Thu, 07/28/2016 - 8:29 pm

British duo Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker will release their debut album for Rough Trade, 'Overnight,' on October 14th, 2016. They'll also be playing their first run of North American tour dates in September, starting in Boston on Sept 7, and continuing with two NYC shows, as well as Philly, Chicago, Minneapolis, Bloomington Indiana's Lotus Festival, and more.

Produced by Clarke and Walker, 'Overnight' follows up their Rough Trade debut, the 'Through The Clouds' EP, released earlier this year and praised by Stereogum as "magnificent."

'Overnight' is their most ambitious record to date, focusing on Clarke's magnificent voice and lyrics, and Walker's prodigious guitar-playing and arranging; the album features panoramic orchestration by an eclectic core of acclaimed musicians, including strings, horns, piano, double bass, and drums. The twelve songs - ten originals and two covers - recorded almost entirely live at renowned Rockfield Studios in Wales - serve as a snapshot of the endless cycle of night into day and back again, morning light, into dusk, into black midnight, into greying dawn, and on, and on

The album's lilting first single, "The Waning Crescent," is almost an answer in ballad form to the portrayal of the moon in traditional and popular music as a soothing, confessional, companion (i.e. "Blue Moon"). Coming at the darkest and stillest point in the album, the song - like the moon - brings a reassuring lightness.

Clarke explains, "I started to think about if I was the moon, what I might think and feel, and what the moon might sing back," adding, "I've given it a slightly whiny, self-pitying quality because it's whimsical and a bit funny." Listen here: https://youtu.be/MFHrSOaHICI.

One of the poppier songs on the album, the sound of "The Waning Crescent" is meant to fit the song's subject matter. "We've done vignettes before where we've taken on a musical genre because that's what fits the concept of the song. On this one, we've used the '50s and '60s space-race era pop sound to deliberately compound the moon theme," says Josienne.

Other 'Overnight' highlights include the stunning country/soul ballad "Something Familiar" and their marvelous take on Gillian Welch's "Dark Turn Of Mind," the eerie folk of "Dawn Of The Dark" and "The Light Of His Lamp," and the traditional-leaning "Sweet The Sorrow" and "Weep You No More Sad Fountains," the latter a traditional English ballad set to song.

Though Clarke & Walker's previous work is very much steeped in the the folk tradition - the two in fact won the BBC Folk Award for Best Duo in 2015 - 'Overnight' draws just as much inspiration from more-straightforward 1970s AM radio rock like Fleetwood Mac or Neil Young as they do from folk-rockers like Fairport Convention or Joni Mitchell.

Full album tracklisting and album artwork is below. 'Overnight' is now available for pre-order here and "The Waning Crescent" is available here.

Tour Dates:

09/07 Boston MA @ Club Passim

09/08 New York NY @ Rockwood Hall - Stage 3

09/09 New York NY @ Rockwood Hall - Stage 3

09/10 Philadelphia PA @ Tin Angel

09/13 Toronto ON @ The Dakota

09/16 Bloomington IN @ Lotus World Music & ArtsFestival

09/17 Chicago IL @ Hungry Brain

09/18 Milwaukee WI @ Colectivo Back Room

09/19 Minneapolis MN @ Turf Club

--

'Overnight' Track List:

01. Nine Times Along

02. Something Familiar

03. Sweet The Sorrow

04. Dawn Of The Dark

05. Dark Turn Of Mind (Gillian Welch cover)

06. Weep You No More Sad Fountains (traditional English ballad)

07. The Light Of His Lamp

08. Sleep

09. Milk and Honey

10. The Waning Crescent

11. Overnight

12. Light Of Day

Wed, 03/08/2017 - 7:17 am

Local Natives premiered their new video for "Dark Days," a fan favorite track off their acclaimed third album Sunlit Youth, this morning. Culled from footage shot over the past two and a half years during the band's travels throughout Thailand, Malaysia, London, and Nicaragua, among other locales, the clip can now be seen here: http://found.ee/LD_WatchDarkDays. The band has additionally shared some backstory of the song and its new video:

"Dark Days is a bit of a misleading name. It's a nostalgic song about high school first loves and all the intensity and tension surrounding them, mixed with a little dose of religious guilt. Growing up in Southern California, we didn't have many days without sun. Dark Days brought to mind good memories of swimming on rainy days and sneaking out to your girlfriend's house.

We'd never done a duet before and when we brainstormed on our favorite female vocalists, Nina Persson immediately came to mind.  We'd never met or had any connection to her prior, but she gave us a chance and we're so happy to have her beautiful voice on our record.

This footage is from the past two years of making Sunlit Youth. Instead of just going to a 'proper studio' in LA, we used most of our recording budget to travel and work in some beautiful locations. Our friend Jonathan came along and filmed us in Thailand, Malaysia, Joshua Tree, Ojai, Nicaragua and London. Not really sure why Taylor was naked..."

Sunlit Youth was released on September 9th, 2016 via Loma Vista and earned praise from outlets including NPR, The FADER, Entertainment Weekly, NYLON, NY Mag's Vulture, and many more, in addition to performances on The Late Late Show with James Corden and Conan.

Local Natives will head back out on the road later this month for a run of North American headlining shows throughout March and April. The tour will lead them back to the west coast to perform at both weekends of Coachella; the band is also confirmed for the Hangout Music Festival, Governor's Ball, and Osheaga festivals this summer. A current itinerary is below.

Local Natives tour dates:

MAR. 16          TORONTO, ON                        DANFORTH MUSIC HALL

MAR. 17          BUFFALO, NY                          TOWN BALLROOM

MAR. 18          PITTSBURGH, PA                    STAGE AE

MAR. 19          BALTIMORE, MD                     RAMS HEAD LIVE

MAR. 21          CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA         THE JEFFERSON THEATER

MAR. 22          ASHEVILLE, NC                       THE ORANGE PEEL

MAR. 24          SAXAPAHAW, NC                    HAW RIVER BALLROOM

MAR. 25          ATHENS, GA                            GEORGIA THEATRE

MAR. 26          OXFORD, MS                           THE LYRIC

MAR. 27          KNOXVILLE, TN                       THE MILL & MINE

MAR. 29          LOUISVILLE, KY                      MERCURY BALLROOM

MAR. 30          CLEVELAND, OH                     AGORA THEATRE

MAR. 31          ROYAL OAK, MI                       ROYAL OAK MUSIC THEATRE

APR. 1             COLUMBUS, OH                      EXPRESS LIVE! PAVILION

APR. 3             COVINGTON, KY                     MADISON THEATER

APR. 4             COLUMBIA, MO                      THE BLUE NOTE

APR. 5             MADISON, WI                          MAJESTIC THEATRE

APR. 7             DES MOINES, IA                     WOOLY'S

APR. 8             OMAHA, NE                             SLOWDOWN

APR. 11           MISSOULA, MT                       THE WILMA

APR. 12           SPOKANE, WA                        THE KNITTING FACTORY

APR. 13           BOISE, ID                                KNITTING FACTORY

APR. 15           INDIO, CA                                COACHELLA

APR. 17           SAN DIEGO, CA                      THE NORTH PARK THEATRE

APR. 19           POMONA, CA                          FOX THEATER

APR. 22           INDIO, CA                                COACHELLA

MAY 19-21      GULF SHORES, AL                  HANGOUT MUSIC FESTIVAL

MAY 28            LIVERPOOL, UK                      LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY

MAY 31-JUN. 4 BARCELONA, ES                    PRIMAVERA SOUND

JUN. 2-4           NEW YORK, NY                       GOVERNOR'S BALL

JUN. 18            MORRISON, CO                      RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE

JUL. 28             BERKELEY, CA                       GREEK THEATRE

AUG. 4-6          MONTREAL, QC                      OSHEAGA MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL

Wed, 03/08/2017 - 8:52 am

Bowling Green, KY's Morning Teleportation - the Paste "Best of What's Next" anointed group of Tiger Merritt (vocals/guitar/keyboards) and Travis Goodwin (keyboards/vocals) - announced its new album Salivating for Symbiosis will be released on April 28th via Glacial Pace Recordings. Recorded and produced by Jeremy Sherrer at Ice Cream Party in Portland, OR, Salivating for Symbiosis is a collaboration of close friends who have worked and toured together for years, including Joseph Jones (drums), Alex Lindsey (bass), Paul Wilkerson, Cage The Elephant's Daniel Tichenor, Nick Bockrath, and Matthan Minster, Death Cab For Cutie's David Depper, and Mimicking Birds' Aaron Hanson. The first single "The Code" - a psychedelic rock track, driven by arpeggiated riffs and manic energy - premiered today alongside the album pre-order (LINK), listen here: (LINK). The band also confirmed dates supporting Modest Mouse and an album release show at Bowling Green, KY's Live on the Lot Festival at Tidballs on April 28th. A current itinerary is below and more dates will be announced soon.

Morning Teleportation - which spent the last few years either in the studio or on the road playing for crowds at Bonnaroo and Sasquatch, and supporting the likes of The Flaming Lips, Cage The Elephant, Modest Mouse, among others - has made its best record to date. Whereas their "frenetic, youthful" (Paste) debut album produced by Isaac Brock, Expanding Anyway (Glacial Pace), took 14 days to make, Salivating for Symbiosis was recorded over a year at Ice Cream Party. Jeremy Sherrer -- who has worked on the recent albums by Jesu/Sun Kil Moon, Modest Mouse, and Ages & Ages -- worked with Merritt and Goodwin to perfect their sonic vision, at times re-recording and re-mixing multiple songs, until the final versions aptly reflected their imaginations. Morning Teleportation pushed itself to create an album with the widest scope possible, incorporating trumpets, banjos, modular synthesizers, and more.

Morning Teleportation Tour Dates:
 
4/28 - Bowling Green, KY @ Tidballs (Live On The Lot Festival)
5/31 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *
6/02 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues *
6/03 - Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl *
6/05 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Rockwell Room at the Complex *
6/06 - Denver, CO @ The Fillmore *
6/08 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom *
6/09 - St Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
6/10 - Lincoln, NE @ Pinewood Bowl *
* Supporting Modest Mouse
Mon, 03/13/2017 - 6:44 am
Pinckney, Michigan's Chris Bathgate announced his new album, Dizzy Seas, will be released on May 19th on Quite Scientific Records. The follow-up to last year's Old Factory EP, which arrived after a period of self-reflection, during which he hiked extensively and otherwise left the music world behind (Outside looked into how nature influences him), Dizzy Seas is as much an artistic turning point as it is the product of years of exploration, travel, searching, and daydreaming. Urgent, bold, and sonically rich -- with nods to his last full-length, Salt Year, which was hailed as one of the best albums of 2011 by Paste, All Music and more -- Dizzy Seas could well go down as Bathgate's best album to date. Bathgate directed the video for album's first single, "Northern Country Trail," and NPR Music premiered it today, saying it's "a lovely, brooding six-minute ballad... Bathgate's ornate songs unfold gracefully and deliberately, revealing rich layers over time, and his new work is no different." Watch "Northern Country Trail" here:

Dizzy Seas is Bathgate's fourth full-length album; a brilliant collection of recordings that collage together to make a whole, not in a seamless way, but almost like a photo album that has been edited to force you, the listener, to put yourself into the story, to add to that narrative. The music itself is borne of daydreams, and invites you to join in, with the album having left a door unlocked for you to enter by Bathgate's inimitable skill in, as NPR puts it, "the art of distilling alienation into bruised-sounding beauty."
 
Songs like "Water" travel straight and narrow, pushing you toward nascent whisps of vision; others, such as "Come to the Sea" weave a gossamer portrait of a perhaps forlorn past. Characters appear when we least expect them, such as line-blurring hip-hop artisan Tunde Olaniran's soaring guest vocal on the train-like, then suddenly swooping "Low Hey", while other songs, like closing track "Nicosia" begs you to document the wide-eyed scenery slowly, as the camera in your mind's eye slowly zooms out on the wide emotional landscape of the album. We're left with a whole that begs us to complete the story - Dizzy Seas is one of those tour-de-force albums that begs further listens: picking up on the subtle grain of the background, the whispy hues that color our own personal photo-book stories, and wondering just how we fit in to that brilliant, beautiful, sad, happy, old, new, and wonderfully open story that Bathgate has collected for us on this album.
 
Dizzy Seas pre-order:
Mon, 03/13/2017 - 7:06 am
Charlottesville, VA's Gold Connections -- led by songwriter, guitarist and lyricist Will Marsh -- share the third track from their forthcoming self-titled debut EP out March 31st on Fat Possum. It comes in the guise of lilting, country-inflected "Isabel," which builds from interlocking guitar patterns into an acid-drenched sonic storm rich in the tradition of the very best road-ready indie rock. Speaking of the track, Marsh says: "'Isabel' is not a song about a girl, but a blurred portrait of the circus we call love. It  took two years to write because I kept on finding new bizarre angles...If Isabel is a girl then she's parading somewhere out of view." Premiering via  DIY and named NME's New Music of the Day, listen to "Isabel" here:

The EP is now available for pre-order: http://smarturl.it/GC.EP

The news of "Isabel" is accompanied by an expansion of Gold Connections' US tour. Alongside the previously announced pre-SXSW dates with Fat Possum labelmates The Districts, Gold Connections confirmed SXSW sets at the NME Showcase and Rachael Ray's Feedback House. The band will embark on a short east coast run with Philadelphia's Suburban Living before joining Car Seat Headrest for a trio of summer dates in Virginia, Ohio and Vermont. A full itinerary is listed below.

"Isabel" follows the recently released singles "Faith In Anyone" (via SPIN) and "New Religion" (via Stereogum). Gold Connections debuted on Hype Machine's Top 10 Popular Artist chart -- and on Sirius XMU's 'Download 15' playlist -- with "New Religion," which Stereogum called "an animal of its own. Languid atmospherics give birth to howlingly aggressive rock 'n' roll that ultimately builds to a richly arranged climax." Gold Connections' debut EP was home-recorded in the spring of 2014 in Williamsburg, VA, and features production, engineering, and mixing by Will Toledo (Car Seat Headrest). It is comprised of the band's five best, earliest original songs written by Marsh while he was an undergrad of the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Though Toledo won't be a member going forward, he also plays drums, electric guitar, bass, and backing vocals throughout the EP.

Wed, 05/17/2017 - 6:45 am
Chris Bathgate today premiered a full stream of his new album Dizzy Seas via Noisey, ahead of its May 19th release on Quite Scientific. Noisey calls it "an eclectic collection of ambient folk rock like that of Sufjan Stevens or Justin Vernon," listen here: LINK. Bathgate also plays an album release show at Grand Rapids' Founders Tap Room on Thursday, May 18th.
 
In a rave review, No Depression called Dizzy Seas a "top notch three-in-the-morning album - the one you reach for when you come home exhausted and need that transition from active to sleep... this one is a beauty." Bathgate previously released two tracks from the album, including a self-directed video for "Northern Country Trail" (via NPR Music), and the single "Low Hey" featuring Tunde Olaniran (via Stereogum)
 
The follow-up to last year's Old Factory EP, which arrived after a period of self-reflection, during which he hiked extensively and otherwise left the music world behind (Outside looked into how nature influences him), Dizzy Seas is as much an artistic turning point as it is the product of years of exploration, travel, searching, and daydreaming. Urgent, bold, and sonically rich -- with nods to his last full-length, Salt Year, which was hailed as one of the best albums of 2011 by Paste, All Music and more -- Dizzy Seas could well go down as Bathgate's best album to date.
 
Dizzy Seas is Bathgate's fourth full-length album; a brilliant collection of recordings that collage together to make a whole, not in a seamless way, but almost like a photo album that has been edited to force you, the listener, to put yourself into the story, to add to that narrative. The music itself is borne of daydreams, and invites you to join in, with the album having left a door unlocked for you to enter by Bathgate's inimitable skill in, as NPR puts it, "the art of distilling alienation into bruised-sounding beauty."
 
Dizzy Seas Pre-Order: iTunes  / BandCamp
Mon, 07/17/2017 - 11:11 am

Julien Baker has announced a fall North American headlining tour that will take the young songwriter throughout the U.S. and into Canada, and sees her playing her biggest shows to date. The first leg will begin on October 12th in Atlanta, GA and includes an October 27th performance at New York's historic Town Hall. Following a trip overseas in November -- where her London Union Chapel show is already sold out -- she will return home for the second, western leg that will set off November 29th in Knoxville, TN and includes a December 14th show at Los Angeles' landmark Palace Theatre. Baker has been recording in her native Memphis, TN for a new album -- the follow up to her acclaimed 2015 debut LP Sprained Ankle -- due out later this year via Matador. She will be performing new songs on this upcoming tour, in addition to material from Sprained Ankle as well as her heralded 2017 debut Matador 7" Funeral Pyre. A current itinerary is below.

Baker has spent the majority of 2017 on the road, in the U.S. supporting Ben Gibbard, The Decemberists ("a short, beautiful set of favorites from her 2015 debut -- Brooklyn Vegan), and Conor Oberst ("stunned with her 30-minute opening set" -- Consequence Of Sound), as well as across Europe and the UK, where her June London Bush Hall show sold out within 24 hours. She is currently on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and will return to North America later this month for a run of shows through mid-August that includes select dates supporting Belle & Sebastian.
 
Funeral Pyre was released March 17, 2017 as a 7-inch and digital single, and together with previously unreleased song B-side "Distant Solar Systems" earned critical acclaim from The New York Times, Stereogum, Pitchfork, Entertainment Weekly, NY Magazine's Vulture, Noisey, and Uproxx, among many others, and can be heard HERE. Matador re-released Sprained Ankle physically worldwide (ex-U.S. and Australia) on March 17th as well.
 
Julien Baker tour dates:
 
07/18 Melbourne, AUS @ Northcote Social Club
07/19 Hobart, AUS @ Republic Bar
07/20 Sydney, AUS @ The Factory Theatre
07/22 Byron Bay, AUS @ Splendour In The Grass
07/23 Auckland, NZL @ Tuning Fork, Spark Arena
07/27 Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre For The Performing Arts*
08/04 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
08/05 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
08/07 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
08/09 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
08/10 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory**
08/12 Billings, MT @ Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark^
08/13 Missoula, MT @ Travelers' Rest 2017
08/15 St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre*
08/16 Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre*
08/17 Louisville, KY @ Iroquois Amphitheater*
08/26 Davenport, IA @ Adler Theatre#
09/20 Chicago, IL @ Amnesty International & Sofar Sounds Give A Home show
09/21 Champaign, IL @ The Pygmalion Festival 2017
10/12 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade +
10/13 Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom +
10/14 Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle +
10/15 Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater +
10/17 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club +
10/18 Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre +
10/20 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre +
10/25 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount +
10/27 New York, NY @ Town Hall +
10/28 Somerville, MA @ Somerville Theatre +
10/29 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer +
11/03 The Hague, NL @ Crossing Border Festival
11/04 Utrecht, NL @ Ekko
11/06 Bristol, UK @ The Lantern
11/07 Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
11/08 Glasgow, UK @ CCA
11/09 Dublin, IE @ Whelans
11/10 London, UK @ Union Chapel *SOLD OUT*
11/12 Brussels, BE @ Autumn Falls
11/14 Berlin, DE @ Heimathafen Neukolln
11/15 Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefahrlich
11/16 Düsseldorf, DE @ New Fall Festival
11/17 Madrid, ES @ El Sol
11/18 Braga, PT @ Theatro Circo
11/19 Barcelona, ES @ La De Apolo
11/29 Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
11/30 Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
12/01 Memphis, TN @ 1884 Lounge
12/02 St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall +
12/07 Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett +
12/08 Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre +
12/09 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre +
12/10 Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater +
12/12 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore +
12/14 Los Angeles, CA @ Palace Theatre +
12/15 San Diego, CA @ The Irenic +
12/16 Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom +
12/18 Austin, TX @ Emo's +
12/19 Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater +
12/20 Dallas, TX @ The Kessler Theater +
* supporting Belle & Sebastian
** supporting Cold War Kids
^ supporting Paramore
# supporting Ben Folds
+ Half Waif supports
Mon, 01/08/2018 - 1:50 pm

Mimicking Birds -- the Portland, OR-based group of songwriter Nate Lacy (guitar/vocals), Aaron Hanson (drums), and Adam Trachsel (bass, synth) -- today shared "Belongings," the third single off their forthcoming album Layers Of Us out January 26th (Glacial Pace Recordings). Lacy describes the new single as "a love song conveyed through the perspective that we are all here functioning as part of a larger entity. And that we are only borrowing the ingredients required to briefly witness this remarkable circumstance. Self-detachment through self-awareness. With such a consciousness comes an urgent responsibility to thoroughly appreciate life's unlikelihood, love one another, and to do what is right for the planet and future existence." Listen here: (LINK). The band also recently announced they'll support Typhoon on a winter tour beginning January 10th at Salt Lake City's Urban Lounge. See below for full itinerary.

"Belongings" follows the album's second single "Another Time," a meditation on human-caused climate change and environmental protection which premiered via The FADER last month. The first single, "Sunlight Daze," was featured on NPR's Heavy Rotation playlist in November and described by Stephen Thompson as "another stunner, as Lacy unleashes a spaced-out missive about getting lost in the cosmos" (NPR Music). Mimicking Birds recently recorded a stripped down version of "Sunlight Daze" with BreakThru Radio, where Hanson used a barbecue grill for percussion: watch here. Layers of Us --produced by Jeremy Sherrer (Modest Mouse, The Shins) at Ice Cream Party studio in Portland, OR --  is the follow-up to their second full-length Eons, which was named one of NPR Music's Best Records of 2014 and saw the band making their late night TV debut on Last Call with Carson Daly, and more.

If their self-titled 2010 debut co-produced by Isaac Brock and Clay Jones established Mimicking Birds as one the most promising new acts from the Pacific Northwest, with

Pitchfork praising Lacy as "extremely gifted with cyclical melodies" and "riveting," then

Layers of Us represents the maturity that comes with extensive touring while continuing to expand their musical palette as a three-piece band. These days, Lacy is focusing his gaze further outward, exploring what he calls "the infinite and the infinitesimal," while also keeping lyrical watch on the crossroads where our digital future and our pastoral past bump up against each other. Dream-like, immersive, and awash in texture, Layers of Us explores daunting topics like life, death, and eternity with a gentle touch. How this comes out through Lacy is in toothsome lyrics that are filled to bursting with imagery, philosophical questions, and deep personal concerns. Layers of Us also features Isaac Brock on the track "Island Shore."

"We started adding modular synths for Eons -- then with access to a variety of gear at Ice Cream Party, it helped to evolve the layers of sounds in the album," says Adam Trachsel of the album's scope. Reflecting on the production, Sherrer explains, "Eons was cut live to tape for the most part, and most of the experimentation was sample based; feeding bits of audio from the sessions (or samples Nate or I had collected) into an MPC or Octatrack sampler to loop/chop/pitch sequence and blend into the mix. The keys were mostly organic instruments like piano, electric piano and mellotron. These instruments and a fair amount of sampling also appear on Layers Of Us, but on this one the band was keen to expand our experimentation into the world of analog synthesis. They had recently acquired two Prophets (new and old) and a Korg MS20. Those coupled with my Eurorack modular system, Omnichord, a borrowed Juno 106, and Nate's collection of old Casio keyboards gave us all the colors we needed to help realize the band's vision for this collection of songs."

Pre-order the album here: (LINK).

Mimicking Birds Tour Dates:

01/10 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *

01/11 - Grand Junction, CO - Barons

01/12 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre *

01/14 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room *

01/15 - Kansas City, MO - Riot Room

01/17 - Saint Paul, MN - Turf Club *

01/18 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre *

01/19 - Chicago, IL - Metro *

01/20 - Detroit, MI - El Club *

01/25 - Portland, OR - OMSI LOU Listening and Release Event

02/08 - Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Ballroom *

02/10 - San Diego, CA - Music Box *

02/11 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom *

02/13 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent *

* With Typhoon

Fri, 03/29/2019 - 9:07 am

Less than a year after the release of their critically acclaimed album Performance, the ever-prolific White Denim have today released their new album Side Effects via City Slang, now available for purchase or streaming HERE. More in line with the experimental, freewheeling spirit of their fan-favorite record Last Day of Summer, Side Effects—which has seen early praise from The New York Times, Uncut Magazine, Mojo, Q, NME, Brooklyn Vegan, and more—is an album that captures the essence of the band’s full-throttle live shows. Listen to teaser tracks NY Money," "Shanalala,” and “Reversed Mirror.”

White Denim kick off a headlining West Coast tour on April 17th in Seattle, including sold out shows in Portland, Los Angeles (second shows added in each city) and San Francisco. They recently wrapped a triumphant SXSW run with performances for FLOODfest, Aquarium Drunkard, and the second annual day party at their own recording studio Radio Milk in East Austin. Variety included White Denim in their best of SXSW recap, raving "this year's iteration is their freest-flowing yet, with frontman Petralli nailing lick after odd-time lick. Rock is dead? Hardly." See below for a full itinerary of upcoming dates.

Spearheaded by Petralli and Terebecki (who tag-teamed production and called in specific talents from their rolodex of musicians), Side Effects has the feeling of a band providing fan service in a way only White Denim could do – by referencing their own material and putting out a record for fans to dig deep into. The 9 original tracks of Side Effects draw on the sounds of different personnel to create a journey through White Denim’s range of styles – the result being an album that’s as varied and vivacious as anything they’ve ever done.

White Denim 2019 Live Dates:

4/17 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos

4/18 - Bellingham, WA @ Wild Buffalo

4/19 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre

4/20 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir SOLD-OUT

4/21 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir

4/23 - Petaluma, CA @ Mystic Theatre

4/24 - Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s

4/25 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent SOLD-OUT

4/26 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom SOLD-OUT

4/27 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom

4/28 - San Diego, CA @ Belly Up

6/01 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheater

6/07 - Manchester, UK @ Heaton Park

Sat, 08/29/2020 - 11:45 am

Red Ribbon—the rising Seattle-based band of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emma Danner—debuted new single “Document (Alternate Version)” via FLOOD Magazine alongside the announcement that they’ve signed to Danger Collective Records. Dreamy and dark at once, the timely track finds Danner reflecting on historical distortion: “So much of history is erased and what we're left with is the veneration of figures who purchased their historical memory through acts of power, money and violence. It's strange then that as individuals we still privately record our own experiences through photographs or written accounts,” she explains. “What is the purpose of documenting oneself in a world where history is distorted? Why do we create these records when in all likelihood they will evaporate into nothingness? What is recorded is rarely what happened." Watch the song’s accompanying visualizer, in which Danner ironically documents herself on camera, HERE. “Document (Alternate Version)” and B-side single “The Taker” are streaming at all DSPs today. Listen to the digital singles HERE.

“Document (Alternate Version)” and "The Taker" build on the promise of Red Ribbon's 2018 debut album Dark Party—which earned the band local support shows for acts like Cherry Glazerr, among others, and early praise and support from Billboard, Seattle Times, and KEXP (live session)—but allude to the wider scope of sounds and ideas Danner's new body of work encompasses. A sophomore album is currently in the works, and is set for release early next year.

By enlisting a fluid cast of players to perform the songs she’s been writing as Red Ribbon for the past decade, the sound, arrangements, and meaning behind Danner's writing is always evolving. "Document (Alternate Version)" features musicians Josh Hart (Drums) and Geoff Joynes (Bass), with production by Johnny Goss, and "The Taker" features Monika Khot (Keys and Acoustic Guitar), Pat Schowe (Drums), and Veronica Dye (Flute), with production by Randall Dunn.

Collaborating is an important part of Red Ribbon's music today but Danner has not always had the luxury of having peers to play with. While studying archeology at college in San Francisco, she began recording a musical diary from her bedroom and eventually mustered the courage to share her songs with strangers by busking on the street. Inspired by the tradition of American folk music and early 20th Century performers like Billie Holiday, she started writing mournful tunes based in personal storytelling and her own existential doubts. In 2012, she relocated to Seattle, where she found a new home in the PNW’s tight-knit music community.

Through befriending many local musicians and challenging herself to give her sparse songs a heavier sound, Danner constructed the first Red Ribbon live band in Seattle. After taking Red Ribbon on the road for a handful of nationwide tours that she booked herself, Danner set out to record in a proper studio for the first time in 2018. With the help of revered drone metal producer Randall Dunn, Red Ribbon crafted their first LP, Dark Party, at Strange Weather and Figure 8, in Brooklyn NY.

Mon, 03/01/2021 - 8:40 am

Elephant Micah today shared his new song “Eastern Callers,” the spellbinding and fiddle-laced second single from his new album, Vague Tidings, due out April 9th, 2021, via Western Vinyl. Songwriter-producer Joseph O’Connell, who records as Elephant Micah, explains the strange love affair he had in mind when he wrote the song’s lyrics:

This is a song about unrequited love, like ‘Barbara Allen.’ It’s from the perspective of an ordinary Alaskan and he’s singing it to an astronomic/atmospheric phenomenon, the northern lights. He's extremely jealous of the tourists who he thinks, wrongly, are there to derive some kind of procreative luck from the lights. He is also really paranoid about an actual magnetic phenomenon that is slowly changing where the lights appear in the sky. In retrospect, I think this is a song about the widespread modern predicament of needing tourism revenue while also feeling extremely possessive of the thing tourists visit.

“Eastern Callers” follows the gorgeous, slow-burning first single, “Glacier Advisors,” released earlier this month. Vague Tidings is available to pre-order now HERE.

The raw inspiration for Vague Tidings came from a 2006 DIY tour of the 49th state. It was a trip that went off the beaten path—sometimes a bit too far for comfort. Now, over a decade later, listeners find O’Connell stationed at a creaky spinet piano, singing about the Alaskan sky. Throughout, his lyrics take a new angle on a pet theme: human encounters with the natural world. Vague Tidings places these encounters in the American West and, at times, in its sci-fi corollary, outer space. Its imagery draws from the allure of Alaska, the idea of Western prosperity, and the human relationship to wilderness more broadly. Often, O’Connell sings about the goal of capturing and commodifying nature. In poetic sketches of resource extraction industries and dark sky tourism, frontier lust runs amok. Pipelines catch fire and stars disappear, all to the tune of a stark, uncanny Americana.

After returning home from this unusual excursion—which had ended up looking like something between a concert tour, a camping trip, and an extended jam session—O’Connell started making songs. “I’d already written about Roman ruins and medieval cathedrals and so forth,” he says. “When I got back from Alaska, I began to draw more from the idea of ‘new worlds’ rather than a European ‘old world.’” This new material expressed itself in metaphors of mountain climbing, gold prospecting, and stellar observation. An American tradition of cowboy bronzes and sublime landscapes tends to glorify Western expansion. For his part, O’Connell intended to cast doubt on it. “What I had in mind, I think, was a kind of song that, instead of celebrating progress, was broadly anxious about where it was leading,” he explains.

Vague Tidings is a sustained, hallucinatory rendering of this theme. In style, its eight songs follow a switchback path between foggy incantations and mountain anthems. Made with a small cohort of acoustic instrumentalists, the record is roughhewn, but easy on the ears. To put Vague Tidings down on tape, O’Connell assembled some of his favorite musicians in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area, where he’s lived since 2015: Libby Rodenbough (Mipso) bows and plucks a detuned fiddle, Matt Douglas (Mountain Goats) breathes life into various woodwinds, and Matt O’Connell (Chorusing, Lean Year) sets the pace on a two-piece drum set. Their loose, imaginative playing pushes Vague Tidings beyond the singer-songwriter genre into something richer in texture. Ultimately, this is foreboding but spacious music, with plenty of room for reconsidering life on earth.

Tue, 02/06/2024 - 9:40 am

Blitzen Trapper has announced their new album 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions will be released on May 17, 2024 via Yep Roc. The enthralling 12-track collection arrives nearly four years after 2020’s Holy Smokes Future Jokes, and sees the Portland, OR-based band leaning into their psych rock-washed, classic songwriting roots to create one of the finest works of their career–nearly 20 years in. Produced by singer/songwriter Eric Earley, 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions was recorded by guitarist Nathan Vanderpool at his studio in rural Washington. The album also includes backing vocals by Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats/Bonny Light Horseman) and Anna Tivel on song “Planetarium” (Tivel also plays violin and sings throughout), while the cover artwork is an abstract collage by Robert Pollard (2020’s Father Collected Fish). 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions is now available for pre-order.

Blitzen Trapper has also shared the ruminative yet urgent lead single “Cosmic Backseat Education” alongside a puppet-starring video, directed by Mychal Sargent. “I remember lying in the backseat of my parents’ car as a kid and just listening to the radio, which I think is where I got most of the education that I’ve used in my life and my career. We’re so brainwashed to have these goals and milestones that we all chase, but music is inherently purposeless outside of joy. If you can learn to see that same purposelessness in life, it frees you up to enjoy every moment,” explains Earley of the song, adding about the contrastingly playful video, “Everybody says the puppeteer is in control, but everybody knows the puppet is actually calling the shots. Mr. Rogers meets Kill Bill, vigilante justice but only cotton stuffing gets spilled in these streets!"

Blitzen Trapper will hit the road in support of the album, beginning with shows at Portland’s Aladdin Theatre and Seattle’s Tractor Tavern on May 17th and 18th, respectively, before performing at the Meadowgrass Music Festival on the 25th.  A current itinerary is below and tickets for the Portland and Seattle dates go on sale this Friday.

Inspired by Earley’s fascination with Buddhist texts and meditation (the title comes from a phrase that appears over and over in the Mahayana sutras), 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions offers a captivating take on rebirth and transcendence, and the circularity of existence, navigating its way through the space beyond dreams and reality, beyond gods and mortals, beyond life and death. The songs are as sincere as they are surreal, rooted in rich character studies and deep reflection, and unfolding like a riddle-filled journey that asks many questions and offers no answers. The production is intoxicating to match, blending lo-fi intimacy and trippy psychedelia into a mesmerizing swirl of analog and electronic sounds. Add it all together and the result is a gorgeous, sprawling collection wrapped in lush layers of synthesizers and washed out electric guitars–a poignant, expansive exploration of perception and purpose that manages to look both forwards and backwards all at once.

“This whole project grew out of a box of old four-track tapes from the ’90s that I found recently,” Earley explains. “The tapes were full of songs I’d written and recorded back when I was 19 or 20 years old, and the sound and the spirit of those recordings got me excited to start writing music again, to go back to working the way I did when I was first starting out.”

Drawn to Buddhism around Holy Smokes Future Jokes, Earley found himself particularly fascinated with the religion’s teachings on the self and the freedom that comes with learning to let go of the artificial constructions that surround it. “Buddhism tells us that suffering comes from clinging to illusions, to rigid ideologies, to the idea of an individuated self,” he explains. “The doorway to ridding yourself of all that is meditation, and I found that a lot of these new songs started flowing very naturally from the state of consciousness I was getting myself into during those meditation sessions.”

At the same time Earley was learning to be present through meditation, he was also reconnecting with his past through those old four-track cassette tapes; in a mirroring microcosm of circularity, he found that the songs fit in with the newer ones he’d written, and he reworked, updated, and finished them with a clarity of perspective that comes with experience gained over time. The performances were loose and freewheeling, fully arranged and fleshed out but never overworked, and the carefree sense of spontaneity called to him. “What struck me the most was just how casual and off the cuff it all was,” Earley reflects. “I was working without any thoughts of the music industry, without any expectation of releasing or touring, so I was just capturing anything that popped into my head and moving on. There was a raw, time capsule quality to it, and it reminded me of why I fell in love with making music in the first place.”

Tue, 03/05/2024 - 8:39 am

Blitzen Trapper today shared their new single “Hello Hallelujah,” the driving, instantly memorable second single from their forthcoming album 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions. “In 2022 I kept a dream journal for about seven months in which I chronicled my nocturnal journeys; this song is the result. Each verse is from a different dream that I recorded during that period,” explains singer/songwriter Eric Earley of the song. “Like all dreams they present as riddles, both personal and cosmic, from teenage preachers to the devil himself, digital avatars and heaven's janitor–and a big old Hello! to them all.” “Hello Hallelujah” follows the ruminative yet urgent lead single “Cosmic Backseat Education,” which saw press attention from Consequence (“a tune flooded with nostalgia, shared memories, and universal experiences”), and more. 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions will be released on May 17, 2024, via Yep Roc and is now available for pre-order.

Blitzen Trapper have also announced additional dates of their spring/summer headline tour, which begins with a hometown show at Portland, OR’s Aladdin Theatre. A current itinerary is below.

The enthralling 12-track 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions arrives nearly four years after 2020’s Holy Smokes Future Jokes, and sees Blitzen Trapper leaning into their psych rock-washed, classic songwriting roots to create one of the finest works of their career–nearly 20 years in. Inspired by Earley’s fascination with Buddhist texts and meditation (the title comes from a phrase that appears over and over in the Mahayana sutras), the album offers a captivating take on rebirth and transcendence, and the circularity of existence, navigating its way through the space beyond dreams and reality, beyond gods and mortals, beyond life and death. The songs are as sincere as they are surreal, rooted in rich character studies and deep reflection, and unfolding like a riddle-filled journey that asks many questions and offers no answers. The production–courtesy of Earley and recorded by guitarist Nathan Vanderpool at his rural Washington studio–is intoxicating to match, blending lo-fi intimacy and trippy psychedelia into a mesmerizing swirl of analog and electronic sounds. Add it all together and the result is a gorgeous, sprawling collection wrapped in lush layers of synthesizers and washed out electric guitars–a poignant, expansive exploration of perception and purpose that manages to look both forwards and backwards all at once.

“This whole project grew out of a box of old four-track tapes from the ’90s that I found recently,” Earley explains. “The tapes were full of songs I’d written and recorded back when I was 19 or 20 years old, and the sound and the spirit of those recordings got me excited to start writing music again, to go back to working the way I did when I was first starting out.”

Drawn to Buddhism around Holy Smokes Future Jokes, Earley found himself particularly fascinated with the religion’s teachings on the self and the freedom that comes with learning to let go of the artificial constructions that surround it. “Buddhism tells us that suffering comes from clinging to illusions, to rigid ideologies, to the idea of an individuated self,” he explains. “The doorway to ridding yourself of all that is meditation, and I found that a lot of these new songs started flowing very naturally from the state of consciousness I was getting myself into during those meditation sessions.”

At the same time Earley was learning to be present through meditation, he was also reconnecting with his past through those old four-track cassette tapes; in a mirroring microcosm of circularity, he found that the songs fit in with the newer ones he’d written, and he reworked, updated, and finished them with a clarity of perspective that comes with experience gained over time. The performances were loose and freewheeling, fully arranged and fleshed out but never overworked, and the carefree sense of spontaneity called to him. “What struck me the most was just how casual and off the cuff it all was,” Earley reflects. “I was working without any thoughts of the music industry, without any expectation of releasing or touring, so I was just capturing anything that popped into my head and moving on. There was a raw, time capsule quality to it, and it reminded me of why I fell in love with making music in the first place.”

100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions also includes backing vocals by Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats/Bonny Light Horseman) and Anna Tivel on the song “Planetarium” (Tivel also plays violin and sings throughout). Read Blitzen Trapper’s full bio and download hi-res images/artwork HERE.

Blitzen Trapper on tour (new dates in bold):

5/17 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre

5/18 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA

5/19 - Bellingham, WA - Shakedown

5/25 - Colorado Springs, CO - Meadowgrass Music Festival (TICKETS)

6/8 - Naches, WA - Chinook Fest

6/29 - Baker City, OR - Churchill School

6/30 - Boise, ID - Shrine Ballroom

7/2 - Avon, CO - Hot Summer Nights

7/3 - Crested Butte, CO - Center for the Arts

7/5 - Silverthorne, CO - Rainbow Park

7/6 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre

7/7 - Grand Junction, CO - Mesa Theatre

7/9 - Park City, UT - Big Stars Bright Nights

7/12 Missoula, MT - Wilma Theatre

8/10 - Eugene, OR - Hult Center for the Performing Arts

8/11 - Ukiah, CA - Sundays in the Park