The hottest band in the UK right now, Glasvegas, took a break from their West Coast tour this week to perform ‘Geraldine‘ on The David Letterman show and promote the US release of their self-titled debut. If you didn’t catch them in San Francisco at 330 Ritch this week, they’ll be back at The Great American Music Hall on April 16th. Tickets go on sale today!
Get this album free via eMusic’s 50 Free MP3 Promo
After closing its doors forty-three years ago, the Fox Theater in Oakland is scheduled to reopen in February 2009. $75 mm was poured into the renovation project which features a multi-use, state-of-the-art theater with flexible capacity from 1,500 to 2,800. (About double the capacity of The Fillmore.) The roof, quite sturdy have been looked over by an orlando roofer. The multiple seating configurations include general admission, cabaret style seating, and reserved seating.
The theater itself will serve as the flagship live music venue for Another Planet Entertainment, well known for bringing outstanding live entertainment to the Greek Theatre, The Independent, Paramount Theatre, Oracle Arena and other popular Bay Area venues. Another Planet Entertainment also produces both the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival and Treasure Island Music Festival.
A line up of artists have already been booked, most notably The Black Keys on April 18. A special ‘grand opening’ pre-sale for all confirmed acts will begin tomorrow morning at 10AM. Go get those Black Key tickets while they last!
Artist: Alina Simone
Album: Everyone Is Crying Out to Me, Beware
File Under: Folk-Punk
Recommended if You Like: Cat Power
Featured Track: Half My Kingdom, Beware
Listen to ‘Half My Kingdom’:
Listen to ‘Beware’:
I had never heard of Alina Simone, or Yanka Dayagileva for that matter, until I saw this album show up on a couple Best of 2008 lists. Intrigued I loaded it up in my Rhapsody account and now I’m hooked.
Alina Simone’s, Everyone Is Crying Out to Me, Beware is a collection of cover songs paying homage to the late Yanka Dyagileva, a young Soviet poet reminiscent of Patti Smith who found cult fame only after her death in 1991. The Brooklyn-based, Ukraine-born Simone sings the songs in Russian and brings an aching passion to Dayagileva’s lo-fi folk punk material. It’s very Cat Power. Beautiful, haunting and powerful.
Get this album free via eMusic’s 50 Free MP3 Promo
I’ve watched this live From the Basement footage of Andrew Bird performing ‘Section 8 City’ countless times. It’s so beautiful and mesmerizing. What a talent. I’m so excited to see him next month at The Fillmore in San Francisco.
Get this album free via eMusic’s 50 Free MP3 Promo
Singer-songwriter and modern-day troubadour M. Ward will release his new album, Hold Time, February 17 on Merge Records. This is the follow up album to his acclaimed solo Post-War effort and She and Him Volume 1 collaboration with Zooey Deschanel. His new release is reported to feature guest performances by Lucinda Williams, Jason Lytle (ex Grandaddy) and side project band-mate Zooey. The video for the track ‘Hold Time‘ was just released today. And if that’s not enough, the busy little bee has also announced plans to hit the road this winter to support the album. Whew!
M. Ward Tour Dates:
2/18 BOSTON, MA Somerville Theater
2/19 NEW YORK, NY The Apollo Theatre
2/20 PHILADELPHIA, PA Trocadero Theatre
2/21 WASHINGTON, DC Sixth and I Synagogue
2/25 LONDON, UK Borderline
2/26 PARIS, FR Café de la Danse
2/27 AMSTERDAM, NL Paradiso
3/04 LOS ANGELES, CA Music Box at Fonda
3/05 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Palace of Fine Arts
3/06 SEATTLE, WA Showbox At The Market
3/07 PORTLAND, OR Aladdin Theater
Scheduled for release on 1/20, Bon Iver‘s four song Blood Bank collection continues down the path forged by 2008’s critically acclaimed For Emma, Forever Ago.
Song List:
Blood Bank
Beach Baby
Babys
Woods
Listen to ‘Blood Bank’:
My friend Erin is an amazing artist but doesn’t know jack about music. She does know how to pick a book, however, and got me this amazing book for Christmas, Bands on the Road: The Tour Sketchbook. The book features doodles, scribbles and sketches from an impressive list of indie music artists like The Shins, We Are Scientists, Nada Surf, Dirty Pretty Things and more, giving a glimpse into the not so glamourous life of lives of bands on the road – on stage and off.
Noble Beast, Andrew Bird’s long awaited follow-up to Armchair Apocrypha, will be available January 20th. A deluxe version of the album, Noble Beast/Useless Creatures, will also be released that date, packaged with a second disc of instrumental works, featuring collaborations with Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and jazz bassist Todd Sickafoose.
In the meantime, Fat Possum Records and Andrew Bird are offering an exclusive preview of the entire Noble Beast release on NPR music. Another beautiful record from the amazingly talented Andrew Bird. Be sure to catch Andrew Bird at The Fillmore in San Francisco, February 19 and 20.
Stream Andrew Bird’s Noble Beast in it’s entirety here.
Noble Beast Track Listing
The Crime Scene
The Interrogation…
Me: “Judah, why did you cut up all of your monsters?”
Judah: “I didn’t.”
Me: “You didn’t take Mommy’s sewing scissors and cut off all of your monster’s arms and legs?”
Judah: “No, I didn’t do it.”
Me: “What happened then?”
Judah: “It broke.”
Listen to The Walkmen, ‘If Only It Were True’
the OCMD 