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The Sounds

Weekend Metronome Records Read More The Sounds This is perhaps the sexiest album cover art I've seen in a long time. You get this feeling of a hot Summer's night at a bar or a club in New York... these two girls are with friends and just very casually whispering some secrets … Blondfire Blondfire, a band that seemed a little out of place in this dance/rock crowd. As you know, we were also lucky enough to catch them at the sparsely-attended Nether Bar in October. The band just released their Where The Kids Are… Ghost Beach We've previously seen Ghost Beach live when they played here in Minneapolis. At the time, the New York duo was touring in support of Modern Tongues Remixed, and it would seem that they've also recently released Miracle …

The Sounds are a Swedish rock band, who has often been compared to Blondie and The Cars. The band will be heading to America in support of their latest album Weekend, which came out November 2013 via Metronome Records.

Having sold out a handful of dates in the US and Canada in October, The Sounds will be back on a more expanded tour for North America. Lead singer Maja Ivarsson is really looking forward to the U.S. shows, "We are so grateful that you guys love having us here, because we love playing here. We've always had such a loyal fan base over here. It always feels really great to come back to America. Whether we even have an album out or not, we have such great fans who allow us to play big venues which is such a blessing for a band."

The tour will eventually end up with Blondfire and Ghost Beach, who will join The Sounds starting April 10th to April 21st. We have seen both bands live, so it should be a great mix of Sounds/Blondfire/Ghost Beach bill (too bad Minneapolis won't get the triple-threat).

The Sounds' Spring 2014 tour dates:

03/18 Vancouver Venue
03/19 Seattle Neumos
03/20 Portland Star Theater
03/21 San Francisco The Regency Ballroom
03/22 Los Angeles Club Nokia
03/25 San Diego House of Blues
03/26 Santa Ana The Observatory
03/28 Las Vegas House Of Blues
03/29 Salt Lake City In The Venue
03/30 Denver Gothic Theatre
04/01 Minneapolis Fine Line Music Cafe
04/02 Chicago Metro
04/03 Toronto Hoxton
04/04 Quebec City Imperial de Quebec
04/05 Montreal Corona Theatre
04/07 Brooklyn Music Hall of Williamsburg
04/08 Philadelphia Union Transfer
04/10 New York City Webster Hall
04/11 Providence Fete Ballroom
04/12 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
04/14 Atlanta Terminal West
04/15 Tampa State Theatre
04/16 Miami Grand Central
04/18 Dallas Granada Theater
04/19 Austin Emos
04/21 Houston Fitzgeralds

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ the-sounds.com

Foals at First Avenue, Minneapolis (05/20/13)

Setlist Tour Dates 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 all dates with Surfer Blood and Blondfire Read More Foals Just to give you a horse lesson, a foal is a horse that is under one year old. When a horse has its first birthday, it is then a yearling. With that out of the way, Foals are an Oxford band that seems popular with the NME youth.…

"Are you ready? Because you don't sound f****ing ready!," yelled Foals' singer Yannis Philippakis as he worked the crowd. Foals rocked hard at First Avenue in Minneapolis last night to a group of young British rock music fans.

BLONDFIRE

Kicking off the show was Blondfire, a band that seemed a little out of place in this dance/rock crowd. As you know, we were also lucky enough to catch them at the sparsely-attended Nether Bar in October.

The band just released their Warner Bros. Records' Where The Kids Are late last year, so they played a few songs off the EP, including "Waves" (which had singer Erica Driscoll put on a guitar to play the song) and the title track "Where The Kids Are" (which they closed out their brief set).

The most interesting song on their set was a cover of Fleetwood Mac's most well-known song, "Dreams". The song seemed lost on the mostly younger audience.

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.

Since I've never seen the Floridian band before, I can only guess that they're taking a page from Foals and doing their best 'rock' thing: singer John Paul Pitts does that audience invasion-thing while guitarist Thomas Fekete is playing guitars with his mouth!

They ended their set with "Weird Shapes", which is the lead single from their forthcoming Pythons album.

As for Foals, please refer to the setlist for the songs played. The band kept their high energy throughout the set with singer Yannis Philippakis going into the crowd (several times!) and standing on top of speakers.

Encores included "Moon", "Inhaler", and "Two Steps, Twice". Two of which were taken from their new album Holy Fire , while ending with a fan-favorite "Two Steps, Twice" from their debut album Antidotes

Foals at First Avenue, Minneapolis (05/20/13)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ foals.co.uk ♥ blondfire.com ♥ surferblood.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

Free: Nokia Music, Sound+Vision, Coliseum of Comics, Glass Theory, Crystal Ship

Read More Spotify Ryan was raving about the service back in 2009, three years later, Spotify finally comes to the USA. So, I have an account, I've been playing around with it......

NOKIA MUSIC
nokia-music.com

As you know, I am one of those rare people that dislike Spotify. The problem with free version of Spotify is that you're tied to your computer. Most people listen to music on their mobile device, such as a modern phone.

If you have a Nokia Lumia phone, the good news is that you can get Nokia Music, an advertisement-free. Also, an added perk is that it doesn't require you to sign in, it is complete free, unlimited plays, and best of all, you can listen to it offline. I don't actually have a Nokia phone, but reading about Nokia Music, I really want to switch phones just to check out this service.

Recently Nokia Music announced a new music documentary series, featuring six short films about the music landscape in six cities from independent directors Abteen Bagheri, Emily Kai Bok, Bob Harlow and Tyrone Lebon.

Jyrki Rosenberg, Global Head and VP, Nokia Entertainment had this to say about the upcoming project, "Music has always inspired various forms of pop culture and since music and film have always gone hand in hand, the idea to produce a music documentary came naturally. We are also excited to work with these emerging filmmakers and see America's different music scenes through their eyes. We look forward to shedding some light on music communities that are rarely put in the spotlight."

Look for the Nokia Music documentaries to air on Sundance Channel in January 2013.

BRIEFLY:

SOUND+VISION soundvisionmn.webs.com This record show happening tomorrow, November 17th, at the Inside Valley Creek Mall in Woodbury, Minnesota. Attendees can get a chance to get free advance screening for "Hitchcock" and a pair of tickets to see Kathy Griffin (show at the State Theater on December 1st). In addition to the music shopping, the free show also includes comics, movies, and collectibles. You usually find baseball cards or various pop culture items at this sort of show.

COLISEUM OF COMICS coliseumofcomics.com One of my favorite artists, George Perez (artist from Crisis on Infinite Earths, JLA/Avengers, and Teen Titans), will be appearing at the fourth anniversary of the Coliseum of Comics store in Sanford, Florida. If you live in the area, you should check it out. If you want to commission a quick headshot of your favorite comic book character, Perez is currently charging $40. It used to be cheaper, but then the Canadians ruined it.

GLASS THEORY facebook.com We've mentioned Blondfire a few times, so I thought I'd throw this in briefly. Glass Theory (real name Jack Duff) just released a "sensual EDM remix" of Blondfire's song "Where The Kids Are." You can hear the song on Soundcloud:

THE CRYSTAL SHIP soundcloud.com The Crystal Ship (real name Sebastian Altamirano) is a producer/DJ/remixer from Buenos Aires. You can hear "Isolation" on Soundcloud. The song is described as "nudisco" (I know it is "new disco", but it just looks like "nude disco"):

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Gold Fields at Nether Bar, Minneapolis (10/13/12)

W♥M153: Gold Fields (6 mins) Tour Dates 10/14 Chicago, IL Subterranean 10/16 Columbus, OH The Basement 10/17 New York, NY CMJ 2012 10/18 New York, NY CMJ 2012 10/19 New York, NY CMJ 2012 10/20 New York, NY CMJ 2012 10/26 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle* 10/27 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry* 10/28 Madison, WI The Frequency* 10/29 Nashville, TN Marathon Music Works * 10/30 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway Nightclub* 10/31 Nashville, TN The High Watt* 11/01 New Orleans, LA Circle Bar* 11/03 Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Fest 11/04 Tucson, AZ Club Congress* 11/08 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop* 11/09 Santa Cruz, CA The Crepe Place * 11/14 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge* 11/15 Seattle, WA The Crocodile* *As special guests of Diamond Rings Read More Gold Fields While Gold Fields was here in the States in March, they've decided to come back to do a proper tour. They've also just recently released "Dark Again" (October 9th) ...

Did you miss Gold Fields at the Nether Bar in Minneapolis last night? Fear not, they will be returning here in less than two weeks opening up for Diamond Rings at the 7th Street Entry (October 27th). Do yourself a favor and go to that upcoming show, you won't regret it.

Before I get to the opening bands, I wanted to say that this was the first time I've been to a show at the Nether Bar. I've been to Mill City Nights (previously known as The Brick), which is the much bigger main stage. The bar, I would describe as the size of 7th Street Entry, but talking to the security people, they claim you can fit 300 people comfortably down there, so it's more spacious than 7th Street. Typical of these basement venues are unattractive pipes, discoloring walls, and unforgiving lighting.

FRIENDS BY FIRE

Opening up were two 'burning hot' bands: Friends by Fire and Blondfire. The former is from Minneapolis and played electronic techno dance music. They were pretty good, I didn't really know the band, but I am assuming they did songs from their EP, Sister Waves .

BLONDFIRE

I reported a few months ago that brother/sister duo Blondfire just signed to Warner Bros Records, so I was pretty excited to finally check them out live. I was expecting a duo of brother (Bruce) and sister (Erica), but as it turned out it's Erica with a full touring band. I asked Erica later and she said that Bruce is at home mixing the album, Young Heart, pending for an early 2013 release. I actually spent half their set interviewing Gold Fields, but I did manage to sneak out to catch the band do "Waves" and a track from the forthcoming album.

Gold Fields came on stage pretty late, and like their latest song, "Dark Again", the stage was in complete darkness, save for some tiny lights behind them. The photos turned out bad because there were no lights to work with.

As expected, they did "Dark Again" and "Treehouse" on their brief set… but I have to say that the highlight of the show for me (and everyone at the show) was their cover of Underworld's "Born Slippy."

Gold Fields are currently on tour in support of their latest single, "Dark Again." Look for their debut album, Black Sun, due out January 2013, on Astralwerks.

PS, Check out the brief interview with Gold Fields. I found myself hanging out with the entire band so I thought it would be fun to just record them for our podcast.

Gold Fields at Nether Bar, Minneapolis (10/13/12)

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ goldfieldsmusic.com ♥ facebook.com/blondfire ♥ friendsbyfire.com

Girls Girls Girls: Sky Ferreira, Amanda Palmer, Laetitia Sadier

This is #12 in the Girls Girls Girls series.

Read More Sky Ferreira That might explained her "Sex Rules" title ? It's actually not what you'd think, it's the rules of nature, not that "it's totally awesome".

SKY FERREIRA
skyferreira.com

Sure, the single, "Red Lips," was released a few months ago (June), but I don't care. I think Sky Ferreira is awesome and we've been following her career since 2010.

"Red Lips" was written by Sky, Greg Kurstin, and … Garbage's Shirley Manson! The song is said to contain a new direction for Sky. Personally, it just sounds more or less in the same attractive pop/dance style, but with more guitars and less lo-fi.

Listening to "Red Lips," you wonder if Sky Ferreira is commenting on some other "little bitch" or on herself. I think you can read it both ways, but if that's the case, then certainly Ferreira know that she's playing that game … and if she's lost, then she'll walk. Then again, two-minute pop songs can't be all that smart, right?

Anyway, Ferreira's been quiet this past month, but expect a new EP from her next month, in September. The debut album, currently with a title of I'm Not Alright (changed from Wild At Heart), is coming out this year.

Check out her sexiest video yet: "Red Lips." The video featured Sky in her undies, lots of red lipsticks, and a lucky Toby the tarantula.

AMANDA PALMER & THE GRAND THEFT ORCHESTRA
amandapalmer.net

You may remember that seeing Amanda Palmer at the Cedar in 2010 was one of the best shows I've ever seen. It was hard to describe, but it wasn't just a regular rock n roll show, it was also part theater and part circus act.

I'm hoping to catch her again, this October at First Avenue. Will it live up to her Evelyn Evelyn show? I'll report back when I see her again. But hearing Palmer explain her latest work as "Rocky-Horror-meets-Scavenger-Hunt-meets-Interactive-Art-Happening," it sounds just as fun. Also, I am hoping to spot her hubby Neil Gaiman at the Minneapolis show.

Palmer's last album, Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under, was geared towards Australian, I still found the album to be fun and creative. The forthcoming album, under the Amanda Palma & The Grand Theft Orchestra banner is called Theater is Evil, and it will be out on September 11th on her own label, 8ft Records. You can preview one the song, "The Killing Type," on NPR.

Her tour dates starts September 10th.

09/10: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre Of Living Arts 09/11: New York, NY @ Webster Hall 09/12: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club 09/14: Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle 09/15: Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse 09/17: New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina's Uptown 09/18: Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald's Upstairs 09/19: Austin, TX @ Stubbs (Outside) 09/21: Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre 09/22: Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom 09/24: San Diego, CA @ House Of Blues 09/25: Los Angeles, CA @ The Music Box 09/26: San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore 9/28: Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom 09/29: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom 09/30: Seattle, WA @ Neptune Ballroom 10/03: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue 10/23: London @ Koko

10/24: Manchester @ Cathedral 10/25: Glasgow @ Oran Mor 10/27: Amsterdam @ Melkweg 10/28: Berlin @ Festsaal Kreuzberg 10/29: Prague @ Palac Akropolis 10/30: Zurich @ Abart 11/01: Antwerp @ Trix Club 11/02: Paris @ La Maroquinerie 11/03: Cologne @ Gebaude 9 11/05: Vienna @ Arena 11/09: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Theatre 11/10: Chicago, IL @ Metro 11/11: Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall 11/13: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall 11/15: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club 11/16: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club 11/17: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club

LÆTITIA SADIER
myspace.com/laetitiasadier

You might know Lætitia Sadier from Stereolab.

Confession: Before the internet, in the early 90s, I thought this band came out of France. Not a surprise because singer Lætitia Sadier is French, however I thought they were French, up to 2008!

Anyway, Lætitia Sadier just released her second solo album, Silencio!, last month (July 24th) on Drag City.

The album is said to be about "the noise" preventing you from society and commercialism and the marketplace … so, yes, buy the album!

Sadier will be heading out on tour this September, along with Orca Team, a band that Lara likes. If it all works out, Lara is reviewing Sadier's show at the 400 Bar this September 30th.

09/15/12 Chicago, IL @ Schuba's 09/16/12 Pontiac, MI @ Pike Room at Crofoot 09/18/12 Toronto, ON @ Drake Hotel 09/19/12 Montreal, QC @ Pop Montreal Festival 09/20/12 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Cafe 09/21/12 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge 09/22/12 Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory 09/23/12 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's 09/25/12 Washington, DC @ DC9 09/26/12 Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Cafe 09/27/12 Cincinnati, OH @ Midpoint Music Fest 09/28/12 Urbana, IL @ Pygmalion Music Fest 09/29/12 Madison, WI @ University of Wisconsin 09/30/12 Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar

10/03/12 Seattle, WA @ Barboza 10/04/12 Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar 10/05/12 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill 10/06/12 Los Angeles, CA @ Culture Collide Fest 10/10/12 Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive 10/11/12 Lincoln, NE @ Lincoln Calling 11/05/12 Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute 11/06/12 Glasgow, UK @ Captains Rest 11/07/12 Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete's 11/09/12 Dublin, IE @ The Workman's Club 11/10/12 Galway, IE @ Roisin Dubh 11/12/12 Cardiff, UK @ The Globe 11/13/12 London, UK @ XOYO 11/14/12 Brighton, UK @ Sticky MIkes

Briefly:

BLONDFIRE facebook.com 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 Records and they are in the middle of mixing and recording new songs for a forthcoming album in 2013. To celebrate, they're giving you a sneak peak at their catchy new song, "Waves," at Soundcloud:

THE HERMIT CRABS myspace.com Scottish indiepop band The Hermit Crabs is back with a new EP called Time Relentless. This mark the first new material since their 2009's Correspondence Course EP. Time Relentless is strictly limited to 1,000 custom minijacket sleeve and available exclusively through Matinée Recordings. Download "Stop This Now" at Soundcloud:

CUUSHE cuushe.net Cuushe is a Japanese singer, and she's back with a THREE new EP Girl, You Know That I am Here, and But the Dream. She's offering a remix by Slow Magic of "You Know That I am Here" via, what else?, soundcloud.

BETH JEAN HOUGHTON bjh.tumblr.com Just quickly, but Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny has a new music video for "Dodecahedron." The video was directed by Sasha Rainbow, you can catch it on Vevo.com She'll be in Ireland in September: 09/16/12 Cork, Ireland Cyprus Avenue 09/17/12 Dublin, Ireland Whelans

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M