Friday, January 30, 2009


Chailift

Brooklyn-based electro-pop band Chairlift lift off in February for a North American tour featuring stage-mates like Yacht, Sebastian Tellier, and Peter Bjorn and John. Starting off in sunny Miami, making stops at the SXSW festival, then wrapping up in Toronto in April, Chairlift is in for a long float. However, with two cross-country tours and a stint in Europe already under the belt from 2008, they're warmed up and ready to go.Chairlift's song, "Bruises," is the catchy tune in the new iPod Nano-Chromatic commercial, and their debut album, Does You Inspire You, was named one of SPIN's Top 40 Albums of 2008.

Tour Dates For Chairlift:
02/07 - Miami, FL - White Room
02/13 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Academy of Music
03/07 - New York, NY - Santos Partyhouse
03/13 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
03/14 - Chicago, IL - Schuba's
03/16 - St. Louis, MO - Gargoyle Club
03/17 - Lawrence, KS - The Jackpot Saloon
03/18 - Norman, OK - Opolis
03/19 - Austin, TX - SXSW
03/20 - Austin, TX - SXSW
03/22 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
03/23 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
03/24 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
03/25 - New Orleans, LA - House Of Blues
03/26 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
03/27 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
03/28 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In
04/13 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
04/14 - Vancouver, BC - Richards On Richards
04/15 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
04/17 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
04/19 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
04/21 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe
*04/22 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre
*04/23 - Chicago, IL - Metro
*04/24 - Newport, KY - Southgate House
*04/25 - Toronto, ONT - Phoenix Theatre

** w/ Peter Bjorn And John
http://www.chairliftmusic.com/

Mistress Stephanie and Her Melodic Cat
New dark-cabaret artist Mistress Stephanie And Her Melodic Cat are scratching up a new record, Take That!, to be released February 10 on Pressing Records. The group is made up of Stephanie (the Mistress) Stephens, an actress from Austin, Texas, and guitarist Adam (the Cat) Sultan, formerly of Poi Dog Pondering, Golden Arm Trio and Spank Dance Company. Primarily influenced by the bawdy theater goings-on of Weimar Republic Berlin, the group straddles a diverse landscape of sounds that include everything from punk, to synth, to polka... all in a vaudevillian manner. And they don't skimp on the get-ups: Stephanie sports a jet-black bob and Adam wears cat ears. Dresden Dolls enthusiasts rejoice.The duo has a few upcoming dates in Austin, assuming they can get Sultan to stop hiding behind the couch.

Tour Dates for Mistress Stephanie and Her Melodic Cat:
02/07 - Austin, TX - End Of An Ear
02/11 - Austin, TX - Beauty Bar
02/21 - Austin, TX - Red 7

Tracklist for Take That!:
01. Weimar
02. Get Off My Chest
03. Shake Your Dance Stick
04. Too Hard0
5. Heaven
06. I Hate Cabaret
07. Awfully Confusing
08. Grey
09. Little Death
10. Down Bo
11. Johnny Gewurztraminer
12. You Say You Love Me

www.myspace.com/mistressandcat

Monday, January 26, 2009

Katie Costello

This week, the spotlight is on a little girl with big potential from Hermosa Beach, California. Heir to the happy-go-plucky pop throne of Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles (with a voice to match), Katie Costello matches her contemporaries with pleasant atmospheres and a delightfully quirky aesthetic. The self-proclaimed kazoo virtuoso cites jazz and folk as two big influences. And clocking in at just seventeen years old, the songs are surprisingly mature too. Costello's first record, Kaleidoscope Machine, was independently released last November and featured a catchy song of the same name which made it's way to a spot on the CW's 90210 revamp. Costello will be cutting school for the next two months to tour the US, where her sun-soaked songs will hopefully help warm the colder corners of the country.

Kaleidoscope Machine is available now on iTunes. Kazoo lessons not included.

Tour Dates For Katie Costello:
02/05 - Hermosa Beach, CA - Cafe Boogaloo
02/13 - Pittsburgh, PA - New Hazlett Theater
02/14 - Pittsburgh, PA - New Hazlett Theater
02/16 - Pittsburgh, PA - New Hazlett Theater
02/17 - Pittsburgh, PA - New Hazlett Theater
02/18 - Memphis, TN - Folk Alliance
02/19 - Memphis, TN - Folk Alliance
02/20 - Pittsburgh, PA - New Hazlett Theater
02/21 - Pittsburgh, PA - New Hazlett Theater
02/24 - New York, New York - The Living Room
02/14 - Los Angeles, CA - Hotel Cafe
02/21 - Austin, TX - SOHO Lounge (SXSW)

http://www.katiecostellomusic.com/

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=271205039

Thursday, January 22, 2009


Musical Tapes, Saws, Televisions...



Julian Koster is packing up his seven-foot tall metronome, his singing television and a musical saw (and, if there's room in the suitcase, a change of clothes or two), which must mean that Elephant Six associates, the Music Tapes, are hitting the road again. The indie popsters are touring in support of last fall's Music Tapes For Clouds And Tornadoes, and each stop promises a night of scratchy pop tunes and low-budget/high imagination stage props.




Tour Dates For The Music Tapes
:
02/10 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
02/11 - Norman, OK - The Opolis
02/13 - Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture Gallery
02/15 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
02/17 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom Of The Hill
02/19 - Seattle, WA - The Vera Project
02/20 - Anacortes, WA - Department of Safety
02/21 - Portland, OR - Backspace
02/24 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
02/25 - Chicago, IL - AV-aerie
02/26 - Ann Arbor, MI - The B-side
02/27 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
02/28 - Buffalo, NY - Big Orbit's Soundlab
03/01 - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's
03/02 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs
03/03 - Brooklyn, NY - The Bell House
03/04 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
03/05 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
03/07 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt


www.orbitinghumancircus.com

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Great Northern Alight Again

On April 28, melodic crooners Great Northern are releasing Remind Me Where The Light Is, the follow-up to their 2007 debut, via Eenie Meenie Records. The sophomore release finds them taking bigger risks, honing the darker aspects of their music to create a bolder sound. The band worked with producers Nic Jodoin and Michael Patterson (Beck, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Beck, Puff Daddy, She Wants Revenge, amongst others) to help expand their sound while retaining the hauntingly layered vocals found on their debut, Trading Twilight For Daylight. "Houses," the first single, is available now from the label's website.

www.greatnorthernmusic.com
Lissy Trullie: Self-Starter

In a move perhaps meant to prove that she doesn't need your fancy music lessons, New York songwriter Lissy Trullie will release Self-Taught Learner, her debut EP, February 17, on the Brooklyn-based indie, American Myth Recordings. She'll also be getting a crash-course in touring when she heads out on the road soon with the Virgins.

Trullie, who turned heads with her stylish songs and performance at the CMJ Music Marathon last year, will celebrate the release of Learner with an album release party at New York's Mercury Lounge on February 11. And a few days later, she will perform at the opening of the "Andy Warhol Live" exhibit at San Franciso's DeYoung Museum, which collects a number of the famous pop artist's silkscreen paintings and album covers.

Tracklist For Self-Taught Learner:
01. Boy Boy
02. She Said
03. Self-Taught Learner
04. Money
05. Forget About It
06. Ready For The Floor

Tour Dates For Lissy Trullie:
01/21 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
01/22 - Washington, DC - Rock And Roll Hotel
01/23 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
01/24 - Athens, GA - Tasty World
01/25 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
01/26 - Nashville, TN - 3rd And Lindsley
01/28 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
01/29 - Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern
01/30 - St. Louis, MO - The Gargoyle Club
01/31 - Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop
02/02 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
02/03 - Madison, WI - The Annex
02/04 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
02/05 - Toronto, ON - El Mocambo
02/06 - Montreal, QC - Les Saints
02/07 - Alllston, MA - Great Scott
02/11 - New York, NY - The Mercury Lounge

www.myspace.com/lissytrullie

Peter Bjorn And John Beat Writer's Block


The kids can't get enough PB&J. It's been three years since US audiences first got a taste of Peter Bjorn And John's sticky Swedish pop with the smash, Writer's Block. They'll finally release the follow-up, Living Thing (Almost Gold/StarTime International), on March 31. Although it seems like quite a while since they last provided us with sweet ditties to whistle, the threesome has not been hibernating. They released the predominately instrumental album, Seaside Rock, Bjorn Yttling took on production work for a slew of artists including Lykke Li, Sahara Hotnights, the Feeling, and Primal Scream and lead singer Peter Moren released The Last Tycoon (Quarterstick), his solo debut.

Tracklist For Living Thing:
01. The Feeling
02. It Don't Move Me
03. Just The Past
04. Nothing To Worry About
05. I'm Losing My Mind
06. Living Thing
07. I Want You!
08. Lay It Down
09. Stay This Way
10. Blue Period Picasso

http://www.peterbjornandjohn.com

Friday, January 16, 2009

Fat Possum Makes WAVVES

San Diego local Blogger gone bedroom twiddler, WAVVES, has signed to Fat Possum Records. Once known for diligently searching out aged, unheard southern bluesmen, Fat Possum have expanded their search for scrunchy field recordings to include youngins like WAVVES. Basically the bedroom noodlings of one Nathan Daniel William, Wavves falls into that area of closet rapper as naval gazer who even more secretly wishes to out-plunder Times New Viking with the psych-punk un-fi thing.

With a self-titled record already out on Woodsist, WAVVES' sophomore slice, WAVVVES, which was earlier announced as being released by De Stijl, will in fact be released by Fat Possum on March 17. Got that? But if WAVVES names their next album WAVVVVES, our patience will be tested.

Tour dates, including the ubiquitous SXSW soirees, will roll out on WAVVVES' tide.

Tracklist For WAVVVES:
01. Rainbow Everywhere
02. Beach Demon
03. To The Dregs
04. Sun Opens My Eyes
05. Gun In The Sun
06. So Bored
07. Goth Girls
08. No Hope Kids
09. Weed Demon
10. California Goths
11. Summer Goth
12. Ghost Ramp
13. Killr Punx, Scary Demons
14. Surf Goth
Bonus Track: Wavves

Tour Dates For WAVVES:
01/23 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall*
01/24 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey*
02/04 - Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - SMOG - Bard College #
02/05 - Poughkeepsie, NY - Vassar College #
02/06 - Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel #
02/07 - New York, NY - Less Artists, More Condos
03/18 - 21 - Austin, TX - SXSW

* w/ Tapes N Tapes and White Denim
# w/ Blank Dogs, Woods