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Going Batty

Read more When Animals Attack.

Read More Bat for Lashes Bat for Lashes is currently back in the U.S. to tour with Depeche Mode, but in between those dates, the band booked a few headlining side shows. Not surprising since they did a similar deal when they played Coachella.…

BAT FOR LASHES
batforlashes.com

The beautiful Natasha Khan (aka Bat For Lashes) will be releasing her new album The Bride via Parlophone/Warner Bros. Records on July 1, 2016. The album’s lead single “I Do” premiered last month to rapturous response while suggesting a bridal theme. The album’s second preview, “In God’s House,” continues with the mysterious narrative ....

The story of the Bride is about a woman whose fiancé has been killed in a crash on the way to the church for their wedding. The Bride flees the scene to take the honeymoon trip alone, resulting in a dark meditation on love, loss, grief, and celebration.

Bat For Lashes will be playing select, special shows for The Bride in between festival appearances at Coachella and Governor's Ball. Fans will get a chance to hear The Bride performed for the first time at these special small shows - which will include appearances at churches (to fit in the ‘bride’ theme) throughout North America and England.

The Bride invites all attendees of these special church shows to wear wedding/formal attire for the occasion... for guys a three-piece suit, for ladies, probably white dresses, etc. A portion of proceeds from these shows will benefit the David Lynch Foundation, whose mission is to bring Transcendental Meditation to at-risk populations around the world.

Upcoming Shows:

06/01/16 Brooklyn, NY St. Ann's Church
06/05/16 Governors Ball Music Festival
09/02/16 End Of The Road Festival

Read More Fruit Bats If you are looking for a laid back collection of summer tracks then I suggest you look no further than The Ruminant Band by the Fruit Bats. …

FRUIT BATS
fruitbatsmusic.com

Absolute Loser is Fruit Bats’ follow up to 2011's Tripper and it represents a triumphant return to name, form, and self. The record is out now on Easy Sound and was recorded by Thom Monahan who has a long relationship with band leader Eric D. Johnson.

We previously caught Fruit Bats in 2015 and wrote, “The set featured lots of cuts from the last two Fruit Bats records 2009’s The Ruminant Band (“Primitive Man,” “Feather Bed”) and 2011’s Tripper (“So Long,” “You’re Too Weird”) as well as some brand-spankin’ new songs from the next record, to be released sometime next year. Johnson’s honeyed voice was perfect, rivaled only by the dreamy strum of Barker’s guitar and gentle whirr of Klippert’s keyboards.”

Upcoming Shows:

May 22 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar +
May 24 - Austin, TX - The Parish +
May 25 - Dallas, TX - Three Links +
May 27 - MeadowGrass Music Festival 2016
May 28 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
May 29 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
May 31 - Des Moines, IA - Wooly's ~
June 1 - Indianapolis, IN - The Hi-Fi ~
June 2 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen ~
June 3-4 - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Music Festival
June 5 - Chicago, IL - Do Division
Jun 10-11 - Sonoma, CA - Huichica
July 22 - Newport, RI - Newport Folk Festival
August 5-7 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon Music Festival

+= w/ Kyle Craft
~= w/ Andy C. Jenkins

Read More Hooded Fang Toronto's Hooded Fang is currently in America doing some dates for the month of June in support of their album, Gravez, which was released in late May on Full Time Hobby Records. …

HOODED FANG
hoodedfang.com

Toronto’s Hooded Fang is back with their new album Venus On Edge, which recently came out May 13 via the band’s own Daps Records.

Catch the band (singer/songwriter Daniel Lee, guitarist Lane Halley, bassist April Aliermo, and drummer D.Alex Meeks) this summer on their Canadian national tour.

Tour Dates:

May 31 Montreal, QC - La Plante
June 01 Kingston, ON - The Mansion
June 02 Hamilton, ON - This Ain't Hollywood
June 03 Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern
June 04 Guelph, ON - Kazoo! Fest
June 04 London, ON - Call the Office
July 29 Halifax, NS - Seahorse
July 30 Sackville, NB - Sappy Fest
August 01 Charlottetown, PEI - Baba's Lounge
August 04 Fredricton, NB - Reneu
August 12 Sudbury, ON - Up Fest
August 19 Ottawa, ON - Arboretum Festival

BAT HOUSE
bathouse.net

Boston’s indie-psych-math rock quartet Bat House will be stopping by Lee’s Liquor Lounge in Minneapolis this week (May 26th), in support of their forthcoming self-titled LP (to be released this Summer 2016).

They recently previewed their new single “Patterns” via soundcloud.com.

Upcoming Shows:

5/25 - Des Moines, IA - The Basement
5/26 - Minneapolis, MN - Lee's Liquor Lounge
5/27 - Duluth, MN - Red Herring Lounge
6/2 - Rock Island, IL - Rozz-Tox
6/3 - Evansville, IN - PG Cafe
6/4 - Bloomington, IN - The Blockhouse
6/7 - Bowling Green, KY - FFOYA House
6/8 - Louisville, KY - The Cure Lounge
6/9 - Nashville, TN - Nostromo House
6/10 - Chatanooga, TN - JJ's Bohemia
6/11 - Atlanta, GA - TBD
6/12 - Tallahassee, FL - The Terror Fish House
6/14 - Birmingham, AL - Desert Island Company
6/15 - Athens, GA -Flicker Bar
6/16 - TBA
6/17 - Athens, OH - Hardcore House of RBG
6/18 - Erie, PA - Kings Rook Club
6/19 - Boston, MA - Middle East
6/23 - Brooklyn, NY - The Rock Shop

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Vampires

Read More Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend must be very pleased with themselves. I mean, these guys were on SNL, on the cover of Spin Magazine, and overall huge support from MPR ... so basically these guys are probably the most overhyped band.…

VAMPIRE WEEKEND
vampireweekend.com

Back in 2008, I called Vampire Weekend the most overhyped band, and I think in some ways they still are. The venue they played at obviously sold out, and seeing that they've booked The Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, which by the definition of the old style theaters have limited seating. I think if they kept ticket prices lower, it would sell out immediately… but we'll see. As of this writing, the cheapest seat I see is $54 (not including other miscellaneous charges) on the balcony. However, you can argue that this is one of the "small" venues on their regular Festivals stops. One thing is for sure, I'm glad I caught them very early in their career.

Anyway, the New York band is back with a third album called Modern Vampires of the City, out now on XL Recordings. The story behind this is that after their Contra album, the band toured and wrote a ton of new material during their time spent at soundchecks. Then everyone got sidetracked … but now after two years, the album is done and done and it debut on the US Billboard 200 selling over 130k copies in the first week… the band's second number-one album.

Yes, expect the new songs from Modern Vampires of the City on their summer tour:

06/23/13 Firefly Music Festival 06/30/13 Glastonbury Festival 07/04/13 Rock Werchter Festival 07/06/13 London Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 07/12/13 Optimus Alive! Festival 07/13/13 Bilbao BBK Live Festival 07/16/13 Berlin - Tempodrom 07/19/13 Gentlemen Of The Road 07/20/13 Longitude 07/26/13 Ansan Valley Rock Festival 07/28/13 Fuji Rock Festival 08/02/13 Osheaga Festival 08/04/13 Lollapalooza 08/05/13 Minneapolis, MN Orpheum 08/07/13 Calgary, AB S Alberta Jubilee

08/09/13 Squamish Music Festival 08/11/13 Outside Lands Music 09/05/13 Ottawa Folk Festival 09/07/13 Boston Calling 09/15/13 iTunes Festival 09/20/13 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center 09/28/13 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl 10/04/13 Austin City Limits Music Festival 10/05/13 Austin City Limits Music Festival 10/06/13 Austin City Limits Music Festival 10/08/13 Kansas City, MO Midland 10/11/13 Austin City Limits Music Festival 10/12/13 Austin City Limits Music Festival 10/13/13 Austin City Limits Music Festival 10/13/13 Corona Capital Festival

Read More Wampire Wampire's "Trains" is the latest single, taken from their album Curiosity (Polyvinyl Records). The strange Portland duo (?) is currently on tour with STRFKR and will be playing their first-ever UK date in London on June 18th. .…

WAMPIRE
wampiremusic.com

Sure, I've already mentioned Wampire here, but did you know they're heading out on tour with Smith Westerns? Now you know!

07/03 Portland, OR - Holocene
07/20 Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall *
07/21 Nashville, TN - Exit/In *
07/23 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
07/24 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
07/26 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer *
07/27 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair *
07/28 Montreal, QC - Cabaret Mile End *
07/29 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace *
07/31 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall *
08/05 Kansas City, MO - The Riot Room *
08/06 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre *
08/07 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *
08/10 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre *
08/11 Pomona, CA - The Glass House *
08/12 San Diego, CA - The Casbah *
08/16 Seattle, WA - The Crocodile Cafe *
08/17 Vancouver, BC - Electric Owl *

* = w/ Smith Westerns

Read More My Bloody Valentine Amy and I were talking about My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields working on a new album? Well, it happened, he's finally released his third My Bloody Valentine album called mbv .…

MY BLOODY VALENTINE
mybloodyvalentine.net

Still riding that nostalgia train, Kevin Shields and company are doing massive festivals this year in support of mbv album … yes the album that had a 22-year gap since Loveless.

At this point, I've come to the conclusion that I will never see MBV, due to expensive ticket prices and locations.

07/07/13 Les Eurockeennes de Belfort
07/13/13 T In The Park
07/26/13 Fuji Rock Festival
07/27/13 Ansan Valley Rock Festival
08/04/13 OFF Festival
08/06/13 Vienna, Austria Arena
08/08/13 Terraneo Festival
08/10/13 Flow Festival
08/16/13 Austin, TX Austin Music Hall
08/17/13 Grand Prairie, TX Verizon Theatre
08/19/13 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
08/21/13 Seattle, WA WaMu Theater
08/23/13 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic
08/25/13 FYF Festival
08/30/13 Electric Picnic
09/03/13 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique
09/05/13 Cologne, Germany Live Music Hall
09/07/13 Berlin Festival
09/08/13 Munich, Germany Tonhalle
10/30/13 Luxembourg, Luxembourg Rockhal
10/31/13 Eindhoven, Netherlands Effenaar
11/03/13 Lille, France Aeronef

Read More Surfer Blood Next up was Surfer Blood, who started their set with a vengeful song, "Floating Vibes". I was surprised to learn that the band has been to Minneapolis five times and that they were surprisingly very good. .…

SURFER BLOOD
surferblood.com

You know, I caught Surfer Blood opening up for Foals this year and I have to say - they are quite good! I hope they come back to Minneapolis soon, from what they've said on stage, they must have been here at least five or six times.

Anyway, Surfer Blood's second full-length album Pythons is out now on Warner Bros./Kanine Records. The band is currently on tour in support of the record, see tour dates below:

Jun 21 Hilvarenbeek, IL – Best Kept Secret
July 11 Santa Monica, CA – Santa Monica Pier
July 24 Melbourne, AU – Splendour in the Grass
July 26 Sydney, AU – North Byron Festival
Aug 9-11 San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands
Aug 15 Hasselt, BE – Pukkelpop
Aug 23 Reading, UK – Reading Festival
Aug 24 Leeds, UK – Leeds Festival
Aug 25 Paris, FR – Rock en Seine
Sept 08 Sacramento, CA – Launch Music Festival
Sept 14 Chicago, IL – Riot Fest

Read More Deap Vally Check out Deap Vally on tour, they are promoting their Get Deap! EP, but be sure to check out their song on the "True Blood" soundtrack, also out this month. .…

TRUE BLOOD: MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES VOLUME 4
www.atorecords.com

Did you catch the first episode of Season 6 of HBO's "True Blood"? Season 5 ended on a big cliffhanger, so I'm curious about how they will resolve that naked woman's blood and the hallucinations…

In the meantime, a few weeks ago, the latest True Blood: Music From The HBO Original Series Volume 4 was released courtesy of ATO Records.

If you watch the show, you know that the soundtrack is amazing! As a cover lover, I really dig these modern takes on classic this, like "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Eric Burdon and Jenny Lewis or "(She's a) Wanderer" by Deap Vally.

Also, for the first time ever, the soundtrack was released on vinyl.

Track listing:

1. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Eric Burdon with Jenny Lewis
2. Let’s Boot and Rally – Iggy Pop with Bethany Cosentino
3. What Makes A Good Man? The Heavy
4. Smokestack Lightnin’ – Howlin’ Wolf
5. Pocket Change – Alabama Shakes
6. Authority Song – Bosco Delrey
7. Turn Turn Turn – My Morning Jacket
8. Your Face Can Tell The Future – The Flaming Lips
9. The Sun – The Naked and Famous
10. Undertow – Warpaint
11. I Wanna Be Your Man – Mobley
12. {She’s A) Wanderer – Deap Vally
13. Whatever I Am, You Made Me – Koko Taylor
14. We’ll Meet Again – Los Lobos

Read More The Fruit Bats If you are looking for a laid back collection of summer tracks then I suggest you look no further than The Ruminant Band by the Fruit Bats. Eric D. Johnson, singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, led me on a journey to the heart of the summer. . .…

TIMBER! MUSIC FESTIVAL
www.timbermusicfest.com

Timber! Music Festival is taking place this July 26 & 27, 2013 at King County’s Tolt-MacDonald Park in Washington.

Some of the headliners are Helio Sequence, The Fruit Bats, Quasi, Noah Gundersen, Lemolo, Bryan John, etc., full listing below.

According to the press release, ticketholders will enter Timber! through a long suspension bridge … which admittedly, I can only imagine a massive exit through the same bridge!

Timber! Music Festival Full Artistic Lineup

Helio Sequence
Fruit Bats
Quasi
Noah Gundersen
Lemolo
Bryan John Appleby
Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers
Kithkin
Hobosexual (Vu's notes: hahahahahaha)
River Giant
Baltic Cousins
S (Jenn Ghetto)
Avians Alight
Vikesh Kapoor
Pablo Trucker
Ten Speed Music
Passenger String Quartet
Jacob Miller & The Bridge City Crooners
Ben Fisher
Nu Klezmer Army

HOODED FANG
hoodedfang.com

Toronto's Hooded Fang is currently in America doing some dates for the month of June in support of their album, Gravez, which was released in late May on Full Time Hobby Records.

Check out "Bye Bye Land", which was probably the song they sang leaving Canada.



Talking about the influences on recording Gravez, bassist April Aliermo reveals, they've eaten "crocodile balls". No need to elaborate… but she continues with "…slept on floors and couches, watched TV and movies, and looked out the window in between. All this steady instability must have influenced Gravez."

What is left of their tour:

06/21 Los Angeles, CA -Viper Room
06/23 San Diego, CA - Soda Bar

COFFINS
coffins.jp

Japan's COFFINS has a new album called The Fleshland, coming out July 9, 2013, on Relapse Records.

The album is available in a variety of formats, like CD, double LP, and deluxe edition only available through Relapse mailorder (cover artwork is a black and white).

The doom metal band is currently on tour:

6/22/2013 Urga - Tokyo, Japan
7/28/2013 Earthdom - Tokyo, Japan
8/07/2013 Cassiopeia - Berlin, Germany
8/08/2013 Brutal Assault Festival - Josefov, CZ
8/09/2013 Party San Metal Open Air
8/10/2013 Leperfest - Leper, Belgium
8/11/2013 Bleh Fest @ Unicorn Camden
8/12/2013 La Miroiterie - Paris, France
8/14/2013 Winston - Amsterdam, Netherlands
8/15/2013 Kødboderne 18 - Copenhagen
8/16/2013 Pussy A Go Go - Stockholm, Sweden
8/23/2013 Akihabara Ongakukan - Tokyo, Japan
11/01/2013 Kurawood/Asakusa - Tokyo, Japan
11/02/2013 Earthdom - Tokyo, Japan
11/03/2013 Huck Finn/Imaike - Nagoya, Japan
11/04/2013 Conpass/Unagidani - Osaka, Japan

WISE BLOOD
chrislaufman.com

Wise Blood is basically Pittsburgh's Christopher Laufman, who made a splash in 2011 via music blogs ( Pitchfork, The Fader, Stereogum, just to name a few), and now is back with a debut album called id, coming out this June 25th on Dovecote Records. The album release party is listed below:

6/25 - Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands

Check out "Alarm" track via Soundcloud.



Audio not your thing? No problem, check out his video for "Rat" on Youtube.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com