Miniature Tigers' sound was forged in the bedroom of frontman Charlie Brand, only to quickly outgrow the space, with the band soon finding itself on stage, in the studio and signed to Phoenix's Modern Art Records in short order. Brand's lyrics – a mix of deeply personal insights and playful references to the disparate cultural artifacts that have informed his existence – and effortlessly constructed indie-pop arrangements have made fans in his native Phoenix and beyond. They stretch to Los Angeles, where he reconnected with drummer, collaborator and fellow charter member of the band Rick Schaier while living in Hollywood, and far beyond thanks to the Internet, which it seems people are into these days.

Miniature Tigers' debut album "Tell it to the Volcano" runs the lyrical gamut, taking inspiration from and referencing TV's Lost (which rates a Dharma Initiative sticker on Brand's acoustic) as easily as it probes the joy and heartbreak of Charlie's own life, while managing not to take itself too seriously. Brand wrote the album while on the lam – not from the law, but rather from a relationship he described as "brutal." He left Phoenix to clear his head, landing in Los Angeles and collaborating with his friend Rick to complete the long-gestating album. It was his catharsis – with cannibals and volcanoes stepping in for the real-world problems that had both beset and inspired him. In the end the album represents Charlie's effort to codify, examine, and ultimately move past a 2-year stretch of his life.

Charlie and Rick are joined in their live incarnation by friends and collaborators Lou Kummerer on bass and Lawrence Hearn on lead guitar and keyboards, for performances that seem to give equal time to playing songs and intra-band joking. They aim for a controlled chaos aesthetic that eschews "auto-pilot" at all costs.

In an effort to further confound the expectations of those around the band, they chose to have their video directed by someone who had never helmed one before…or at least never an authorized music video. The band tapped "Yacht Rock" creator JD Ryznar to direct their video for Cannibal Queen in the hopes he would recreate the magic of his wildly popular Internet video series. Ryznar quickly assimilated the band's aesthetic and turned in a video equal parts "Weird Science" and "Frankenstein," to the band's delight.

"Tell it to the Volcano" is currently available on iTunes, as well as a limited-edition letterpressed CD package and on vinyl at shows and via the band's web site. They'll be touring through the winter of 2009, when the album will find its way to stores through an official retail release.

Tour Dates:
With Lenka
1/15/09    Thu    San Francisco    CA    The Independent
1/16/09    Fri    Modesto    CA    Modesto Virtual
1/17/09    Sat    Santa Barbara    CA    SoHo

With Dear & The Headlights
2/24/09   Tue    Los Angeles       CA    Knitting Factory
2/25/09   Wed    Anaheim           CA    Chain Reaction
2/26/09   Thu    Modesto           CA    Modesto Virtual
2/27/09   Fri    San Francisco     CA    Bottom of the Hill
2/28/09   Sat    Orangevale        CA    Boardwalk
3/1/09    Sun    Portland          OR    Satyricon
3/2/09    Mon    Seattle           WA    El Corazon       
3/4/09    Wed    Boise             ID    The Venue
3/5/09    Thu    Salt Lake City    UT    Avalon Theatre       
3/7/09    Sat    Denver            CO    Marquis Theatre
3/8/09    Sun    Omaha             NE    Sokol Underground   
3/10/09   Tue    Minneapolis       MN    Triple Rock
3/11/09   Wed    Iowa City         IA    Picador
3/12/09   Thu    Chicago           IL    Reggie's Rock Club
3/13/09   Fri    Columbia          MO    Mojo's
3/14/09   Sat    Tulsa             OK    The Marquee
3/15/09   Sun    Dallas            TX    The Door       
3/17/09   Tue    San Antonio       TX    Rock Bottom Bar       

SXSW
3/19/09   Thu    Austin            TX    Jackalope

San Francisco, CA Event producers, Noise Pop Industries, have released additional headliners and other new event details for Noise Pop 2009. The 17th year of the West Coast's premiere independent celebration of music, film and art will take place February 24 through March 1, 2009 at venues throughout San Francisco, CA.
   
Newly announced headliners for Noise Pop 2009 will include legendary singer/songwriter Bob Mould, Thao, The Ohsees, Sleepy Sun, Ra Ra Riot, Sholi and From Monument To Masses. John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats will also return to Noise Pop in song and conversation as part of a special lecture event, Talking Music, produced in partnership with City Arts & Lectures.  These new artists join previously confirmed acts the French Kicks, A.C. Newman, St. Vincent, Martha Wainwright, Broken West, Clues, The Morning Benders, No Age, Josh Ritter, The Submarines and Stephen Malkmus' who is performing his first ever solo show in the Bay Area.

Antony and the Johnsons are performing at San Francisco's beautiful Masonic Center on February 24 as part of Noise Pop 2009. Tickets for this special opening night show go on sale through Ticketmaster on Sunday, January 11. Additional opening night Noise Pop events will be announced in the coming weeks. 
   
Show schedule information and individual tickets for many Noise Pop events will be offered for exclusive presale from the Noise Pop 2009 Festival site, starting today, January 8, 2009. The Noise Pop ticket store is powered by partner In Ticketing, with a tree being planted for every ticket sold. Individual tickets will go on sale through all regular venue outlets starting on Sunday, January 11. Noise Pop 2009 Festival badges are still available. Noise Pop Badges grant the owner entry to all general admission Noise Pop Festival events and are priced at $150 each. An early bird 10% discount is being offered until January 12, 2009.
   
In addition to dozens of live music events, Noise Pop 2009 will include a film festival, gallery art openings, and "Industry Noise" (co-produced with Bandwidth Conference) a single day music industry conference featuring educational panels. Also returning for the fourth year is "Pop 'n' Shop" – Noise Pop's take on the local indie designer trunk sale and rock poster show.

To date, Luke Temple has been unconfined by genre. His full-length debut Hold a Match for a Gasoline World presented heartfelt folk tunes and expansive pop numbers filtered through a unique outsider perspective. Last year's follow-up Snowbeast was an avant statement full of interwoven light and dark imagery recorded entirely in his Brooklyn bedroom. 

Developed over a two-month period of stream-of-consciousness recording in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Luke's self-titled debut under his new moniker Here We Go Magic is a remarkable departure from his signature singer-songwriter material.  Luke recorded the album at home using analog synths, a cassette 4-track, and his trusty SM-57 mic, coloring the sound with warmth and creating textures you want to wrap yourself in.

The album opens with the trance-inducing polyrhythm's and gorgeous multi-layered vocals of "Only Pieces."  What follows is an album oozing with sounds maternal and subconscious...like floating in amniotic fluid, ripe, hiccup-y and desperate to emerge. Many of the songs pulse with infectious afro-beat and kraut-rock influenced grooves, calling to mind classic albums like Remain in Light and Graceland.  In contrast, the instrumental tracks conjure mystical introspective landscapes reminiscent of Popol Vuh's unforgettable ambience.

Despite the album's murky aquatic underpinnings it's hard to resist shakin what you got to ebullient blissed-out tracks like "Fangala" and "Tunnelvision." The album closes with "Everything's Big", a bleak commentary on weakness and fear birthed of opulence and gluttony.  Luke's fragile tenor delivers this absurd carnival waltz with the fervor and abandon of a teetotaler under the influence, never breaking the spell of the album's mood of rejuvenation and release. 

Luke is joined by fellow Brooklynites Baptiste Ibar (bass) and Peter Hale (drums) for Here We Go Magic's psychoactive live incarnation.

The music that inspired The Walkmen to compose You and Me follows in a tradition of song writing that goes back to early rock 'n' roll: the intimacy and energy of Elvis Presley's and Buddy Holly's early recordings, and the massive voice and orchestration of Roy Orbison.  And it carries on through people like Bob Marley and Randy Newman and on to bands like The Pogues and The Modern Lovers - the sort of songs that are very much a product of their time and place while firmly rooted in tradition.  The vocals were performed live right in the room with the full band, and sometimes a horn section too.
 
With some romance and drama, You and Me harnesses a sense of classic live-band production into meticulously constructed, unique-sounding rock songs.  The sound would definitely not be mistaken for old, but it would be impossible to ignore the most timeless influences. You and Me offers a distinctive twist to the "Walkmen" sound of their first three records. Each song shows focus, and an up-beat enthusiasm apparent in all lyrics, music, and performances. It is a long record, clocking in at just under an hour, and it presents a wide range of ideas.  The pacing is very important, as the band felt it was essential to set the right tone, and show each song in its proper light.

Writing and recording of You and Me happened over a vibrant and rigorous 2-year period, during which the members of The Walkmen were split between Philadelphia and New York.  The band rode China Town busses five days a week to work in two small rehearsal spaces (an old nightclub in Chelsea, New York and a warehouse in Fish Town, Philadelphia) to freeze by the kerosene heater in the winter, and sweat it out in the summer. By the time of the record's pressing there were over four hundred cast-off 8-track tapes littering both spaces.

The song "I Lost You" was the first major breakthrough, and inspired many songs to follow. Maroon was teaching himself the viola and trumpet at the time, and the song was the culmination of many 8-track experiments. The new warmth and romance in the music seemed to beg for the same from the lyrics, so the cold and stand-offish tone that had run a-ground in recent years was abandoned for a more personal and real approach.  "I Lost You's" strange pacing, and the way in which both the music and the lyrics together pushed towards an Orbison-like crescendo, was the new direction everyone had hoped for.  Songs like "Red Moon", "On the Water", "If Only it Were True", and "In the New Year" were soon to follow.

The album was recorded in two installments - the first at Sweet Tea studios in Oxford, Mississippi (where they had worked on Bows and Arrows) with engineer John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Hold Steady, Sonic Youth) and in a couple of sessions in New York's Gigantic Studios (built by Phillip Glass) with engineer Chris Zane, who also produced Les Savy Fav, Asobi Seksu, White Rabbits and who the boys consider "the best f@#king engineer in the world" and a f@#king god-send."

You and Me is a solid and complex showcase of inspired songwriting. Romantic and celebratory, this is the sound of The Walkmen returning to classic form.

West Coast Dates
w/ Beach House supporting
1/19: Belly up, San Diego
1/20: Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles
1/21: Fillmore, San Francisco
1/23: Wonder Ballroom, Portland
1/24: Neumos, Seattle

California's BRAVE CITIZENS have had a year of non-stop action in 2008—consistent touring, critical acclaim, and the release of the Deluxe Edition of REVOLUTIONS this fall—that has combined to fuel countless successes for a band that just one year ago was quietly releasing their digital debut to the world. To celebrate, the boys of BRAVE CITIZENS have tacked on an additional run of dates for December where they'll be joined by Portland indie-rock outfit Brightwood. The 10-day stretch launches December 12 in Sacramento, California.

By melding ethereal vintage with modern flair, BRAVE CITIZENS presented Revolutions as a rock album at its core. But what lies within—bold grandeur, big ambience, and melody-soaked pop power—is the display of the band's ability to transcend a simple genre tag or style affiliation and root each listener in its complete emotionality.

When the digital album hit the internet last winter, the blogosphere chatter began to demand the band's live presence. Ever since, BRAVE CITIZENS' constant motion has led to a string of dates on the 2008 Vans Warped Tour, a co-headline stint on The Daily Chorus Tour and captivating shows at clubs and universities throughout the west coast all year long.

Meanwhile, influential music outlets including Myspace.com, AOL Music, Alternative Press Magazine, FUSE TV and Purevolume.com have started taking note, while songs from Revolutions are beginning to spin at radio in Los Angeles and land in television shows across a number of networks.

On December 12, BRAVE CITIZENS will launch their final trek of 2008 with a 10-day tour alongside friends Brightwood. These shows advance BRAVE CITIZENS' forthcoming nationwide tour, set to launch in January 2009 (an official announcement is expected next month.)  The December dates will extend from the west coast into the northwest and include stops in Reno, Santa Rosa, Portland, Seattle and Salem, among others. The tour's confirmed dates are: