PRINCE @ the Troubadour TONIGHT!

PRINCE @ the Troubadour two shows, May 11th

Alessi's Ark: US Tour

FOLLOW ALESSI'S ARK ONLINE: 2 New Digital Singles Available Now + US Tour Dates Announced British folk-popstress Alessi's Ark has just released the second in a series of digital singles on Bella Union records. The first released was the incessantly sweet song, "Wire," about young love and connecting to someone. "The song's edges are blurred enough to make it feel like reverie. 'Wire' is steeped with age. It's alluring in its openness and honest fragility," says a music blogger. The latest single is a cover of 60s teen pop icon Lesley Gore's "Maybe I Know." Made famous by her still nearly ubiquitous hit "It's My Party," which she recorded at the age of 16, and others like the early feminist anthem "You Don't Own Me." Alessi feels a special kinship with Gore as a result of herself also being thrust into the spotlight in her teen years; she signed on the dotted line with Virgin Records UK when she was just 17. "Last summer, I heard 'Maybe I Know' for the first time after my good friend Jake (Bellows) dreamt I performed it at a school party. He sent a YouTube link to Lesley Gore performing the song and it got stuck in my heart and brain immediately," says Alessi. Click the player below to check out her version of Gore's song via her new music video. Purchase "Maybe I Know" and "Wire" Now iTUNES - AMAZON - BELLA UNION iTUNES (Exclusive) US Tour Dates Announced for June June 7 Cambridge, MA @ Club Passim June 8 NYC, NY @ Joe's Pub (opening for John Grant with Heidi Spencer) June 9 NYC, NY @ Joe's Pub (opening for John Grant with Heidi Spencer) June 10 Philadelphia, PA @ World Café June 11 Washington DC @ Bella Café, June 12 Richmond, VA @ Steady Sounds (3pm record store instore) June 14 Durham, NC @ The Casbah

Where were you when you first heard SLOAN?

John Grant: US Tour

JOHN GRANT on tour w/ Heidi Spencer

Late this past March, John Grant left Austin’s SXSW festival on a trans-Atlantic flight in a state of bliss. It’s little surprise as the reviews of his select SXSW performances, backed by pals and Queen of Denmark producers Midlake, were some of the most superlative in his much-deserved, hard-fought rise to national attention…

Following SXSW and more soul-stirring performances in Europe, Grant is set to return to the U.S. in June for a select set of dates including a homecoming of sorts in Denver, CO, home of his long-time band The Czars, and culminating in two very special nights at the lush and intimate Joe’s Pub in New York City.

Called “…a more emotionally raw Rufus Wainwright with today’s most astonishing baritone,” by bloggers, Grant’s personal songs are unmistakably intense live. That intensity comes directly from John’s struggles growing up gay in small towns in the Midwest and later in life, with drugs and alcohol. With Queen of Denmark – and highlighted in songs like “Jesus Hates Faggots” – Grant’s personal battle to find worth and acceptance have finally translated into the bone crushing honesty and emotional power those around him always knew him to be capable of.

“…startlingly beautiful songs mostly unadorned, quietly backed by Midlake's soothing folk-rock… [“Jesus Hates Faggots”] was so honestly tender that you felt like turning to your neighbor and giving him or hera bless-you hug.” – SPIN

Stream Queen of Denmark

Watch a live version of QOD track “It’s Easier” from Brussels, Belgium shot in stunning high-definition black & white

Opening for John when he hits The Independent on June 2 is Bella Union label mate and Milwaukee songstress Heidi Spencer & The Rare Birds.

John Grant Tour Dates

6/2/2011 San Francisco, CA The Independent w/ Heidi Spencer

6/3/2011 Los Angeles, CA Largo at the Coronet Theatre w/ Heidi Spencer

6/4/2011 Denver, CO The Walnut Room w/Heidi Spencer

6/8/2011 New York, NY Joe's Pub w/Heidi Spencer and Alessi’s Ark

6/9/2011 New York, NY Joe's Pub w/Alessi’s Ark and Heidi Spencer

The Cure

THE CURE "REFLECTIONS" CONFIRMED FOR VIVID LIVE

One of the world's most enduringly influential bands, The Cure have today been confirmed to perform for Vivid LIVE at The Sydney Opera House, curated by Modular's Stephen "Pav" Pavlovic.

Hear how The Cure became the voice of generations with the performance of three releases that etched them into our consciousness.

The Cure will be appearing onstage with a uniquely evolving line-up of band members past and present, The Cure "Reflections" will see the band perform their first three albums live, in their entirety, in an extraordinary concert experience exclusively for Vivid LIVE on May 31 and June 1.

From the punchy, offbeat, starkly unadorned songs of Three Imaginary Boys, through the increasingly shadowy and quixotic pieces of Seventeen Seconds, to the singular melancholic grandeur of Faith, this is a rare chance to experience the origins of one of popular music's greatest stories.

In a coup for Vivid LIVE, this will be the first, and only, time The Cure perform these albums in succession.

The Raveonettes @ Trobadour tonight

The Raveonettes played a crazy live show last night. Tonight they begin a two night stand at the Troubadour. Both shows are sold out. It's going to be wild. They will be playing many songs off the new album Raven in the Grave, plus some hits from all five albums.

T.S.O.L.'s Jack Grisham talks 'An American Demon'

Jack Grisham book party today in Long Beach 2pm-6pm.