R.I.P. Lemmy Kilmister 1945-2015

Photo by BEV DAVIES

Some more best records of 2015

Best of 2015 list

Adele "25"
Arca "Mutant"
Beach House "Thank Your Lucky Stars"
Brian Jonestown Massacre "Mini Album Thingy Wingy

Björk "Vulnicura"

Bully "Feels Like"

The Chills "Silver Bullets"

Destroyer "Poison Season"

Drinks "Hermits on Holdays"

Dungen "Allas Sack"

Eagles of Death Metal "Zipper Down"

Erykah Badu "You Caint Use My Phone"

The Fall "Sub-Lingual Tablet"

FFS "FFS"

FKA Twigs "M3LL155X"

Fuzz "II"

Gliss "Pale Reflections"

Godspeed You! Black Emperor "Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress"

Health "Death Magic"

Hinds "Burger"

Jacco Gardner "Hypnophobia"

JennyLee "Right On"

Kurt Vile "Believe I'm Going Down"

La Luz "Weirdo Shrine"

Lilies on Mars "AGO"

LoneLady "Hinterland"

Loop "Array EP"

Miya Folick "Strange Darling"

No Joy "More Faithful"

Ought "Sun Coming Down"

The Pop Group "Citizen Zombie"

Protomartyr "The Agent Intellect"

Ringo Deathstarr "Pure Mood"

Sexwitch "Sexwitch"

Sharkmuffin "Chartreuse"

Shopping "Why Choose"
Sufjan Stevens "Carrie & Lowell"
Sunflower Bean "I Hear Voices"
Sun Kil Moon "Universal Themes"
Tess Parks and Anton Newcombe "I Declare Nothing"
Ty Segall "Ty Rex"
Ultimate Paintings "Green Lane"
Thayer Sarrano "Shaky"
Wand "1000 Days"
Wand "Golem"
Wilco "Star Wars"
William Basinski "Cascade"

SHOWS 2015

SHOWS 2015

Jan 3rd: Foxygen @ Roxy
Jan 7th: The Dictators @ Alex’s Bar
Jan 21st: Blonde Redhead + Warlocks @ Indigo Music

Feb 8th: Zola Jesus @ Constellation Room
Feb 11th: Warlocks @ Bootleg
Feb 13th: Jessica Pratt @ Origami
Feb 13th: Springtime Carnivore @ Roxy
Feb 13th: Lily and Madeleine @ Troubadour
Feb 13th: 100 Waters @ El Rey
Feb 14th: Sparks @ ACE Theater
Feb 24th: Black Ryder + Hype Williams @ Rickshaw
Feb 25th: Jessica Pratt @ Chapel
Feb 26th: Church @ Chapel
Feb 26th: Eleanor Friedburger @ Brick Mortar
Feb 27th: No Joy + Vanish @ Bottom of the Hill

Mar 3rd: Dante Elephante @ Continental
Mar 5th: Swervedriver @ Roxy
Mar 7th: Dead Meadow + Warlocks @ Bootleg
Mar 12th: 254 + Honeyblood @ Echo
Mar 20th: Trampled By Turtles @ Observatory (20)
Mar 21st: Lovely Bad Things @ LAB
Mar 22nd: Moon Duo @ Observatory
Mar 24th: Gang of Four @ El Rey
Mar 27th: Hinds + Colleen Green @ Echo
Mar 28th: Black Angels + Gang of Four @ Burgerama
Mar 29th: Ty Segall + Ariel Pink @ Burgerama

April 1st: IBEYI @ Hollywood Forever
April 1st: David Lynch @ ACE
April 2nd: Mourn @ Echo
April 3rd: Kitten + Mirror Talk @ Troubadour (30)
April 7th: Nick Cave + Beth Orton @ Ace Theater
April 9th: Warlocks @ Los Globos
April 10th: White Fence @ Natural History Museum
April 14th: RIDE @ Fox Pomona
April 14th: RAC @ Glasshouse
April 15th: The Cribs @ Constellation Room
April 15th: Squarepusher @ Observatory
April 16th: Swans @ Constellation Room
April 24th: Rain Parade @ Echoplex
April 24th: Fuzz @ El Rey (40)
April 25th: Faith No More @ Observatory
April 26th: Colleen Green + La Sera @ KXLU Fest
April 26th: Nikki Lane @ Roxy
April 29th: The Soft Moon @ Constellation Room
April 30th: Sleater Kinney @ Palladium

May 1st: Tennis @ Troubadour
May 3rd: Lightning Bolt @ Echoplex
May 4th: Lightning Bolt @ Constellation Room
May 6th: JSBX @ Observatory
May 8th: Purity Ring @ Fonda (50)
May 9th: Melted + Aquadolls @ Constellation Room
May 13th: Joel Gion + Levitation Room @ Observatory
May 15th: Fat White Family @ Troubadour
May 16th: Dead Meadow @ Psycho California
May 16th: Fat White Family @ Wayfarer
May 18th: Wolf Alice + Gateway Drugs @ Roxy
May 21st: Hiatus Kayote @ Constellation Room
May 22nd: Bryan Adams @ Verizon
May 29th: Neutral Milk Hotel @ Observatory
May 30th: Wire @ Echoplex (60)

June 5th: Palma Violets @ Teragram
June 6th: Abigails + Levitation Room @ East End Block Party
June 7th: Todd Rundgren @ House of Blues anaheim
June 10th: Warlocks + Blood Candy @ Wayfarer
June 13th: Warlocks + Magic Wands @ Bootleg
June 15th: Blood Candy @ Echoplex
June 15th: Pins + Queen Kwong @ Echo
June 20th: Brian Wilson @ Greek
June 29th: Jacco Gardner + Calvin Love @ Wayfarer

July 9th: Smashing Pumpkins + Marilyn Manson @ Irvine Meadows (70)
July 10th: X + The Blasters @ Observatory
July 15th: The Garden + The Rooms @ Wayfarer
July 29th: Spandau Balllet @ OC Fair

Aug 7th: Echo and The Bunnymen @ OC Fair
Aug 13th: JAMC + Cold Cave @ Glasshouse
Aug 19th: JAMC + APTBS @ Fonda
Aug 21st: Black Ryder @ Independent
Aug 28th: Black Ryder + Vacant Lots @ Roxy

Sept 5th: Cat Power + Julie Ruin @ Burger-A-Go-Go

Oct 24th: Grimes @ Beach Goth (80)
Oct 25th: Die Antwoord @ Beach Goth 4

Nov 4th: Of Montreal + Diane Coffee @ Regent
Nov 29th: PIL @ Fonda

Dec 1st: Dandy Warhols + Miranda Richards @ Great American
Dec 2nd: Dandy Warhols + Miranda Richards @ Great American
Dec 7th: Beach House @ Observatory
Dec 11th: Thayer Serrano @ Analog Café PDX
Dec 12th: Dandy Warhols + Miranda Richards @ Crystal Ballroom
Dec 18th: Shuggie Otis + Gary Wilson @ Dirty Laundry

Brian Jonestown Massacre announce US tour dates 2016

Brian Jonestown Massacre announce US tour dates 2016

APRIL

Fri 29 Levitation Festival Austin TX

May

Sun 1 One Eye Jack's New Orleans LA

Mon 2 Mercy Lounge Nashville TN

Tue 3 Newport Music Hall Columbus OH

Wed 4 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland OH

Thu 5 9.30 Club Washington DC

Fri 6 Union Transfer Philadelphia PA

Sat 7 Paradise Rock Club Boston MA

Mon 9 Webster Hall New York NY

Tue 10 Le Tulipe Montreal Canada

Thu 12 Danforth Music Hall Toronto Canada

Fri 13 Metro Chicago IL

Sat 14 First Avenue Minneapolis MN

Sun 15 The Waiting Room Omaha NE

Tue 17 Bluebird Theatre Denver CO

Wed 18 The Depot SLC UT

Thu 19 Top Hat Lounge Missoula MT

Fri 20 Starlight Ballroom Edmonton Canada

Sat 21 Republik Niteclub Calgary Canada

Mon 23 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver Canada

Tue 24 Neumo's Seattle WA

Wed 25 Wonder Ballroom Portland OR

Fri 27 The Independent San Francisco CA

Sat 28 The Independent San Francisco CA

Sun 29 Teragram Ballroom Los Angeles CA

Mon 30 Teragram Ballroom Los Angeles CA

GANG OF FOUR LIVE ALBUM - Pre-order now and claim exclusive memorabilia

GANG OF FOUR + NEW LIVE ALBUM Greetings,   So we're not quite done with you all yet. We're pleased to surprise you with the launch of a brand new LIVE ALBUM. During a year spent touring the world, we've captured the experience of two of the greatest of our shows and created this release available to pre-order now from HERE. We filmed the sold-out show at New York’s Irving Plaza which will be available as a DVD or download. We also recorded the penultimate show of 2015, at London’s Islington Assembly Hall. This will be available as an audio CD, vinyl and download. The set list of each show brings together our catalogue spanning more than 30 years, from Entertainment!’s “Damaged Goods” to "Where The Nightingale Sings” from the 2015 studio album, What Happens Next. Take a look HERE. We are also offering VIP experiences and memorabilia from shows including guitars torn up during "Anthrax" and even the original and indestructible microwave we've tried to destroy every night during "He’d Send In The Army".  We hope to see you all soon! Gang of 4

HINDS Release "San Diego" Video

HINDS  RELEASE "SAN DIEGO" TOUR VIDEO An "unofficial but amazing video made by us with love and affection"   Leave Me Alone Out January 8th, 2016 via Mom + Pop/Lucky Number (Credit: Aaron Serrano) "...the exuberance that defines their live shows can't be taught. Mixing super-lo-fi guitar chugging with effervescent vocal harmonies, they're what it would sound like if a Sixties girl-group was born in a Nineties Seattle basement." - RollingStone.com    "Though recorded in southern Spain, the lo-fi tracks, with lyrics in English, have a distinctly American garage-rock feel." - New York Times: T Magazine   "The chillest four-piece in rock hail from Madrid, and write choruses so loose and lovely you'll want to wear them in like a favorite pair of sneakers." - The FADER   "...effortless knack for crafting charming, infectiously ramshackle garage pop jams." - Gorilla vs Bear   "Their jangling, catchy garage rock is some of the most simply fun and addictive music we've heard in years...Trust us, it's fucking awesome." - Pigeons & Planes   "Spain's most exciting new exports" - Consequence of Sound   "Listening to Hinds...is like waking up and being told you're about to live the most fun day of your life. A set of charmed, garage pop melodies dreamed up in the hot pink bedroom of a group of best friends, their songs offer a never-ending smile." - Paste   Hinds will release their stellar, garage rock debut Leave Me Alone on January 8th, and today the band shares an amazing, on-the-road video for "San Diego." Capturing scenes of the fun-loving, Madrid-based four-piece on tour in the U.S., Europe and Asia over the last few months, this unofficial video for "San Diego" is a trailer for their forthcoming tour documentary, giving a behind-the-scenes peek at what it's truly like to ¡VIVA HINDS!PRESS HERE to watch the clip, created by Hinds' own Carlotta Cosials, now.   Earlier this week, Hinds also debuted the HINDS 20000 DELUXE VIDEOGAME and announced an intimate NYC release show on January 6th, presented by Hype Machine Stack Live. PRESS HERE to play the game now, and be sure to steer clear of sangria and snatch up those chili peppers. PRESS HEREto RSVP for the show at Palisades - admission is $3 and limited to venue capacity.   Hinds will release Leave Me Alone on January 8th via Mom + Pop/Lucky Number.Since bursting onto the DIY scene last summer, Hinds have mastered a raw and playful sound all their own. Leave Me Alone - twelve charmingly lo-fi tracks inspired by contemporary American garage rockers like Mac DeMarco, Ty Segall and The Black Lips - is an exciting first look at to the Spanish quartet who are pioneering the burgeoning indie music scene in Madrid.   Hinds are: Ana Perrote, Carlotta Cosials, Ade Martin and Amber Grimbergen.   Watch this space for more on Hinds: https://hindsband.squarespace.com/

Violent Femmes return with first new album in more than 15 years

VIOLENT FEMMES  

CAN DO ANYTHING

LEGENDARY AMERICAN BAND RETURNS

WITH FIRST NEW ALBUM IN MORE THAN 15 YEARS

 

10-TRACK COLLECTION INCLUDES NEW CLASSICS LIKE "MEMORY" AND "ISSUES"

 

EPIC WORLD TOUR TO BE ANNOUNCED

 

WE CAN DO ANYTHING ARRIVES AT LAST ON FRIDAY, MARCH 4TH

 

 

(New York, NY) - Violent Femmes have announced details of their eagerly awaited new LP. WE CAN DO ANYTHING arrives via [PIAS] on Friday, March 4th.

 

Violent Femmes' ninth studio album and first full-length collection in more than 15 years, WE CAN DO ANYTHING is among the most provocative and playful in the legendary trio's remarkable canon. As the album's title makes plain, the band - singer/songwriter/guitarist Gordon Gano, bassist Brian Ritchie, and drummer Brian Viglione - remains as intrepid and fearless as ever before, traversing genre and emotion via their immediately identifiable, still utterly idiosyncratic, mash of rambunctious folk, minimalist punk, cubist blues, cosmic jazz, and backwoods rock 'n' roll.

 

Produced by Jeff Hamilton - a longtime member of the Horns of Dilemma, Violent Femmes' ever-evolving cabal of multi-instrumentalist backing musicians - and mixed by the legendary John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Kurt Vile, Dinosaur, Jr.), WE CAN DO ANYTHING was recorded in studios in Brooklyn, Nashville, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Denver, while on tour during the summer of 2015.  The album's cover image was drawn by Barenaked Ladies' Kevin Hearn, who also contributed accordion, guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals on several recordings. Rounding out the live touring band and members of The Horns of Dilemma are John Sparrow and Blaise Garza who has been playing with the band since he was 14 years old. 

 

Gano gathered the album's material by diving headlong into his own voluminous archives, listening to ancient cassette demos and leafing through old journals in search of suitable songs. Among his finds were such new classics as the murderous "Big Car" and the fractured fairy tale, "I Could Be Anything," Of the album's more recent songs, "Foothills" and "Holy Ghost" were both penned with the team of Sam Hollander and Dave Katz (Train, Joe Cocker), while "Issues" - co-written by Gano with Hollander and Better Than Ezra's Kevin Griffin (Christina Perri, Howie Day) - stands out as vintage Violent Femmes, as lyrically cutting as it is musically kinetic. Penned by Gano's big sister, gifted folk singer/songwriter/artist Cynthia Gayneau, "What You Really Mean," the album's sole cover, might as well be an original composition, hewing remarkably close to the frontman's own sonic sensibility and lyrical heart. Colored by explosive arrangements that veer on a dime from hard charging stomp to intimate melancholy, WE CAN DO ANYTHING is Violent Femmes at their very finest - joyous, exciting, and eternal.

 

Violent Femmes will celebrate WE CAN DO ANYTHING with a full-scale North American headline tour. Complete details will be unveiled soon - for up to the minute news and information, please seewww.vfemmes.com/tour.

 

WE CAN DO ANYTHING arrives hot on the heels of Violent Femmes' acclaimed 2015 EP, HAPPY NEW YEAR. Recorded in Ritchie's adopted home of Hobart, Tasmania as the band prepared for a sold out New Year's Eve 2014 concert at the world famous Sydney Opera House, the EP is highlighted by "Love Love Love Love Love" and "Good For/At Nothing" both of which are accompanied by animated companion videos streaming now at the band's official YouTube channel. HAPPY NEW YEAR is available now on the iTunes Store and other online retailers.

 

One of the most beloved bands of the golden age of indie rock, Violent Femmes returned to action in 2013 with an acclaimed performance at Coachella, their first live appearance in several years. Drummer Brian Viglione (The Dresden Dolls, Nine Inch Nails) came aboard in 2013. The Violent Femmes embarked on a wide-ranging tour that included headline dates and ecstatically received festival sets around the world. The Guardian applauded their London show as "a triumphant rampage through their back catalogue," declaring the band's self-titled 1983 debut to be "a cult classic of teenage alienation - a sneerier, post-pubescent Catcher in the Rye, if you like, with added nocturnal emissions and rattling acoustic bass solos."

 

Violent Femmes came together in 1981 and were quickly ranked among the era's most inventive and original, constantly pushing forward with their singular blend of folk and punk, sarcasm and spirituality. The trio released eight studio albums and more than a dozen singles, among them such iconic classics as "American Music," "Gone Daddy Gone," "Nightmares, "Add It Up," "Kiss Off" and of course, "Blister In The Sun." Violent Femmes' remarkable three-decade career earned them cumulative sales in excess of 10 million worldwide, with 1983's VIOLENT FEMMES earning RIAA platinum certification eight years after its initial release.

 

With the turn of the millennium, Violent Femmes began a long hiatus from the studio, only coming together in 2009 to record a cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," returning the favor after the psychedelic soul duo's cover of "Gone Daddy Gone" proved a worldwide smash.

 

For more, please see www.vfemmes.com and www.facebook.com/officialviolentfemmes.

The Growlers west coast tour 2016

California Winter 2016 February 13 Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA February 14 Observatory, Santa Ana, CA February 15 Observatory, Santa Ana, CA February 16 Observatory North Park, San Diego, CA February 17 Observatory North Park, San Diego, CA Tickets: TheGrowlers.com

Thayer Sarrano @ Doug Fir Lounge PDX

    All photos taken in Portland by Gene Brunak.

PORTLAND PDX last week

SUNFLOWER BEAN - New Music Video & New U.S. Tour Dates via Noisey!

PREMIERE "WALL WATCHER" VIDEO VIA NOISEY  & ANNOUNCE INITIAL U.S. TOUR DATES Debut Album Human Ceremony Out February 5th via Fat Possum

(Credit: Crista Simiriglia)

Praise for Sunflower Bean + "Wall Watcher": "The music is both restrained and aggressive...but like a lot of great rock'n'roll, it's also catchy, compelling, and concise." - Pitchfork "Another killer track...one of the band's best songs to date." - The FADER "Guitars fade in and out, bending like a black hole pulling in metal riffs and spitting them out into a psychedelic universe on the other side." - Consequence of Sound "It sounds massive - and it's proof that it's time to start taking Sunflower Bean seriously." - NME Sunflower Bean will release their utterly brilliant debut album Human Ceremony early next year, and today they unveil a killer music video for the first single, "Wall Watcher." The driving track was released last month to praise from Pitchfork, The FADER, Consequence of Sound, Brooklyn Vegan and many more, and now it receives an equally striking visual from Roger Sargent about the daunting passing of time as expressed in the single (Where did the time go?/Gets faster as we go/I feel it all around.) Shot in an old buckle factory in London, the video for "Wall Watcher" is premiering via Noisey now. PRESS HERE to watch. Sunflower Bean - who are known internationally for their exhilarating live shows - also announce today their first batch of U.S. tour dates in support of Human Ceremony. See below to find newly added dates, in addition to their hometown release show at Bowery Ballroom on February 25thand their return to Austin for SXSW 2016. PRESS HERE for tickets. Human Ceremonywill be released on February 5th via Fat Possum. Drawing inspiration from a vast pool of influences such as Black Sabbath and The Cure, Sunflower Bean have crafted an album that is a potent, heady mix of swirling indie pop, urgent, fuzzed-out guitar bliss, and girl/boy sugar-spun vocal melodies that delivers a modern-day spin on classic rock & roll. Having gotten their start in the DIY New York scene, Sunflower Bean quickly accelerated into one of the foremost up-and-coming bands nationally and overseas over the last few months. Following the release of their singular EP earlier this year, and a 7-inch vinyl this Summer, Sunflower Bean played over 100 shows in one year between the U.S. and Europe, opening for the likes of DIIV, Best Coast, and Wolf Alice, and delivering show-stopping sets at CMJ, SXSW and UK's Great Escape festival.  Now, Sunflower Bean are set to deliver one of the best debuts you will hear in 2016 PRESS HERE to pre-order Human Ceremony on CD or vinyl, and HERE on iTunes. Sunflower Bean are: Jacob Faber [drums], Julia Cumming [vocals/bass], and Nick Kivlen[vocals/guitars]. International Tour Dates (US Dates in BOLD) 2/2/16              Bristol, UK @ Louisiana 2/3/16              Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds 2/6/16              Paris, FR @ Le Pop Up Du Label 2/8/16              Copenhagen, DK @ Ideal Bar 2/9/16              Berlin, GR @ Berghain Kantine 2/10/16            Hamburg, GR @ Molotov Bar 2/12/16            Brussels, BE @ Botanique 2/13/16            Lille, GR @ LA Peniche 2/15/16            Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete's 2/16/16            Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen 2/18/16            London, UK @ The Dome 2/19/16            Brighton, UK @ Bleach 2/25/16            New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom 2/26/16            Hanover, NH @ Bones Gate Fraternity 2/27/16            Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Club Upstairs 2/28/16            Montreal, QC @ Quasi Des Brumes 3/1/16              Toronto, ON @ Smiling Buddha 3/2/16              Detroit, MI @ Majestic Café + 3/3/16              Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern + 3/4/16              Lakewood, OH @ Mahall's 20 Lanes + 3/6/16              Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie + 3/10/16            Washington D.C. @ Black Cat * 3/15-3/20/16    Austin, TX @ SXSW 2016 * w/ Mass Gothic + w/ Honduras