April 8, 2014, on Monotreme Records. Please note this album was originally released in 2012 by another record label.

Tour dates:

04/17 Belgium Hasselt - Muziek O Droom
04/18 Switzerland Bulle - Ebulition
04/19 Belgium Zottegem - Dunk! Festival
04/20 Switzerland Geneva - Graviere
04/22 Spain Barcelona - Razzmatazz
04/23 Spain Madrid - Moby Dick
04/24 France La Coopérative de mai
04/26 France Dunkerque - 4 Ecluses
04/27 Germany Karlsruhe - Jubez
04/30 Sweden Gothenburg - Fangelsets
05/01 Sweden Orebro - Slöjdgatan
05/05 Poland Wroclaw - Klub Hydrozagadka
05/06 Hungary Budapest - Durer Kert
05/07 Czech Republic Praha - NoD Theater
05/08 Germany Stuttgart - Juha West
05/09 Germany Hannover - Cafe Glocksee
05/10 UK London - Beyond the Redshift Festival

Forever Home Decades Records Read More Surfer Blood "This is our seventh time in Minneapolis," stated singer John Pitts from Surfer Blood, making their stop at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis last night, Sunday, October 13th. …

WAKE UP
whywakeup.bandcamp.com

Speaking of lowercase, wake up is a four piece rock band from Lake Worth, Florida.

Their debut 7", 'Forever Home', is said to be a three song collection (a fourth song, "Again", is available but only as a digital bonus track) with homage and styling of 90s rock, but without the whole 'grunge revival' thing. The songs are said to be more in tuned with Stephen Malkumus (Pavement) or Doug Martsch (Built to Spill). So... slacker rock it is...

The 7" is coming out March 11, 2014.

Tour Dates with Surfer Blood:

02.25 - The Space - Hamden, CT
02.26 - Iron Horse - Northampton, MA
02.27 - The Saint - Asbury Park, NJ
02.28 - Baby's All Right - Brooklyn, NY
03.01 - Glasslands - Brooklyn, NY
03.02 - The Southern - Charlottesville, VA
03.03 - Camel - Richmond, VA
03.04 - Blind Tiger - Greensboro, NC
03.05 - Jack Rabbits - Jacksonville, FL

Lucius w/ You Won't - Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (20 Feb 2014)

Lucius 2014 Tour Poster Setlist Strangers (Kinks cover) Tempest Don't Just Sit There Wildewoman Nothing Ordinary Monsters Until We Get There How Loud Your Heart Gets Turn It Around Go Home Genevieve -- Encore -- Goodbye (Paul McCartney cover) Tour Dates 04/05: Brussels, BE @ Botanique (Rotonde) 04/08: Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso (upstairs) 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 @ 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 @ Buckhead Theatre* 05/16: Jacksonville, FL @ Ponte Vedra Concert* 05/19: Charlotte, NC @ Fillmore* 05/20: Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel* 05/21 + 05/22: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club* 05/28: Kalamazoo, MI @ Kalamazoo Theatre^ 05/29: Cleveland, OH @ Performance Arts ^ 05/30: Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE^ 06/02: Richmond, VA @ The National^ 06/04: Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live^ 06/05: Hunter Mountain, NY @ Mountain Jam 06/06: Randall’s Island, NY @ Governors Ball 06/21: Dover, DE @ Firefly Festival * Supporting Tegan and Sara ^ supporting The Head and the Heart Read More Lucius NYC-based quintet Lucius is currently riding the crest of a pretty big wave. After wowing the Minneapolis crowd with an October show at the 7th St. Entry, the band returns to the bigger Cedar Cultural Center …

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, to see the band perform in Minneapolis at the Cedar Cultural Center.

“I Love Lucius” (the band’s Twitter handle) was definitely the pervasive feeling of the full crowd that fought through nearly a foot of snow falling and parking/blizzard warnings, to see one of the buzziest indie bands going currently.

You Won't

The evening got started cheekily with a non-pretentious, entertaining set from Boston-based You Won’t, supporting their debut, Skeptic Goodbye (Old Flame Records). The duo of Josh Arnoudse and Raky Sastri proved their musical dexterity, switching between normal and not-so-normal instruments, Arnoudse even crooning into what looked like a vacuum hose for a Bessie Smith-like cover of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love With You’.

Enthusiastically unorthodox begins to describe them, as songs like ‘Television’ and the somewhat somber 'Three Car Garage' were the fairly standard guitar/drum combo, while others featured glockenspiel, a harmonium, and a musical saw. A unique duo, to say the least…

Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig

The stylish Lucius then took the stage; leads Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig dressed identically with backing men, Dan Molad, Peter Lalish, and Andrew Burri, also dressed in tandem in horizontal striped shirts and dark jackets.

The band bravely began their 60 minute set with a cover of The Kinks’ 1970 non-hit ‘Strangers’ and its opening line, “Where are you going I don't mind / I've killed my world and I've killed my time”, though any dourness would soon wash away.

Both women manned keyboards and faced each other in front of a profiled backdrop, singing pitch-perfect synchronous harmonies on songs from their debut, Wildewoman (Mom+Pop) which mesmerized the audience, most of whom had perma-smiles on their faces for the entire set and moved in place with the band’s rhythms, and not just to keep warm.

Percussion was on full display most of the evening, including on the booming end of ‘Tempest’ and throughout the later numbers. The girls charmed with a story of their friend, calling in as he waited at an airport as he could hear a woman next to him, blasting their songs through her headphones. The band face-timed on their phone with their friend then ended up speaking with the surprised woman, who also happened to be in the audience this night, and had the album’s title track dedicated to her moment of happenstance.

‘Nothing Ordinary’ grooved with a NYC street-sounding guitar riff while ‘Monsters’ haunted with slo-motion vocals and You Wont's Sastri and his violin bow against musical saw, guesting on the track.

“You guys are really being…awesome”, guitarist Lalish deadpanned before the band revved back up for ‘How Loud Your Heart Gets’, then into ‘Turn it Around’ (with You Won’t joining them onstage in matching blonde wigs), an undeniable nugget of ear candy with chorus, “She's looking through the wrong end of her telescope, turn it around, turn it around “.

The emotive, slower ‘Go Home’ brought the tempo down temporarily before the almost funky, ‘Genevieve’ darted, ducked, and weaved to the finish. The encore song, a cover of the unreleased McCartney/Beatles number, ‘Goodbye’, was done in the middle of the crowd, stripped down with Wolfe and Laessig, along with drummer Molad, making it into a song of their own.

“Having you here means everything, we love knowing we have a family in Minneapolis”, Wolf mentioned admiring the bravery of everyone coming out in the storm, as she introduced the song.

…Now kicking yourself for missing them? – You can tune in TONIGHT, as Lucius are featured on Last Call with Carson Daly, performing two songs from a recent West Coast gig. The rest of us will have to count the days until they return again for another memorable show.

Lucius at Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (20 Feb 2014)

john () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Living in Synth

Read More Information Society A few things why this album is important to me. It was my first compact disc ever so it spent a lot of time on my CD player (since I didn't really own a lot of other albums). …

There are a couple of things on news.weheartmusic.com this week that I'm super excited about. Since there are a million news item, I actually just going to highlight some bands. This week's theme is synth-y music.

INFORMATION SOCIETY
informationsociety.us

I'm actually really excited about hearing this. Information Society is back with a new album. It's said to be a return to the "classic" sound of their debut album (the one with the massive hit song, "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)").

You can hear their new 'longform single' "Land of the Blind", coming out March 4th, 2014 on HAKATAK International, on YouTube.

As much as I love their debut album, personally, between you and me, I am more keen on their Hack album. The reason is because this was my very first Compact Disc and I listened to this all the time at that time period. As you can see, the album made it on my top ten greatest albums.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to checking out their new album _Hello World, which is set to for Summer 2014. As of this writing, I don't have any album or single artwork to show you. This is still early days, be sure to check back for more information on Information Society.

Read More The Faint The Faint is the best of both worlds: blending some horror atmospheric themes with danceable rhythms. Aside from some early technical difficulties, the Faint starts off with some songs from…

THE FAINT
thefaint.com

I saw these guys last year, when they were touring for their Danse Macabre album. Having already seen them a couple of other times, I have to say that this is a great band live. They know their fanbase, they play the hits, but they are not afraid to experiment as well.

The Faint just announced their sixth album Doom Abuse, set for April 8 via SQE Music. Of course, they're also returning on the road in support of the new record.

I cannot speak for the other venues, but just looking at the Minneapolis date, this is a smaller-sized venue (The Fine Line Music Cafe). This will likely sell out in no time, so if you're a Faint fan, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket now. You'll thank me later when it sells out.

The Faint's Upcoming Tour Dates

April 24 - Des Moines, IA @ Wooly's
April 25 - Madison, WI @ Barrymore Theatre
April 26 - St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room
April 27 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
April 30 - Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard
May 1 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
May 2 - Austin, TX @ The Belmont
May 3 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live - Ballroom
May 6 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ The Culture Room
May 7 - Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
May 9 - Jacksonville Beach, FL @ Freebird Live
May 10 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade - Heaven
May 13 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero Theatre
May 14 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Willamsburg
May 16 - Boston, MA @ Royale NightClub
May 17 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
May 19 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
May 20 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
May 22 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
May 23 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
May 24 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Café
May 27 - Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
May 28 - Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
May 30 - Seattle, WA @ Neptune
May 31 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
June 1 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
June 5 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
June 6 - Los Angeles,, CA @ The Roxy Theatre
June 11 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
June 12 - Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
June 13 - Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium

Pull My Hair Back Hyperdub Read More Cut/Copy Cut Copy is currently on a worldwide tour to promote their third album, Zonoscope. Already they have played sold out shows in New York and Washington DC. On April 8th they play to a packed house …

JESSY LANZA
jessylanza.com

Jessy Lanza sold out most of her headlining in January. Like so many bands currently on the road, they are really on their way to Austin's massive SXSW music festival (this year registering over 2,200 official bands).

After SXSW, you can catch Jessy Lanza on tour with synth/dance band Cut/Copy. Lanza will be playing tracks from her debut record, Pull My Hair Back, was released in September 2013 on Hyperdub.

Jessy Lanza 2014 North American Tour Dates

03.05.14 - Spice Factory - Hamilton, ON
03.08.14 - Der Rathskeller - Madison, WI
03.09.14 - Off Broadway - St. Louis, MO
03.13.14 - Resident Advisor Showcase
03.13.14-03.15.14 - SXSW - Austin, TX
03.19.14 - Marathon Music Works - Nashville, TN #
03.20.14 – Echostage - Washington, DC #
03.21.14 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY #
03.22.14 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY #
03.24.14 - Corona Theater - Montreal, QC #
03.25.14 - Town Ballroom - Buffalo, NY #
03.26.14 - Newport Music Hall - Columbus, OH #
03.31.14 - House Of Blues - San Diego, CA #
04.01.14 - Hollywood Palladium - Los Angeles, CA #

# with Cut Copy

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

Catmandu

Walker Art Center Internet Cat Video Festival photo: walkerart.org Read More Keyboard Cat Keyboard Cats T-Shirt: a combination of Keyboard Cat and the Three Wolves T-Shirt New vs Old Belle & Sebastian …

I've always own at least one cat, I can't really imagine living without cats.

Grumpy Cat 2014 Calendar photo: walkerart.org

At the moment, the hottest cat right now is Grumpy Cat. Everybody loves this cat with the permanent frown. Apparently, the cat has its own manager (who also manages other 'cat celebrities' such as Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat.)

Read more The Cat Came Back, Cat Fantastic, A Dream of a Thousand Cats, and When Animals Attack!.

INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL
walkerart.org

I want to say that last year, the Internet Cat Video Festival at the Minnesota State Fair drew in the largest crowd among all the musical attractions.

With that successful debut, the 2nd Internet Cat Video Festival found itself hitting the road on tour. They will be returning to Minneapolis on August 14th, 2014, as a FREE event. We'll probably cover the event when it arrives.

More dates may be added, but these are the ones that are set:

March 2014, SXSW, Austin, TX
May 2014: Great Wall of Oakland, Oakland, CA
June 2014: Hollywood Theater, Portland, OR
August 14, 2014: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

For House Cats And Sea Fans Vicious Circle

ELYSIAN FIELDS
facebook.com/elysianfieldsnyc

Elysian Fields a duo (singer/instrumentalist Jennifer Charles and guitarist Oren Bloedow), they are described as 'noir rock'.

Their ninth full-length album is called For House Cats And Sea Fans, and they'll be heading out on tour in support of it:

03.22.14 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
03.29.14 – Saint-Lo, France @ Le Normandy
03.31.14 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique
04.01.14 – Lille, France @ L’Aeronef
04.02.14 – Paris, France @ Divan du Monde
04.04.14 – Bretigny Sur Orge, France @ Le Rackam
04.05.14 – Dijon, France @ Consortium
04.06.14 – Bern, Switzerland @ Rössli (Reitschule)
04.07.14 – St. Gallen, Switzerland @ Grabenhalle
04.08.14 – Strasbourg, France @ Au Camionneur
04.10.14 – Toulon, PACA @ Théâtre Denis
04.11.14 – Cenon, France @ Le Rocher De Palmer
04.12.14 – Montluçon, France @ Le Guingois
04.13.14 – Toulouse, France @ Connexion Cafe
04.15.14 – Beaumont, France @ Le Tremplin
04.16.14 – Nantes, France @ Le Ferrailleur
04.17.14 – Brest, Bretagne @ La Carène
04.19.14 – Auray, Bretagne @ Les Nuits Soniques
04.23.14 – Düsseldorf, Germany @ Atelier Padao
04.24.14 – Hamburg, Germany @ Kampnagel
04.25.14 – Dortmund, Germany @ Theater Dortmund
04.27.14 – Munich, Germany @ Milla Club
08.16.14 – North Adams, MA @ Mass MoCA

Say Yes to Love Captured Tracks

PERFECT PUSSY
prrfectpussy.bandcamp.com

Perfect Pussy are a noise-punk band from New York. They are excited to be confirmed for NPR's SXSW Showcase on March 12th at Stubb's in Austin. As expected with many of these bands, they tour around SXSW, so the tour is kicking off early March, in support of their debut album Say Yes to Love (coming out March 18 on Captured Tracks). The first 300 copies of the limited edition vinyl are mixed with the blood of singer Meredith Graves, ala KISS (who did a similar thing with their comic book).

Tour dates:

03.04.14 - The Haunt - Ithaca, NY
03.05.14 - Now That's Class - Cleveland, OH
03.06.14 - Freakin' Weekend Festival at The End
03.07.14 - Buccaneer - Memphis, TN
03.09.14 - Festival NRML - Monterrey, MX
03.10.14 - Galaxy Z Fair - McAllen, TX
03.11.14 - Mango's - Houston, TX &
03.12.14 - Stubb's Outside (NPR Official SXSW Showcase) %
03.14.14 - Red 7 (Chaos in Tejas Official SXSW Showcase) - Austin, TX #
03.16.14 - Padre's (Free Show) - Marfa, TX
03.17.14 - Wall Street - Phoenix, AZ @
03.18.14 - Che Cafe - San Diego, CA
03.19.14 - Bootleg Bar - Los Angeles, CA
03.20.14 - East 7th St Warehouse - Los Angeles, CA
03.21.14 - Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco, CA
03.22.14 - Slabtown - Portland, OR
03.23.14 - Treefort Music Festival - Boise, ID
03.24.14 - Vera Project - Seattle, WA
03.25.14 - Cobalt - Vancouver, BC
03.27.14 - Tubby Dog - Calgary, AB
03.28.14 - German Club - Regina, SK
03.29.14 - Dead Lobster - Winnipeg, MB
03.30.14 - 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, MN ^
04.01.14 - Township - Chicago, IL
04.02.14 - Ace of Cups - Columbus, OH
04.03.14 - The Shop - Pittsburgh, PA
04.04.14 - Death By Audio - Brooklyn, NY ~
04.05.14 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY +
04.24.14 - The Middle East (Downstairs) - Boston, MA *
04.25.14 - First Unitarian Church (Basement) - Philadelphia, PA *
04.26.14 - DC9 - Washington, DC *
04.27.14 - Gallery 5 Arts - Richmond, VA *
04.28.14 - King's Barcade - Raleigh, NC *
04.29.14 - Mammal Gallery - Atlanta, GA *
04.30.14 - Bottletree - Birmingham, AL *
05.03.14 - Hotel Vegas - Austin, TX $
05.05.14 - Conservatory - Oklahoma City, OK *
05.07.14 - Sweatshop - Omaha, NE *
05.08.14 - Gabe's Oasis - Iowa City, IA *
05.09.14 - Shakespeare's Lower Level - Kalamazoo, MI $
05.10.14 - Trumbullplex - Detroit, MI *

& w/ Ex Hex and Connections
% w/ Damon Albarn, St. Vincent and Kelis
# w/ Destruction Unit and The Gotobeds
@ w/ Gay Kiss
^ w/ Condiminium
~ w/ Total Slacker and Friendless Bummer
+ w/ Tumul and Green Dreams
* w/ YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN and Green Dreams
$ w/ Green Dreams

The Violet Hour KittyWu Records

MONSTER CAT
monstercat.net

Monster Cat is a Singapore trio consists of singer Hentai Cat, guitarist Psycho Cat, and drummer Meta Cat. Their record label, KittyWu Records, will be releasing their debut full-length album The Violet Hour this March 3rd.

Even before the upcoming album, the band had already gained success with Artist Of The Week on MTV’s global indie music site, MTV Iggy, as well as opened for the Noisettes, The Naked and Famous, Metronomy, and The Jezabels.

Monster Cat will be touring in support of the new album, look for them in China at the JUE Festival (along with The Lumineers, Baths, Lee Ranaldo, And So I Watch You From Afar), and in Australia and Europe for the year 2014.

BRIEFLY:

KAT KRAZY katkrazymusic.com Kat Krazy is an electronic musician/DJ/remixer/producer. He recently remixed "Sleeping With a Friend" by Neon Tree. The original mix of the song will be coming out on Neon Tree's album Pop Psychology, coming out April 22nd. Hear the Kat Krazy remix on soundcloud.com.

POETICAT poeticat.co.uk Poeticat are from London, Lisbon and Basildon. Their new single, "3rd Arm", just dropped this week (February 24th). You can hear the track on soundcloud.com. Their final residency at the Windmill in Brixon is taking place February 28th.

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

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

The Speed of Things Warner Bros. Read More Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. will be releasing a special Black Friday Black Vinyl edition of their record The Speed of Things. The standard edition was released earlier in October via Warner Bros. …

Since their formation in 2009, Detroit band Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. have been picking up more and more speed as they make their way into the limelight.

Produce (Mixtape Vol. 1)

Currently headlining a North American tour, which began earlier this month, the duo is out promoting their second album, The Speed of Things. Though just released last fall, the band has not taken any time off in producing fun musical treats. Just last month the group debuted a music video for their single “Run” and right before they left for tour, a 16-track mixtape entitled “Produce (Mixtape Vol. 1)” was released on SoundCloud.



Coming from someone who has seen Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. perform live several times (and would definitely see them again), their shows are not to be missed: lots of fun lights and projections, high (you can take that figuratively and/or literally) energy, and calculated, but experimental, good music.

Tour dates:

02/24 Launchpad* Albuquerque, NM 02/25 Club Congress* Tucson, AZ 02/27 Casbah* San Diego, CA 02/28 El Rey Theatre* Los Angeles, CA 03/01 The Fillmore* San Francisco, CA 03/03 Doug Fir Lounge* Portland, OR 03/05 Neumos* Seattle, WA 03/07 The State Room* Salt Lake City, UT 03/08 Bluebird Theater* Denver, CO 03/10 The Bottleneck* Lawrence, KS 03/12 Fine Line Music Café* Minneapolis, MN

03/13 Turner Hall* Milwaukee, WI 03/14 Metro* Chicago, IL 03/15 A and R Music Bar* Columbus, OH 03/18 The Hoxton* Toronto, ON 03/19 Showcase Lounge* South Burlington, VT 03/20 Brighton Music Hall* Boston, MA 03/21 9:30 Club* Washington, DC 03/22 Mr. Smalls Theatre* Milvale, PA 03/23 Jefferson Theatre* Charlottesville, VA 03/24 Union Transfer* Philadelphia, PA 03/26 Webster Hall* New York, NY

* On tour with Chad Valley

justina ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ daleearnhardtjrjr.com

SXSW 2014 Preview, Round 1

SXSW 2014 Read More SXSW It's that time of the year again: SXSW pre-announcements. Expect to hear nothing but SXSW bands from now until April. Vu, Brody and Rebecca Ann Henry (RAH) on W♥M Radio this week, to talk SXSW. …

South by Southwest (SXSW) is taking place March 7-16, 2014. The music portion takes place on the last week (March 11-16).

The massive music festival is the highest revenue-generating event for the city of Austin, Texas, beating out Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo and Austin City Limits. So, SXSW is here to stay and will continue to grow.

Buying a standard music badge right now for SXSW 2014 is about $800 dollars. I don't know who has the money or can afford these prices, and the dirty secret is no one really needs to pay that much. From my own personal experience, just pay for the venue's fee, which are often FREE or under $10. If you're conservative, you'll never spend more than $60 on music shows when you're there.

This year, over 2,200 bands are playing at SXSW. Those are just the official numbers, every year the unofficial showcases grow in numbers as well. With so many bands and so many options, the only crime is deciding who you can't see.

Trivia: The festival inspired a ton of other similar music festivals, including NXNE (Toronto), NXNW (Portland, now called MFNW), NX35 (now called 35 Denton), and ZXZE (now called Incubate).

Below are some SXSW showcases. Most of these were already announced on news.weheartmusic.com.

Martika at the Big Fresno Fair, Fresno (October 1988)

Read More Denise Lopez Break out your Martika, Menudo, Selena, and Cover Girls records because Denise Lopez is back with the Don't You Wanna Be Mine dance single..…

I know I said my first concert was Matthew Sweet, that was a show I actually sought out and paid to go see.

My earliest memory is actually seeing Martika at the Big Fresno Fair in Fresno, California, in October 1988.

I tried looking online to find out more information about this event, absolutely nothing about this is online. An old magazine archive article is online, but they want you to pay a fee to access it. I'm not paying $19.95 a month to read 2 lines of data! It's not worth it, and I feel information and knowledge should be free.

What I could dig up, it seems that 1988 was a big turnout with 587,264 in attendance. According to Amusement Business‎ magazine (published November 11, 1989), the 1989 sales figures were $1,737,019 at the gate. Adult admission was $5 while children and seniors were $2. Also, a significant amount of money was generated by parking charges, totaling $491,250. Just minus about 10% and you'll have the 1988 figures.

This is purely guesses, but I believe the musicians appearing at the Big Fresno Fair were:

1987 The Jets
1988 Martika
1989 Oak Ridge Boys
1990 Santana

Toy Soldiers Columbia Records

Anyway, when I saw Martika, she was the hottest thing on the radio at the time, with her massive hit single "Toy Soldiers". There were massive interests in her appearance at the Big Fresno Fair on television and on the radio. I believe she was the main reason why many of us went to see the Fair that year.

I only remember two songs from her set, which was the big "Toy Soldiers" single and also a cover of "I Feel The Earth Move".

Looking over her website, it seems Martika is still around and relatively active in the music industry. She was in Oppera, with her husband in 2005 and toured with Pat Benatar.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

together PANGEA at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (02/21/14)

together PANGEA at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (02/21/14) Tour Poster Setlist Sick Sh** No Feelin' Badillac Going Out Of My Mind White Man's Burden (Natural Child) Offer Diamond Too Drunk To Cum River Gates of Heaven (The Dad Horse Experience ) -- Encore -- Breed (Nirvana) Read More together PANGEA Together Pangea w/ Mozes And The Firstborn We actually wrote about the tagteam of Together Pangea and Mozes and the Firstborn yesterday, so I won't spend too much time re-introducing them. …

"Thanks for braving that sh** outside," said singer William Keegan, "I guess if you live here, you guys are used to it." This winter's been brutal, even for Minnesota. For the hardcore together PANGEA fans, they came out, they showed up, and they don't give a f**** about the ice and snow.

Opening up the show were local Frankie Teardrop and the Netherland's Mozes and the Firstborn. The latter said this was their first time in Minneapolis (possibly their first major U.S. tour).

Mozes and the Firstborn

Most of their brief set was taken from their self-titled debut album (which came out last week) and a few from their I Got Skills EP, including the title track and 'Waiting for Something New'. What made their set remarkable was after Mozes and the Firstborn ended their set and said goodbye, the audience were chanting/demanding "One more song! One more song!" I've seen this happen a few times, but it's quite rare for openers to come back on stage. But that's exactly what happened, Mozes and the Firstborn came back on stage and did a quick one-minute song called 'Wannabe'. I guess they do have 'skills'.

together PANGEA is currently on tour in support of Badillac, but surprisingly very few new songs, like the title track, were played. Instead, they did three covers, including a 'reggae' version of 'Gates of Heaven', plus a few odds and ends. In fact, their entire set was only about 35 minute long (discounting the encore). That's fine, I don't think anyone minded (and personally, between you and me, I don't like hearing "new" stuff all the time).

The laid-back California band has a very punk/DIY attitude to their music. Their fans in the front went nuts/moshing for the faster song, particularly at the encore (Nirvana's 'Breed') where they were bodysurfing, possibly inspired by Keegan stage diving on their finale cover song, 'Gates of Heaven'.

together PANGEA is currently on tour with Mozes and the Firstborn, if you're into a little psychedelic, punk, 'burger rock', this is a fantastic pairing. Expect to find both bands at the massive SXSW Music Festival this March 2014.

Remaining tour dates:

02/22 - Kansas City, KS @ Record Bar
02/24 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
02/25 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
02/26 - Boise, ID @ Flying M Coffee
02/27 - Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
03/02 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza
03/05 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill

together PANGEA at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (02/21/14)

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

Prince at KOKO, London (02/16/14) - Second Show

photo: koko.uk.com Second Show - Setlist Let's Go Crazy Endorphinmachine She's Always in My Hair The Love We Make Take Me With U Raspberry Beret Guitar Plectrum Electrum FixUrLifeUp When Doves Cry Nasty Girl (Vanity 6 cover) Sign “☮” the Times I Would Die 4 U Pop Life Housequake The Most Beautiful Girl in the World A Love Bizarre / Love Mr. Goodnight Breakfast Can Wait The Screams of Passion (The Family cover) 17 Days 777-9311 (The Time cover) Funknroll Lost & Found (Lianne La Havas cover) Something in the Water (Does Not Compute) Purple Rain Train in Vain (The Clash cover) Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover) Bambi Crimson & Clover (Tommy James & the Shondells cover) Stratus (Billy Cobham cover) Cause & Effect Screwdriver Dreamer How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore U Got the Look information from setlist.fm Read More Prince Prince has decided to drop the lawsuit. According to tmz.com, because "the bootleggers have now taken down the illegal downloads and are no longer engaging in piracy." …

Step aside William and Harry, there’s a new Prince in town! His Purpleness, backed by band 3rdEyeGirl, has been popping up all over London in a series of surprise shows.

Alluding to events on his Twitter feed or announcing day-of, his Purple Majesty is pulling out all stops to build the hype and create frenzy around where he’ll appear next.

Last Sunday morning, Prince announced three surprise shows at Camden venue, KOKO. No pre-sale ticket, price unknown, and the KOKO website stated, “We have no further details at this point in time”, but to all Prince fans the message was clear: Get to the venue & queue up!

Upon my arrival, it was hard not to chuckle as the queue already exceeded eight blocks. I was immediately greeted by a man with a swirly mustache and a Sharpie; he asked for my hand and wrote: 1,269. This was brilliant, as it created a calm in the massive line, and allowed people to freely leave and return with food and drink. Differing from Prince’s previous London hit-n-run shows of £10, it was announced that this one would be £70 cash at the door; this deterred few.

As the hours passed, pizzas and beers floated throughout the queue in a neighbourly way. People sang, and when others discovered I was a born and bred Minnesotan, they hugged me like kin. As the first show concluded, people exited the venue skipping, giddy, and smiling with a childlike glee that only radiates from paying witness to something profound.

After six hours in the queue, I was in! Seven people deep, centre stage with the glittering Prince symbol standing before me. What happened next is hard to describe unless you’ve seen Prince, and then you just know. You are basking in the presence of a star. Beyond the fog machine, the strobe lights, and all the glam, the small man on the stage fills the room with a presence that is bursting. The man is unstoppable.

Playing a perfect mash-up of new funk songs and classic favourites, Prince brought the house down with When Doves Cry, Raspberry Beret, and Purple Rain. The connection, energy, and mutual appreciation between musician and crowd felt like we were founding a new language. With only 350 people queued for the third show, Prince chose to combine the second and third shows, playing for well over three hours with too many encores to count.

This marked a night I will remember for the rest of my life. If you’re in London, keep your ear to the street, your eye on Twitter, and get to one of these shows! It is worth its weight in Pounds and you’ll be repaid with an experience that will leave you gleaming and longing for another taste of royalty.

Prince at KOKO, London (02/16/14) Note: Prince does not allow photographs at his show, picture shown here is the venue's exterior

kira ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic