Best Records of 2012

Tame Impala

1. Tame Impala "Lonerism"
2. Grimes "Visions"
3. Leonard Cohen "Old Ideas"
4. Cate Le Bon "CYRK"
5. Alabama Shakes "Boys and Girls"
6. Brian Eno "Lux"
7. Crystal Castles "III"
8. Swans "The Seer"
9. Father John Misty "Fear Fun"
10. Scott Walker "Bish Bosch"



Cate Le Bon



Beach House

11. Beak> ">>" > INTERVIEW
12. Hundred Waters "Hundred Waters"
13. Of Monsters and Men "My Head Is An Animal"
14. Beach House "Bloom"
15. Thee Oh Sees "Putrifiers 2"
16. Bat For Lashes "The Haunted Man"
17. White Fence "Vol 1-2 Family Perfume"
18. Frankie Rose "Interstellar"
19. Chairlift "Something"
20. Purity Ring "Shrines"



Bat For Lashes



Chairlift



White Fence

21. DIIV "Oshin"
22. Sharon Van Etten "Tramp"
23. Melody's Echo Chamber "Melody's Echo Chamber"
24. Dead Can Dance "Anastasis" > INTERVIEW
25. Fiona Apple "The Idler Wheel"
26. School of Seven Bells "Ghostory" > INTERVIEW
27. Niki and The Dove "Instinct"
28. Ringo Deathstarr "Mauve" > INTERVIEW
29. First Aid Kit "The Lion's Roar" > INTERVIEW
30. Brian Jonestown Massacre "Aufheben"



Melody's Echo Chamber



School of Seven Bells



Ringo Deathstarr



First Aid Kit

31. Liars "WIXIW" > INTERVIEW
32. Metz "Metz"
33. Opossum "Electric Hawaii"
34. Dark Dark Dark "Who Needs Who"
35. Ultraista "Ultraista"
36. Richard Hawley "Standing At The Sky's Edge"
37. Tennis "Young and Old"
38. Ty Segall "Slaughterhouse"
39. Patti Smith "Banga"
40. Lower Dens "Nootropics"



Liars



Lower Dens

41. Wild Nothing "Nocturne"
42. Stealing Sheep "Into The Diamond Sun"
43. Allah Las "Allah Las"
44. Lana Del Rey "Born To Die"
45. Ty Segall & White Fence "Hair"
46. Grizzly Bear "Shields"
47. Chromatics "Kill For Love"
48. Death Grips "The Money Store"
49. Exitmusic "Passage" > INTERVIEW
50. Oberhofer "Time Capsules II"



Wild Nothing



Exitmusic



Oberhofer


Honorable mention:

Hallock Hill "The Union / A Hem of Evening"
Mynabirds "Generals"
Magic Wands "Aloha Moon"
Screaming Females "Ugly"
Foxygen "Take The Kids Off Broadway" > INTERVIEW



Foxygen

All photos by Angel Ceballos.

Best Records of 2012

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Angel Ceballos : the latest photos

Melody's Echo Chamber





Geographer





The Black Lips





Gliss





Zola Jesus



Foxygen



Oberhofer





Cold Cave

Angel Ceballos : the latest photos

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The Mynabirds Release Body of Work 7”

The Mynabirds Release Body of Work 7”

Share Video for “Body of Work”

Purchase the 7” compilation at the Saddle Creek store or digitally at iTunes

Having just released the limited-edition, colored Body of Work 7” on Saddle Creek this week, The Mynabirds commemorate the occasion with the accompanying video for “Body of Work.”  With syncopated beats and playful thumps, layered on top of Laura Burhenn's gospel inspired tone, Burhenn illustrates a playfulness as she combines nature and art in the video, which premiered yesterday on Rolling Stone. "[Director] Allie [Avital Tsypin] and I wanted to create this enchanted world that was basically a collection of moving surrealist paintings inhabited by these pure, joyous people,” explains Burhenn. “And the cinematographers, set designers and cast made it happen in a serious way."

“’Body of Work’ is a reminder of our absolute power to reimagine, redesign, and transform our lives at any given moment into something we enjoy to the utmost, something that’s wholly and fully our own,” says Burhenn. “We are not victims of the past, but artists who can shape it into the most brilliant form imaginable; we are living things, bodies of work to edit.”

Only 1,000 copies of the limited-edition, colored Body of Work 7” vinyl are be available, which features the standout track “Body of Work” from their 2012 critically acclaimed album GENERALS, and paired with the previously unreleased “In the Mouths of Wolves.” The record is housed in a 4-panel jacket that can be folded into an origami wild horse, representing the idea of transformation instilled in the title track.

Check out Laura Burhenn's personal tour diary
which ran this week on NYLON

The Mynabirds Release Body of Work 7”

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Line & Circle Announce West Coast Tour Dates With RNDM

Line & Circle Announce West Coast Tour Dates With RNDM

Debut 7" Out Now On White Iris Records

 

Listen: "Roman Ruins" / "Carelessness" via White Iris Records
Watch: "Roman Ruins" video via Stereogum

Los Angeles-based Line & Circle's west coast tour with RNDM (featuring Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam and Joseph Arthur) begins this week. The tour kicks off at the Troubadour in Los Angeles on Wednesday and will make stops in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. All tour dates are listed below. Line & Circle is touring in support of its debut 7" single "Roman Ruins" / "Carelessness" out now on White Iris Records. Head over to Stereogum to check out the new video for "Roman Ruins."

Line & Circle has come onto the national scene this year, having recently completed a U.S. tour with White Iris labelmates Electric Guest. These dates featured appearances at CMJ in New York City, including a live radio broadcast for KEXP. Video of the performance is now available on the KEXP website.

Line & Circle was born of the collaboration between Brian J. Cohen & Brian Egan -- natives of Akron and Dayton, Ohio, respectively -- who met in college before moving from the Midwest to Los Angeles. With the assistance of White Iris' Lewis Pesacov, who previously produced Best Coast's debut album, they took to the studio, along with a newly formed band, including guitarist Eric Neujahr, bassist Nathan Gammill and drummer Nick Cisik. There, with nods to early 4AD dream pop and chiming I.R.S. Records-era guitar rock, the group pared the songs to their essence---simple melodic phrases and hooky ostinatos that subvert the complications of the lyrics.

Recorded live, the resulting tracks Roman Ruins (side A) and Carelessness (side B) are soaring and dark and glittering and nostalgic, like the soundtrack to an epic coming-of-age story.

Line & Circle Tour Dates

11/21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour

11/23 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

11/25 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge

11/26 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret

11/27 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market

* with RNDM

For more info, please visit:

http://lineandcirclemusic.tumblr.com/

http://whiteiris.tv/

Line & Circle Announce West Coast Tour Dates With RNDM

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Morcheeba singer SKYE "Nowhere"

Morcheeba singer SKYE

Shares Dave Davis remix of “Nowhere”

 

Click HERE to download Dave Davis' remix of "Nowhere"
(Please Post and Share!)
 

After having just released her third solo record, Back To Now, last month on [PIAS] America, trip-hop's undisputed Queen and Morcheeba frontwoman Skye shares the Dave Davis remix for her track “Nowhere.”  Flush with synthesized dance pulse and infectious melodies, the pumped up Dave Davis' remix takes the track to new heights.  Click HERE to download the track.

Back To Now sees Skye on assured form in the follow up to 2009's Keeping Secrets.  The album began life in similar fashion to her two previous releases, in partnership with her longtime collaborator and husband Steve Gordon.  However, in contrast to Keeping Secrets and Skye’s solo debut Mind How You Go, guitar and piano were laid to one side and tracks instead evolved from the early barebones of beats and loops.  Aware of the potential of the raw material she had written, Skye specifically sought out the production services of Fitzmaurice; ‘I’d worked with Stephen before when he mixed (previous single) ‘Love Show’ and knew he’d be able to take these new songs to the next level’.

Fitzmaurice’s crisp production values couple with Skye’s ethereal voice to impressive effect, across a distinctly nocturnal soundscape.  Synths bubble across early album highlights ‘Sign of Life’ and lead single, ‘Featherlight’, both anchored by Skye’s effortless vocals, whilst ‘Every Little Lie’s’ chorus mines a compulsive vocal hook to memorable effect.

However, Back To Now is by no means an exclusively synth propelled album, with strings employed to distinctive effect on ‘Bright Light’ and the possessive plea of ‘Nowhere’.  Yet in all cases, it is the character and range of Skye’s vocals which underpins Back To Now.  Layered on ‘High Life’, providing a tender counterpoint to the disquieting synths of ‘Dissolve’, and gliding across the percussive loops of ‘Little Bit Lost’, it is an ever arresting focus point.

Morcheeba singer SKYE "Nowhere"

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Harry Nilsson's The Point: The Definitive Collector's Edition

Harry Nilsson's The Point: The Definitive Collector's Edition

out now via MVD Entertainment Group

The animated classic returns to DVD with over 

25 minutes of bonus features! 

Directed by Academy Award-winner Fred Wolf, "The Point" tells the story of Oblio, a round-headed boy living in the land of "Point," where everything and everybody has one. Oblio, along with his trusty dog, Arrow, is banished to the Pointless Forest. The tale is narrated by Ringo Starr and includes songs written and sung by Grammy Award-winner Harry Nilsson. The definitive collector's edition.

 

Track Listing

Me And My Arrow

Everything's Got 'Em

Poli High

Think About Your Troubles

Life Line

P.O.V. Waltz

Are You Sleeping?

Bonus Materials
Includes Four Never-Before-Seen Bonus Featurettes:

Who Is Harry Nilsson?

Pitching The Point

Making The Point

Legacy Of The Point

Press 
"Finally, a new generation of kids can float away on the entrancing cartoon creation of Harry Nilsson (1941-94), the American singer-songwriter who counted the Beatles among his admirers. The Point is a prime example of mass-culture outreach by a countercultural artist (dig the psychedelic number ''P.O.V. Waltz''). B+"

- Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly

"Never has nonconformity been celebrated with such charm."

-Jeff Miers, Buffalo News

"If there's a fan of Harry Nilsson on your shopping list then rejoice, because in front of you now you see the proverbial no-brainer."

-NeedCoffee.com

Order Link:  http://www.seeofsound.com/p.php?s=MVD5367D

Hi Res Cover Art:  http://mvdb2b.com/i/300dpi/MVD5367D.jpg

Harry Nilsson's The Point: The Definitive Collector's Edition

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Polly Scattergood "Disco Damaged Kid"

Polly Scattergood

 

LISTEN TO NEW TRACK 

"DISCO DAMAGED KID"

 

 

WATCH TRAILER FOR SOPHOMORE ALBUM

OUT SPRING 2013

 

 

 

 

Polly Scattergood – and what a name that is - is that rare talent, a musician and songwriter who can make the disturbing sound delightful. The 25 year-old musician's self-titled debut (released in 2009) was contextually dark and startling, yet coupled with her innocent, girlish vocals, delivered a finished product of jubilant experimental pop.

 

However, one would be remiss to pigeonhole her into a "singer-songwriter" or "experimental pop" category,  as the artist's view of her own work is quite different.  The greatest fear of this expressive musician is being limited limited to one singular genre.  She emphasizes, “I would be really gutted if I was put in a box marked ‘experimental pop’ and then maybe one day I decided to write a blues song or an acoustic rock song and I found it difficult because I’d been boxed up as an ‘experimental pop’ thing.”

 

With three years past since the release of her debut, Polly Scattergood has harnessed her afflication to classification and has created a more mature, yet still inately unique, Sophomore album. In anticipation and excitement for this release, due out Spring 2013, she is pleased to share with the world her track "Disco Damaged Kid" which can be streamed here as well as via her lyric video.

 

Be sure to also check out the hauntingly beautiful teaser trailer. Watch it here!

Stay tuned for more news soon!

 

 

 

Polly Scattergood: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Mute: Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

 

Polly Scattergood "Disco Damaged Kid"

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The Faint Release Danse Macabre

The Faint

Release Danse Macabre (Deluxe Edition)
[Remastered] Today

Share Remastered Version of “Agenda Suicide”

Eleven years since the release of their influential album, Danse Macabre, The Faint are reissuing the album today, along with six bonus tracks. To celebrate today's release, The Faint are sharing the remastered version of “Agenda Suicide,” the first single off the 2001 album, which was remastered by Grammy winning Ted Jensen (Nora Jones, Billy Joel, The Eagles) at Sterling Sound, who additionally handled the mastering duties for the entire project. Jensen managed to maintain the band's dance beats, dark keyboards, and punk rock undertones but brought it to another level, showcasing a more indulgent side of new wave. The electrifying track is available for download on the Saddle Creek site, click HERE to stream, download or share the song.

Along with the six bonus tracks, the remastered release features an extensive booklet and will be available on CD in a triple-disc format with a DVD, and on double vinyl that also includes the CDs and DVD. Additionally, the DVD will include archival video footage from the band, live projection videos from that era's tour dates, the "Agenda Suicide" music video (directed by MK12), some live footage, and more. Copies of the physical album will be limited to 5,000 for the 2xCD/DVD package and 3,000 for the 2xLP/2xCD/DVD package.

The Faint are currently on tour to support the reissue and performing Danse Macabre in its entirety for the first time ever. And aside from some warm-up gigs in August and September (including The Faint’s inaugural shows at Slowdown, the Omaha club run by Saddle Creek), it will be the first time fans have been exposed to the new slim-and-trim quartet of vocalist Todd Fink, keyboardist Jacob Thiele, guitarist Dapose, and drummer Clark Baechle.

Differentiating from previous albums, The Faint attempted to conjure the energy of bumping Berlin dance floors nearly 5,000 miles away from their home in eastern Nebraska with the release of Danse Macabre. The nine-song album sizzled with perfectly aggressive synth lines, Fink’s menacingly effected vocals, infectious beats, bits of industrial and goth, and, at the heart of it all, strong songwriting featuring the kind of minor-key melodies that make singing along inevitable. Lyrically, Fink moved on from the sexually-charged nature of Blank-Wave to explore themes related to the importance of living for yourself and doing what you love, most notably showcased in the ominous “Agenda Suicide.” Death-metal guitarist Dapose, who had been brought in to be the band’s art director and assist with the videos projected during live shows, eventually started adding to the music, and upstart engineer and producer Mike Mogis (whose name can be found all over Saddle Creek’s illustrious catalog) perfectly captured The Faint’s sound and attitude despite never previously working on an electronic record.

“We thought about what it would be to capture the essence of a dance club,” says Thiele. “I’m glad that the BPMs are all over the place and that we didn’t actually do a bunch of house tempos, which is more the direction we were trying to emulate. But we kind of kept it rock ’n’ roll.”

Not surprisingly, Danse Macabre gained a lot of attention, including that of major labels, though the band eventually decided to remain on its independent path. Saddle Creek owner Robb Nansel fondly recalls watching the group blow up before his eyes, a phenomenon that became more and more apparent when The Faint took its storied live show—full of sweat, smoke, eyeliner, and those invigorating strobe lights—on the road.

“I remember some of the shows at the Metro in Chicago—just seeing the crowds react was always the most rewarding moment,” says Nansel. “Seeing like 800 people, or whatever was in the room at the time, all freaking out and dancing around. We’d seen that in Omaha happen over the years, but it’s so different when you see it out of town.”

And they’re still freaking out over the band’s live performances, which take rocking and dancing to epic heights. In addition to the songs from Danse Macabre, this fall’s tour will include entries from across The Faint’s discography, which also includes 2004’s Wet From Birth and 2008’s Fasciinatiion, as well as some brand-new material. What better way to celebrate the band’s past, present, and future than with the dance party of the year?

The Faint Tour Dates
* = with Trust
^ = with The Casket Girls
# = with Icky Blossoms

11/20: San Diego, CA @ House of Blues ^
11/21: Pomona, CA @ The Glass House *^
11/23: Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *^
11/24: Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues *^
11/27: Dallas, TX @ House of Blues *#
11/28: Austin, TX @ Emo's East #
11/30: Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom *#
12/01: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Heaven Stage *#
12/02: Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel #
12/05: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *#
12/06: Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero *#
12/07: New York, NY @ Terminal 5 *#
12/08: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *#
12/09: Montreal, QC @ Club Soda *#
12/11: Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy *#
12/12: Chicago, IL @ Metro *#
12/13: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *#
12/14: Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium *#

Check out the video for the live performance
of Agenda Suicide at The Brother's Lounge HERE

The Faint Release Danse Macabre

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Tame Impala @ Henry Fonda

All live photos by Angel Ceballos

TAME IMPALA is playing tonight at the Henry Fonda, Saturday, Nov 17th 2012.

Tame Impala @ Henry Fonda

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WATCH TRASH TALK PERFORM LIVE AT CHECKYOPONYTAIL 2

WATCH TRASH TALK PERFORM LIVE AT CHECKYOPONYTAIL 2 VIA PITCHFORK

HODGY BEATS OF MELLOWHYPE CREATES "BREAK YA NECK" DURING RUBY HORNET CLOSED SESSIONS

TRASH TALK AND MELLOWHYPE ON EAST COAST TOUR NOW; ANNOUNCES WEST COAST DATES PRESENTED BY IHC

Watch: CYP2 Presents: Trash Talk Live - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Ig8AfGnKI

 

Watch: "Break Ya Neck" by Hodgy Beats and Thelonius Martin - 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qietqydbfLM&feature=youtu.be

MP3: "Break Ya Neck" by Hodgy Beats and Thelonius Martin - 

http://soundcloud.com/rubyhornet/closed-sessions-break-ya-neck

 

Trash Talk and MellowHype are currently touring together on the East Coast and are now announcing a slew of West Coast dates presented by IHeartComix (the same people that brought you the CYP2 live video of Trash Talk). If you don't know what a live Trash Talk show looks like, click here to watch the CYP2 Presents video of Trash Talk performing live at the Echoplex in Los Angeles. Additionally, Hodgy Beats of MellowHype recently jumped in the studio to create "Break Ya Neck" with producer Thelonius Martin during a Ruby Hornet Closed Session.

 

TRASH WANG TOUR DATES

 

11/14 - Montreal, QC - Il Motore*

11/15 - Toronto, ON - Annex Wreck Room*

11/16 - Ithaca, NY - The Haunt*

11/17 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theater* (Tickets available here)

11/18 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair*

11/19 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of the Living Arts*

11/20 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel*

12/13 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey*

12/14 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre

12/15 - Portland, OR - Branx*

12/17 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge*

12/18 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex*

12/20 - Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction*

12/21 - San Diego, CA - Epicentre*

* = Trash Wang Tour w/ Mellowhype

WATCH TRASH TALK PERFORM LIVE AT CHECKYOPONYTAIL 2

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BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW SHARES NEW TRACK

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW SHARES NEW TRACK VIA KCRW

CATCH THEM LIVE IN DECEMBER

 

Listen up, freaks! You've had the main course and now the dessert! Black Moth Super Rainbow is spiking your sugar high with Cobra Juicy track "Like A Sundae," which was named "Today's Top Tune" by KCRW. Get your masks on because the partying and mischief making continues next month on the East Coast. A full list of tour dates is below. 

LISTEN TO/SHARE 'LIKE A SUNDAE":

http://soundcloud.com/black-moth-super-rainbow/like-a-sundae

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW TOUR DATES:

Mon. Dec. 3 - Boston, MA @ Paradise

Wed. Dec. 5 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

Thu. Dec. 6 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Fri. Dec. 7 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

Sat. Dec. 8 - Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall

Sun. Mar. 10 - Denton, TX @ 35 Denton

"What's unique about Black Moth Super Rainbow is the balance achieved between the grotesque and the beautiful. This is not as easy as it sounds." - Pitchfork

"...Cobra Juicy drips with the group's trademark heady synthesizers, as well as infectious hooks and punchy electronica to craft their most melodic and accessible record to date." - FILTER

"Black Moth Super Rainbow have over the course of several albums set themselves a consistent task, with heady results: discovering what a psychedelic soundtrack for the 21st century sounds like. Their latest effort, Cobra Juicy...nails that trademark pastoral-yet-greasy groove." - BlackBook

"It's the Black Moth Super Rainbow recording we've been waiting for..." - Under The Radar

Listen to "Gangs in the Garden" - http://bit.ly/QEWDec

Listen to "Windshield Smasher" - http://bit.ly/ObB9DN

Watch the "Windshield Smasher" video - http://bit.ly/MfAcuY

Black Moth Super Rainbow online:

http://www.blackmothsuperrainbow.com/

https://twitter.com/HouseOfBMSR

https://www.facebook.com/BlackMothSuperRainbow

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW SHARES NEW TRACK

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Tame Impala @ the El Rey

All photos taken in NYC by Daniel Murtagh.

Tame Impala will be playing at the EL REY tonight, Friday, November 16th 2012.

Tame Impala @ the El Rey

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Lovely Bad Things @ Glasshouse

(photo: Angel Ceballos)

LOVELY BAD THINGS are playing at the GLASSHOUSE on Thursday Nov 14th 2012.

Lovely Bad Things @ Glasshouse

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ASOBI SEKSU ANNOUNCE RECORD w/ BORIS

ASOBI SEKSU ANNOUNCE RECORD STORE DAY SPLIT W/ BORIS

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER | STREAM IT ON SPIN

Asobi Seksu and legendary Japanese trio Boris have announced a limited edition split 7" which will be available as a Record Store exclusive release on Black Friday, Nov. 23, and can be pre-ordered here.   

The forthcoming split single features each band covering a song by the other. Asobi Seksu takes on Boris' majestic "Farewell" off of their album Pink, while Boris reworks "New Years" from Asobi Seksu's Citrus, here as "Neu Years." The vinyl edition will include a download code with additional classic songs from both bands. 

 

Polyvinyl's dream pop band Asobi Seksu is widely known for their shoe-gaze influenced effect-laden sound. Since their beginning in 2001, the band, led by vocalist/keyboardist Yuki Chikudate and guitarist/vocalist James Hanna, has released four albums and various singles. Asobi Seksu toured supporting Boris in the fall of 2011, cementing the friendship between the two bands leading up to this endeavor of mutual admiration covering each others' songs.

 

 

Stream the upcoming Asobi Seksu / Boris split 7" in its entirety on SPIN.

 

  

ASOBI SEKSU LINKS

WEBSITE  |  FACEBOOK  |  PRESS ROOM  |  BANDCAMP  |  TWITTER  |  STORE  |  CONTACT

 

ASOBI SEKSU ANNOUNCE RECORD w/ BORIS

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Laura Gibson Premieres "The Carob Trees"

Laura Gibson Premieres "The Carob Trees" Track On NPR's All Songs Considered
Releases "Down By The Riverside" Deschutes River Recordings Video On Pitchfork

The Basin And Range Tour Starts In Two Weeks

The Basin And Range Tour In November, Laura Gibson will team up with Portland fellow bands Typhoon and Lost Lander for The Basin And Range Tour. Tour Dates 11.15 - Soda Bar - San Diego, CA ^ 11.16 - The Echo - Los Angeles, CA # 11.17 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA # 11.18 - G Street Wunderbar - Davis, CA # 11.20 - Wow Hall - Eugene, OR # 11.23 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR # 12.13 - Capetown International Convention Center - Capetown, South Africa 12.15 - Wits Theatre - Johannesburg, South Africa # w/ Typhoon & Lost Lander ^ w/ Lost Lander & Run Luca

Click to watch "Down By The Riverside" Deschutes River Recordings video on Pitchfork Laura Gibson gathered a group of musical friends and turned Oregon's Smith Rock into a recording studio for a day, incorporating the unique acoustics of the cliffs, caves and water ways, resulting in a surprising, inspired take on the old spiritual "Down By The Riverside". The video and the song premiered on Pitchfork Monday, October 22nd. The production is the third in a series of River Song Covers sponsored by Deschutes Brewery, which also includes Blitzen Trapper's Eric Earley singing "Up The Cripple Creek", and Eric D. Johnson of the Fruit Bats covering "The Ballad of Easy Rider".  All proceeds will benefit the Deschutes River Conservancy.   Click to listen to "The Carob Trees" on NPR's All Songs Considered An unreleased Laura Gibson song, "The Carob Trees," was picked today as NPR's Song Of The Day.  '"The Carob Trees" came after a visit to my friend Raul's family home in the countryside near Valencia, Spain. The house and land had been in his family for many generations. Raul told stories of trapping quail and collecting olives when he was a child, of his parents stomping grapes into wine. Raul's great grandfather collected stones to build terraces up the hillside in order to plant trees on the land. There were olive trees and almond trees, and then also a type of tree that wasn't familiar to me. Raul didn't know the English word, and didn't know the Spanish word. Finally, after he called it "poor man's chocolate" I realized they were carob trees. I was thinking of all the generations who spent time under those trees, and how we move forward in time and in relationships, both within and also outside of our own will. Thinking of will in relationships, and of trees, and of lineage, I was reminded of the story of Adam and Eve. The narrator in the song became a mix of Eve, of Raul's great great great grandparents, and of myself. Back home one day, I had been singing the refrain melody in the living room, and my boyfriend and sometimes musical collaborator Sean (Sean Ogilvie of the band Musée Mécanique) sat down at the piano and began playing and whistling the counter-melody, perfectly embodying the other character in the story. The song didn't quite fit among the songs on my La Grande record, but it is really dear to me, and I'm really happy to share it now.'   Links Official Website Facebook Twitter

Laura Gibson Premieres "The Carob Trees"

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