Experimental electronic noise scientists – Nate Young, John Olson and Mike Connelly, aka Wolf Eyes – added new tunes to their music $pace page plus new tour dates through Europe. Before they leave the US though, they will play four shows in northeast US: Buffalo, Brooklyn, New Haven and Cleveland. So, check out the new music, and look out for your chance to catch them live. Wolf Eyes’ live shows are fascinating crosses between metal, punk, noise, and guitar destruction. They have so much fun on freaking out on stage and they are so much fun to rock out to.
([More →])

We have a new Interpol video directed by Patrick Daughters for you today! It’s Interpol’s “No I in Threesome” and you can watch it right here:
([More →])

Jesu has added experimental metal band Yakuza to a few of their US shows in support of the new Yakuza album, Transmutations. Yakuza’s music is described as “a metal base with progressive flair, while somehow also incorporating elements of jazz, world beat, and post-rock ambience” and “psychedelic elements alongside stretching, doomy movements and the band’s trademark jazz-influences, while also incorporating breakneck grind riffs and grooves at the same time.” With that many different elements coming together in such a fluid and evolving sound, you can see why I would refrain from trying to describe them in my own words! This one place where I will let the PR people figure it out… I really like their music though. It’s extreme to say the least, but with very classical elements. Almost like post-rock band Do Make Say Think if you played their music at 78 rpm… ([More →])

Finnish Krautrockers, Circle, began their US tour with a FREE performance at Other Music in NYC on Tuesday night and will soon be heading west. Circle will play with a few different bands along the way, including Endless Boogie, Grails, Assemblehead in Sunburst Sound, OM and Oneida. Should be a fantastic tour. I saw them at the Great American Music Hall about 3 years ago and it was such an experience… Growing and Earth opened the show with incredible sets of experimental metal and then Circle took the audience to another dimension! The music was psychedelic and totally trance-inducing. For some reason they remind of Les Savy Fav, but with really long, drawn out jams that take you deeper and deeper into the music. They also put so much energy into the performance, much like LSF do. If you are near one of their shows, I highly recommend checking them out. The recorded versions do not come close to describing the sounds and experience of their live performance. ([More →])

Busy as Bjork. I’m going to start coining that phrase. Coz when she’s busy, nobody can out-busy her! Last week she finished filming the video for “Wanderlust” in NYC, played two shows in France, did an interview with Spinner and then was heading to the UK for some big music festivals. I thought that was the end of the road trip for her, but it turns out Bjork just doesn’t stop! Energizer batteries need to sign her up as their new mascot! So, while our heads were whirling with this information, Bjork was secretly recording a special Live Session album at Olympic Studios with her current live band. I hope it includes the reacTable synth – that thing is wiiiiiiicked! ([More →])

Just when the Yeah Yeah Yeahs thought they could go home and rest, they got an offer they couldn’t refuse! October 4th in the Year of the Fire Pig, triple Y will be rocking Beijing at the Modern Sky Festival. It’s the first festival of its kind created by the Chinese indie label, Modern Sky. It’s a 3-day outdoor music festival with 120 bands and musicians and headlined by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. ([More →])

Recently, NPR’s “Song of the Day” a chord with old-skool punk fans who found it hauntingly familiar. Many who caught the sense of recognition probably brushed it off, thinking “Bah, this is a catchy pop song. I don’t listen to pop…” Well, this is true – it is a pop song. But once, in the early 80′s it was a raging punk song, blasted out of crunchy guitar cabs and screeched over by a very young Henry Rollins. Now, the Dirty Projectors have created an entire album based on Black Flag’s 1981 album, Damaged. ([More →])

Today we present you with the video for “Frank and Ava” from the new Suzanne Vega album Beauty and Crime. Vega is still so lovely… The whole album is inspired by and devoted to the city of New York, so the video rightfully opens with a full shot of the city’s skyline, and zooms in until we see Suzanne Vega looking classy and sitting in a quiet afternoon bar setting. This song is smooth and snappy. There is also a great video of Vega performing live with another song off Beauty and Crime – “New York Is A Woman.” It’s a dreamy and soulful song. ([More →])

When the story broke that Dave Sitek had recorded the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Celebration for music used on Scarlett Johansson’s forthcoming album, I had a hunch that a new Celebration album might also be in the works. The Baltimore-based band is friends with Sitek and has been part of Sitek’s projects before. Nick Zinner of the YYYs is reported to be a fan of their music himself and, sure enough, I found out today that Nick Z appears on two tracks of a new Celebration album. The album is called The Modern Tribe and it will be released on 4AD October 9th. ([More →])

Amiina is sick! One of the fair maidens is ill and they must cancel their US tour. They promise to reschedule a new tour, but not for some time. Amiina is booked solid until Winter! In October they will travel through Europe and the Far East on tour, then spend some time in the studio. ([More →])

The Black Angels will join Queens of the Stone Age on tour after a few Arizona and Cali shows of their own. The Black Angels opened for the Smashing Pumpkins during their 7 day stint at The Fillmore in SF and recently finished a tour of Europe with the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. They also received some of the best praise I have ever read in Uncut:

the flat, pounding rhythm of early heavy metal; the brassy echo of Peggy Suicide-era Julian Cope; the brooding sludge of Spacemen 3; [and] Grace Slick’s mock-solemn incantations.

Dang. Sounds smooth and dangerous… ([More →])

In my double-life as a jet-setting music enthusiast, I would definitely be in London (again, London… sigh.) on 6 and 7 and 9 September to enjoy two different audio-visual sensory-immersive events at the ICA. The three events feature music by Mathew Herbert, The Chemical Brothers, Battles, Plaid and many more electricians, while the visual includes works by Joji Koyama, Max Hattler, United Visual Artists, Flat Nose George plus many others. ([More →])

Our favorite psychedelic space-rockers – Spectrum – are currently weaving across the Northern US on their way to V Festival in Toronto. If you heard Sonic Boom on his tour earlier this year, you may have been left with an appetite for a full Spectrum experience. Boom played a handful of songs from the Spectrum archives during his sets, and now we can hear them in proper stereo. Spectrum just played two shows in NYC over the weekend and Tuesday night they were in Cambridge Mass. After that, it’s on to Philly, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Then in September, they hit Chicago, Toronto, Seattle, and a lot of midwest in bewtween. And of course, Portland, SF and LA will get their turn before the band travels through the south, finishing up the tour at the Wall of Sound Festival in Fort Worth, Texas. ([More →])

Many musicians will bring good cheer to the US on 9/11 this year, and Baby Elephant will be one of them with the release of Turn My Teeth Up! But you won’t have to wait to listen to this groovy, ultra-funktastic music – you can listen to it today on the band’s music$pace page. Baby Elephant is comprised of Prince Paul, Newkirk, and Bernie Worrell at its core and they will drop their debut album on Godforsaken Music. Bernie Worrell is a dreamy synthesizer mastermind who has played with the Talking Heads and P-Funk, as well as a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. But the delicious name-dropping doesn’t end there! Also featured on different tracks are George Clinton – the man who put the P in Phunk, David Byrne – the eccentric Talking Head himself, Yellowman – the whitest Jamaican to chat up a mic, Shock G – who put the Hump in Humpty, plus Gabby La La, Nona Hendryx, and Reggie Watts! ([More →])

Jesus and Mary Chain broke up in 1999 but reunited this year with a memorable appearance at Coachella including additional vocals by Scarlett Johansson on “Just Like Honey.” The band, featuring brothers William and Jim Reid plus Loz Colbert, Phil King, and Mark Crozer, is currently on tour in Europe but will return to the US for more shows in October. When speaking with Rolling Stone recently, JAMC spoke of possibly recording an album of new material. Today it’s been confirmed, they will head into the studio again after touring. For the US dates announced thus far, Evan Dando (former Lemonheads) will open each show with a solo acoustic act, while 3 of the shows will feature the Soulsavers (Mark Lanegan’s current band). ([More →])