All photos taken in Santa Ana by Martin Worster
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5/31/2018
Black Moth Super Rainbow launches US tour tonight in DC, TOBACCO touring with Nine Inch Nails this Fall
Black Moth Super Rainbow launches US tour tonight in DC, making first ever trip to Europe w/ Nine Inch Nails
BMSR'S TOBACCO will also join Nine Inch Nails & JAMC for select Fall dates in the US
BMSR'S TOBACCO will also join Nine Inch Nails & JAMC for select Fall dates in the US
If you haven’t panicked lately, you’re either blissfully ignorant or have gone completely clear. For the rest of us attempting to navigate the political, economical, and cultural carnage, Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” succinctly captures the statue of psychic dislocation. Or N.W.A.’s “The Panic Zone.” Or Black Moth Super Rainbow’s Panic Blooms, the latest disorienting dystopian masterpiece from the experimental pop arsonists that haunt the black-leaved Pennsylvania woods.
For the last decade, BMSR and frontman TOBACCO have explored the periphery of evil and extreme color, alternating between absurdly bright beauty and the slashed throat sinister. A sound impossible to replicate, as though it burst fully formed from a paisley-painted fire hydrant stationed in hell. They combine the aesthetically gorgeous with the hideously ugly to create a psychedelic uneasiness usually only seen in old oil paintings. What if Goya or Bosch made ravaged vocoder pop? Or a neo-impressionist painter committed himself to creating slow woozy earworms so iridian and vivid you’d think he sliced off an ear in the process.
We know scarcely anything personal about BMSR frontman TOBACCO. There’s his government name, Tom Fec. A few photos if you want to Google, most of them in a mask. He’s done enough interviews where he patiently breaks down the creative process and the ideas espoused, but has mostly resisted the soul-snuffing admissions expected from contemporary musicians. In that vein, he’s closer to a Boards of Canada, DOOM, or Aphex Twin—periodically visible but opaque—emotional but unwilling to exploit the self-mythology and cult that cropped up around him.
So maybe this is why Panic Blooms is slightly startling. Never before has TOBACCO been so raw or direct in his lyrics. It’s a f-ed up and bleeding account of depression and the shadow side of human frailty, full of gorgeous warped melodies that exist as their own genre, somewhere between late 90s Warp Records, dub, and chopped and screwed codeine drip. It’s not drug music, it’s dragged music, oozing through the muck of the present moment, past mutating the present, demon melodies filtered through the vain search for light.
This is why Pitchfork claimed BMSR mastered the balance between the grotesque and beautiful. Spin hailed their “consistently great records of mind-altering, sugar-coated, vocoder- heavy psychedelic pop.” Stereogum saluted their “excellent haze.” Encoded in a syrupy fog, TOBACCO’s lines stab with more ferocity than ever before. From the first track, the knives are out and slashing with chimerical violent imagery: mouths bleeding from razor blades stashed in tangerines and the ominous sensation of feeling haunted. There are sunset curses and diseased plants, sunburn fevers and doomsday downgrades, pink apocalyptic suns and sinister omens. It’s reminiscent of the phrase used to describe surrealism: as beautiful as the chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on an operating table.
Here we are in 2018, inhabiting a tumorous wasteland with singed nerves and synapses fried from scrolling for far too long. This is what the fear sounds like in its most pristine form. The floral bloom and the toxic wilt, the sound of dreams and nightmares reaching détente, a ride through the void, where the fumes offer all the anesthetic you need.
BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW TOUR DATES
THU 5/31 WASHINGTON, DC Black Cat
FRI 6/1 PHILADELPHIA, PA Union Transfer
SAT 6/2 NEW YORK, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
SUN 6/3 BOSTON, MA Brighton Music Hall
THU 6/14 CINCINNATI, OH Urban Artifact
FRI 6/15 DETROIT, MI El Club
SAT 6/16 CHICAGO, IL Metro
SUN 6/17 COLUMBUS, OH Skully's Music Diner
6/22 - LONDON, UK, Royal Festival Hall - Meltdown Festival*
6/24 - LONDON, UK Royal Albert Hall*
6/25 - PARIS, FR Olympia*
6/27 - AMSTERDAM, NL AFAS Live*
FRI 8/10 PITTSBURGH, PA Mr. Smalls
SAT 8/11 LOUISVILLE, KY Headliners
SUN 8/12 ASHEVILLE, NC Orange Peel
TUE 8/14 AUSTIN, TX Mohawk
WED 8/15 HOUSTON, TX White Oak Music Hall
FRI 8/17 ATLANTA, GA Masquerade (Hell)
SAT 8/18 NASHVILLE, TN Mercy Lounge
FRI 6/1 PHILADELPHIA, PA Union Transfer
SAT 6/2 NEW YORK, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
SUN 6/3 BOSTON, MA Brighton Music Hall
THU 6/14 CINCINNATI, OH Urban Artifact
FRI 6/15 DETROIT, MI El Club
SAT 6/16 CHICAGO, IL Metro
SUN 6/17 COLUMBUS, OH Skully's Music Diner
6/22 - LONDON, UK, Royal Festival Hall - Meltdown Festival*
6/24 - LONDON, UK Royal Albert Hall*
6/25 - PARIS, FR Olympia*
6/27 - AMSTERDAM, NL AFAS Live*
FRI 8/10 PITTSBURGH, PA Mr. Smalls
SAT 8/11 LOUISVILLE, KY Headliners
SUN 8/12 ASHEVILLE, NC Orange Peel
TUE 8/14 AUSTIN, TX Mohawk
WED 8/15 HOUSTON, TX White Oak Music Hall
FRI 8/17 ATLANTA, GA Masquerade (Hell)
SAT 8/18 NASHVILLE, TN Mercy Lounge
TOBACCO TOUR DATES
09/13/2018 Comerica Theatre / Phoenix, AZ *#
09/14/2018 Comerica Theatre / Phoenix, AZ *#
09/18/2018 Red Rocks / Morrison, CO *#
09/19/2018 Red Rocks / Morrison, CO *#
09/24/2018 Orpheum Theater / Memphis, TN *#
09/26/2018 Fox Theatre / Atlanta, GA *#
09/27/2018 Fox Theatre / Atlanta, GA *#
09/29/2018 Ascend Amphitheater / Nashville, TN *#
* = with Nine Inch Nails
# = with The Jesus and Mary Chain
09/14/2018 Comerica Theatre / Phoenix, AZ *#
09/18/2018 Red Rocks / Morrison, CO *#
09/19/2018 Red Rocks / Morrison, CO *#
09/24/2018 Orpheum Theater / Memphis, TN *#
09/26/2018 Fox Theatre / Atlanta, GA *#
09/27/2018 Fox Theatre / Atlanta, GA *#
09/29/2018 Ascend Amphitheater / Nashville, TN *#
* = with Nine Inch Nails
# = with The Jesus and Mary Chain
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JOSEPH ARTHUR & PETER BUCK TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM ARTHUR BUCK VIA NEW WEST RECORDS JUNE 15th, 2018
JOSEPH ARTHUR & PETER BUCK TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM ARTHUR BUCK VIA NEW WEST RECORDS JUNE 15th, 2018
FIRST EVER NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED
CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND PREMIERES “AMERICAN CENTURY” TODAY
Photo By Dean Karr
Joseph Arthur and Peter Buck of R.E.M. fame will release their debut album, Arthur Buck, on June 15th, 2018 via New West Records. The 11-song set was produced by Joseph Arthur and mixed by Tchad Blake (U2, Pearl Jam, The Black Keys) with all of its songs co-written by the duo. Arthur Buck previously announced their first ever North American tour launching on September 7th in Seattle, WA (please see all dates below). In addition to Joseph Arthur and Peter Buck, the live band will consist of Scott McCaughey (Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows, R.E.M., The Baseball Project) on bass, Linda Pitmon (Minus 5, Filthy Friends, The Baseball Project) on drums, and Gregg Foreman (Pharmacy, Delta 72, Cat Power) on Keyboards. In their rave review of the album, Uncut Magazine in the U.K. stated that the “Veterans sound renewed on the anthem-filled collaboration” and said of its lead off track, “Buck’s chiming acoustic pattern on ‘I Am The Moment’ echoes the sylvan glory of R.E.M.’s Out Of Time, setting up the LP’s prevailing theme of hopeful anticipation.” NPR Music previously premiered the song, which marries Buck’s sharply-strummed acoustic guitar chords to an electronic beat, with all manner of sonic ephemera ping-ponging around in the background. NPR stated, “The sparks fly freely in the song 'I Am the Moment': a classic chiming Buck guitar lick sets up a vocal that's both gritty and cosmically gleeful, enlivened by a handclap-sharp rhythm track.” Rolling Stone also previously premiered their video for the album’s first single, “Are You Electrified?.” The Dean Karr directed clip was shot in Oregon and Rolling Stone said, “Between clean guitar licks, Arthur’s gritty vocals impart a message of hope. Arthur described the new track as ‘a song about holding onto your dreams in a world that makes it challenging to do so...to inspire with positive energy and momentum to do as the song says and ‘make this world a better place.’” See it HERE. Today, Consequence of Sound premiered the track “American Century” alongside an “Origins” feature examining the song's creation with Peter Buck and Joseph Arthur. Here it Here. Arthur Buck will be available as an Indie Retail Translucent Blue & Red Split Colored Vinyl Edition, a limited edition Autographed Barnes & Noble Vinyl Variant, Standard Black Vinyl, Compact Disc, and across digital platforms. The album is currently available for pre-order via New West Records.
Listen To Arthur Buck's “American Century”
The collaboration was established after the pair met up in Mexico near the end of 2017. They wrote eight songs in three days and on the fourth day, performed them for a handful of Baja locals near Buck’s home. Arthur says, “My first thought was, ‘Hey, I’ll get Peter to play acoustic guitar on some of the stuff I’m working on!’ So I started showing him songs. But he was like, ‘That’s cool. Now check this out.’ And he started playing chords and whatnot. So I put my guitar down and began singing over his changes, and it was magical. It was easy. And these great songs just started popping out.”
Since their initial meeting, the pair steadily worked on their debut with basic tracks recorded at Type Foundry Studio in Portland, OR with Arthur producing at his studio in Brooklyn, NY. The vibrant collection captures the spontaneity at the heart of the project - right down to the 1-2-3-4 count off from Buck that begins the proceedings - with sounds and styles mashed together in a unique and interesting manner. “It was all new songs, and it was spontaneous,” Buck says. “And the great thing about working that way was that it didn’t have to be anything in particular. It was liberated from any expectation. It was free.”
The two musicians have a history that stretches back decades; among other pairings, Arthur opened many shows for R.E.M. in the early 2000s, while Buck has backed Arthur on numerous occasions. Both Arthur and Buck have said that these songs differ from their other recording projects and while speaking with Rolling Stone, Buck said “It was really spontaneous and kind of magical in its own way, as [being in Mexico] we were kind of disconnected from everything.” Arthur added, “All of a sudden it was like I had this musical partner and friend, and that relieved the music of the burden of the self, if that makes sense.” Of his new bandmate, Buck stated, “Joe is going through that searching period we all go through in life. And those experiences he’s having make this a very forward-looking record, lyrically. The music has a questing kind of feel. We were making it up as we went along.”
Arthur Buck Track Listing:
1. I Am The Moment
2. Are You Electrified?
3. The Wanderer
4. Forever Waiting
5. If You Wake Up In Time
6. Summertime
7. American Century
8. Forever Falling
9. Before Your Love Is Gone
10. Wide Awake In November
11. Can’t Make It Without You
Arthur Buck On Tour:
September 7th - Seattle, WA The Crocodile
September 8th - Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
September 10th - San Francisco, CA The Independent
September 11th - Los Angeles, CA Teragram Ballroom
September 13th - Athens, GA 40 Watt Club
September 16th - Nashville, TN The Basement East
September 18th - Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live - Downstairs
September 19th - Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
September 20th - Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
September 21st - Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel
September 23rd - Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
September 24th - Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
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Beanpole (Primus Mem.) Announce Unreleased LP + Share Track On Rolling Stone | 'All My Kin' Out 8/31 On Chimera Music
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Arroyo Seco Weekend reveals food lineup, installations + more!
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Live Nation presents Johnny Marr @ The ACE October 4
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LUMP (Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay) in The Masonic Lodge at HOLLYWOOD FOREVER
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Thom Fekete (Surfer Blood) Shares "Moulding Over" Track On COS | Posthumous LP 'Grow' Out 6/8 Via Joyful Noise Recordings
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